ANNE GOLDBERG S SUGAR COOKIES

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2 ANNE GOLDBERG S SUGAR COOKIES Yield: 3 dozen cookies 1 2 cup butter, softened 1 2 cup sugar 1 egg beaten 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 cups all-purpose flour Pinch of salt 1 2 teaspoon baking powder Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease several baking sheets with butter. In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar until creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Sift flour, salt and baking powder into creamed mixture. Blend in with a spoon, then mix with your hand to form a soft dough. Knead lightly on a floured surface until smooth. Roll out dough to 1 8-inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutters. Bake 15 minutes or until very lightly browned. Cool on wire racks. 246

3 CRYSTALLIZED GINGER ROSEMARY SHORTBREAD Maryellen Casey contributed this recipe posted by Karen Brack in May I made these at Christmas and everyone wanted to take some home with them -- definitely a hit! Maryellen writes. Best after a day or two, when the rosemary taste has mellowed just a bit. Yield: 32 cookies 2 cups softened butter 13 4 cups sugar 4 cups flour 1 teaspoon salt 2 large eggs, beaten 1 cup chopped crystallized ginger 3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary Beat butter and sugar until light. Sift together flour and salt and add to butter and sugar. Add three quarters of the beaten eggs, reserving rest for glaze. Add in ginger and rosemary. Spread in 9-by-13- inch pan. Mix together reserved egg and 1 tablespoon water; brush over batter. Bake at 350 F for about minutes, or until tester comes out clean. Cut when cool. 247

4 BIG, SUPER-NUTTY PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES E.J. Giese contributed this recipe, credited to a 1998 issue of Cook s Illustrated. Yield: 36 cookies 21 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 2 teaspoon baking soda 1 2 teaspoon baking powder 1 2 teaspoon salt 1 2 pound (2 sticks) salted butter 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar 1 cup granulated sugar 1 cup extra-crunchy peanut butter, preferably Jif 2 large eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup roasted salted peanuts that have been ground in food processor to resemble bread crumbs (about 14 pulses) Parchment for cookie sheet Adjust oven rack to low center position; heat oven to 350 F. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. In bowl of electric mixer or by hand, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes with electric mixer, stopping to scrape down bowl as necessary. Beat in peanut butter until fully incorporated, then eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Gently stir dry ingredients into peanut butter mixture. Add ground peanuts; stir gently until just incorporated. Working with 2 tablespoons dough at a time, roll into large balls, placing them 2 inches apart on a parchment- 248

5 covered cookie sheet. Press each dough ball with back of dinner fork dipped in cold water to make crisscross design. Bake until cookies are puffed and slightly brown along edges (but not on top), 10 to 12 minutes (they will not look fully baked). Cool cookies on cookie sheet until set, about 4 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Cookies will keep, refrigerated in an airtight container, up to 7 days. Notes: Bringing the butter, peanut butter, and eggs to room temperature makes it easier to blend the ingredients. Be sure to grind the peanuts, since whole or even chopped peanuts tend to slip out of the dough. If using unsalted butter, increase salt to 1 teaspoon. Keep finished cookies refrigerated in airtight container. To restore just-baked chewiness, wrap a cookie in a sheet of paper towel and microwave for approximately 25 seconds. Cool before serving. Tester Anne Goldberg substituted light brown sugar for the dark brown sugar, and made slightly smaller cookies to increase yield. 249

6 CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE SQUARES Constance Felten contributed this Elinor Klivans recipe. Yield: 25 squares Crust: 13 4 cups crushed chocolate wafers 1 4 cup melted unsalted butter Filling: 1 cup whipping cream 1 4 cup unsalted butter 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate 1 teaspoon vanilla Heat oven to 300 F. Line an 8-inch square baking tin with heavy duty foil. Toss chocolate wafer crumbs with 1 4 cup butter and press onto the bottom of the baking tin. Bake 8 minutes. Remove from oven; let cool completely. Place cream and 1 4 cup butter in a quart-size saucepan. Heat until butter melts and small bubbles form around the edge of the cream (around 185 F). Remove from the heat and add the chocolate and vanilla, stirring until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Pour 2 3 cup of the chocolate into a small bowl and set aside at room temperature. Pour the remaining chocolate into another bowl and let cool slightly, then place in the refrigerator. You want to let this get cold, but not stiff, so give it a stir now and then. When the mixture is cold, remove it from the fridge and beat it, using a whisk, until the mixture thickens and lightens in color. Pour this over the cooled crust and put it back in the refrigerator until it is solid (minimum 250

30 minutes). When the fi lling is solid, remove the pan from the fridge and pour the reserved room temperature chocolate over it, using a thin spatula to spread the glaze to the edges.

