Chocolate-Vanilla Swirls: The First of my Holiday Cookies

OK, so these aren't the simplest cookies I've ever made, but they are so worth the little extra effort. And they freeze a dream after baking. In fact, the dough freezes beautifully too so you can make the logs when you have time. You might be thinking it's a bit early to get started on cookies for the holidays, but I have a few recipes to tell you about over the next couple months and I hope you're going to love every one.

These are elegant...perfect for a holiday tea. But if you're not doing any fancy entertaining, don't let that stop you from trying these. Not only will your family will love them, but they make super hostess gifts. If you haven't made these before, you're in for a treat. I found them at Pastry Studio. ALL her recipes are fabulous; I've never made one that wasn't delicious and the instructions are the best thing this side of Maida Heatter's and you know how thorough HER instructions are! So don't let the wordy directions frighten you off. Mine turned out pretty darn good and if I can do it......
 

Chocolate-Vanilla Swirls
From Baking for All Occasions by Flo Braker via Pastry Studio

Ingredients:
For the vanilla dough:
2 3/4 cups (11 ounces/310 grams) cake flour 
1 cup + 2 tablespoons (4 ounces/115 grams) powdered sugar 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
8 oz (2 sticks/225 grams) butter at room temperature 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

For the chocolate dough:
2 1/4 cups (9 ounces/255 grams) cake flour 
1 cup + 2 tablespoons (4 ounces/115 grams) powdered sugar 
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon (2 ounces/55 grams) natural or Dutch-processed cocoa powder 
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 oz (2 sticks/225 grams) butter at room temperature 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
2 cups (about 15 ounces/430 grams) nonpareil sprinkles for decoration (I used 1 cup raw sugar)

Method:
For the vanilla dough:
Combine flour, sugar and salt and mix on lowest speed just to blend. Stop the mixer and place the butter on top of the flour mixture. Wrap a kitchen towel around the mixer bowl to prevent the flour from flying out of the bowl. Mix on the lowest speed just until it starts to appear lumpy. Stop the mixer and add the vanilla. Mix on the lowest speed just until the mixture is combined. Transfer the dough to a bowl, cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes. 

For the chocolate dough: Use the same instructions above, placing the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and salt in the bowl and mixing on the lowest speed to blend. Add the butter and proceed as above, then add the vanilla. Transfer the dough to a bowl and if too soft, cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

To form into logs: 
Divide the vanilla dough into thirds, with each piece weighing about 7 1/2 ounces (215 grams. Divide the chocolate dough the same way. You will work with one-third of each dough at a time. 
On a piece of parchment or clean work surface, flatten one piece of vanilla dough into a 7" x 5" rectangle. Repeat this with a piece of the chocolate dough.
Place the chocolate rectangle on top of the vanilla rectangle, then cut the stack in half crosswise to create 2 pieces, each about 3 1/2" x 5".
Place one half on top of the other half to create 4 layers. (You may need a dough scraper to help with this.) Press or roll the stack into a 9" x 4" rectangle.
Cut the stack in half lengthwise to create two 9" x 2" pieces. Place one piece on top of the other to create a long narrow stack with 8 layers. Carefully twist each end of the dough once or twice, gently working toward the center. Use your hands to twist the pattern and shape the swirled dough into a log about 8 1/2 ” x 2”. Set aside. Repeat this process with the remaining pieces of each dough to form two more logs.

Compress each log with your hands so it is compact, gently rolling back and forth until the log is round and uniformly shaped. Roll each log in the sprinkles to coat. If the dough is soft, set the coated logs on a baking sheet and refrigerate for about 1 hour or until firm enough to handle. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and return to the refrigerator for a few hours to chill thoroughly. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325 degrees.Use a sharp knife to cut generous 1/4” slices and arrange 1/2" apart on baking sheets lined with parchment or a silpat. 

Bake one sheet at a time just until they are no longer shiny on top and are lightly golden on the bottom, about 10 - 12 minutes. Cool completely on wire rack.
Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 10 days.

