Category: Cookies

The Truth

Sadie4 Comments

Let’s be honest with ourselves.  Sprinkles is the best discovery you’ve made since you were born.

I’ll have Butter Pecan in a cone with chocolate sprinkles please (vanilla with chocolate sprinkles if it’s soft serve).  

I would say they’re the best ice cream topping, but sprinkles are so much more than just a topping for ice cream.  What else can they do? Decorate cakes, cookies, cupcakes…  They are no one trick pony.

New Jersey loves it’s Italian bakeries, and a staple of the Italian bakery is the sprinkle cookie.  These remind me of childhood and all that is right with the world. Who needs chocolate chips when there are sprinkles?

Italian Sprinkle Cookies

Adapted from Food.com

Yields about 2 dozen (more or less depending on size)

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 2 1/2 cups AP flour
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 Tbs and 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil or shortening
  • 1/2 Tbs almond extract
  • 1 1/2 Tbs lemon zest
  • 1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
  • Sprinkles (chocolate or rainbow of the traditional oblong shape)

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Use an electric mixer to blend the eggs until frothy.
  3. Combine flour, sugar, shortening, baking powder, almond extract, lemon juice and zest in separate bowl.
  4. Add eggs to the rest of the ingredients and mix to combine.
  5. Roll dough into tablespoon size balls.  Flatten the dough slightly and dip one half of the ball in the sprinkles.  Place the dough sprinkle side up on a parchment lined cookie sheet (you want the dough closer to discs rather than balls so the cookies come out somewhat flat).  Most recipes call for the sprinkles to be added after baking with a glaze or frosting, but I prefer this method.
  6. Bake cookies at 350 for 10-15 minutes or until edges are slightly brown.
  7. Allow to cool and enjoy.  Be careful about handling the cookies when they’re hot because the sprinkles might melt in your hands.  Let them cool!

Old School Baking

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I had a culinary discovery the other day in the super market in Connecticut: Hermit cookies.  I found them in the bakery section of the store.  I’ve never seen such a cookie.  They are baked in a loaf and sliced like fat biscotti, but they are a lot softer.  Their texture is somewhere between a cookie and a muffin, and they are traditionally spicy, they taste a lot like gingerbread because they have all of that flavoring.  Long story short: Yum.

I tried to research them online since I’ve never heard of them before and I found a lot of conflicting information.  All I can figure out is that they are older, more traditional cookies from the religious groups who settled in New England.  Here I am thinking that the New England baking expertise revolved around donuts of the Dunkin variety, and I had totally overlooked these gems.  As I said, they are spicy, and reminiscent of Thanksgiving and Christmas dessert flavors.   A good cookie, a good snack, a good find.  Give them a try!

Hermit Cookie

From The Food Network

Yields 4-5 dozen cookies depending on size you slice them (about 6 loaves that you will end up slicing, it’s a big recipe)

Ingredients

  • 4 cups AP flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/2 tsp fine salt
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup)
  • 2 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
  • 3 eggs, plus 1 for eggwash
  • 2/3 cup molasses
  • 3/4 cup golden raisons
  • 3/4 cup dried cranberries
  • 1 cup chopped toasted walnuts
  • 2 1/2 Tbs chopped crystalized ginger

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 375.
  2. Sift together flour, spices, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.  Set Aside
  3. Cream together butter and brown sugar.  Add eggs one at a time, then molasses.  Gradually add dry mixture but to not over mix.
  4. Fold in dried fruit and nuts.

    They look appetizing, right?
  5. Line cookie sheets with parchment.  Form dough into about 6 thin logs with plenty of space to spread while baking (believe me, they will spread).  Logs should be 1-2 inches wide and about 1 inch high.  Paint logs with egg wash before placing in oven.
  6. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 375 (make sure they are done, mine took a little longer but I’m blaming my oven).
  7. Allow to cool then slice into thick slices (like fat biscotti). 

With Our Powers Combined

Sadie2 Comments

This graduation season was a big deal for my family because my older brother graduated Law School.  Exactly what my family needs, another lawyer…  But seriously, he definitely took the road less traveled during law school, not necessarily by choice, but because he had tremendous obstacles, and that made all the difference.  We are all very proud of his perseverance, and are crossing our fingers that the Bar goes smoothly and employment in the field of law is on the horizon.

Graduation = Celebration

and

Celebration = Special Dessert

I asked my brother for his flavor profile of choice for his special dessert and his answer was: chocolate.  Typical.  I decided to combine a couple recipes that I found recently: mocha shortbread, and mocha icebox cake.  I used the mocha icebox cake recipe, but nixed the coffee, so it was just chocolate.  And rather than using chocolate ship cookies, I made a couple batches of mocha shortbread to layer with the mascarpone mixture.  Then to add even more texture, I introduced some mini chocolate chips.

Chocolate Mascarpone Icebox Cake with Mocha Shortbread

adapted from Ina and Martha

Ingredients for Mocha Shortbread (you will make 3 batches of this total)

  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup plus 3 Tbs AP flour
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1 Tbs instant coffee granuals
  • 1/3 cup powdered sugar
  • pinch salt

Ingredients for filling

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 12 oz. mascarpone cheese
  • 2 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 10 oz bag of mini chocolate chips

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Start with one batch of mocha shortbread baked in the bottom of a 9 in spring form pan to act as the bottom crust of the cake.  Cream together room temp butter and  sugar.  Add the rest of the shortbread ingredients.  Mix until clumpy, then press dough into the bottom of the spring form pan.
  3. Bake 20 minutes and set aside to cool completely.
  4. Make a double batch of the mocha shortbread on a cookie sheet to break up and use as layers in the cake.  Allow to cool completely before layering in cake.

    The extra shortbread for layering
  5. Prepare the filling by mixing together all ingredients except for the chocolate chips.  Mix until it is the consistency of a heavy whipped cream.  Remove a third of the mixture to a different bowl, and add a cup of mini chocolate chips to the third for the middle layer of filling.
  6. Use the shortbread in the bottom of spring form pan as the bottom crust and add half of the filling from the “plain” bowl without chocolate chips.  Spread it out evenly and break up pieces of the shortbread from the cookie sheet to layer on top of the filling.
  7. Add the portion of the filling with chocolate chips on top of the shortbread.  Then repeat another layer of shortbread.  Finish off with the rest of filling as the top layer.
  8. Garnish the top of the cake with a handful of chocolate chips, and place in the freezer or fridge to allow to set.  If you freeze it, allow at least a half hour for it to soften up before serving, or move it to the fridge a couple hours before serving.

    Look at those layers of goodness.