cookies Archives - 3jamigos

NCOTB #3 Almond Crescents Old School New

By threejamigos | January 3, 2023 | Comments 0 Comment

A couple of months ago I reviewed Rose Levy Beranbaum’s new book, The Cookie Bible for Net Gallery. Long a fan of hers I was excited to take a peek at her latest work, it did not disappoint. My favorite book is Rose’s Christmas Cookie Book, the bible of Christmas Cookies. Her attention to detail and explanation of ingredients and techniques guarantee success for even the most novice baker.

The Cookie Leap

Rose’s Christmas Cookies expanded my cookie-verse. I went from baking chocolate chip cookies (a damn good one though) to making spritz, cut-outs, and crescent cookies-fancy-schmancy festive cookies. Every Christmas, Rose’s Christmas Cookies is front and center on my kitchen counter.

One of my favorites from this book is Rose’s Crescents. The fact that there are so many variants is indicative of their deliciousness and universal appeal. Austrian Viennese Crescents, Mexican Wedding Cookies, Greek Kourabiedes, and Snowballs-all start with ground nuts, flour, sugar, and butter mixed together and baked into a buttery, blissful bite. Rose tweaked hers, instead of rolling the cookies in powdered sugar, they are rolled in a mixture of superfine sugar and cinnamon. Sublime.

Here’s the Good Part

She includes directions on how to make certain recipes in a food processor. Not all cookies can be made in a processor but the ones you can, simplify the process and shorten the time. No more waiting for the butter to come to room temp. It is essentially a one-bowl recipe, how great is that?

The Food Process

Place almonds and sugar in a food processor bowl and process until almonds are very finely ground. Cut butter into pieces and with the motor running, add butter and process until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides and add flour and salt and pulse to incorporate the flour. Remove the dough from the processor and gather it into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour until firm.

I use a #50 or #60 ice cream scoop (1 tablespoon plus of dough). Roll dough into a cylinder about 2.5-3 inches long. The dough softens quickly so work fast, use your fingers to roll as your palm has more heat. As you roll the dough into cylinders, put a bit more pressure on the ends to taper them. Pinch the ends to fine-tune the shape into points.

I have also made these smaller using a #70 scoop when I want dainty little tea cookies.

I love these cookies. Don’t wait until the holidays to make them!

Rose's Crescents

Buttery, tender, melt-in-your-mouth cookies, Almond Crescents from Rose's Christmas Cookies.

Course cookies, desserts, holiday dish

Cuisine American

Keyword almond, cinnamon sugar, holiday cookies, Rose's Crescents

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 16

Ingredients

The Creamed Mixture

1 c. Unsalted Butter 8 ounces or 227 grams
⅓ c. Sugar 2.25 ounces or 66 grams
⅔ c. Sliced Blanched Almonds 2 ounces or 56 grams

The Dry Ingredients

1⅔ c. All Purpose Flour (prefer Gold Medal or Pillsbury AP flour) 8.25 ounces or 235 grams See notes regarding flour
¼ tsp. Salt

Topping:

½ c. Sugar 100 grams
½ tsp. Cinnamon

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 325º.
Place almonds and sugar in food processor or blender and process until nuts are finely ground; set aside. See notes in post for making in food processor.
Cream butter in large mixing bowl. Add almond mixture; beat until light and fluffy. Gradually mix in flour and salt until well blended.
Shape dough into a large flat disk; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.
For topping, combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl; set aside.
Work with one-fourth of the dough at a time; refrigerate remaining dough. Shape dough into ¾ inch balls; roll each into a 3-inch log. Place on unbuttered cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Shape into crescents.
Bake 14 to 16 minutes or until set but not brown. Cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes. While still warm, remove cookies from cookie sheets. Dip into cinnamon sugar turning gently to coat. Finish cooling on wire racks.

Notes

So, why did I specify Gold Medal Flour. Rose's Christmas Cookies was first published in 1990. At the time, King Arthur Flour and other Small Company Mills were not widely known. The standard, easy to get flour was Gold Medal or Pillsbury Flour, bleached all-purpose flour. The protein content of which is slightly lower than King Arthur or Central Milling. This can impact your cookies in terms of tenderness and spread.

For cookie recipes I have that date back quite a few years, I use Gold Medal Flour. If you have Rose's newest book, she will specify the flour to use. Recipes these days, I check to see what the author has specified first. More than likely I'll use King Arthur (that's what I normally have in my kitchen) but during the holidays I always have a stash of Gold Medal too!

Ritz Cookies (Crackers in Your Cookies?)

By threejamigos | November 15, 2022 | Comments 2 comments

Cracker for crackers like me? I love crackers, the perfect vehicle for dips, spreads, and cheese…it is the ultimate edible utensil. Taking its place as the number one cracker in my book is Ritz Crackers. Buttery, golden, flaky rounds that go with everything.

When I find a recipe that uses crackers…I’m all there, Babee. I know it’s gonna be good, especially if it calls for Ritz Crackers. One of my favorite desserts is the Atlantic Beach Pie, a delicious, easy, Lemon Pie with a whipped cream top instead of meringue and a Ritz Cracker crust, a play on salty and sweet.

On the main dish front, I love Eric Kim’s Ritzy Cheddar Chicken Breasts, chicken breasts coated in a sour cream-mustard mixture, and rolled in crushed Ritz Crackers and cheddar cheese, think Shake and Bake but WAY better.

DUH

So, when I came across a recipe from Christina Tosi of Milk Bar fame, for a Ritz Cookie, little alarms went off in my head. GOTTA MAKE THESE ASAP. Tosi is known for her delicious, quirky desserts like Crack Pie, Compost Cookies, and my personal favorite, Corn Cookies. I immediately headed to the kitchen to make a batch.

