One Post, Two Cookies!

I didn't know which of these two types of cookie I wanted to talk about more today, so I just decided to do a two for one today and talk about both! Each cookie is delicious in its own way; your preference would probably be dictated by what kind of mood you're in, or if you prefer chocolate and nutty to smooth and full of cinnamon.

The first cookie, the Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie, is actually adapted from a Cat Cora cookie recipe. Hers is called the Peanutter Cookie, and is made with crunchy peanut butter and salted cocktail peanuts. That sounds amazing, naturally, but I thought I'd try an almond butter variation. I swapped smooth almond butter for the peanut butter, and threw in raw almonds in place of the peanuts. These were super delish! I wouldn't go so far as to say they are healthy cookies, but they certainly did taste a little less guilty than the peanut butter counterpart would. The almond butter is a much more subtle flavor than peanut butter, so the chocolate and chopped nuts really have a chance to shine through. I also added a bit of ground cinnamon, as I think this enhanced the overall taste.

The Snickerdoodle cookies I made are oldies but goodies. I make these at Christmas time each year, and since they are among my son's favorite treats I thought it would be nice to make them for his birthday party. I learned something about cream of tartar that I never knew before. I was confused by the lack of it in this version of the Snickerdoodle recipe (from Martha Stewart). I always associated cream of tartar with this cookie, but it turns out that you only need it if you are using baking soda as the leavener. If you use baking powder, on the other hand, the cream of tartar becomes unnecessary. It has something to do with the chemical reactions, etc. needed to make the cookie rise enough. So, I learned something new while baking these cookies!

Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from Cat Cora's Classics with a Twist
makes 36 cookies

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. kosher salt
12 Tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup almond butter, crunchy or smooth (or crunchy/smooth peanut butter)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, preferably 3/4 cup each milk chocolate and semisweet
1 cup coarsely chopped raw almonds (or salted cocktail peanuts)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Position the oven racks in the middle and upper third. Spray two baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray or line with parchment paper.

2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Beat the butter, almond butter, both sugars, and vanilla extract in a large bowl until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. On low speed, add the flour mixture in two batches, beating after each addition. When all the dry ingredients have been beaten in, stir in the chocolate chips and chopped almonds with a wooden spoon.

3. Drop the dough by rounded teaspoons onto the baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 11 to 12 minutes, switching the baking sheets halfway through the baking time and rotating them 180 degrees, until the cookies are light golden. Let them sit on the baking sheets for a minute, then transfer to a rack to cool. Cookies will keep for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container.


Snickerdoodles
adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies
makes 18-20 large cookies

Ingredients
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups plus 2 Tbsp. sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Put butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.

2. Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 Tbsp. sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into large balls, using a large cookie scoop. Roll in cinnamon sugar. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

3. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks for about 5 minutes before transferring to the racks to cool completely. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 3 days.

S'more Macarons

Happy Fourth of July! I figured it would be fun to share these S'more Macarons with you today, since this particular holiday is a perfect barbecue holiday. And what better treat to top off a barbecue with than a s'more? You know what I'm talking about. Just before you retire the grill after an evening of cooking up burgers and hot dogs, you toast up a bunch of marshmallows and smash them between some graham crackers and chocolate. Mmm!



Now, I have a confession to make here. These macarons did not come easily for me. I managed to get them to turn out looking relatively pretty in the end, and they tasted really, really awesome! But for some reason I have not been able to make them as well as I did the very first time, which was about a year ago. Maybe it was beginners' luck; maybe I got overly confident after that and just assumed that I'd always be able to turn out lovely-looking macarons thereafter. I don't know, but I definitely have not duplicated my first success with them.



Last week, I made the above macarons; what a disaster those were! I think my problem was the almond flour I used. I had been storing it in the freezer (I'm not sure I should have been doing that in the first place), and recently our freezer had been left open too long one day and things started thawing out. I believe that some moisture may have gotten into the almond flour bag, and the excess moisture created a problem when I was making the macarons. The batter was incredibly runny; the macarons almost immediately began running into each other on the baking sheets! I decided to bake them anyway (because, really, why not?) and they still tasted okay. I knew that I needed to try again, though. My confidence was low, and I wanted another chance to redeem myself!



This time around, they turned out a lot better. Granted, the macarons were just a little bit too big, and the feet on the bottom of each shell ended up being pretty imperfect. They formed out on the sides, rather than underneath the shell. But the cookies taste wonderful, and the filling definitely works great and reminds you of a real s'more. I simply took some marshmallow fluff straight out of the jar, put a scoop on one macaron shell, then slapped some dark chocolate that had been melted down with butter on another macaron shell. Finally, I sandwiched the fluff half and the chocolate half, then put them in the fridge to help them set and the chcolate to harden back up. They're wonderfully soft and dreamy, but then the outer shell of the macaron gives it that little bit of crispiness that's such a great texture contrast. It may not be the traditional graham cracker/Hershey's combo you're used to, but it's a really fun spin on the old standard!