Some bench notes from Pastry Studio that are worth paying attention to:
-The logs of cookie dough can be frozen for up to one month. Instructions say to thaw in the refrigerator for several hours or up to overnight before baking. 
- Work on parchment paper to make the handling of the dough easy. This makes it easier to roll and every time you need to move the logs of dough, you simply lift the parchment and the log maintains its shape.
- You can make each dough in a food processor and they'll come out fine. Start with the vanilla and then make the chocolate. Just be sure not to overmix.

Kim Boyce's Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Well, I finally made them. Molly said she was sold. Lecia said she'd never make any other kind again. Jess says these cookies can do no wrong and wondered if there was anyone out there who hasn't made these yet.  Yes, Jess. Me. So I tried the recipe and actually baked some chocolate chip cookies made entirely with whole wheat flour! I've made lots of cookies and bars with half whole wheat flour but never all whole wheat flour. No, I'm not on a health kick particularly, but these girls were so taken with Kim Boyce's recipe that I had to taste. Besides, that book of hers is fabulous.

It was rather a dry dough which made me worry a bit; and then I wondered if it was because I only made half a recipe. Maybe I screwed up. But I went ahead anyway. When they were done I was in for a surprise. They're crunchy outside and tender inside but the texture is not quite like most cc cookies. Not dry though, which was what I worried about. They hold together nicely and the bittersweet chocolate is a good match for the earthy whole wheat flour. That little sprinkling of sea salt on top doesn't hurt either. 

When I look back at my photos, I'm still surprised. The dough looks so dry, doesn't it? But the cookies aren't. They're also not as rich and sweet as my favorite cc cookie recipe, but I agree with Jess when she refers to this recipe as an OCP. Translation? One Cookie Phenomenon. (I LOVE that expression!) You don't sit down with a plate of these and a glass of milk and pig out until you're ill. One is fine. Better than fine, delicious. But no craving for an entire plateful. How odd is that?
And I thought they were even better the next day.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
From Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce

Ingredients:
Dry mix
 3 cups whole-wheat flour  
 1½ tsp. baking powder  
 1 tsp. baking soda  
 1½ tsp. kosher salt  

Wet mix
8 oz. (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces  
 1 cup dark brown sugar  
 1 cup sugar  
 2 eggs  
 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract  
 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped into ¼- and ½-inch pieces  

Method:
Place two racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside.

Add the butter and the sugars to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low speed, mix just until the butter and sugars are blended, about 2 minutes. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until each is combined. Mix in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture to the bowl and blend on low speed until the flour is barely combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Add the chocolate all at once to the batter. Mix on low speed until the chocolate is evenly combined. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, then scrape the batter out onto a work surface, and use your hands to fully incorporate all the ingredients.

Scoop mounds of dough about 3 tablespoons in size onto the baking sheet, leaving 3 inches between them, or about 6 to a sheet. ( I didn't want my cookies that big so I used a 1 1/2 inch ice cream scoop...generously filled.)

Bake the cookies for 16 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the cookies are evenly dark brown. Transfer the cookies, still on the parchment, to the counter to cool, and repeat with the remaining dough.
These cookies are best eaten warm from the oven or later that same day. They’ll keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Kim's notes:
This dough is made to go straight from the bowl into the oven. However, for freshly baked cookies anytime, you can refrigerate some of the dough for later. Be sure to scoop out the balls of dough before chilling, as the cold dough is too difficult to scoop. Also remember that cookies baked from chilled dough will be thicker than those made from room-temperature dough. This dough — scooped, chilled, and wrapped in plastic — will last in the refrigerator for one week, assuming it doesn’t get eaten first!

50 Women Game Changers in Food: #16, Maida Heatter

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you'll already be aware I'm a Maida Heatter fan from way back. I have every cookbook she's ever published......my mother gave me most of them, hot of the presses. So this post is a particular pleasure for me.

Briefly, here's the skinny on Maida:
Does the name Heatter ring a bell? That’s because she's the daughter of radio commentator Gabriel Heatter who became famous during World War II broadcasts with his: “There is good news tonight.” catch phrase. 

Maida never started out to be a chef – she didn’t even attend a culinary school - but she credits her great baking talent to her mother, trial and error and her love of good cookbooks. Maida actually has a degree in fashion illustration and was designing and making jewelry as a hobby- which soon turned into a business. She married pilot Ralph Daniels in the late 40’s and in the 60’s when her father became ill, she and her husband came up with the idea of opening a coffee shop in a chic Miami Beach neighborhood. 

