Artist’s Palate: Richard Tuttle’s healthy cookie

Richard Tuttle's intimate, minimalist paintings, drawings and sculptures express a parsimonious nature. The rangy American is as sparse with his materials and artistic gestures as the landscape around his New Mexico studio. But while he has an economy of style, his works contain whole heaps of meaning. This is an artist who flirts with nothingness and has inspired many contemporary artists to do likewise. Cookies baked with stevia powder and spelt before being topped with goat's butter have their own meaning. Stevia is a natural sweetener found in a South American herb. The FDA once banned it. Wholefood aficionados consider the stevia ban a scandalous sop to the food industry by the US government. Spelt is fashionable-again Bronze Age wheat with claims to nutritional benefits absent in modern wheat strains. Goat's butter is for those avoiding cow's milk. These are good cookies for good people.

All ingredients are organic
Time: 8-10 minutes
Easy, fast clean up

Make a dough of 2 beaten egg yolks and 1 egg white, leaving aside the second white, beaten, and stevia powder, coconut oil, spelt flower and vanilla.

Press dough into flat baking pan (greased with coconut oil), evenly.

Bake at 350 degrees.

While baking, bring to boil water, honey and raisins. Thicken with enough corn or tapioca starch to thicken at room temperature. Finish with goat butter and vanilla.

When pastry is done coat with egg white and pour raisin topping over, evenly.

Dust generously with powdered cinnamon. Cut into squares and store at room temperature in closely tightened tin.

Measurements: at will.

Variation: lemon juice and zest and/or Bourbon to raisin mixture.

Add just a pinch of baking soda to the pastry mixture.

INFORMATION
Photography: Zachary Zavisklak. Interiors: Linda Keil