S'more Macarons
adapted from Tartelette
makes about 32 shells (for 16 sandwich cookies)

Ingredients
90 g. (about 3) egg whites, aged for at least 24 hours
110 g. blanched almond flour
200 g. confectioners' sugar, sifted
30 g. granulated sugar

Directions
1. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites until foamy. Slowly drizzle in the granulated sugar, then continue whipping the egg whites until you have achieved medium (floppy) peaks.

2. Meanwhile, sift together the almond flour and the confectioners' sugar, making sure to discard any larger bits of almond you may find. Add the almond flour mixture to the meringue. Begin folding the almond flour into the meringue quickly, taking care to slow down as the mass begins to come together. Continue to mix just until the mixture becomes uniform and slightly runny. When you lift up your spatula and allow a few drops to drip back into the bowl, it should run back into the mixture by the count of 5. The whole mixing stage should not exceed 50 strokes.

3. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats. Transfer the batter to a large pastry bag fitted with a large, plain tip. Squeeze as much air out of the bag as possible, then begin piping your macaron shells. Pipe small rounds (about 1.5 inches in diameter) onto the baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart.

4. Give each baking sheet a firm rap on the counter, to release any air bubbles. When the bubbles rise to the surface, you may pop them with a toothpick. Allow the unbaked macaron shells to sit on the counter at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour, to harden their outer shells.

5. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Bake each sheet, one at a time, for about 10-12 minutes, depending on their size. Allow them to cool on a rack before attempting to remove the shells from the parchment. Once they are cool, you may fill them.


S'more Filling

Ingredients
1 jar marshmallow fluff (you do not need the entire jar)
1.5 oz. dark chocolate chips
1/4 tsp. light corn syrup
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Directions
1. In a small saucepan, melt together the chocolate chips, corn syrup, and butter over low heat. Once melted, stir and allow to cool slightly before using.

2. To assemble the S'more Macarons, scoop about a teaspoon of marshmallow fluff onto one macaron shell. On a second shell, spread the chocolate mixture. Sandwich the two halves together, then repeat with the remaining shells. Refrigerate the macarons for at least 30 minutes to set them before serving. Leftover macarons can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Malted Buttercream Filling

Now that I've become familiar with malted milk powder as an ingredient in my baking (thanks to the Baked cookbooks!), I decided it was time to test it out in some whoopie pies. Why not, right? So I toyed with several different ideas, such as whether or not I should put the malt flavor into just the cookie shells themselves, the filling, or both. Finally, I settled on doing a basic chocolate whoopie pie shell with malted buttercream filling.



I can't really explain the deliciousness of these cookies to you. I think you just need to try it for yourself! The chocolate cookie part is pure comfort food, all soft and pillowy with a dark, not too sweet chocolate taste. Then, the malted buttercream offsets the dark chocolate with its sweet, unique flavor and perfect smoothness. It was love at first bite! The crowning touch was rolling the sides of the pies in crushed Whoppers candy. Heaven! I know it has been a while since I've made whoopie pies, but I plan on turning that around. I'm gonna be making them way more often from here on out. It's a tragedy, I tell ya, that I almost forgot just how great they could be!

Chocolate Whoopie Pies
adapted from Whoopie Pies
makes 48 cookies (24 sandwich cookies)

Ingredients
Nonstick cooking spray
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup natural, unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
4 Tbsp. vegetable shortening
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk
Malted Buttercream Filling (see below)
Whoppers candy, crushed (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a few baking sheets with parchment paper (or spray a whoopie pie pan with nonstick cooking spray). In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and shortening until uniform and creamy. Add in the brown sugar and beat well for another 3 minutes on medium, until everything is well-incorporated and the mixture is fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, and beat for another 2 minutes.

3. To the mixer, add half the flour mixture and half the milk; beat on low until incorporated. Repeat with the remaining flour and remaining milk and beat until combined.

4. Using a tablespoon (or a small ice cream or cookie scoop), drop batter onto cookie sheet, spacing drops two inches apart. Bake each sheet for about 10 minutes, rotating them halfway through. They are done when each pie springs back when touched lightly in the center. Cool the pies on baking sheets for five minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

5. Fill whoopie pies with Malted Buttercream Filling; recipe is below. Roll the sides of the filled pies in crushed Whoppers candy, if desired.


Malted Buttercream Filling
adapted from Whoopie Pies
makes enough to fill 24 small whoopie pies

Ingredients
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
3 Tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 Tbsp. malted milk powder (or you can use Ovaltine)

Directions
1. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the milk, vanilla, and malted milk powder. Continue to beat on medium speed for another 3-4 minutes. Use to fill chocolate whoopie pie shells; yum!

