Read Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts Online

Authors: Maida Heatter

Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts (28 page)

BOOK: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts

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2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

4 ounces (generous 1 cup) walnuts, cut into medium-size pieces

6 ounces (1 cup) semisweet chocolate morsels

Adjust rack to the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter. Add the salt, vanilla, and sugar and beat well. On low speed gradually add the flour, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula and beating until the mixture holds together.

Add the nuts and chocolate morsels and stir until they are evenly distributed.

The dough will be stiff. With a teaspoon or with your fingers place small mounds of the dough in an unbuttered 10½ × 15½ × 1-inch jelly-roll pan. With floured fingertips press the dough firmly to make an even layer—it will be thin.

Bake for 25 minutes, reversing the pan front to back once to insure even baking. The cake will be golden brown.

Let cool in the pan for only a minute or so. Then, with a small, sharp knife, cut into bars. Let stand in the pan until cool.

With a wide metal spatula transfer the cookies to paper towels to dry the bottoms.

Wrap them individually in clear cellophane or wax paper or store them in an airtight container.

Ralph’s Cookies

3
2, 48, OR 64
B
ARS

I had often made a certain layered, nut, bar cookie. One day my husband suggested adding chocolate to the bottom layer. I tried it and it came out just fine.

These have a very thin, crisp chocolate-cookie layer on the bottom, a layer of solid chocolate in the middle, and a vanilla walnut layer on top. They are rather fragile and fancy.

Without the chocolate in the bottom layer these are the same as the nut bars made by Betsy’s Place in New York City.

BOTTOM LAYER

1 ounce semisweet chocolate

1¼ cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

¼ pound (1 stick) sweet butter

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons prepared coffee, cooled

12 ounces (2 cups) semisweet chocolate morsels (to be used after the layer is baked)

Adjust rack to the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10½ × 15½ × 1-inch jelly-roll pan and set aside.

Place the chocolate in the top of a small double boiler over hot water on moderate heat and let stand, covered, until it has melted. (Or the chocolate may be melted in a heatproof custard cup set into a pan of shallow hot water over low heat.) Stir until smooth and set aside, uncovered, to cool.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.

Now the mixture may be put together in a food processor or in the traditional manner.

In a processor fitted with the steel blade: Place the sifted dry ingredients in the processor bowl. Cut the butter into pieces and add it. Process until the particles are fine. Add the egg yolk, prepared coffee, and melted chocolate and process until the mixture is smooth and forms a ball. If the ingredients are not completely incorporated knead briefly on a board or smooth work surface.

In the traditional manner: Place the sifted dry ingredients in a medium-size mixing bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the bowl. With a pastry blender cut in the butter until the particles are fine. Add the egg yolk, coffee, and melted chocolate. Stir with a fork until the ingredients are well mixed and the dough holds together. If it is not smooth knead it briefly on a board or smooth work surface.

Place small bits of the dough all over the bottom of the buttered pan. With your fingertips press on the pieces of dough to form a solid, smooth layer to cover the bottom, not the sides—it will be a thin layer.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the top layer.

TOP LAYER

3 ounces (¾ stick) sweet butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs (graded large or extra-large)

8 ounces (2 generous cups) walnuts, cut into medium-size pieces

In the small bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter. Beat in the vanilla and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula and beating after each addition only until mixed. The mixture will look curdled but it is all right. Stir in the walnuts and set the mixture aside.

After the bottom layer has baked for 10 minutes, remove it from the oven. Sprinkle with the chocolate morsels and return to the oven for 2 more minutes. Remove from the oven again and immediately, while the chocolate is soft, use a rubber spatula to spread the chocolate into an even layer, spreading it all the way to the sides of the pan. Let stand for 2 or 3 minutes to allow the chocolate to set slightly.

Now place the batter for the top layer by large spoonfuls all over the chocolate and spread it to make an even layer touching the sides of the pan.

Return the pan to the oven and bake for 30 minutes until the top is a rich golden brown.

Let cool on a rack until the bottom of the pan has reached room temperature.

