Archive | cookie RSS feed for this section

Lemon Cornmeal Biscotti with Cranberries and Walnuts

28 Dec

These cookies are addicting. No matter how hard you try, you simply cannot just have one. I think it is impossible.

I call them biscotti but they are softer and chewier than the typical hard and crumbly biscotti. Whatever the name, these little guys are so so so so so darn good! I believe that this may be my favorite type of cookie batter to lick the bowl with. Mmm, so buttery and lemony and comforting!


And using my new KitchenAid mixer makes everything so much easier; I can just plop my ingredients in the mixer and it does all the work for me.

This recipe makes a LOT of biscotti, I was overwhelmed and froze half of the cookies for my family to eat when I go back at school.

Here is a link to an interesting article about twice-baked cookies, mandelbrot vs. biscotti.

With a twice-baked cookie, you first make your dough, roll it out into several long logs, bake, slice, and bake again.


I chose to add lemon zest, walnuts, and cranberries (I added golden raisins and dried blueberries, too!), but feel free to add in whatever you like: chocolate chips, pistachios, hazelnuts…

I also really like the texture that the cornmeal lends to the cookie. Soft, chewy, with a little added cornmeal crunch! Very nice.

Lemon Cornmeal Biscotti with Cranberries and Walnuts

makes a LOT of cookies, I would guess about 6 dozen

2 sticks cold butter, cubed
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon baking powder
4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups cornmeal

zest of 2 lemons
dried fruit combo, about 1 cup
toasted nuts, about 1 cup

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and sugar unitl nice and smoothe and fluffy. Add your eggs one at a time.

Combine the rest of your dry ingredients and add them to your butter, sugar, egg mixture. Stir in the lemon zest, dried fruit, and nuts.

Divide the dough into 6 even pieces. Lightly flour a clean surface and roll each piece into a nice, even log. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (I ran out of parchment so I just lightly greased the cookie sheet).

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 25 minutes, rotating the baking sheets at least once. Take the logs out of the oven and let them cool for about 5 minutes. Using a serated knife, slice your logs into individual cookies and place the cookies cut side down. Bake for another 15 minutes or so, you will have to watch them.

This make a LOT of cookies, which are great for freezing, storing, or giving as gifts!

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

23 Dec

I am now the proud owner of a Candy Apple Red 90th Anniversary Kitchen Aid Standing Mixer with a glass bowl.


Beautiful. This is my baby.


I had to make SOMETHING immediately after I brought my baby home. First, I made tart dough. Then I stuck that in the freezer to use later in the week.

Then I made these chocolate crackle cookies from Alice Waters’ The Art of Simple Food.


Ok, so at first, I was not happy with the outcome of these cookies; they were super cute but I felt like they were lacking something in taste, and I could not pinpoint what it was. At first, I thought maybe they were too rich?…or maybe the ground almonds, which my cousin mistook for coconut, gave these cookies a funky texture?

I mean, these cute little guys are made with only good things—dark chocolate, cognac (a variety of brandy), ground almonds…and they only have 3 tablespoons of butter! But, sadly, I was not that impressed. They are not necessarily bad, but I thought they were nothing worth swooning over.

So it has been a few days now and I figured I would give these cookies another shot. Well, actually I brought my friends a few samples to snack on and I was very afraid of what they would say, but to my surprise, yes, they were swooning: “Oh my, Stephanie! These taste like little petit fours, like chocolate truffles, like little baby cake bites!”

Really guys? Ok fine, I’ll give them another taste. As I bit into a 4-day-old chocolate crackle cookie, yes, holy heck, these were sooooo yummy! My friends were right, these DO taste like a little truffle cake bite! A few days ago, I thought they were too rich. Now, I think they could be even richer!


I guess these cookies/petit fours/truffle bites taste better as they age. Make them, taste them, let them sit a few days, taste them again. Really, you will taste a difference!

I think next time I make these, I will futz with the recipe a bit…I definitely think that a few pinches of salt and some vanilla extract will benefit, as well as a bit of good quality cocoa powder. Adding in some coffee or experimenting with another kind of extract (mint…?) might be fun, too! Also, maybe next time I might nix the ground almonds and just use more flour? This is the beauty (or for some people, the stressor) about cooking and baking–nothing is ever constant!

