Thai Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients

• 5 ounces cake or all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 ounces powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/2 teaspoon rose water, optional
• Approximately 3/4 cup mild-flavored vegetable oil
• One Thai scented candle, optional

Directions

1. Add the flour, powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla, if you’re using it, to a medium mixing bowl, then blend everything with your fingers. Work in about 1/4 cup of the oil with your fingertips. Keep adding oil in 1/2 tablespoon increments until the dough looks a little shaggy, holds together, and pulls cleanly from the bowl instead of falling into crumbs. To test it, take about a tablespoon of dough and close your fist firmly around it. If it stays together, you’re done with the oil. If you’re unsure, be a little stingy with the oil rather than too generous.
2. Take a small bit of dough, press it tightly in your fist, and roll it into a 1/2-inch ball. Set it on a large tray, then continue the same way until all the dough has been shaped.
3. Transfer the dough balls to 2 large cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing them about 1 inch apart, since they will barely spread.
4. Use a sharp paring knife to cut each dough ball into quarters. Pull away 1 piece, shape it into a tiny ball, and set it aside. Adjust the remaining 3 pieces so the spaces between the petals look even. Bring the petal tips together and press them gently with the tip of your paring knife so they hold. Set the little ball in the center where the petals meet, then use the dull side of the knife to make 3 shallow grooves in that center ball, lining them up with the 3 petals.
5. When you’re nearly finished shaping the flowers, heat the oven to 350 degrees F and place a rack in the center position.
6. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until they are set but still pale, not golden brown. Take them out of the oven and let them cool completely on the baking sheets.
7. If you’re using a Thai scented candle to perfume the cookies, place the cooled cookies in a glass or ceramic jar or bowl, keeping some open space in the middle. Set a small glass or ceramic dish in that center space. Light the scented candle on both ends, then carefully set it in the dish.
8. Seal the jar tightly with its lid. If you’re using a bowl, cover it with a plate wider than the bowl’s opening. Let the cookies sit enclosed so they can take on the candle scent for about 30 minutes before serving.