Lemon-Cream Sandwich Cookies

These are not the sort of cookie you make when you have an hour or two to kill. These babies are an all-day affair!  I have been actively working on these cookies for at least four hours.  Combine that with the four hour chill time needed for the dough, and making these is practically a full time job!!  But the end result is completely worth the effort; they taste like springtime.

Lemon-Cream Sandwich Cookies

Yield: 24-36 cookies

Cookies:

Lemon-Cream Sandwich Cookies

• ½ cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
• 3¾ cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1½ cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks

Filling:

• 1½ tablespoons finely grated lemon peel
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Cookies:

1. Boil lemon juice and lemon peel together in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 4 minutes.  Pour into a small bowl; set aside.  Sift flour, salt, and baking soda together; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add in the sugar, beat until fluffy and well-combined, about 2 minutes, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula (or the spatula-like thingy from the Foreman Grill–whatever is handy).  Add in the eggs, one a time, beating well after each addition.  Add in the egg yolks; beat well.  Add in the cooled lemon mixture, and beat until well combined.  Adjust the mixer to low; slowly add in the flour mixture, stirring until just incorporated.
3. Divide the dough into thirds.  Pat each third into a disk; wrap in plastic wrap.  Place dough in the fridge and chill for 4 hours, or until firm (dough can keep fresh for up to a day in the fridge).
4. Preheat the oven to 375°F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.
5. Working with one disk at a time, roll out dough to a 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut out shapes with 2 inch round (or star shaped!) cookie cutter.  Place cookies on prepared baking sheets leaving an inch or so around each cookie.  Bake one sheet at a time in the center oven rack for 8-10 minutes, or until just golden around the edges.  Let cookies rest on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

Filling:

1. Using the back of a spoon, mash lemon peel and salt into a paste in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add in the butter; using an electric mixer, beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add in the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Whip for 2-3 minutes, or until very fluffy.  If filling is too thick, thin with a bit of lemon juice, cream, or water; rewhip.  (Filling can be refrigerated for up to two days.  Bring to room temperature before using).
3. Spread filling onto the bottom half of the cookies.  Sandwich the top halves onto the cookies.

From Citizen Cake in San Francisco, California

Butter Pecan Praline Cookies

OH. MY. GOD.

I’ve been featured on Endless Simmer!!! Do you remember those terrible Buttery Raisin Cookies from last Friday? Well, I sent them the post because I just thought it was too funny that my beautiful kitchen gave rise to that abomination, and they loved it so much that they put it up as a Friday F*ck-Up (the censoring is for you, Mom.  Since I’m such a good daughter, may I pleeeease have your awesome nut chopper?)!!!! Isn’t that amazing? I screamed a little when I saw my name on the front page of their website. It’s almost like winning an Oscar (or at least being nominated for a People’s Choice Award).

Oh, and I’ve been awake since 7AM (!) and I went jogging (well it’s really considered speed walking) this morning.  I saw the sun rise over Manhattan.  It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you get up before noon.  There’s a surprising amount of time in the day if you don’t spend twelve hours sleeping.  But there is a down side; I’m probably going to crash around 11PM at work tonight, and my shift doesn’t end until 5AM.  Oh well.

I promised y’all a fancy extravagant cookie creation the other day.  Here it is in all its sticky, ooey, gooey, glory! You might want to make a double batch, because you are not going to want to share these with anyone.

