I remarked to hubby the other day, “I ‘ve been pretty bad about baking holiday treats the last few years, huh”. It was a rhetorical question as I pulled out more than a few jars of expired jams. I love filled cookies-Thumbprints, Linzer bars, Raspberry Oaties so I have a penchant for stocking up on “stuff” like preserves, sprinkles, holiday cupcake liners…in preparation for the holiday season.
Somehow I curtailed my cookie baking tradition a “few” years ago. Homemade granola and Candied Spiced Pecans were so much easier. I finally resurrected the cookie baking last year. I eased my way back with an assortment of slice and bake cookies (check out my index for slice and bakes!) but this year, as I guiltily tossed several jars of raspberry preserves, I exclaimed…
JAM IT, I’m baking filled cookies this year!
So without further ado, here is the line-up for this year’s holiday cookie jam-stravaganza.
Cranberry Cherry Ribbon Cookies– Sweet-tart cranberry cherry jam sandwiched between buttery shortbread. I hope Nancy Baggett doesn’t mind, I construct these cookies differently than in her All American Cookie Book- this one is for you, Joe B. (Recipe link soon!)
Raspberry Cheesecake Thumbprints– Good, but I’d make my Thumbprintsinstead if you like walnuts, or Emeril’s Thumbprints that have a hint of citrus. Yummers.
Dorie’s Jammers – filled with recently bought jams (strawberry, peach and cherry) from Sunblest Orchards. Dorie, my baking hero.
Pineapple Pockets – Flo Bracker’s Sweet Miniatures. Buttery, melt-in-your-mouth cookie with a little scoop of caramelized pineapple jam. Mele Kalikimaka!
Not jam-filled but a holiday imperative I make these
Eric Kim’s Grocery Store Cookie– These cookies make me happy! I don’t even like the supermarket ones, but these? Make them now, you’ll thank me. A soft, tender cake-like vanilla cookie with hot pink raspberry frosting-SO DELICIOUS. Here is his video on making these little smiles. Recipe with my notes posted thru link. Shhh, don’t tell NYT cooking. I subscribe-it’s all good.
Traditional Scottish Shortbread-because it’s my favorite and if I’m making cookies, I’m making these. Looks are deceiving, they are scrumptious.
Pecan Tartlets-not a jam but it is a filled cookie and oh so good. Hubby would disavow me if I didn’t make them.
Yes, this is my holiday cookie run-down. Any of these would make an awesome sweet treat to ring in the New Year, kick 2020 to the curb and usher in 2021. But don’t just bake them during the holidays, make them for Ground Hog Day, Valentine’s Day, MY birthday, YOUR birthday, because it’s Tuesday. Anytime you want to make someone smile. Jamie made Sally’s Baking Addiction Best Sugar Cookies for the delicious beauties below!
Or For A Great Cause!
Happy Holidays
Peanut Butter Miso Cookies -Kool, Bake Me Some of that Funky Stuff
Always on the lookout for cookies with a twist, I came across these cookies in New York Times Cooking. There I was nonchalantly scrolling through my feed when it popped up on my screen PEANUT BUTTER MISO COOKIES. Say what? Miso? In a cookie? Like a lot of folks, I have had Miso Soup, but in a cookie? I was intrigued.
This is essentially a peanut butter cookie that sneaks in miso paste to add umami. It will have your cookie tasters guessing…what’s that yummy salty, edgy flavor? A cookie with a twist, something different but familiar.
Miso Primer
Before getting to the recipe, let’s talk about Miso. Miso is made from soybean that has been fermented with Koji, (the fungus Aspergillus oryzae). It is a cornerstone of Japanese cuisine. It adds a salty, earthy flavor to soups, marinades, and salad dressings. There is white miso or Shiro Miso, red miso or Aka Miso and mixed miso or Awase Miso (red and white). White miso is mild and sweet while red miso is aged longer and develops a much saltier, earthy taste, and is darker in color. Awase. Miso is a blend of both red and white miso. Shiro Miso is the most popular, so if you had to pick just one, this is the way to go. Try Hikari White Organic Miso which can be found in most Japanese stores. Miso Honey Ribs, and Japanese Cha Siu from No Recipesboth use white miso and are really delicious.
These cookies follow the standard cookie-making process. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add white miso and peanut butter and cream mixture again, add egg and vanilla and stir in flour. Pop the dough into the fridge to chill for about 15 minutes. The dough will firm up and be easier to handle. Use a 2 tablespoon ice cream scoop (#30-#36) to scoop out portions of dough, and hand shape to form a nice smooth ball. Roll cookies in Demerara sugar or raw sugar which provides a nice crunch. Place on a baking sheet.
