MY MOST VERSATILE COOKIE DOUGH

Posted in Cookies by sallybr

I have used this simple recipe in countless ways and it simply never disappoints me. Because it has no leavening agent, it holds its shape either as a cutout or as a stamped cookie. You can also use it for thumbprint cookies. You can paint it, you can stencil it. And of course, you can treat it as a regular sugar cookie and decorate it with Royal icing. I will give you the basic formula and a few variations, but they will all perform exactly the same way.

HAZELNUT COOKIE DOUGH
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

226 g butter
150g total sugar (100 + 50 white and brown or reversed, see comments)
30g egg (must weigh)
1 tsp hazelnut emulsion (variations in comments)
¼ tsp vanilla extract
380g all purpose flour
½ tsp salt

Soften butter on low mixer setting. Add sugars and mix on low until butter is incorporated. Add egg, extracts, mix on low. Add flour and salt and mix until dough comes together.

Form disc, wrap in plastic and place in fridge 10 minutes.

Roll out, press stamps or cut. Refrigerate for 90 minutes or freeze for 15 minutes before baking at 350F until done, depends on size and thickness of your cookie.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Let’s talk extracts. I really love the Hazelnut Bakery Emulsion from LorAnn (click here). It has a strong smell but don’t let that scare you, it bakes with a wonderful flavor. Variations: use Pistachio Bakery Emulsion, or Natural Orange, all from LorAnn. As to sugars, you can either use 100g white and 50g brown, or the opposite. Some brown sugar is important, if you want a slightly crispier cookie, go for higher amount of white sugar. The cookie will also be obviously lighter, so that might be more appropriate for some designs. Finally, it is very important to weight the egg. I know, if you don’t own a scale, it is a problem but if you add one full egg it will be too much. I rarely need to adjust anything in the dough if I follow this recipe to a T. Having covered the basics, let me show you a few ideas to put this baby to use.

STRAWBERRY JAM COOKIES

I used 100g white sugar and 50g brown for this one. Roll the cookie, cut the shape, make little holes with a toothpick for added cuteness. Press your finger twice to form a little heart shape. Fill with jam (do not add too much). Bake. Decorate with Royal icing once cool. If you don’t want to use the decoration, just make a round shape and fill it with jam.

COCOA POWDER STENCILING

Super fun technique. You will brush a little cocoa powder on the raw cookie using a stencil, then bake. I have also used a cocoa paste made with softened butter, powdered sugar and flour, but managed to lose that recipe. Could not retrieve it, don’t remember where I saw it. Very sorry, but cocoa powder by itself works great (you can see my full blog post about it here).

STAMPED COOKIES

For these cookies, I went with 100g brown sugar and 50g white. I wanted a darker shade to start with. After baking, I painted the design with luster powder, either gold or bronze. The cookie stamp is available here.

ROLLED, MOLDED, PRESSED

Higher proportion of white sugar for all of those. Notice how the impression stays nicely, no matter the technique you choose to work with the dough.

SPRINGERLE MOLDS

You can leave the cookie unpainted, or have some fun with colors. I do like luster powder for this type of decoration, it comes with a natural shine I adore. When I leave the cookies unpainted, I sometimes like to spray a little PME luster pearl, but that is totally optional.

PAINTED COOKIES

Those were tiny little cookies, baked, cooled, and painted with different colors of luster powder + vodka. Also pretty cute if left unpainted. But you know I find it hard to resist the call of color…

I hope you will give this recipe a try, and love it as much as I do.

ONE YEAR AGO: White Chicken, a Cantonese Classic

TWO YEARS AGO: Baking with the Heart

THREE YEARS AGO: Roasted Cauliflower with Chickpeas and Quinoa

FOUR YEARS AGO: A Savory Phyllo Pie

FIVE YEARS AGO: Nut-Free Lady Grey Macarons

SIX YEARS AGO: Mini-Heart Cakes for your Valentine

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EIGHT YEARS AGO: Slow-Cooked Chicken Meatballs

NINE YEARS AGO: Zesty Flourless Chocolate Cake

TEN YEARS AGO: Maple Pumpkin Pecan Snacking Cake

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Silky Gingered Zucchini Soup

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Sweet Fifteen!

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Sesame and Flaxseed Sourdough

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Green Beans with Miso and Almonds

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Saturday Morning Scones

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO: White Bread

25Apr2023

PISTACHIO SUGAR COOKIES, THE UZBEK WAY

Posted in Cookies by sallybr

I am absolutely in love with this recipe, which I adapted from past adventures to incorporate pistachio flour to the party. It is hard for me to pick a favorite cutout sugar cookie recipe, but this is a very strong contender. Plus, it has the advantage of keeping the shape for patterns from molds, rolling pins, and…. a bread stamp! Yes, this post joins bread with cookies, by using the Uzbek stamp to create a design. I tell you, I am over the moon with these! To see the bread stamp used for its intended purpose, visit this old post of mine by clicking here.

