Tag: Twelve Days of Cookies
M&M Cookies For the Kid In You (Day 2)

M&M Cookies For the Kid In You (Day 2)

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Cookie Number Two-Twelve Days of Cookies

Last year my absolute favorite cookie was Eric Kim’s Grocery Store Cookie.  I called it my Marie Kondo cookie, it brought me JOY.  The original Lofthouse cookies, a cakey blob, packed in plastic trays covered with copious amounts of fake frosting and sprinkles…elevated to a wondrously delicious cakelike, buttery, tender cookie topped with raspberry buttercream frosting.  The only thing the two cookies had in common was the SPRINKLES.

Guess which one is the Grocery Store Cookie?

As soon as NYTcooking posted this year’s Holiday Cookies, I looked for Eric’s cookie.  It wasn’t hard to find, his was first on the list.  For the kid in all of us, Eric developed a recipe for festive M&M Cookies. (Bonus: Video of Eric making these!)  Simple, nostalgic and YUMMY.  A hint of crispiness on the edge, surrounding a chewy cookie dotted with M&Ms.  The M&M’s are cut into pieces so you get this really nice distribution of the candy coating and chocolate center.  With the first bite, I was transported back to my 9-year-old self.

M&Ms aren’t easy to cut and not bounce around! My dough bowl and mezzaluna came in handy!

Cookie Workout

The cookies can be made with one bowl, whisk, and spatula (or wooden spoon) with the caveat that you start with soft butter (not melted) butter.  If you have a thermometer, it’s around 65-68 degrees.  You will also need some arm power as the recipe calls for beating the mixture for one minute to smooth and fluffy.  One minute, whisking a dough by hand is pretty long. Opt for your mixer unless you haven’t done your workout for the day.

Geeking Out

The baked cookies ended up with crevices that weren’t apparent in Eric’s batch.  I have a theory, I chilled my dough overnight which meant the dough was pretty cold, the butter had solidified and the dough had additional time to hydrate.  The chilled dough is a tad more resistant to spreading and collapsing thus creating fissures.  Here’s a great geek article on chilling your dough from Buzz Feed.  Next time I’ll bake them off with just a short chilling time to see if they don’t develop cracks.  I don’t think it impacted the flavor or texture too much.  If you try different M&Ms please leave a comment! I think it would be amazing with peanut M&Ms or almond M&Ms.

I like these, I LOVE the Grocery Store Cookie. I’ll be making both for the holidays.

So, make these cookies, pour yourself an ice-cold glass of milk, grab a cookie and enjoy the holidays.  I’m going to watch BIG, the perfect movie to go with these cookies!

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M&M Cookies by Eric Kim

Straight back to childhood, M7M Cookies, are chewy and a delight to eat.
Course cookies
Cuisine American
Keyword Almond Cookies, ERic KIm, M&M Cookies, NYTcooking
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • ½ cup (115 grams) unsalted butter very soft
  • 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
  • ¼ packed cup (57 grams )dark brown sugar
  • 1 large egg at room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt Diamond Crystal or ¾ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 ½ cups (185 grams) all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup (96 grams) M&M’s

Instructions

  • Heat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 large sheet pans with parchment.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, sugars, egg, vanilla and salt by hand until smooth and fluffy, at least 1 minute.
    Whisk in the baking soda, then switch to a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Add the flour, then carefully and coarsely chop the M&M's, and add them, too. Gently stir to combine. Place the bowl in the refrigerator while you wait for the oven to finish heating.
  • Using two spoons or a cookie scoop, plop out 2-tablespoon/50-gram rounds spaced a couple of inches apart on the sheet pans. (You should get about 8 cookies per pan.) Bake until lightly golden at the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely on the sheet pan; they will continue to cook as they sit.

Notes

If you really want to use your ixer.  The key is not to overmix.  On a Kitchen-aid when making cookies I rarely go above setting 4 (medium) when mixing cookie dough.  YOu don't need turbo which would increase the chance of overbeating.
YOu might want to fold in the flour and M&Ms to avoid overmixing.  If not, set mixer to stir and mix until you don't see any flour and stop.  Finish it off with a spatula.
Almond Cookies-TOC (Tournament of Cookies) Day 1

Almond Cookies-TOC (Tournament of Cookies) Day 1

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Here we go, Twelve Days of Cookies to kick off the holiday season!.  From one of my favorite cookbooks this year, Kristina Cho’s Mooncakes and Milk Bread, her Grandfather’s Almond Cookies.  If you are looking for a great holiday gift, her book is amazing.  Literally, recipes of your favorite Chinese Bakery goods, Pineapple Buns, Cocktail Buns, Cha Siu Baos, Egg Tarts.  I was over the “moon” when her book came out.

Hoping for a return to a bit of normalcy (thankful for vaccines), I headed to my favorite bookstore, Omnivore Books in the City, for an in-person meet and greet with Kristina. She came with a batch of Almond Cookies to share.  My first bite, buttery, crispy edges, almond-ny, absolutely delicious, I made a mental note to put this cookie on my bucket list.

These cookies can be made entirely by hand.  Classic cream butter and sugar until smooth.  Don’t overmix.  Add egg and almond extract and then dry ingredients. Chill the dough as these cookies tend to really spread.  Paint them liberally with the egg wash.   I bake them on parchment.

