Tag: cookies
Alfajores (Bells Rang for this Cookie)

Alfajores (Bells Rang for this Cookie)

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I found the cookie of my dreams at a family wedding a couple of years ago.  Strolling around the reception, waiting for the happy couple to arrive, I grabbed a glass of bubbly and gravitated towards the table of sweets,  a dazzling array of desserts.

In the center of the table was an amazing assortment of cookies.  I chose the sugar cookie sheep, so cute I couldn’t resist. In fact, too cute to eat so I chose a second cookie, a petite round sandwich cookie covered with powdered sugar.  I popped one in my mouth.

Wowza, Score One for the Round Cookie

HELLOOOO…little cute as a button sandwich cookie. Where have you been all my life?  Tender, light, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth crumb with a rich-brown lovely caramel sandwiched in between. The rest of the wedding festivities were a blur as I fixated on the cookie, just kidding, it was a very nice celebration. I did eat as many cookies as I could, lol.  I stealthily circulated the room casually asking, friends and relatives about the cookies.  Ok, I’m lying…nothing stealth or casual about my inquisition.  I learned the cookies were made by the bride’s aunt who had lived in South America for a while.  The cookies were her version of Alfajores which originated in Spain and made its way to many Latin countries.  A tender shortbread-like cookie filled with caramelized milk and sugar mixture known as Dulce de Leche.  So good.

Yep, made by the bride’s aunt!  I had an “in”.  I was wowed, they were so damn good and she made enough cookies for 300+ people.  This put me squarely in the Auntie Hall of Shame.

It did take 5 years to finally get the recipe from her.  I badgered my niece occasionally to no avail (in her defense, she was pretty busy).  Finally, at her baby shower a couple of weeks ago, gracing the dessert table, a tray of cute sheep and Alfajores-ahhh, those lovely cookies, again.

Lucky for me her aunt was there and I POLITELY (I accosted her) asked for the recipe.  She proceeded to rattle it off the top of her head ending with, “it’s the orange rind that really adds to the cookie, don’t forget it”.

Thank you, Auntie

This is actually a pretty simple cookie. Unlike many recipes for Alfajores, no egg in it. It’s flour, sugar in the form of powdered sugar, butter, salt, and a touch of orange rind.  The powdered sugar lowers the protein content creating a tender, melt-in-your-mouth cookie.

The other component is the Dulce de Leche.  You could buy ready-made dulce de leche but what fun is that?  You could also make your own by cooking sweetened condensed milk, in the can, in a water bath.  This is simple but takes hours, and the remote chance of the can exploding loomed in my mind.  So I made my Dulce de Leche in the microwave.  Worked like a charm but it did have some stumbling blocks.

What You Need

A can of sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces) and a VERY LARGE microwavable bowl.  The milk will bubble and boil over if your bowl is too small, yep, exactly what happened to me.  Use a 2.5-quart bowl.  I recently bought microwave ware, Anyday Cookware, which I love, but the bowl was not quite big enough to avoid overflow.

Liquid Gold

The entire process takes 12-15 minutes.  In roughly 2 minute intervals you zap the mixture, remove stir and nuke again.  The mixture will bubble and then caramelize leaving you with liquid gold aka Dulce de Leche.  It will thicken as it cools down, but you do want a nice deep brown color and it shouldn’t be runny to avoid the “ooze factor” in a sandwich cookie. Use oven mitts, stir and let it cool.  You can spoon the filling onto the cookies or use a piping bag to fill the cookies. If you like butter & caramel flavor, you are going to love these cookies.

There you have it, the cookie of my dreams.  Make a batch, I guarantee it will put a smile on your face.

The finishing touch is optional but nice, roll the edge of the cookie in shredded coconut. Delicious.

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Alfajores

A classic cookie found in many Latin American countries. A tender, buttery cookie with Dulce de Leche, caramelized sweetened milk filling.
Course cookies, Dessert
Cuisine Latin America, Spanish
Keyword Alfajores, cookies, dulce de leche
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

Cookie

  • 1 cup unsalted butter softened 2 sticks
  • 6 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 t salt
  • Orange zest from 1/2 orange
  • 1 teaspoon vailla extract or paste optional
  • finely shredded coconut, unsweetened preferred but sweetened is ok too

Dulce de Leche

  • 1-14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
  • Pinch of kosher salt or Fleur de Sel
  • 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon optional

Instructions

Cookie

  • Combine flour and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Zest orange.
  • Cream together butter and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and creamy looking, should not get to the light and fluffy stage. Add orange zest, and vanilla if using, stir to incorporate.
  • Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture, beat on low speed. Once the flour is incorporated, stop, do not overbeat. Remove dough from the bowl, shape into a ball and wrap with plastic wrap. Flatten the ball into a disc about 1 inch thick. Chill for at least an hour.
  • Roll dough out to 1/8 inch thickness. Using a cookie cutter, I use a 2 inch fluted cutter, cut out rounds of dough and place 1 inch apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
  • If dough seems soft at any time, re-chill.
  • Bake at 340 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until the edges just begin to color on the edges. They should be pale color. Remove and place on a rack to cool completely.
  • Once the dulce de leche is cold, fill a piping bag or use teaspoons to place dulce de leche on bottom side of half of the cookies. Use approximately 1 teaspoon of filling.
  • Top filled cookies with the remaining cookies and gently press to distribute filling. You want it to come to the very edge of the cookie. Roll edge of cookie in finely shredded coconut if you want. Dust both sides of cookies with powdered sugar.
  • Filled cookies can be kept for a couple of days at room temperature or in the fridge a little longer. The moisture in the dulce de leche will soften the cookies with time. If you want to make them ahead, don't fill them until you are ready to serve.