The coffee shop was named Inside and Maida made all the pastries served there. It was quickly a hit and soon grew into a full scale restaurant. Ms. Heatter also taught baking classes; I remember my mother always regretted she had not driven the 45 minutes to Burdine's in Miami to take them. One day Craig Claiborne (who was then food editor of the New York Times) tasted Maida’s desserts and talked her into writing a cookbook. Her first was titled Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Desserts and was published in 1974- the same year she and her husband sold the restaurant. She has since been the recipient of the following James Beard awards:

1998 Cookbook Hall of Fame "Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts"
1988 Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America
1981 Single Subject Book "MAIDA HEATTERS BOOK OF GREAT CHOCOLATE DESSERTS"
1978 Speciaty Book "MAIDA HEATTERS BOOK OF GREAT COOKIES"

Now in her 80’s, she is still baking away in her Miami Beach kitchen, as energetic as ever. Oh...and did I mention she is a famous chocoholic? She's also been inducted into the Chocolatier Magazine Hall of Fame. :) She has one cookbook with nothing  but chocolate recipes!

Aside from the fabulous recipes, what you'll love best about Ms. Heatter's books are her instructions. They leave nothing to the imagination and the veriest novice can create a spectacular dessert. At the end of this post, I've listed links to some of Ms. Heatter's recipes I've posted.

My daughter was still home when I mentioned I was doing the 50 Women Game Changers and that Maida was on the list. What should I make? There was no question in her mind...Chocolate Cracks. I had forgotten how much my kids loved this cookie. They are crisp on the outside and brownie-like on the inside. I am not a chocoholic so don't make the recipe very often now they're gone. But Tracy wanted to take some back to New York with her and they travel well, so that's what I baked. After all, what better way to introduce you to Ms. Heatter than something made with chocolate?

Chocolate Cracks
From Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts

Ingredients:
3 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar, firmly packed
6 ounces (3/4 cup) butter
2 tablespoons water
12 ounces (2 cups) semisweet chocolate morsels or 12 ounces (squares) semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 eggs

Method:
Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a large, heavy saucepan over moderate heat, cook the sugar, butter and water, stirring over heat until they are partially melted. Remove from heat and stir until chocolate is completely melted. Transfer to large bowl of electric mixer and let stand for about 5 minutes to cool slightly.

On high speed, beat in the eggs one at a time. Reduce speed to low and gradually add the sifted dry ingredients, scraping bowl with a rubber spatula and beating only  until dry ingredients are absorbed. Let dough stand for about 10 minutes or longer until it can be handled easily.

Adjust oven rack high in the oven. Preheat oven to 350. Cut aluminum foil to fit the cookie sheets. ( I use parchment paper)

Using a heaping teaspoonful of dough for each cookie, roll between your hands into shiny and moist looking balls. Place two inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet.

Bake 12 to 13 minutes, reversing position of the pan during baking if necessary to insure even baking. Tops will feel dry but not firm. Do not overbake. Cookies will crisp as they cool. With a wide metal spatula, transfer to racks to cool.

Maida Heatter recipes I've posted:

Palm Beach Orange Ice Cream
Indian River Sweet Orange Bread
Frozen Grand Marnier Mousse
Cranberry Ice Cream
Moosehead Gingerbread
Pumpkin Ice Cream
Southern Nut Cake
Blueberry Ice Cream
Date Espresso Loaf


Join Mary from One Perfect Bite and all the other participants in this fun series.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast 
Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey
Heather - girlichef
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney
Jeanette - Healthy Living
April - Abby Sweets 
Katie - Making Michael Pollan Proud
Mary - One Perfect Bite
Kathleen -Bake Away with Me
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen
Sue - The View from Great Island
Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds
Amy - Beloved Green
Linda - Ciao Chow Linda
Nancy - Picadillo

The Picnic Game: Cherry Bars in a Jar

Did you ever play the picnic game as a child? Well, Louise at Months of Edible Celebrations is hosting a virtual Picnic. In order to participate in the Picnic Game, each blogger chooses a letter and brings a dish that begins with that letter.  Join in the fun!

I'm going on a picnic and I'm bringing.....

