a whisk and a spoon

Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Zan’s Birthday Cookies

Some baking book authors are into streamlined desserts…one bowl, one whisk and into the oven it goes. Others make you use every bowl you have, a stand mixer, two sets of measuring spoons, two sieves, multiple cookie scoops, who even knows how many whisks and spatulas, and want you to fire up the oven two separate times. Dorie often falls into the second camp, but at least you can trust you’ll get something delicious in exchange for dish duty. Zan’s Birthday Cookies involve making and chilling three different components: a chewy brownie cookie base, a coconut pastry cream and a cocoa streusel topping. Dorie says these layered treats have German chocolate cake vibes (my favorite!) and, minus the pecans, I happily agree.

Making these three components is actually not difficult. You can make them a day (or more) in advance, but I did them all this morning…I like a challenge, plus I had the extra daylight of summer solstice on my side for late afternoon photos. I made a quarter of the recipe and had enough base and crust for nine cookies. I only had enough coconut pastry cream for eight, though, so I gave the ninth one Black Forest vibes instead with a spoonful of cherry jam. Dorie says in the recipe headnote that you’ll wind up with extra streusel to use for something else, but I didn’t want to deal with that kicking around in my freezer so I just loaded up my cookies. More is more. And and extra is extra, so I also added sprinkles (which I saw Mardi do and then I couldn’t not).

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 DC: French Vanilla Sablés

Never met a Dorie sablé I didn’t like (and by now, I’ve met a lot of them). Actually, I’m particularly well-acquainted with these French Vanilla Sablés, as they form the base for many of Dorie’s jammer variations, but here they get to shine all on their own. They are buttery and sandy and lovely, with slightly caramelized edges from baking them in a muffin tin. Since I scaled back the recipe to just a quarter, I skipped the step of rolling out the dough and instead portioned and pressed it directly into the tin. I don’t have any sanding sugar that isn’t bright red or hot pink, so I just sprinkled these with some regular sugar for a crispy-sweet topping.

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 DC: Espresso Chocolate Sablés

I feel like I may be over-using this metal cookie tin is as a prop, but it’s a real-like look into what I’m keeping around for sweet snacks…lift off the lid right now, and you’ll see Espresso Chocolate Sablés. Dorie’s sablés are always winners, and when they’re flavored with my two favorite things (espresso and chopped chocolate), I wonder why we’ve waited so long to make them! Well, they are pretty similar to the Espresso-Chocolate Shortbread Cookies from BFMHTY, but heck, that post was in 2010.

These make me think of the McDonald’s chocolaty chip cookies that came in a little box and were such a treat when I was a kid. Today, those probably wouldn’t actually taste anything like they do in my memory, but I can’t check that because it seems they don’t even sell them anymore. I am totally dating myself with rosy memories of fast food cookies from the ’80s, but the point is that I really liked these sablés, and they should pop up in the tin on the regular.

For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!