The KEY to this recipe, let the cookie dough rest. Put it in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours to allow the miso to mellow. The longer you let it rest the mellower the miso gets.
A great addition to these cookies would be white chocolate chips to compliment the miso or butterscotch chips.
Pan Rapping
A trick from Sarabeth’s baking book. When the edges of the cookies are just beginning to set and the centers puff up, reach in the oven, lift the cookie sheet up, and rap or drop it on the rack. This will cause the cookies to deflate and create those characteristic cracks. Bake until the edges are set. Yes, the precursor to pan banging cookies.
The sweet, salty, earthy flavor of these cookies pairs well with a nice cup of tea. The edge is crispy, the center is chewy and every bite has a nice crunch from the sugar. It’s different, it’s delicious, and a great addition to any holiday box of treats.
A sweet, salty, earthy, crispy-edged, cookie with a chewy center and a miso twist. Delicious!
Course cookies
Cuisine American, Asian-American
Keyword Peanut Butter Miso Cookie
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 15 minutesminutes
Ingredients
1 ¾cupsall-purpose flour225 grams
¾teaspoonbaking soda
½teaspoonbaking powder
½ cupunsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature115 grams
1cuplight brown sugar220 grams
½cupgranulated sugar100 grams
⅓cup white miso paste80 milliliters
¼chunky peanut butter60 milliliters
1large egg
1 ½teaspoonsvanilla extract
½cup105 grams Demerara sugar, plus more as needed
2/3cupwhite chocolate chips or butterscotch chipsoptional
Instructions
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and baking powder, and whisk until incorporated. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix butter, light brown sugar and granulated sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Add miso and peanut butter to the mixing bowl, and continue to mix at medium speed, about 1 minute. Scrape down sides of the bowl to make sure all of the ingredients are evenly incorporated, and mix a bit more if needed. Add egg and vanilla extract, and mix until just combined.
Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the mixing bowl, and mix on low speed until flour mixture is incorporated. Repeat with remaining flour mixture in two batches until all of it is incorporated.
Place 1/2 cup Demerara sugar into a small bowl. Scoop out a ball of dough (about 50 grams per cookie-use a 2 T ice cream scoop), and roll each portion between your hands until it is nice and round. (If the dough is too soft to roll, you can pop the mixing bowl in the refrigerator for 5 to 10 minutes to firm the dough up slightly.) Roll the piece of dough into the bowl of Demerara sugar and turn to coat. Transfer each ball to a parchment-lined baking sheet, arranging them about 3 inches apart. Repeat with all of the dough.
Refrigerate for 2 hours and up to overnight. (Even 15 minutes of refrigerator time will help the dough firm up, and the flavors meld. The longer the dough is refrigerated, the more mellow the flavors will be.)
When ready to bake, heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake cookies for about 15 minutes, until crisp at the edges and slightly puffed in the middle. They should still be a bit underdone in the center. Pull out the baking sheet and hit it against a counter. Place back into the oven to finish for about 3 to 4 minutes. When cookies are firm at the edges and slightly puffed in the center, pull them out and again hit the baking sheet against the counter. The cookies should appear flat and crinkly at the center.
Let the cookies cool on a baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Store fully cooled cookies in an airtight container; they should retain their chewy texture for a few days.
Thin, Crispy, Gooey, Chocolate Chip Cookies-Get It On, Bang a Pan
I have been a slouch when it comes to holiday cookies this year. LUCKY FOR ME, Jamie is home and baking up a storm…I get the difficult task of eating and posting about whatever deliciousness she has baked up.
I had all this planned of course. My copy of Sarah Kiefer’s 100 Cookies finally arrived which I then strategically left on the kitchen island in full view. Heh, heh, heh. The book is a beauty both in content and style.
She took the bait. Flipping through the book, Jamie landed on the Neopolitan Cookies exclaimed “so making these”. I kept nodding enthusiastically with every cookie she mentioned. We loved the Neapolitans, buttery, chewy, flavored with vanilla, strawberry, and cocoa. These are definitely going in the rotation. The Smores Bars were labor-intensive but worth the effort. Imagine a blondie base, coated with chocolate and topped with a layer of toasty homemade marshmallow fluff.
Despite the many CCC recipes we have, her Chocolate Chip Cookies and the pan banging technique proved irresistible. All we can say is make room for this bad boy in your chocolate chip cookie file, it’s that good. The cookies are thin, crisp-edged yet soft in the center. They’re dotted with chopped dark chocolate bits and finished with a sprinkle of Fleur de Sel. The dough is sweet so don’t skip the Fleur de sel and definitely use dark chocolate for balance.