Baked Sunday Mornings: Cowboy Cookies

For this week's Baked Sunday Mornings, we got to make something we don't usually make for this group: cookies. Cowboy Cookies, to be exact. And I have to tell you, I was really excited for these cookies! Yet another play on sweet/salty flavor pairings, these are unique and delicious.



At first glance, these may just appear to be your standard, everyday chocolate chip cookies. No, sir, that would not be entirely accurate! In fact, these are chocolate chips cookies, but enhanced. They are enhanced with a heavy dose of oats and my personal new favorite cookie ingredient, salty pretzel sticks. This has to be one of the greatest ideas ever! I'm telling you, the first time you bite down on a bit of pretzel, it's a surprise. But it's an incredibly pleasant one. The crunch, the salt, the flavor; it all just works so well! If you are a fan of chocolate covered pretzels, consider this your cookie.

I love the addtion of the oats, too, although I would not have thought to put them in there if the Baked boys hadn't told me to. It's definitely not your grandma's oatmeal raisin cookie, that's for sure! In fact, I'm glad there are no raisins or nuts in these cookies, because neither are needed at all. This cookie is different, but familiar. It's indulgent, but hearty enough to seem at least a little bit good for you. I don't think I need to do any more convincing here; you just need to make them!

I'm eager to see if everybody else in the group were as blown away by these cookies as I was. I hope so! You can see all the yummy results over at the blogroll, here.

CEIMB Rewind: Breakfast Cookies

There won't be any post about Ellie's Muesli Parfaits today, unfortunately. Those parfaits were the assigned recipe for today, chosen by Sarah of Sarah's Kitchen Adventures for Craving Ellie in My Belly. However, I opted to do an Ellie rewind instead.

Why? Well, the main reason is because I really, really dislike yogurt, and that is one of the main ingredients in the Muesli Parfaits. And while I have been known to forge ahead and make recipe of Ellie's that I don't think I'll like, I had to take exception with this one. I wish I could like yogurt, but there just seems to be no getting around it. I could have made this recipe for my husband, but I had actually just made Ellie's Breakfast Cookies late last week, and it just felt like doing a rewind here would be a good way for me to blog about them.

These Breakfast Cookies were made all the way back in the first week of July of 2009, nearly two years ago! I was not yet part of the group, and may never have known about this cookies, since they are not found in either of Ellie's cookbooks. But I've seen them on Food Network's website and they are reviewed very well, so I wanted to give them a shot. Plus, I'm building up a small arsenal of portable baked goods that I can take on my upcoming trip to Disney World (whoo-hoo!), and these fit the bill nicely.

The ingredients list for these cookies is long, but the recipe itself is very simple to put together. The cookies are made from, among other things, whole wheat and all-purpose flour, rolled oats, bran cereal, raisins, and walnuts. I substituted pistachios for the walnuts, and Fiber One Bran Cereal for the bran flakes. Also, I had no carrot baby food, so I just used some unsweetened applesauce. The cookies turned out hearty, tender, and just sweet enough. I think maybe two of these could suffice for a nice breakfast; one may not be quite enough. Still, I am very excited to take these on my trip for quick morning fixes!

Thanks to Sarah for hosting this week, and I do apologize for not making these along with everybody. If you're curious about whether the other members of the group liked their parfaits, be sure to check out the blogroll, here!

Malted Milk Sandwich Cookies

These cookies, like so many things on this blog nowadays, come from the Baked Explorations cookbook. They occupy photograph space on the cover of the book, along with the Salt and Pepper Sandwich Cookies I made a few weeks back. As it turns out, I had a special request from somebody who had tried, and loved, those s&p cookies. She wanted a batch made for her, and of course I was more than willing to oblige. However, this now gave me the perfect opportunity to make the Malted Milk Sandwich Cookies as well, because they contain the very same filling. So, I decided to make a half batch of each type of cookie, and a full batch of the filling. Killing two culinary birds with one stone, my kind of project!

Since I had gone the lazy route with the s&p cookies, and shaped them into cookies rather than taking the time to use a cookie cutter, I figured I would do the same with the Malteds. Turns out, this dough was much easier to work with and lent itself beautifully to simply being shaped into a log. After I chilled the dough log, a knife went easily through it to make evenly sized and shaped cookies. And I didn't even have to frustrate myself by rolling out the dough! Making the filling was smooth sailing, since I'd already done it once before.



These cookies came out of the oven much softer, I thought, than the s&p cookies. Texturally, they almost reminded me of those oatmeal cream pies you can get at the grocery store. They were soft, but firm, and paired up magnificently with the filling. The flavor? They were delicious! The malt, to me, was not overwhelmingly noticeable, so I might actually consider adding more malt next time and reducing the flour a tad. It proved to be a very tasty variation of a vanilla sandwich cookie, sort of like a flatter vanilla whoopie pie. I froze this batch and have enjoyed taking them out for a nighttime snack when the urge strikes.

Best of all (again), the hubby has been proven wrong, or just plain silly. He snagged one of these when they had been freshly made, and commented that it was really good. Little did he know, there was some malt in there, and he says he can't stand malt! But now we know the truth; between these cookies and the Malted Crisp Tart, he's been found out. He doesn't even notice the malt and actually likes the taste of malted baked goods! So maybe I won't be serving him a malted milkshake anytime soon, but I can totally throw malt into my baking with nary a complaint!




Malted Milk Sandwich Cookies
from Baked Explorations
makes about 30 sandwich cookies

Ingredients
For the cookies:
4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup malt powder
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

For the filling:
5 oz. vegetable shortening, at room temperature
4 Tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small chunks, at room temperature
3 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp. light rum (I omitted and added an extra tsp. vanilla)

Directions
Make the cookies: 1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, malt, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. Add the sour cream and vanilla and beat until just incorporated. Add half of the dry ingredients all at once and beat for 15 seconds. Again, scrape down the bowl, then add the remaining dry ingredients and beat until just incorporated. The mixture should come together almost in a ball.

2. Shape the dough into two logs that are equal in length end to end,, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place one dough log on a lightly flour-dusted cutting board.

3. (Note: the Baked directions would now direct you to roll out the dough and cut it into circles with a cutter. I'm going to tell you what I did instead, because it really worked well for me!)Slice the dough log into 30 equal slices, and then ensure they are round by manipulating the edges with your fingertips, if necessary. Place on the parchment-lined baking sheet and press down very lightly. Repeat this step with the other dough log.

4. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they are just slightly browned. Place the baking sheets on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Use a spatula to transfer the cookies to the racks to cool completely. While the cookies cool, prepare the filling.

Make the vanilla filling: 1. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the shortening and butter until lump free and smooth. Add the sugar in three parts, mixing each part until just combined. Add the salt, vanilla, and rum (if using) and beat again for 10 seconds.

2. The filling should be thick but spreadable (like the inside of an Oreo). If it is too thick, add a drop or two of water as needed. Keep adding water to reach desired consistency, but do not add too much water or the filling will be too thin. Alternatively, if the mixture is too thin, add a few tablespoons of confectioners' sugar.

Assemble the Malted Milk Sandwich Cookies: 1. Use a pastry bag or a small spoon to apply about 2 Tbsp. of filling to the flat side of a cookie. Place another cookie, flat side down, on top. Press down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edges of the cookie. Repeat until all the sandwich cookies are made. Let them set up for about 15 minutes before serving. Store the cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days (they also freeze well).

Absinthe Macarons

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I wanted to make something green. Call me crazy, but I didn't really care what it was I made. It could have been just about anything, as long as it was bright green and festive-looking. I wanted to show my Irish spirit! And since I have been wanting to give macarons a second go (I attempted them for the first time back in July, with great success), I decided to kill two birds with one stone recently and make green macarons.



My husband is a fan of absinthe, or green fairy. It's a French liqueur, strong in fragrance and potent in its licorice-like flavor, known for supposedly causing hallucinations in people (such as artists) to enhance creativity. I don't care for it at all myself, but the hubby definitely has acquired a taste for it. He made a not-so-subtle request not long ago, telling me he would like me to create a dessert for him that incorporated absinthe as an ingredient. He did a bit of Internet research and found that somebody had made Absinthe Macarons.

The blog post he found about this, on Baker of Brighton, describes absinthe well and gives a bit of history on it. The recipe follows at the end of her post. I think she created the macaron recipe herself, and it's a great recipe. She utilizes ground anise seed in her macaron shells, for the abinsthe flavor (since both absinthe and anise have that distinctive licorice flavor). Then, she uses matcha powder (green tea powder) for the green absinthe color. For the filling, she whips up an absinthe swiss meringue buttercream, tinted green with food coloring.



I was very happy with the way my first tray of macaron shells turned out. I did everything exactly as I had before (with the exception of using pre-ground almond flour I bought from the store, rather than grinding my own almonds like I did last time). I folded my ingredients carefully and got the proper consistency. I allowed my shells to sit, unbaked, for over an hour to help develop their firm exterior. When I removed them from the oven, they looked gorgeous and I was thrilled with them. The problems really began when I baked my second full baking sheet. With those, the baking sheet was much larger and could hold many shells. I piped about 2 dozen macarons onto that sheet. When I went to check on them in the oven, they seemed to be taking a lot longer to bake. I was nervous and did not want to overbake, so I ended up taking them out of the oven too soon.