Dulce de Leche (Adapted from Food.com)

  • Microwave directions:
  • You will need a 2-1/2 quart microwave bowl for this recipe. If you don’t have one that big, make half at a time. Trust me on this unless you like having caramel all over your microwave.
  • Pour sweetened condensed milk into bowl. If you have a vented lid, put it on. If not, cover bowl with plastic wrap and poke a couple of holes in it so the steam can escape.
  • The gold standard will be a 1000 watt microwave, adjust accordingly.*
  • Set microwave to 50% power and microwave milk for 2 minutes. If you are adding the salt and cinnamon, add it now.
  • Remove, (use oven mitts please!) Stir and put it back in the microwave. Then nuke at half power in two and a half minute intervals, stirring in between each time, for a total of ten minutes. As you cook the milk, it will boil, expel steam and gradually turn a nice rich brown. Keep in mind, you will need a pretty thick sauce for the cookies. You may need to nuke the milk for another 2-3 minutes. You want a deep rich brown. It will thicken a little as it cools.
  • *If you have a 1200 watt microwave, set it at 40%. I have a tiny 600 watt microwave so I set the power at 60%.
  • The Other Method:
  • Requires a lot more time. First, remove the paper label from the can and place it in a heavy duty pot on its side. Fill pot with enough water to cover the can by 2 inches. Bring the water to a boil and reduce heat so the water is at a simmer.
  • Make sure the water level stays 2 inches over the can at all times!!!!!! Or the can might explode!!!! Why I use the microwave method, lol. This method comes from Serious Eats.
  • Bring the water to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer milk for 2-3 hours CHECKING WATER LEVEL EVERY 30 MINUTES. Add hot water as needed. 2 hours will give you a golden caramel while 3 hours will yield a deep, dark caramel.
  • Remove can from water. Allow the can to cool completely before opening, about 4 hours.
Grocery Store Cookies! Sprinkle a Little Holiday Cheer

Grocery Store Cookies! Sprinkle a Little Holiday Cheer

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My favorite holiday cookie of the season is Eric Kim’s  (check out his site, wonderful essays,  beautiful writing) Lofthouse Style Grocery Store Cookie.  It’s surprising since I am not a fan of those ubiquitous cookies with the toothachingly sweet, artificial tasting frosting and eye-popping sprinkles.  But his homemade rendition looked so appealing, I had to try them.

Eric’s homage to the grocery store cookies is part of NYTcooking’s week-long video series on Holiday Cookies.  He takes the concept of the grocery store cookie and creates a small-batch, no preservatives, all-butter, cream cheese, tender cakey-cookie topped with a sweet, slightly tart raspberry buttercream.  The only resemblance to the supermarket cookie is the sprinkles on top!

These cookies are simply DIVINE

The directions are straight forward and if your ingredients are at room temperature, a bowl and a wooden spoon are all you need to make these cookies. How easy is that?  But you can be lazy like me and use your stand mixer, especially for the frosting.

Though hand mixing the dough is very doable, if time is short, go ahead and bust out your Kitchen Aid mixer.  Combine cake flour and baking powder in a small bowl and set aside.  Cream butter, cream cheese, salt, and sugar at medium speed until fluffy.  Add the eggs and vanilla extract (yes, 1 tablespoon) and beat mixture on medium for approximately 1 minute to aerate and incorporate sugar.  Reduce mixer speed to stir or low setting and add flour mixture.  Mix just until flour is incorporated.  The dough will be very very soft. Toss the bowl into the fridge for 15 minutes to chill the dough so it is easier to scoop.

Use a two-tablespoon ice cream scoop to measure out the dough.  Scoop all of the dough and place it on a pan that will fit in your freezer.  Place the pan in the freezer to chill the dough (min 10-15 minutes).  Do not skip this step, makes the dough much easier to work with, keeps it from spreading, and gives the flavors time to meld.

Frosting Goodness

While the dough is in the freezer, make the frosting.  Freeze-dried fruit is the magic that provides both color and flavor to the frosting- it is this tweak that provides the spark in this cookie.  The recipe calls for raspberry but strawberry, blueberry or mango freeze-dried fruit would work. I like raspberry not just for flavor but for color, it gives the frosting a hot pink happy glow.  Freeze-dried fruit can be found at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Target.  Grind the fruit into a powder in a mini food processor or place in a Ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to pulverize it.  Sift to strain the seeds out of powder.  The frosting is sweet, tart, and fruity, just delightful.

