cookies

tahini-swirled brownies

08/18/2017 By bridget

These took me by surprise. I like to experiment, and my coworkers are willing testers. I thought tahini in brownies sounded more interesting than the customary peanut butter. I was not, however, expecting it to be better than peanut butter.

These did actually taste similar to peanut butter brownies, but the tahini was just a little more subtle. Instead of battling the chocolate for dominance, it was a quieter complement.

No one ever complains about treats in the office kitchen, and certainly they didn’t mind brownies, even brownies with ground up sesame seeds in them instead of ground up peanuts. My favorite comment was from a coworker who grew up in New York, who said these reminded him of the halvah he remembers eating as a kid. I’ve never had halvah, but after these, I am definitely on board with tahini in desserts.

Printer-Friendly Recipe
Tahini-Swirled Brownies (rewritten and doubled, but not changed from Milk Street)

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
6 tablespoons (32 grams) cocoa
6 eggs
2¼ cups (446 grams) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla
2 teaspoons salt
1½ cups (360 grams) tahini
⅔ cup (94 grams) all-purpose flour

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray.

2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Remove the pan from the heat, add the chocolate and cocoa, and stir until melted and smooth.

3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar, vanilla, and salt until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Whisk in the tahini. Add the flour; use a rubber spatula to stir until just combined. Measure out 1 cup of this mixture; set aside. Add the chocolate to the remaining egg/tahini mixture and stir to combine.

4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Dollop the reserved tahini over the chocolate mixture; drag a sharp knife through the dollops to create swirls.

5. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake until the edges are set and the center appears slightly moist, about 40 minutes. Cool to room temperature before serving.

Filed Under: chocolate, cookies, dessert

white chocolate macadamia nut cookies

12/16/2016 By bridget

I’m behind on Christmas. I’ve been behind on everything since Thanksgiving. Every one of the baby’s naptimes through the weekend are currently booked with baking plans, and once that’s done, I’ll start preparing for our trip to visit family over the holidays. And at some point, I should probably buy some presents.

These aren’t on my Christmas baking list, but maybe I should rethink that. I’d always considered white chocolate macadamia cookies bland before these – white chocolate mostly just tasting sweet, and macadamia nuts mostly just seeming rich and fatty without offering much flavor. But the addition of cream cheese adds some tanginess to counter the sweetness. The milk powder keeps the cookies soft and tender.

They’re straightforward to make; browning the butter adds an extra step, but it isn’t a difficult one. With a long shelf-life, they can hold up to being shipped to your friends and family across the country. Most importantly, they’re one of the best cookies I made last year.

Printer Friendly Recipe
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies (rewritten but not adapted from Joy the Baker)

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups (14.4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 cup instant milk powder
1½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup (7 ounces) packed light brown sugar
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
2 cups coarsely chopped white chocolate

1. In a medium not-nonstick skillet over medium heat, melt 8 tablespoons of the butter. Continue to cook the butter, swirling the pan occasionally, until the milk solids brown and sink and the butter smells nutty. Immediately remove it from the heat and pour the butter into a heatproof bowl. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, milk powder, baking soda, and baking powder. Break the eggs into a small measuring cup, whisk them lightly, and mix in the vanilla.

2. Place the cream cheese and the remaining 8 tablespoons of butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large mixing bowl if you’re using a hand-held mixer). Beat on medium-low speed until the butter and cream cheese are smooth, then add the salt and both sugars. Continue beating on medium-low until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the browned butter and beat until evenly combined. With the mixer running, gradually add the egg mixture. Once the eggs have been added, scrape the sides of the bowl once, then continue mixing on medium speed for about 1 minute. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing it’s mostly combined. Add the nuts and chocolate and mix until the flour is completely incorporated and the nuts and chocolate are evenly distributed. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 3 days.

3. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Scoop the dough in heaping tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until they are browned around the edges and do not look wet on top, 8 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Save

Filed Under: chocolate, cookies, dessert, nuts

blueberry and cream cookies

09/16/2016 By bridget

This is usually my view while baking lately. I like it, except for the constant challenge of keeping the baby from grabbing the spatula, or sticking her hands in the way of the mixer paddle, or kicking a bowl full of eggs. Also, I’ve been guilty of dripping batter on her head while grabbing a spoonful to taste.