These cookies are pretty darn easy to make. It calls for butter, granulated sugar, flour, egg, milk powder, and Ritz Crackers. The recipe is on Christina Tosi’s website and as such is pretty casually written, I’ve added some details to hopefully clarify some of the steps. Let’s get started.

Puttin In the Ritz

I use King Arthur’s AP flour in this recipe. Doing a deep dive, ok, a Google search, Christina Tosi uses bread flour for cookies. Bread flour has a higher protein content which probably slows down cookie spread. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Break up Ritz Crackers into pieces, not too small.

Though the type of butter is not specified, I used unsalted butter which worked fine. If you want a pronounced sweet-salty vibe, start with salted butter instead, or sprinkle Fleur de Sel or your choice of finishing salt on the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven. Beat butter and sugar until combined and smooth not fluffy.

Add the egg (I might add a touch of vanilla next time too-1 tsp), and beat well. Add dry mix and blend on low speed just until combined. Once the flour is added, don’t beat too much. You don’t want tough cookies.

Add the Ritz Crackers! Note how big the pieces are.

On low speed, stir until the crackers are mixed into the dough. This breaks the larger pieces into smaller ones which is what you want. You don’t want cracker dust. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes, this helps a bit with excessive spread.

Using a 2-tablespoon scoop, form dough balls, and place on a parchment-lined sheet. Word of caution, they spread quite a bit so space at 2-3 inches apart. I also tried a 3-tablespoon scoop, interestingly enough it didn’t spread that much more than the 2-tablespoon scoop and formed a thicker cookie.

To create round cookies, as soon as you remove the cookies from the oven, quickly shape each cookie with a spatula or cover each with a glass cup and swirl the cookie around. Voila’ round cookie. Cookies on the left were made with a 3-tablespoon scoop while the ones on the right were with a 2-tablespoon scoop. Thinner cookies were a bit chewier.

Bake Time

The original recipe calls for 1/4 cup or 4-tablespoon scoop, 10-12 minutes. These still took about 11 minutes despite less dough. The bottoms were definitely a toasty brown, the edges crispy, and the center chewy and sturdy. Start checking early, as they color quickly. Remove when there is still a hint of sheen on the top of the cookie. The cookies will continue to cook out of the oven.

Enjoy!

5 from 1 vote

Ritz Cracker Cookie by Christina Tosi

A buttery, crispy-edged, sweet-salty, chewy-centered cookie, thanks to Ritz Crackers!

Course cookies, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword Chewy Toasted Sesame Cookies, christina tosi, cookies, Crispy, Ritz Crackers, sweet-salty

Prep Time 15

Ingredients

Creamed Mixture

2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup) at room temperature
1-3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 large egg

Dry Ingredients

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup nonfat milk powder
1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda

The Star

2-1/2 cups or 1 sleeve + 5 Ritz crackers Break crackers into big pieces, once added to batter they will breakdown a bit more. Do not crush.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Combine flour, milk powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a small bowl. Set aside.
Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl, on medium speed, mixing until smooth about 1 -2 minutes. Add the egg, beat again until well combined.
Add flour mixture and beat on low speed just until it is blended. Do not overbeat.
Add the crackers and mix until fully incorporated. You want your crackers to break down into smaller pieces as you mix, but not to cracker dust stage. There should be small pieces of crackers in the dough.
Scoop dough on a greased baking sheet (or use parchment paper) 2 to 3 inches apart. The recipe calls for a 1/4 inch scoop which makes HUGE cookies and about 18 cookies. Use a 2-tablespoon or 4-tablespoon scoop which yields 24-36 cookies. You should have twice the number of cookies.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are a deep golden brown and the center a paler golden brown. The dough spreads quite a bit. Chilling the dough helps a bit, but my quick fix to rounding the cookies-as soon as the cookies come out of the oven. Use a spatula to push the edges to shape the cookies into circles. Conversely, use a glass slightly larger than the cookie, place over the cookie and swirl the cookie to round out the shape.
Remove cookies from oven and allow to cool. Enjoy!

The Cookie Bible from Rose Levy Beranbaum!

By threejamigos | July 6, 2022 | Comments 2 comments

I have been a big fan of Rose Levy Beranbaum’s books for a very long time. I went to my bookshelf to see just how many of her books I have, I counted six. Of these six, my absolute favorite is Rose’s Christmas Cookies. I can’t recall a Holiday Cookie Tin that has not featured at least one of her cookies. I was eager to take a sneak peek at her newest book coming out, The Cookie Bible.

See below for the recipe for Lemon Madeleines.

The Layout

Intro – brief description and a memory or an anecdotal story for the cookie.
Temperature, baking time, and equipment – organized into a table.
Ingredients – listed in volume and weight measurements also organized in a table, easy to see and follow.
Directions
Mise en place-steps that need to be done before making the dough ie. taking out butter to soften or bringing eggs to room temp.
Making the dough-If a particular cookie can be made in either a food processor or stand mixer, both methods are listed. I love this. Followed by:
Forming cookies
Baking cookies
Cooling cookies

All her cookbooks are organized this way, meticulous and thorough. It’s like getting a Master Baking class in the comfort of your own kitchen.

Each recipe finishes with Baking Gems, MORE valuable tips, and tweaks!

The Recipes

I flipped through the book to earmark recipes I wanted to try. This is where I felt like the book came up a bit short. The selection of cookies seemed just a bit dated. Today’s cookies include new flavors and spices and eye-catching colors created by using freeze-dried fruits.

Few recipes in this book jumped out at me and shouted MAKE ME! Quite a few recipes in the book are also in Rose’s Christmas Cookies. Recipes I already make and love like Cloud Cookies, Meltaways, Lion Paws, and Spritz Cookies. If I didn’t have Rose’s Christmas Cookies I might have been putting Post-Its on those very pages. Recipes have been scaled back in the new book to yield smaller batches of cookies, a good thing, as it limits how many cookies I can eat.

