a whisk and a spoon

Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Double-Ginger Crumb Cookies

It’s certainly the time of year to be baking with warm spices, and these Double-Ginger Crumb Cookies are a perfect candidate for your cute holiday cookie box. Or my very classy black plastic take-out box, as the case may be…whatevs, they’ll be eaten up regardless of container. These use Dorie’s Do-Almost-Anything Vanilla Cookie Dough, which makes a deliciously buttery sugar cookie, as the base. Fresh ginger gets worked into that dough, which is then rolled and cut. At the restaurant where I work, we keep a tub of sweetened ginger purée around that we use in a couple of things. I think it is really intense and delicious, so I took home a little blob of it to use in my dough. The next hit of ginger in these cookies comes from a crumb topping scented with ground ginger. I like these a lot. They’re not fancy looking, but lovely tasting, and perfect with tea.

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 DC: Spiced Pumpkin Jammers

I’ve made a larger galette version and the classic cookie version of Dorie’s jammers before, and these Spiced Pumpkin Jammers are a take on those. Here, a sweet and sandy spiced sablé base is topped with a pumpkin-cream cheese mix and ringed with sweet pumpkin seed streusel. Don’t expect immediate gratification…this is a recipe for when you have some time to spend and want a project.

These can be formed in either rings or muffin tins to get a crisp, round shape. I went with my muffin pan. Rather than roll, chill and cut the sablé dough to fit the tins, I used a little cookie scoop to portion it out right after I made it, and then just pressed it in. Be sure to grease the cavities of the molds well, as these are delicate. You’ll notice these’s one missing in the picture, and that’s because I destroyed it trying to get it out. I ate it anyway and shared a half dozen of the rest with the trainers at my gym (who all have a secret sweet tooth)…we all gave them glowing reviews! They’re like pumpkin pie bites, and, fyi, a little blob of whipped cream on top certainly doesn’t hurt anything.

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: Maple-Star Anise Cookies, Sandwiched

We’re definitely moving into fall here in the US, and our cookie choices this month reflect that. Maple-Star Anise Cookies are flavored with, you guessed it, maple syrup and star anise (a spice I don’t often use, but have at home as part of a mulling spice blend someone gave me), as well as cinnamon, ginger and orange zest. These are soft and spicy cookies, on the cakey side, and while I suppose you could eat them as is, they are a natural match for maple and spice cream cheese frosting. You can schmear just one side with frosting and have them open-faced, or you can schmear and then sandwich them, which is what i did here. They remind me of whoopee pies, but a bit more delicate. The cookies spread a lot in the oven and need plenty of space on the sheet tray…I found that freezing the dough balls for just the amount of time it took to preheat the oven helped control things a bit and keep them round.

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: Double-Buckwheat Double-Chocolate Cookies

Buckwheat and dark chocolate is a combination that is oh-so-good. The earthy nuttiness and bittersweetness all just work together. So naturally it follows that Double-Buckwheat Double-Chocolate Cookies should be oh-so-so-good. And I just know that they are, but here’s where I will confess something…I actually made single-buckwheat triple-chocolate cookies. The two types of buckwheat called for in the recipe are flour and kasha. The flour I have already, but the kasha I don’t. Since I’m on a self-imposed lockdown on the purchase of any new flours, grains and condiments (my fridge and cabinets are seriously out of control), I didn’t go out and get any. I did want that crunchy element that the kasha would have added to the cookies, so I reached into my freezer drawer and pulled out my baggie of cocoa nibs and added them to the cocoa powder and chopped chocolate already in the recipe. The dough can be rolled out into a sheet and cut, or rolled into log and sliced. I opted for the slice-and-bake version.

These cookies are great. They’re nice and soft inside (with that bit of crunch!), and a sprinkling of salt and sugar on top gives the flavor a real pop. A Brooklyn bakery called Bien Cuit makes similarly flavored salted chocolate buckwheat cookies, which I buy from time to time and have found to be the perfect nibble with an afternoon coffee. The same is true with these. Small and not too sweet, they are just right.

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.