A: Apricot Cobbler from Mae at Mae's Food Blog
 

                    

B:  Banana Cream Pie from Marjie at Modern Day Ozzie and Harriet

And my letter is C: Cherry Bars in a Jar

Be sure to visit Louise for all the other letters and their matching dishes!

Back in the 60's, I made these gems all the time. Such a simple dessert when you're in a hurry and I've always made the recipe in bar form. But recently I remembered the little Ball jars I made my mother's rhubarb pie in. Why not make Cherry Bars in those? I love individual servings like this. So you have a choice...make this as a bar, using a rectangular pan, or make it in oven proof individual dishes like these. This is an easy dessert to serve on a picnic as you can use canned pie filling on top, screw the jar tops back on and pop them in your basket. I know it's called "cherry", but I've also made it with rhubarb curd (if you have any rhubarb in your garden) and roasted fruit. So use any fruit you want; take the fast and easy road with canned pie fillings or make it more elegant with homemade fresh fruit toppings. For Louise's 4th of July virtual picnic, I thought the bright red cherries were very appropriate.
The filling may look like cheesecake, but it's not nearly as dense.

Cherry Bars in a Jar

Ingredients:
16 graham crackers, crushed
1/3 cup  butter, soft
1/2 cup  sugar
1 8 oz  pkg cream cheese
1/2 cup  sugar
2 eggs  
1 can  cherry pie filling

Method:
Mix grahams, sugar and butter. Press into the little Ball jars or press into a 9 by 13 pan.  Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth and add eggs. Pour over crumbs. Bake 325 for 25 minutes or until very lightly browned. You'll see cracks in some of the tops. That's OK. When slightly cool, pour cherry pie filling over top. Refrigerate.

You'll find the individual jars need to come to room temperature as the graham cracker crust gets quite firm. But they're still delicious no matter if you serve them cold or at room temperature.

Spring Pleasures

You'll never guess what made its initial appearance in my market last weekend. Rhubarb. Yup. It's here. And bright red, which of course means hothouse rhubarb and that's fine with me 'cause I love that deep red color. Over the years, I've droned on ad nauseam about my love for rhubarb, so I hope you're as crazy about it as I am....I've got quite a few recipes to try this spring. (Is it spring where you are yet?) Last spring I made my mother's famous rhubarb pie (pure rhubarb and nothing but) and saved the post in drafts so I'll definitely post that this year. And a crumble. And muffins and maybe even a cobbler. Get ready, my friends, lemon is going to take a back seat for a bit; divine rhubarb is in my kitchen.

I had to begin with this recipe. The color is just so gorgeous and once you make the rhubarb curd, it'll lead to some other lovely recipes. Think about it....rhubarb curd. The mind boggles with ideas. We're all so used to seeing lemon curd, but this is the first time I've ever made a rhubarb curd. It's delicious! It was all I could do to keep from eating it by the spoonful before I made the bars. The cookie crust balances out this bar perfectly. If you have leftover curd, mix it with yogurt over fruit. Top your next custard or pudding with it. How about serving it with panna cotta? I might try that one next.

So enjoy, my friends. Save this recipe for summer or if hothouse rhubarb is already  in your market, make something.....anything....it will make you think spring has sprung!

Bench notes:  I really think a slightly thinner cookie crust is a better idea, so next time I'll go with a larger baking dish. You need to adjust your baking time as a result. Keep a close eye on it. 

And, I like a little more rhubarb with my bar. 1/4 inch was just not enough. (But I did use a tad too much in this batch.) Again, you'll have to adjust your cooking time.

Rhubarb Bars
From Lara  Ferroni, Food Travel Life

Ingredients for rhubarb curd: 

400 grams rhubarb (about 10 to 15 stalks)

1/3 cup sugar

6 egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar  

a pinch of salt

1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)

50 grams (3 1/2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into chunks

Ingredients for the crust:
4 ounces butter, room temperature

1 cup (136 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

a pinch of salt

about 1/2 of the Rhubarb curd recipe from above

Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Method for the curd:

Wash and chop rhubarb into 1/2 inch chunks. There is no need to peel, but if your stalks are particularly large, you might trim off any tough parts. Stir the rhubarb and 1/4 cup of sugar together and let sit for about 10 minutes. Place in a medium sized pot with about 1/4 cup of water and cook over low heat until you can no longer see whole pieces. Turn off the heat and let cool to room temperature. Blend to a smooth puree if you desire (this will remove any remaining little stringy bits, but it isn’t necessary).