Then, to mark into even bars (unless you have a very keen eye), mark each side into four equal sections, using a 15-inch ruler and inserting toothpicks on the edges of the cake. Using the ruler as a guide, with a small, sharp knife score the top of the cake
lightly in both directions from one toothpick to the one opposite. Remove the toothpicks and cut through the lines to make 16 pieces. Cut around the edges to release. With a wide metal spatula transfer the pieces to a cutting board. With a longer knife (wiping the blade occasionally) cut each piece into 2 or 3 bars or into quarters.

These are too fragile for a cookie jar. They may be stored in an airtight box, or on a tray and then covered with plastic wrap. Or wrap them individually in clear cellophane or wax paper. These may be frozen.

Raisin-Date-Nut Bars with Chocolate Chunks

32
L
ARGE
B
ARS OR 64
S
MALL
B
ARS

These soft and chewy bar cookies are full of chunky goodies. They keep well and mail well. Make them at Christmas or anytime.

1½ cups sifted all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoons baking soda

2 tablespoons powdered unsweetened cocoa

¼ teaspoon salt

3 eggs (graded large or extra-large)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup granulated sugar

5 ounces (1 cup) raisins

16 ounces (2 cups, packed) pitted dates, cut into halves

8 ounces (2 generous cups) walnut and/or pecan halves or large pieces

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, cut into pieces (see Note for preparation)

Optional: confectioners sugar (to use after the cookies are baked)

Adjust rack to center of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees. With one large piece of aluminum foil line the bottom and sides of a 10½ × 15½ × 1-inch jelly-roll pan. Brush the foil with soft or melted butter and set the pan aside.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, cocoa, and salt and set aside.

In a large bowl beat the eggs, vanilla, and sugar just to mix—do not beat until light and fluffy. Add the sifted dry ingredients and beat only to mix.

With a heavy wooden spatula stir in the raisins, then the dates, nuts, and chocolate. The mixture will be very thick and it will look as though there isn’t enough batter to cover the fruit, nuts, and chocolate. Just keep at it—there is enough, but barely.

Now spoon the mixture all over the bottom of the prepared pan. With the back of a metal spoon, spread, push, and move the pieces around to form an even layer completely covering the pan—again, just barely. Be sure that the corners are filled and that the mixture is not lower in the corners.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. After about 20 or 25 minutes of baking check the color of the cake; if the back is browning faster than the front, reverse the pan front to back. When the top is well-browned all over, remove the pan from the oven. Let the cake stand in the pan on a rack until it is cool.

Then cover it with a large rack or a cookie sheet and invert the rack and pan. Remove the pan and gently peel off the aluminum foil. Now cover it with
a large cutting board or a cookie sheet and invert again, leaving the cake right side up.

Before cutting, the cake should be chilled to firm up the chocolate chunks. Place it in the freezer or the refrigerator until the chocolate is firm. Cut on the board or cookie sheet (or cut it into quarters and, with a wide metal spatula, transfer them to a cutting board). For cutting even pieces, use a ruler and mark the sides of the cake with toothpicks. With a long, thin, sharp knife cut into bars.

Wrap the cookies individually in clear cellophane or wax paper, or pack them in an airtight box with wax paper between the layers, or place them on a serving plate and cover with plastic wrap. They may be frozen.

If you wish, these may be sprinkled with confectioners sugar before serving. Place the cookies on wax paper and shake the sugar through a fine strainer held over the cookies.

NOTE
:
Place the chocolate bars on a cutting board. Use a large, heavy knife. If the bars are thin, cut at about ½-inch intervals, first in one direction and then across. The chocolate will crack and will not cut evenly, don’t expect it to. If you aim for pieces about ½ inch square, you will wind up with the correct assortment of sizes. If you use a thick bar, the pieces should be cut slightly smaller. But with any chocolate, what you want is rather generous-size pieces. And if you want to use more chocolate than the recipe calls for, do. And/or more nuts. And, if you wish, substitute some dried figs and/or prunes for some of the raisins and/or dates. This is a very flexible recipe.

Prune-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

60
L
ARGE
C
OOKIES

These are large, old-fashioned, homey drop cookies. They are mildly spiced, wonderfully satisfying, crunchy crisp, and chewy.