The Kitchen Mouse » cookies

Holiday Cookie Extravaganza

Cori Rozentāle — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:48:02 +0000

Christmas almost brought me a meltdown.

We don’t have much and I wasn’t sure what we could afford, so I came up with the idea to do a “12 Days of Cookies” gift for my parents, my mentor and my sis. Then I realized I couldn’t afford to ship that many cookies (nor would all of them survive, should the Post Office delay them), so I did mini sets of shippable cookies for my mentor and sis in pretty Christmas tins, and saved the rest of the cookies for the following week.

I didn’t make a dozen types of cookies. I ran out of baking steam when I got sick a few days before Christmas. In the end, I made:

Bakerella’s Cake Balls

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Lemon Sugar Cookie Volcanoes

“Abstract Tiger” Peanut Butter Cookies*

Rice Krispie Treats

Oatmeal-Walnut Shortbread Thins

Dark Chocolate Fudge

Chocolate-Walnut Cookies

Palmiers

But the cake balls… they’re awfully good, but they nearly destroyed the whole plan.

You see, one night before Christmas Eve, I was sitting at the kitchen table, happily dunking little cake balls in vanilla-flavored almond bark. (I’d run out of the green candy melts and no one in town had any candy melts, not even Walmart, which had run out a few weeks earlier.) I finished all the little balls and stacked as many as I could onto my quarter-sheet pan to go into the fridge to set. Not all of them fit, so I left them on my cutting board while I went to shove the pan into the fridge.

I bet you see where this one is going.

The fridge was stuffed full of food for Christmas Eve – an 8-lb ham was taking up a big chunk of room on the bottom shelf, along with a bunch of produce on the middle shelf. So I set the pan down mostly on the wedge of space on the bottom shelf (I thought), while I tried to prevent the door from swinging all the way open.

And the entire quarter-sheet pan of cake balls came crashing down onto the floor, cake first.

It was not good. I didn’t have the time to go out and buy everything again, bake it all again and decorate it again. So I packed up the few I had left on the table for my mom and gave it up for the night, incredibly frustrated and upset.

In the end, my family loved the cookies. Most of the recipes came from the little booklet included with the December issue of Food Network Magazine. They came out fairly well, though I wasn’t happy with the lack of strength of flavor in the lemon volcanoes and peanut butter tigers.

The runaway favorite of the entire deal? Cake balls. The very thing that decided to give me a meltdown.

What I love about them is the hard crunch of the candy shell and the soft, chocolatey inside. These little guys have been made famous by Bakerella and, though I would have loved to do little Christmas trees, I went with something I could reasonably pull off:

It would have been so neat though. I almost bought little sprinkles to sprinkle on top of the little trees. And I almost did cake pops instead of cake balls when I found the lollipop sticks at the craft store. It would have been so much easier to get a good coating if I had.. and maybe since they would have been stuck into a block of styrofoam/floral-foam, they might not have crashed and burned.

Maybe next time.

Christmas Cake Balls [printable recipe]

From Bakerella.com

1 box devil’s food chocolate cake
1 can chocolate frosting (not the whipped stuff)
2 bags Wilton’s candy melts, different colors

Prepare and bake cake as directed for a 13x9x2 pan. Let cool completely. Crumble into fine crumbs. (This is very sinful. Deliberately destroying a cake? Definitely a sin, but very delicious.) Mix most of the can of frosting in, adding the rest as necessary. You can use a spoon or fork, but at some point, it’s just easier to use your (clean) hands. Form into little balls and freeze.

Melt the candy melts as directed. Dunk the little balls into one color then let set on some parchment paper. After a few minutes (and several more dunkings), the first little balls will be ready for a drizzle of the opposite color. When done, freeze or chill to speed up the setting process.

Check out bakerella.com for more ideas for cake balls and cake pops, as well as absolutely gorgeous pics.

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* You might be wondering about the “Abstract Tiger” cookies. Next year is the Year of the Tiger, according to the Chinese. Every year, my husband and his family have made little cookies shaped like the animal of the upcoming year. My husband and I’ve made little rats with heart-shaped cutters and little oxen out of circles the past two years, so this year we were going to use a kitty-shaped cutter from a Halloween set for tigers.

Except the cookie dough kept breaking. And breaking. And breaking. We finally gave up and drew stripes on the plain discs — thus abstract tiger cookies were born.

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Cranberry, Oatmeal & Walnut Cookies

Cori Rozentāle — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:10:19 +0000

One of our favorite lunch spots is Jason’s Deli, which we occasionally indulge in when we go to one of our favorite stores: Sunflower Farmers Market. When we’re at Jason’s, I always get a chocolate chip cookie and my husband always gets a cranberry-walnut cookie with our meals because their cookies are just so damn good. (The rest of the food is great too!)