In a double boiler (or a bowl over boiling water), whisk the egg yolks, remaining sugar and salt. Whisk until well combined and warm. Add about 1 cup of the stewed rhubarb and the lemon zest. Keep stirring until the mixture is warm again. Check for taste and add more of the pureed rhubarb until you get the desired flavor and color. Remove from heat and stir in the butter chunks.

If you are not using the curd immediately, let it cool to room temperature and then store refrigerated for up to a week.

This recipe makes more curd than you’ll need for the Rhubarb Bars.

Method for the bars:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Place the butter, flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a mixer. Start on low speed (to keep the flour from flying everywhere), stir until it resembles course crumbs. Then increase speed slightly and continue to mix until a soft dough forms. It’s kind of magic.

Take the dough and press it into a 9" x 5" baking dish (see bench notes). Let rest at room temperature for about 15 minutes, and then bake until it is lightly golden, about 20 minutes. While the dough is baking, finish preparing the curd.

Pour the enough curd onto the crust to make a layer around 1/4 inch thick (see bench notes), and bake for another 10 minutes, until the curd has set. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate if desired (it’s easier to slice when chilled, but not necessary). Dust with powdered sugar before slicing if you’d like.

Paper Lemon Cookies

My sister Sharon is, and always has been, crazy for lemon desserts. Aside from lemon meringue pies (our mother and grandmother were absolutely the best pie makers ever) and lemon angel pies, she also loved our Aunt Mar's lemon cookies. Crisp, buttery and lemony, Sharon and I attempted to replicate them, but had no success......we both finally came to the conclusion she left an ingredient out of the recipe when she passed it on.

Our Aunt Mar (who was my father's mother's sister and lived across the street from us our entire childhood) had a serious relationship with lemon flavoring. It found its way into nearly all her desserts. Cookies, cakes, muffins and puddings. Didn't matter what, she added lemon flavoring. Not extract and never real lemons, mind you, but that old fashioned lemon flavoring. I'm not complaining, she was a fine home cook. She made everyone in our family (and probably the entire neighborhood) her famous sponge cake with 7 minute frosting for every birthday. Lemon flavoring in that cake too, along with vanilla. I make it to this day, but use lemon extract. (Can you even buy lemon flavoring any longer?) Aunt Mar's little house even smelled like lemon inside. 

Anyway, our Mother used to bake some meringues, fill them with her version of lemon curd and top them with whipped cream. I also recall something called Lemon Sunshine that consisted of lemons, gelatin, sugar, eggs with the whites beaten and added last. I have the recipe someplace. An airy lemon parfait, sort of.

My sister and I. (I'm the one with skinned knees.)

So recently when Kim from My Kentucky Home posted a recipe for Lemon Meringue Muffins, you better believe I copied it and emailed it to my sister in Michigan immediately.  She's probably made them already. I'll make them for company the end of the month.

As is the way, just because I seem to be thinking lemon everything right now,  I was reading through one of Marion Cunningham's cookbooks and came across this delight: Lemon Paper Cookies. I couldn't resist. Thought I'd try them first before I sent the recipe on to my sister. She's really going to like them and her sewing group will want the recipe for sure. They turned out delicate, lacy AND lemony. Perfect with tea or coffee for an afternoon treat.

Bench notes: The recipe suggested cutting them less than 1/4 thick. I found that next to impossible so settled on 1/4 thick and they turned out perfectly. 
Also, 2 hours in the refrigerator was not enough. It's a very fragile dough. I ended up putting it in the freezer for a bit and then cut my slices quickly with a very sharp, thin knife. Otherwise they tend to break into pieces. But never fear, you can push them together and they still turn out beautifully.


Joyce's Paper Lemon Cookies
From The Supper Book by Marion Cunningham

Ingredients:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons grated lemon rind

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 cups allm purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Optional: raw sugar for sprinkling on top (I did not use)

Method:

Cream the butter and sugar. Add then vanilla, zest and lemon juice. Beat until smooth.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to the butter/sugar mixture and mix well.