It’s best if I just wait until nap time to put things in the oven or take them out, although in a pinch, I’ve found I can tilt her away from the oven and hold her limbs down when one hand while I grab a hot baking pan with the other. This recipe, then, is perhaps not the best choice for baking with the baby, since it has an extra oven step of making milk crumbs by toasting a combination of dried milk powder, sugar, flour, and butter.

After that, it’s mixed like a standard cookie, with the sugar creamed into the butter, the egg beaten in, and the dry ingredients added at the end. Then, the dough is scooped for baking, except you don’t bake it then. It needs to chill before baking to reduce how much the cookies spread. Then, when the baby is sleeping, or sitting on the floor putting things in her mouth, or jumping like a crazy person in her bouncer, you can finally put the cookies in the oven, and shortly afterward, enjoy a soft and sweet cookie, studded with tart bits of blueberries.

Printer Friendly Recipe
Blueberry and Cream Cookies (adapted from Christina Tosi’s Momofuko Milk Bar via Bon Appetit)

I did not chill my dough overnight. I left it in the fridge for a couple hours, just until it was cold. It seemed fine.

Milk Crumbs:
6 tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder
¼ cup all purpose flour
1½ tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
⅓ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Cookies:
2⅔ cups (12.8 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cups (5.25 ounces) sugar
¾ cups (5.25 ounces) brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup light corn syrup
1 large egg
Milk crumbs
1 cup dried blueberries

1. For the milk crumbs: Heat the oven to 275 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. In a small bowl, combine the milk powder, flour, sugar, cornstarch, and salt; toss to mix evenly. Add the butter; stir with fork until clusters form. Spread the mixture evenly on the prepared sheet. Bake until the crumbs are dry and crumbly but still pale, about 10 minutes, stirring twice during baking. Cool completely on the sheet. (The crumbs can be made 1 week ahead. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.)

2. For the cookies: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl if using a hand mixer), beat the butter, sugars, and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the corn syrup, then the egg, beating until the mixture is very pale, about 10 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated. Add the milk crumbs and blueberries; mix on low speed just until evenly combined. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Scoop the dough in heaping tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours or up to 2 days.

3. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until they are golden, 10-12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining cookies.

Filed Under: cookies, dessert, fruit

raspberry cream cheese brownies

07/22/2016 By bridget

My mom has a new favorite dessert, and I am not surprised. The two of us have been big fans of the chocolate/cheesecake/raspberry combination since I was in high school and she was a teacher, and we took a day of our spring break to check out the new mall across town. My clearest memory from that day is sharing a slice of chocolate raspberry cheesecake. A few weeks later, I drove back out to that mall to pick up another slice to give her for Mother’s Day. When my mom developed her own chocolate raspberry cheesecake recipe, it became one of my most-requested birthday cakes.

So when I made these brownies, I was sure to save her a piece. It did not occur to me to also save my dad a piece, and since my mom was nice enough to share, she really only got a nibble. Fortunately, that nibble was enough to convince her to make them herself just a few days later.

The raspberry jam is both mixed into the chocolate portion and swirled into the cheesecake batter, so it isn’t just a pretty red swirl; the flavor stands out in every bite, vying for attention with the rich chocolate and tangy cheesecake. This is a well-deserved favorite.

Printer Friendly Recipe
Raspberry Cream Cheese Brownies (from Cook’s Illustrated’s Summer Entertaining via Pink Parsley)

Filling:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
¼ cup (1.75 ounces) sugar
1 egg yolk
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

Brownies:
⅔ cup (3.35 ounces) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
½ cup raspberry jam
1¼ cups (8.75 ounces) granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil. leaving the excess hanging over the edges. Grease foil. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla. Set aside.

2. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Microwave the chocolate and butter in a large bowl, stirring after every 30 seconds, until melted and smooth. Whisk in ¼ cup jam and allow the mixture to cool slightly. Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla to the chocolate mixture, and stir until combined. Whisk in flour mixture until just incorporated.

