Category: Cookies

Burnt Almond Cookies

burnt almond cookiesPittsburgh, for all its city claims, is essentially a small town. Everyone knows everyone, usually with two degrees of separation or fewer. One of my favorite Pittsburgh connection stories came recently, when I learned that my coworker, Josh, is married to a girl who went to my elementary school; that he and his wife were married in the church I attended as a kid; and, that his in-laws buy cakes for all of their family celebrations from Mrs. Mileski, who lives up the street from my childhood home (and whose cakes are renowned in the Verona/Penn Hills area).

Josh and I realized our uncanny connection during a conversation about Oakmont Bakery, a stellar establishment that offers a delicious alternative to the Prantl’s burnt almond torte (and happens to be the bakery that made my wedding cake). He’s a burnt almond torte fan, and because this is his last week in our office – he’s accepted a great opportunity in another part of our organization – I’ve baked these burnt almond torte-inspired cookies for him.  Farewell, Josh! Enjoy!

Almond Shortbread

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, beat butter on medium speed for 30 seconds.

Add granulated sugar and almond extract and beat until combined.

Beat in flour.

Cover and chill dough for about one-half hour, until easy to handle.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with foil or parchment.

Using a two-inch cookie scoop, scoop dough and roll into balls. Place on baking sheets about two inches apart, then flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass.

Bake 14 minutes, until bottoms are light golden brown.

Allow to cool before frosting.

Almond Frosting

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tablespoon almond extract
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons heavy cream

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, beat butter on medium speed for about 1 minute.

Add powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract; beat until fully combined.

Add heavy cream about 1/2 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition to reach a fluffy, buttercream consistency.

Burnt Almonds

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups sliced almonds
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons water

Preparation

In a medium bowl, combine almonds, sugar, and water; stir to combine.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place half of the almond mixture in a saute pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring regularly, for about 4-5 minutes until almonds turn a light golden brown. Almonds will start out looking wet and will appear dry when they are almost done.

Remove to the parchment paper to cool and repeat with the second half of the almonds. Allow to cool completely before using.

Note: you’ll only need about 3/4 cup for this recipe, so you can reserve your burnt almonds for another use or just keep them around for snacks. They’re delicious on their own!

To assemble:

Roughly chop burnt almonds; set aside.

Frost cookies, then dip tops into burnt almonds, pressing gently so the almonds will stick.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Red Velvet Cookies

red velvet cookiesDo you think of red velvet as a Christmas treat? I didn’t, until my friend Erika mentioned that she likes red velvet at this time of year. After all, Santa’s suit is kind of red velvety, and there are plenty of red velvet bows to go around.

These cookies are a delicious twist on the classic red velvet cupcake, and they were extremely popular in my office this week. You could add frosting to them, but I’d recommend just dusting them with powdered sugar once they’ve cooled; although this photo doesn’t do them justice, they have a beautiful red velvet color beneath the powdered sugar.

I also advise using a spoon to scoop your dough, instead of a cookie scoop, as my one-inch scoop met its maker with this dough.

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 8 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon semisweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled to room temperature
  • 1 egg, at room temperature, lightly beaten
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons red food coloring
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar for rolling, plus more for dusting

Preparation

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat butter on medium speed for about 1 minute. Add brown sugar and white sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

Add beaten egg and beat until combined.

Add melted chocolate, vanilla, and red food coloring and beat until combined.

Add flour mixture in three batches, beating well between and scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Cover with plastic wrap and chill for about 1 hour, until easier to handle.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place powdered sugar in a small bowl.

Using a spoon, scoop out 1 tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball, then dip in powdered sugar, tossing to coat. Place about 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 10-11 minutes, until tops are cracked and edges are set. Remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheets for about 5 minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Once cookies are cool, dust with more powdered sugar.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Chocolate Peppermint Crinkles

chocolatepeppermintcrinklesNow and then my Aunt Liz sends me recipes in the mail, clipped from magazines or newspapers. This Thanksgiving she came to Pittsburgh bearing a copy of Southern Living magazine with recipes she thought I’d like, and boy, was she right. The issue features page after page of beautiful cakes, desserts, and cookies for the holidays, including these chocolate peppermint crinkles.

Chocolate crinkle cookies are a Christmas staple, and these chocolate peppermint crinkles are a delicious twist on the classic. If you’re not a peppermint fan you can easily substitute the peppermint extract for vanilla extract. This batch makes 18 cookies and could be easily doubled for a larger batch.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
  • 2 eggs
  • About 3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Preparation

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder; set aside.

Combine baking chocolate, butter, and salt in a small saucepan and melt over very low heat, stirring well to combine.

Pour mixture into a medium bowl and add sugar, stirring well.

Add peppermint extract and eggs; stir very well to combine.

Add flour mixture and stir until completely combined; mixture will thicken.

Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour, until easier to handle.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Using a one-inch cookie scoop, scoop generous portions of dough and roll into balls, then dip in powdered sugar and toss to coat very well.

Place cookies about 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake for 11 minutes; remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheets for about 4-5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Tip: if you don’t want a huge mess on your counter tops, place a kitchen towel or paper towels beneath the cooling racks to catch the excess powdered sugar while your cookies cool.

Oatmeal Butterscotch Chip Cookies

oatmeal butterscotch cookiesThe oatmeal butterscotch chip cookie, also known as an oatmeal scotchie, is a classic cookie that, until today, I had never made.

