Chocolate Peanut Crinkles
June 14, 2010 at 11:02 am | Posted in cookies & bars, sweet things | 9 Comments
I was lucky enough to receive a gorgeous new book, The Perfect Finish: Special Desserts for Every Occasion by Bill Yosses and Melissa Clark. Bill Yosses is the Executive Pastry Chef at the White House. If the President’s Pastry Chef has something to say, I’m all ears (or eyes, as the case may be). I couldn’t wait to dive into this book. I had to start wih something chocolate, though…gosh, it’s been so long and I’ve been jonesing for it lately…Chocolate Peanut Crinkles sounded like a good place to start.
I like crinkle cookies. Not only are they chocolaty and tasty, but they are strikingly pretty and interesting-looking. Ground peanuts give this recipe a little somethin’ extra-special. And the raw dough tastes like a Mr. Goodbar…you should go discover that for yourself.
For maximum white-on-brown contrast, go heavy on the powdered sugar rolling, and do it just before you pop the cookies into the oven. Go lighter if you prefer more of a crisp sugar glaze. Bake them until they are nicely crinkled but still look moist inside the cracks, and they will be soft-centered and chewy.
P.S.: I’m in London for most of the week, and won’t be able to post TWD. I’ll catch up when I get back!
Chocolate Peanut Crinkles– makes about 3 dozen cookies
adapted from The Perfect Finish: Special Desserts for Every Occasion by Bill Yosses and Melissa Clark (reprinted with permission of WW Norton & Company)
Note: If you aren’t a peanut-eater, use another nut, like hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans or almonds.
2/3 c toasted, skinned unsalted peanuts
2 T granulated sugar
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 3/4 c all-purpose flour
2 T Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder
2 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
1 1/2 c light brown sugar
8 T unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 c whole milk
1 t pure vanilla extract
3/4 c confectioners’ sugar
-In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, finely chop the nuts with the granulated sugar. In the top of a double boiler or in a bowl set over (not in) a pot of simmering water, melt the chocolate.
-Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer, or stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Beat in the melted chocolate, stopping the mixer to scrape down the sides before beating again. Mix in the milk and vanilla. Add the flour mixture in three additions, and mix until just combined. Fold in the nuts.
-Form the dough into a ball and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for 3 hours or overnight.
-When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, or lightly butter them, and set aside.
-Place the confectioners’ sugar in a wide, shallow bowl. Scoop out a heaping tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball. Coat generously with sugar and transfer to a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and sugar.
-Bake the cookies, turning the sheets from back to front and swapping racks halfway through, until cracked but not completely firm, 12-15 minutes. Cool the cookies on the sheets for about 2 minutes, then use a spatula to transfer to wire racks to cool further. They may be stored airtight at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Tuesdays with Dorie: White Chocolate Brownies
June 1, 2010 at 12:27 pm | Posted in cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 24 Comments
Ooph…getting this one up late today! Here, I present to you the tenth brownie recipe for this blog. I would say that I’ve exhausted this topic, but you can tell by looking at them that these are definitely not your run-of-the-mill brownie. Marthe of Culinary Delights chose these White Chocolate Brownies with raspberries for TWD this week.
The full recipe makes a BIG batch, and one that a lot of folks had some difficulty getting to cook through. Fearing enough brownies for a lifetime, I scaled it down to a quarter recipe and baked it in a loaf pan. The original version also calls for a baked meringue topping, which I skipped in lieu of a sprinkling of sliced almonds. My meringue-less little batch cooked nicely in about 30 minutes.
These were good…sweet, though. I found the texture to be less like a fudgy brownie and more like a tea cake with a little chew. For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Culinary Delights. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Chockablock Cookies
April 27, 2010 at 1:01 am | Posted in cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 23 Comments
Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet decided on Chockablock Cookies for TWD this week. Why “chockablock?” Because they are loaded with good stuff– dark chocolate, dried fruit (I used cherries) and nuts (cashews here). Oops, I almost forgot to mention the oats, coconut and molasses. Don’t worry, the molasses doesn’t make then seem like spice cookies…it gives them a lovely chew and a brown sugary sweetness.
Usually extra cookie dough winds up in my deep-freeze, and is pulled out when I have nothing else prepped for dessert. But not this time…these guys were gone in a blink. Yeah, they are that good.
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Popsicles and Sandy Feet. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Dulce de Leche Duos
March 23, 2010 at 1:01 am | Posted in cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 27 Comments
So, I was standing in an aisle at the store, staring crossly at a $7 jar of DdL, wondering if these Dulce de Leche Duos, chosen by Jodie of Beansy Loves Cake for TWD, would be worth it. Then I suddenly remembered I had an opened can of condensed milk in the fridge. Score! I went home and put David Lebovitz’s oven-baked method to the test. It worked like a charm, and I think I will go with this technique (rather than boil-in-the-can) in the future.
With dulce de leche both in the cookie batter and acting as the filling, these cookies are sweet, to be sure. I imagine, though, that the chewy cookies could hold their own as-is, no sandwiching required. But gilding the lily a little doesn’t hurt either…these are tasty!
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Beansy Loves Cake. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Thumbprints for Us Big Guys
March 9, 2010 at 1:00 am | Posted in cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 36 Comments
So here, thanks to Mike, I present you with my first batch of Thumbprints. OK, I’ve had two thumbprints all my life, but if those ones ever get me caught red-handed, these ones just might help me get out of trouble!
Not only are they cookies cuties, they are tasty too. They have a crumbly shortbread texture that melts in your mouth. Make them bite-sized and they won’t be messy. Only because I have a bag of almond flour in the fridge, I used ground almonds instead of hazelnuts. Some I filled with strawberry-raspberry jam and others with blueberry-cherry.
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Ugly Dude Food. In fact, check out Ugly Dude Food even if you don’t want the recipe…he’s one of our lone dude members, and deserves props just for playing along with all of us girls every week! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Honey-Wheat Cookies
February 23, 2010 at 1:19 am | Posted in cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 27 Comments
If you’re looking for a nice little tea biscuit to have with your cuppa, then you might want to give these Honey-Wheat Cookies, chosen by Michelle of Flourchild for TWD, a shot. They are soft and cakey in the center and crisp around the bottom egde…a really nicely textured cookie. And they taste like honey, lemons and wheat…just the right thing to nibble on while you destress with a cup of tea and a magazine.
Are you up in the air about buying a jar of wheat germ for this recipe? You can really do a lot of things with it, as long as you remember you have it (not gonna lie, I can be a total space-cadet sometimes)! I store mine in the fridge, and put a tablespoon into things like smoothies and pancake batter. Incorporating a little bit into muffins or crisp topping is nice, too.
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Flourchild. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Dorie’s Best Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies
February 16, 2010 at 1:06 am | Posted in cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 29 Comments
Frankly, I’m shocked that TWD has been at it for more than two years, and we are only now getting around to the recipe for Dorie’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies (and that’s thanks to Kait of Kait’s Plate). I really thought that this would be one of the first to cross off the list… but finally here these cookies are, and let me tell you they are worth the wait!
It’s hard to argue with Dorie’s suggestion that chopped bar chocolate makes tastier cookies than chips, so I bought a couple of my favorite Theo 70% bars, and put my knife to work. I left out the nuts and added in espresso powder, as well as a teeny sprinkle of pink salt midway through baking. Some folks had issues with spreading cookies, but mine turned out to be not too flat (although my dough had been in the freezer for a couple days before I baked it). A little chew in the center and lots of gooey chocolate made these a gold medal winner in my books!
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Kait’s Plate. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Rick Katz’s Brownies for Julia
February 9, 2010 at 6:00 pm | Posted in cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 27 Comments
For some reason, I’ve been having a hard time getting this post up. Writer’s block? I dunno…maybe it’s just that these brownies, chosen by Chocolatechic Tanya for TWD, were too good for words!
If you’ve made this recipe, or have even read through it, then you’ll have noticed something unusual…it requires a mixer to whip the heck out of the eggs and sugar! These are certainly fudgy brownies, but whereas the brownies I make at work are quite dense, you can feel what the whipped-in air does to these…they have a softer texutre and some chew. I read some reports of underbaked goo, so I baked my batch in a slightly larger pan than the recipe calls for, left them in the oven for a few extra insurance minutes and popped them in the fridge for half an hour before cutting into them. Perfect squares of deliciousness, with a paper-thin top crust.
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Chocolatechic. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars
January 19, 2010 at 1:04 am | Posted in cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 30 Comments 
I am the type who is already daydreaming about Halloween in January, so Lillian’s choice of Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars for TWD was alright by me! Chocolatey, peanutty goo sandwiched between two layers of oatmeal chew make for a fine candy bar approximation, especially when cut into fun-size bars.
The original recipe yields a bit too much (actually a lot too much!) for just two people, so I made a third of it in a loaf pan. For me it was a little too heavy on the oat mixture. If I make it again, I’ll go with 1/4 of the oat mixture and 1/3 of the chocolate goo. A little extra chocolate is always a good thing! Also, I left out the raisins in the chocolate layer. Something about that was a little too reminiscent of a Chunky Bar…despite what Nestlé’s website says, that combo does not bring back fond memories. The peanuts alone were plenty tasty.
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Confectiona’s Realm. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Mrs. Vogel’s Scherben
January 12, 2010 at 1:01 am | Posted in cookies & bars, sweet things | 30 Comments
Whoosie-whatsit?? I was wondering when someone would have us make these little bits of deep-fried goodness with the crazy name. Then along comes Teanna of Spork or Foon? to banish our fears of frying.
Little strips of fried dough, scherben are easy to make. They don’t taste like much naked, but if you toss them in cinnamon sugar when they are just out of the oil and then sprinkle them with 10x, yeah, they’re pretty addictive…which is good, because if you live in an apartment where the windows don’t open and the stovetop doesn’t vent to the outside, you will be reminded of your frying escapades for days to come.
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Spork or Foon? Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
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