3. Microwave the remaining ¼ cup jam until warm, about 30 seconds, and stir until smooth. Scrape half the brownie batter into the prepared baking dish. Dollop the cream cheese by the spoonful over the batter, and spread into an even layer. Drop spoonfuls of warm jam over the cream cheese, and use the tip of a knife to swirl jam through the filling. Spread the remaining batter evenly over the filling.

4. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few dry crumbs attached, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 2 hours. Using the foil overhang, lift the brownies from the pan and cut into squares.

Filed Under: chocolate, cookies, dessert, fruit

belgian brownie bites

06/14/2016 By bridget

I know I titled these tiny brownies ‘bites’, but that doesn’t mean I think they should actually be eaten in one bite. Something this rich and chocolately should be savored, at least to my mind. Dave, however, popped them whole into his mouth.

These are so rich that tiny mini-muffin cup servings really are appropriate. With just a smidgen of flour for almost half a pound each of chocolate, butter, and sugar, they’re almost mousse-like.

For me, that means I enjoy them slowly, relishing each decadent nibble. I guess for others, one bite is the way to go. Either way, they’re so good that it’ll be hard to resist another.

Belgian Brownies Bites (rewritten but not really adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

24 mini muffin-sized bites or 12 regular muffin-sized brownies

7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon flour

1. Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan containing one inch of simmering water. Add the chocolate and butter; stir occasionally until the chocolate is smooth, then remove from the heat. (The chocolate and butter can also be melted on 50% power in the microwave, stopping to stir every thirty seconds or so.) Whisk in the sugar and salt until smooth, then add the eggs one at a time, whisking until incorporated before adding the next. Gently whisk in the flour. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray a mini muffin pan (or regular muffin pan) with oil.

3. Divide the batter between 24 mini muffin cups (or 12 regular muffin cups). Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a brownies comes out dry or with a few moist crumbs attached, about 16 minutes (26 minutes for regular muffin cups). Transfer to a cooling rack for approximately 5 minutes, then remove brownies from the pan to cool completely on a rack.

Filed Under: chocolate, cookies, dessert

cheesecake thumbprint cookies

04/28/2016 By bridget

You’d think that since I’m home all day for a few months, I’d be more likely to get recipes out of my cookbooks instead of the internet. I certainly thought I would, especially considering that I keep making New Year’s resolutions to use my cookbooks more often. However, at home as well as at work, the internet beckons and my cookbook shelf goes mostly ignored.

But clearly, there is good stuff on that shelf that is being missed. This recipe might have caught my eye online, but I wonder if I would have then looked for something similar but more familiar. With such a small amount of sugar in the cookie portion, this was just a little out of my comfort zone.

I stuck to the recipe though, and I’m glad I did. While the base was, as expected, not too sweet, it wasn’t too unsweet either. Maybe that helps to highlight the cheesecake portion, which, cheesecake being one of my favorite foods, is my favorite part. This is a great reminder of why I keep telling myself that I should use those cookbooks; maybe this time it will stick.

Cheesecake Thumbprints (rewritten from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook)

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup (3.5 ounces) granulated sugar, divided
¼ teaspoon salt, plus a pinch
2 large egg yolks, divided
1½ teaspoons sour cream or greek yogurt
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups (9.6 ounces) all-purpose flour

1. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add ¼ cup (1.75 ounces) sugar, a pinch of salt, one egg yolk, the sour cream or greek yogurt, and vanilla extract; mix until smooth. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

2. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.

3. In a large bowl, mix the butter, ¼ cup (1.75 ounces) sugar, and ¼ teaspoon salt until smooth. Add the other egg yolk and mix until blended, then add the flour and mix on low speed until just combined.

4. Form the dough into balls approximately 1-inch in diameter and place on the prepared baking sheets. Use the round back of a spoon or your finger (I used a round teaspoon measuring spoon) to press indentations in the middle of each ball of dough.

5. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the pans from the oven and press down the indentations again (I used a tablespoon measuring spoon this time). Return the pans to the oven and bake until the edges of the cookies begin to brown, 7 to 9 minutes. Transfer the pans to wire racks; let the cookies cool completely.

6. When the cookies are cooled, spoon the cheesecake filling into the indentations. Return the cookies to the oven and bake until the filling is set, 7 to 8 minutes. Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely. Chill the cookies at least 4 hours (or overnight) before serving.

