JUMPING ON THE BISCOFF BANDWAGON

Posted in Cookies, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

Every once in a while an ingredient takes the spotlight and it seems that every cooking magazine, cooking show, food blogger uses it. And oohs and aahs about it. Smoked paprika had its turn. Macha powder. Farro. Chia seeds. And then, there’s Biscoff. One of the reasons it took me a while to join this crowd was the realization that I would be powerless once that jar was open. As I mentioned in the past, Delta Airline cookies make me lose all my composure. And Biscoff, dear friends, is a Delta cookie in spreadable form. My knees go weak, my mind goes wild. Please make these cookies. They will use half a cup of the addictive spread, so you’ll have a little less left to tempt you every time you pass by your pantry. And if my own post doesn’t convince you to bring a jar of the spread home, click here to see what Jessica had to say about it over at Feastie.

Heads Up: Cookie dough must be refrigerated for 3o minutes before baking!

BISCOFF OATMEAL COOKIES
(from Two Peas & their Pod)

1 + 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup Biscoff spread
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter, Biscoff spread, sugar, and brown sugar and beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla extra and beat until smooth.Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients, beating only until blended. Chill the dough 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

As it cools, turn your oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.Form the cookie dough into rounded tablespoons and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies are golden and just firm around the edges. Do not overbake.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then remove with a spatula onto a cooling rack

.ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

If you are new to Biscoff, open the jar, close your eyes and take a good sniff at it: such a heavenly smell! These cookies are very close to perfection in my book. The inclusion of oatmeal gives them that “I am good for you” aura, so that you don’t dwell on the number of calories packed in a teaspoon of Biscoff. Go for a run, join Tony Horton for a session of plyometrics, do whatever you need for damage control, but please, make these cookies!

Need more Biscoff inspiration?

Snickerdoodle Biscoff Sandwich Cookies

Biscoff Blossoms

Biscoff Swirl Muffins

Creamy Biscoff Pudding

Chewy Biscoff Blondies

Biscoff Molten Lava Cakes
(be very very still, my heart!)

ONE YEAR AGO: A Soup with Memories of Los Angeles

TWO YEARS AGO: Sabu’s Spicy Coconut Chicken

THREE YEARS AGO: Poolish Baguettes

27Feb2012

SECRET RECIPE CLUB: EARTHQUAKE COOKIES!

Posted in Cookies, Desserts, Sweets, Secret Recipe Club by sallybr

After one month break, we are back with “The Secret Recipe Club“, and our group even has a new moderator, April, who did a great job coaching us through the changes that took place during the break. For those who are not familiar with the event, a few weeks before reveal day, each member is assigned a food blog (in secret) to cook a recipe from. This time I was paired with My Judy the Foodie. When I get an assignment, I jump straight to the “About” page, to get to know my fellow blogger. Shari describes herself as a “kitchen-clueless person”. But one who is ready for a challenge, the challenge of creating new traditions for her own family, inspired by her mother’s cooking. The whole blog is in fact a beautiful tribute to her Mom. Her page “About Judy” was particularly touching to read.

I next browsed through her recipes, and it didn’t take me very long to choose her beautiful “Earthquake Cookies“. Considering the fact that while living for one year in Los Angeles we didn’t have a single earthquake, but the very week we moved back to Oklahoma the earth shook three days in a row, I felt these cookies were the perfect choice! 😉
JUDY’S EARTHQUAKE COOKIES
(from My Judy the Foodie)

8 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 squares unsweetened chocolate
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
2 cups sugar
4 eggs beaten
2 cups flour, sifted
1/2 tsp salt
1 + 1/2 cups of confectioner’s sugar

Melt chocolate and butter in a microwave safe container, stirring every 15 seconds.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl, add the sugar, vanilla extract, and melted chocolate/butter mixture. Add the baking powder, flour, and salt and beat until very smooth.

Place bowl in fridge and chill as long as 24 hours.

Heat the oven to 350 F. Cover two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place confectioner’s sugar in bowl large enough to roll out the fudge balls. Take a teaspoon of the cookie dough and form into balls. Coat the ball with confectioner’s sugar by rolling it around in the sugar many times.

Place on baking sheet with enough room for each ball to “explode” open. Bake for approximately 12 minutes (mine took longer). Cool and then remove cookies to wire rack (make sure to place foil under the rack as powdered sugar can be quite messy).

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: When you make these cookies, don’t forget the cookie dough must sit in the fridge for 24 hours. Once you mix the dough, it will be very soft, the only way you can shape them is by refrigerating for several hours. As far as taste goes, a full day in the fridge seems to be the best option.

Here you can see the dough right after mixing it…

and next day, ready to finish the job…

My cookies did not explode the same way Shari’s did, her cookies looked a lot more “interesting” than mine. Not sure what happened, I suspect the geologic fault that runs near our home was fast asleep when I put them in the oven. Bummer! However, exploded or not, these cookies were VERY tasty. They have a slightly fudgy consistency, and as they melt in your mouth the chocolate flavor will force you to close your eyes and indulge in extremely happy thoughts. My kind of cookie!