PISTACHIO SUGAR COOKIES
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

150 g butter, room temperature
90 g powdered sugar
1 g salt
1 egg (45 to 50g)
30 g pistachio flour
250 g all purpose-flour
1/2 tsp pistachio bakery emulsion (I used this one from LorAnn)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Cut the butter in small pieces, add to the bowl of a Kitchen Aid type mixer with the sugar and salt. Mix on medium-speed until creamy and light.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg with the flavor emulsions. Add to the creamed sugar in low speed, in three additions. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure everything is mixing homogeneously. Once the butter and egg are mixed, add the flours. Mix on low speed until it starts to form a dough, remove from the bowl and gently knead by hand until smooth.

Form a disc and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll the dough, cut cookies and gently press with the Uzbek stamp tool dipped in flour to prevent it to stick to the dough. Depending on how soft your dough is, you might need to brush a little flour on top before pressing the design.

Freeze the cut and stamped cookies for 10 to 15 minutes before baking at 325F until it starts to get dark on the edges. Fifteen to twenty minutes, depending on your oven. Remove to a cooling rack and paint once the cookies are at room temperature.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Take a look at that speckled dough! The pistachio flour adds wonderful taste and texture to the cookies. Please give it a try. Cookies will be great even baked without any adornment. Of course, if you sandwich them with some lemon buttercream or a pistachio ganache, I won’t hold any of it against you.

For more ideas on how to paint them, and details on the Uzbek stamp, please visit my cookie blog with a click here.

ONE YEAR AGO: Carrots and Zucchini Stir-Fry with Peanut Sauce

TWO YEARS AGO: Cookie Therapy, Anyone?

THREE YEARS AGO: The Quasi-Vegan Quiche

FOUR YEARS AGO: Not Quite Moqueca

FIVE YEARS AGO: Roasted Butternut Squash with Cashew Nuts

SIX YEARS AGO: Mississippi Roast and the Open Mind

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Walnut-Raisin Bran Muffins

EIGHT YEARS AGO: A Star is Born!

NINE YEARS AGO: Chestnut Flour Sourdough Bread

TEN YEARS AGO: Kinpira Gobo and Japanese Home Cooking

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Walnut Sourdough

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Thai Chicken Curry

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Zen and the art of risotto

1Mar2021

FLORAL CHOCOLATE STICK COOKIES

Posted in Cookies by sallybr

I am not sure if stick cookies are a fad or here to stay, but I find them quite adorable. Easy to handle, not too big, and fun to decorate. These are intensely flavored, pretty much like an Oreo without the filling. No need for special skills with the Royal icing, it goes on the cookie as a humble flooding layer. Let that fully set overnight (really important), then use a very fine food pen to draw the design you like. Food pens and luster powder close the deal. For a demonstration on how to paint with luster powder, you can visit this post. The process is the same. Cookie cutter from Sugarbelle.

CHOCOLATE CUTOUT COOKIES
(from Baking a Moment)

113g cold unsalted butter cut into small cubes (1 stick)
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
135g granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
30g cornstarch (1/4 cup)
50g unsweetened cocoa powder (1/2 cup)
180g all-purpose flour (1 + 1/2 cups, you may need a little more)

Cream the butter, oil, sugar, vanilla and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, just until the mixture is smooth. Add the egg and mix just until incorporated. Mix in the cornstarch, cocoa powder and the flour. The dough should start to clear the sides of the bowl as you mix it in low-speed. If needed, add a bit more flour.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Roll the dough and cut into sticks or any shape you like. Freeze the cut shapes for 10 minutes, then bake for 9 to 12 minutes. They are done when they feel firm around the edges. Cool completely, then decorate as you desire.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: To make the drawing you can transfer the design from a printed picture using tissue paper, or use a mini-projector, which makes the process quite straightforward. I am the lucky recipient of an AKASO mini-projector, early Birthday-anniversary gift from my beloved. As I mentioned recently, he is taken, so you can stop your shenanigans.

I am very fond of simple designs with an Oriental flair. There are countless images available around (like these from Cake Central). Stained-glass compositions are also a wonderful source of inspiration. I’ve been collecting images to play with in cookie-format. Once you decide on the image, it is just a matter of playing with colors. The food pen goes on smoothly and the luster powder brings a very subtle texture. I like to join both in the same design, which I did in the cookie with red flowers.

The red flowers were painted with food pen (Americolor Gourmet Writer), the leaves are luster powder Khaki, and the centers Super Blue, both from OhSweetArt.

I am still trying to find my way through the path of mini-projector and cookie painting. The gray cats were painted with luster powder, the black with food pen. The flowers were also a mixture, food pen for the orange and green, luster powder in gold for the center.