Filed Under: cookies, dessert

mocha biscotti

12/08/2015 By bridget

My brother isn’t a coffee drinker, but when he travels with me and Dave, he indulges our desire for fancy coffee every morning. In Oregon last fall, he tried a variety of drinks, from the oversugared coffee slushy to a fancy shakerato. He was just going along with the crowd though; none of the drinks seemed to impress him.

In Iceland this summer, however, he settled on one drink, getting a swiss mocha every day with our morning pastries. I hadn’t tried a mocha since high school, but these were good – the bitter espresso balances the sweet hot cocoa. My favorite has always been a good cappuccino, but I even ordered my own mocha one afternoon.

Coffee is often added to chocolate desserts to enhance the chocolate flavor, but it was the coffee that I wanted to stand out here. With plenty of espresso powder and a shot of Kahlua, I think I succeeded. Even a non-coffee drinker would like these – although my brother can no longer count himself in that crowd, because now he makes mochas a regular treat even when he’s not on vacation.

Printer Friendly Recipe
Mocha Biscotti

Makes about 40 biscotti

3¼ cups (15.6 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 large eggs
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1¼ cups (8.75 ounces) sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon Kahlua or coffee liqueur
4 teaspoons espresso powder
6 ounces (about 1 cup) bittersweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
3 ounces (about ⅔ cup) slivered almonds

1. Adjust a rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. In a medium bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Break the eggs into a small bowl or measuring cup, but do not whisk them together.

2. In a large pot over medium-low heat, heat the butter until it’s just melted. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the sugar, then the salt, vanilla, Kahlua, and espresso powder. Stir in the egg yolks, then the egg whites, reserving about 1 tablespoon of egg white to use for an egg wash. Stir in the flour mixture until almost combined, then add the chocolate and almonds, folding until evenly combined and there are no pockets of dry flour.

3. Divide the dough into two portions and shape each into a log that is 2-inches wide and as long as your baking sheet. The dough is very sticky; it’s easiest to use a spatula and butter knife to push the dough into position instead of trying to use your hands.

4. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake until just golden, 30-35 minutes. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let the loaves cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then use two spatulas to transfer the loaves from the pan to the cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

5. Place an oven-proof cooling rack on a rimmed baking sheet. Use a sharp knife to cut the loaves into ½-inch slices, on the diagonal if desired. Transfer half of the biscotti to the cooling rack in the pan, spaced about ¼-inch apart. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, until the edges just start to brown. (This baking step is to crisp the biscotti, but they’ll still feel somewhat soft when they’re hot.) Repeat with the remaining biscotti. (You can bake all of the biscotti at once if two pans fit on one level in your oven or if you have cooling racks that stack.) Let the biscotti cool completely on the rack before serving.

Filed Under: alcohol, chocolate, cookies, dessert, italian, nuts

maple nutmeg cookies

11/25/2015 By bridget

There are more practical things I could be doing with my time, but none of them are as fun as baking cookies. This is why I have three types of Christmas cookie dough and a Christmas cake in my freezer. Plus I’ll be 8 months pregnant at Christmas, and I never know when my body is going to cry uncle and let me know that I can’t keep up my normal level of activity indefinitely.

I have five more holiday treats planned (plus decorating that cake in the freezer), which seemed ambitious until I talked to someone who makes at least twenty types of cookies every December. Still, the only way I can get it all done and still enjoy my life is by spacing it out, and I have so many plans this year that my holiday baking spilled over into November. This is not a hardship, as I’m not sad about having more excuses to play with butter and sugar, even if it does mean using red and green food coloring before Thanksgiving.

With no food coloring here, these cookies work for either holiday. They’re simple but not plain, as the maple flavor really is evident. Cutting them into fall leaves makes them seem more appropriate for Thanksgiving, but they’re going in my Christmas care packages anyway – along with at least five other treats.

