Bonus: Christina Tosi Compost Cookies (with a twist)

A bit ago I received a lovely gift from Rachel, who is an amazing baker and followed her passion to pastry school and now works in a bakery that has the best pie. She has pie skillz. When she handed me the jar of espresso/cacao/vanilla extract the very first thing that popped into my head are Christina Tosi's compost cookies. She shares the recipe on her website here. These cookies have potato chips and pretzels, chocolate and butterscotch chips, they are fun. They call for ground coffee, and I do not enjoy coffee. So I subbed the vanilla in the recipe for 2 teaspoons of the the espresso/cacao/vanilla extract. It was brilliant, still highlights the chocolate but without an overpowering coffee flavor. Perfect for the non-coffee lover in your life! YUM!

 

Bake Club: Pistachio Pinwheels

To celebrate St Patrick's day we had bake club on Sunday and made Pistachio Pinwheels! We used the recipe in Claire Saffitz' book Dessert Person. Given the snow storm, I used the pistachio's I had on hand which were roasted and not the lovely bright green of the raw ones so I added three drops of green food gel. I should probably have just done 1, but it was too late after I had done three! Reminder to self that gel color is always more intense.

You can see the recipe here, thanks to the New York Times also thinking this was a great recipe.

You can watch Claire make them on YouTube here. I have gone down the rabbit hole of watching her videos and she is lovely, approachable, and easy to follow. I am aiming for less wonky swirl next go round using her tips from the video! YUM!

Bake 2.11: Brandy Snaps

There are some bakes that I am just not sure what to think about, Brandy Snaps being one of those. I am fairly sensitive to heat so rolling them sounded hard and I don't like brandy. The good news is, there is no brandy! You are welcome to add a splash to the whipped cream filling if you would like. The name of these lacy gems came about because of the color of the sugar when it is cooked. I followed Mary Berry's recipe of course - this is a technical! Given the location where I reside, I traded out brown sugar for the demerara and used corn syrup instead of golden syrup. They looked like hers so I like to think they turned out well. 

Ingredients
2 ounces butter
2 ounces brown sugar 
2 ounces corn syrup 

1 3/4 ounce plain flour

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prep two cookie sheets with parchment and oil the handle of wooden spoon for rolling after they are baked. I used a stainless steel handled spatula because apparently everything else was dirty. It worked well and didn't require oiling. 

Measure the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup into a heavy bottom pan. If you have a digital scale pop that pan on top and measure right into it. Heat gently until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved, don't let the mixture boil because then it might crystalize. 

Leave the mixture to cool slightly, 2-3 minutes, and then sift in the flour and ginger. Stir in the lemon juice. Drop 4 teaspoonfuls on to the prepared baking trays and make neat (ish) circles. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 8-10 minutes. The mixture will look spread out and lacy, browned. Now once baked you have to wait an awkward period of time until they lift with a offset spatula (or as Mary says "a fish slice"). Then quickly roll the circle around the handle until the join us underneath. Slide off the handle and leave it to firm up on a wire rack with the join at underneath.

While I didn't need to use her trick, if they are too firm then pop them back in the oven to warm up slightly so you can roll them.

You can eat them as is, or fill them with lovely whipped cream. I whipped up 1 cup of cream with a few tablespoons of powdered sugar and a dash of vanilla. Then I piped them full, not too full, but as full as they could possibly be. Yum! Enjoy! 

Bonus: Classic Sugar Cookies

Holidays require sugar cookies, and I love them. I like them to be a little thicker so they are chewy in the middle and still crisp on the edges. My very favorite cookie is a good snickerdoodle but sugar cookies are in the running for the top 5. This year we kept our decorations simple with lots of sprinkles. Sprinkles are the glitter of the food world. I am not a master piper just yet. I keep telling myself that if I practice it will get 

Ingredients
Cookie

2 1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup salted butter at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large eff

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Whisk flour and baking powder and set aside (let's be honest, I often do this in the bowl when I add the flour to save the extra bowl, but when the kid helps I do a second bowl so he has more scooping/pouring options. 