7 30 minutes). When the fi lling is solid, remove the pan from the fridge and pour the reserved room temperature chocolate over it, using a thin spatula to spread the glaze to the edges. Put this back in the fridge until you are ready to serve. To cut the squares, remove the foil from the pan, put it on a board and kind of smooth down the sides from the now-solid chocolate and crust. Elinor Klivans says to make fi ve cuts down and fi ve across to yield 25 squares, but I think you can go six cuts by six without depriving anyone. Notes: Constance uses Nabisco brand chocolate wafers and Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Chips. Tester Anne Goldberg used semi-sweet chocolate and an electric hand mixer instead of a whisk. When you make bar cookies or brownies, if you cut a thin (1 8-inch) slice from each of the four sides, you are left with only inner pieces. These usually look better than the end pieces with the crusts. I remember hearing of a restaurant where they chop up the brownie crusts and use them as cookie crumbs in pie crusts, or pat them on the sides of a frosted cake. I usually just eat the ends, but that s me. Anne Goldberg 251

8 COCOA CHRISTMAS COOKIES Laurie Thompson writes: This recipe was attributed to Ryan Minor, but I could swear that it was re-posted by Mitch (Smith). I made these for gifts this year. My boss asked for the recipe (for his wife, or so he claimed!). I call them grown-up brownie bites. Yield: 5 dozen cookies 4 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup unsweetened high-quality cocoa (such as Droste) teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1 2 teaspoon ground cloves 1 2 teaspoon salt 11 2 cup plump, moist raisins, coarsely chopped 1 tablespoon orange juice 3 sticks (3 4 pound) unsalted butter, at room temperature 11 2 cup sugar 2 large eggs, at room temperature 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup apricot jam 1 4 cup milk, at room temperature 11 2 cups lightly toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped 1 cup confectioners sugar 3 teaspoons lemon juice 3 teaspoons warm water In large mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Whisk to combine, and set aside. In small bowl, combine raisins and orange juice; reserve. 252

9 Using either a heavy-duty mixer with a paddle attachment, or a sturdy spoon, beat butter and sugar together until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating on medium speed for one minute after each addition. Beat in vanilla, jam, and milk. Set mixer to low, and gradually add flour mixture, beating only until it is incorporated. Stir nuts and reserved raisins into dough. Cover dough tightly with plastic wrap, and chill for at least two hours and for as long as two days. Preheat oven to 350 F. Using a tablespoon of dough for each cookie, roll the dough between your palms to form walnut-size balls. Place balls on a nonstick or parchment-lined cookie sheet, 11 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until they look dry; the tops may crack, which is fine. Transfer cookies to a rack, and repeat with rest of dough. While cookies are baking, make a glaze. In a small bowl, combine confectioners sugar, lemon juice, and 3 teaspoons of warm water. Whisk until smooth. While cookies are still warm from oven, dip their tops into the glaze, and place them on a rack to cool to room temperature. The cookies may also be painted with the glaze using a feather pastry brush. Notes: Laurie used Droste cocoa, curacao and rum in place of orange juice, and apricot preserves (which meant that some cookies had large apricots in them). For those who like a spicy cookie, she recommends doubling the amount of cloves and nutmeg. 253

10 BUTTER-PECAN BISCOTTI Laurie Thompson writes: I m not sure who posted this, but I made them this Christmas. They were wonderful. Yield: 36 Biscotti 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 4 cup vegetable shortening 3 4 cup brown sugar 3 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 3 4 teaspoon salt 1 cup pecan pieces (4 ounces) 1 cup butterscotch chips (6 ounces) Toast pecans by placing them in a single layer on an ungreased pan and baking them in a preheated 350 F oven for 7 to 9 minutes, or until they smell toasty and are beginning to brown In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, shortening and sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the bowl midway through. Beat in the vanilla, baking powder and salt. Mix in the flour, 1 cup at a time, until you have a cohesive, well-blended dough. Add the nuts and butterscotch chips, mixing till they re well-distributed throughout the dough. Transfer the dough to a work surface (we don t bother to flour the surface; the dough is sticky, but is easily scraped up with a bench knife or dough scraper). Divide 254