When he found dried cranberries at Winco in the bulk food section (love), he asked me to make him a batch. Now, one thing you should know about my husband is that he’s crazy for whole wheat. I changed out all-purpose for whole wheat in my chocolate chip cookies and made him a very happy man, so I knew that whatever recipe I wound up using needed to use whole wheat too.

In the end, I took one I particularly liked for inspiration and played around. I think they came out pretty darn good — and I’m not even that particularly crazy about oatmeal cookies! These aren’t spreaders, they bake up soft, puffy and chewy with just a hint of spice.

Cranberry, Oatmeal and Walnut Cookies [printable recipe]

Adapted from a recipe by Sarah Parker on Allrecipes.com
Makes 30 – 36 cookies

10 tbsp butter, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups rolled or old-fashioned oats
1 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, mix until fluffy. Add milk, vanilla extract, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Mix well. Add flour slowly, mixing thoroughly. Stir in walnuts, oats and cranberries.

Form dough into small balls and place 2″ apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool 3 – 4 minutes on the pan, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

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Cocoa Brownies

Cori Rozentāle — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:03:02 +0000

I love brownies. Cakey or fudgey, it doesn’t matter. Just give me that dark chocolatey goodness and let me be happy. But the perfect brownie recipe was elusive. Some came out too flaky, others weren’t very thick. There were always box mixes, but come on. It’s not that hard to throw things in a stand mixer and a box mix always felt like cheating. (Plus, it’s not as good as what I can make myself.)

Finally, I found it. I should have guessed it would be from Alton Brown, one of my favorite and most trusted chefs ever. Once I made this recipe, I decided further research was really no longer necessary: this became my go-to brownie recipe. I would periodically have affairs, trying out different brownie recipes because they sounded interesting, but I always came back to this one. It’s decadent, fudgey and flakey, and definitely needs a cold glass of milk to wash it down.

So when I was asked to provide some desserts for my step-brother’s wedding, this went on the list without question. I knew the bride had a serious thing for chocolate and this was the most decadent, fast dessert I knew I could pull off. I hoped I’d get to take some home, but the guests snapped them up to take with them.

I love these brownies, and I hope you love them too.

Cocoa Brownies [printable recipe]

From Alton Brown (<3)
Makes few, some, or a lot — depending on how you slice it.

Soft butter, for greasing the pan
Flour, for dusting the buttered pan
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar, sifted
1 cup brown sugar, sifted
8 ounces melted butter
1 1/4 cups cocoa, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8-inch square pan or lay a sheet of parchment in the pan, leaving the sides high enough to grab as a handle.

In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed until fluffy and light yellow. Switch to the beating blade. Add both sugars. Add remaining ingredients, and mix to combine.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 45 minutes. Check for doneness with the tried-and-true toothpick method: a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan should come out clean. When it’s done, remove to a rack to cool for about 5 minutes, then lift the parchment out of the pan and allow the brownies to cool on the rack. Resist the temptation to cut into it until it’s mostly cool.

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Wedding Cookies

Cori Rozentāle — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:32:03 +0000

I’ve seen them called Mexican Wedding Cookies and Italian Wedding Cookies. Honestly, I don’t really know how “traditional” these little cookies are, but I do know they came out quite well. It’s an easy, basic recipe, but as with many recipes calling for only a few ingredients, the quality of the ingredients you use will stand out.

Using powdered or confectioners’ sugar always reminds me of this night in Liepāja. I wanted to use powdered sugar to sift over some cookies, but it’s not available there. My husband asked me to explain what is is: fluffy, extremely finely ground sugar, often mixed with a bit of cornstarch (to prevent caking), then suggested running some sugar through his coffee grinder. Et voila! Powdered sugar! As fine as I could want and as much as I needed. So if you don’t have some in the cupboard, don’t despair. Just pulverize some regular sugar in a coffee grinder and enjoy.

Someone’s Traditional Wedding Cookies, Maybe [printable recipe]

Adapted from Paula Deen
Makes approximately 30 cookies

2 sticks (1/2 pound, 1 cup) butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered or confectioners sugar, plus 1 cup for coating
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt²
1 cup toasted pecans³, finely chopped

Cream butter and 1/2 cup sugar together until smooth and fluffy. Add vanilla and begin adding the flour gradually. Once flour is fully incorporated, add toasted pecan bits on the lowest speed of your mixer or use a spatula.

The dough should be very stiff and not very sticky. Begin preheating oven to 275F. Chill for 30 minutes.

Shape about a tablespoon’s worth of dough into a crescent moon shape and place onto a lined cookie sheet. These don’t spread very much, so they can be placed about one inch apart. Bake for 40 minutes.