Chocolate Crackle Cookies
From The Art of Simple Food

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Pulverize in a food processor:
1 cup almonds, toasted
2 Tablespoons sugar

Put them in a bowl, and combine with:
½ cup flour
½ teaspoon baking powder

Melt in a heat-proof bowl over simmering water:
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used Ghirardelli)
3 Tablespoons butter

Stir in:
1 ½ Tablespoons brandy (I used cognac, and had a few sips for myself but boy, is that stuff STRONG!!)

Set the mixture aside off the heat. Whisk together:
2 eggs, at room temperature
¼ cup sugar

Continue whisking until the mixture forms a ribbon, about 5-7 minutes. Stir in the melted chocolate and the almond and flour mixture. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours or until firm (I just chilled mine overnight).

Before baking, preheat the oven to 325°F. Fill a small bowl with:
Granulated sugar

Fill another small bowl with:
Sifted powdered sugar

Roll the cookie dough into 1-inch balls. Roll a few at a time in the granulated sugar to coat them, then roll them in the powdered sugar.

Set them on parchment-lined baking sheets 1 inch apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Midway through baking, rotate the baking sheets for even baking. When the cookies are done they will have cracks in their white shells and they will be firm on the edges, but still soft in the center. Do not overbake.

>Magnolia Bakery’s Peanut Butter Cookies, Veganized

4 Dec

>
As a devout fan of Sex and the City, when I went to New York a few years ago, I signed myself up to go on the official Sex and the City tour of New York City. Yes, it was amazing, pretty much everything I could ask for.

A huge bus filled with crazy fans like myself. There were young women, grandmothers, sisters, best friends, even mom and kids, boyfriend and girlfriend, people visiting from all over the world.

We stopped at the Pleasure Chest where Charlotte bought her “rabbit,” we drank cosmopolitans at a speak easy, we stopped by Miranda’s gym, Samantha’s place in the meat-packing district, the church where Miranda and Steve get married, the restaurant where Carrie went to meet Aidan’s parents…

Two of my favorite stops were at 1. Carrie’s stoop…


and 2. Magnolia Bakery.

Oh, the famous Magnolia Bakery. This is where the cupcake craze all began (at least in my book). Man oh man oh man. I want to go back there soooo bad! Let’s go to NYC right now ok?

I must go back to this cute Greenwich Village bakery and try something other than their cupcakes! The quaint little store is just filled with glorious cakes and cookies and confections!

I made their peanut butter cookies for my house mates. I made them vegan. You do not need to make them vegan (just use real butter and a real egg). These peanut butter cookies are so good, and I ate so much batter it’s ridiculous.

Chewy and peanut buttery with little surprises of cranberries and chocolate= LOVE!


I actually put whole peanuts in these cookies as well…next time I think I may omit them…they kind of just fell out and were not what I was looking for…

Another NYC hot spot that I have been dreaming about is Serendipity. Let’s go get some $9 frozen hot chocolate, shall we?

Magnolia Bakery’s Peanut Butter Cookies, veganized
adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup earth balance butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter at room temperature (smooth is what we used, but I am pretty sure they use chunky at the bakery)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 Ener-G egg replacer equivalent of an egg, at room temperature
1 tablespoon soymilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chocolate chips

For sprinkling: 1 tablespoon sugar, regular or superfine

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour, the baking soda, the baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, beat the earth balance butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the “egg” and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in the cranberries and chocolate chips.

3. Place sprinkling sugar — the remaining tablespoon — on a plate. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls into the sugar, then onto ungreased cookie sheets (I lined my sheets with parchment paper), leaving several inches between for expansion. Using a fork, lightly indent with a crisss-cross pattern.


4. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. Cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not.

Homemade Oreos

23 Nov

It was a lazy Friday afternoon. I was up at 6 am to go to work. I came home with the intention of going to class but due to the crumby weather and my lack of sleep from the night before, I chose to snuggle up with my temperpedic bed instead. Oh so comfy!

A few hours later, I awoke with a hankering to make oreos. Yes, oreos.


Oreos have been on my mind lately. My boss made them a few times at work, she even made an orange colored filling for Halloween. Too cute!

Warning, I shoved two big oreos in my mouth on my way out to ballet rehearsal. Do not do this. Tummy ache + having to jump and turn and look pretty and graceful= bad combo.

