Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

We're gearing up for a Fourth of July cookout here, and I'm pretty excited.  I always see crazy patriotic dishes showcased in various cooking and homemaking magazines this time of year - and I must admit, I don't have the patience required for the intense, intricate assembly some of those things require.  Baking my own bread? No problem. But carefully placing rows of berries to form a flag? Please, no!

So I decided to take a more historical twist on patriotism. (I was a history major in undergrad, so I love stuff like this.) Coffee, of course, is deeply ingrained in America's history and has close ties to patriotism.  Aside from that, it's just plain tasty, and can really liven up baked goods.  These cookie bars use a small amount of coffee to really highlight the flavor of the chocolate chips - and because it's just the American thing to do.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
I call for whole wheat pastry flour here to try to make these a bit healthier.  You can use all purpose if you prefer. 
Yield: about 16 bars (depending how you cut them)

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), softenend
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp instant coffee or espresso powder
1 1/2 c whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease an 8x8 or so baking pan - whatever your standard brownie pan is.
2. Cream together butter and sugar, then beat in egg and vanilla.
3. Combine remaining ingredients except chocolate chips in a bowl and stir to combine. Slowly add to the wet ingredients, mixing just to combine. Gently fold in chocolate chips.
4. Spread the dough into the prepared baking pan, pressing into corners and making sure it's an even thickness.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden.  Let cool, then slice.  Enjoy!

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Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of my favorite baking experiments is taking a recipe I love, and adding a new twist. Just some thing small, but designed to have a noticeable impact.  It livens up old standards, and sometimes becomes a new favorite in its own right. This is one of those cases - the orange flavor in the cookies makes them truly addictive.

I start with this chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe, from Alton Brown's Good Eats: The Early Years, and make one simple change: I add the zest of 2 oranges with the wet ingredients. That's it! I seem to be adding some kind of citrus zest to everything I make these past few months, so this was a natural extension of that trend. Orange and chocolate are flavors that go together very well. 

If you use that particular recipe, a few tips: I make these cookies smaller than the recipe does, using about 1 1/2 tbsp of dough per cookie. They bake in about 10 minutes, but keep a close eye on them because they go from not-quite-done to very brown in a flash. I only bake one tray at a time.  If your oven bakes unevenly (like ours does, the back bakes faster), be sure to rotate the tray at some point during baking.

I like to freeze these, and eat them straight from the freezer, so they're crunchy. Nick likes how they stay chewy even after they cool. In any case, they don't last long!

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Blood Orange Sugar Cookies

Simple sugar cookies make a perfect afternoon treat. They seem to compliment everything, from coffee to ice cream. (Well, everything important, anyways.) This recipe is a slight twist on the traditional, adding the flavor of a blood orange to the cookie. The cookies are delicate and more crispy than chewy. I like to make these fairly small - I prefer large cookies for more hearty-flavored varieties, like cowboy cookies.

I had hoped the bright pink orange juice would lend some color to the cookies, but it did not. You could use whatever kind of orange you like here, but be sure it is a sweet, good-tasting orange. I like cara caras best.  You could also do a lemon or lime variation on the cookie.

These cookies disappeared fast - they are hard to resist!

Blood Orange Sugar Cookies
Really, you can use any variety of orange you like here. But blood oranges would be perfect for themed parties (twilight, true blood, nosferatu...no judgment). 
Yield: about 3 dozen small cookies

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
Zest of one orange
3 tbsp fresh-squeezed orange juice
3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cups white-whole wheat or all purpose flour

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment or silpats, and set aside.
2. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in remaining ingredients, except flour, until well blended.
3. Stir in flour until just blended.
4. Drop about 2 tsp of dough 1 1/2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges begin to turn golden brown. Cool for a minute or two on the cookie sheet before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
5. Try not to eat them all in one sitting.

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Chewy Triple Ginger Cookies

One last cookie recipe before Christmas. We're finishing up the last bits of baking, wrapping, and other preparation before hitting the road home!

These are a twist on the classic ginger snap, where I tried to really highlight the ginger, rather than making a "spice" cookie. Also, unlike ginger snaps, these are soft and chewy cookies - as much as I've always loved ginger snaps, I always kind of felt like I might chip a tooth eating them. If you want crispy ginger cookies, use white sugar instead of brown, and all purpose flour instead of bread flour. I used honey instead of the classic molasses to let the ginger shine through more; feel free to use up to 1/4 cup molasses instead of honey for a more classic flavor.