Remove to a rack and as soon as they are cool enough to handle, roll them around in the remaining cup of confectioners’ sugar. Alternatively, put the sugar into a baggie and toss the cookies in. Fast and easy! Replace them on the racks and continue to cool. Store in an airtight container or freeze.

Notes:

I made these for my step-brother’s wedding. They were the most popular dessert item!
The original recipe I used didn’t have any salt whatsoever in it. It tasted flat to me, so I added a scant teaspoon of kosher salt, which perked it up.
To toast nuts quickly, place a handful into a small microwave-safe bowl and zap em for about 2 – 3 minutes total, stirring and checking every 30 – 45 seconds. Toasted nuts will darken a bit and smell lovely, so it’s easy to know they’re done.

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Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cori Rozentāle — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:08:02 +0000

I love chocolate chip cookies, they’re my favorite cookie. I grew up making batches of these, reading the recipe right off the Nestle bag for Toll House cookies. But it wasn’t until I watched Alton Brown’s Good Eats episode on these popular cookies that I discovered there was an entire world of chemistry behind my favorite little indulgence. Whether or not you melt the butter, use butter-flavored shortening, adjust the ratio of brown to white sugar, even the protein count of the flour you choose.. all of it can change this cookie from thin and crispy to puffy or chewy.

I wanted a thick, chewy cookie for the cookie plate at the wedding, so I went with a slightly modified version of Alton’s “The Chewy”. I’m out of bread flour, which he included because the higher protein count of bread flour contributes to the texture, so instead I used a blend of whole wheat and all-purpose to bring the protein count up. (And also because I thought it might contribute an interesting flavor.)

I found that adding the whole wheat gave the cookie more body and decreased some of the sweetness. This made my husband happy since many American desserts are much too sweet for him. I liked the thick, chewy texture and the subtler flavor — this is the perfect cookie for dunking in cold milk.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies [printable recipe]

Adapted from Alton Brown, Food Network
Makes approximately 40 cookies

2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Melt butter and add to the work bowl of your mixer. Add sugar and brown sugar, cream together¹ on medium speed. Add egg, egg yolk, milk and vanilla, mixing until thoroughly combined. Slowly add flour, salt and baking soda² at a low speed and continue to mix until everything is thoroughly combined. Scrape down sides as needed. Stir in chocolate chips (or dump them in while on the lowest speed).

Chill dough for an hour or two, then preheat oven to 375F. Portion out 1 ounce cookie balls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, placing cookies about 2″ apart. Bake for 12 – 14 minutes until the edges turn golden brown. Remove to a rack to cool completely before storing in an air-tight container.

Notes:

“Cream together” means to beat the sugars and butter at moderate speed until the mixture is fluffy.
I know all the cookie recipes lately call for sifting together the dry ingredients. I still don’t do it, instead adding dry ingredients periodically and relying on my mixer to do the heavy lifting. While sifting is fast and easy in a food processor, I still have to wash an extra appliance, and if not, an extra sieve — too much for this cook.

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Triple Chocolate Almond Cookies

Cori Rozentāle — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:46:13 +0000

This was the most popular cookie of the past week, getting rave reviews from both from taste testers and guests. It’s a simple chocolate cookie, but swapping the traditional (and oft-overused) vanilla extract for almond gives it a nice twist.

Triple Chocolate Almond Cookies [printable recipe]

Adapted from Cathy Lowe, Food Network
About 40 cookies

2 1/4 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 sticks (8 oz or 220 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
1 cup (220 g) packed brown sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tbsp almond extract
1/2 cup (45 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup (6 oz or 160 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup (6 oz or 160 g) white chocolate chips
1 cup (30 g) chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375F/190C.

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then mix in eggs, almond and cocoa thoroughly. Gradually add flour, salt and baking soda until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.

Drop dough by spoonfuls¹ onto a foil-lined or parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches/5 centimeters between cookies. Bake for 10 – 13 minutes², then remove cookies to a baking rack to cool.

For cookie bars, pat dough into a 9″ square baking dish and bake for about 20 – 25 minutes. Remove and cool on a rack, cutting squares before entirely cool to the touch.

When completely cool, cookies can be frozen for long-term snacking or stored in a jar or a bag.

Notes:

For consistent cookies, use a disher or a cookie scoop. I used a #20 disher (2.5 ounce capacity) to scoop out dough, which I then split in half. This disher is very popular for making the large cookies often seen in restaurants – about 6 fit on a standard half sheet baking pan.
Dark cookies like these make it hard to determine when they’re done. The cookie should look “set”, but not gooey. They should be relatively easy to remove from the pan with a sharp spatula or cookie turner. If they smoosh together, rather than sliding easily, they’re not done.

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