Cookies from The Gourmet Cookbook by Ruth Reichl

Starting from the top, clockwise: Mexican Chocolate (not from Gourmet-- that's actually a recipe I sort of invented, you can find it here), Tiny Chocolate Chip Cookies, Brown Sugar-Ginger Crisps, and lastly Anise-Scented Fig and Date Swirls.

The Tiny Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe was (not surprisingly) very easy to make. These little babies are suuuuuper tasty. Tastier than regular chocolate chip cookies... I think it has something to do with the extra saltiness. I love, love, LOVE this recipe. I dream about a cereal bowl full of these cookies and a pint of 2% milk. Does "Cookie Crisp" ring a bell? Well this is that stuff... but, you know, ten billion times better!

The Brown Sugar-Ginger Crisps were also easy to make. I can think of several different flavors of sorbet and ice cream that I would like to see these cookies on top of: lemon, lime, honey, cinnamon, chocolate, pear, scallion... ;) Here is the recipe.

The Anise-Scented Fig and Date Swirls were a bit more of a nuisance, shall we say. Any rolled cookie that needs to be sliced at 1/3 of an inch thick is a pain in the rear, I don't care how chilled your dough is. I recommend using dental floss, as you would with cinnamon rolls. Do this as quickly as your can. I'm sure there is a better way of doing it but I'm an amateur, and this way worked really well for me. Any suggestions for technique are greatly appreciated! Also, I don't recommend wrapping the dough in wax paper to roll. I actually had better luck with plastic wrap, rolling on a granite counter top. The wax paper tore as I rolled the dough and I was not a happy camper. But these cookies look cool and they taste great too, kind of like a sophisticated Fig Newton.

Daring Baker's January 2009 Challenge: Tuiles

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Baking Soda and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf.
They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.


I used the recipe from The Chocolate Book:

Recipe: Yields: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example) Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch 65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft) 60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar 1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract) 2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork) 65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces sifted all purpose flour 1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice Butter/spray to grease baking sheet Oven: 180C / 350F Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly. Bake butterflies in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from bakingsheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. (Haven’t tried that). Or: place a bakingsheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable. If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones….

Obviously I didn't make the butterflies. Instead I made a tuile cup and filled it with coconut ice cream, topped with toasted sweetened coconut and drizzled with honey. Oh, and by the way, the practically neon pink cookie was made by taking a few tablespoons of batter and mixing with a few drops of red food coloring. Yes, it is shockingly pink. Not exactly my intention, but what the heck. I need to tackle this recipe again because my cookies came out really bubbly... probably because I got a little too happy with the Kitchenaid.
The tuiles are easy to shape. I made a stencil out of thin cardboard and spread the batter with an offset spatula:




I baked three at a a time. When I took them out of the oven, I scraped them off the parchment-covered baking sheet CAREFULLY with the spatula and draped them over upside down juice glasses. To make a big enough cup for a scoop of ice cream you need to make them at least 5 inches in diameter.
This recipe is delicious!! The tuiles themselves are so so yummy and vanilla-y, you will enjoy them without any extras.

Oatmeal CRAIsin Cookies

Raisins are tired boring old things. Enter the magical, plump, colorful CRAISIN!
As if craisins are something new and unusual. On the contrary, Native Americans gathered cranberries for food a very long time ago, and cranberries made a great (I suppose) addition to something called pemmican, a mixture of animal fat and dried meat. Pemmican was used for centuries as an emergency food. Sir Ernest Shackelton's men survived on pemmican for quite some time on during their 1914 epic voyage/distaster tour of the Antarctic. But I have no idea whether or not their pemmican contained cranberries, and pemmican is a far cry from delicious cookies! Sorry forthis disgusting detour. Back to cookies...

This recipe is based on the Cook's Illustrated Best Light Recipe recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies. Yes, it is a light recipe, which leads you to believe, this could either be a miracle: tasty and low calorie, or: a sad, carboardesque excuse for a cookie.
I added walnunts to this batch, but they still have fewer calories than a standard oatmeal rasin cookie recipe that may contain up to 2 sticks of butter. Trust me, they are soft, chewy and delicious!!

Yield 2 doz.


Ingredients:

1 c. old fashioned rolled oats
3/4 c. all purpose flour
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 stick of melted butter, cooled
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c packed brown sugar (light or dark, I used light)
1/2 c craisins
1/3 c chopped walnuts, lightly toasted

Directions:

Adjust oven racks to middle and upper middle or upper, just make sure you don't have one on the bottom. Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 baking sheets w/ parchment paper.
Whisk flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine brown sugar and melted butter, beat until it begins to become lighter in color and is well combined.
Ad egg and vanilla, mix on medium speed until well-incorporated. Turn mixer to low and gradually add dry ingredients. Lastly, add craisins and walnuts.
Drop on cookie sheets using small scoop. You should have abougt 12 on each sheet. Bake 11-13 mins, or until cookies begin to lightly brown on edges.

Xmas / Holiday Cookies

Seasons Greetings...




Raspberry Jam Cookies







Left to Right: Coconut vanilla cookies, Raspberry Jam cookie, Chocolate Hazelnut cookie, Double Chocolate cookie sandwiches.


Yep, it's that time of year again! Bust out your cookie cutters and rolling pins. Spread cheer to your friends and neighbors in the form of butter cookies and drippings of chocolate and white vanilla glaze!
Cut-out cookies can be finicky. If the dough gets too soft or too dry you're in trouble. Either your cookies will be poorly shaped or the dough won't hold together when you roll it out. I used (of course), the America's test kitchen butter cookie recipe for these cookies. Don't trust any other recipe for something as technical as christmas cookies! You want a butter cookie recipe that has been tested over and over again. The only advice I can give when using this recipe is that if you have granite countertops, do not sandwich the dough between two pieces of parchment paper as directed. It will slide efverywhere and you will feel like a total baking reject! Instead use plastic wrap.
Make whatever fillings you want. The Baking Illustrated cookbook has recipes for things like vanilla glaze and coconut lime. I used nutella and toasted hazelnuts. Go wild! Go crazy! Happy Holidays. :)

Way Better than a Reeses...

Baking Illustrated's Chocolate Icebox cookie recipe w/ Peanut Butter filling...





Let's face it. Either you love peanut butter or you hate it. Australians hate peanut butter, but I'm not about to make a Chocolate Vegamite sandwich cookie.
This recipe is a cinch. Make the dough, roll it into logs, refrigerate it, take it out whenever you feel inclined, slice and bake.

Dark Chocolate Explosion Cookies- for the True Chocaholic!!

An Evie's Kitchen original...




Ingredients:

2 c bread flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 c cocoa powder
2 sticks melted butter
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 c light brown sugar
1 egg + 1 yolk
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp instant coffee
8 oz bittersweet chocolate (I recommend 2 x 4 oz bars of Ghirardelli 60% cacao)
4 oz semisweet chocolate (again, a 4 oz bar of Ghirardelli)

Directions:

Finely chop 4 oz bittersweet and 4 oz semisweet chocolate as shown. Set aside.




Break remaining 4 oz bar of bittersweet chocolate into about 20 pieces. This will be used as molten chocolate centers later.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugars in a standing mixer. Add egg, yolk, vanilla, milk and instant coffee. Slowly add dry ingredients. Add the 8 oz finely chopped bittersweet and semisweet chocolate.
Refrigerate dough for at least 20 mins to chill. Meanwhile preheat oven to 350 and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Remove dough from refrigerator, scoop out 8-10 cookies on each sheet. Flatten gently and place a small square of chocolate in the middle as shown:



Then place another flattened dough ball on top of that, press gently so they stick together:




Press each cookie in a small dish of granulated sugar if desired to coat the cookie tops. Bake at 350 for 12-15 mins until tops look dry and slightly cracked.
Serve warm, or allow to cool and store in tupper ware at room temp, but microwave at medium power for 20 seconds before eating to enjoy the molten centers!

Guava Coconut Cookies

Guava and coconut are both cultivated throughout the tropics. What grows together goes together so I tried this flavor combination in a cookie and the results were tantalizing. Besides, I had to figure out how to use that random jar of guava jelly taking up space between the soy sauce and blue cheese dressing in the door of my fridge!
Another variation on ATK's Baking Illustrated sugar cookie recipe...

Ingredients:

2 c flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks butter, softened
1 c granulated sugar
1 Tbsp light brown sugar
1 egg + 1 yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup toasted sweetened coconut
1 jar of guava jelly, such as Goya brand, sold in most supermarkets


Directions:

Toast coconut: spread coconut in an even layer on a baking sheet and place in oven at 375 for 1-2 mins, shake pan and toast 1 min longer until coconut is light brown. BE CAREFUL NOT TO LET IT BURN.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
In a standing mixer, cream the butter and the sugars. Add egg and vanilla.
Slowly add dry ingredients to combine.
Add coconut until combined.
Using small ice cream scoop, scoop onto 2 cookie sheets covered in parchment paper.
Bake at 375 for 12-15 mins.
Meanwhile, have jar of guava jelly ready.
Remove cookies from oven, immediately press each cookie gently with the back of a spoon to make indentations. Spoon 1-2 tsp jelly into each indentation. Transfer to wire rack and allow to cool.

Earl Grey Cookies Dipped in Dark Chocolate

Ingredients:

2 heaping Tbsp loose Early Grey tea (about 6 teabags)



2 1/2 c all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c granulated sugar
2 sticks of butter, cut into 16 pieces
2 tsp apple juice or apple cider
2 Tbsp cream cheese

For chocolate glaze:

4 oz bar of bittersweet chocolate, broken up into several small pieces.
1 Tbsp corn syrup
1 Tbsp butter

Directions:

Put sugar and loose tea in food processor, process until tea leaves begin to become powdery, about 3 mins.



Add flour and salt, process x 10 pulses.
Add butter, 1-2 pieces at a time. Add cream cheese and cider, pulse in food processor a few more times until larger globs of dough begin to form and dough becomes well blended.
Turn out dough onto counter top and knead into smooth dough, shape into 2 discs, 4" diameter each. Wrap in plastic and place in fridge for at least 1 hr.
* you can use a standing mixer when you add the cider and cream cheese



Preheat oven to 375. Cover two baking sheets in parchment paper. Roll dough on floured surface x 1/8 inch thick. Use cookies cutters to cut as many cookies as possible and reform extra dough trimmings into a thick disc and roll out again to form more cookies. Repeat up to 3 times. Transfer cookie dough to sheets using a metal spatula.

Bake x 10 mins.

Remove from oven and carefully slide paper with cookies to wire cooling rack.

Meanwhile, place chocolate, butter, and corn syrup in double boiler and melt over low heat, stirring often. Decorate cookies with chocolate glaze while it is still warm and liquid. Allow to cool.

Chewy Chai Tea Cookies

Again I used my favorite sugar cookie recipe... from America's Test Kitchen... a very versatile sugar cookie recipe guaranteed to yield good results. I checked on the contents of "chai tea," came up with a spice blend...

Ingredients:

2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cardammom
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cinammon
2 tea bags of black tea (English Breakfast or Irish) cut open tea bags and grind leaves into a fine powder in a coffee grinder

1 c granulated sugar + 1/4 c more to coat outside of cookies
1 egg
2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla extract


Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, spices, and ground tea leaves.
In an electric mixer, beat together sugar and butter. Add egg and vanilla. Beat until well incorporated.
Gradually add dry ingredients.
Set aside a small dish with about 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Scoop dough balls out with a small ice cream scoop and roll each one in sugar to coat and place on baking sheet.
Press each ball flat with the bottom of a drinking glass or measuring cup coated with cooking spray.
Bake for 10 mins.

Comments:
Everyone agreed that these cookies really do taste like chai tea! A plus: they are soft and chewy, my favorite kind of cookie!!!

Lemon Pinenut Anisettes

*ATK's recipe for sugar cookies with some additions. Also, these can be made without the anise, as plain lemon pine nut cookies.



Ingredients:

2 c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 c granulated sugar + at least 1/2 c for coating cookies
1 egg
grated zest from 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c pine nuts + 1 T for decorating
1/2 tsp anise extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.
Toast pine nuts in a small pan on medium heat until lightly browned and fragrant, a few minutes.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add egg, vanilla, and 3/4 tsp of lemon zest. Beat on medium speed until well combined.
On low speed, add dry ingredients, mix until well combined and add pine nuts.
Make sugar coating: In a small dish, combine 1/2 tsp of anise extract and 1/2 c sugar. Add more anise if stronger flavor is desired.
With a small ice cream scoop or two spoons, scoop small balls of dough and round them with your hands. Roll each dough ball in sugar to coat and place on cookie sheets covered in parchment paper.
Butter the bottom of a drinking glass or 1/4 measuring cup. Press the center of each dough ball to flatten slightly. Press pine nuts into top of cookies.
Bake for 10 minutes.

Cashew Cookies with Ginger Honey Glaze

I revisited the cashew honey milk chocolate idea. It is based on a peanut butter cookie recipe from the Best Recipes (America's Test Kitchen) and I made a honey ginger glaze, which pairs very well with this cookie.
It also works well with milk chocolate chips... add 1 1/2 - 2 c of milk chocolate chips to the recipe if you want it to be chocolaty!


Ingredients:

2 + 1/2 c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks butter, softened
1 c brown sugar
1 granulated sugar
1 c cashew butter (easy to find in health food aisle of grocery store)
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c finely chopped cashews, toasted, cooled to room temp*
1/4 c honey
1 tsp grated fresh ginger

*to prepare the cashews, spread on baking sheet and toast whole cashews for 4 minutes at 350 degrees, then grind in a nut grinder or food processor

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda and cooled nuts.
In an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars together. Add vanilla and eggs. Add cashew butter. Slowly add dry ingredients. Drop onto parchment lined baking sheet with small ice cream scoop. press tops with fork in a criss cross pattern.
Bake for 10 mins, or until golden brown around edges.
Meanwhile, heat honey and ginger together in small saucepan until bubbling.
Dip cookies face first in honey glaze.

Cardamom Pistachio Coconut Cookies

Soft aromatic cookies...

Ingredients:

2c + 2Tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 heaping tsp cardamom

1 + 3/4 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled to luke warm
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 egg + 1 yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract


1 c toasted sweetened coconut
1 c toasted chopped pistachio nuts



To toast coconut, spread on baking sheet and bake at 350 for 3-4 mins, or until light brown.
To toast nuts, bake at 350 for 5 mins, or until fragrant. Toast separately.

Directions:

Toast coconut and pistachio nuts. Melt butter. Preheat oven to 325.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and cardamom.
In an electric mixer, beat sugars and melted butter together. Add egg, extra yolk, and vanilla.
Slowly incorporate dry ingredients and mix until smooth.
Add coconut and pistachios.

Bake at 325 for 15 minutes.

Gingered Sugar Cookies

This is a variation on the Sugar Cookie recipe in the Best Recipes Cookbook from America's Test Kitchen.

Ingredients:

2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks butter, softened
1 c granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract

For the sugar coating:

1 c granulated sugar
2-4 tsp grated fresh ginger
*depending on how flavorful your ginger is, you may need to adjust the amount of ginger.


Directions:

Preheat oven to 375
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. In an electric mixer, cream sugar and butter together. Add egg and vanilla.
On low speed, slowly incorporate flour mixture into wet ingredients.
In a shallow baking dish, stir together ginger and flour.
Scoop dough balls with ice cream scoop and coat with ginger sugar. Place at least 1 " apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
Rub butter onto bottom of drinking glass or measuring cup. Press each cookie down to flatten slightly. Dip bottom of glass into ginger sugar mixture before pressing cookies.

Bake at 375 for 10 mins.

Cherry White Chocolate Almond Cookies

Ingredients:

2c + 2 Tbs all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1 & 1/2 sticks of butter, melted and cooled to room temp
1 c brown sugar
1/2 granulated sugar
1 egg + 1 yolk
2 tsp almond extract

1/2 c white chocolate chips
3/4 c toasted almonds*
1 cup chopped dried cherries (easily found at natural food stores)
*to toast almonds, spread on baking sheet and bake at 375 for 4-5 mins or until browned and fragrant


Directions:
Preheat oven to 325.
In electric mixer, beat together sugars and melted butter. Add egg and almond extract. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
On low speed, slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.
With small ice cream scoop, scoop about 2T each on parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
Bake for 14- 17 mins or until edges of cookies slightly browned.

Velvety Mexican Chocolate Cookies

Hot & Spicy Chocolate cookies... will be featured on the Bake Guru Application for iPhone/iPod Touch


Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cayenne
3/4 tsp cinnamon

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 sticks of melted butter, cooled to luke warm or room temperature
1 egg + 1 yolk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For Chocolate Glaze:
4 oz bittersweet chocolate
4 T butter
2 T light corn syrup

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325. Melt butter and allow to cool to about room temperature.
Meanwhile, whisk together flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, cayenne and cinnamon.
In electric mixer, combine melted butter and sugars. Beat until well incorporated. Add egg and vanilla and mix thoroughly.

On low speed, slowly add dry ingredients. With small ice cream scoop, scoop 2T dough each on ungreased cookie sheets. Covering the baking sheets with parchment paper yields the best results.
Bake for 15 mins or until cookies appear dry and cracked on top.

Make the glaze:

In a double boiler, combine chocolate, butter, and corn syrup. Over low to medium heat, stir until completely melted and combined.
While glaze is still very liquid, drizzle over cookies with a small metal spoon. If glaze begins to harden, simply microwave it on low heat for a minute or two.

Coconut Lime Shortbread Stars

Ingredients:

2 sticks of butter, softened
1 c superfine sugar*
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lime zest
2 & 1/2 c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 c toasted sweetened coconut + 1 c for dusting*

*you can make superfine sugar by putting it in a food processor for 30 seconds. To make toasted coconut, spread coconut on baking sheet and bake for 5 mins at 350.

Ingredients For glaze:

1 cup sugar
6-8 tsp key lime juice (you can use regular lime juice but key lime juice yields the best flavor).
1-2 tsp water

Directions:

In a separate bowl, mix flour and salt. In an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Add egg, vanilla, and lime zest. On low speed, slowly add dry ingredients.
Add toasted coconut and mix throughly.
Refrigerate dough for a few hours until firm, or put in freezer for about 1 hr.

Roll dough to 1/8 inch thick. Make cookie cutouts and place on baking sheet. Knead together dough scraps and repeat.
Bake at 375 for 5-7 mins.

As cookies cool, make glaze:
In a small saucepan, stir together water, lime juice, and sugar. Stir over low heat until it reaches a syrup-like consistency.
Allow to cool for 10 mins.
Put remaining coconut in pie pan.
Dip cookies face down in glaze then press into coconut.

Honey Cashew Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups + 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 and 1/2 sticks of butter, melted and cooled to about room temperature
1 egg + 1 yolk
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/3 c cashew butter
1 and 1/2 cups of milk chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla extract
*3/4 cup of toasted chopped cashew nuts

*grind nuts in a food processor and spread on cookie sheet. bake for 3-4 mins at 325 degrees, or until slightly browned and fragrant

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325.
Mix together flour, baking soda, and salt. Cream butter and sugars together in an electric mixer. Add egg, honey, cashew butter and vanilla extract. Slowly add flour mixture.
Add milk chocolate chips and cashews.
Using small ice cream scoop or 2 spoons, spoon dough balls on ungreased cookie sheets. (cookie sheet covered in parchment paper works best). Place on middle and top rack of oven and bake for 15 mins.