Combine the softened butter, fruit, vanilla, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl.  Blend on low speed until the ingredients are mixed together then increase the speed to high and beat until light and fluffy, a couple of minutes, and about double in volume.  Set aside.

Take the cookies out of the freezer and roll them into balls (eminently doable thanks to freezing). Place each ball on a parchment-lined cookie sheet 2-3 inches apart.  If the dough gets too soft or sticky to work with,  return it to the freezer.  Flatten each to approximately two inches in diameter and one-inch thickness.  Bake 13 to 15 minutes or just until the edge starts to color, don’t over bake.  You will be rewarded with a tender, buttery, light cakey-cookie with a wonderful vanilla punch.

The Finale:  Cookie + Hot Pink Frosting x Sprinkles = Happy

Swirl a generous amount of the frosting on each cookie and then SPRINKLE-FY each one.  These cookies are so indescribably good, put them on your BAKE THESE COOKIES list now. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the 2020 Holiday Cookie Box!

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Eric Kim's Grocery Store Cookie

Remember Lofthouse Cookies from the Supermarkets? Every little league game, school bake sale featured those sprinkle adorned, frosting laden, cakey cookies in the plastic trays. Imagine a homemade, luscious, delicious, version.
Course cookies
Cuisine American
Keyword Grocery Store Cookie, Lofthouse Cookie, sprinkles, Supermarket
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes

Equipment

  • Small sheet pan that will fit in your freezer I have a side by side so sadly a regular-sized cookie sheet will not fit
  • Cookie sheets
  • 2 Tablespoon Ice cream scoop #40 the size of the scoop will be on it somewhere! Sometimes on the handle or the rim of the scoop, even on the little thing-a-ma-jigger that pushes the dough out of the scoop

Ingredients

Cookie

    Da Dry Stuff- Combine in small bowl and set aside

    • 2 ¼ cups cake flour (285 grams)
    • 2 teaspoons baking powder

    Da Wet Stuff

    • ½ cup unsalted butter (115 grams) 1 stick, at room temperature
    • 3 ounces cream cheese (85 grams) at room temperature
    • 1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams)
    • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
    • 2 large eggs at room temperature
    • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

    Frosting

    • 1 cup freeze-dried raspberries (30 grams) finely ground in a food processor or spice grinder
    • 1 cup unsalted butter (225 grams) 2 sticks, at room temperature
    • 2 cups confectioners’ sugar (245 grams)
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • Pinch of kosher salt

    Da Bling

    • Multi-colored Sprinkles Happy dust!

    Instructions

    • Make the cookies: In a large bowl, using a spoon, cream the butter, cream cheese, sugar and salt until smooth and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract, and whisk to incorporate some air and to dissolve the sugar crystals, about 1 minute. Stir in the flour and baking powder until just incorporated.
    • Heat oven to 350 degrees and line two rimmed sheet pans with parchment paper. Using two spoons or a cookie scooper, plop out 2-tablespoon/50-gram rounds spaced a couple of inches apart. (You should get about 7 to 8 cookies per sheet pan.) Place the sheet pans in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes until the dough is no longer sticky and easier to handle.
    • While the dough chills, make the frosting: In a fine-mesh sieve set over a medium bowl, sift the ground raspberries, using a spoon to help pass them through, until most of the ruby-red powder is in the bowl and most of the seeds are left behind in the sieve. (Discard the seeds.)
    • To the bowl, add the 1 cup butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract and salt and, with an electric hand mixer, mix on low speed until the butter absorbs the sugar. Then, turn the speed up to high and beat until the frosting doubles in size, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure all the ingredients are incorporated. Transfer the frosting to a small container, cover tightly, and set aside. (You should have about 2 cups of frosting.)
    • Remove the sheet pans from the freezer. Roll the chilled dough into even balls and flatten them slightly with your fingers so they’re about 2 inches wide and 1 inch high. Bake the cookies for 13 to 15 minutes, rotating the pans and switching racks halfway through, or until they no longer look wet on top, are still light in color and spring back to the touch. They will puff up and crack slightly. Let cool completely on the sheet pan. (They will continue to cook as they sit.)
    • Using a butter knife or offset spatula, frost each cooled cookie with the raspberry frosting and adorn with the sprinkles.
    Peanut Butter Miso Cookies -Kool, Bake Me Some of that Funky Stuff

    Peanut Butter Miso Cookies -Kool, Bake Me Some of that Funky Stuff

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    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 Recipes both 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.

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    Peanut Butter Miso Cookies

    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 minutes
    Cook Time 15 minutes

    Ingredients

    • 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour 225 grams
    • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
    • ½ teaspoon baking powder
    • ½  cup unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature 115 grams
    • 1 cup light brown sugar 220 grams
    • ½ cup granulated sugar 100 grams
    • ⅓ cup white miso paste 80 milliliters
    • ¼ chunky peanut butter 60 milliliters
    • 1 large egg
    • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
    • ½ cup 105 grams Demerara sugar, plus more as needed
    • 2/3 cup white chocolate chips or butterscotch chips optional

    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.
    Grandma’s Chocolate Chip Cookies-Take Two

    Grandma’s Chocolate Chip Cookies-Take Two

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    The search continues for a thin, crispy chocolate chip cookie just like my grandmother use to make.  My first try was a Tate’s Chocolate Chip Cookie facsimile by that guru of American desserts, Stella Parks.  While absolutely scrumptious-buttery, caramelized, slightly chewy in the middle with crispy edges, they just weren’t my grandma’s cookies. So…

    I took a different tack

    I googled, buttery, crispy, thin cookies, leaving out the chocolate chips.  Surfing the Pinterest pics that popped up, I came across a photo for Crisp Almond Cookies from Chocolate, Chocolate, and More.  It looked promising.  The cookies were thin with golden edges and a light, flat, center.  They looked a whole lot like my Pau Pau’s cookies but without the chocolate.

    So I made the recipe for Crisp Almond Cookies and added mini chocolate chips to the dough.  The recipe is straight forward, classic cookie making protocol.  Cream the butter and sugar, add eggs, dry ingredients, nuts and finally fold in chocolate.  Tips for this particular recipe include soft butter (not melting) and room temperature eggs since you want the cookies to spread.  Once again I used a tablespoon ice cream scoop to portion out the dough leaving 2-3 inches between each scoop.

    The Grandma Test

    These cookies looked a lot more like my grandma’s cookies.  These were crisper than Stella’s and buttery, without the caramelization.  (My test group actually LOVED the caramel flavors of the Stella Park cookies) I think the inclusion of almonds lightened the cookie and make it less chewy and a touch crisper, again more like Grandma’s.  I liked them a lot, definitely getting closer to ground zero for Pau Pau’s cookie.  I will try it with walnuts next time since that is the nut she used in her recipe. I don’t think it will change the texture but may add that characteristic walnut flavor.  The use of baking powder instead of baking soda also reduces browning.  It didn’t make these cookies cakey, which you might expect.

    I arbitrarily added 1 cup of mini-chips to the dough.  I didn’t want to overwhelm the cookies with chocolate.  I ended up with more than 3 chips a cookie but I think Grandma would be okay with a bit more chocolate.  I would not put more chocolate.  In fact, I might decrease the amount to 3/4 cup in the spirit of her cookies.  You could substitute a good quality chocolate sprinkle instead, a suggestion from my kid- the Sprinkle Cookie King.  The recipe makes quite a few cookies but luckily you can easily half the recipe.

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    Crisp Almond Cookies with Chocolate Chips

    I took a recipe for Crisp Almond Cookies and added Chocolate Chips! Buttery, crisp with a hit of chocolate, a delicious combination.
    Course cookies
    Cuisine American
    Keyword Crisp Almond Cookies with Chocolate Chips
    Prep Time 15 minutes
    Cook Time 10 minutes

    Ingredients

    • 1 1/2 cups butter softened (337 g) (salted butter)
    • 1 cup light brown sugar 200 g
    • 1 cup granulated sugar 200 g
    • 2 large eggs room temp
    • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 10 ml
    • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 280 g Use a moderate protein flour like Gold Medal
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder 4 g
    • 1/8 teaspoon salt 0.7 g If using unsalted butter increase salt to 1/2 teaspoon
    • 1 cup finely chopped almonds 112 g
    • 1 cup mini chocolate chips sub good quality chocolate sprinkles

    Instructions

    • Cream together butter and sugars, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
    • Add in eggs and vanilla and beat again.
    • Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to dough, one third at a time until all added. Stir in almonds.
    • Fold in chocolate chips
    • Using a small cookie scoop (1 tablespoon), place dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet three inches apart (these cookies spread.) Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 8-9 minutes. Until edges turn golden. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to racks to cool completely.

    Notes

    Recipe is easily halved.  If you are looking for a crisp almond cookie, buttery and sweet, just leave out the chips!

    The search continues…but we are headed in the right direction.
    Thin Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies, In Search of Grandma’s Cookie

    Thin Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies, In Search of Grandma’s Cookie

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    My grandmother, who we called Pau Pau, was the classic iron fist in the velvet glove.  She was outspoken and strong-willed, bossy, pragmatic, the protector of her family.  

    Not gonna lie. She was kind of scary.  I see where my mom gets her strength, her willfulness, and her disciplinarian streak.  When my brother and I got in trouble, it was mom we answered to, not dad, Mr. Marshmallow.  

    This isn’t surprising about my grandmother. After all, you have to pretty tough to be a new bride, leave your family, get on a boat (pregnant), and travel thousands of miles to a place where you don’t speak the language and nobody knows your name.

    She Was a Bad Ass

    My mom next to Pau Pau and Auntie Jessie on Granpa’s lap, four more kids followed.

    It was a tough life, six kids, my grandfather working different jobs-farmer, grocery store clerk, restaurant worker, and moonshine maker.  Ultimately, they settled in Chinatown and Pau Pau ran a sewing factory, all the kids pitched in and worked the factory.  She employed other Chinese women struggling to make ends meet and care for their families.  Her six kids grew up to serve in the military, become business owners, a chemist at Stanford, an elementary school teacher, and the first Chinese woman real estate broker in the City. 

    Ours is the story of the immigrant dream of America

    Growing up we spent a lot of time at my grandmother’s house in Chinatown. We usually migrated to the dining room while she cooked up a storm in the kitchen.  In one corner of the dining room was a memorial to my grandfather complete with his picture, incense, banners to ward off spirits, and dishes of food. Food is such an integral part of life, like so many Asian parents, feeding us was her way of showing that she cared for and loved us.  She cooked mainly Chinese food.  Two exceptions, both sweets, were fruitcake (amazingly good, no one used her fruitcake for a doorstop) and Chocolate Chip Cookies.

    Pau Pau’s Chocolate Chip Cookies were thin, crispy, and buttery.  I could eat a zillion of them, I’m sure I tried.  She always kept a tin of cookies on her dining table to tempt everyone that visited. 

    I remember watching her make cookies.  She flattened each ball of dough and carefully placed 3 chocolate chips on each cookie then finished with a sprinkle finely chopped walnuts. When I asked her for the recipe she rummaged through her cabinet, pulled out a package of Nestle’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels, and tossed it to me.  I was incredulous, no way were her cookies the same as the Nestle’s Toll House Cookies.  Years later I asked my Aunt if she had Pau Pau’s recipe, nope, but she did recall Grandma would melt chicken fat if she didn’t have enough butter.  

    So armed with bits and pieces of info, I set out to replicate those darn cookies.  I found a recipe on Serious Eats by Stella Parks for “Thin, Crispy CCC, just like Tate’s (never had em).  They were buttery, caramelized, sweet, but only the very edges were crispy while the center was a bit chewy.  Not the cookies of my childhood.  Disappointed I threw the cookies in a Tupperware and left them on the table.

    My kids inhaled them.  In fact, my nieces, my moms’ coffee group (which met practicing COVID guidelines) loved these cookies.  It’s all about expectations.  I wanted crisp, buttery, light, and just a couple of chips just like Grandma’s.  

    But if I didn’t compare these to the cookies of my childhood, they’re really darn good.  The best analogy, thanks to my kid is as follows.  It’s like you’re going crazy looking for your lost keys…and you find your lost wallet.  Yay!  But damn it, you still haven’t found your keys.  

    Here are my notes and the recipe for Stella Park’s Thin, Crispy, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Make them soon. 

    The recipe calls for a moderate protein flour like Gold Medal AP Flour.  Do not use King Arthur or Bob’s Red Mill both of which have a higher protein content.  It will throw off the texture and the spread.  Stella’s recipes are tested with Gold Medal, readily available, and easy to find, that is unless there is a pandemic.  I tried these with White Lily, a low protein Southern flour.  The cookies were soft and barely held their shape.  My kids liked them (lifetime members of the ooey-gooey cookie club), I thought they were too soft.  I used GM for the second batch, the extra protein provided needed structure and crispness, a winner.

    Make the dough in a food processor which Stella says is key. Place dry ingredients into the processor and whirl to combine.

    Pulse butter into the dry mix until crumbly, add chips, and process 1-2 short pulses.  Pour the dough into a bowl and add egg and vanilla, knead until it comes together. Put the soft dough in the fridge to firm it up so it is easier to scoop.  With a tablespoon scoop, I measured out over 60 cookies, more than the expected yield.  The cookies took 10-11 minutes to bake to a deep rich caramel brown.

    The search continues for Grandma’s cookies but I will gladly make another batch of these.

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    Thin Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies

    Stella Parks version of Tate's thin Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies. Crispy, buttery studded with chips, delicious and easy to make!
    Course cookies
    Cuisine American
    Keyword chocolate chip cookies, Crispy, stella parks, tates, thin
    Prep Time 15 minutes
    Cook Time 12 minutes

    Ingredients

    • 8 ounces med protein all-purpose flour such as Gold Medal blue label or Whole Foods 365 blue label (about 1 3/4 cup, spooned; 225g)
    • 8 ounces light brown sugar not dark brown (about 1 cup, firmly packed; 225g)
    • 3 1/2 ounces raw cane sugar not white (about 1/2 cup; 100g)
    • 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt; 8g or table salt, use about half as much by volume or the same weight
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons 8g baking soda 8g
    • 8 ounces cold unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch chunks (about 16 tablespoons; 225g)
    • 8 ounces assorted chocolate chips preferably no darker than 70%, see note (about 1 1/3 cups; 225g)
    • 1 large egg straight from the fridge, well beaten (1 3/4 ounces; 50g)
    • 1/2 ounce vanilla extract about 1 tablespoon; 15g

    Instructions

    • Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, light brown sugar, raw cane sugar, salt, and baking soda. Process until well-combined; add cold butter and pulse to form a dry and powdery mix; comparable results cannot be produced by hand or with a stand mixer. Add chocolate chips and pulse once or twice to combine.* Chill to make it easier to handle dough.
    • Transfer the cookie "mix" to a large bowl; add egg and vanilla, stir well; the mixture will seem alarmingly crumbly and dry at this stage. Once the wet ingredients have been absorbed, knead mixture by hand until it comes together like classic soft dough.
    • Divide into about 56 portions with a 1-tablespoon scoop. If you like, these can be transferred to a zipper-lock bag and refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 3 months; soften to about 68°F (20°C) before baking.
    • Arrange portions on a parchment-lined half-sheet pan (do not use a silicone mat), leaving about 2 or 3 inches between cookies to account for spread. Bake until thin and golden brown, with an even color from edge to center, about 16 minutes (check earlier). I used a tablespoon scoop, yield over 60 cookies that took 10-11 minutes to bake.
    • Cool cookies directly on the baking sheet until room temperature. Transfer to an airtight container and continue cooling an hour more; the cookies will not be fully crisped until then. At cool room temperature, the cookies will keep at least six weeks in an airtight container.

    Notes

    *The mixture can be refrigerated up to one week in an airtight container or used immediately in the next step.

    Beta Testers (Lemon Poppy Seed Shortbread, Mexican Hot Chocolate Shortbread, Pistachio Shortbread Cookies)

    Beta Testers (Lemon Poppy Seed Shortbread, Mexican Hot Chocolate Shortbread, Pistachio Shortbread Cookies)

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    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.

    DSC01290

    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.

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    Mexican Hot Chocolate Shortbread

    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 minutes
    Cook Time 10 minutes
    Author Back In the Day Bakery

    Ingredients

    Dry Ingredients #1

    • 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
    • 1/2 cup almond flour

    Creamed Mixture

    • 1/2 pound 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
    • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

    Dry Ingredients #2

    • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
    • 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 1/4 teaspoon espresso powder or finely ground coffee
    • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
    • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

    The Finishers

    • 1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
    • 1/4 cup 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.

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    Lemon-Poppy Seed Shortbread (Claudia Fleming, The Last Course)

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
    • 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
    • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 2 cups all-purpose flour sifted
    • 1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt

    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.

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    PISTACHIO SHORTBREAD COOKIES

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour plus more for the work surface
    • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
    • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
    • 1/2 cup shelled raw or roasted pistachios
    • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1 stick 4 ounces unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
    • 1 to 2 tablespoons granulated sugar sanding 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.

     
    The Joy of Cookies (Toffee Bars)

    The Joy of Cookies (Toffee Bars)

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    Joy is one of my oldest friends.  We went to school together and I mean that literally.  We lived a few blocks from each other, every day we would meet on the street corner halfway between our houses to walk and talk the final mile to school.  Sometimes, on the walk home, we wouldn’t be done talking so we would walk to one of our houses, turn around and walk back to the meeting point together before parting ways.  Silly, huh.  Yep, BFFs.

    Holiday Highlight

    Every Christmas I eagerly awaited her mom’s plate of holiday cookies.  Joy’s mom, whom I affectionately called Mrs. S, was an amazing baker (and a marvelous cook too). During the holidays, you could find her holed up in her kitchen busy baking no less than 6-8 different kinds of cookies.  Almond Crescents, Spritz Cookies shaped into wreaths decorated with red and green sugar, Chocolate Pecan Thumbprints, Pecan Tartlets, Chocolate Chippers, and Lemon Bars.  Her crescents were perfect, her scalloped-edged Pecan Tartlets were the gold standard of bite-sized pies.

    In short, she was my muse for holiday cookies.  I love all of her cookies, but my favorite?  Hands down, her Toffee Bars.  A shortbread crust, buttery and sweet, painted with milk chocolate and finished with a sprinkling of chopped almonds.  Cookie Nirvana.

    Attention to Detail

    I have most of Mrs. S’s recipes.  Her Pecan Tartlets find their way into every holiday cookie box.  The Hubster considers it blasphemous if they are not included.  I am religious about following her recipes, I mimic each step.  I cut out each tiny pie crust with a flower petal cookie cutter. How else do you get cute scalloped edges?  I meticulously shape each ball of almond-infused dough into crescent-shaped moons. Warm from the oven, I roll each cookie in powdered sugar and place it on a cooling rack.  Then, sift powdered sugar over the cookies for that snow-capped look.  Yep, that little extra step.  Her attention to detail was what set her cookies apart and that’s what I learned from her.

    It’s been a few years since she left us.  Every Christmas since, as I am perusing recipes and pulling out my butter, flour, and sugar- I think of her.  I imagine her scurrying around her kitchen churning out tray after tray of her delicious cookies.  Then I hear her voice prodding me, it’s time to get busy and bake.

    A Fine Understudy

    Unfortunately, I don’t have Mrs. S’s recipe for those Toffee Bars that I love so much. (Update: Found it! Mrs. S’s Toffee Squares) But Alice Medrich does.  Her Cookies and Brownies book contains toffee bars that are so good, they would make Mrs. S proud.  The crust starts with melted butter making these incredibly easy to make. Stir together brown sugar and flour with the butter, press into a pan and bake to a golden brown.  For this batch, I scattered a combo of semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips on the warm crust, let them melt, and ice the melted chips over the crust.  For the final touch, sprinkle toasted hazelnuts over the chocolate.  Next batch?  Endless possibilities, limited only by your imagination.

    Kid version:  Use all milk chocolate and either toasted almonds or pecans.  Got milk?

    Adult version:  Use semi-sweet chocolate or dark chocolate and toasted hazelnuts, finish with Maldon Salt.  Serve with some bubbly.

    Sporty twist version:  Perfect during a ballgame, your choice of chocolate and salted or honey-roasted peanuts.  Play ball!

    Allow bars to cool on a rack.  Use a serrated knife to cut the pan into bars or wedges.

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    Toffee Bars

    A buttery, brown sugar crust topped with chocolate and hazelnuts. A riff on Alice Medrich's Toffee Bars.
    Course cookies, Dessert
    Cuisine American
    Keyword toffee, toffee bar recipe, Toffee Bars
    Prep Time 15 minutes
    Cook Time 30 minutes

    Equipment

    • 8x8 inch square pan or 9' tart pan with removable bottom. Any pan with roughly same area I like to use a 12x5 rectangular tart pan and cut the cookies into wedges.

    Ingredients

    Shortbread base

    • 8 tbsp unsalted butter
    • 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
    • 1 tsp vanilla
    • 1/8 tsp salt
    • 1 cup all-purpose flour

    Topping

    • 6 ounces milk or semisweet chocolate chopped, if bar or block or use chips
    • 1/2 cup toasted nuts your choice!

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Position rack in lower third of oven

    Shortbread base

    • Cut butter into chunks and melt in a saucepan over medium heat or place in heatproof glass bowl, loosely cover and microwave at 40% power for 15 seconds, repeat if necessary.
    • Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar, salt and vanilla. Add flour and mix just until combined.
    • Press dough into a lined (parchment or foil) 8x8-inch pan or a tart pan with a removable bottom
    • Bake for 20-25 minutes or until well browned at the edges and golden brown in the center

    Topping

    • Scatter chocolate evenly on top of warm crust. Let stand to allow the chocolate to melt. If necessary, place in the oven for a minute to help melt the chocolate. Spread chocolate evenly over the crust with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon.
    • Sprinkle toasted chopped nuts over chocolate. Set on rack to cool.
    • Lift and transfer bar to cutting board. Use a sharp knife (I like using a serrated knife)and cut into 2x2" squares or wedges. If necessary chill in fridge to set chocolate.
    • See story above for variations.
    Snickerdoodles (Alice in Cookiewonderland)

    Snickerdoodles (Alice in Cookiewonderland)

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    It has been 1610 days since I sat down and penned my inaugural post, Jamigos 2.0 to launch 3jamigos.  As I reflect on that number all I can think is WHAT TOOK ME SO LONG TO INCLUDE MY FAVORITE COOKIE?  I mean, sheesh, of the 100 cookie recipes I have posted, it doesn’t include my all-time favorite non-shortbread cookie (notice how I slipped in that qualifier, shortbread=cookie perfection).  Unbelievable, and how did I discover this faux pas?

    I was tasked with making cookies for an End of Summer Party for our political action group (sanity saver).   I automatically went to my blog and typed in S N I C K E R D O O D L E S in the search box and waited, NOTHING popped up.  A quick search of my cookie index revealed, what the heck, no Snickerdoodles.

    Are you kidding?

    I’ve never posted Snickerdoodles on my blog?  Hellooo, time to fix that.  I got busy, made a batch for the meeting, snitched a couple to have with an ice-cold glass of milk, and sat down to write this post.

    EVERYONE needs a scrumptious recipe for Snickerdoodles.  Buttery, sweet and spicy, crispy edges, soft chewy center,  finished with cinnamon sugar.  The quintessential cookie.  My favorite recipe comes from the cookie maven, Alice Medrich.  Unlike other recipes I have seen, hers are made with just butter. Yep, no shortening in these bad-boy bites of sweet cinnamon bliss.  The recipe is from her small but mighty book, Cookies and Brownies, long out of print but available on the secondary market. The book is worth getting just for this and her Lemon Bar recipe. Well written with easy-to-follow directions, it’s a keeper.  My copy is frayed and tattered, well worn from use.

    Cream butter and sugar together to smooth but NOT fluffy.  Add eggs, beat until blended.

    Add flour and stir just until combined.  Don’t overmix.  The mixing changes the consistency of the cookie.  Fluffy butter-sugar mixture gives a cakier cookie, go for smooth and creamy.  After adding the flour mixture do not beat the dough too much or you will end up with a tough cookie.

    Gather dough into a disc, shape doesn’t matter.  Keep the thickness to about an inch.  This will make it easier to scoop and form the cookies after chilling.

    After chilling the dough,  use a 1 tablespoon ice cream scoop (#70) to form balls.  Shape the scoops into smooth balls and roll in cinnamon sugar.  Use a good quality cinnamon, like Penzey’s . This is a great cookie to make with the kids or grandkids, never met a kid that didn’t like to roll balls of cookie dough in copious amounts of cinnamon sugar all the while licking their fingers.

    The one tablespoon scoop yields a cookie about 2 inch in diameter.  All well and good, BUT, the smaller you make the cookie the harder it is to end up with a cookie that has crisp edges and a soft center.  If that is what you are looking for, try making bigger cookies. Increase your baking time by a couple of minutes.

    Bake cookies 8-10 minutes until the edges are golden brown.  I like the centers soft, if you like crunchy cookies, bake them a bit longer.  How long?  Don’t know, I don’t like them that way.

    Print Pin

    Snicker Doodles

    Course cookies
    Cuisine American
    Keyword Snickerdoodles
    Prep Time 20 minutes
    Cook Time 10 minutes

    Equipment

    • Cookie sheets, lined with parchment paper or greased

    Ingredients

    • 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (13.5 ounces)
    • 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ½ pound unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks)
    • 1½ cups sugar 10.5 ounces
    • 2 large eggs
    • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
    • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

    Instructions

    • Preheat the oven to 400° Position rack in the middle of the oven.
    • Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and mix thoroughly with a whisk or fork.
    • In a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter with the 1½ cups sugar until smooth and creamy, not fluffy. Beat in the eggs just until blended. Add the flour mixture and stir or beat on low speed just until incorporated. Gather the dough into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes.
    • Mix the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon in a small bowl. Form level tablespoons of dough with an ice cream scoop, into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar and place 2 inches apart on the lined or ungreased cookie sheets.
    • Bake for 8 to 11 minutes, until the cookies puff and begin to settle down. To create crevices, when cookies puff, tap cookie sheet on rack. This causes the cookie to sink, creating crinkles. Rotate the cookie sheet from front to back halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking. Bake until the edges are golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a couple of minutes. Remove cookies with a spatula to a wire rack. Don't let them cool completely or the cookies will stick to the sheet. I bake on ungreased sheets to minimize spreading.
    • Cool the cookies completely before stacking or storing. May be kept in an airtight container for several days.
    Thumbprints: Thumbs Up for Day 9 of 12 Days of Cookies

    Thumbprints: Thumbs Up for Day 9 of 12 Days of Cookies

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    Only 3 more cookies to bake for my 12 days of cookies 2018.  Cookie no. 9 is a riff on my go-to thumbprint cookie.  I decided to use toasted hazelnuts in place of walnuts.  Ok, not earth-shattering but enough of a twist that the hubster noticed (he is a thumbprint afficionado) and loved the nuanced change. The hazelnut MO?  More assertive than other nuts such as almonds or pecans, buttery and sweet.  It’s flavor shines in these thumbprint cookies. I filled the center with a berry-lime jam I had made at the end of summer and added a tease of vanilla to the dough to complement the jam.  Yummy!

    Measure the amount of  nuts needed before grinding them.  You want the nuts to be finely ground but not to the point  where it starts to get pasty.

    Take out your trusty ice cream/cookie scoop. I use a tablespoon scoop and line up the cookie dough balls, assembly line mentality, on a sheet.  Place dough balls on a cookie sheet approximately 1.5-2 inches apart. Press each one to flatten to 1/4-3/8 inch thick (thicker if larger).  Use the end of a wooden spoon or utensil of similar size, to create a depression in the center of each cookie.  I use a hand blender to puree my jam (no fruit lumps!) and a squeeze bottle to squirt the jam into the center of each cookie. How easy is that?

    This turned out to be a delish version of thumbprint cookies.  Perfect during the holidays and especially nice with a bit of the bubbly to bring in the new year!

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    Riff on Thumbprint Cookies

    Course cookies
    Cuisine American
    Keyword thumbprints
    Prep Time 10 minutes
    Cook Time 20 minutes
    Total Time 30 minutes

    Ingredients

    • 1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted hazelnuts
    • 1 cup butter at room temperature
    • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
    • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1/4 cup seedless berry-lime preserves or your choice
    • Dash of salt
    • Powdered sugar

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
    • Chop nuts in food processor until very fine. Beat butter, nuts, salt and granulated sugar in mixer bowl until light. Beat in flour into blended.
    • Shape dough into 1 inch balls.
    • Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets and flatten to 1 1/2 inch circle.
    • Press into centers with a fingertip.
    • Fill each indentation with 1/4 teaspoon preserves.
    • Bake 10-12 minutes, until golden.
    • Cool.
    • Sift confectioner's sugar over cookies.

    Notes

    Substitute your favorite jam, I plan to use a pineapple-orange jam for the next batch.