There are many ways to approach the dough. I used a food processor, but using a kitchen aid would be nice if you own one, and making the dough by hand is also easy.


Deb from smittenkitchen told me to drop the dough by teaspoonful onto a cookie sheet and then gently press down to flatten. A small melon-baller/ice cream scoop works well. I decided to roll out my dough and cut it into small circular shapes (due to lack of a cookie cutter, I used a shot glass instead). My boss told me that sometimes she will roll the dough into a log, refrigerate it, and then just slice and bake. The world is your oyster people so just experiment and find your method of choice.

Oh, yes, and to pipe the frosting between the cookies, I used a ziplock baggie and cut off a tiny piece from one end, scooped my filling in, and squeezed it out. You can use a pastry bag if you own one, or just a knife or a spoon, or your fingers…

Have fun!


Homemade Oreos
Adapted from SmittenKitchen

Makes 25 to 30 sandwich cookies

For the chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar [or less if you like your cookie less sweet]
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

For the filling:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups (sifted) confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
a few drops of water

  1. Preheat to 375°F.
  2. In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, or by hand, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
  3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. OR: Roll out your dough and use a small cookie cutter to cut into circular shapes. OR: Use the log method. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.
  4. To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
  5. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie (OR: use the ziplock baggie method or just spread the cream around with a knife). Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.
  6. Dunk generously in a large glass of milk. I also like to split my oreo in half and lick out the filling! Mmm.

>Chocolate and PEPPER Cookies

25 Oct

>
My roommate’s last name is Pepper. In honor of his birthday, I made “chocolate and pepper” cookies.

Yes, that is right, pepper. Black pepper—as in the thing you usually associate with salt. Pepper, as in cayenne pepper, the red spice where a little goes a long way. Yes, pepper, as in chocolate and pepper, together, baked in a cookie.


This particular cookie recipe comes from a darling little cookbook that I bought for $5 at a half-price bookstore. Great find. It is called Cookies: Irresistible recipes for cookies, bars, squares, and slices by Pippa Cuthbert and Lindsay Cameron Wilson. I got sucked into buying the book due to the pictures and cuteness of all the cookies.

There is really something about a good, crumbly butter cookie that just falls apart on your tongue, slowly melting, the flavor lingering in your mouth, clinging to your taste buds.


These chocolate and pepper cookies only call for a touch of black pepper and a pinch of cayenne. When you first take a bite, you can really taste the chocolaty buttery goodness; it reminds me a bit of chocolate mousse, only in cookie form…Swallow. Wait a second. Ok, right there. Whew. Spicy. As JoytheBaker always says, “Hot Dang! These are good!”

Paired with some milky Mexican hot chocolate or coffee, mmm mmm mmm! ¡Ay, caramba!

Now I will leave you with a great quote that sums up my weekend pretty nicely:
“Good conversation is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.”

–Anne Morrow Lindbergh


Chocolate and Pepper Cookies
Adapted from Cookies

Makes about 20-30 (depending on how thick you slice them and how much batter you eat!!)

**Note: scant means that you do not have to be super exact. No need to level off with a knife; you want it to slightly overflow over the top of the cup measurer.

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
¾ cup confectioners (aka powdered) sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
scant 2 cups all purpose flour
scant ½ cup cocoa powder
½ tsp freshly ground pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

optional: 2-3 Tbsp demerara sugar, for rolling (I opted out of doing this step but it would have added a nice yummy texture…)

Directions:

• Cream the butter and confectioners sugar for 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy. (I just used a fork to mix it all up). Add the vanilla extract and beat until smooth.

• Sift the flour, cocoa powder, black pepper, and cayenne together. Add to the butter mixture and stir until smooth.

• Tip the dough onto a work surface and shape into a log (they suggested a 6 inch long log, mine was much long, it just depends on your preference—bigger thinner cookies or smaller fatter ones…).

• Roll the log in demerara sugar, if using, pressing gently so the sugar will adhere. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for about 1 hour. **Alternatively, tightly wrap the dough in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost in the refrigerator before slicing and baking.

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or lightly grease.

• Slice the log into ¼ inch thick slices (mine were more like ½ inch slices…). Place on the baking sheets and bake for 12-15 minutes. Allow to cool.

Can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →