Leite's Culinaria» cookies | bars

Valentine’s Sugar Cookies

Tracey Zabar — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:00:47 +0000

One Sweet Cookie | Rizzoli, 2011 | Makes about 60 small cookies

Flower-shaped cookies are a lovely alternative to a pricey bouquet for your sweetie on Valentine’s Day and are elegant after-dinner sweets. The versatile dough can be rolled out and cut into any desired shape. You can also omit the sugar topping and decorate them with the icing of your choice.–Tracey Zabar

LC How Sweet! Note: Few flowers, even a bouquet of stunning long stems, can stand up to the splendor and thoughtfulness in a batch of these tender, subtly sweet little somethings. It’s the difference between “Oh, how sweet, but you shouldn’t have!” and “Oh, how sweet, and I’m ridiculously giddy that you did!”

Special Equipment: Flower-shaped cookie cutter (or a different shape, if you prefer)

Active time: 15 minutes | Total time: 30 minutes, not including cooling

Valentine's Sugar Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

| metric conversion

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups flour
Coarse sugar, for sprinkling, whether sanding or pearl or raw

Directions

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1. To make the Valentine’s sugar cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C). Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar until light and irresistibly fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Gently fold in the salt and flour just until combined.
3. Roll out the dough between a couple large-ish pieces of parchment paper until it’s about 1/2- inch thick.
4. Remove the top piece of parchment and, using a 1 1/2-inch flower cookie cutter (or whatever shape you prefer), cut out cookies and place them on the prepared sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. (If you find the dough too soft to cut with a cookie cutter, transfer the dough, still sandwiched between the parchment paper, to the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Tthen try again.) Sprinkle the cookies with coarse sugar.
5. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes, until the edges of the cookies just begin to brown. Let the cookies cool completely on wire racks before showering them upon your sweetie.

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Valentine Peppermint Creme Cookies from Cheeky Kitchen
Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies from Brown Eyed Baker
Brown Sugar Cookies from Leite's Culinaria
Linzer Heart Cookies from Leite's Culinaria

Monster Chocolate M&M Cookies

Pat Sinclair — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:00:18 +0000

Baking Basics and Beyond | Agate Surrey, 2011 | Makes 32 jumbo or 96 standard cookies

We call these “dishpan cookies” at my house because if you make the whole recipe, you need a dishpan to mix all the ingredients (or a very large bowl). These cookies traveled with my kids on many team trips and were always “winners.”–Pat Sinclair

We Interrupt This Recipe…: Put down that wooden spoon. The New York Times just reported that this Sunday’s Super Bowl XLVI will introduce yet another animated M&Ms character: Ms. Brown. The sixth member of the melts-in-your-hands-not-in-your-mouth cast, Brown will join Yellow, Orange, Red, Green, and Blue. Look for her during the first quarter commericals. (Are we the only ones who’re a little giddy about this?!)

Active time: 20 minutes | Total time: 1 hour

Chocolate M&M Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

| metric conversion

3 1/2 cups (14 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (1 1/2 ounces) unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups (4 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs
2 cups quick-cooking oats
2 cups cornflakes (after measuring the cornflakes, crush them lightly)
2 cups M&Ms, semisweet chocolate or butterscotch chips, or a combinations

Directions

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1. Heat oven to 350°F (180°C) with oven rack in middle position. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat.
2. Mix the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in really, really, really large bowl or a dishpan.
3. Beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in bowl of a mixer on medium-high speed until creamy, scraping down sides of bowl once or twice. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix well.
4. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat just until a dough forms. Scrape the dough back into the very large bowl. Dump in the oatmeal, corn flakes, and M&Ms or chips and stir with a spoon until combined.
For jumbo cookies
5. Using a 1/4 cup measure or ice cream scoop, drop the dough onto the baking sheets, making 6 cookies on each cookie sheet. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until set in the center and edges are lightly browned. For softer cookies, reduce baking time slightly. The cookies will still look a little moist in the center. Cool cookies 1 minute on the cookie sheets and then place them on wire cooling racks. (Store the cookies loosely covered at room temperature.)
For normal cookies
6. Drop 1-tablespoon blobs of dough onto the baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Bake 10 to 13 minutes, or until set in the center and edges are lightly browned. For softer cookies, reduce baking time slightly. The cookies will still look a little moist in the center. Cool cookies 1 minute on the cookie sheets and then place them on wire cooling racks. (Store the cookies loosely covered at room temperature.)

