Ready for Dessert (35 page)

STORAGE:
The dough can be refrigerated for 1 week or frozen for up to 1 month. The baked cookies will keep well in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

MAKES ABOUT 48 COOKIES

A while back, a recipe for chocolate chip cookies appeared in a newspaper food section—the cookies were supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread (or sliced cookies). Word spread quickly and it seemed folks couldn’t pull out their flour bins fast enough to give them a try. Indeed, the recipe and accompanying story had a great pedigree: it was well written and well researched, with input from some of the best bakers in the land.

Not to be outdone, I went into the kitchen and whipped up a batch of my chocolate chip cookies, which, admittedly, I hadn’t made in a while, just to see if they still held up. When I bit into one bursting with gooey chocolate chips and crisp toasted nuts, with all due respect to the author of that recipe, I couldn’t imagine chocolate chip cookies tasting any better.

One thing I did take from that article was that chocolate chip cookie dough improves with resting for at least 24 hours before baking. I’m a big fan of keeping logs of dough in my refrigerator or freezer, so my dough was usually rested, even if inadvertently, but now I recommend making it a point to give the dough time to chill out.

2½ cups (350 g) all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon baking soda

⅛ teaspoon salt

1 cup (8 ounces/225 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup (215 g) packed light brown sugar

¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, at room temperature

2 cups (about 225 g) nuts, such as walnuts, pecans, almonds, or macadamia nuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

14 ounces (400 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into ½- to 1-inch (1.5- to 3-cm) chunks or 3 cups (340 g) chocolate drops (see Tip)

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl by hand), beat together the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla on medium speed just until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time until thoroughly incorporated, then stir in the flour mixture followed by the nuts and chocolate chunks.

On a lightly floured work surface, divide the dough into quarters. Shape each quarter into a log about 9 inches (23 cm) long. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, preferably for 24 hours.

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Slice the logs into disks ¾ inch (2 cm) thick and place the disks 3 inches (8 cm) apart on the prepared baking sheets. If the nuts or chips crumble out, simply push them back in.

Bake, rotating the baking sheets midway through baking, until the cookies are very lightly browned in the centers, about 10 minutes. If you like soft chocolate chip cookies, as I do, err on the side of underbaking.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to handle, then use a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack.

STORAGE:
The dough logs can be refrigerated for 1 week or frozen for up to 1 month. The baked cookies will keep well in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

MAKES ABOUT 40 COOKIES

In the kitchen at Chez Panisse, we called these “chocolate crack cookies” because of the craggy fissures that formed on the surface of the cookies as they baked. But because the restaurant was (and still is) located in Berkeley, California, we were conscious of what that name suggested, so we came up with all sorts of less objectionable aliases: baked chocolate truffles and chocolate quake cookies, to name just a couple.

Nowadays, “crack” is a term freely used to describe anything addictive. And I feel comfortable using it to describe these cookies, which are a perfectly legit way to get a chocolate fix.

8 ounces (225 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

3 tablespoons (1½ ounces/45 g) unsalted or salted butter

1½ tablespoons liquor (see Tip)

1 cup (125 g) almonds, toasted

½ cup (70 g) all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, at room temperature

⅓ cup (65 g) granulated sugar, plus more for coating the cookies

Powdered sugar, for coating the cookies

Add the chocolate, butter, and liquor to a medium heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted and smooth. Remove the bowl from the heat.

In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, pulverize the almonds with the flour, baking powder, and salt until as finely ground as possible.

In a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whisk together the eggs and granulated sugar on high speed until the mixture forms a well-defined ribbon when the beater is lifted, about 5 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, mix in the melted chocolate-butter mixture, then stir in the almond mixture. Cover and refrigerate the dough until chilled and firm, 1 to 2 hours.

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Pour some granulated sugar into a small bowl and sift some powdered sugar into another. Shape the cookie dough into 1-inch (3-cm) balls. Working a few at a time, rolls the balls of dough in the granulated sugar until coated, then roll them in the powdered sugar, coating them completely. Set the sugared cookies on the baking sheets, spacing them about 1 inch (3 cm) apart.

Bake, rotating the baking sheets midway through baking, until the cookies are just slightly firm at the edges but still quite soft at the centers, 12 to 14 minutes. The cookies should slide on the baking sheet when you nudge them with your finger. Don’t overbake them.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to handle, then use a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack.

STORAGE:
The dough can be refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 1 month. The cookies are best eaten the day they’re baked.

MAKES ABOUT 80 COOKIES

The day we start cloning people, we must begin with Flo Braker. Not only is she a lovely woman, but she’s one of the best bakers in America. And I’m all for propagating our species with as many great bakers as we can. I’ve been making her chocolate snaps for years—they’re just right when I’m craving a crispy cookie that tastes of pure and unadulterated deep, dark chocolate. Luckily, these cookies are easy to make and a snap to reproduce in any home kitchen
.

3 cups (420 g) all-purpose flour

¾ cup (75 g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

2½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup (8 ounces/225 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1¼ cups (250 g) sugar, plus more for sprinkling

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

Into a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.

In a stand mixer fitter with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl by hand), beat together the butter and the sugar on medium speed just until smooth. Add the vanilla, then beat in the egg and egg yolk.

Gradually add the cocoa mixture to the butter mixture, mixing until completely incorporated and no streaks of butter remain.

On a lightly floured work surface, divide the dough into quarters, and shape each quarter into a log about 7 inches (18 cm) long and 1½ inches (4 cm) in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate until they’re firm enough to slice, about 1 hour.

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Slice the logs into disks ½ inch (1.5 cm) thick and place the disks on the prepared baking sheets, spaced about ½ inch (1.5 cm) apart.

Bake, rotating the baking sheets midway through baking, until the cookies are puffed and slightly firm, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle the cookies with a bit of sugar.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to handle, then use a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack. They will continue to firm up and get “snappy” as they cool.

STORAGE:
The dough can be refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 1 month. The baked cookies can be kept in an airtight container for 2 days.

VARIATIONS:
Instead of forming the dough into logs and slicing them, the dough can be rolled out and cut into shapes with cookie cutters.

If you have coarse-crystal sugar, the sliced unbaked cookies can be dredged in them on one side, then baked sugar side up.

MAKES ABOUT 22 COOKIES

I almost started an international incident when I put some pictures of my black and white cookies on my blog. People went ballistic because I didn’t include a recipe. The problem was that I didn’t know who to credit since my recipe is culled from a variety of sources.

Like New York City, the spiritual home to these cookies, my sources and inspiration for them are the ultimate melting pot: a
Seinfeld
episode, an email from food maven Arthur Schwartz, a recipe from the legendary Zabar’s, and George Greenstein’s comprehensive tome,
Secrets of a Jewish Baker
.

COOKIES

1 cup (140 g) all-purpose flour

1 cup (130 g) cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons (90 ml) whole or low-fat milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Grated zest of ½ lemon, preferably organic

½ cup (4 ounces/115 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

⅔ cup (130 g) granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

ICINGS

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (250 g) powdered sugar, or more if needed

2 teaspoons plus 2 teaspoons light corn syrup

½ teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons (45 ml) water, or more if needed

3 tablespoons (20 g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

To make the cookies, position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.