To make these "triple" ginger, I used three kinds of ginger: ground ginger, candied ginger, and ginger syrup. The candied ginger and ginger syrup are both the product of the same recipe.

Candied Ginger and Ginger Syrup
Make leftover ginger syrup into ginger ale by combining three tbsp syrup with seltzer and ice cubes in a pint glass; stir.
Yield: about 1-1/2 cups candied ginger, about 1 1/2 cups ginger syrup

INGREDIENTS
8 oz fresh ginger root (a piece about the size of my hand), peeled and cut to a 1/4 inch dice
2 cups sugar, plus 1/4 cup
2 cups water

DIRECTIONS
1. Combine ginger, 2 cups sugar, and water in a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir until sugar mostly dissolves. Simmer uncovered for about 1 hour, until the ginger is tender, stirring occasionally.
2. Spread 1/4 cup sugar on a rimmed cookie sheet. Remove ginger from syrup with a slotted spoon, and toss with sugar. Let this sit out until dry, probably overnight. This is your candied ginger. Store in an airtight container.
3. If the ginger syrup is not thick enough, you can let it simmer for a few more minutes; remember it will thicken more as it cools. Pour syrup through a mesh strainer into your storage container - a  mason/ball jar works great. Store in the fridge.

Chewy Triple Ginger Cookies
These cookies will stay soft and chewy. If you don't have ginger syrup, you can substitute more honey, but you might need a bit more ground ginger. 
Yield: about 2 dozen cookies

INGREDIENTS
6 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ginger syrup
1/4 cup honey
1 egg
Zest of one orange
1 3/4 cups bread flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 cup minced candied ginger
Optional toppings: white chocolate, festive sprinkles

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Beat in ginger syrup, honey, egg, and orange zest.
3. In a smaller bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and ground ginger. Add these dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir in the candied ginger.
4. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto the sheet. Flatten the cookies with your hand; these do not spread very much. Leave about an inch between cookies.
5. Bake for about 12 minutes, until the edges turn golden brown. Let sit on cookie sheet for a few minutes, then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling. Once cool, drizzle with melted chocolate and sprinkle.

Enjoy!

Sweet Wine Cookies

 

This recipe is based on one from my second-favorite bakery in Columbus, Ohio - Pistacia Vera. (For the record, my first favorite is, and will always be, The Goodie Shoppe.)  The owner of the bakery gave the recipe for these cookies to the local newspaper. I was dying to make them at home - I'd had them from the bakery before, but they're a seasonal item.  Plus, I live about a thousand miles away from this bakery, so the ability to make these at home is a huge win in my book.

I made a few changes to the recipe. First, the recipe calls for marasla wine, which is a type of sweet Italian fortified wine. I just used some Malbec that we had leftover from the wedding - I think any "big" red wine would work. You want something with a lot of good fruity flavor, and you definitely want it to be something you'd drink by the glass. I don't think sweet versus dry matters too much here - my wine was pretty dry. If you think your wine is too dry, you can always add a pinch more sugar.

Second, the recipe calls for anise extract. While some people love the stuff, and it is certainly more traditional, my family doesn't care for it very much. What they do love is vanilla, so I used that instead. If your family loves anise, or almond extract, feel free to try those.

Finally, I changed up the method. I found the original recipe a bit fussy, and I thought I could just do this all in the bowl of my stand mixer. The cookies turned out great.

I can't say enough about how delicious these are - delicately sophisticated, yet easy to love - the flavor combination is both complex and well-balanced. I promise you'll love them.

Sweet Wine Cookies
Although the directions here are given for using a stand mixer, you could easily make these by hand - just use a whisk for the first part, then switch to a large wooden spoon. For the chocolate, I just ran my knife through some chocolate chips a few times - you want the varied size pieces from shavings to chunks to get a good distribution of chocolate flavor.
Yield: about 30 cookies

INGREDIENTS
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar, plus extra for dusting
Zest of one lemon
Zest of one orange
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup red wine - use one that you'd drink by the glass
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With the whisk attachment on the stand mixer, lightly beat the egg. Add the sugar, and continue beating until the mixture becomes lighter and color and slightly fluffy. Zest the lemon and the orange directly over the bowl.
2. Add vanilla, canola oil, and wine, and whisk until combined.
3. Switch to your paddle attachment (or spoon). In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon and baking powder, and stir together. Add the flour mixture, stirring until the dough is just combined. Stir in the chocolate.
4. Line cookie sheets with parchment or silicone liners. Put a little bit of sugar in a bowl. Scoop about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Roll the ball around in the sugar to coat, then place on the baking sheet. These won't spread too much during baking, so leave an inch or so between cookies.
5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cookies are just starting to show signs of browning. (My cookies took 20 minutes.) Remove to wire racks to cool.