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Giant Double Chocolate Chip Cookies from Annie's Eats
Big, Soft & Chewy Molasses Ginger Spice Cookies from Farmgirl Fare
Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies from Leite's Culinaria
Monster Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies from Leite's Culinaria

Ultra-Thin Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Alice Medrich — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:00:27 +0000

Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-In-Your-Mouth Cookies | Artisan, 2010 | Makes fifteen 5-inch cookies

A theatrical departure from mainstream chocolate chip cookies, these ultra-thin cookies are large and decidedly flat. They shatter dramatically when you bite them, releasing loads of caramel brown sugar goodness and bursts of bittersweet chocolate.–Alice Medrich

LC Fancy Pants but Not Fussy Cookies Note: Those of you who like your chocolate chip cookies cakey and chewy, you may as well stop reading now…unless you doubt your devotion. Crispy cookie junkies, once you experience these brittle, caramelized ultra-thin cookies that seem heaven sent, you may find yourself falling to your knees in reverence. The only trick to these fancy-pants but not fussy cookies? Squashing the dough flat, but not too flat, before baking and keep careful watch over the cookies so the sugars caramelize but not scorch. What can we say, practice makes perfect. And oh, what palatable practice!

Active time: 20 minutes | Total time: 45 minutes, not including time for the dough to rest

Ultra-Thin Chocolate Chunk Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

| metric conversion

1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
2 tablespoons whole milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
7 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped into chunks, or 1 generously heaping cup chocolate chips or chunks

Directions

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1. Combine the flour and baking soda in a small bowl, mixing them thoroughly with a whisk or fork. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, oats, granulated and dark brown sugars, corn syrup, milk, and salt. Whisk in the flour mixture. If the batter is still warm from the butter, let it cool to room temperature before adding the chocolate. Stir in the chocolate chunks. If possible, let the dough rest for at least several hours at room temperature or covered overnight in the fridge. (The resting time makes for an especially crisp and extra-flavorful cookie. If you refrigerate the dough, you may need to warm it to room temperature before you’re able to portion it into cookies.)
3. Preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C). Position the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. (These cookies will not spread as they should in a convection oven, so make them only if you have a conventional oven.) Have ready 3 baking sheets.
4. Place 3 large sheets of aluminum foil, cut to fit your baking sheets, on the counter. Divide the dough into 15 equal blobs of about 2 tablespoons each. Arrange 5 blobs of dough well apart on each sheet of foil, situating 4 in a square and 1 in the center. Flatten each piece of dough until it is about 3 inches in diameter. Slide two of the sheets of foil onto baking sheets.
5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the cookies are thin and very brown, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking. If the finished cookies are too pale, they will not be crisp, although watch the cookies carefully as they turn brown quickly. Slide the cookies and foil onto wire racks to cool completely before removing the cookies from the foil. Repeat with the third batch—you can slide the last sheet of foil and cookie dough onto a hot baking sheet as long as you put the sheet in the oven immediately. Cool the cookies completely before stacking or storing. The cookies can be kept in an airtight container for at least 3 days.

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Pomegranate White Chocolate Chunk Cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod
Chocolate Orange Benne Wafer Cookies from Cookin' Canuck
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies from Leite's Culinaria
Crisp Peanut Butter Cookies from Leite's Culinaria

Christmas Tree of Cookies

Harriet Hastings | Sarah Moore — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:46:54 +0000

Harriet Hastings and Sarah Moore | Biscuiteers Book of Iced Cookies | Kyle Books, 2011 | Makes 1 spectacular cookie Christmas tree

This cookie “tree” is very simple but looks impressive. It’s made up of a stack of little Christmas stars, which can be decorated and detailed or kept plain and simply dusted with confectioners’ sugar. This is a great treat to make with children. It’s a good idea to make this tree close to where you’re going to eat it.– Harriet Hastings and Sarah Moore

LC Yes, You Can Create Cookies That Look Like This Note: If you’ve never undertaken cookie decorating before, all you need is a little confidence. Well, okay, that and a steady hand. And the right how-tos. So what we’re giving you here is less a recipe than a decorating how-to, because chances are you’re already pretty adept at making cookies. You’ll find everything you need—minus that steady—right here and in the tips found at the Basic Royal Icing Recipe on the site (see link below in the ingredients list).

Active time: 1 hour | Total time: 1 hour, not including baking and resting.

Christmas Tree of Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

| metric conversion

Your favorite roll-out cookie or shortbread dough in any flavor, whether chocolate, sugar, gingerbread, or some other snazzy incarnation , enough to make at least 36 cookies
1/2 batch Basic Royal Icing
Optional embellishments: Confectioners’ sugar, glitter sugar, shiny baubles and snowflakes
Toothpicks or slender wooden skewers for when your outlining gets a little sloppy and needs to be erased
Cookie Cutters: Up to 6 different-sized 5-pointed stars
Pastry bag or a resealable plastic bag with the tip cut off for piping icing

Directions

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1. Roll out your cookie dough on a lightly floured work surface to the thickness specified in the recipe. Cut about five or six cookies in each star size–maybe a few more, just to allow for breakages and decorating gaffes. Bake as diercted. Let cool.

2. Outline each star with white piping icing. If desired, dust the cookies with silver glitter sugar and add a silver bauble to each star point using white piping icing as glue. Let dry.

3. Take a pretty plate and, starting with the largest stars, stack them on top of each other using white piping icing to “glue” each layer together and giving each additional star a quarter turn to make the helix shape. Let dry completely about halfway through so you have a stable platform on which to stack the smaller stars.

To further embellish the Christmas tree of cookies, try any of the following…

Simple: Sift confectioners’ sugar over the entire tree to make it look like a frosted fir.

Colorful: Squeeze trails of multicolored royal icing (piping icing) all over the tree. Add glitter sugar and tiny shiny baubles, snowflakes, or any other exciting Christmas decorations to the trails before they set.

Sophisticated: Ice each star with a glitter-frosted white pattern and stack up with pretty candies.

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Christmas Sugar Cookie from The Repressed Pastry Chef
Gingerbread Stars for Christmas from She’s in the Kitchen
Walnut Star Cookies from Leite’s Culinaria
Snowflake Cookies from Leite’s Culinaria

Hanukkah Cookies

Harriet Hastings | Sarah Moore — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:59:21 +0000

Harriet Hastings and Sarah Moore | Biscuiteers Book of Iced Cookies | Kyle Books, 2011 | Makes about a dozen or so cookies

This is a very simple-to-ice cookie collection in celebration of Hanukkah. We think that you might find these cookies go down very well at any one of the eight festival nights. Take some of the ideas to use as favors at bar mitzvahs or bat mitzvahs, too.– Harriet Hastings and Sarah Moore

LC Yes, You Can Create Cookies That Look Like This Note: What we’re giving you here is less a recipe than a decorating how-to, because chances are you’re an old pro at making cookies, but the decorating thing may be a little new to you. A little confidence is all it takes. Well, okay, that and a steady hand. And the right how-tos, if you’ve never undertaken cookie decorating before. You’ll find everything you need—minus that steady hand—right here and in the recipe and tips for Basic Royal Icing.

Active time: 1 hour | Total time: 1 hour, not including baking and resting.

Hanukkah Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

| metric conversion

Your favorite roll-out cookie or shortbread dough in any flavor, whether chocolate, sugar, gingerbread, or some other snazzy incarnation
Basic Royal Icing
Blue and/or yellow food coloring or food-color gel
Toothpicks or slender wooden skewers for when your outlining gets a little sloppy and needs to be erased
Cookie Cutters: Star of David, Dreidel, Menorah, and Rectangles of various sizes for gifts
Pastry bag or a resealable plastic bag with the tip cut off for piping icing
Squeezy bottles in any size for flooding icing

Directions

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To make the Star of David and Dreidel: Pipe the outline of the cookie. Let set for a few minutes. Flood the surface in white icing or icing tinted gentian blue. Let set. Add details in icing tinted gentian blue.

To make the Menorah: Pipe the outline of the cookie in icing tinted gentian blue. Flood the surface of the cookie with the same color icing. Let set. Pipe on the candles in white icing and finish by piping teensy flames in icing tinted yellow.

To make the Polka Dot Gift: Pipe the outline of the cookie in icing tinted gentian blue. Let set. Flood the surface of the cookie with white runny icing and then immediately squeeze on spots of gentian blue runny icing. Let set. Pipe on the ribbon and bow detail in gentian blue.

To make the Starry Gift: Pipe the outline of the cookie in icing tinted baby blue. Let set. Flood the surface of the cookie with runny gentian or baby blue. Let set. When dry, pipe on the ribbon and bow details in any color contrasting icing.