About 15 minutes later, I attempted to peel them off the parchment, and disaster struck. They wouldn't budge. The bottom part, or belly, of the shell was firmly stuck on the parchment. When I went to remove each one, the top of the shell would crack and basically crumble apart. They were so fragile, so delicate, that there really wasn't anything I could think to do to save them. In the end, I managed to salvage nearly 2 dozen shells total, which allowed me to make a dozen sandwich cookies. Not a total failure, but it left a lot to be desired. Fortunately, we didn't really want a huge batch of these lying around because Andy is the only one who would be eating them.

There's a few things I think I may have done wrong. The first and biggest is overloading the baking sheet. I read somewhere that this can create too much humidity in the oven. It could have been avoided by leaving the oven cracked while they baked, but I didn't know that beforehand. The next problem was that I tried to remove them from the parchment without giving them time to really, fully dry out. Because they were underbaked, it would have been helpful to leave them sitting out, undisturbed, overnight and then attempt to peel them from the parchment the next day. And finally, raising the oven's temperature a few degrees or allowing them to bake a few minutes longer might have salvaged things, too.



Now that I've troubleshooted (or is it troubleshot? I never know) what may have gone wrong, I'm eager to try again. I hope the third time I make macarons is a charm! But at least this time I did manage to put together enough macarons to make Andy happy. He loved them. He couldn't believe how much they really did taste like his favorite liqueur. The absinthe buttercream was pretty amazing, even if I did put a smidge too much green food coloring into it. It's justified, though. You can never have too much green on St. Patty's!

I like to use Tartelette's guide to macarons, which can be found here. The Baker of Brighton's take on Absinthe Macarons can be found here.

Baked Sunday Mornings: Salt and Pepper Sandwich Cookies

It's yet another Baked Sunday Morning, and I'm very proud to present this week's delicious baked good. Our assignment this time around was Salt and Pepper Sandwich Cookies, which hold the distinction of being half of the cookies on the book's cover (the other cookies on the cover are the Malted Milk Sandwich Cookies, which are on my to-do list!). The best description for these cookies is this: a grown-up Oreo. An Oreo that is made way more interesting with the addition of (hence the title) salt and pepper. Uh-huh, for real.



I must admit, I had pretty high hopes for this one. I do love playing with flavors, and I especially love sweet/salty combos and sweet/spicy combos. Since this one incorporates all of that, I thought I couldn't lose here.

The cookies are simple enough to make. It's a chocolate cookie dough with the salt and pepper added into the batter (salt is also added to the tops of the cookies before baking). I skipped rolling out the dough, because that particular day I just did not have the patience to do so. Instead, I split my dough into four equal portions, and then cut those into even pieces and shaped them into balls that I flattened on the baking sheets. It worked out pretty well, although my cookies turned out kinda thick. I don't know how much thinner they would have been if I had cut circles like I was supposed to, but I didn't mind the outcome at all.



Okay, I don't know if my expectations were just really high for these cookies or what, but I was ever so slightly underwhelmed by them. They were very good, don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the not-too-sweet chocolate cookie, with its salty exterior and its subtle afterburn from the pepper. The filling was pretty much spot-on, in terms of replicating the traditional Oreo cookie's filling. It complemented the cookies well. However, I guess I was just anticipating more. I honestly don't know what the problem was. Maybe it's just me; that's very possible. Andy took them to work and returned home empty-handed, so clearly they went over well there. I think if I were to make these again, I would go to the trouble of rolling out the dough and making the cookies skinnier. I think that would have made a difference.

Nonetheless, I'm still glad I made them. I've had my eye on this recipe for quite some time, literally! These cookies stare up at me from the book's cover every time I pull it out. I'm anxious to see how the other Baked Sunday Mornings members liked these cookies. To see for yourself, click on over to the blogroll, here. That is where you will also find the full recipe. Have a great Sunday!

CEIMB Rewind: Chocolate Almond Biscotti

I decided to do a Craving Ellie in My Belly rewind recipe this week. As most of you already know, I'm an annoyingly picky eater, and this week's pick of Banana Splits with Pineapple Brown Sugar Topping lands firmly on top of the list of foods I don't like. I'm really not much of a fruit eater, and I have a strong aversion to bananas in particular. And since I have been on an Ellie kick lately, I happened to have these pictures all set and ready to go for the blog. Turns out, I made these biscotti a couple weeks ago and never posted about them.

The group made this recipe all the way back on January 1st, 2009. Wow, that was way before I was lucky enough to be a member! I love making biscotti, and have shared other recipes before on my blog. I was eager to make Ellie's take on biscotti, since it would be combining two things I love: her recipes, and biscotti! As with most of her recipes, this one is easy to make. It's a basic biscotti dough, and I mixed in chocolate chips, chopped almonds, and dried cranberries. Ellie used dried cherries, but I didn't have any. She also uses orange zest, but I only had lemons, so I used lemon zest. I think it was fine with my subs, although I would like to try it her way sometime.