Turn out on a piece of waxed paper and form the dough into a cylinder about 12 inches long 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap tightly and refrigerate 2 hours, or freeze until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 350. Don't grease the cookie sheets. (I used parchment paper)

Cut 1/4 inch slices with a sharp knife and place about 3 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Place unused dough back into the refrigerator. Bake 7-8 minutes, watching carefully the last couple minutes. They should be lightly golden. Allow to cool slightly on the baking sheet, then remove to racks to finish cooling.

Valentine Painted Cookies

My Valentine's gift to you this year are these adorable painted cookies. Rather than making a design with frosting, this design is baked into the cookies. They were such fun to do! Easier than they look, too. And if you have kids, they could do the painting; it doesn't need to be hearts, could be shamrocks or a birthday candle or even funny faces! As you can see from the photos below, the bottom side of the cookie is the painted side. What's even better, these cookies are not too sweet, which is kind of unexpected with a sugar cookie. What better present for your Valentines?


Painted Cookies
From The Perfect Finish by Bill Yosses and Melissa Clark

Cookie Ingredients:

12 (1  1/2 sticks) tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup confectioners sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1  3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup almond flour

Cookie Paint Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

4 large eggs, room  temperature

2 tablespoons corn syrup

Food coloring

Method for the cookies:

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and confectioners sugar. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined.

In another bowl, combine the flour and almond flour. Add gradually to the butter mixture, scraping down the sides. Place the dough in a piece of plastic wrap and wrap it tightly. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or over night.

For the Cookie Paint:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, flour and corn syrup. Beat until smooth. Allow the mixture to rest, covered, for 1 hour.

Divide the mixture into several containers and stir in food coloring as preferred. I only used red, but you can see by the accompanying photo below (from the book), you can do any design your heart desires. Little play on words there. :) 

To Paint and Bake:

Preheat oven to 325. Line several baking sheets with silpat or parchment paper. If using parchment paper, spray with a cooking spray and then blot with a paper towel.

Using the cookie paint, paint on the parchment paper with a brush, your fingers or a stencil. (I made a little heart stencil out of heavy paper. Do you remember doing those in school?) Don't forget to make your artwork smaller than the cookie! Use one ever so slightly thick coating (I used a paintbrush). The cooking spray on the parchment paper makes it a tad difficult if you use a thin layer as the cookbook suggested. You'll understand when you try it.

Flour a work surface and roll out the cookie dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters.(I used 2 1/2 inch round) I rolled out the dough between sheets of wax paper so I didn't have to deal with flour on the cookies. If you roll out in flour, be sure to dust the flour off the cookie before you put it down on the paint.

I placed each cookie top side down onto the painted heart on the baking sheet. I found the heart design on the cookies turned out more even that way. Took me one batch to figure that out! Press firmly. Repeat with the remaining dough. Sprinkle plain tops of the cookies with granulated sugar before baking.

Bake for 9-12 minutes (I found it took longer) or until the cookies are firm and the edges are barely golden at the edge. They will be browner on the painted side. Cool the cookie sheets on a wire rack before removing from the parchment paper.

Twelve Weeks of Christmas Cookies, Week 10: Peppermint Meringue Cups

Did you happen to see these on the last page of Martha Stewart's Living December issue? That magazine always has a fun holiday recipe like this...last year I made those white chocolate covered mint cookies. This year, these adorable peppermint cups. Let me be honest here: I'm not the least bit adept with a pastry bag so really wasn't certain I could manage these little melt-in-your-mouth gems. And when I referred back to the photo in the magazine, I noticed theirs were less red than mine. So if you're going to try them, don't paint your red line in the pastry bag as thickly as I did. Unless you like them with as much red as this.

All in all, these were wonderful. The peppermint taste is just right, the ganache perfect and they are the perfect holiday treat to pop in your mouth. Such fun!

Mini Peppermint-Meringue Cups with Ganache
From Martha Stewart Living Magazine, December 2010

Ingredients:
vegetable oil cooking spray
3 large egg whites, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
red gel-paste food coloring
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
garnish: 1 candy cane, crushed

Method:
Preheat oven to 175° . (Mine registers no lower than 200°, but it worked fine.)Trace 16 circles onto each of 2 pieces of parchment paper, using a 1 and 3/4 inch round cookie cutter, spacing about 2 inches apart. Coat 2 baking pans with the cooking spray and top each with the parchment paper, traced side down.