Read through the recipe before making it. I found this book even more detailed than her older books. Explicit directions like when to take the butter and eggs out before making the dough or what type of flour to use for each recipe.

If only I had taken my own advice and read the recipe first

I plowed through the first recipe, Dream Chocolate Chip Cookies, only to be stumped when I found I hadn’t added the egg. Turns out that twenty minutes before making the dough, I was supposed to crack the egg into the mixer bowl, add the vanilla, and cover it so it can come to room temp first. The egg should have been in the mixer when I creamed the butter and sugar.

Lemon Poppy Seed Madeleines were next up. Once again, detailed instructions produced a tender sweet-tart Madeleine. Next time, I would reduce the poppyseeds, a bit too much crunch. I actually liked them more the next day as the syrup had time to absorb so the cookies weren’t sticky to touch and the tartness had mellowed.

The Verdict

With all that being said. Here is my take. If you do not own a Rose Levy Berenbaum Cookbook, this would absolutely be a lovely addition to your kitchen. This book will make you a better baker. Filled with invaluable tips and technique information, it takes that extra step of explaining why specific ingredients and techniques work in a recipe. Although there isn’t a photo for every cookie in the book, the photos included are gorgeous.

Happy baking!

I reviewed The Cookie Bible via NetGalley

Lemon Madeleines

From Rose Levy Beranbaum's upcoming book, The Cookie Bible

Course cookies

Cuisine American, French

Keyword easy recipe, leomn poppy seed madeleines, madeleine, rose levy beranbaum

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 15

Servings 24 servings

Ingredients

Oven Temp 350f/175c. Baking Time: 14-15 min for large madeleines Special Equipment: Madeleine molds-lightly coat with baking spray with flour. Disposable pastry bag fitted with a 3/8-1/2 inch pastry tube. 2 baking sheets lined with plastic wrap and lightly coated with nonstick spray.

Batter

8.5 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons, unsalted butter 120 grams
2 large eggs 100 grams 1/3 cup plus 1 T, (94ml)
1 teaspoon vanilla 5ml
2 tablespoons milk 30 grams (30ml)
1 cup bleached cake flour, sifted into the cup and leveled off 100 grams
1/2 cup sugar, preferably superfine 100 grams
1/2 teaspoon baking powder, preferably aluminum-free
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 cup sugar 5.25 ounces = 150 grams
2 teaspoons loosely packed grated lemon zest 4 grams (from about 2 lemons)
2 tablespoons poppy seeds, optional 19 grams I would use a little less

Lemon Syrup

1/4 cup sugar 50 grams
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice, strained 47 grams

Instructions

Preheat Oven

20 minutes or longer before baking, set oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of oven. Set oven to 350°F.

Mise En Place

30 minutes to 1 hour ahead, cut butter into tablespoon-size pieces. Set on the counter to soften.
30 minutes ahead, into a 1 cup/237 ml glass measure with a spout, weigh or measure the eggs. Whisk in vanilla. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and set on counter.
Wash lemons with dishwashing liquid, rinse, and dry before zesting. Finey grate lemon zest. Freeze any extra for future use.

Make the Batter

Add the milk to the egg mixture and whisk it in.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon zest and optional poppy seeds on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and half the egg mixture. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides.
With the mixer off between additions, add the remaining egg mixture in two parts. Beat after each addition, starting on medium-low speed and gradually raising the speed to medium, then beating on med speed for 30 seconds, to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrape down sides of bowl.

Pipe the Batter into the Molds

Fill the prepared pastry bag about 3/4 full with batter. Pipe the batter into the molds. filling them about 3/4 full (4gms for each mini-mold, 16 gms for large cavity). No need to smooth the batter. Refill the bag as needed.
Ok, I didn't pipe I just used two spoons and scooped the batter into the molds.

Bake the Madeleines

Bake the mini-madeleines for 10-12 minutes, large ones for 14-15 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the centers comes out completely clean and the madeleines spring back when pressed lightly in the centers. While they are baking, make the lemon syrup.

Make Lemon Syrup (1/3 cup/95gms/79ml)

In 1 cup/237ml glass measure with a spout, stir together the sugar and lemon juice. Heat in the microwave just until the sugar is dissolved. (Or use a small sauce pan over medium heat.)

Brush the Medeleines with Syrup, Unmold, and Cool

As soon as the madeleines come out of the oven, place the pans on a rack, poke the madeleines all over with a wire tester, and brush it with 1/3 of the syrup.
Metal molds, use a toothpick or pin to carefully dislodge them from molds and then invert them onto the prepared cookie sheets (this prevents sticking)
Brush madeleines with remaining syrup and allow to cool completely. Let sit for 2 hours for syrup to distribute.
STORE: Airtight one layer; room temp, 3 days; refrigerated, 5 days; frozen, 3 months.

Baking Gems

Use superfine sugar for the best texture
After coating with baking spray with flour, brush molds with pastry brush to remove excess spray to prevent air bubbles from forming in the fluted tops of the madeleines.
If you do not have enough molds to bake all at once, chill batter in fridge until ready to use.
When done, madeleines will spring back when pressed lightly in the center even before they are done.

White Rabbit CC Cookies-We Got Em, Go Tell Alice

By threejamigos | April 19, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

As a kid, I spent a lot of time running the streets of Chinatown in San Francisco. After school, I headed to Chinatown to attend Hip Wo Chinese School, which conveniently was housed in the same church our family attended. I’d love to tell you I was a stellar student and fluent in both Cantonese and English but that would be a lie. The highlights of Chinese School were recess, calligraphy (a lot like painting), and stopping at the little grocery store right next to the church at the end of the day. We would grab a Carnation cup of ice cream with the little wooden paddle-spoon, or a cup of noodles (this was before instant noodles, so the shopkeeper made catsup noodles, delish, trust me) to hold us until we got home.