Printer Friendly Recipe
Nutmeg Maple Cookies (adapted from Gourmet via Smitten Kitchen)

Yield depends on size of cutters used; I made at least a hundred 1-inch cookies (which took forever)

I can’t find Grade B maple syrup where I live, but I do have maple sugar in the pantry, so I substituted 2 tablespoons of that for an equal amount of granulated sugar. The original recipe suggests adding a few drops of maple extract, if you’re more likely to have that around than maple sugar. I also considered starting with a couple extra tablespoons of Grade A maple syrup and simmering it down to ½ cup; if you do this, be sure to let it cool to room temperature before adding it to the dough.

I substituted some brown sugar for white sugar and added vanilla to the original recipe, because I thought both would help bring out the maple flavor.

I know it’s annoying to chill the dough and then have to wait for it to soften up again after chilling, but it’s so soft at room temperature that there’s no way you’d be able to transfer the cut shapes to a baking sheet. You could, however, roll it out immediately after mixing (you’d need a pretty big area) and refrigerate it until it hardens enough to cut and transfer, which would only take 15 minutes or so. I often do this with the scraps.

I tried baking the cookies for 8 minutes and for 10 minutes. The cookies baked for 8 minutes were just a bit chewy. The cookies baked for 10 minutes were crunchy, which isn’t usually my preference but was nice here. If you want your cookies softer, increase the brown sugar to ½ cup and decrease the granulated sugar to ½ cup and bake for 8-10 minutes, until the tops looks dry but the edges aren’t browned.

3 cups (14.4 ounces) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg or ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon table salt
¾ cup (5.25 ounces) granulated sugar
¼ cup (1.75 ounces) light brown sugar
1 large egg yolk
½ cup Grade B maple syrup
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a small bowl, combine the flour and nutmeg. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large mixing bowl if you’re using a hand-held mixer) and beat on medium-low speed until it’s smooth. Add the salt and both sugars and continue beating on medium-low until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the egg yolk and mix until fully incorporated, then, with the mixer running, gradually add the maple syrup and vanilla extract. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until evenly combined. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or up to two days.

2. Adjust a rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.

3. If chilled for longer than 2 hours, let the dough sit at room temperature until it’s just soft enough to roll out. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to a thickness of ⅛-inch. Use floured cookie cutters to cut shapes; transfer the shapes to the prepared pans. Re-roll and cut shapes from the scraps, using as little flour as possible.

4. Bake the cookies until the just golden around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the pan for about 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack cool completely.

Filed Under: cookies, dessert, fall, winter/holidays

banana caramel whoopie pies

10/23/2015 By bridget

The thing I hate about whoopie pies is that they’re called whoopie pies. Remember that most of what I bake gets shared at work, and there’s something that feels unprofessional about leaving a post-it in the office kitchen with the word ‘whoopie’ on it. I get a few snickers every time I make them – except for the time I cheated and called them sandwich cookies instead.

They are their own category of sandwich cookie though, with a distinctly cakey cookie layer that makes them almost like cake and frosting that happens to look like cookies. In these, the frosting steals the show, with homemade caramel sauce mixed into creamy smooth buttercream. The cookies, however, aren’t to be overlooked either, and the banana is a great match for the caramel. Altogether, they’re worth a few giggles at work for such a tender cookie and generous layer of delicious buttercream.

Printer Friendly Recipe
Banana Caramel Whoopie Pies (from Annie’s Eats, who cobbled the pieces together from Martha Stewart [cookies] and David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop [caramel sauce, which I’ve adapted])

If you don’t want to make swiss meringue buttercream, cream cheese frosting with caramel sauce would be great. If you don’t want to make caramel sauce, plain cream cheese frosting would still be good.

For the caramel sauce:
½ cup sugar
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cookies:
2 cups (9.6 ounces) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup mashed banana (from about 2 small bananas)
½ cup sour cream
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (3.5 ounces) granulated sugar
½ cup (3.5 ounces) light brown sugar
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling:
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
½ cup (3.5 ounces) granulated sugar
pinch salt
11 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
⅓ cup caramel sauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. For the caramel sauce: Add the sugar, water, and corn syrup to a 2-quart saucepan. Cover and heat over medium-high heat until simmering, then remove the cover and let simmer until the mixture is a deep amber color, swirling the pan occasionally at first and more often as the sugar browns. Add the cream, which will foam violently, and stir over medium-low heat to combine. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt and vanilla extract. Let the sauce cool to room temperature. (Caramel can be made up to a week in advance.)

