Guam Rosketti Cookie Recipe

My fondest memories of making CHamoru roskette, sometimes spelled rosketti, is with my best friend Mel. We were in high school on Guam and babysitting for our coach. I don't remember where we got the recipe we followed, but gosh the end result was the most-stick-to-your-mouth rosketti ever.

I have grown to love the versatility of the rosketti recipe in my book, A Taste of Guam. It's not stick-to-your-mouth thick, and it's flavor and texture transform depending on how long you bake the cookies. You may take your time to roll the dough into thin ropes and shape the roskette into a coil, or into an overlapped oval. The only thing with these shapes is that they tend to break easily -- so if you are shipping the cookies it's best to pack them really well, or use another shape.

Another friend said that her mom would roll the dough into a rope then cut the rope at half-inch long segments, place each segment on  the cookie sheet then bake. This is a great, speedy option.

The most common way I shape my rosketti is by pinching a small piece of dough, rolling it into a ball then pressing the dough with a fork for a crisscross pattern. If I have time, I make the pieces of dough tiny, no bigger than the diameter of a dime -- sometimes smaller. OMG, once these tiny cookies are baked quite brown all the way through they are divine -- but it does take about 25 to 27 minutes per tray. You can eat a bunch of these in a sitting because they don't choke you -- and the flavor derived by baking them to a dark brown is sublime.

If I don't have time, I pinch a larger piece of dough, no bigger than the diameter of a nickel and bake them till they are somewhat browned -- again, 25 minutes.

Sometimes I use a large piece of dough, about the diameter of a quarter, roll it into a coil or press with a fork, baking the cookies into a lighter shade of brown. These I save to dip in coffee.

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INGREDIENTS / DIRECTIONS

Set 1
2 c. flour
1 box cornstarch
1 t. baking powder

Set 2
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. butter
2 eggs
1 t.vanilla

Set 3
1 c. heavy cream

Tools:   medium bowl, large bowl, electric beater, non-stick baking paper, 2 cookie sheets

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cornstarch and baking powder.
2. Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl.
3. Beat into #2 the eggs and vanilla till well combined.
4. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and combine with hands.
5. Pour ¾ cup of cream into mixture, at first, to form a soft, slightly sticky dough.  Add remaining cream if necessary.
6. Form into balls less than an inch in diameter.
7. Place balls on cookie sheets.
8. Dip tines of fork into flour and press crisscross onto balls.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes till edges are brown.

Recipe from A TASTE OF GUAM by Paula Quinene of PaulaQ.com.

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Watch the videos below with a link to a printable recipe in the top, right corner, or you can print my Guam rosketti recipe HERE.

For more on Guam food and CHamoru culture, come visit me at Paulaq.com.

:-)

paulaq