Candyland

More often than not, we bought candy from the array right by the register. I fancy myself a candy aficionado thanks to Chinese School. My favorites included Ice Cubes, Flickers, Charleston Chews, Big Hunks, Watermelon Stixs, and Milk Duds. If you recognize all these you’re a genius or just old like me. I also loved their Asian candies. Sugus, the precursors to Starburst, Haw Flakes (a sweet-sour plum wafer), and White Rabbit Candy. White Rabbit is kinda like taffy. It tastes like sweetened milk. They’re hard when you first pop one in your mouth but soften as you chew on it. Kinda like a Big Hunk or Look bar.

I haven’t had a White Rabbit in YEARS. But, they have been showing up in the new crop of Asian bakeries in the Bay Area. These inventive bakeries and pop-ups like Grand Opening (From the folks at Mr. Jiu’s), Sunday Bakeshop, Breadbelly, Pineapple King Bakery and Spoons Patisserie are fusing French techniques and Asian ingredients (and visa-versa) to create some delightful sweets and pastries. Char Siu Bao? Nah, gimme a BBQ Pork Danish, how about an Ube Snickerdoodle or Matcha custard-filled Puff? Genius. Instead of strawberry, try passionfruit. Black sesame seeds instead of poppy seeds, why not? Then there is Third Culture Bakery which popularized sweet rice or mochi desserts. A little gooey, a lot delish, and gluten-free!

CCC with a Twist

Luckily, White Rabbit Chocolate Chip Cookies from Beyond the Noms, popped up on my feed, bingo (was it luck or an algorithm that reads my mind?). I knew I had to try it. Essentially it is a chocolate chip cookie with an Asian twist. Cream butter with sugars until light and fluffy, one to two minutes and the egg and vanilla, beat again. Add flour mixture and stir just until the flour is mixed in. Add the stars of the show, the chocolate, and White Rabbit pieces ( you could substitute white chocolate if you can’t find the White Rabbit candy). Done. I like to chill my dough before baking. Allows flavors to blend and helps with spreading.

They’re delicious. A combination of the milky, vanilla candy, and dark chocolate chunks in a buttery, crispy-edged, tender cookie. Just out of the oven the White Rabbit candy is gooey, chewy, and sticky-soft. As the cookie cools, it does become denser, just like a Big Hunk. If you grew up eating White Rabbit morsels or any of the taffy-like candy bars, you are going to love these cookies. They will stick to your teeth (ahh transparency). Buy a bag when you are going to make these cookies, the fresher the bag the better for softness. White Rabbit Candy can be found in Asian Grocery Stores, especially Chinese ones.

Stir in chocolate and candy pieces just until incorporated. Don’t overmix.

Use a #40 ice cream scoop to create dough balls. I plopped one chocolate chunk and one piece of White Rabbit on each ball,

Delicious candy cookies with an Asian twist! If the White Rabbit seems a bit hard in cookies that are cold, try warming the cookie up a little which will soften the candy again.

White Rabbit and Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Asian Twist to Chocolate Chip Cookies, added White Rabbit Candy to cookies!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Asian-American

Keyword beyondthenoms, chocolate chip cookies, cookies, White Rabbit Candy

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 12

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Ingredients to Cream

1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
1/2 cup brown sugar packed light or dark
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Additions

1 cup chocolate chunks chips are also fine
15-20 white rabbit candies chopped I used ~15 pieces, tap to cut and it will break easily into pieces. Don't try to saw through them. Leave the rice paper wrapper on, its edible and will dissolve.
Maldon sea salt flakes optional

Instructions

Sift flour, baking soda and salt together in a small bowl. Set aside.
In a stand mixer on medium speed, beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar for 2 minutes. The mixture will lighten in color.
Add egg and vanilla and mix on medium speed for 1-2 minutes, until it looks like a buttercream. Scrap down the sides of the bowl occasionally.
Add flour mixture and stir (low speed on mixer) until just combined.
Stir in chocolate chunks and white rabbit candies.
Scoop approximately 2 tbsp. of cookie dough and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave roughly 1.5-2 inches between cookies. Optional: stick additional chocolate and candy pieces in each dough ball. Refrigerate for approximately one hour.
Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes until the edges are golden brown and the center has lost that wet sheen look. I like baking one sheet at a time. If you bake multiple sheets, be sure to switch places and rotate sheets midway through baking.
The White Rabbit Candy will soften and melt at times creating a not-quite-round cookie. The candy melts and creates crispy edges. While the cookies are still warm just out of the oven you could take a glass and place it over each cookie and swirl thus smooshing the cookie into a round shape OR you could embrace the not-round look and enjoy the sweet crispy edges that look like lava flow off an island.
Transfer to a cooling rack and top with Maldon sea salt flakes if desired. Serve warm.

Notes

I use a #0 scoop which is just a little less than an ounce, approximately 1.6 tablespoons. You could use #30 which is just over 2 T.

Calories: 224kcal
Carbohydrates: 29g
Protein: 2g
Fat: 11g

Black Sesame Chocolate Chunk Cookies from a Nerd

By threejamigos | April 8, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

The flavor of the day is toasted black sesame seeds. They’re delicious-earthy, nutty, and bolder than white sesame seeds. They add texture, color, and zing to cookies, cakes, and just about anything. During the holidays I made black sesame shortbread, a tasty rift on shortbread. So, when Black Sesame Chocolate Chip Cookies from Cooking Therapy skittered across my feed, “so making these” was imprinted on my brain.