Suggestion for leftover citrus: slice and enjoy in still or sparkling water.

Suggestion for leftover wine: I think you can figure this out yourself.

As easy as...macaroons?

Macaroons were not something I ever expected to be able to make at home, and I certainly didn't expect that they'd be quite this easy. That said, this recipe requires a decent amount of attention to detail, and baking experience will make it easier to follow. But I promise, you can make these too - I'm not some kind of culinary wizard.  And you efforts will be deliciously rewarding!

Vanilla Macaroons
This is a basic recipe for macaroons, with a few flavor suggestions below. Feel free to experiment with other extracts and spices to make different flavors. I used both Bob's Red Mill almond flour (made from blanched almonds, so there are no almond skins in the flour) and Trader Joe's almond meal (which has almond skins left on). Both worked equally well. Additionally, you can make your own almond flour by processing almonds in a food processor until a flour-like consistency is reached (but don't over process, or you'll end up with almond butter!).
Makes about 40 cookies, enough for 20 completed macaroons

INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy
1 c almond meal (see notes)
3 egg whites
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
dash salt
4 tbsp granulated sugar

To fill: about 1 cup butter cream frosting (recipe below), or Nutella.

For Chocolate Macaroons, reduce vanilla to 1/2 tsp, and add 2 tbsp cocoa powder with the nut mixture.
For Cinnamon Macaroons, add 2 tsp cinnamon with the nut mixture.

DIRECTIONS
1. Combine powdered sugar and almond meal in a bowl. Whisk together with cocoa powder or cinnamon, if using.
2. In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or using a hand-mixer, beat egg whites with vanilla and salt on medium speed until foamy.
3. Add the granulated sugar 1 tbsp at a time, while continuing to beat. Continue beating until soft peaks form (the tips of the peaks should curl).
4. Stir the nut mixture into the egg whites. Don't over-stir, but don't under-stir either (see note below).
5. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat-type liners (This is a MUST!). Using a 2 tsp or 1 tbsp measuring spoon, drop level measures of mixture onto the sheets, leaving about an inch between the cookies. Alternatively, you can use a small cookie dough scoop. Or use a piping bag to pipe 1 1/2 inch circles (I tried this method, and found it sticky and frustrating).
6. Let rest for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Bake for 9-10 minutes, until set. Set cookie sheets on wire racks. Let cookies cool completely before removing from sheets.
8. Spread filling on one cookie, and top with a second cookie. Keep refrigerated, especially if using butter cream filling.

About stirring: A few stirs makes a big difference. While you don't want to over-stir, make sure you stir enough - the mixture should flatten/spread slightly when placed on the cookie sheet. You want cookies that look more like the ones on the left than the ones on the right: (the difference  is about 10 seconds of stirring [well, and they're different flavors])

Cookies waiting to be filled:

Cookies waiting to be eaten: (I didn't make them wait long)

Butter Cream Frosting

This recipe is based on a Swiss-style butter cream. (There are also French, Italian, and American styles, if you're curious.) It combines recipes from Joy of Cooking and Good Eats 2.  You will need a quick-read thermometer to make sure your egg whites are safely cooked. 

Yield: about 3 cups.

INGREDIENTS

4 egg whites

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tbsp water

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract (or extract of choice)

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into about 1 tsp chunks (that's 24 pieces per stick)

DIRECTIONS

1. Using either a double boiler, or a metal mixing bowl placed over a pot of water (be sure it fits so that the bottom does not touch the water), bring about 1 inch of water to simmer in the lower vessel. In the top vessel/bowl, combine the egg whites, sugar, water, and cream of tartar. Over the water, whisk constantly until the mixture becomes foamy and reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit. My set up was stable enough to whisk with one hand and hold the thermometer with the other, but use caution. 

2. Carefully (your bowl will be hot!) transfer the egg mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or use a hand mixer). Add vanilla. Beat on high speed until the mixture cools, thickens and increases in volume, 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Continuing to beat at medium speed, add the butter one piece at a time, letting each piece incorporate before adding the next. (My recipe notes that this process should take about 6 minutes, and I found that accurate). The mixture may appear to curdle (this happened during the second stick for me), but continue anyways - it should come together. 

4. Once all of the butter is incorporated, increase mixer speed to high and beat for another minute until the butter cream is smooth. 