You should be running to your kitchen now to make these.
Pan-banging
No, not headbanging which is what I have been doing all year, it’s been that kinda year. I first came across pan-banging in Sarabeth’s Bakery cookbook (a beautiful cookbook) Sarabeth’s Kitchen is a New York institution known for their breakfasts, jams, and baked goods. Her version of Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Clouds, calls for rapping the pan on the oven rack with a couple of minutes left in baking. This causes the cookies to deflate and develop their signature cracks. I adopted this rapping the pan for several of my drop cookie recipes including the Oatmeal Apricot Cookies from Dahlia Bakery. Love the way cracks and crevices look in drop cookies.
Sarah takes it to a whole new level, by repeatedly banging the pan in 2-minute intervals, you get these super cool circular ridges that look like a tree’s age rings. The cookies bake thin and flat, they spread quite a bit, so plan on about 5 cookies per baking sheet.
So take your 2020 aggressions out by making these pan banging chocolate chip cookies and end up with beastly cookies. Win-win.
From 100 Cookies Thin and Crispy, Ridged Chocolate Chip Cookies
Course cookies
Cuisine American
Keyword chocolate chip cookies
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 10 hourshours14 minutesminutes
Ingredients
2cupsall-purpose flour (284 grams)Gold Medal AP Flour will give you better ridges
½teaspoonbaking soda
¾teaspoonsalt
½pound unsalted butter (227 grams)2 sticks, room temperature
1 ½cupsgranulated sugar (300 grams)
¼cupbrown sugar (55 grams)dark brown preferred
1large egg
2tablespoonswater
1tablespoonvanilla extract
6ouncesbittersweet chocolate (170 grams)about 60 percent cacao solids, chopped into coarse pieces, bits and shards. We used TJ's Pound Plus Dark Chocolate
Fleur de selor Maldon Salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
Adjust an oven rack to the middle position. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper
In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter on medium until creamy about 1 minute. Add the granulated and brown sugars and beat on medium until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla and 2 tablespoons water, and mix on low to combine. Add the flour mixture, and mix on low until combined. Add the chocolate and mix on low into the batter. (At this point, the dough can be refrigerated for several hours or overnight.)
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Form the dough into 2.5 ounce (~70 gram) balls (#24 ice cream scoop 1/3 cup each). Place 4-5 balls an equal distance apart on pan.
Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake 7 minutes, until the cookies are puffed slightly in the center. Lift the baking sheet and let it drop down against the oven rack, so the edges of the cookies set and the inside falls back down. (This will feel wrong, but trust me.) Bang it down, if necessary, to make the center fall.
After the cookies puff up again, 2 minutes later, repeat lifting and dropping the pan. Repeat a few more times, every 2 minutes, to create ridges around the edge of the cookie. Bake 13 to 14 minutes total, until the cookies have spread out, and the edges are golden brown, but the centers are much lighter and not fully cooked.
Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and sprinkle with Fleur de sel or Maldon salt. Let cool10-15 minutes before removing the cookies from the pan.
Repeat with remaining cookies. Store in an airtight container.
Notes
We used a #24 ice cream scoop, ~2.5 ounces and baked for 14 minutes. The original recipe calls for 3 ounces of dough and bake for 15-16 minutes. You can use King Arthur Flour (higher protein) but it may not develop as many ridges. I would recommend weighing ingredients, esp flour, for accuracy.
In a Peanut Pickle with these Cookies (Peanut and Bittersweet Chocolate Cookies)
I have mentioned this before, when it comes to cookies we are a divided family. Shortbread cookies are my favorite, crumbly, buttery, crisp, not too sweet, perfect with tea or coffee.
My family disagrees. Hubs and kids prefer chewy cookies. While Hubs favors oatmeal cookies (like his Good Cookies), Jorge, freshly back from a year in Korea, will remind me (almost daily) that I have yet to make his favorite chocolate sprinkle cookies or even CCC. All classic kid cookies-chewy, sweet and deliciously dunkable in an ice-cold glass of milk.
So, much to Jordan’s chagrin, the cookies that came out of the oven the other day were the Peanut and Bittersweet Chocolate Cookies, a slice and bake that is much more similar to shortbread. I found the recipe in the LA Times (a boss cooking section, the reason I maintain a subscription) a few years ago. The winner of their holiday cookie contest, it immediately went on my gotta make Cookie Bucket List. It is delicious, buttery, crisp, not quite as dense as shortbread, and filled with peanut umami. The cookies contain both peanut butter and finely chopped peanuts, a double nut hit. Mr. Planter would be proud. The bittersweet chocolate gives it an adult twist, a not too sweet hit of chocolate, yum.