After you shape your dough into a log, and bake it for 25 minutes, you allow it to cool for about 10 minutes on a cooling rack. Then, you can slice your biscotti cookies and put them back into the oven for an addtional 10 minutes per side. Flipping the cookies and baking them on the other side ensures that great, characteristic crunch that makes biscotti so delicious, and they make great dunkers!

I don't know why I waited so long to make these, but I can tell you I'll be making them again and again. I have wrapped each biscotti individually and then I placed them in a freezer bag. They'll keep in the freezer for at least a couple months, and they thaw in less than an hour so they can be taken out sometime before you plan on eating one. I like to eat them in the afternoons with a cup of coffee; the nuts and dried fruit are just enough to give me some energy without feeling like I ate a whole meal in the middle of the day.

My apologies to Shandy of Pastry Heaven; she's this week's CEIMB host. I'm sorry I didn't make your pick, Shandy, but I didn't have anybody to make the banana splits for! Be sure to check out how the other members like them, though, over at the blogroll, here. And if you'd like the biscotti recipe, you can find it on Food Network's website, here.

Black Forest Cookies

I made a lot of holiday cookies this year. I mean, a lot. I started baking the weekend right after Thanksgiving, and I baked like crazy just about every single day after that until I had reached my limit. I'm just a tad cookied out right now. Give me until about Valentine's Day to start thinking about baking more cookies!

Anyhow, the whole point of me telling you about my holiday bake-a-thon was to try to make you understand that these Black Forest Cookies are a big deal. These cookies were the hands-down most talked about, raved about, and requested recipe out of everything I prepared. I even got a phone call from my husband while he was at the office one day, because he had taken in a tray of cookies and everybody wanted to know what this cookie was!

These little beauties, like so many other things that pop up on this blog, were taken from one of the Baked cookbooks. In an attempt to redefine the traditional, but outdated, Black Forest Cake, the Baked boys created this complex cookie. It's dense and fudgy, like a brownie. It's sweet and tart, thanks to the two kinds of chocolate chips and the generous amount of dried fruit mixed in. The recipe calls for dried cherries only, but since I had a bag of dried mixed berries on hand, that is what I used. If you don't know the dried fruits are there, they're a nice, fun little surprise when you bite into a cookie. These were one of the newest additions to the cookie tray this year, and they will definitely be making another appearance next year. When the public opinion is this overwhelming, I have to listen!

Black Forest Cookies
adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
makes about 4-5 dozen cookies

Ingredients
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
16 oz. dark chocolate (60 to 72% cacao), coarsely chopped
10 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
6 large eggs
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup (6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup (6 oz.) white chocolate chips
1 cup (6 oz.) dried cherries (or other fruit)

Directions
1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set aside. In a large nonreactive metal bowl, combine the dark chocolate and butter. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and sugars on high speed until the mixture is pale and thick, about 5 minutes. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and the vanilla and beat until just combined. Scrape down the bowl and beat again for 10 seconds.

3. Add the flour mixture and mix on low until just combined, about 10 seconds. Do not overmix. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and dried fruit. The dough will look very loose, but it will harden in the refrigerator. Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

4. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons on prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time, until the tops of the cookies are set and begin to show a few cracks. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before removing from the sheets onto a cooling rack.

Maple Pecan Shortbread

It's rare that I bake something multiple times, if only because I'm always so excited to move on to the next big thing! So many of the things I've baked are worth revisiting, though, so I thought I would share with you a cookie recipe that I actually do revisit, every Christmas season. Much to my surprise, these Maple Pecan Shortbread Cookies are among my five year-old son's very favorites. He requests them every Christmas, and I even get a few gentle suggestions throughout the rest of the year that I make them again. I agree with him, course; these cookies are a fresh, original take on the same old shortbread.




The rich, buttery dough is embellished with chopped pecans, as well as a healthy dose of pure maple syrup and maple extract. After chilling the dough, you shape your cookies and then top with an egg wash, then a pecan half, and then some turbinado sugar (otherwise known as raw sugar). The egg wash/sugar combo really give the finished cookies a great shine, as well as lending a slight crunch that works so well texturally. The cookie itself is nice and crumbly and buttery, like any self-respecting shortbread cookie should be. That pecan on top is the perfect counterpoint to all the sweetness from the maple flavor. In short, these cookies are pretty genius; they just work on every level. Plus, they seem sophisticated, and I just love being able to tell people that my kindergartner has a sophisticated palate! He can definitely tell a good cookie from a leaden, storebought one, as well he should!