A couple of “what if I add this or change that” moments resulted in a few tweaks to the cookie as I was trying them. This is the latest version of Black Sesame Chocolate Chunk Cookies.

The Process

I tried both commercially bought Sesame Seed Powder (they do the grinding for you) and grinding my own sesame seeds after toasting. Most recipes call for seeds that you measure out and then grind to a powder. The dilemma is how much powder is equivalent to whole sesame seeds. I weighed half cup of seeds and then half a cup of powder. Powder weighed 40gms, 1/2 cup of seeds weighed 60gms. Hmmm, for some reason I thought powder being more compact, would weigh more for an equivalent volume. Guess not, bottom line, go by equivalent weights you can’t go wrong BUT that’s 30% more powder or a cup and a half of powder to 1 cup of seeds. My head is about to explode. Think I’ll just use equivalent volumes.

The first tweak was adding toasted sesame oil, I didn’t notice a significant flavor difference. Maybe I should have added more. If you have made Jesse Szewczk’s Toasted Sesame cookies (phenomenal cookie), or Sarah Kieffer’s Sesame Cookie, both use sesame oil to pump up the flavor.

Tahini Paste was the next tweak. In place of the sesame oil, I added 1 tablespoon of Tahini Paste. In a stringent scientific experiment, my test cohort (co-workers, lol) concluded the they could taste the sesame flavor in these.

Looking for a flatter, less cakey cookie, I weighed the amount of flour and stopped at 250gms. This is where I tell you, implore you, to get a SCALE…

And an ice cream scoop!

A Google search led me to a blog called Crazy for Crust which had an entire section on how to tell when you cookies are done. There is nothing I like more than baking nerds! For instance, the tendency for me is to bake just a little too long. Her invaluable tip-when the glossy sheen or wet look is gone and the edges are golden brown, your cookies are done is now my mantra for drop cookies.

Out of the Oven

Cookies continue to “bake” for about 20 minutes after removing them from the oven. A “just right baked” cookie will fall as it cools creating those lovely crevices. If you prefer cripsy, round cookies, continue to bake for a couple of minutes, or if you like raw cookie dough take the cookies out a little earlier. Your choice, me? I’m like Goldilocks, I want it just right.

Use chocolate chunks, pastilles, or break up chocolate bars/slabs into pieces. Much more visually interesting than chips. to go the extra mile, reserve some of the chocolate pieces and place 1 or 2 on each formed cookie dough ball before baking.

Cookie Monster Would Approve

Less flour, Tahini paste and Fleur de Sel to finish the cookies, resulted in a tender, gooey, chocolatey, sesame-y cookie with a bit of crunch from the sesame seeds. Put this on your bucket list.

Black Sesame Chocolate Chip Cookies

A chocolate chip cookie with toasted black sesames for a new twist on an old favorite!

Course cookies, Dessert

Cuisine Asian-American

Keyword black sesame seeds, Chewy Toasted Sesame Cookies, chocolate chips, Sesame chocolate chip cookie, sesame seeds

Prep Time 35

Cook Time 15

Calories 244kcal

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour (King Arthur flour) 250gms
½ cup black sesame seeds, powdered I measured toasted black sesame seeds, 1/2 cup = 60gms. I used black sesame seed powder 40gm which measured 1/2 cup in volume. See notes.
1 tsp baking soda

Wet Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, browned
¼ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
½ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 tsp toasted sesame oil or 1 tablespoon Tahini paste

Adds

1 ½ cup dark chocolate chips sub semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Combine flour, sesame powder and baking soda in a medium bowl. Mix until combined and set aside.
Brown butter in a small sauce pan. Heat butter over medium high heat until the butter melts and then lower it to low. Cook the butter until golden brown and small brown solids start to appear. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Combine granulated sugar and light brown sugar in a large bowl. Add the brown butter. Whisk with a stand mixer or hand mixer until just combined.
Add the eggs and whisk until a smooth creamy mixture forms. Add the salt, vanilla extract, and sesame oil or Tahini paste and mix until just combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix with a spatula/wooden spoon until just combined.
Add chocolate chunks and mix until just combined.
Let the cookies rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a 2 tablespoon (medium-sized) cookie scoop to scoop cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are light brown.
Rest for 10 minutes on the baking sheets and then another 10 minutes on a cooling rack before serving.

Notes

So, I have commercially available toasted black sesame powder and I have toasted black sesame seeds. I decided to try both to see how much it impacted the texture of the cookies. I weighed the toasted sesame seeds and whirled them in a grinder. I stopped at a pretty finely textured powder. If you go too far you will end up with a paste.

There wasn’t a significant difference in texture between the two. The sesame does give the cookie a rougher texture, similar to adding a bit of cornmeal, but subtler.

The self-ground sesame seeds to powder cookies seem to have a touch more flavor but I did also switch out the sesame oil for Tahini paste, so it remains to be seen if the seeds were the difference. I just failed my science class, lol.

Anzac-ly The Delicious Biscuit (Cookie) I Was Looking For

By threejamigos | March 17, 2022 | Comments 1 comment

Marching orders in hand, I gathered the ingredients to make Anzac Biscuits. Think Oatmeal Cookie meets Oatcake or Granola Bar…you end up with a biscuit (cookie) that is buttery, sweet-salty, chewy-crispy (are these oxymorons?), and EXTREMELY delicious.

A Brief History On Anzac Biscuits

These tasty biscuits (cookies) can be traced back to World War One and the Australian-New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). As the story goes, moms and wives sent these biscuits to their soldiers fighting, both as a morale booster and reprieve from the dreary military rations. Made simply of flour, coconut, oatmeal, Golden Syrup, butter, they were easy to make and tasty. The end product was a caramel-ly sturdy biscuit that traveled well and lasted a long time. A welcomed treat from home.