Butter Pecan Praline Cookies

Butter Pecan Praline Cookies

Yield: 24 cookies that would make even the great Paula Dean proud 

• ½ cup (1 stick) butter
• 2 cups pecan halves
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup turbinado sugar (use brown sugar if you prefer)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup plus two tablespoons light cream
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar (as always, the darker the better)
• 1 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.
2. In a shiny medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Continue cooking and swirling the melted butter until it browns and starts to smell very nutty.  Pour into a small bowl; set aside to cool.
3. Using a rimmed baking sheet (a pie pan will work in a pinch), toast the pecans for 8-10 minutes, or until fragrant (these will burn in a heartbeat, so watch them carefully–do not let Oprah and Paula Dean work their magic on you!).  Set aside to cool completely.  When cool, place nuts in a heavy duty plastic bag and finely crush with a rolling pin.
4. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together; set aside.
5. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cooled browned butter, granulated sugar, turbinado sugar and honey. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth.  Add in the egg and vanilla extract; beat until smooth and fluffy. Adjust the mixer to low; slowly add in the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 10-30 minutes to firm up.
6. Measure out dough by heaping tablespoonfuls; smush and roll into a large ball (the dough is very crumbly, so the smushing is pretty important). Place the balls on the baking sheets, 2 inches apart, 12 per sheet.  Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until golden around the edges.  Let cookies rest on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool.  Place wire rack full of cookies back onto lined baking sheet (do NOT skip this step or your countertops will hate you!!).
7. In a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, bring the light cream and brown sugar to a full boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer, and stir constantly for 3 minutes (for the love of all that is holy, do not taste the syrup while you’re stirring–my tongue still hurts).  Remove pan from heat, sift in the powdered sugar; whisk until smooth.  Stir in the crushed toasted pecans.  Spoon a tablespoon of praline over the top of each cookie.  Let cookies cool for 1 hour before serving.  (If you have praline left over, pour it out onto a silpat or parchment.  When it’s cool, enjoy a good ol’fashioned southern party in your mouth!)

I’m Awake!!!!

And it’s 7:45 AM!! I haven’t been up this early in what feels like years.  I just thought y’all should know–this is truely a monumental event.

No-Bake Cherry Crisps

If you haven’t noticed by now, I stick to really simple recipes during the week since I work nights at my new job.  It’s just easier to make a no-bake dessert in the few hours I have to myself than to make extravagant sandwich cookies.  But once the weekend rolls around I promise to deliver exquisite time-consuming sugar creations.

Using a mini-food processor (10 dollars at CVS) makes short work of chopping the cherries.  And the easiest way to crush the pecans and chocolate chips is to place them both in a heavy duty Ziploc baggie and have at it with a rolling pin.

No-Bake Cherry Crisps

Yield: 3 dozen

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup peanut butter
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1½ cups crisp rice cereal
• ½ cup maraschino cherries, drained, dried, and chopped
• ½ cup chocolate chips, finely crushed
• ½ cup pecans, finely crushed
• 1-2 cups flaked coconut or crushed almonds

1. Line a 9×13 cake pan or large cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Set aside.
2. Cream sugar, peanut butter, and butter together in a large bowl.  Stir in the cereal, cherries, chocolate chips, and pecans.  Mix well.
3. Scoop out dough by heaping teaspoonfuls and roll in either almonds or coconut.  Place on prepared cake pan.  Cover with plastic wrap before placing in the fridge for an hour to firm up. Store No-Bake Cherry Crisps in the fridge in an air-tight container separated by layers of parchment.

Strawberry Crispy Treats

I was looking through my cabinet for cookie inspiration today, and I found the bag of strawberry  marshmallows that I had bought for valentines day and completely forgotten about.  Oddly enough, I’ve never made rice crispy treats as an adult.  I’ve always considered them a little below my culinary prowess.  But now that I’ve given them a fair chance, they frickin’ rock!! I’m probably going to make these all the time now.  Maybe this summer I’ll throw some sliced strawberries (or other fresh fruits) into the mix.  Would that be overly complicating this famously simple recipe? Feedback on this idea would be really appreciated.

Strawberry Crispy Treats

Yield: 24 squares

Sticky Pink Swamp Monster!

• non-stick cooking spray (for greasing)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 bag strawberry flavored marshmallows
• 6 cups puffed-rice cereal

1. Grease 13×9 cake pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Set aside.
2. In a large microwave safe bowl, microwave butter on high for 45 seconds, or until melted.
3. Add in the marshmallows; toss to coat.  Microwave for 1 1/2 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking time. (Be sure to check out how awesome marshmallows look in the  microwave–the puffy goop filled the entire bowl to the brim!!)
4. Stir in the puffed-rice cereal.  Pour mixture into prepared pan. With greased hands (please make sure to spray your hands with the off-brand PAM, or you’ll look like a sticky pink swamp monster) press mixture evenly into pan. 
5. Cool completely before cutting into 24 squares.

Mocha Latte “Crisps”

These are not crispy in any way, shape, or form.  I’m considering renaming them Mocha Latte Chewies.  