11 it into three fairly equal pieces, and shape each piece into a rough 10-inch log. Transfer each log to a parchment-lined or lightly greased baking sheet, leaving about 3 inches between each log; you may need to use two baking sheets. Wet your fingers, and pat the logs into smooth-topped rectangles 10 inches long, 21 2 inches wide, and 7 8 inch thick. Bake the logs in a preheated 375 F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they re beginning to brown around the edges. Remove them from the oven, and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 300 F. Gently transfer the logs to a cutting surface, and use a serrated knife to cut them on the diagonal into 3 4-inch slices. Because of the nuts and the nature of the dough, the biscotti at this point are prone to crumbling; just be sure to use a slow, gentle sawing motion, and accept the fact that some bits and pieces will break off. (It s the privilege of the cook to eat these warm, tasty bits and pieces as they re created.) Carefully transfer the slices to a parchment-lined (makes cleanup easier) or ungreased baking sheet. You can crowd them together, as they won t expand further; about 1 4-inch breathing space is all that s required. Return biscotti to the 300 F oven, and bake them for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, quickly turn them over, and bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until they re very dry and beginning to brown. Remove them from the oven, cool completely, and store in an airtight container. Note: Try using chocolate chips, butter brickle, and/or almonds instead of butterscotch chips and/or pecans. 255

12 CHOCOLATE WALNUT CRANBERRY ESPRESSO BISCOTTI Barbara Brady contributed this recipe, credited to the Agate Cove Inn and originally posted to the list by Liz Harmon in August Makes about 32 biscotti 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup white sugar 1 2 teaspoon baking powder 1 2 teaspoon soda 1 2 teaspoon salt 1 2 teaspoon cinnamon 1 4 teaspoon ground cloves 1 4 cup plus 1 teaspoon strong coffee (cooled) 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon milk 1 large egg 1 teaspoon vanilla 3 4 cup walnuts 11 3 cups semisweet chocolate chips 3 4 cup dried cranberries or cherries In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients and blend well. In a small bowl, whisk together all liquids, and add to dry ingredients with mixer. You may need to add a few extra drops of coffee to get mixture gooey. Add chocolate chips, walnuts and cranberries. Turn dough out onto a well-floured board and form into 1 2-by-31 2-inch flat logs. Cook on a greased and floured cookie sheet at 350 F for 20 to 25 minutes, until cakelike. Cool. Cut logs into 1 2-inch pieces, lay cut-side down on cookie sheet and bake another 6 to 8 minutes at 300 F, one 256

13 side only. For harder biscotti, cook both sides of cut pieces for 6 to 8 minutes each side. Cool and serve. Variations: Use pistachios, almonds, or dried cherries. Notes: Barbara leaves out the cloves, rounds off the coffee to 1 4 cup and the milk to 1 tablespoon. She forms the loaves on baking sheets sprayed with Baker s Joy instead of transferring them from a board. And she makes the biscotti extra crunchy by baking them 8 to 10 minutes on each side for the second baking. 257

14 WHITE CHOCOLATE MACADAMIA NUT COOKIES Another contribution from Laurie Thompson, who writes: This recipe was posted by Meredith Ricker on May 13, 1993, in answer to my post to the FoodWine list. (The original poster said they had never seen white chocolate chips; now they are in every baking aisle.) Yield: 3-4 dozen cookies 1 cup butter, at room temperature 1 cup sugar 1 2 cup packed brown sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla 2 extra-large eggs 21 4 cups unsifted flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 cups white chocolate chips 31 2-ounce jar macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped Cream butter with sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Beat in eggs. Mix flour with salt and baking soda; mix into creamed mixture. Stir in chips and nuts.drop by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 375 F for 8-10 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Store in tightly covered tin. 258

All Time Favorite Christmas Cookies.

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