In the mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until completely smooth and creamy, at least 2 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, almond, and beat on high 1 additional minute. Scrape at least twice and keep beating to ensure it is well combined. 

Add the flour with the mixer on low low. It will be a soft dough but should not be sticky. If it is sticky add a touch more flour. Divide the dough in half and chill for 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prep your baking sheets with parchment or silpat. Roll out the cookies and cut with cutters to your hearts desire. If needed use a little flour to keep the rolling pin from sticking, try not to add too much or when you re-roll the scraps the cookies will be tough. 

Arrange on the prepared baking sheets with a little space between, they won't spread much and bake 10-11 minutes until the edges are just barely browned. I rotate halfway through baking too as our oven is not totally even in her baking. If your cutters are all the sizes, bake the larger ones together, medium ones together and so on. If you bake tiny with large then they won't all be done at the same time.

Transfer to a wire rack for the cooling party. While the cookies cool, make the icing.

Icing

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons meringue powder

3/4 cup + room temperature water 

Add the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and most of the water to the bowl of a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on high (start slow and build up unless you want a sugar storm) for 1-2 minutes. Add more water if needed to adjust the consistency. I am not a consistency master yet, that goes with the piping thing. There are a number of different consistencies used for decorating and I went down a rabbit hole and then talked myself out of trying to make them. We will add it to the list. I went with a normal, drizzles down into the bowl and smooths out by time I count to 10 for these cookies. If you add too much water, then add more sugar to adjust. You can also flavor with a few drops of extract in the water if you prefer.

Pipe or smear or dip as you prefer. They do dry in a few hours so if sprinkling do that in the 30 minutes after piping for best stick. YUM. 

Bake 2.12 Part 3: Egg Nog Macarons

While drinking egg nog is an unpleasant endeavor for me as I don't even like drinking milk but nutmeg is queen in these macarons. They may have been my favorite off all three! 

Ingredients

100 grams egg whites

100 grams granulated sugar

105 grams almond flour

105 grams powdered sugar

Sprinkle of Cinnamon or Nutmeg (to put on top)

6 tablespoons butter

3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup egg nog

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon nutmeg

Line two baking sheets with parchment so they are ready to go. Prepare a pastry back with a large round tip and set aside so it is ready to go. Measure all of your ingredients so you are ready to go. Get a drink of water so you are all ready to go. 

Sift the powdered sugar and almond flour. 

Place egg whites and granulated sugar in a heat proof bowl or double boiler over a pan of simmering water. Whisk the whites and sugar until frothy and sugar is completely dissolved. If you aren't sure about the sugar being dissolved, test the mixture by rubbing some between your fingers, you should not feel any granules. Once dissolved transfer to the bowl of the stand mixture. 

With the whisk attachment, start whisking on low, gradually increasing to medium speed. You want the mixture to turn white and fluffy before you raise the speed to high. Continue beating until you reach stiff peaks. Fold in the almond flour and powdered sugar. Continue to fold until you get the perfect macaron consistency. 

Transfer the batter to a piping bag and pipe onto the prepared baking sheets. Remember you are ready to go! Sprinkle the tops with cinnamon and/or nutmeg. I went with nutmeg. Slam the pans on the counter a few times to get out any air bubbles, you can also use a toothpick to pop any large bubbles. Leave to dry about 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Bake once at a time, about 20 minutes, rotating halfway. 

While they bake, whip up the butter, adding the egg nog, vanilla and nutmeg. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Add more egg nog (to thin) or powdered sugar (to thicken) as needed. 

Once the cookies are cool, fill with the buttercream and enjoy!