I also apologize for the blurry picture.  This was the most “in-focus” out of the ten or so on my camera.  I guess that’s what happens when you combine picture taking with a couple of midnight margaritas.  Don’t believe me?  Just look at any college kid’s facebook profile and you’ll find photographic proof of my theory.

Mocha Latte “Crisps”

Mocha Latte Crisps

Yield: 8 dozen (!!!!)

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 11.5 ounce bag best quality bittersweet ch0colate chips
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 eggs 
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder (or instant coffee granules) dissolved in 2 tablespoons hot water

1.  Combine flour and salt in a small mixing bowl.  Set aside.
2. Put chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl; microwave on 70% power for 1-2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and smooth (alternately, bust out the double boiler and melt those babies the old fashioned way).  Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (I realized the other day that if I didn’t have my Kitchenaid, my recipes would sound a little less pretentious), cream together butter and sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy,about 2 minutes.  Add in the eggs and vanilla extract.  Beat until smooth.  Add in the coffee syrup.  Beat until smooth.
4. Adjust the mixer to low; add in the flour mixture and beat until smooth.  Fold in the melted chocolate.  Cover mixing bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of two hours, or up to six.  
5. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line baking sheets with silicone liners, or with parchment paper.  If using parchment paper, grease paper with non-stick cooking spray.  Drop dough by level teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets 1 inch apart, 20 per sheet (you definitely want to fit as many as you can on your baking sheets–8 dozen cookies take a long time to bake!).  Bake for 7-8 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned.    Let cool on sheets for one minute before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

Espresso Hazlenut Shortbread

It is unbelievably difficult to find instant espresso powder.  I substituted Nescafe Tasters Choice Instant Coffee, Gourmet Roast and still achieved (hopefully) delicious results.  I was afraid that the coffee flavor wouldn’t be as noticeable with the Nescafe, so I upped the dosage to 3 teaspoons.  I think I made the right call.  The cookie is still cooling right now, so I’ll let you know how the extra coffee affected the taste in the morning.  

Edit:  The extra coffee was a bit overpowering, even for a caffeine freak like myself.  Just stick to the posted recipe and it should turn out perfectly, even if you can’t find instant espresso powder.

On the plus side, I cooked an amazing meal for Andrew and I for dinner, and I didn’t even follow a recipe! (I may be able to freestyle bake, but coming up with savory dishes is a horse of an entirely different color.)  I threw together a really simple spinach and cabbage risotto.  I just sauteed half an onion and 4 cloves of garlic in equal parts butter and olive oil for a few minutes before toasting up a few hand-fulls of arborio rice.  I went through the painstakingly slow process of ladling in 4 cups of boiling water (I didn’t have any chicken stock on hand, but the flavor didn’t lack), one at a time, waiting for each cup to be absorbed before adding in the next.  Midway through, I added in half a head of shredded cabbage and generously seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. After the rice couldn’t absorb anymore water, I stirred in a few handfuls of fresh spinach, the last hunk of mystery cheese in the drawer (I think it was white cheddar) and the rest of the Parmesan left in the bottle.  While this was cooking, I coated chicken breasts in Cajun seasoning and cooked them on the Foreman Grill until done (though this didn’t seem to satisfy Andrew’s unreasonable fear of salmonella; he thoroughly inspected every single solitary bite of chicken before he deemed it safe enough to put in his mouth).  Would you like to know the best part of the entire meal?  Andrew cleaned up afterwards!

Espresso Hazelnut Shortbread

Yield: 24 Wedges

Espresso Hazlenut Shortbread

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Spray a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or the work-bowl of a food-processor), blend flour, brown sugar, cornstarch, espresso powder, and salt together.  Add in the butter and vanilla extract.  Beat on medium-high speed (or process in pulses) until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add in the hazelnuts; blend until finely chopped (if using mixer instead of processor, finely chop nuts beforehand).
3. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface; knead just until dough comes together (I found it very helpful to ball up the dough inside my pastry cloth and smush it together; I didn’t have to worry about loose crumbs).
4. Press dough firmly into the bottom of prepared pan.  Bake for 25 minutes, or until a deep golden brown.  Let cool on wire rack for 5 minutes before removing pan sides.  Cool completely.
5. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave (2 minutes on 70% power, stirring every 30 seconds).  Drizzle over the top of the shortbread with the tip of a fork.  If desired, lightly dust with sanding sugar.  Cool completely before cutting into wedges.

