Cue Up The Recipe

1. Make sure you listen to M's episode on The Storied Recipe Podcast, Christmas in Indonesia, as you make her Indonesian Butter Cookies.

Make The Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 300F.
2. Grate the mild gouda cheese finely over a baking tray that has been lined with parchment. Cover the area as thinly as you can to make crunchy gouda crisps.
3. Put it in the oven for 10-12 minutes until the cheese is golden and crispy. Note: avoid using pre-shredded cheese as they contain cornstarch.
4. Cool down, and chop them / put in food processor to make them into a small bits so it will pass through your piping tip, but large enough so we can taste the texture in the cookies. Remove the crisp that is rubbery during this process. Set aside. You can make it a day in advance.
5. In a large pan over low heat, toast the tapioca starch for about 5-6 minutes moving the starch around the pan to remove moisture - this process will help the cookies to have a better texture and prolong their shelf life. If you are using fresh pandan, you can knot the leaves and toast them with the tapioca to infuse the starch. Toast until the tapioca looks malleable like sand. Cool it down before use. Sieve tapioca with salt, pandan powder.
6. Cream butter and condensed milk for 7-8 minutes on low speed with the paddle attachment until they are much paler in colour.
7. Add egg yolk one at a time and incorporate well into the mixture before adding the next one.
8. Add the crispy cheese and stir well, then add the tapioca in several batches mixing it gently in between.
9. Line a baking sheet with paper.
10. Pipe the cookie dough with an (open star or any other nozzle with larger opening. You can pipe them in a shape of stars/flowers and decorate the centre with dried fruits.
11. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes to get the butter firm up a little bit.
12. Preheat the oven for 300 F
13. Bake in the middle rack for 15-20 minutes depending on the size of your cookies, until the middle is completely dry. Note: this is not the gooey kind of cookie, in order for you to taste the crackly cheese, the tapioca batter needs to be completely cooked
14. Let it cool down and store in an airtight container. Cookies are good for at least a month.