Maple Pecan Shortbread
from Martha Stewart's Cookies
makes 24 cookies

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1/2 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup pecan halves (about 2 1/4 oz.), finely chopped, plus 24 whole pecan halves, for decorating
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup, preferably Grade B
1 large egg yolk
1/4 tsp. pure maple extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

Directions
1. Sift flours and salt into a bowl. Whisk in chopped pecans. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until smooth and light, about 1 minute. Add maple syrup, egg yolk, and extract; beat on medium speed until well combined. On low speed, gradually add flour mixture, beating until just combined. Dough should be smooth and pliable. Flatten into a disk (I opt to roll the dough into a log, because I use a different method of portioning out my dough; see Step 2). Wrap in plastic; refrigerate until firm, 1 1/2 hours or overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out rounds using a 2-inch cookie cutter; place 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheet (At this point, I just sliced 24 rounds from my dough log, which I thought was so much easier than rolling it out!).

3. Brush tops of cookies with beaten egg; place a pecan half in the center of each cookie. Sprinkle the entire surface with turbinado sugar.

4. Bake cookies, rotating sheet halfway through, until golden around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 4 days.

Stained Glass Cookies

These festive cookies are what I would classify as fun for the whole family. Not only are they cool and pretty to look at, but they make a great collaborative activity for you to do with kids. I found these Stained Glass Cookies in my handy dandy Martha Stewart's Cookies cookbook and knew I wanted to challenge myself with them this holiday season. Normally, I consider rolling out sugar cookies to be a very painful experience, but I wanted to at least try my hand at this. If it worked out well, I knew it would be worth it.



It sounds so simple in the directions in the book. Simply mix together an easy sugar cookie recipe, then roll out the dough to cut shapes. Once you have transferred the shapes to a baking sheet, you can cut out small triangles, rectangles, whatever you want inside each shape. Once you have cutouts in each cookie, you fill it with finely chopped Jolly Rancher candies. You bake the cookies in the oven, and the candies in the centers get melted and fill out the entire cutout. Once the baking is complete, the cookies cool and the candies get hard again. But now, you have cool "windows" in your cookies, with pretty stained glass effects inside!

Maybe I was just fearing the worst, but I actually found that this dough was very manageable to work with! True, you need to do plenty of chilling of the dough in between steps to ensure that it doesn't get too soft, but as long as you follow the directions carefully it really isn't so bad. I enlisted the help of my five year-old son for these, and he loved making them. The faces on the cookies above are courtesty of him!

The funny part, though, is that he really didn't enjoy eating them. They look adorable, but they are a bit difficult to handle. The Jolly Rancher centers do eventually resume their sort of unwieldy texture within the cookies, so it's sort of like eating a cookie with a hard candy in the middle. Not the easiest thing to do. Still, I love the way these cookies look! They're going to look fantastic on cookie trays this year. And hey, the five year-old may not love them, but the two year-old does! I tell you, if it contains sugar, you really can't go wrong with making the little guy happy.

Stained Glass Cookies

adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies

makes about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

1/4 tsp. coarse salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

7 ounces (about 30) assorted colored hard candies, such as Jolly Rancher, colors separated, and finely chopped with a chef's knife

Directions
1. Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder into a bowl. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg; mix until smooth, 1 minute. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture, and mix until combined. Stir in vanilla. Wrap dough in plastic, and refrigerate until cold, about 45 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F with racks in upper and lower thirds. Roll out chilled dough on a well-floured surface to a little more than 1/8 inch thick. Cut out shapes using an assortment of cookie cutters. Using a metal spatula, transfer shapes to baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Using the tip of a paring knife, make a triangular shape (or any shape that you like) cutout in center of each cookie for candy filling. Reroll scraps, and cut.

3. Sprinkle candy in a single layer in hole of each cookie, avoiding edges of the cutout. Refrigerate until dough is firm, about 15 minutes.

4. Bake cookies until candy has melted and completely filled cutout and cookie edges are just starting to turn pale golden brown, 11 to 12 minutes. Do not let the cookies brown, or the candy centers may become bubbly. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks. Use a metal spatula to remove cookies from parchment. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti

Okay, so I know I just posted about some yummy Gingerbread Biscotti not too long ago, but I've discovered another magnificent biscotti recipe that has excited me enough to share it with you here. It's Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti, and it's so rich, so delicious, so Christmas-y, I think I might be making it every December from now on.

I found a recipe on Food.com for a chocolate peppermint biscotti that had semisweet chocolate chips inside and milk chocolate on the outside. There was peppermint extract in the batter, as well as cocoa powder to make it even more chocolatey. After reading through that recipe, I got to work on my own, making a few changes to give it more oomph. I thought it needed more peppermint flavor, so I used a combination of chocolate chips and these awesome peppermint crunch baking chips that Andes makes in the batter. If you find those Andes chips in your grocery store, I highly recommend that you pick some up and try them in something because they are sooo good!