Simplicity At Its Finest

Put this biscuit recipe in your incredibly easy with huge returns file. Very easy and perfect for little hands helping in the kitchen. Stir the dry ingredients together in a big bowl (kids love doing this), melt butter with the Golden Syrup on the stove (you do this), add the baking soda mixture to the butter (once again, your job) and add to dry ingredients (kids love to stir and make a mess). Scoop, bake, and eat! Easy-peasy.

Tweaks

The recipe is from Dorie Greenspan’s (Goddess of Baking) book, Dorie’s Cookies.

I used a one-eighth cup to portion the dough (could not find my scoop of this size 🤔) which produced cookies a little over 2 inches in diameter. Use either a #24 or #30 ice cream scoop for bigger biscuits, I would. They’re that good.

Press the dough into a puck-like disc on the baking sheet. Gives the biscuits a running start to a nice even shape.

If I had baked these cookies for 17-18 minutes, as directed, I’d have lumps of coal for all those naughty kids at Christmas. The first batch baked for 14 minutes at 325 degrees, which produced deep golden brown cookies with dark edges. The second batch baked at 320 degrees for 13 minutes. The biscuits were deep brown, carrot cake color without the dark edges. If you like a chewier, lighter-colored cookie, reduce the baking time, personally not recommended. If you make larger cookies, adjust baking times accordingly.

Subbing honey or corn syrup for Lyle’s Golden Syrup can be done in a pinch. But if you can, please try to use Lyle’s Golden Syrup. It is made from sugar cane and has a nuanced caramel flavor you won’t get with honey or corn syrup. Lots of larger grocery stores carry Lyle’s or you can order it on Big Bad Amazon. Don’t confuse their Dessert Syrup for the Original Cane Syrup, that’s like Log Cabin to real Maple Syrup.

These biscuits are incredibly tasty and easy to make, put them on your “biscuit” bucket list.

P.S.

Not all these biscuits came out perfectly round as pictured, lol. As soon as they came out of the oven, I placed a glass over the not-so-round ones and swirled it in a circular motion thereby jostling the cookies into perfect rounds. Tricks of the trade, babee.

Print Pin

5 from 2 votes

ANZAC Biscuits

Iconic Austrailian-New Zealand Biscuit (cookie) created during WW1, recipe adapted from Dorie's Cookies

Course biscuits, cookies

Cuisine Australian

Keyword Anzac Biscuits, Anzacs, Dorie Greenspan, Lyle's Golden Syrup

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

1 cup AP flour 136 grams
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats 80 grams
3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut 90 grams
1/2 cup granulated sugar 100 grams
1/4 cup light brown sugar or additional granulated sugar 50gms * Not in Dorie's recipe! Add if using unsweetened coconut, omit if you like,

Wet Ingredients

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt Use 1/4 teaspoon if using salted butter, Dorie's recipe uses sea salt, I thought it was a touch salty.
1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick
2 tablespoons Lyle's Golden Syrup

Leavening Ingredients

1 tablespoon boiling water
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, coconut, sugars, and salt and set aside.
In a small saucepan over low heat melt the butter with the Golden Syrup and remove from heat.
Combine the boiling water and baking soda in a small bowl to dissolve the baking soda.
Pour the water and baking soda into the butter mixture and stir to combine.
Pour the butter mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until thoroughly combined.
Use a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop to mold each cookie by gently packing dough into ice cream scoop and then turning out onto cookie sheet or form 1 1/2-inch balls of the dough with spoons)
Place cookies 1-2 inches apart on baking sheet. Bake for 17-18 minutes* or until deep golden brown (the color of carrot cake). Makes 16-18 cookies.
*Read my post regarding baking times!

Notes

These cookies should be a nice rich deep brown. Meant to be a little dense and crispy as they historically needed to travel well. For a chewier cookie, a little less baking time will do the trick, if that is what you like. It won't have as much of that nice caramel flavor you get from browning but still tasty!

Chew On This! Toasted Sesame Cookies

By threejamigos | February 12, 2022 | Comments 2 comments

How’s the New Year’s Resolution thing going? I’ve gotten strategic, I only make new year’s resolutions that are fun. That way I stand a chance of actually following through on them. One of my perpetual resolutions is to make a concerted effort to actually use the many cookbooks I have collected. Don’t laugh, it may not sound like a resolution but it is.

Olympic Medal goes to….these cookies!

Last night, sitting on the couch, watching Chloe Kim and Nathan Chen do their thing, and flipping through a cookbook (I can multi-task) I wondered (out loud, unfortunately) how many cookbooks I have that I haven’t ever used. The hubs laughed and said TOO MANY.

The laugh was pure motivation. I got up, went to the kitchen, pulled out Jesse Szewczyk’s Cookies: The New Classics, and picked his recipe for Chewy Toasted Sesame Cookies. Sooo making these now, before my resolve fades or I get distracted by Nathan Chen’s final routine.

So glad I did. These cookies are delectable! As much as I love SHORTBREAD type cookies, it was time to go back to fam-fav chewy cookies. These did the trick. Chewy centers, a bit of crispness on the edges….yum, yum.

Not to say I wasn’t happy. My current OBSESSION is sesame. Jesse uses toasted sesame oil in these cookies, which ups the flavor game. Sesame oil, sesame seeds…win, win.

These cookies are pretty easy to make…think Snickerdoodle method. Make the dough, chill it, roll it into balls. Roll said balls in black and white toasted sesames, hit it with some sugar, bake and EAT or in my case, inhale. Really, that good.

If this cookie is any indication…I will be baking a lot out of his book!