I knew it was a winner when Jorge unconsciously kept eating the cookies all the while complaining about not liking peanut butter or crisp, short cookies and still asking “When are you going to make Sprinkle Cookies?” as he polished off the last one.
Necessity is the mother of invention and quite often, a good thing. Stashed in the pantry, a jar of honey roasted peanuts that subbed for the salted peanuts I did not have. To offset the sweetness from the honey, I sprinkled the cookies with Fleur de Sel before popping them in the oven.
The peanut butter, sugar, and butter are beaten until light and fluffy. Add the dry ingredients and combine, don’t overbeat. Fold in the nuts and chopped chocolate. The dough is very soft, transfer the dough to wax paper or parchment and shape into a log. Place in the fridge and chill thoroughly. Use a sharp knife or a serrated knife to cut the dough into 1/4 inch slices. I rotated the dough while slicing to keep the cookies round. If the dough crumbles, just smoosh it back together. Sprinkle the slices with Fleur de Sel and sanding sugar.
If you wanted to make a kid friendlier cookie, you can use semi-sweet or even milk chocolate for the bittersweet chocolate. If you like peanuts, you are going to love these cookies.
1cupfinely chopped roasted peanuts or honey roasted peanuts
1cupfinely chopped bittersweet chocolate
Fleur de Sel for sprinkling
Sanding Sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
Beat the butter until creamy in a stand mixer. Beat in the peanut butter until blended. Beat in the sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat the egg and vanilla into the sugar mixture until combined. Add flour mixture and beat until thoroughly mixed. Stir in chopped peanuts and chocolate until evenly incorporated.
Divide the dough in half. Shape it into two logs about 9 inches long and wrap each log in plastic wrap, waxed paper. Twist ends to seal. Chill in the refrigerator overnight.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Unwrap the logs and cut into one-fourth-inch-thick slices. The dough is soft so rotate while slicing. If dough crumbles due to peanuts or chocolate just press it together to reshape.
Place the slices on parchment-lined baking sheets, and bake 10 to 13 minutes until lightly browned around the edges.
Remove the cookies to a wire rack to cool. Store the cookies in an airtight container.
To usher in 2020, I looked for the perfect bite-sized treat when you have a cocktail or a glass of the bubbly in your grasp. I kept in mind my slice and bake theme and decided the perfect cookie to have for New Year’s Eve or Day, DRUM ROLL PLEASE…
Dorie Greenspan’s World Peace Cookies
A fitting cookie to celebrate the end of a decade and bring in a new one.
This cookie, a Pierre Herme creation, was originally called the Korova cookie and was published in Dorie’s Paris Sweets. It was the first book of Dorie’s I purchased. This cookie “made me buy it”. My reaction the first time I popped one in my mouth was, “WOW, this is REALLY, I mean REALLY, GOOD.”
I’m not a big fan of chocolate cookies so it took me by surprise. So delicious, Dorie’s friend renamed this chocolate wonder, World Peace Cookie. If everyone shared these we could achieve global peace. The cookies are chocolatey and sweet with bits of Fleur de Sel providing a surprising hit of saltiness. The chunks of bittersweet chocolate temper the sweetness and give the cookies a 1-2 chocolate punch. Yep, like a champ.
Ok. This cookie does pop up on a zillion feeds. So why am I re-posting? Well, you can never post the perfect chocolate cookie too many times and more importantly, on the off chance YOU haven’t made these, how could I not? I would be remiss if I didn’t, a dereliction of blogger duty.
There is another reason. I came across Dorie’s updated version of the World Peace Cookie in her book, Dorie’s Cookies (of course I own a copy, silly). Bakers often commented on the original recipe about the crumbly dough and how difficult it was to form a log. Her updated version has a little more butter, a little more sugar, and a smidge less flour. I noticed the updated dough was softer than the original recipe and came together easily. Perhaps her changes came about from baking them in ring molds for their cookie pop-up or maybe to address the crumble rumble.
I think the original recipe is much more like a sable’, a little drier and shortbread-like while the updated version is softer and a tad moister (wow, this was an auto-correct). I fully intend to bake the original soon for comparison. The bottom line is both versions are DELICIOUS.
The dough comes together in a snap. Butter is beaten with sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. Then chopped dark chocolate is folded into the dough. Natural or Dutch-process cocoa can be used. I used King Arthur’s Triple Cocoa Blend (all-purpose cocoa) but use your favorite. For the chocolate, I like Trader Joe’s Pound Plus Dark Chocolate that comes in a big honking bar. You can use fancy designer chocolate to up the wow factor or you can use chips when you are in a hurry. I like the jagged, rough pieces you get chopping the chocolate. Use bittersweet chocolate, especially with the updated version which is a little sweeter than the original.
Roll the dough into logs, wrap in parchment or wax paper and chill. Use a serrated or sharp knife to cut 1/2 inch pieces. The dough will crumble but it is an easy fix, just smoosh it back together. No sweat. See?
Bake the cookies for twelve minutes. Don’t check them and don’t open the oven door. Just relax until the buzzer goes off. “Bake and take” them out-Dorie’s rules. Let them cool to set. They’re delicious slightly warm or at room temperature. Get out the milk or get out the bubbly and ENJOY.
These chocolate cookies will satisfy any chocoholic. Similar to a sable' these cookies are from Dorie Greenspan's Cookie book and are absolutely addicting.
Course cookies
Cuisine American, French
Keyword chocolate cookies, Dorie Greenspan, korova cookies, world peace cookies
1/2teaspoonfleur de selor 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1teaspoonpure vanilla extract
5ouncesbittersweet chocolate, chopped into small bits142gm or 5 ounces
Fleur de Seloptional, to sprinkle on cookies before baking
Instructions
Sift the flour, cocoa, and baking soda together and keep the bowl close. Put the butter in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until the butter is soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt, and vanilla extract and beat for another minute or two. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the sifted dry ingredients. Mix only until the dry ingredients are incorporated — the dough will look crumbly, and that’s just right. For the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.
Turn the dough out onto a smooth work surface and squeeze it so that it sticks together in large clumps, don't be afraid to smoosh it together. Gather the dough into a ball, divide it in half, and working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) in diameter. (Cookie-dough logs can end up with hollow centers, so as you’re shaping each log, flatten it once or twice and roll it up from one long side to the other to get the air out)
Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and chill them for at least 1 hour. (Wrapped airtight, the logs can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for 1 month.)
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Working with a sharp thin-bladed knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) thick. (Don’t worry if the rounds break; just squeeze the broken-off bit back onto the cookie.) Place the cookies on the parchment-lined sheets, leaving about 1 inch (2.5 cm) spread space between them.
If you want to up your salt game, sprinkle a tiny bit of Fleur de Sel on each cookie before baking. It adds a tiny wow factor to the look of the cookie too.
Bake one sheet of cookies at a time, and bake each sheet for 12 minutes. The cookies will not look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies stand until they are only just warm or until they reach room temperature.
Cultured Club with Girl Deb (Cultured Butter Cookies)
Last but not least of the trio of slice and bake cookies, Cultured Butter Cookies from Melissa Clark via The New York Times. On a trip to my neighborhood Trader Joes, I came across Cultured Butter. What? “cultured butter”, my curiosity was peaked. As if the planets had just aligned, what should pop up on my feed? An article by Melissa Clark in the NYT on the virtues of cultured butter. A recipe for Cultured Butter Cookies was included. Butter Cookies? A cousin to my favorite cookie, Shortbread? I’m on it.
Cultured butter is slightly tangy and salty. Throw out the notion that you should only use unsalted butter to cook and bake. Cultured butter, from Brittany, wears salt like a badge of honor. The process of pasteurization kills the live cultures in the milk. Adding back a bacteria culture to the milk gives the butter a nice tang. So, a live culture, salt, and higher butterfat content, what do you get? Butter on “roids”.
Trader Joe’s carries a very good Cultured Butter (according to Bon Apetit’). Imported from Brittany, its a bargain. Not just perfect for Melissa’s cookies, but delicious on toast, spread on a baguette or drizzled on vegetables.
The remaining logs of dough of my trio of slice and bakes are chilling in the fridge. All I have to do is slice, bake, and arrange them on a festive plate, and I’m good to go…to any holiday party, even yours (hint, hint).
Bout’ the cookies
Beat softened butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk and combine. This results in a lighter, crisper cookie. Blend in the dry ingredients, do not overbeat. The dough is then molded into a log (helpful hints for creating logs) and chilled. Roll the logs in sugar, I like white sanding or sparkling sugar which gives the cookies a festive look and provides a bit of crunch.
Slice at least 1/4 inch thick, no less for a nice edge and then bake on parchment-lined sheet until the edges turn a nice deep golden brown. The cookies taste even better on the second day as the flavors have a chance to develop.
These cookies are lovely. Light, crisp, buttery perfect with tea, champagne, just about anything. I’ll be baking a batch for New Year’s Eve too.
The trio of slice and bakes and the stamped Mexican Hot Chocolate Shortbread were the cornerstone of my #f52HolidaySwap box this year. What’s that you say? Think…
Secret Santa
Hosted by Food52, this is a wonderful, fun way to share the holiday spirit of giving with a stranger and donate to a worthwhile cause. For a small donation (this year’s recipient was No Kid Hungry) you are sent a name and address of someone in the world (yep, you read that right-world, although most likely stateside) to send a package of goodies. My holiday box went to Kim in Ohio, filled with not only cookies but spiced pecans, homemade granola, kitchen towels I trimmed myself (so easy) and a beautiful bowl made by my friend, Snook. In turn, I received a box from Massachusetts, with cute flour sack towels, homemade cookies, and a festive spatula.
1cup2 sticks salted, cultured butter, at room temperature
⅔cup130 grams granulated sugar
1large egg yolk
¼cupcoarse sanding sugarfor rolling
Instructions
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and granulated sugar until lightened in color and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Beat in egg yolk until combined. With mixer running on low, add flour mixture until incorporated.
Divide dough half. On a clean surface, roll each halfinto a 1 ½ inch log.
Sprinkle the coarse sanding sugar over a sheet of parchment. Roll each log in the sugar until the outside of the dough is thoroughly covered.
Cover logs tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour, or overnight.
When you are ready to bake the cookies, heat oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Use large, sharp knife to cut each log into ¼ inch-thick rounds. Place cookies 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake until cookie edges and bottoms are deep golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature.
As soon as slice and bake cookies became my “thang” this year, I thought of The Grand Central Baking Book that has been sitting on my shelf for years. It has an entire section devoted to slice and bake cookies. Time to finally pull it off that shelf and put a dent in my vow to cook or bake at least one recipe from every cookbook I own. I’m glad I did. I chose the Ginger Oat Cookie, a buttery oatmeal shortbread with ground ginger in the dough and flecked with bits of candied ginger. It is absolutely delicious. The oatmeal gives it a rustic texture while the ginger adds sweetness and spice. Paired with a cup of hot tea, they are in a word, addicting.
For the dough, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy then add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in the candied ginger. The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of candied ginger if you like your cookies “gingery” you can add a smidge more. Gather the dough with a bench knife (pastry scraper), and divide it in half. Place each portion on a sheet of parchment paper and pat into a long rectangle.
To form a round log, I fold the parchment over the dough, place a ruler or straight edge on top of it at the base of the dough. Hold the bottom edge of the paper taut, and push the straight edge into the dough. To prevent your cookies from having a flat bottom, place each log in PVC tubes (I got mine from Tap Plastic) so they are not resting on a flat surface while chilling. You could use a paper towel tube, but who keeps those around?
Chill the dough until firm. The recipe calls for rolling the dough in sugar. I use just egg white to brush the logs as I’m not a fan of the color imparted by a whole egg wash. Cut the logs with a sharp or serrated knife. Don’t worry if it crumbles a little, just smoosh the dough back together. NBD
Since I had two logs, one went in the freezer to save for a rainy day. Love slice and bake cookies. Easy peasy.
Grand Central Bakery Ginger Oat Shortbread Cookies
This buttery brown sugar oatmeal shortbread is a double hit of ginger with pieces of candied ginger and ground ginger infused in the dough. A delicious sweet and spicy cookie perfect with a cup of tea.
Course cookies
Cuisine American
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 16 minutesminutes
Ingredients
1 -2/3cupAP flour
1teaspoonsalt
1teaspoonground ginger
1 -2/3cuprolled oats old fashioned
2sticks unsalted butter room temperature
2/3cuplight brown sugar packed
2tablespoonscandied ginger coarsely chopped
egg white wash 1 egg white beaten with 1 tsp water
turbinado sugar for rolling
Instructions
Combine flour, salt and ground ginger into a bowl and whisk to combine. Stir in rolled oats.
Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment beat butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Add dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Fold in candied ginger with a sturdy spatula and divide dough in half. Place each half on a 12 to 14-inch length of parchment paper or waxed paper. Shape the log into a rectangle by flattening the top and sides with your hands. Use the paper to help roll and shape dough into 2 logs, 10 inches in length and roughly 2 inches in diameter.
Twist the ends of the paper to seal the log and chill until firm, at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.
(Logs of shortbread dough can be frozen for up to 3 months.)
Preheat oven to 325°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Lightly brush each log with egg white wash. Roll log in turbinado or similarly coarse sugar, using some pressure so that sugar adheres to the dough.
Slice cookies 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick and place 1 inch apart on prepared pans. Bake 16 to 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time. The cookies are done when they begin to brown slightly around the edges and the centers are still light.
Jan Hagels, Anyway You Slice It, That’s the Way I Want It
Bah Humbug, for some reason I have not been able to get into holiday “drive”. Maybe I’m still jet lagged from our trip to New Orleans or I am still in a Creole butter coma.
The Cookie Cure
Gotta Snap Out Of It. Maybe baking tried and true recipes might work. I dug out my Christmas cookie journal to peruse and get in the cookie mood. A binder filled with cookie recipes from magazines, photocopies of recipes from books along with my own notes, and pictures drawn by my kids when they were little. It’s my cookie bible.
I flipped to “Our Favorite Cookies”, from an old issue of Ladies Home Journal. Ninety percent of you are thinking, what? It’s a Women’s magazine, think, Better Homes and Garden with dresses and makeup tips. Raise your hand if you remember it (seriously dating yourself now). This is the epicenter of my annual holiday cookie extravaganza.
Jan Hagels are on the “gotta make them every year” part of the list. Which is always a good way to start to find your cookie groove. These little Dutch gems are thin and crispy, spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and allspice, and flecked with sliced almonds. They are my mom’s favorite and the first one she will reach for on the cookie platter. How can I not start with these?
Options, roll out the Jan Hagel dough and emboss the dough for traditional Jan Hagel OR form the dough into a log, chill, slice, and bake. Yeah, picking option #2. Chill the dough well, which makes it much easier to slice into the prerequisite 1/8-inch slices. Bake on parchment as the cookies will stick to the pan as they cool. Trust me on this one.
This recipe makes quite a few cookies and the finished cookie keeps very well. Stash a log in the fridge or freezer for freshly baked cookies at a moment’s notice.
Just Can’t Put My Finger On It
The Walnut Thumbprintsfrom the same article also find their way onto my annual baking list. They’re buttery, nutty, tender, a little bit crumbly, and absolutely delicious. Last year I switched hazelnuts for the walnuts, a genius move. Find toasted hazelnuts at TJ’s, which makes life infinitely easier. As much as I love pecans, they aren’t a good choice, they don’t have that pronounced bite walnuts and hazelnuts have.
Slice, Slice Baby
On a roll with slice and bake cookies. Next up, Ginger Oaties from Grand Central Bakery cookbook, a book that has languished on my shelf for years.
Lovely slice and bake Dutch cookie made with almonds, butter, and brown sugar. Flavored with allspice, cinnamon, and ginger. Sweet, spicey, crisp, perfect with a cup of tea.
Course cookies
Cuisine Dutch
Keyword Dutch Almond Cookies, holidays, Jan Hagel
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 10 minutesminutes
Ingredients
Da Dry Stuff
1-1/2cupAll purpose flour
1 tspbaking powder
1tspcinnamon
1/2tspginger
1/4tspsalt
1/8tspallspice
Cream the Following:
1/2cupbutterreg salted (its an old recipe), if using unsalted increase salt to 1/2 tsp, 1 stick or cube
1/2cupdark brown sugar
1/4 cupgranulated sugar
Da Wet Stuff
`1large egg
1tspvanilla extract
Adds
3/4cupsliced almonds
Instructions
Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and allspice in medium bowl. Beat butter and sugars in mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture until blended. Stir in almonds.
Gather and shape dough into 8x2-1/2 -1-12 inch brick. Wrap in wax paper or parchment and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Cut brick crosswise into 1/8-inch thick slices. Line cookie sheet with parchment and bake 8-10 minutes until firm.
With the reprint of Claudia Fleming’s “The Last Course”, I reached into the archives for a post on a trio of shortbread I “tested” on friends and family. A delectable triple play of cookies that would be lovely in a holiday cookie tin or a festive platter for the annual swap. Fleming’s Lemon Poppy Seed cookies are buttery, tender, lemony with a crunch from the poppy seeds while Back in the Day’s Mexican Hot Chocolate Shortbread are rich, chocolatey, and spicy. Bake em’ TODAY. I love pistachios for their color and flavor, both shine in Macrina Bakery’s Pistachio Shortbread.
Without further ado, a trio of tasty cookie bites from “back in the day” that you should bake today!
Human nature always prevails and I am no exception. Every New Year’s Day I make a couple of resolutions…lose weight, get more sleep, test more cookie recipes for next year’s holiday box, one out of three ain’t bad! If I were a major leaguer with a 333 batting average I’d be batting clean up.
So from my collection of cookbooks, I pulled out Back in the Day Bakery Book and made the Mexican Hot Chocolate Shortbread, Lemon Poppyseed Shortbread from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course (re-issued!) and Pistachio Shortbread from More From Macrina Bakery. I don’t like to rely on my taste buds only, so my trusty crew friends, nieces, & family were my “beta testers”. Consensus was there was no consensus! Although I might have to give the edge to the Mexican Hot Chocolate shortbread, me and Joe Biden..here to cast the final vote.