5. Use immediately, and store all frosted items in the fridge. Lick the bowl.

Note that you may be able to store the frosting in the fridge, and use it again later by returning it to room temp, but when I tried to do this the frosting "broke" - i.e. the liquids and solids separated, rendering it useless.

Enjoy!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas!!

Bust out the garland and icing, people, it's that time of year! We put up our tree last week, and I've been in a baking mood ever since. Even if you don't celebrate the holiday, this time of year is full of baked goodies that people often don't otherwise take the time to make. (Unless they're crazy like me.)

 Our massively impressive [four-foot-tall] tree

This is a basic cut-out cookie recipe, which I tried to health-ify by using white whole wheat flour. You can sort-of taste the difference, but the nuttiness of the flour is nice with the sweet icing. I imagine I'll be making these with plain old all-purpose flour for my family, but I'm enjoying them this way quite a bit. The cookies only have 1/2 cup of sugar in them, so the result is not-too-sweet - a key aspect of any cookie you plan to ice.

For icing, I highly recommend using royal icing. It's the kind the gets really hard; it's often used in gingerbread-house making. You can make it using fresh or powdered egg whites. I haven't bought powdered egg whites yet, so I used fresh. Don't worry, it's safe - the eggs are heated to at least 160 degrees farenheit, which is the FDA-approved safe temperature to kill off any germs.

Christmas Cookie Cut-Outs with Royal Icing
Makes 40-60 cut out cookies, depending on size.

For the cookies: Feel free to use all-purpose flour here, or half whole wheat and half all-purpose, instead of the white-whole wheat. I found my flour at Trader Joe's, and have been using it obsessively in baked goods ever since. To soften your butter quickly, microwave the stick for 15 seconds. This recipe is adapted from Joy of Cooking. 


INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened (see note)
1 tsp real vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups white-whole wheat flour (or other, see note)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
about 1 tbsp water, as needed
1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional)

DIRECTIONS
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or using a hand mixer, or by hand), cream together the butter and sugar.
2. Add vanilla, eggs, baking powder and salt, and mix until well incorporated.
3. Add flour and mix until just combined. If the dough is too dry (mine consistently is), add about a tablespoon of water, mix again, and decide if you need more water. Don't add more than a tablespoon at a time.
4. Cover your bowl with plastic wrap, and stick it in the fridge for at least an hour. At this point, you can freeze the dough to use later if you want.
5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 
6. Divide your dough into two pieces; put the second piece in the fridge while you work on the first piece. Roll out the dough on lightly floured surface until about 1/4 inch thick, and cut into desired shapes.  Place shapes on a cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes (mine took 8 minutes), until the edges are just turning golden brown. Remove to wire racks, and let cool completely before icing.

For the icing: This makes enough to ice an entire batch of the cookies above generously. I prefer making a bit too much icing to making to little. Increase or decrease by a 1 egg white to 2/3 cup sugar ratio, according to your needs.

INGREDIENTS
4 egg whites
2 2/3 cup powdered sugar, sifted and divided
Food coloring

DIRECTIONS
1. Whisk together egg whites and half of sugar in a large microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 1 to 2 minutes on high, until a quick-read thermometer registers at least 160 degrees (but don't go higher than 175 degrees). The egg whites will be opaque and puffy when they're around the right temp. Stir.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large mixing bowl, using a hand mixer), combine egg white mixture with the rest of the sugar. Beat on high for 8 to 10 minutes, until the icing becomes fluffier and forms stiff peaks.
3. Divide into bowls and color as desired. You can leave the icing at its original consistency (for piping), or water it down a bit. (See below.)
4. Let cookies set for several hours until icing is dry. If you have to store them before the icing is set, store in a single layer in a plastic container. Once the icing is set, it will be quite durable and the cookies can be stacked for storage.

To ice your cookies, you can (1) pipe designs, (2) dip the top surface in slightly-thinned icing (flip carefully - if you get the consistency right, the icing won't run off the edges), or (3) piping a border on the cookies, then drizzling well-thinned icing to fill in the border. Add sprinkles or colored sugar while the icing is wet, and add piped designs to methods 2 or 3 once the icing has slightly dried. I suggest setting iced cookies on cookie sheets to dry - the rimmed edge will catch any stray sprinkles, and the trays can be moved around easily.

If you don't have a piping bag, you can add icing to a zip-top baggie and snip a small hole in the corner.

I made another batch of these, but ate them before I took photos...I guess I'll just have to make more, so I can give you a post demonstrating the various icing techniques! Oh, the sacrifices one must make...