Seeds of Sesame Tips

It may seem fussy, I am sure it was a texture chase, the recipe calls for not only butter, but cream cheese, and oil. A balancing act to make a moist, chewy, soft cookie with a bit of crispness on the edges.

Sesame Oil, Sesame Seeds

You want TOASTED Sesame oil which can be found easily in Asian markets. The French brand, La Tourangelle makes a tosted sesame oil that is very good. It’s a little pricier but generally can be found in your larger grocery stores. I buy toasted sesame seeds at the Asian markets because I go through the stuff in no time flat. You can buy untoasted seeds and toast them yourself if roasted seeds are not available.

I was able to form the just-made dough into round balls even though it was pretty soft. But if you chill the dough for 30-60 minutes, makes it easier to work with.

Best thing since sliced bread, ice cream scoops for cookie dough….just saying. I used a 1.6 tablespoon scoop (#40) and sprinkled each cookie with regular granulated sugar. Raw or Demerara Sugar would work well too. Baking time was 11 minutes. The cookies will puff up but fall and create those neat fissures as they cool.

The hubs is not a fan of sesame seeds so I actually baked a couple that I rolled in chocolate sprinkles. I nixed his request for raisins (Ewww). The sprinkles were a hit. Honestly, this dough is so tasty, it would be good rolled in anything…except raisins.

Put these on your bucket list…like now.

Print Pin

5 from 1 vote

Chewy Toasted Sesame Cookies

A delicious, chewy, buttery, sesame cookie from Jesse Szewczyk's Cookies: The New Classics.

Course cookies

Cuisine American

Keyword Chewy Toasted Sesame Cookies

Prep Time 20

Servings 24 cookies

Equipment

1 #40 ice cream scoop If you don't have one, spoon out 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into round balls.

Ingredients

Dry Stuff

21/2 cups All purpose flour (320gms)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt reg table salt, use 1/8 teaspoon

Fat Stuff

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (85gms) leave the butter on your counter for a couple of hours approximate temp 68 degrees
2 ounces cream cheese, room temp (57 gms)
1 tablespoon TOASTED sesame oil see post for notes on oil
1/4 cup canola oil (60ml)

The Sweet Stuff

1 cup granulated sugar (200gms)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (100gms)

Wet Stuff

1 large egg, room temperature
2 tablespoons whole milk (30ml)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

The Finishing Touches

1/3 cup toasted white sesame seeds
1/3 cup toasted black sesame seeds
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I'm a stickler, I bake one sheet at a time in the middle of the oven. To bake two sheets at a time, set your oven racks in the upper-middle and lower-middle positions of your oven. Line sheets with parchment or Silpat. Preference is for parchment as silicon mats retain more heat.
In a medium bowl, combine dry stuff, set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, toss in the fats, (butter, cream cheese, sesame oil, canola oil), and sweet stuff granulated sugar, brown sugar. Beat on medium speed until smooth and fully blended, about 2 minutes.
Turn mixer off and add the wet stuff. Beat on medium speed until light and ribbon-like, about 2-3 minutes.
Turn mixer speed to low and gradually add flour mixture, mix until just blended, don't overmix. Rest dough for 10 minutes, it will firm up a bit. If it seems to soft still, chill in fridge for 30 minutes.
Using a 1-3/4 inch ice cream scoop (~2 tablespoons), form dough balls, hand- roll each to create smooth round balls.
Combine sesame seeds in a shallow bowl. Roll each dough ball in the sesame seeds and place them on parchment-lined sheets 2-1/2 inches apart. Sprinkle with the granulated sugar.
Bake 10-12 minutes, turning sheet midway through baking. Bake until golden brown on the edges. Cool cookies on baking sheet for a couple of minutes before removing them to a rack to cool completely.

Notes

Store in an airtight container.

Lasso Some Biscuits From Milk Bar (Ted Lasso Biscuits)

By threejamigos | November 11, 2021 | Comments 0 Comment

Yes, you are not seeing double, this is a different recipe for Ted Lasso’s biscuits! AND it’s a good one. I am a Johnny come lately to Ted Lasso having ignored the initial buzz about the show until…

Biscuits with the Boss

…recipes and articles started popping up on the internet for Ted’s Biscuits. That’s when I took notice. The show is funny, endearing, cute, and a bit bawdy, just the escape we all need. All that and biscuits, made it irresistible.

It seemed only fair that I try the “official” Ted Lasso Biscuit from Apple TV first. The biscuits had a smooth texture, were a bit crumbly and not too sweet. The second day brought out the buttery flavor making this a very respectable shortbread biscuit. Perfect with a cup of tea or coffee. I would make these again, say, if I didn’t have eggs for Christina Tosi’s version or if I wanted an easier, simpler, cookie.

I have been a fan of Christina Tosi for a long, long times since her days at Momofuku. Her Corn Cookies, Crack Pie and Compost Cookies are iconic. Soooo, when she posted her version of Ted’s Biscuits, yeah, I ran not walked to my kitchen and got busy.

Tosi’s version is more typical of a shortbread recipe, beat the butter and sugar just until smooth and creamy, not fluffy. Atypical are the addition of egg yolks to the batter. This adds fat and moisture to the cookies making them softer, moister than shortbread. The powdered sugar lowers the protein for a tender cookie. Adding a touch of brown sugar gives the cookie a caramel finish. The cookie is rich, buttery, with a super fine, tight crumb almost like a dense pound cake.

The addition of egg yolks makes for a soft dough. Try not to overmix dough, I stopped mixing once the dough starting clumping. Press the dough into the pan. You can dampen your hand which helps with the stickiness. Use an offset spatula to smooth the top.