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Gung Gung’s Almond Cookies

From Kristina Cho’s Mooncakes and MIlk Bread, delightful, crisp, buttery almond cookies.
Course cookies
Cuisine Asian-American
Keyword Almond Cookies, Kristina Cho
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 125 g 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 113 g 1/2 cup; 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
  • 130 g 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 3/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 15 sliced almonds
  • Flaky salt for topping

Instructions

  • In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  • In another bowl, combine the butter and sugar with a spatula or wooden spoon until smooth. Add the egg and almond extract and continue to mix until fully incorporated. Add the dry ingredients and mix until a thick dough is formed (it will be sticky). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill until slightly firm but scoopable, about 1 hour.
  • Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • Using a 1 1/2-tablespoon cookie scoop, measure out 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough and place on the prepared sheet. (Or use a spoon to
  • scoop and roll the dough into a smooth ball, wetting your hands if the dough is still sticky.)
  • Repeat with remaining dough, spacing them 3 inches apart. Wet your fingers with water to prevent dough from sticking and gently press down on the dough balls with your fingers until they are 1/2 inch thick.
  • In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk and use to lightly brush the tops of the cookies. Place an almond slice on each cookie.
  • Bake until cookies are golden brown and crisp around the edges, 16 to 18 minutes. Transfer the sheets to a wire rack, sprinkle with flaky salt, and allow cookies to cool on the sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to the rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

Directions to make cookies with a mixer.  The key is to not overbeat!  
As easy as these are to make by hand, some of us just love our mixers.  Combine butter and sugar in mixer bowl.  On medium speed, beat mixture until smooth and creamy.  It should not reach the light and fluffy stage! Add egg and almond extract and beat on medium until combined.  Add dry ingredients, combine on stir or lowest speed until the flour mixture is incorporated and you don’t see any dry spots.  You can always stir in the flour by hand.  
The cookies spread quite a bit so don’t crowd them on a baking sheet.  Use an ice cream scoope to portion out your dough.
 

 

So, let the TOC begin!
The Trifecta Cookie-Neopolitan Cookie

The Trifecta Cookie-Neopolitan Cookie

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As a kid, I  loved Neopolitan Ice Cream Sandwiches.  I mean who didn’t?  It was like getting three different flavors of ice cream all at once AND a chocolate cookie.  Dessert Jackpot.  I would eat my ice cream sandwich slowly, savoring every bite. By the last bite, rivulets of ice cream would be running down my hand and arm.    A favorite childhood treat…

…that went long forgotten until I came across the Neopolitan Cookie in Sarah Kiefer’s 100 Cookies book.  Her Neopolitan Cookies shot to the top of the Gotta Make It Bucket List as soon as I saw them.

A while back we made Irvin Lin’s  Strawberry and Cream Cookies, from Marbled, Swirled, and Layered.  They were delicious, but a lot of work including melting chocolate and making two different doughs, hai-yah.  The beauty of Sarah Kiefer’s Neopolitan Cookies is it’s not that much more effort for a showstopper cookie.  These cookies start with just one dough, a sugar cookie dough.  It is then divided into thirds, freeze-dried strawberry powder is added to one portion and cocoa powder to another.  Boom, done.  It is helpful to have a scale to divide the dough into thirds.  I love my scale.

You can find freeze-dried berries at Trader Joe’s, feel free to use raspberry instead of strawberry.  Dutch-process cocoa created a rich chocolate color that looked just like the Neopolitan chocolate.  The cocoa powder did make the chocolate dough a bit crumbly, which we fixed by adding a touch of water (up to a tablespoon max, add a teaspoon at a time),  use just enough to bring the dough together. Try not to overwork your dough.

To shape the cookies, portion out each dough with an ice cream scoop (we used a #70 which is 2.75 teaspoons), then gently smoosh the three balls of dough together and roll into one round ball keeping the colors separate.

If you are a Star Trek fan, don’t these remind you of Tribbles?

Roll the balls in sanding sugar to give it a nice festive look.  Sarah suggests sprinkles that match each color of dough.  It’s your choice.  These cookies spread quite a bit so don’t crowd them on the baking sheet.  Don’t overbake, you want a cookie with crispy edges but a chewy center.  These are smashing to look at, delicious, and worth the extra step.

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Neopolitan Cookies

Remember Neopolitan Ice Cream Sandwiches? Here it is in a delicious cookie.
Course cookies
Cuisine American
Keyword cookies, Neopolitan Cookies, Sarah Kiefer
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 11 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon [364 g] all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup [8 g] freeze-dried strawberries substitute raspberries
  • 1 cup [2 sticks | 227 g] unsalted butter room temperature
  • 1 3/4 cup [350 g] granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg plus 1 large yolk
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 or 3 drops red food coloring optional
  • 2 tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder or Cocoa Noir (black cocoa)
  • Sprinkles, sanding sugar or granulated sugar for rolling

Instructions

  • Adjust an oven rack to the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350F [180C]. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  • Pulverize the berries into a powder with a rolling pin or in a food processor
  • Using a stand mixer, beat butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.
  • Take the dough out and divide into three equal portions, I use a scale. Put one-third of the dough back into the mixer and add the powdered strawberries/raspberries and food coloring, if using. Mix on low speed until totally combined, then remove the dough and wipe out the bowl.
  • Add another third of dough to the mixer. Add the cocoa powder and mix on low speed until totally combined. If it is too crumbly add a teaspoon of water to bring it together. Try taking it out of the mixer and kneading it a little.
  • Use a #70 ice cream scoop to form balls of each of the three doughs or pinch a small portion (about 1/2 oz [15 g]) of each, and press them gently together, so they adhere to each other, but colors remain distinct. Shape each into a ball, then roll the ball into sprinkles or granulated sugar. Place 6 or 7 cookies on each sheet pan.
  • Bake the cookies one pan at a time, rotating halfway through baking. Bake until the sides are set and the cookies are puffed, 10 to 11 minutes. Rap the cookies on the rack as you pull them out so they deflate. This will improve the crackle appearance. If the cookies are baked too long they will have fewer cracks.
  • Transfer the sheet pan to a wire rack and let the cookies cool for 5 to 10 minutes on the pan, then remove them and let them cool completely on the wire rack.
  • Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.