Biscoitos de Nata

This recipe makes a ton of buttery, slightly lemony, not to sweet cookies. My mother is a "pro" at making these without a recipe, seriously.no.recipe! She just "uses the portuguese force" and every time it results in perfect cookies. Oddly enough, most of her baking is like that..no recipe, just mixing things together. It's just something I can't do, bake without a recipe, I obviously didn't inherit "the force" from my mother! So after some searching and trial and error, I  now have a recipe for these little beauties. They are delicious, you can dip them in milk or tea, and trust me, your cookie jar will be empty before you know it!

1 kilo flour (reserve 300g)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
6 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
250 grams butter
pinch of salt
200 ml whipping cream
3 eggs
grated peel of 1 lemon

topping:
sugar+milk


In my stand mixer I whip everything up, till all combined ( using just 700 grams of flour).... then I check to see if it needs more flour or not , if its still a tad sticky add a bit more flour.... after place on a well floured counter, and knead, just to bring everything together, adding more flour if needed. It´s not a sticky dough, (it is quite similiar to play doh) Then I usually divide the dough into 4 parts, and shape the cookies... I like to roll out a "snake" or "rope" then flatten it...and fold the whole thing over (hope that makes sense.. see pic. above).. I place them on parchment lined baking sheets, I use a pastry brush to wash/brush them with milk, then sprinkle sugar over them.... then bake at 350F/180C about 12 -15 minutes....this too will be a personal choice...I like them soft....but a longer bake will results in a crunchy cookie. This makes alot of cookies, plenty to share...I get about 120,, but that depends on what shapes you make!