Archive for the ‘Cookies and Bars’ Category

French macarons are high up there on my “Things That Scare Me” list. Right below bungee jumping. And the thought of having a second baby. But unlike those other two, macarons don’t really belong on that list.

They’ve always seemed so… high maintenance temperamental delicate. I tend to have a heavy hand and low tolerance for fussy recipes but they proved to be a pretty resilient cookie. I made several errors along the way and was a little sloppy about some of the details – and they still turned out wonderfully. I already can’t wait to make a next batch!

Vanilla Bean Macarons with Peach Preserves
Printer-friendly recipe
110 grams almond flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill, which is blanched almonds)
200 grams confectioners sugar
100 grams egg whites (from 3 eggs, separated 24 hours in advance)*
1/4 tsp Vanilla extract, optional*
1 vanilla bean
50 grams granulated sugar
1/2 cup peach preserves
ground cinnamon, to taste

*I took the alternate route suggested in the original recipe and nuked the egg whites for 8 seconds, eliminating the overnight step

Pulse the almond flour and confectioner’s sugar several times in your food processor until thoroughly mixed. Place egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer and whisk until foamy. Split and scrape the vanilla pod and add the beans to the egg whites. Add the sugar and turn the mixer to high, whisking until you have a glossy meringue.

Fold the dry ingredients into the egg whites gently, briskly at first to break up the meringue a bit, until thoroughly mixed. Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip and pipe rounds of 1.5 inches along two silicon-lined baking sheets. Let sit one hour at room temperature.

Heat oven to 300. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool completely and remove from the pan.

To make the filling, I processed peach preserves and a pinch of cinnamon in my mini chopper until smooth. Not more than a few hours before serving, pipe the filling onto one cookie and top with the other, gently pressing down. (The liquid in the preserves will soften the cookies so fill the cookies the day-of.)

Note: Obviously, this is a quick and dirty recap of the process. There are a lot of details that go into macarons, many of which I screwed up or just plain ignored (what overnight step?). Check out the “Macaron Bible” for the non rocket science details.

Adapted from Tartelette
Source ~24 filled macarons

Nutritional Information
Calories: 48 | Fat: 2.3 | Fiber .5
WW Points: 1

All good cookies start out the same: as good cookie dough.

My husband prefers his cookies as “pre-cookies” – cold and uncooked lumps of dough straight from the mixer bowl while dodging my dough scoop. And growing up? So did my siblings and I. There was no fighting over who would get to lick the beaters in our house. No, sir! Two beaters, one rubber spatula, and a mixing bowl. 4 batter-covered items, 4 kids. Something tells me my mom knew exactly the kind of mess she was avoiding when she baked.

Dawn from Vanilla Sugar whipped up a batch of Levain Bakery-like chocolate chip cookies, that upon seeing in my Google Reader, I decided that I had to make them. Like now. You shape the dough into 4 ounce balls? Quarter-pounder cookies? 5 inches across and over an inch thick? Now that’s a cookie. (Disclaimer: I’ve never had real-deal Levain Bakery cookies.)

I immediately dumped the Foodie Baby in my husband’s lap and ran for the kitchen. And when she’s old enough to have one of these cookies, she’ll understand. And if she’s really my kid, she’ll approve These cookies are puffy and gigantic, over an inch thick – closer to two! And I can’t tell you how long they keep their tender, puffy goodness… they don’t last very long around here. They are definitely replacing the old house favorite.

Levain Bakery-ish Chocolate Chip Cookies
Printer-friendly recipe

8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter (very cold, shredded with your food processor)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour (13 1/2 oz)
3/4 tsp sea salt
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
12oz good quality semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 375. Beat the cold butter and both sugars until just combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat just until incorporated.

Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to the mixer bowl and mix just until blended. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts and mix until distributed. (The dough will be VERY stiff at this point.)

Divide the dough into 12 balls, approx 4 oz each (think a little larger than a golf ball; a slightly rounded 2.5-inch scoop will do the trick perfectly) and place on an ungreased baking pan. Chill the dough for 20 minutes. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until browned on the edges and set in the center. Let cool completely on the pans before transferring to airtight storage.

Yields: 1 dozen cookies
Source: Vanilla Sugar

Christmas baking is pretty standard around here. I make a Red, White, and Green Biscotti every year – it’s fool-proof, the raw dough tastes awesome, and everyone loves them. With every passing year, I’ve pretty much had to double the previous year’s output. Supply and demand doesn’t lie!

Then there are the Fleur de Sel Caramels. Last years batches were spiked with pretty flecks of Tahitian vanilla bean. I also think that we might actually enjoy them more than the recipients but they’re definitely one of our holiday favorites.

And then there’s the annual, revolving-door Chocolate + Peppermint combo. I’ve made Swirly Peppermint Bark and a decadent hot chocolate mix with peppermint marshmallows before. But this year, I decided to slap a bow on an oldie-but-goodie and call it a Christmas cookie. And with my holiday chocolate order arriving, I have plenty of chocolate hanging around.

I recently stumbled across an old recipe that I used to make in my pre-Foodie Bride days, forever known as “The Emergency Cookies.” There aren’t many cookies out there that I’d say taste better cold than fresh-from-the-oven warm but these are one of them. Straight out of the gate, these cookies are fall-apart tender but I love sneaking two of these for breakfast the next morning. The cooled and crackly chocolate leaves a very chewy cookie that borders on confection and the peppermint extract provides a Christmasy hint of mint among all that chocolate.

Peppermint Chunk Cookies
8 oz semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
2/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs, room temp
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2-1 tsp peppermint extract, to taste
12 oz chocolate, roughly chopped (or 1 package chocolate chunks)*
12 peppermint candies, roughly chopped for garnish

* I used 6oz chopped semisweet and 6oz chopped dark chocolate.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment or silpat.

Heat chopped chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 25-second increments, stirring in between, until just melted. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

In the bowl of your mixer, beat eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, and peppermint extract on high speed until the sugar has completely dissolved (4-5 minutes). Reduce speed to low and add the melted (and now slightly cooled) chocolate. Mix until uniform. Add the flour mixture until just combined. Mix in the chocolate chunks.

Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheets. Sprinkle a few pieces of the chopped peppermints over each of the dough mounds, pressing lightly into the dough. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet still soft in centers, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on sheets 10 minutes and then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container.

Adapted from: Martha Stewart Living
Yields: ~2 dozen cookies