Heat the egg whites and the sugar in a mixer bowl over simmering water until sugar dissolves and the mixture is warm to the touch, about 3 minutes.
Transfer bowl to mixer and beat until stiff peaks form. Beat in the peppermint extract.

Using a small food-safe paint brush, paint three stripes of the red food coloring on the inside of a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4 inch plain round tip.

Transfer the meringue to the pastry bag and pipe coils to fill the traced circle. The pipe in the sides to create a 3/4 to 1 inch cup.

Bake until meringue cups are crisp but not browned, about 1 1/2 hours. Transfer to a wire rack and cool.

Put the chocolate in a bowl. Heat the cream to a simmer and add to the chocolate. Allow to stand for a couple minutes, then stir to dissolve the chocolate. Mix with a wooden spoon until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap, cut a small slit in the top and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour to one hour and 15 minutes. (I got side-tracked and left mine too long, but microwaved it until it softened enough to put in the pastry bag.

Stir the ganache, fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4 inch open star tip. Pipe ganache into the meringue cups. Garnish with the crushed peppermint stick.
Makes 32.

Zimtsterne: Twelve Weeks of Christmas Cookies.....Week 7

(I bet that Week 7 made you gasp!)

There's no point in telling you these cookies were simple to make. They weren't. But they ARE a true European Christmas cookie; interesting, frustrating,  unusual and yes, tasted wonderful, but will I make them again? Well....maybe. And compared with some of the other photos I found online of these, all I can say is: I had a bad baking AND camera day. Oh well, I'm going to post this anyway. They were worth the trouble.

First of all, Breakfast, Lunch, Tea, The Many Meals of Rose Bakery is a gem of a cookbook.

 

And that's where I found this recipe...they called it Almond, Cinnamon and Meringue Biscuits. But what they really are is Zimtsterne, or erstesternen ("first stars"), a reference to the heavenly signs indicating the end of a fast day. They are traditionally served by German Jews at the meal following Yom Kippur. You can read more about them here, here and here. European bakeries make them only during the holidays, rather like my mother's favorite Christmas cookie, Springerle. And they are usually made in star shape. I made them round. For one thing, I didn't have a small star cookie cutter and for another working those star points with that dough and meringue was beyond me. Perhaps with practice.....

This is what David Lebovitz says about them (and he doesn't make his own, he buys them):

"There’s just something about these chewy little stars, spiced with lots of cinnamon, then brushed with a glaze of royal icing that provides just the right bit of creamy sweetness in contrast to the chewy cookie below."

So here's the thing. The dough is difficult to work with and I made two different batches, correcting the original recipe a little to make it slightly easier to work with. Still....not the easiest cookie dough to roll out. But as I said, after the first bite, it was worth the effort!


Bench note: many recipes call for 1/2 cup candied citrus peel which I omitted 'cause I just don't like it.


Zimtsterne
Adapted from Breakfast Lunch Tea, The Many Meals of Rose Bakery
 

 Ingredients:
3 1/3 cups ground almonds (I used almond flour)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
juice of 1/2 lemon and grated zest of 1 lemon
4 egg whites
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Method:
First, make the meringue. Beat the whites until they form stiff peaks. Then very gradually add the sugar. When the mixture is very stiff, beat in the lemon juice. Set aside 6 ounces of the meringue for the topping, covering with a damp cloth. Place the rest in a bowl.

Add the ground almonds, cinnamon and lemon zest and mix by hand. Mix until you have a dough-like paste. If it is too sticky to handle, add more ground almonds, by the tablespoon, until it is manageable. If the dough crumbles or falls apart, add a few drops of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of the reserved egg whites. When the dough has reached the proper consistency refrigerate for one hour.

Butter a baking tray and line it with parchment paper.

Then dust a pastry board lightly with granulated sugar. Shape the dough into a flat round and dust the surface lightly with sugar. Roll the dough out into a rectangle 3/8 inch thick. Add more sugar on the board as necessary.

Cut into desired shapes and place on the baking tray.