2. For the cookies: Adjust a rack to the middle position and heat the oven to xx degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. In a small bowl, whisk together the banana and sour cream.

3. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large mixing bowl if you’re using a hand-held mixer). Beat the butter on medium-low speed until it’s smooth, then add the salt and both sugars. Continue beating on medium until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. With the mixer running, add the egg and vanilla extract. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add half of the flour mixture, then all of the banana mixture, then the remaining flour mixture. Continue mixing on low just until evenly combined.

4. Transfer the dough to a large piping bag fitted with a ½-inch round tip (or a ziploc bag with a ½-inch opening cut into a corner). Pipe 1-inch rounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheets with 1 inch of space between them. Bake until firm, about 10 minutes. Transfer the baking sheets to cooling racks; allow the cookies to cool on the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer them directly to the cooling rack.

5. For the buttercream: In the stainless steel bowl of a stand mixer (or a large stainless steel bowl if using a hand-held mixer), combine the egg whites, sugar, and salt. Set the bowl over a saucepan containing 1 inch of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Whisk constantly until the mixture reaches 160 degrees.

6. Fit the mixer with the whisk attachment; beat the egg white mixture on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form and it has cooled to room temperature, about 6 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, adding more once each addition has been incorporated. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat until the buttercream is smooth and holds peaks, 3-5 minutes. Add the caramel sauce and vanilla; mix on low until incorporated.

7. Spread about 2 tablespoons of buttercream over the flat side of half of the cookies. Top with the remaining cookies, flat sides down. Serve immediately, or cover tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, bringing to room temperature before serving.

Filed Under: cookies, dessert, fruit

brown butter peach shortbread

08/12/2015 By bridget

I’m in fruity dessert mode lately. Blueberries, blackberries, plums. The peaches came from my coworker, which is always fun – people bring me fruit at work, and I bring it back to them a few days later, mixed with butter and sugar.

I have another coworker with an apple tree, and that’s a little easier on me since apples have a long shelf-life. The peaches I was given were already very ripe, so I needed something simple that I could bake when I already had dinner to make and mountains of post-vacation laundry to do. Unfortunately, I’d just used up my ace-in-the-hole tart dough on store-bought peaches.

Fortunately, I found a simple but delicious recipe. This shortbread has the extra step of browning and chilling the butter before cutting it into the dry ingredients, which doesn’t take long and adds a little extra specialness to the dessert. The peaches were small and impossible to remove from the pit, so I skipped peeling, pitting, and slicing in favor of cutting chunks directly from the seed.

It might have been easy to put together, but the flavor didn’t reflect that. With just a few basic ingredients and plenty of peaches, it tastes like the best of summer fruit. That’s exactly what I’m in the mood for right now.

Printer Friendly Recipe
Brown Butter Peach Shortbread (rewritten but not changed from Smitten Kitchen)

Makes 24 2-inch squares

The only part of this recipe I thought was annoying was chipping the hardened browned butter out of the bowl. I might line a bowl with wax paper next time so I can just lift the butter out and scrape it off the paper into the food processor.

The peaches my coworker gave me were very small, and I used eight or nine of them, not two. I did not peel them, which was not a problem in the final dish.

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
2¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons (12.6 ounces) all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
2 peaches, pitted and thinly sliced (between ⅛- and ¼-inch thick)

1. In a medium not-nonstick skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue to cook the butter, swirling the pan occasionally, until the milk solids brown and sink and the butter smells slightly nutty. Immediately remove it from the heat and pour the butter into a heatproof bowl. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.

2. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon to the bowl of a food processor; process until the ingredients are mixed, a few pulses. Add the browned butter and process until the largest butter pieces are the size of peas. Add the egg; process until the dough just comes together into a crumbly ball.

3. Spray a 9-by-13-inch pan with nonstick spray. Press three-quarters of the dough into the bottom of the pan. Evenly spread the peaches over the dough, then scatter the remaining dough crumbs over the fruit.

4. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake until the crust is lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature before serving.

Filed Under: cookies, dessert, fruit, summer