Bird’s Nest Cookies

Happy Easter!!!

Bird’s Nest Cookies

Yield: 24 cookies

Bird's Nest Cookie

• 1¼ cups sweetened flaked coconut
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• about 60 mini robins eggs (the speckled malted delicious ones you can only find at Easter)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Spread the coconut in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes or so, until golden brown (watch this carefully!! Once coconut takes a turn towards the dark side, it’s ruined forevermore).  Let cool on baking sheet (or if you’re like me and only have the two good baking sheets, transfer the coconut to a pie plate or cake pan).  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking sheets.
2. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together onto a sheet of parchment (y0u can reuse the same sheet almost indefinetely if it’s just for the sifting).  Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium high speed for 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy.  Add in the egg and vanilla extract; beat well.  Adjust the mixer to low; slowly pour in the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
4. Roll the dough into 1¼ inch balls.  Roll each ball in the toasted coconut (be sure to coat thoroughly).  Place the coconut coated dough balls onto prepared baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart, twelve balls per sheet.  Press your finger straight down into the middle of the balls for tall high nests, or wiggle it around a little for wide flat nests.
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden.  Let cool completely on baking sheets.
6. To serve, place 3 candy eggs in the center of the cookie. I like to match the colors (the blue is the most natural looking), but they look just as cute with a mishmash of colored eggs.

No-Bake Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I think that this is the only no bake oatmeal raisin cookie recipe in existence.  And I created it all by myself!!!!

No-Bake Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Yield: 2 dozenish

• 1¾ cup sugar
• 1 stick butter
• ½ cup water or milk
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups regular or old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup raisins

1. In a medium saucepan set over medium heat bring sugar, butter, water (or milk!), and cinnamon to a rolling boil.  Boil for two minutes.  Stir in the vanilla extract.  Stir in the oats and raisins.
2. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a sheet of parchment or wax paper.  Let harden for 10 minutes before eating.
3. While cookies are hardening, scrape every last bit of goodness off of the pot.

Black Gold Cookies

I’ve been slacking.  I’ve been working an ungodly amount of hours at the sushi place and consequently haven’t been fulfilling my self-imposed baking commitment.  Resentment Cookies, as funny and effective (Andrew and the roommates fixed almost everything that I documented before I got home from work that night!!! It was really very sweet and completely unexpected) as they may be, don’t really count as actual cookies.  And I completely missed Saturday’s post–it’s very hard to do anything other than collapse into bed after working a twelve hour shift  (I didn’t yet know how to correctly utilize my 45 minute break–on Monday I went home and whipped up the cookie dough and got it in the fridge before I went back to the restaurant and worked another six hours).

I have a new work friend! She’s a very talented artist who makes sculptures out of lace, and she is unusually good at keeping her part-time job a part-time job so she can spend her time working on what’s truly important–her art. I wish I had the courage to say “enough is enough!,” but I’m still very new and I don’t want to jeopardize my position.  Also, the money I’m raking in tempts me with its siren song of a better life (i.e., paying off my credit cards and buying a food processor).

I’m going to make up for this past weekend’s transgressions by baking a few extra batches of delicous real (not like last Friday’s Abomination) cookies this next week.  I’ll start off on the right foot with these unusual chocolate laden delights.  Beware! These are not for the faint of  heart; they are extremely rich (both in calories and flavor), and they certainly take a toll on both your kitchen’s cleanliness and on your grocery bill.  But you will be justly rewarded for your efforts when you take your first bite.

Black Gold Cookies

Gourmet|June 1996

Yield: 40 cookies

1. Position rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner.
2. In a double boiler (store-bought or jimmy rigged), melt the unsweetened chocolate, half the semi-sweet chocolate, and the butter, stirring occasionally.  When mixture is melted, remove top portion of the double boiler and set aside.
3. In a small bowl, sift flour, salt, and baking powder together; set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together eggs and sugar on medium speed until mixture is pale yellow and fluffy.  Add in the chocolate mixture, instant espresso (instant coffee), and vanilla extract; beat until smooth.  Reduce mixer speed to low; add in the flour mixture and beat until just combined.  Stir in the nuts and the remaining 9 ounces of the chopped semi-sweet chocolate.
5. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet.  Flatten dough with the palm of your hand and smush into a circle.  Place sheet on center rack and bake for 16-18 minutes, or until cookies are crackly on top. Do not over-bake.  Let cookies rest on baking sheet for 3 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

St. Patty’s Parade Irish Cream Sandwiches

These cookies are unbelievably good!  The cookie itself is unbelievably tender, and has a lovely hint of Bailey’s flavor. Combining these delicate cookies with the Irish butter-cream filling brings these up to an unbelievable level.  Since the filling isn’t cooked, you may get a tad tipsy if you eat enough of it (which is really what the Hoboken St.Patrick’s Day Parade is all about–I was one of seven sober people in the entire town).

St. Patty’s Parade Irish Cream Sandwiches

Yield: 24 medium-sized sandwich cookies (your yield will differ based on the type of cutter you use)

Cookies:

St. Patty's Parade Irish Cream Sandwiches

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1½ cups white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 egg
• 1 cup Irish cream liqueur

Irish Butter-cream Filling:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 cup Irish cream liqueur

1. Sift flour, salt, and baking powder together.  Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream together butter and sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add in the egg yolk and vanilla extract; beat until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Add in the egg; beat until smooth.   Reduce the speed to medium; add in the liqueur and beat until smooth.  Reduce the speed to low; slowly stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated.
3. Divide dough in thirds, wrap each third in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate dough for 2 hours, or up to 10.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.
5. Roll out dough, one disk at a time, until 1/4 inch thick.  Cut out desired shapes (I used a sheep, because I didn’t have a shamrock).  Bake for 7 minutes, or until pale golden around the edges.  Let rest on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.  

Irish Buttercream Filling:

1.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium speed until very light, about 2 minutes.  Adjust the mixer to low, add in the powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla extract.  Beat until it comes together.  Adjust the mixer to medium, add in the liqueur in a thin stream.  Beat until fluffy.
2. Spread filling on the back of one cookie, and sandwich it together with another one.  

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!)

Cherry-Almond Thumbprints

Making these cookies is the closest I’m ever going to get to celebrating President’s Day.  Even though I’m pretty sure that the story about baby George and the cherry tree was a fallacy, I’ll believe any cockamamie myth about our first President if it gives me an excuse to make these cookies.  These are the first cookies that I’ve made in the past few weeks that I can’t stop eating.  Normally, I can eat maybe one or two before all the sugar starts to make me feel a little nauseated, but these cookies strike the perfect balance between sweet and tart (I’ve already had six)!

Cherry-Almond Thumbprints

Cherry-Almond Thumbprints

Yield: 2 dozen

• 1½ cups almonds, finely ground (a food processor makes this super easy!)
• 2 cups flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, browned and cooled slightly
• ½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• ½ cup cherry preserves (sour is better!!)

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone liners.
2. Combine ground almonds, flour, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (step three always starts the same way, doesn’t it?), beat cooled browned butter and sugars together on medium speed until smooth.  Add in the egg and almond extract; beat until smooth.  Stir in the flour-almond mixture until just incorporated.
4. Scoop the dough by tablespoons and roll into balls. Place balls three inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 12 per sheet.  Stick your thumb straight down into the balls to form a deep well for the preserves.  If the outside edges crack, smush them back together.  Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until golden brown.  Let cool for 5 minutes on baking sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
5. When cookies are completely cool, put about a teaspoon of cherry preserves in the center of each cookie.  Store in an airtight container with layers separated by wax paper.