Bake 2.12 Part 2: Hot Cocoa Macarons

These macarons are a treat, they have a chocolate shell, whipped marshmallow filling, with a spot of chocolate ganache hidden in the center. I decorated them with a stripe of ganache and a dab of marshmallow that I torched for fun. The amounts are in weights, macarons are finicky and do best when measured well and well definitely means measuring by weight. 

Ingredients

215 grams powdered sugar

125 grams ground, blanched almond flour. 

10 grams dark or unsweetened cocoa powder

130 grams egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

105 grams granulated sugar

Ganache

3 ounces dark chocolate
2 ounces heavy cream

Marshmallow

3 large egg whites

2/4 cup granulated sugar

4 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Prepare 2 cookie sheets with parchment and get a pastry bag ready with a large round tip. 

Put half of the powdered sugar in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, add the almond flour, remaining powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Pulse until no almond flour is visible. Sift the mixture several times, discarding any large bits and set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar on medium until frothy. Slowly add the granulated sugar. Increase the speed to high and whisk until stiff peaks form. 

Fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture, folding gently until everything is mixed together. Scoop the mixture into the pastry bag. 

Pipe the macarons onto the prepared baking sheet. Tap the baking sheet on the counter 3-4 times to ensure any air bubbles are released. Then allow the macarons to sit for 30-45 minutes until they look dull and when you touch them, no batter comes away on your finger. You want the tops to be dry so when they rise in the oven they form the traditional 'foot'. 

Preheat the oven to 320 degrees. Bake the macarons for 13 minutes, one tray at a time. You will know they are done when they lift easily off the parchment paper. They don't brown like a traditional cookie. 

Allow to cool while you make the fillings.

For the ganache, microwave the heavy cream in 30 second increments until piping hot. pour over the chocolate and whisk until a smooth texture, allow to cool. Then transfer to a pastry bag.

For the marshmallow, add the egg whites, sugar, corn syrup, cream of tartar and salt into a clean mixer bowl. Bring a pot of water to a simmer and holding the bowl over the saucepan, whisk until the mixture is opaque, frothy, and the sugar is melted. I am high tech and used the mixing whisk attachment to do that since it is used in the next step anyways! Transfer to the mixer itself and whisk on medium high until stiff peaks. While mixing add vanilla. The finished mixture will be glossy and cool to the touch. Transfer to a piping bag.

To assemble, pipe a ring of marshmallow, fill the center with ganache, and then sandwich. Decorate as you desire. Yum yum yum yum!

Bake 2.12 Part 1: Mocha Macarons

The biscuit episode showstopper was a monster (!), three types of macarons, 120 total, in 5 hours. I decided my macarons would have a winter drinks theme and to kick off the three flavors we have Mocha. In the next few posts you will see Egg Nog and Hot Cocoa. While I was going for delicate lines of ganache to top the macarons, the bag split and ganache came out in many ways so I went with artsy splashes of ganache. If anyone asks I will say I did it entirely on purpose.

Ingredients

120 grams egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

130 grams granulated sugar

140 grams almond flour

110 grams powdered sugar

2 teaspoons espresso powder (or as I used, finely ground fancy coffee from the wife)

Ganache

200 grams dark chocolate

100 grams heavy cream

3 teaspoons espresso powder (again, finely ground fancy coffee for me)

pinch of salt

Line baking sheets with parchment. Prep a piping bag with a large round tip. I am not an expert piper by any means so use the internet and watch some videos of piping macarons, it is super helpful.

Place the almond flour, powdered sugar, and espresso powder in the food processor and process until it is just beginning to clump. Sift a few times and discard any bits left behind.

Whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar in the mixer until foamy. Slowly stream in the granulated sugar while continuing to whisk. Turn to medium high and continue whisking until stiff peaks form. 

Gently fold the flour mixture into the egg whites. Pipe onto the prepared baking sheets, bang on counter to remove air bubbles and allow to dry for 30-45 minutes. When you can tap the top and nothing comes away on your finger and the tops look dull, they are ready for baking! 

Bake at 320 degrees for 13 minutes. They are ready when they lift easily off of the parchment. 

While the cookies cool, make the ganache. Heat the cream in a microwave safe bowl, or on the stovetop if you are fancy. Add the chocolate, espresso powder and salt, whisk until smooth. Allow to cool and transfer to a piping bag. Fill and sandwich the cookies. Decorate as you so desire. Enjoy!

Bake 2.10: Ginger Cookies

This is a holiday classic, my mom makes them most years and they are one that I look forward to many months before it is appropriate. You are thinking pumpkin spice, and I am thinking ginger cookies. The original recipe was from a 1990 edition of Christmas Cookie magazine. They made them with a large cookie scoop (made 24), I use a regular 1 tablespoon size cookie scoop because that is what I have and it makes 36 of that size. A few tips, I add fresh ginger when I have it, this is not necessary so I leave it out if I don't have any on hand but does give them an extra zing. Really don't overbake them, if you do they get crunchy and they are supposed to be a soft cookie. When they are puffed up and just browning on the edges take them out. They will sink while they cool. 

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground clove

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup molasses

2 tablespoons sugar (for rolling)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prep baking sheets with parchment or silpat.

Combine flour, spices, and soda in a large bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer beat the butter until soft and light in color, at least 30 seconds. 

Gradually add the sugar and beat until fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Scraping down the bowl as needed.

Add the egg and molasses, beat well. I always crack the egg into the measuring cup that I plan to use for the molasses so that the molasses slides right on out of the measuring cup. 

Gently stir in the dry ingredients until mixed. Allow to chill in the fridge a few minutes.

Shape into balls using a cookie scoop and roll in sugar before placing on the baking sheet. 

Bake about 10 minutes, watch for slight browning on the edges and the middle to still be puffed up.

If you would like a thumbprint cookie, when they just come out of the oven use a metal teaspoon to press in the middle and fill with jam. This is a cranberry jam I made by cooking a large bag of cranberries, 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of water, the zest and juice of 1 orange, and a few cinnamon sticks until it was a nice jammy consistency. 

 Or a sandwich cookie!

Bake 6b: Earl Grey Macarons with Earl Grey Buttercream and Lemon Curd

Part 2 of our showstopper biscuit bake!

I love Earl Grey tea and the wife can attest that I drink a cup most every morning, sometimes two. I buy Twinings because it has a lovely balance ... Earl Grey is a standard black tea flavored with bergamot which is extracted from the rind of the bergamot cirtrus fruit. It is slightly floral, tart, citrusy, spicy and pairs well with the blank canvas of a macaron.

Since Early Grey tea is a lovely light citrus flavor you could fill these macarons with most any flavor of buttercream, chocolate ganache, vanilla anything, citrus curd, whipped honey... you have lots of options. I went the buttercream route so I could amplify the Earl Grey flavor and added a dollop of lemon curd in the middle for a nice tang.

Cookie first!

Ingredients

100 grams egg whites

100 grams granulated sugar

105 grams almond flour

105 grams powdered sugar

2-4 earl grey tea bags*

*tea in the bags is more finely ground to start with, and lets be honest, it is what I always have on hand. Feel welcome to substitute loose leaf tea if that is what you have. If you like a more pronounced tea flavor use more, less pronounced use less. 

Line two baking sheets with parchment, and prep a large piping back with a large round tip. I put the piping bag in a large cup so I can leave it standing to fill, much easier! If you aren't sure about your ability to pipe circles of the same size, trace circles on the parchment and then turn it over so the pencil is on the underneath side. They also make macaron templates you can use. 

In  a double boiler, whisk the egg whites and sugar until frothy and the sugar has completely dissolved. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixture, and whisk until stiff peaks, start on low speed and gradually increase the speed.  