It isn’t necessary to line the pan with parchment, but I did, it’s easier to remove from the pan. The baking temperature varied on different sites between 315 and 325 degrees. At 325 degrees, the cookies were ready in 35 minutes. Force of habit, I docked the dough with a fork for even baking. Unlike traditional shortbread, during baking, the holes disappeared, probably due to the egg yolks. Docking shortbread allows steam to escape, no bubbles, and even baking, is it necessary with this recipe, not sure.

During baking, the top of the dough forms a shiny, golden brown layer, the edges will be a deeper brown. Completely cool the cookies before cutting. The texture is soft, and cutting was not a problem. Cut cookies out to desired size and shape, rectangle or square. I divided the dough into 3 then cut each third into 8-9 rectangular cookies. Perfect pink box size. Make these cookies now.

Ted Lasso Biscuits

Christina Tosi’s version of Ted Lasso Biscuits. It’s a winner!

Course bar cookies, cookies

Cuisine American

Keyword biscuits, Shortbread, ted lasso

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 40

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, 2 sticks softened
1 ⅓ cup confectioner’s sugar
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 large egg yolks
1 ¾ cup All purpose flour
1/2 tsp scant kosher salt

Instructions

Heat the oven to 325F Line a 8x8” baking dish with parchment, grease pan
Using a mixer, beat butter, sugars and salt together on medium speed until smooth and creamy
Stir in the egg yolks
Add the flour and mix just until the dough just comes together. Do not over mix.
Press dough into an even layer in the pan. The dough will be sticky, dampen hands (just a bit) to press dough in. Spread and level dough with an offset spatula. Dock dough with a fork 2 inches apart.
Bake at 325F for 35 minutes or until a thin, golden brown layer forms on top.
Cool completely before cutting into 3 rows. Cut each row into 8 pieces.

Notes

Can be baked at 315 degrees for 45 min or until golden brown

“Lassoed” Into Making “Biscuits” (Shortbread)

By threejamigos | November 7, 2021 | Comments 2 comments

In the Queen’s Language, Cookies are Biscuits

I LOVE Shortbread cookies and have quite a few recipes on 3jamigos that are shortbread-centric. I live by the motto “more butter, more better”. Food52 shared the recipe for biscuits from the Ted Lasso show, of course I made them. It was a no-brainer, an automatic cookie bucket list entry. In fact, it was The “biscuits” that enticed me to watch the show. Up to that point, Ted Lasso was not even on my radar despite friends and family buzzing about it. Well, I started watching Ted Lasso and the buzz is justified. Optimistic, empathetic, decent and endearing, qualities we seemed to be in short supply of these days. Ted Lasso is the perfect escape and the biscuits are pretty darn good too.

The Premise

American football coach goes to England to coach FOOTBALL. LOL

Biscuits with the Boss

Each day Ted brings a box of biscuits (cookies) to his boss, Rebecca. A tiny pink box filled with buttery goodness. Scrumptious biscuits, solid acting, a funny storyline, and Jason Sudekis, 🍿🍿🍿🍿.

The recipe is the “official one” provided by Apple TV, the distributor of Ted Lasso. There are other “me too” recipes out there (that of course I am going to try) like Christina Tosi’s version, but I figured this was a good place to start. These are essentially shortbread cookies. Did I like them? Yes. Do I think they are the be-all-end-all? Probably not.

My absolute favorite Shortbread is from an essay in Cuisine Magazine (sadly gone), “My Father’s Shortbread”. A Classic Scottish Shortbread–buttery, sandy texture, nice crumb, melts in your mouth and yet has some substance to the bite. It is the cornerstone of every holiday box of cookies we give out at Christmas. It is my be-all-end-all shortbread.

My second favorite is Bouchon’s Shortbread, tender, melt in your mouth, screams butter. It is a beautiful cookie. A little sweeter from the dusting of sanding sugar on the cookie.

Back to Ted

Don’t get me wrong. I will make Ted’s Biscuits again. They have a smoother texture than classic shortbread and a softer bite. I’m guessing it has to do with beating the butter much longer than the other shortbread recipes, the addition of powdered sugar and baking at a higher temperature than classic shortbread. The crumb is much more uniform so you don’t get that same sandy texture.

The cookies are baked in an 8 inch pan and cut after they are cooled. Start checking at about 40 minutes during baking. My batch turned a nice golden brown at 45 minutes. Cool cookies on a rack. The cookies are cut after they cool. Use a sharp serrated knife to keep the cuts clean and minimize breaking. I’m not sure why they aren’t cut warm, I might try that next time.

The cookie tastes better the next day, the butter flavor shines when given the chance to sit. Patience has its rewards.

So if you are sitting down to watch Ted Lasso, make a batch of any of these biscuits. It will make the show that much more fun and enjoyable. If you are like Ted, have a cup of coffee not a cup of garbage water (according to Ted). Me, I would love a steaming hot cup of tea.

Ted Lasso's Biscuits (Shortbread)

Ted’s a simple man as are his biscuits. A classic, buttery shortbread.

Course biscuits, cookies

Cuisine American, European

Keyword butter, cookies, Shortbread, ted lasso

Prep Time 15

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour sifted
¾ cup powdered sugar
1 cup unsalted butter softened
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Sanding sugar optional

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 300℉
Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and set it aside
Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the butter for three to five minutes until it’s light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar.
Add flour and salt and mix until the dough comes together. Do not overmix.
Press into baking pan, keeping the dough as even as possible. I use an offset spatula and a tamper to even out the dough. Chill for a minimum of 30 minutes in the refrigerator before baking.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until it looks golden-brown but is still a little soft to the touch. Take the pan out of the oven. Sprinkle with sanding sugar now if using. Let it cool completely on a rack before cutting them.
Remove from pan and use a serrated knife to cut slices to the dimensions you like. Ted cut his into squares, I cut mine into rectangle shape like Walker Shortbread. Go find some cute pink boxes too!