Anyway, back to the biscotti. I decided to dip the cooled biscotti in bittersweet chocolate in place of milk chocolate, just because I prefer darker chocolate to pair with peppermint. Finally, the finished cookie was sprinkled with crushed candy canes before the chocolate had a chance to dry. I let my five year-old son do the sprinkling, so some of them were really doused heavily with the candy canes! Fortunately for us, I love candy canes so this was hardly a problem.

I have to say, I think this one really is a winner. I love everything about these biscotti. The fabulous crunch, the deep, dark chocolate flavor, and the refreshing punch of peppermint. To me, it's a great foil to a nice cup of coffee and a perfect Christmas treat. Plus, despite the various steps, they were really simple to make. Too bad I don't really want to share these on the cookie trays this year!

Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti

adapted from Food.com

makes about 15-18 biscotti

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 tsp. pure peppermint extract

1 tsp. espresso powder

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cups Andes peppermint crunch baking chips

4 oz. (or more) bittersweet chocolate, for dipping

1/2 cup crushed candy canes

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 or 4 minutes. Add in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla, peppermint, and espresso powder, and beat well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

2. In a separate medium-sized bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. With the mixer speed on low, slowly add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and the peppermint chips.

3. Turn the dough out onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Shape the dough into a 16-inch log, and flatten to about 2 inches thick. Bake the log for 25 minutes.

4. Remove the log from the oven, transfer the log on the parchment to a cooling rack, and cool for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

5. Transfer the log to a cutting board and, with a serrated knife, slice into 15-18 slices. Arrange the slices on the baking sheet, cut side up, and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes per side (10 min. for slightly softer biscotti, 15 for crunchier biscotti). Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.

6. Once cool, melt the bittersweet chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl: in 30 second intervals, with 50% power, heat the chocolate in the microwave until smooth when stirred. Either dip one end of each biscotti in the chocolate, or do what I did and spread the chocolate with a spoon across the bottom of each biscotti. While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle crushed candy canes on top. Allow to dry completely before storing in an airtight container.

Chewy Chocolate GIngerbread Cookies

Just as soon as Thanksgiving is over, I start my holiday baking. It's a real project for me. I have it down to a science, though, I think. Each day, I'll make up one or two types of cookie dough, which I will then chill in my fridge. Then, each day I will bake off whatever dough I already have chilling in the fridge. It's a great system. Then, I haul out my Sam's Club industrial-size roll of saran wrap, and I wrap my cooled cookies, two or three at a time, and place them into large freezer bags. To date, I have yet to find a cookie that did not freeze well. So I stack my freezer bags as high as I can, filled with many different varieties of cookies. It's awesome, because I can bake them all way ahead of time. Then, when it comes time to dole them out, I can remove only what I need from the freezer, and the rest stay safely inside until it's their time to be eaten. Only problem I have now is that I'm running out of room! Something tells me Santa should be thinking about bringing me a second freezer!

But this post today is actually about these Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies, not my lack of storage space. I discovered these cookies last holiday season, although they were gobbled up so fast they never made it onto my cookie trays. They are the cover model on the Martha Stewart's Cookies book, and they're quite extraordinary.



At first, they seem like just an average gingersnap or molasses cookie. Then, you add in a sprinkle of cocoa powder, a healthy grating of fresh ginger in addition to ground ginger, and some chopped semisweet chocolate. Finally, you roll each ball of dough in sugar before baking. The result is a cross between a molasses cookie and a chocolate crinkle cookie, but really it tastes like something all its own.

I love the pairing of ginger and chocolate, although I guess I never realized it until I tried this cookie. There's just something about the sharp bite of ginger up against the smooth, darkly sweet chocolate that is just so indescribably delicious. If you want to get people talking about your cookies this holiday season, making them a batch of these is a great way to do so!





Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
from Martha Stewart's Cookies
makes 24-36 cookies

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups plus 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1 Tbsp. unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 Tbsp. freshly grated peeled ginger
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. boiling water
7 oz. best-quality semisweet chocolate, cut into 1/4-inch chunks
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Directions
1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and fresh ginger on medium speed until lightened, about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined.

2. In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in boiling water. Beat half of flour mixture into butter mixture. Beat in baking soda mixture, then remaining half of flour mixture. Mix in chocolate; turn onto plastic wrap. Pat out to a 1-inch thickness; seal with wrap. Refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or overnight.

3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Chill 20 minutes. Roll in granulated sugar. Bake until surfaces just begin to crack, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating halfway through. Let cool 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Cookies are best the day they are made, but can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 5 days.