ONE YEAR AGO: Sally’s Spicy Mango and Coconut Macarons

TWO YEARS AGO: Bouillabaise for a Chilly Evening

THREE YEARS AGO: Bergamot-Cherry Macarons

FOUR YEARS AGO: Roasted Veggies with Queso Cotija Dressing

FIVE YEARS AGO: Creamy Broccoli and Mushroom Casserole

SIX YEARS AGO: Maple Walnut Biscotti

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Barley Risotto with Peas

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Oatmeal Fudge Bars

NINE YEARS AGO: Cauliflower Steaks

TEN YEARS AGO: Soft Spot for Chevre

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Quick sun-dried Tomato Crostini

13Sep2020

SPRINGERLE COOKIES

Posted in Cookies by sallybr

My love for macarons should be quite obvious, but there’s something about Springerle Cookies that speaks straight to my soul. These cookies, not unlike macarons, have been around for centuries. In terms of flavor, they are a lot more strict, as there is no filling to play with. But they are so elegant, so magical, and the anise oil makes them unique. Oddly enough I don’t like licorice but find the anise flavor of Springerle quite enticing. I share with you one authentic recipe for these cookies that is a bit of a labor of love, and also time-consuming, as the cookies have to dry for a couple of days before baking. But, if you want to just use those beautiful molds in a simpler recipe, I’ll share my favorite also. A special thank you to my friend Margie, who sent me two beautiful molds, and perhaps not intentionally, turned me into a Springerle-mold-addict.

SPRINGERLE COOKIES
(traditional recipe, based on The House on the Hill)

for the cookies:
1/4 teaspoon baker’s ammonia (Hartshorn)
1 tablespoons milk
3 large eggs, room temperature
360g powdered sugar
57g (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened but not melted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon of anise oil
454g sifted cake flour (I used Softasilk)
grated rind of orange

for the glaze (optional):
240g powdered sugar
3 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon flavoring of your choice (I used vanilla)
pearl dust colors and lemon extract

Make the cookies: Dissolve baker’s ammonia in milk and set aside (avoid the temptation to take a sniff, you will regret it). Beat eggs until very thick, this will take from 10 to 15 minutes. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar, then the softened butter. Add the the mixture of baker’s ammonia and milk, salt, anise oil and orange zest.

Gradually beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer, then stir in the remainder of the flour to make a stiff dough. Turn onto floured surface and knead in enough flour to make a good print without sticking. Refrigerate for one hour, but keep in mind the dough can be refrigerate the dough for up to 3 days.

On a floured surface, roll dough depending on the depth of the carving in the cookie press you are using. Shallow carvings will need to be thinner while deeper carvings will need to be thicker. Flour your cookie mold for each and every pressing. Press the mold firmly and straight down into the dough, then lift, cut with the cookie cutter of your choice, and place the formed cookie onto a flat surface to dry.

Do not cover the cookies while they dry. The goal of drying is to set the design. Let the cookies dry at least for 24 hours. It is better to leave them alone for a couple of days, so the design will be better retained during baking.

On baking day, heat the oven to 255F to 325F (depending on the size of your cookie and how white you like to have them), for 10 to 15 minutes. Let the cookies cool and glaze or paint, if you so desire.

Make the optional glaze: Combine all ingredients and mix until well combined and smooth.
Add more water if necessary. Brush glaze on each cookie after baking. Paint with pearl dust alone or with the powder dissolved in a little lemon extract.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: The molds on the top left corner of the composite picture were a gift from Margie. Aren’t they gorgeous? I love them!

If you visit The House on the Hill you can watch a very detailed video in which Connie, the author of the recipe, goes over all the minor details. Her recipe is for a really big batch, and I decided to make just half. I actually baked these back in December and took them to a departmental holiday party, but a full batch would be way too much. Keep in mind these cookies last forever, and although they can get a bit tough after a couple of weeks, the flavor keeps getting better (that’s what I heard).

Now, if you prefer to make a quicker version, and take it in different directions as far as flavor is concerned, I highly recommend King Arthur’s recipe.

SHORTBREAD SPRINGERLE-LIKE COOKIES
(slightly modified from King Arthur Flour)

227g butter, room temperature
106g brown sugar
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 tsp anise oil
360g all-purpose flour

Beat together the butter, sugars, and salt until light and creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla, and fold in the flour. Divide the dough in half, shape both halves as disks, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 350F. Line with parchment) two baking sheets.

Working with one disk at a time, flour your work surface and roll the dough 1/4″ thick. To shape cookies using a springerle mold: Brush a very light coating of flour onto the dough and your springerle mold. Press the mold firmly into the dough, then remove and cut around the design with a cookie cutter.

Transfer the cut cookies to the prepared baking sheets. Freeze for 10 minutes. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly golden around the edges. Remove them from the oven, and allow them to cool before painting, if so desired.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: It takes a little bit of patience to get these cookies right, and each mold is a slightly different universe. You need to get the thickness of the dough and the pressure you use with the mold just right, so that the full pattern is transferred. The main thing to keep in mind is that you need a cookie recipe with a very small amount of leavening agent, or even without any at all. Be careful with baking powder, and make sure you use a recipe that someone had success with before. You can use the basic recipe from King Arthur and change the flavors, as they suggest in the site. I really like using Fiori di Sicilia, and added it to the heart-shaped batch.

I hope you’ll consider baking a batch of these cookies during the upcoming holiday season. I am sharing the recipes early enough, so you can browse the many wonderful sites that sell Springerle molds (like this one) and keep me company in my latest addiction.