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Black & White Cookies from David Lebovitz
Seven Layer Cookies from Smitten Kitchen
Almond and Walnut Macaroons from Leite’s Culinaria
Rugelach from Leite’s Culinaria

Sugar Christmas Snow Cookies

Diana Henry — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:03:58 +0000

Diana Henry | Roast Figs Sugar Snow | Mitchell Beazley, 2009 | Makes about 24

All cold-weather countries revel in the baking that goes with Christmas and New Year festivities. I have Swedish friends who start preparing for Christmas right at the beginning of December; I suppose it is a way of getting through the darkness. Here are sugar Christmas cookies from the plethora baked every year.–Diana Henry

LC What Exactly Is a Christmas Snow Cookie? Note: Seems we each have an idea of what a sugar cookie ought to be. We have a hunch this is determined, in large part, by the cookies snitched from the baking sheet when our mom’s back was turned. As for what to expect from these Sugar Christmas Snow Cookies? They’re thin. They’re delicate. They’re tender. They’re browned ever so slightly at the edges. And they’re imbued with the sweet, sweet loveliness of butter. Think of them as shortbread all gussied up in the guise of a sugar cookie.

Active time: 25 minutes | Total time: 35 minutes, not including time for chilling or cooling.

Sugar Christmas Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

| metric conversion

For the sugar cookies

1/2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (2.1 ounces) confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
1 1/2 cups (6.75 ounces) bleached all-purpose flour, plus more for the work surface

For the icing

1 cup (4.2 ounces) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Vodka or water
Freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

Make the sugar cookies

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1. Using an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, sugar, and salt on medium-low until very well combined, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla, if using, until thoroughly combined.

2. Reduce the mixer to the lowest speed, add the flour, and mix until the dough holds together. Turn the dough out on a lightly, lightly floured work surface, knead it gently a few times until the dough takes on an even, smooth consistency. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it overnight. (The overnight chilling is a crucial step, ensuring the dough remains moist and, in turn, doesn’t crumble when you roll it out.)

3. Preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C).

4. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature to soften slightly so it’s malleable but is still cool to the touch. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen and the dough, this could take as much as 20 minutes, give or take a few.

5. Lightly flour the work surface and a rolling pin and carefully roll the dough to a 1/8-inch thickness. If the dough starts to crack, let it sit a few minutes more. If it’s too soft, slide it back in the fridge until firmer. Stamp out cookies with a variety of cookie cutters (we’re partial to stars, dandy candy canes, and bells) and place them on a baking sheet. (A thin metal spatula helps if the dough proves stubborn and sticks to the work surface.) Bake until golden and edged in brown, about 8 minutes. Cool the cookies on a wire rack.

Make the icing

6. Meanwhile dump the the confectioners sugar into a bowl and add enough vodka or water and lemon juice to make an icing that you can drizzle. It’s the right consistency when you can scoop some up on the tines of a fork and it drops in a slow but steady stream. For a fancy schamcy look, you can use a classic piping bag or a zip-top bag with a bit of the corner cut off in order to make designs, such as swirls, zigzags and star bursts.

7. Drizzle the icing on the cookies. Set aside for a few minutes to let the icing set. Then tuck in.

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Orange and Clove Snowball Cookies from Baking Bites
Star Cookies from Elana’s Pantry
Walnut Star Cookies from Leite’s Culinaria
Lemon Biscotti from Leite’s Culinaria

Gingerbread Men Cookies

Isidora Popovic — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:02:12 +0000

Isidora Popovic | Popina Book of Baking | Ryland Peters & Small, 2010 | Makes about 4 grown-ups or more wee gingerbread tots

These gingerbread men cookies are great fun to make with children—they can get creative and dress up the gingerbread men with icing, different types of melted chocolate, nuts, or dried fruit. For a less dressy person, just stick to white chocolate or even a simple icing.–Isadora Popovic

LC Unfussiest and Subtlest Gingerbread Cookies Ever! Note: Are these cookies cute or what?! They’re also the easiest, fastest, cheapest, unfussiest gingerbread men cookies we’ve ever encountered, coming together in minutes from a minimum of ingredients–all pantry staples. They’re also the subtlest gingerbread men we’ve tasted in terms of spice, though they’re still quite, quite nice–almost more a honeyed ginger cookie than a traditional gingerbread cookie. So much so that you could get by with making these all year round, which is good, because after your first batch, we think you’ll be craving them frequently and with fervor.

Special Equipment: Gingerbread men cookie cutters

Active time: 30 minutes | Total time: 1 hour.