Remove the cloth from the reserved egg whites. Use a metal spatula to smooth an even coating of the meringue over the entire surface of your cookie, just enough to cover it completely with white. To smooth the surface further, dip the spatula in hot water and run it across the glaze.

Leave to dry on the prepared tray for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake the biscuits for about 10 minutes until the bases are lightly golden. The tops should remain white and the bases must be soft and moist. And BTW? Keeping the tops from  browning is another tricky part!

Mis-fortune Cookies

Halloween fun! I may not have kids around the house anymore, but are these adorable or what? To be honest, I was rather intimidated by the idea of making fortune cookies, but that part turned out to be the easiest. Would you believe it's finding exactly the right kind of black food coloring that's the trick? Some just left me with grey batter...no matter how much I added. Why don't ALL grocery stores carry good quality black and orange food coloring this time of year? At any rate, I had success with this excellent product:

 And the next time I make them, I'm going to use even more black. The camera made them seem more dark brown than black, which trust me, they were. (Or perhaps it was the lighting......)

 Anyway, surprise your family and make a batch for Halloween!

Mis-Fortune Cookies
From The Decorated Cookie (such talent!)

Ingredients:

2 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 teaspoons water

Method:
Write fortunes on pieces of paper that are 3 1/2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. Or print them out HERE. 
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease 2 9-X-13 inch baking sheets.

In a medium bowl, lightly beat the egg white, vanilla extract, almond extract and vegetable oil until frothy, but not stiff.Sift the flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar into a separate bowl. Stir the water into the flour mixture.Add the flour into the egg white mixture and stir until you have a smooth batter. The batter should not be runny, but should drop easily off a wooden spoon.

 Note: if you want to dye the fortune cookies, add the food coloring at this point, stirring it into the batter. I added black as indicated above. A little at a time, until the desired color was reached.

 Place level tablespoons of batter onto the cookie sheet, spacing them at least 3 inches apart. Instead of spreading the batter with a knife or spoon, gently tilt the baking sheet back and forth and from side to side so that each tablespoon of batter forms into a circle about 4 inches in diameter. That way they will be smooth and crisp.

 Bake until the outer 1/2-inch of each cookie turns golden brown (difficult to see with black ones!) and they are easy to remove from the baking sheet with a spatula (14 - 15 minutes). Working quickly (I used a hot pad over my hand), remove the cookie with a spatula and flip it over in your hand. Place a fortune in the middle of a cookie. To form the fortune cookie shape, fold the cookie in half, then gently pull the corners downward over the rim of a glass. Place the finished cookie in the cup of a muffin tin so that it keeps its shape. Continue with the rest of the cookies. This recipe makes about a dozen cookies.

And stay tuned for a fabulous giveaway next week!

Twelve Weeks of Christmas Cookies, Week Three

This my second offering in April's Twelve Weeks of Christmas Cookies. Click on the button in the sidebar to see all the super cookie recipes everyone is posting.

These amazing cookies were the grand prize winner in the Food Network's Ultimate Recipe Showdown in 2008. Camilla Saulsbury won and believe me, she deserved it. My book group moaned with delight and my daughter rolled her eyes after tasting them.

You're going to love them.  They are  filled with spicy warmth from the ginger, cardamom, coriander and black pepper. The extra salt brings out the spicy sweetness in the ginger. They have a slightly crispy edge and are chewy on the inside with bits of crystallized ginger throughout. And look at those ingredients: a definite Middle Eastern flavor.

Exotic Spice Cookies
From  Camilla Saulsbury of Camilla's Shortcut Kitchen (and The Food Network)

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
2 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup crisco solid, room temperature
1 large egg
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon rosewater
3/4 cup turbinado sugar, for rolling

Method:

Whisk the flour, ginger, soda, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, pepper and salt until blended. Mix in the crystallized ginger and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the brown sugar, butter and shortening until fluffy but do not overbeat. Add the egg, honey and rosewater and beat just until blended.

Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350° and spray cookie sheet with Pam. (I used parchment paper.)

Using wet hands, form the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. Roll in the turbinado sugar.

Bake cookies 11-13 minutes until cracked on top, but soft.

Cool on the cookie sheet for 1 minute and then carefully transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen.