Pineapple Pockets to the Rescue-Pining for a Cookie

By threejamigos | December 25, 2020 | Comments 1 comment

There are a couple of baking books that are my go-tos for cookies, especially during the holidays, like Rose Levy Berenbaum’s Christmas Cookies, Alice Medrich’s Cookies and Brownies and Flo Bracker’s Sweet Miniatures. I find myself reaching for Sweet Miniatures when I want an elegant, fancy cookie. Yes it will probably require a bit more effort than drop cookies, but it’s Christmas, when else are you going to pull out all the stops?

Pineapple Cakes from Taiwan inspired me to make the Pineapple Pockets from Sweet Miniatures. Taiwanese Pineapple Cakes are little bite-sized squares of pineapple jam cloaked in a sweet, buttery pastry crust. I’m obsessed with these little cake-like cookies. My introduction to these treats came years ago when a friend returning from a trip to Taipei brought back Te Chia Pineapple Cakes. It was love at first bite. The sweetness from the pineapple offset by the buttery shortbread crust…needless to say, I was smitten. I casually mention pineapple cakes to every friend that goes back to Taiwan while giving them my best wistful look.

While these Pineapple Pockets are more complicated than your average drop cookie, the resemblance to Taiwanese Pineapple Cakes put these on my must-bake holiday cookie list. The process begins with making a caramelized pineapple jam then a pastry dough. The dough is rolled and cut into circles, dotted with the jam, and then shaped into cones. Labor-intensive, but in the end, you are rewarded with a meltingly tender cookie highlighted by the dollop of golden, caramelized pineapple preserves. They are absolutely delicious and well worth the effort. But most importantly, they are delicious enough to satisfy my Pineapple Cake craving. Now I don’t have to wait for friends to take pity on me and bring them back from Taiwan!

The jam is made first and set aside to cool. I added 1/2 tsp of vanilla to the jam and a pinch of salt to enhance the flavor. Make the dough, chill it, then roll it into a circle. The dough should be about 1/8-3/16 inch thickness. Use a 2 inch round cutter for the circles. Your best friend is your refrigerator. If the dough gets soft or sticky during the process, put it back in the fridge to chill. This will make it easier to handle.

Position the jam off-center. Using a butter knife or thin blade spatula, flip the edge closest to you over the jam. Angle your spatula on the opposite side and flip towards you, overlapping with the first.

Ta-da, ready to bake! Sprinkle powdered sugar on the finished cookies for a festive look. In a pinch, you could use jarred preserves, make sure whatever you use is not too runny or thin.

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Pineapple Pockets

Flo Bracker's delicious Pineapple Pockets. Caramelized Pineapple Jam encased in a buttery, tender pastry and shaped into a cone.

Course cookies

Cuisine American

Keyword cookies, flo bracker, holiday cookies, Pineapple cakes, Pineapple Pockets

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 14

Ingredients

Dough

6 ounces unsalted butter, room temp 1-1/2 sticks
1/4 cup granulated sugar 50gms
1/2 cup unsifted powdered sugar 50gms
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1-2/3 cup unsifted all-purpose flour 235gms

Pineapple Filling

2 tbsp water
1/3 cup granulated sugar 65gms
8-ounce can crushed pineapple in natural juice
1/2 tbsp unsalted butter

Instructions

In bowl of mixer, cream butter at medium low speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Beat in sugars at medium speed until creamy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, then vanilla, beating until well combined and slightly fluffy. Scrape down the sides of bowl. Lower mixer speed, and gradually add flour and mix just until it is combined.
Gather dough into a disc and chill 15-30 minutes. Divide dough in half and on parchment or wax paper, roll each piece into a circle. approximately 11 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch thick. Transfer to a baking sheet, cover top with parchment and refrigerate until firm about 2 hours.

Pineapple filling

In a medium saucepan, combine water and sugar over low heat. Swirl occasionally and wash down any sugar crystals that form on the side with a brush dipped in cold water to dissolve them. Increase heat to medium-high and cook without stirring until sugar thickens and turns amber in color about 8 minutes. Take it off the heat and add crushed pineapple and juice all at once. Careful as mixture will bubble up. Stir to combine and return the pan to stove and cook over med-high heat until mixture is golden and syrupy. Remove from stove and stir in butter. Place in bowl and set it aside to cool.

Putting It All Together

Preheat oven to 325
Remove one piece of dough, peel off parchment. Put parchment back on dough and flip dough over and peel off bottom parchment.
Use a 2 inch round cookie cutter cut out circles and place on lined baking sheets. Place 1/2 teaspoon of cooled jam off-centered on circle. Fold over one edge of dough over jam, then overlap the opposite edge at an angle to form a cone. See pics.
Bake one sheet at a time, for 12-14 minutes until edges ar light golden.
Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Lift cookies off and place directly on cooling rack.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar. optional)
Store at room temp for up to 10 days.

The 2020 Holiday Cookie Tin

Jest Jammin’ (Christmas Cookies)

By threejamigos | December 24, 2020 | Comments 0 Comment

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 Thumbprints instead 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

By threejamigos | December 19, 2020 | Comments 0 Comment

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

Cook Time 15

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.

Thin, Crispy, Gooey, Chocolate Chip Cookies-Get It On, Bang a Pan

By threejamigos | December 11, 2020 | Comments 0 Comment

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.

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Chocolate Chip Cookies (100 Cookies)

From 100 Cookies Thin and Crispy, Ridged Chocolate Chip Cookies

Course cookies

Cuisine American

Keyword chocolate chip cookies

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 10 14

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour (284 grams) Gold Medal AP Flour will give you better ridges
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
½ pound unsalted butter (227 grams) 2 sticks, room temperature
1 ½ cups granulated sugar (300 grams)
¼ cup brown sugar (55 grams) dark brown preferred
1 large egg
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 ounces bittersweet 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 sel or 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.

Ah-mazing Toffee Apricot Oatmeal Cookies

By threejamigos | October 29, 2020 | Comments 0 Comment

Posted on one of my favorite blogs, Ipso Fatto, are a couple of sweets she tried from Food & Wine’s article, The Bake Sale Returns to Its Political Roots. In the current climate, this is right up my alley, political activism through food. A win-win. Her photos and reviews of goodies from the article had me running to my kitchen to get busy and bake.

First up were these fabulous cookies from State Bird Provision in San Francisco. I guarantee they will be a hit at any bake sale or socially distanced gathering. The cookies have a crispy edge, are slightly chewy in the middle, and are a flavor and texture party in your mouth. The apricots provide tartness to balance out the sweetness of the milk chocolate and toffee. The toffee not only adds to the buttery flavor but a wonderful crunch. So good. It’s been a while since a cookie has really wowed me. It was worth the wait.

One of my favorite farmers market stops is Sunblest Orchards. Their beautiful plums and peaches are now distant summer memories, but in their place are jeweled tone dried fruits and a variety of delicious preserves and sauces. I picked up dried apricots, peaches, and their Apricot Habanero Ketchup, so yummy it has replaced my regular ketchup at home. This past weekend they also had persimmons, fresh and dried-yum. Autumn definitely has an upside. Their apricots were perfect in these cookies.

Initially, I was happy that this recipe only makes half a batch of cookies. But they disappeared so fast I wished I had doubled it!

A couple of swap-a-roos

I didn’t have toffee bits but I did have SKOR bars so I chopped up the bars and used a smidge less milk chocolate in the cookies, NBD. A stash of milk chocolate chips was in the pantry so taking the path of least resistance, I subbed them for chopping chocolate. A good trade-off. The dough can be baked immediately but I like to chill the dough. The flavors have a chance to develop (especially the butter flavor) if the dough rests awhile and the cookies tend not to spread as much. Personal preference. I baked the cookies for about 16 minutes (chilled dough) rotating them in the middle of the baking time. They will brown pretty quickly so start checking at 13 minutes.

I really enjoyed these cookies and intend to make them again soon. Hope you’ll try them too. Next…from the same article, a luscious Almond Plum Cake before plums are done for the season.

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Toffee-Apricot Oat Cookies

A delicious buttery, crisp-chewy cookie that has it all, sweet, tart and chocolatey.

Course cookies

Cuisine American

Keyword Toffee Apricot Oat Cookies

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 16

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter 4 ounces, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light muscovado sugar or light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour about 4 1/4 ounces
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2/3 cup uncooked old-fashioned regular rolled oats about 2 ounces
1/2 cup chopped milk chocolate feelin' lazy ? Use chips
1/3 cup finely chopped toffee can substitute chopped Heath or Skor candy bars
1/3 cup dried apricots about 2 ounces, finely chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325°F with oven racks in top third and lower third of oven.
Combine butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat on medium speed until light and creamy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add egg, salt and vanilla, beat until combined.
Combine flour and baking soda in a small bowl. With mixer running on low speed, gradually add flour mixture beating until just combined, about 30 seconds. Stir in oats, chocolate, toffee, and apricots. You can use the dough immediately or cover with plastic wrap and chill for a couple of hours.
Line a baking sheet with parchment, using a 1 3/4-inch scoop, arrange balls of dough (about 2 tablespoons each) onto baking sheet, spacing about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake in preheated oven until cookies are lightly browned, 12 to 16 minutes, rotating pan after 8 minutes. To create cracks in cookies, after rotating pan, rap pan on the oven rack. This causes the cookie to deflate and create ridges on the cookie. Optional.
Let cookies cool on baking sheets 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack, and let cool completely, about 30 minutes.
Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Notes

These lacy cookies are studded with tart dried apricot, salty-sweet chunks of toffee, and sweet milk chocolate for the perfect combination of flavors and textures. Be sure to rotate the pans during baking to ensure evenly baked, perfectly crisp-chewy cookies.

Grandma’s Chocolate Chip Cookies-Take Two

By threejamigos | August 22, 2020 | Comments 0 Comment

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

Cook Time 10

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

By threejamigos | August 19, 2020 | Comments 2 comments

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

Cook Time 12

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.

Sprinkles Instead of Sparklers (Vanilla Sprinkle Cookies)

By threejamigos | July 5, 2020 | Comments 0 Comment

Happy July Fourth

Despite the current turmoil we pause to celebrate us, the United States of America. A time to reflect on what this holiday means to each of us. For me, this country offered a way out of chaos, opportunity and hope for my father and I am the direct recipient of his escape and struggles. I am forever grateful and cognizant of that fact and if not for this country my family’s trajectory would have been far different.

And yet it is painfully obvious we have much work to do in order to create a more perfect union where all men and women are created equal. How do we ensure that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is along the same road for each and everyone of us.

Proud to be an American

Since Election Day November 2016 I have felt a sense of obligation to my family, my kids and my country. I marched, attended rallies, canvassed, I needed to be more invested in our political process to effect change. When you are comfortable living your life it is easy to become complacent about what is happening around you. You wake up one morning and realize the crap has hit the fan while you were living your life. If you dislike politics or no matter what side of the political divide you fall on-human decency, kindness, and compassion knows no party and we can all work towards a kinder, more inclusive nation. Above all I would like the definition of being American to include compassion, empathy, decency, equality.

I Still Want to Celebrate

COVID-19 and the state of our nation means a much more subdued celebration of July 4th in our house. We are grilling hot dogs and making a delicious white bean stew (my twist on Frank and Beans) to mark the holiday. Dessert will be colorful Vanilla Sprinkle Cookies, also known as Sugar Saucers. I found the recipe on Serious Eats, a favorite go-to site for me. Reminiscent of the cookies found in Italian-American bakeries, they are light, with a cakey center and crisp edges laced with vanilla flavor. The sprinkles provide a nice crunch to the cookies. I think of the sprinkles as edible sparklers and fireworks-yummy, safe ones. I should have used red, white and blue sprinkles, but could not find any, maybe next year.

The dough includes oil and butter creamed with a combination of sugar and powdered sugar. The recipe states to beat until light and fluffy but it is pretty soft almost liquid in consistency, don’t worry too much about fluffy. The dough will still be soft after adding the flour mixture. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

I used my handy dandy ice cream scoop to portion out the dough which I then shaped into balls. Use a 2 tablespoon scoop for smaller cookies and drop the balls into the sprinkles. The baking time was about 12 minutes for smaller cookies.

The hot dogs are ready as is the white bean stew. As we enjoy our 4th of July dinner we’ll be watching Hamilton. A good way to celebrate our country and reflect on what it means to be an American.

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Vanilla Sprinkle Cookies

A vanilla flavored sugar cookie with crisp edges and a tender cake-like center. The perfect celebration cookie made festive with colorful sprinkles.

Course cookies

Cuisine American

Keyword Vanilla Sprinkle Cookies

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 40

Ingredients

2 cups (10 ounces) all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
About 1 cup rainbow sprinkles can use pearl sugar, sparkling crystals, orchocolate sprinkles

Instructions

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter, oil, sugar, and confectioners sugar until light, about 3 minutes. The batter will be on the soft, wet side.
Add egg and vanilla and beat to combine. Add dry ingredients and mix just until dough comes together. Dough will be very soft but wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Fill a shallow bowl with sprinkles of choice. Use a 1-ounce cookie scoop (or a rounded tablespoon) to form cookies into balls. Roll each ball in sprinkles to cover and place on parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake until cookies are golden at the edges, about 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Notes

These cookies can be made larger, up to 4 ounces. Adjust baking time accordingly, estimated 20 minutes to bake for larger cookies.

Candy or Cookie? You Be the Judge (Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle)

By threejamigos | May 19, 2020 | Comments 2 comments

Hello? Why didn’t someone tell me it was National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day…a couple of days ago? Yep, I missed it. Well, I almost missed it. As I was doing my late-night perusal of Instagram, what should pop up on my feed? A luscious-looking pic of chocolate chip cookies with the banner shouting out “Happy National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day!”.

WHAAT?

Damn it. If I had just gone to sleep instead of taking that last look at my feed. So there I was at midnight, guilted into making chocolate chip cookies. I envisioned myself staying up another couple of hours, baking off sheets of cookies one at a time (yes, I can’t bring myself to bake two sheets at once). UGH.

Then I remembered a recipe I had been wanting to try from Shauna Sever’s Midwest Made. Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle. It starts with melted butter, yay, no waiting for butter to come to room temp. The batter can be made in one bowl with a wooden spoon (ok, and a whisk), the finished dough is then spread on a baking sheet and popped in the oven. ONE SHEET, that’s it.

I Am So Making Them

Surprisingly, the recipe calls for granulated sugar and no eggs. I double-checked the recipe, yep, no eggs, and no brown sugar. Hmmm, interesting, I apprehensively plowed on. It also started with melted butter, yay, no creaming.

I gathered the dry ingredients as the butter cooled and got out my 12×17 sided cookie sheet (classic 1/2 sheet pan). Added sugar to the cooled melted butter and beat until it formed a loose paste. Poured in the flour and vanilla, stirred to combine and followed with the toasted nuts (don’t skip toasting, 5-6 minutes in a 350-degree oven) and chocolate.

Not Gonna Lie

The worse part was spreading the dough in the pan. Don’t do what I did, which was plop all the dough in the center of the sheet pan. Spread it out a little so it is easier to cover the pan. You want the dough to be as even and thin as possible. The dough will be approximately the same thickness as the chips. I used Guittard’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate (ginormous) chips but almost any chip would work in this cookie, bittersweet, milk chocolate, or a combination. Likewise, walnuts would work in place of pecans.

The cookie baked in 22 minutes. Be extra vigilant towards the end as they brown pretty quickly. The recipe does not have brown sugar and calls for only granulated sugar. It’s important to bake it to nice toasty brown which results in a crisp, toffee flavored cookie. It’s addictive. Crunchy cookie base, oozy chocolate, and toasted nuts. It straddles the line between cookie and candy, another winner from Shauna Sever.

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle

Is it a cookie? Is it a candy? You decide! Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle is delicious.

Course cookies

Cuisine American

Keyword Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 9

Ingredients

1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 cups (256 g) all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
1 cup (170 g) chopped pecans lightly toasted, can sub walnuts
1 cup (170 g) bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips 60% cacao

Instructions

Position a rack to the center of the oven and preheat it to 350°F Have ready a 12 x 17-inch rimmed baking sheet. You do not need to grease or cover with parchment.
In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and vanilla. Add the sugar and salt and continue to whisk until the mixture thickens and appears pastelike. Switch to a wooden spoon or spatula and mix in the flour. Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips.
Press the mixture into the ungreased pan in a thin, even layer (use the chocolate chips as your height barometer—try to get them in as close to a single layer as possible throughout the dough, and you’ll have the right thickness). Alternatively, spread the dough in the pan, scatter chocolate chips and nuts on top and press into dough, leaing someexposed on top.
Bake for 23 to 25 minutes (start checking at 20 minutes), or until light golden brown and the edges a bit darker than the center (mine were pretty uniformly brown ), rotate the pan 180 degrees every 7 to 8 minutes during baking. Let cool completely before breaking into irregular pieces. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.