Gingerbread Men Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

| metric conversion

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the work surface
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger, or more to taste (up to 3 teaspoons is safe if you like a truly gingery gingerbread)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
3 tablespoons sugar (granulated or light brown sugar)
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon cold water
Royal icing, melted chocolate, nuts, candied ginger, and dried fruit to decorate

Directions

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1. To make the gingerbread people cookies, heat the oven to 325°F (163°C).

2. Place the flour, baking powder, ginger, butter, sugar, and honey in a food processor and pulse until you get crumbs. Add the water and mix until a ball of dough forms.

3. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and roll out with a rolling pin until about ¼ inch thick. Cut out people with cutters dipped in flour and place them on the baking sheet.

4. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes if using large cookie cutters, less time if using small cutters. Let the gingerbread people cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet prior to transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

5. To decorate, pipe icing or melted chocolate onto the gingerbread people as clothes, using a pastry bag or a resealable plastic bag with one corner snipped off. You can also accessorize the gingerbread people with chopped nuts, candied ginger, dried fruit, whatever you please. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Pumpkin Gingersnap Cookies from Two Peas and their Pod
Chocolate Chip Ginger Cookies from eCurry
Gingersnap Dulce de Leche Ice-Cream Sandwiches from Leite’s Culinaria
Chocolate Ginger Crinkle Cookies from Leite’s Culinaria

Quentin’s Grandma’s Rugelach

Tracey Zabar — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:02:09 +0000

One Sweet Cookie | Rizzoli, 2011 | Makes about 36 rugelach

A few years ago, Chef Jason Weiner of Almond attended a baby shower in Brooklyn. There was a lot of delicious food at the party, but the showstopper was the transcendent, cream cheese rugelach. Never a fan of such pastries, he suddenly saw them in a new light. This rugelach recipe came from baby Quentin’s grandmother, Risa Smith. She and the chef became fast friends, and the rest is history. Baker Risa Smith now comes to the restaurant every Wednesday and knocks out rugelach for the week.–Tracey Zabar

LC Not Your Grandma’s Rugelach Recipe Note: We’ve come to understand that the best rugelach is the rugelach your grandma made. This isn’t that rugelach. It is, however, in the words of our testers, “flaky,” “tender,” “a dream to work with,” even “perfect,” although you can be the judge of that. Just don’t tell grandma.

Active time: 40 minutes | Total time: 2 hours

Quentin’s Grandma’s Cream Cheese Rugelach Recipe

Ingredients

| metric conversion

For the dough
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the work surface
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into chunks and chilled
8 ounces cream cheese, cut into chunks
2 tablespoons sour cream or Greek yogurt
2 large egg yolks
For the raisin filling
One 15-ounce box golden raisins
Enough water , to cover the raisins
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup walnuts or filberts (hazelnuts)
2 to 3 tablespoons rum
For the apricot filling
One 15-ounce box apricots
Enough water (or orange juice), to cover the apricots
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup walnuts (or filberts)
One 12-ounce jar of orange marmalade
2 to 3 tablespoons orange brandy

Directions

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1. To make the cream cheese rugelach recipe, pulse the flour, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and salt in a food processor until combined. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse sand with some pea-size pieces of butter. Add the cream cheese and sour cream and pulse just until the batter comes together into a rough dough.
2. Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a floured work surface and divide into 4 portions. Pat each portion into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 45 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, make one of the fillings:

For the raisin filling: Put the raisins in a medium saucepan and cover with the water. Add the sugar, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla. Simmer over low heat until almost all the water is absorbed and the raisins are plumped, anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the heat and and size of pan. Transfer the raisin sauce to a blender or food processor and pulse. Add the walnuts and process again to form a paste. Stir in the rum to taste and set aside to cool.

For the apricot filling: Put the apricots in a medium saucepan and cover with the water. Add the sugar, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla. Simmer over low heat until almost all the water is absorbed and the apricots are soft and plumped, 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the heat and size of the pan. Transfer the apricot sauce to a blender or food processor and pulse. Add the walnuts and marmalade, and process again to form a paste. Stir in the brandy to taste and set aside to cool.
4. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper.
5. Roll 1 portion of the dough into a rectangle that’s between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. Spread with 1/4 of the filling. Starting with the long side, roll up the dough to make a tight cylinder. Flatten it a bit and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the cylinder in the freezer or refrigerator and repeat the process with the remaining portions of dough.
6. Take just one of the cylinders out of the fridge or freezer and slice it into 1 1/2-inch-wide cookies. Place each cookie, seam side down, on the prepared sheet. Whisk the egg yolks and brush very lightly over the tops and then sprinkle sparingly or generously, as you see fit, with sugar. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes. Repeat with the other portion of dough.
7. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until golden and crispy. Cool the rugelach for a few minutes on the baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Chocolate Babka from Smitten Kitchen
Hamantashen from Cupcake Project
Baklava from Leite's Culinaria
Walnut Crescents from Leite's Culinaria

Chocolate and Cinnamon Swirl Meringues

Annie Rigg — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:01:54 +0000

Gifts from the Kitchen | Kyle Books, 2011 | Makes 4 to 6

These meringues are big, pillowy sugary treats. The method of adding hot sugar to the egg whites means that once cooked, the insides of the meringues stay chewy and marshmallowy while the outside is crisp. The meringues are delicious eaten on their own or with lightly whipped heavy cream and maybe a scattering of raspberries. –Annie Rigg

LC Flourless Lovelies Note: We’re not certain who first conceived the meringue of sugar, egg whites, and sugar, but they have our eternal gratitude. So does Annie Rigg for thinking to lace them with swirls of cocoa and cinnamon.

Active time: 30 minutes | Total time: 4 hours, 15 minutes

Chocolate and Cinnamon Swirl Meringues Recipe

Ingredients

| metric conversion

1 3/4 cups superfine sugar (or just blitz granulated sugar in a blender until finely ground but not powdery)
4 to 5 large (5 1/2 ounces) egg whites
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

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1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat.
2. Pour the sugar into a small roasting pan and place in the preheated oven for about 7 minutes, or until the sugar is hot to the touch and just barely starting to melt at the edges. Remove from the oven and turn the oven down to 225°F (107°C).
3. While the sugar is in the oven, place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Add the salt and whisk until frothy.
4. Quickly pour all the hot sugar onto the egg whites in one go and continue to whisk on high speed for 8 to 10 minutes, until the meringue mixture is very stiff, white, and cold.
5. In a small bowl, mix together the cocoa and cinnamon. Pour the cocoa mixture into the meringue mixture and, using a large metal spoon, very lightly fold it in, using just two or three strokes. The trick is to keep the mixture quite marbled in appearance.
6. Spoon the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet in 4 or 6 equal-size peaky meringues. Cook on the middle rack of the preheated oven for 1 1/2 to 3 3/4 hours, until the meringues dry and crisp throughout. (Yes, we know, that’s quite the range in time. It all depends on the size of your meringues and the humidity in your kichen.) Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet. (The cookies will keep for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container.)

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies from Gimme Some Oven
Peppermint Meringues from Joy the Baker
Cream Filled Macaroon Meringue Cookies from Leite's Culinaria
Meringue Kisses from Leite's Culinaria

Chocolate-Dipped Molasses Cookies

Kate Shaffer — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:01:23 +0000

Kate Shaffer | Desserted | Down East Books, 2011 | Makes 24

Yes, though the name chocolate-dipped molasses cookies doesn’t say it, these are vegan—but are adored by everyone who tries them. Serve with hot tea or whiskey.–Kate Shaffer

LC Tempered Chocolate, Really? Note: If you wish, you can certainly temper the chocolate in which you dip these cookies. It makes for a glossier appearance and a few other things. But honestly? Don’t sweet, er, sweat it. Just melt some dang chocolate and dip the cookies and be done with it.

Active time: 30 minutes | Total time: 1 hour, not including time for cooling.

Chocolate-Dipped Molasses Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

| metric conversion

1/2 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup mashed cooked sweet potato
1 tablespoon mild vegetable oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/8 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/8 teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and, preferably, tempered (see note above)

Directions

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1. To make the chocolate sipped molasses cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a stand mixer, cream together the coconut oil, sugar, molasses, and sweet potato. In a separate, small bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons of water, the vegetable oil, and baking powder. Add this to the sugar mixture.

3. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon. Beat the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture, mixing until thoroughly combined.

4. Roll the dough into tablespoon-size balls, and place, about 2 inches apart, on the cookies sheets. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, rotating the sheets once during baking. Remove from the oven and cool completely on racks.

5. When the molasses cookies are completely cool, dip each one in the tempered chocolate, so that half the cookie is coated, and the other half is bare. Place the cookie back on the sheet pan and allow the chocolate to set before serving.

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Pumpkin Molasses Cookies from My Baking Addiction
Chocolate-Dipped Almond Macaroons from Love and Olive Oil
Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints from Leite’s Culinaria
Korova Cookies from Leite’s Culinaria