Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Good, Better, Best Cookies
April 16, 2019 at 3:59 pm | Posted in cookies & bars, DC, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
These Good, Better, Best Cookies are a straight-line progression of deliciousness. It’s really very logical…a good cookie, crisp with almonds and cinnamon, can be made better if it’s sandwiched with cookie butter, and that sandwich cookie can be the best it can be if it’s dipped in ganache. Of course, I wanted the best version.
I made and rolled the cookie dough a few days before I needed it, so I stashed the dough sheet in the freezer. I was really happy with how perfectly the cut cookies held their round shape and how flat they stayed in the oven. Dorie has a recipe for homemade Spiced Cookie Filling and Spread in the back of the book, and since I had taken home some reject speculoos from work, I made myself a little pot of it for sandwiching my cookies. I admit that I didn’t bother to turn it into a buttercream as per the the “better” instructions. I just used it as-is. I eyeballed my dark chocolate ganache for dipping after reading that the “best” recipe makes a rather thin one, and a lot of it. I think everyone I shared these with appreciated that I took them all the way– they were the best!
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and please join us if you haven’t already!
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Palmiers
April 9, 2019 at 12:01 am | Posted in BCM, cookies & bars, general pastry, groups, other sweet, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 7 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
What to do with a little stack of frozen puff pastry scraps left over from Banana-Nutella Chaussons and a Potato Tourte? Make Palmiers! These are so easy. Just roll puff into a square, brush with melted butter, sprinkle with sugar and fold in towards the center. I used vanilla sugar for extra flavor, and because I found a jar of it in my cupboard and want to use it up. Some of my palmiers sort of unfurled into donut shapes the oven, but I don’t mind. Puff pastry does what it wants to sometimes…I like things made with it to be really caramelized and crispy, taken almost to the edge of dark. I’ve got no time for pale puff. These palmiers are just as good with ice cream as they are with coffee.
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Matzo Morsels
April 2, 2019 at 8:19 am | Posted in cookies & bars, DC, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 4 CommentsTags: baking, chocolate, cookies, passover
If I buy a box of matzo breads, I’m usually putting tuna salad on top of them or turning them into matzo brie. Well, now I can make cookies out of matzo, too! Actually these Matzo Morsels are almost more candy than cookie, with no baking required. Melted butter and chocolate bind together crumbled matzo, plumped dried fruit (I used cherries) and chocolate chips (I used chopped white chocolate) into tasty little globs of crunch and chew. I had some déjà vu while making these and then I realized they are almost identical to the Desert Roses from BCM we did a couple of years ago, but with crushed matzos standing in for the cornflakes. No wonder I reached for the exact same mini muffin cups to put them in! I found they were easier to scoop and kept a better shape when I let the mix sit on the counter for about five minutes before portioning them.
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Banana-Nutella Chaussons
March 26, 2019 at 7:53 am | Posted in BCM, general pastry, groups, other sweet, pies & tarts, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 8 CommentsTags: baking, chocolate, turnovers
These Banana-Nutella Chaussons are a take on traditional French puff pastry turnovers that are usually filled with apples. Dories says chaussons are most often breakfast or snack treats, but they are pretty amazing for dessert, too, especially when they are filled with a combo of gooey melted chocolate and bananas. Maybe even more so when you replace the straight-up chocolate in the filling with a generous amount of Nutella, like I did here. Things got a little wild in the oven, and my chaussons pretty much erupted, even though I egg washed and sealed them well. C’est la vie…the delicious filling and flaky layers just could not be contained! My evil genius dessert brain spotted an opportunity and decided a scoop of salted caramel ice cream would be perfect tucked into the opened sides.
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Moroccan Semolina and Almond Cookies
March 19, 2019 at 12:01 am | Posted in cookies & bars, DC, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 7 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
I really think these Moroccan Semolina and Almond Cookies might be some of the prettiest I’ve made. I love their crinkles and crackles and irregular edges. And their yellow insides peeking out from their powdered sugar coats. The semolina and almond flours in the dough contribute to a sandy texture, and lemon zest and orange blossom water give the cookies bright flavor. The cookie dough balls are rolled in powdered sugar before being pressed like thumbprints in their centers, which gives them their unique personalities. They’re totally charming and perfect with a cup of herbal tea.
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Toasted Buckwheat and Chopped Chocolate Sablés
March 12, 2019 at 9:23 pm | Posted in BCM, cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 10 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
These Toasted Buckwheat and Chopped Chocolate Sablés begin with the unusual instruction to toast the buckwheat flour until it darkens and and smells roasted. Buckwheat has a nutty, earthy flavor to begin with, and this extra step really brings that out. I think it changes the texture of the flour a bit, too, making it drier, and in turn making the sablés even sandier. Buckwheat and chocolate is a winning combo, and I liked these, with their flecks of chopped bittersweet chocolate, a lot. Sweet with a touch of savory, they are sturdy and crisp, yet crumbly and tender all at the same time. Seems I’m churning out batch after batch of cookies these days, but I have another winner on my hands so I’m not complaining!
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Honey-Blue Cheese Madeleines
March 5, 2019 at 2:59 pm | Posted in cookies & bars, DC, groups, savory things, snacks, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 8 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
I like the chance to break out my madeleine pan, and here’s an interesting reason– Honey-Blue Cheese Madeleines. A sweet and savory combo, Dorie says she was inspired to create these mads after enjoying blue cheese and honey together on a cheese plate at a wine bar. That in turn inspired me to pair them with some typical cheese plate accompaniments: a few slices of pear (mine were poached) and some dried fruit and nuts. Vin santo, too, although I think they’d go nicely with most wines, or with a dirty martini, if that’s your jam. These are “cocktail cookies,” after all.
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and please join us if you haven’t already.
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Almond Stripes
February 26, 2019 at 5:07 pm | Posted in BCM, cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 7 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
Despite flipping through Baking Chez Moi probably ten thousand times, I never noticed the recipe for Almond Stripes before the day, just a couple of months ago, when I wrote up our list of remaining recipes. It’s on the back side of a page and there isn’t a picture, so I guess I found it easy to overlook. Well, the group didn’t overlook it, and now it’s been crossed off the list!
This is a simple dough (using almond flour) to put together, but it winds up fairly stiff and can be difficult to pipe out. I was able to force it through a star tip, but all my “stripes” wound up different lengths. They just sort of stopped where they wanted to and I had to go with it. I fancied them up with a chocolate and sprinkle dip to make their wonky sizes less obvious. They wound up looking a lot like the Viennese Sablés, but I think these are a little sturdier, and are a good cookie for dunking in coffee. I added a bit of almond extract to the dough to boost that flavor, as well as the pinch of cinnamon.
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Smoky Hearts
February 19, 2019 at 5:03 pm | Posted in cookies & bars, DC, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
I’ve been intrigued by the Smoky Heart roll-out cookie recipe since I bought Dorie’s Cookies. With cocoa, smoked almonds (which I always have at home because they are amazing in salads), smoked paprika and only a touch of sugar, these hearts straddle the line between sweet and savory. They are in the “cocktail cookies” section of the book, and Dories says they pair well with bourbon, Armagnac or scotch. If you wanted to bring them more over to the sweet side, I do think they’d be quite good with an extra tablespoon or so of 10x added to the dough. If you want to take them even more savory, use a hot paprika (or combine what you have with a pinch of cayenne) and an extra touch of salt.
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and please join us if you haven’t already.
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Dark Chocolate Mousse
February 12, 2019 at 12:01 am | Posted in BCM, groups, puddings, custards, mousses, sweet things | 9 CommentsTags: chocolate, holiday, mousse
Dark Chocolate Mousse…so fancy, I decided it was worthy of the good silver. Definitely Valentine’s Day dessert-worthy, too, if you are into rich, creamy, velvety, chocolatey deliciousness. If you are not, I guess come back next week…when I’m making buttery, smoky, heart-shaped chocolate cookies…haha.
Let’s get down to business here. I could tell that Dorie’s (originally Pierre Hermé’s) recipe would have a large yield– the 1 3/4 cup of cream alone tipped me off– so I decided to make just a quarter of the original. (And, btw, I still got 4 reasonable servings, when I thought I’d only get two.) In order to downsize though, I had to modify just a bit. The recipe calls for folding together melted chocolate and whipped cream, which I did as written, along with eggs and yolks that are whipped fluffy with a boiling sugar syrup. I know from past experience that trying to make a pâte à bombe like this out of just a yolk or two and a small amount of sugar can go very wrong. Instead, I decided to get the volume into my single yolk and half an egg by whipping it with the sugar over a water bath, sabayon-style. While I was at it, I added a splash of cognac, you know, because it’s French.
My little switcheroo seemed to work just fine. After I chilled my mousse, I was able to scoop it nicely into my little silver coupes. Dorie says the mousse also makes a nice cake or cream puff filling, but whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles seemed to be a more expeditious way for this chocoholic to enjoy it.
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll. Happy Valentine’s Day, loves!
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