While that whisks. Sift the powdered sugar, almond flour, and tea bag contents together. I used three tea bags. I sift a second time due to the inclusion of the tea to ensure all the large coarse bits are removed and to evenly distribute the tea through the mix.

Pour the sifted ingredients into the stiff whites. Fold the mixture gently until combined and the batter is glossy and has a thick flowing consistency. You can test by taking a small spoon of batter and putting it on the parchment, if it behaves by spreading a bit and then looking glossy and smooth on top you are ready. If not, fold a few more times and try again. It is super important not to overmix, you will get running batter and there is no going back from there. 

Pipe onto the baking trays in small mounds. Leave the trays to dry for 30 minutes, longer if you live in a humid climate, you want them to be dry to the touch, this is what gives them a foot. (a foot is the little ruffle around the edge when they are baked).

While the cookies dry, make your buttercream and curd. 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

4 tablespoons salted butter, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3-5 tablespoons milk 

2 earl grey tea bags*

Put the tea in the milk for a few minutes to steep, then strain. Whisk the butter, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons milk. Add the powdered sugar. Add additional milk as needed to get a thick buttercream texture. Put in a piping bag with a round tip. 

Ingredients

4 egg yolks

2/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

6 tablespoons salted butter

In a double boiler, whisk the egg yolks, zest, juice, and sugar. Continue to whisk while the mixture thickens  ... Once thickened, remove from the heat and whisk in the butter. Spread on a cookie sheet or in a shallow pan and put in the fridge to firm up. Once cooled put in a piping back with a round tip. 

Preheat the oven to 325 and bake the cookies for 16-18 minutes, turning the tray at least once. Remove from the often and allow to cool before assembling. 

To assemble, pipe a ring of buttercream around the edge of one cookie, fill the center with lemon curd, and sandwich with a second cookie. 

Bake 4: Mace Snickerdoodles

The theme of the second episode is biscuits! Known as cookies for those who live on this side of the pond. As I have with previous bakes, I thought through my favorites. As this bake was to be the bakers favorite I figured that would be easy. Yet, I thought for a long time and realized I like a lot of cookies. Coming to a point of being stumped, I thought, well duh, I will call my mom, she knows what cookies I like best. Then it hit me - Snickerdoodles. Of course! Snickerdoodles! When I told the wife about this thought process later she laughed, it was the obvious answer apparently. 

Growing up, my mom would make us scrunch up our faces and say 'schnookerdoodle' in a very silly way because that is what you had to do to eat them. This was a lie but of course I will teach my son the same thing.

To mix things up, I am rolling my snickerdoodles in a sugar with equal parts cinnamon and mace. Mace is from the nutmeg tree which is native to Indonesia and Greneda. Mace is the lacy outer protective layer around the nutmeg. Nutmeg is the inner kernal of the fruit of the tree. Mace is a similar slightly lighter nutmeg flavor with a peppery note. I love it... reminds me of have a good cup of spicy chai and how the peppery warming spice hits the back of the throat. Yum! 

 

This is the recipe we used growing up, I still use it but with a few adjustments... use 1 cup of butter instead of the butter or margarine and shortening. Increase the salt to 1/2 teaspoon. I also increase the rolling sugar to 1/4 cup. I do that just so they are easier to roll but if you are concerned about wasting sugar, use 2 tablespoons and add more as needed.. It definitely doesn't make 6 dozen cookies, that is just silly Betty, she missed on the math there, it makes 3 dozen when using a standard size cookie scoop. 

Baking at 400 is critical and you do have to watch these ones. It says to bake 8-10 minutes, but I don't time them as the time changes based on using a cool pan, or a pan you just used in the oven. They puff up quite a bit, and when they are just beginning to deflate, and the outside edge gets the slightest bit of browning pull them out. Cool them on a rack and enjoy!

Want to be extra? They make amazing ice cream sandwiches if you smoosh a scoop of vanilla ice cream between two cookies, wrap in wax paper and freeze until solid.