Shari, nice to meet you through The Secret Recipe Club! Looking forward to checking out what was your assignment this month! 😉

ONE YEAR AGO: A Soft Spot for Chevre

TWO YEARS AGO: Seared Tuna, My Own Private Idaho

1Feb2012

BROWN BUTTER MAGIC

Posted in Cookies, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

I got to know “Beautiful Disasters” through The Secret Recipe Club, when Casey, a very fit and active high school student, made a recipe from my blog. She hit the jackpot: her post was the most popular of our group! I always look forward to her articles, not only for the recipes, but for the “Random fact of the day“. Did you know that the average shoe size of a gorilla is 17? Well, I didn’t, but learned on her site. 😉

Recently Casey wrote this enticing post about her favorite chocolate chip cookie, and the description and photos got my immediate attention. At first glance, the recipe seems pretty straightforward, using the usual suspects for this traditional American favorite: butter, sugar, baking soda, walnuts, and chocolate chips. But, what sets it apart is the browning of the butter, and the toasting & grinding of the walnuts. Brown butter. Ground walnuts. Who would imagine they could make a simple cookie so decadent and delicious?
BROWN BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
(from Beautiful Disasters)

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 + 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 + 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 + 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 cups walnuts, toasted and ground
1-2 teaspoons of milk, as needed

The day before (or at least 3 hours before making the cookies), heat the butter over low heat in a small saucepan. It will foam and bubble, slowly acquiring a tan color. Keep stirring, watch it carefully so that the solids won’t burn. Cook until the butter is a deep caramel color (it took me over 12 minutes). Pour into a pyrex type dish, and refrigerate until solid.

Heat the oven to 300 degrees F, and toast the walnuts on a baking sheet for 12 minutes, or until fragrant and starting to get some color. Transfer to a small food processor and turn it on and off a few times, to grind the nuts. Reserve. (You can also finely chop them by hand, but it’s a bit cumbersome).

Cut the brown butter in small cubes, place it in the bowl of an electric mixer, and cream it with both sugars. Beat in the egg, vanilla, and baking soda. Add the flour and salt, mixing gently. Finally add the ground i nuts and chocolate chips. If the dough is too crumbly, add a couple of teaspoons of milk.

Scoop the dough onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, and bake in a 300 F oven for 18 minutes. Let cool on wire rack.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

These are some amazing cookies! Hot from the oven, they were simply irresistible… I had THREE cookies. Now, keep in mind that when I make a batch of cookies I eat one, and that is pretty much it for me. I had three. One, then another. And then another. (sigh)

My moment of pure joy, on a Sunday afternoon…

A cup of steaming spiced almond milk…. (for recipe, click here)

With bites of insanely good chocolate chip cookies…

Thank you, Casey!

ONE YEAR AGO: Tidy Sourdough

TWO YEARS AGO: Vienna Bread

26Dec2011

SECRET RECIPE CLUB: WHITE CHOCOLATE DIPPED COOKIES

Posted in Cookies, Desserts, Sweets, Secret Recipe Club by sallybr

My third assignment for the Secret Recipe Club! When I clicked on my assigned blog – Kudos Kitchen by Renee – I melted on the spot: the front page was a post composed by her three dogs (Ivy, Nutmeg and Nell), and they had a lot to bark about! 😉

Renee is an artist (check her store at Etsy), and that alone leaves me in complete awe, because I cannot draw a tree to save my own life! In fact, back in middle school two things terrified me to the point of losing sleep: physical education and art classes. I was absolutely horrible at both, and wanted to disappear from the planet when it was time to face them. Back to blogging. I fell in love with Renee’s 4th of July cookies, and adapted them for a Christmas time motif, switching the colors to green and red. And, since I’ve always wanted to make shortbread cookies, this was a perfect excuse to bake a batch. Without further ado, and with apologies to Renee, here is my very first attempt at playing Jackson Pollock. You can understand why I was not very popular with the art teachers… (sigh)

WHITE CHOCOLATE DIPPED COOKIES
(adapted from Kudos Kitchen by Renee)

for cookies
1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 cups flour
3/4 cup ground hazelnuts
zest of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons vanilla
pinch of salt

for dipping cookies
1 + 1/2 packages white chocolate morsels
3 tablespoons Crisco, divided
1 tablespoon milk
red and green food coloring

In a large kitchen Aid type bowl, beat together the butter with the brown sugar until creamy. Add the flour, ground hazelnuts, vanilla, lemon zest, and salt. Beat until smooth. Remove the dough from the bowl, form it into a log and wrap with plastic. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 325 F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. When the dough is firm enough to handle, remove 1 inch balls and shape as a cookie, flattening the surface. Alternatively, you can slice pieces straight from the log, 1/4 inch thick. Smooth the surface and edges, and place on prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes on until set and very lightly browned on the bottom. Remove from pan and place the cookies to cool on a rack. Before icing, place them in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Dipping the cookies: melt 1 cup of the chocolate chips and the 2 + 1/2 tablespoons of Crisco in your microwave. Check on it often and stir it occasionally until the chocolate is smooth and completely melted.

