Classic Snacks Made from Scratch (2 page)

FOOD PROCESSOR
When it comes to making pie crust, the food processor is the most efficient tool in your kitchen arsenal—yes, even more so than a stand mixer—and will convert crustophobes into professional pie bakers in the blink of an eye. Beyond that, a mini food processor or the small bowl insert for many larger models is crucial for grinding spices and herbs into fine powder.

RULER
Yep, a plain old ruler from the school supplies section! I like a stainless steel version because it lies flat on dough and cleans up easily, but any kind will do as long as it measures down to 1/8 inch. Use it to measure rolled-out dough and to divide that dough into equal-size rectangles and squares for crackers and pastries.

SILPAT BAKING LINERS
Though parchment paper is technically compostable, the money you shell out for roll after roll isn’t recycling itself back to you. Enter Silpats: washable, reusable silicone baking mats that take the place of parchment paper for lining your baking sheets. They’re a small investment at around $25 a pop, but avid bakers will make that money back in one holiday cookie season. I own two and use them for all my baking, as well as for roasting veggies to a beautifully caramelized brown.

MANDOLINE OR SLICER
When making potato chips, thin slices are crucial—and I mean
thin
, like translucent. Barely anyone who’s not named Morimoto, Pépin, or Ducasse has the knife skills to do it by hand. Get a slicer to help. You don’t need one of the fancy French models to do the job: OXO makes durable and affordable mandolines, as well as handheld models for both slicing and julienning. When buying your mandoline or slicer, pick up a metal mesh glove (also known as an oyster glove or a cut-resistant glove) too: it’s much more efficient to hold the vegetable or fruit you’re slicing than to use the wobbly hand guard that comes with the slicer.

THERMOMETERS
Way more accurate and less painful than dipping your finger into molten chocolate or boiling sugar,
amirite
? I use two types of thermometers: a plain old digital one to dip in and out of chocolate when tempering (the same one I use to check the internal temperature of roasted meats—don’t worry, I clean it!) and a digital candy/oil thermometer that clips to the side of a pot so I don’t need to hold it over bubbling sugar or oil.

PASTRY BAGS AND PIPING TIPS
For most of my baking career, I used a gallon-size zip-top bag with a tiny corner sliced off as my pastry bag, so there’s really no shame. But the day I splurged for a reusable, washable pastry bag with plastic coupler (see How to Fill a Pastry Bag,
page 187
), I realized what I’d been missing. Even better, I now have silicone pastry bags, which clean up like a dream. I use an 18-inch pastry bag with Wilton round tip No. 10 for large piping tasks and Wilton round tip No. 5 for small piping jobs (such as the white doodle icing on the top of a Hostess cupcake).

DEEP FRYER
While not absolutely necessary for successful deep frying, an electric deep fryer is a uni-tasker that lets you multitask in the kitchen, combining a heat source, temperature control, and oil storage in one machine.
See Deep Frying 101 (page 188) for a full discussion of electric and stovetop equipment for deep frying.

ICE CREAM MAKER
Unlike an electric deep fryer, there’s no alternative for an electric ice cream maker that’s half as efficient and reliable as the plug-in model. Luckily, you don’t need to shell out too much for a basic model that will work like a charm to freeze your assets. See Ice Cream 101 (page 187) for a breakdown of ice cream makers, Popsicle molds, and all the tools of the trade for frozen treats.

BAKED SODA
Baked soda (also known as sodium carbonate) is a more concentrated form of baking soda that works as a natural chemical enhancer, deepening the color of baked goods and giving them a slightly bitter flavor. In Oreo cookies, it reacts with cocoa powder during the baking process to bring out that signature bittersweet chocolate taste and near-black color.

To make baked soda, preheat the oven to 250°F. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and spread a box of baking soda in an even layer on the foil. Bake for 1 hour and cool completely on the baking sheet. Store in a well-sealed glass jar—because of its concentrated alkaline content, baked soda is a mild irritant—and use as needed within a year.

Interested in the science behind baked soda and other carbonates? Food scientist Harold McGee has the details at
curiouscook.com
.

BUTTERMILK POWDER
This isn’t as exotic as it sounds: buttermilk powder is simply dehydrated buttermilk waiting to be reconstituted. You’ll find it in the grocery store, usually in the vicinity of the powdered and evaporated milk or hot chocolate.

CHEDDAR CHEESE POWDER
Again, it’s way less space-age than you think: dehydrated Cheddar cheese is the killer ingredient for many a recipe in the Cheesy Snacks chapter (page 60). Cabot and Frontier are two companies that make cheese powder (found in specialty grocery stores near the spice section), but my cheese powder of choice is pure powdered Vermont Cheddar from King Arthur Flour (see Helpful Resources,
page 186
).

CHOCOLATE
Yeah, yeah, we all know what chocolate is. But you’ll notice that I call for coarsely chopped chocolate in this book’s recipes instead of chocolate chips. That’s because we’re melting chocolate to make glazes and frostings instead of putting it in cookies. Chips usually have a lower cocoa butter content or contain emulsifiers that keep them from fully melting in
cookies, and we want a clean-melting chocolate. Look for big blocks of Callebaut, Ghirardelli, Scharffen Berger, or Valhrona baking chocolate at the grocery store.

CITRIC ACID
This powder is often included in canning recipes as a natural preservative or tart flavoring. It’s also a natural alpha hydroxy acid used in skin peels and anti-aging cosmetics, and, when combined with an alkali such as baking soda, it provides the “fizz” in bath bombs! It’s available at specialty grocery stores, homebrewing stores, and online (see Helpful Resources,
page 186
).

CORNMEAL VS. CORN FLOUR VS. MASA HARINA
So what’s the difference? Though they’re all readily available in the baking aisle, cornmeal, corn flour, and masa harina shouldn’t be used interchangeably in recipes. Whereas cornmeal and corn flour are ground from dried corn to varying degrees of coarseness, masa flour is made by an entirely different process. White maize (corn) is soaked in lime (a caustic limestone-derived substance similar to lye) to de-hull and soften the kernels. The kernels are then washed and ground into fresh masa dough. Masa harina is the dried and powdered form of this dough; reconstituted with water, it’s ideal for tortillas and adds a sweet corn taste to breaded foods such as mozzarella sticks and jalapeño poppers.

The humble cookie has a long history of providing comfort and indulgence—from lions, tigers, and bears carefully distributed during preschool snack break to Pepperidge Farm bags hidden in drawers for those 4:00 p.m. stop-me-from-falling-asleep-at-my-desk emergencies. And while I’ve got no complaints with the classic Nestle Toll House chocolate chip recipe, I’d rather fill my cookie jar with homemade versions of Oreos, Nutter Butters, and the elusive Mallomar. They’re bite-size bits of happiness for kids of all ages!

NUTTER BUTTERS

FUDGE STRIPES

OREOS

MALLOMARS

MINT MILANOS

ANIMAL CRACKERS

GRAHAM CRACKERS

OATMEAL CRÈME PIES

A simple peanut butter shortbread forms the foundation for this sweet-and-salty favorite. It’s easy to slice and shape ’em once they’ve had a quick chill in the freezer—and don’t forget to spritz your measuring cups with baking spray to help extract all the peanut butter you’ll be using for this recipe.

MAKE:
about 2 dozen filled cookies

TOTAL TIME:
2 hours, including chilling time

DIFFICULTY:
2

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
stand mixer, electric hand mixer (optional)

COOKIES

2 cups (8-1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 pinch kosher salt

8 tablespoons (4 ounces) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup (4-3/4 ounces) creamy peanut butter

FILLING

1 cup (4 ounces) powdered sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (3-1/2 ounces) creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup (1-5/8 ounces) vegetable shortening

MAKE THE COOKIES:

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and stir in the egg and vanilla on low speed. Add the peanut butter and stir on medium speed for 2 minutes more.

On low speed, stir in the dry ingredients 1/2 cup at a time until just incorporated.

Spread 2 large sheets of plastic wrap on a clean surface and divide the dough into 2 equal pieces on the sheets. Wrap each piece tightly to form a rough cylinder about 8 inches long and 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Place the dough logs in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat
liners.

Cut the chilled dough into thin (no more than 1/4 inch) slices and place on the prepared baking sheets. Put the sheets in the oven for 30 seconds, then remove and form each cookie into a rough peanut shape by squeezing the sides gently in the middle to form grooves.

Return the sheets to the oven and bake for 13 to 16 minutes, until the cookies are dry and no longer shiny on top but not yet browning at the edges. They will seem slightly underbaked, but remove them anyway. Cool the cookies completely on wire racks.

FILL THE COOKIES:

While the cookies cool, make the filling. Cream the powdered sugar, peanut butter, and shortening together until fluffy, using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or an electric hand mixer—first on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, then on high speed to fluff it up.

Spread the filling evenly on the flat (bottom) side of half the cooled cookies. Top with the remaining cookies.

Store the cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week.

I can pretty much guarantee you’ve got an Oreo ritual—twisting, scraping, dunking, whatever your pleasure—but do you have a Fudge Stripes routine? My friend Amber absolutely must eat hers with the fudge-dipped side down for maximum chocolate-to-tastebud connection, while I’ve been known to stick my pinky finger through the hole and nibble around the edges like a dainty mouse until I get to the center. Does anyone try to eat the stripes off first? If so, have you ever been successful?

YIELD:
about 4 dozen cookies

TOTAL TIME:
2-1/2 hours, including chilling time

DIFFICULTY:
2

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
donut cutter or 2 round cookie cutters (2-1/2 and 1-inch sizes), pastry bag (or zip-top bag) with small round piping tip

COOKIES

2 cups (8-1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (2 ounces) powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons whole or reduced-fat milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

16 tablespoons (8 ounces) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/2 cup (3-1/2 ounces) granulated sugar

CHOCOLATE

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (a scant cup)

2 ounces milk chocolate, coarsely chopped (a scant 1/3 cup)

2 tablespoons heavy cream

MAKE THE COOKIES:

Whisk the flour, powdered sugar, salt, and baking powder together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Stir the milk and vanilla together in a small bowl. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the dry ingredients, then drizzle in the milk and vanilla and mix just until a soft dough comes together.

Pat the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 1 hour; the flavor of cookie dough improves as it’s chilled, so chill it overnight for best
results.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat liners.

Divide the chilled dough into 4 equal pieces. On a floured surface, gently roll one of the pieces to a thickness of 1/2 inch. (Keep the remaining pieces refrigerated.)