Brandy Crisps

These cookies are kicking my ass!!!! I’ve thrown out two batches, and I’m on to my third.  It took me an hour of experimentation to get the cookies to turn into lacy crisps instead of chewy lumps of crap.  Attempt these at your own risk.

Brandy Crisps

Brandy Crisps

Yield: ?

• ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ cups (1½ sticks) butter
• ½ cup molasses
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1½ cups sifted all-purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Line baking sheets with silicone liners or parchment paper.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat sugar, butter, and molasses.  Stir constantly until melted and smooth.  Add in the ginger; remove from heat.  Whisk in the flour, a little at a time, stirring until combined.
3. Drop dough by scant teaspoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets, six at a time.  Flatten out the dough into 1/8 inch thick discs.  Bake for 12-14 minutes or until dark brown. Remove cookies with a spatula and immediately wrap around the handle of a wooden spoon or drape over teacups, bowls, or rolling pins.
4. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Madeleines

Proust's Madeleines

Even though I claim to be quite literary, I’m not well-versed in the work of all the great authors.  I can’t claim James Joyce or Marcel Proust as close personal aquaintances the way I can with Jack Kerouac, J.D. Salinger or Gabriel Garcia-Marquez.  I’m ashamed to say that I have a copy of Ulysses sitting untouched on my bookshelf, just waiting for the day that I crack its dusty cover. I know that Madeleines have acheived a legendary status among both bibliophiles and bakers alike, but I’ve never perused the pages of Rememberance of Things Past to find out why these delicous morsels brought a wave of childhood memories flooding back to the narrator.  Perhaps when I’ve reached the last pages of my current bedside readers (Faraway by J.B. Priestly, A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth, and Baking at Home with the Culinary Institute of America) I’ll finally introduce myself to Proust (and if I can find 3 months of uninterrupted time, perhaps I’ll even befriend Joyce!).

Madeleines

Yield: 12 traditional madeleines or 24 mini-muffin madeleines

My Madeleines

• 2 eggs
• 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.  Generously spray a 12 cavity madeleine pan (or two twelve cavity mini-muffin pans) with nonstick spray.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the wire whisk attachment, whisk eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar,vanilla, and salt on medium speed until well combined, about 2 minutes.
3. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the flour and baking powder (a little bit at a time to prevent flour puff ups), until just incorporated.  Fold in the cooled melted butter and gently mix until smooth.
4. Using a large spoon, fill the cavities until 2/3 full (a scant tablespoon is just perfect for the mini-muffin tins).  Bake for 10-12 minutes (8-10 for the mini-muffin tins), or until madeleines are well-risen and golden.  Immediately invert pans onto wire racks to cool completely.  Serve warm if desired. 

buttery raisin cookies

Wow.  These cookies are worthy of Friday Fuck Ups.  I followed Lauren Chattman’s original recipe to the letter (including beating everything with a wooden spoon).  While mixing cookies the old-fashioned way is great for taking out some pent-up aggression, it does absolutely nothing for the end result.  In fact, I ended up with this:

Buttery Raisin Cookies

Do you see this pancake-like abomination that is trying to pass itself off as a cookie????  I should have seen this coming from a mile away; the original recipe calls for no leavening agents  and virtually no creaming time to pump air into the batter.  Of course the end result will resemble Calista Flockhart’s chest!  I rewrote the recipe, calling for an electric mixer and a significantly longer creaming time.  Hopefully this will improve upon the resulting cookie. I don’t have the time to test my theory today (work starts in about ten minutes, and I’m nowhere near ready).  If anyone else wants to don their aprons in the name of science and post the results in the comments, I would be really appreciative.  Good luck fellow bakers, and Godspeed.

Buttery Raisin Cookies

Yield: 24 cookies

• ½ cup flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone liners.
2. Combine flour and salt in a smal mixing bowl; set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add in the eggs and vanilla extract; beat until smooth.  Adjust the mixer to low; stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated.  Fold in the raisins.
4. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet, 12 per sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating pans from front to back and top to bottom halfway through cooking time.  Let cookies rest for 5 minutes on sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.