A successful beta test since these three recipes would all make the cut for the holiday cookie basket.
These cookies taste like a mug of rich hot chocolate. The deep mocha-flavor is followed by a kick of cayenne pepper. Don't let the heat put you off; it only enhances the flavor.
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 10 minutesminutes
Author Back In the Day Bakery
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients #1
1 3/4cupsunbleached all-purpose flour
1/2cupalmond flour
Creamed Mixture
1/2pound2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2teaspoonpure vanilla extract
1/2teaspoonpure almond extract
Dry Ingredients #2
1cuppacked light brown sugar
1/2cupDutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2teaspoonground cinnamon
1/4teaspoonespresso powder or finely ground coffee
1/2teaspoonfine sea salt
1/4teaspooncayenne pepper
The Finishers
1/2cupmini semisweet chocolate chips
1/4cup granulated sugar for dusting
Instructions
Line two cookie sheets with parchment.
Whisk the flours together in a medium bowl and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld mixer), cream the butter, vanilla, and almond extract until the mixture is pale in color, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn the speed down to low, add the brown sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, espresso, salt, and cayenne pepper, and continue to mix until the mixture is smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the flour mixture in thirds until just combined. With the mixer running, sprinkle in the chocolate chips, mixing until just combined.
Transfer the dough to another bowl and finish mixing by hand to make sure no bits of flour or butter are hiding on the bottom of the bowl and the dough is thoroughly mixed.
Use a small ice cream scoop to form the cookies, about 1 rounded tablespoon each, and place on the prepared cookie sheets, leaving 1 inch between the cookies to allow for spreading.
Flatten each cookie with a cookie stamp dusted with granulated sugar, or gently flatten each cookie with the palm of your hand and then dust the tops with sugar. They will have little cracks in the top. Refrigerate the cookies for at least 1 hour, or up to 5 hours. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 8 to 10 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time for even doneness (see Tip). Cool the cookies completely on wire racks. Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature.
Tip: It is really difficult to tell when dark chocolate cookies are done. Pull them out when they are firm to the touch on the edges and the sweet smell of chocolate has begun to fill your kitchen.
Lemon-Poppy Seed Shortbread (Claudia Fleming, The Last Course)
Ingredients
1cup2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4cupconfectioners’ sugar
1 1/2teaspoonsfresh lemon juice
1 1/2teaspoonsgrated lemon zest
1/2teaspoonvanilla extract
2cupsall-purpose floursifted
1 1/2tablespoonspoppy seeds
1/2teaspoonsalt
Instructions
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth, about two minutes. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla and beat well.
In a bowl, combine the flour, poppy seeds, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until combined. Form the dough into a disk and, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months.
Preheat oven to 300° F. Roll the dough between two sheets of wax paper to a 1/4-inch-thick rectangle. return dough to refrigerator for an additional 30 minutes. Cut the shortbread into shapes with a two-inch cookie cutter, or use a knife, and place 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Do not reroll scraps, if using cookie cutter. Prick shortbread with a fork and bake until pale golden all over, 23 to 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
1cupunbleached all-purpose flourplus more for the work surface
1/4cupgranulated sugar
1/2teaspoonkosher salt
1/2cupshelled raw or roasted pistachios
1/2teaspoonvanilla extract
1stick4 ounces unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 to 2tablespoonsgranulated sugarsanding sugar, or raw sugar, for garnish
Instructions
Pulse the flour, granulated sugar, salt, pistachios, and vanilla in the bowl of a food processor for 1 to 2 minutes, until the pistachios are finely ground. Scatter the butter pieces in the food processor and pulse several times to cut the butter into the flour. Stop pulsing when the ingredients just come together and cling to one another. (Watch carefully, as food processors work very fast and can easily overmix the dough. At first the mixture will have a coarse, crumbly texture, but then if you’re not careful it will quickly turn into a paste.)
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and shape it into a log about 2 inches in diameter and 10 inches long. (If the dough is too sticky, toss it in the fridge for 10 or so minutes to make it easier to work with. Dampening your hands ever so slightly with cold water also helps.) Place the log on a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper. Tightly roll the wrap around the log and twist the ends to seal them securely. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 5 days. (This dough also freezes well for up to 3 weeks if wrapped tightly in plastic.)
Position 2 racks in the center of the oven and preheat to 325ºF (163ºC). Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Cut the chilled cookie dough into 1⁄2-inch-thick coins and place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Lightly brush the top of each shortbread cookie with water and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden brown on both top and bottom. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store the pistachio shortbread cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