Using a fork and working with one cookie at a time, dip each cookie, turning it over to coat both sides nicely with chocolate. Place your dipped cookies on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Follow this step until all of the chocolate is used up. This amount of chocolate will be enough to coat about 12 cookies.

With the remaining 1/2 cup of morsels, melt them in your microwave again, using 1/2 Tbs Crisco and 1 tablespoon of milk to keep the consistency thinner and better for drizzling.

In two separate small bowls, divide the chocolate and color them with the red and green food coloring. Drizzle the cookies with both colors of icing, using the tines of a fork dipped in water, or if you have the right skills, a little improvised piping bag made with parchment paper.

Place the cookies in the fridge until time to serve them.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

A few things I learned from this baking adventure…

1. Run away from the small tubes of food coloring gel, because even if you squeeze the full tube of green gel in 1/4 cup of melted chocolate, the resulting icing will have a pale lime color. Go for the real McCoy, the type that you need to use a toothpick to grab the tiny amount that gets the job done.

2. White chocolate is not for sissies. When Renee says to make sure the chocolate is fully melted and smooth, she knows what she’s talking about. Lumps get together and seem to multiply at a fast rate. Then, right before your eyes, the whole thing turns into a solid mess.

3. White chocolate is not for sissies. Melted chocolate, when smooth and fluid, has a remarkable tendency to splatter. Certain types of dog fur catch droplets of icing with high efficiency, and don’t wash easily.

4. Have I mentioned that white chocolate is not for sissies? Buy more than you think you’ll need. Have a cup of chamomile tea before icing your cookies. You may need three shots of tequila after.

But it will all be worth it, these cookies were amazing! You can play with the colors to match your favorite football team, or go real artistic and draw something over the white chocolate canvas, like red hearts for Valentine’s Day! 😉

Renee, it was great to get to know your blog, hope you had as much fun as I did with your assignment this month!

ONE YEAR AGO: Sourdough Focaccia, with a Twist

TWO YEARS AGO: Merry Christmas!

11Oct2011

LOVE AT 30,000 FEET

Posted in Cookies, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

It was many years ago that the airlines began to cut expenses by throwing their bored passengers only a small bag of peanuts or pretzels to tame their hunger. But, once on a Delta flight I got a different type of snack. Ripping open the package I found two small cookies inside, and told Phil: “We don’t even deserve pretzels anymore, look at these tiny cookies”! But, with the first bite I fell madly in love! Delta, whenever possible, became my airline of choice, and I stepped inside the plane with one goal in mind: charm the stewardess into giving me two packages. Maybe three… 😉

I kept my passion for these cookies a secret, thinking that professing love for airline cookies would be similar to admitting a weakness for Velveeta (don’t ask, I won’t tell). But one day, I posed a discreet question in a cooking forum trying to find out more about them. All clouds dissipated in the horizon: those are speculaas, very special cookies that originated in Europe centuries ago. Many versions exist, sharing in common a mixture of spices, brown sugar, and butter. Traditionally, they have beautiful, complex designs on the surface, requiring special molds to shape them. I used ceramic molds (highlighted here)that were a bit more affordable than the real McCoy. As to the recipe, my friend Gary shared the method he learned in culinary school. The teacher, chef Gabriel, gave me permission to publish his very own recipe, so you can fall in love with these cookies right in your own kitchen, in the safety of firm ground! Isn’t that awesome?

SPECULAAS
(Recipe courtesy of Chef Jeffrey Gabriel
CMC Schoolcraft College)

8 oz butter at room temperature
11 oz brown sugar
1 + 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 + 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 egg yolks
2 Tbs milk
13 oz flour
2 oz almonds, finely chopped in a food processor.

Place the butter and the brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer, and beat on medium speed until creamy and smooth (about 3 minutes). Add the spices, egg yolks, and milk. Continue beating until it is all well blended.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour with the ground almonds, add them to the butter mixture and mix on low speed until a dough forms. Chill the dough for at least one hour, preferably overnight (easier to work with next day).

If rolling the dough, remove from the fridge and work on a floured, cool surface. Roll the dough to 1/8 inch thick, cut in the shape you want, and bake. If using a mold, pull small amounts of dough, press into the slightly floured mold, and delicately remove it, placing the cookie with the design up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake the cookies in a 350F oven until golden brown.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I will not lie to you. Working with these molds requires patience. I can see that with a lot of practice, it could be a soothing, relaxing activity. Not much Zen was happening in our kitchen, though. Gary recommended this book to speed the learning process, and I have it on my wish list at amazon.com. All reviews are stellar. But, if you don’t have a mold, don’t let it prevent you from making speculaas. They may become your favorite type of cookie, perfect for this time of the year, when we all need the warmth of cinnamon, the nice heat of cloves and nutmeg, the sweetness of sugar and molasses.

Note added after publishing: for a great take on speculas, jump here to see Celia’s version, that includes thinly sliced almonds. From what I’ve been reading, that type of recipe is common in Belgium. Check it out!

ONE YEAR AGO: The Unbearable Lightness of Baking

TWO YEARS AGO: Pain a l’Ancienne