You’re shocked, I know. How can someone who claims baking prowess never have made a scotchie? Aren’t they the kind of classic that any baker worth her salt should know how to make? The answer is: yes. The are the kind of classic any baker worth her salt should know how to make. And now, I suppose, I’m worth my salt.

The recipe below is slightly adapted from the original one on the package of Nestle butterscotch chips, with a bit more brown sugar and extra vanilla (just like my chocolate chip cookies). Be very careful not to overbake these; you need to pull them from the oven after about 9-10 minutes, even if they still look raw in the middle. Don’t be afraid. They’ll keep baking on the cookie sheet as they cool, and they’ll end up chewy in the middle, which is what you want. Trust me…I’m worth my salt.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon plus a few extra sprinkles of cinnamon
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar, generously packed
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 cups old-fashioned oats
  • 1 2/3 cup butterscotch chips

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line several baking sheets with foil or parchment.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat butter on medium speed for about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add white sugar and brown sugar, then cream for about 1 minute before adding eggs and vanilla.

Add flour mixture in two batches, beating to combine, scraping the sides of the bowl a few times.

Stir in oats 1 cup at a time, then stir in butterscotch chips.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, drop scoops of dough onto prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes until edges are light brown and centers are still pale and puffy; remove from oven and cool on cookie sheets for about 4-5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

 

Brown Sugar Pecan Toffee Rounds

brown sugar pecan toffee roundsWhy do some cookie recipes call for chilled dough? While it certainly makes your dough easier to handle, there are also some scientific principles at work. When you chill your dough, it gives the butter, shortening, or other fat in your recipe a chance to solidify, so when your cookies bake, the fat will take longer to melt than if it were at room temperature. This means your cookies will stay in shape, rather than spreading into puddles of goo. Chilling dough also dries out the dough a bit, but in a good way, enhancing the flavors of your ingredients. For more in-depth info on chilling dough, check out this great post from the folks at King Arthur Flour.

Slice-and-bake cookies, like these brown sugar pecan toffee rounds, must be chilled so you can actually slice them. The recipe below is adapted from one I found in a Better Homes & Gardens holiday cookie magazine, which called for ground almonds instead of pecans. As I only had pecans, I substituted them with great results.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup shortening
  • 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 cup toffee pieces
  • 1 cup ground toasted pecans

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, beat shortening and butter until combined.

Add brown sugar, baking soda, and salt; beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl a few times.

Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined.

Beat in flour about 1/2 cup at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl well, then beat or stir in toffee pieces and ground toasted pecans. You may need to use your hands to fully incorporate the pieces into the dough.

Divide dough in half and shape each half into a 10-inch log. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for about 5 hours, until the dough is firm enough to slice.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cut logs into 1/4 inch slices and place about 1 inch apart on your baking sheets. Bake for 8-11 minutes, until edges are light brown and firm.

Cool on cookie sheets for about 3-4 minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Peppermint Meltaways

peppermintmeltawaysIt’s peppermint season! With just a few weeks to go until Christmas, peppermint-flavored treats are everywhere…including my kitchen.

Peppermint is my favorite plant in the mint family, and not just because it pairs very well with chocolate. Peppermint calms headaches, soothes sore throats, tames upset stomachs, and can lower anxiety associated with depression. A pretty powerful little plant, when you think about it.

These peppermint meltaways are adapted from Taste of Home, one of my favorite recipe sources. They’re lighter than expected, perhaps due to the cornstarch in the dough. Next time, I think I’ll swirl together white and red frosting for a candy cane look. This makes a relatively small batch of 2 dozen, but they’d be a nice addition to your Christmas cookie platter.

Ingredients

For the cookies

  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 1 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

For the frosting

  • 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • About 2 1/2 tablespoons milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • red food coloring, if desired

Preparation

In a small bowl, combine flour and cornstarch; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat butter for about 1 minute, then add powdered sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

Add peppermint extract and beat to combine.

Add flour/cornstarch mixture in three batches, beating well and scraping the sides of the bowl after each. Chill dough for about 20 minutes, until easy to handle.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Using a 1-inch cookie scoop, scoop dough and roll into balls. Place on cookie sheets about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 11-12 minutes, until bottoms are golden brown. Be careful when checking – these cookies are very soft and crumbly until they’re cool.

Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets for about 3 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, beat butter for 1 minute, then add 2 tablespoons milk, peppermint extract, and 1/4 cup powdered sugar. Beat on medium speed until combined, then add remaining powdered sugar about 1/4 cup at a time, beating well. Check your consistency; you want a spreadable frosting that isn’t too thick or thin, like the consistency of peanut butter. If necessary, thin your frosting with the remaining milk. Add food coloring, if desired.

Frost cookies and store in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature.

 

Vampire Bite Sandwich Cookies

vampiresandwichesSometimes you find a recipe that goes totally awry. Such was my experience today with a recipe for vampire bite cookies, a sugar cookie stuffed with raspberry jam. Let’s just say we’ll be going back to the drawing board on those, but in the meantime, I turned what could have been a disaster into something quite tasty.

Instead of wasting my dough – because I don’t ever toss dough or batter unless has gone terribly wrong and cannot be fixed – I decided to bake the cookies, then use a dark red-tinted raspberry buttercream filling for little sandwiches. Fair warning: when taking a bite, the filling will absolutely ooze out on all sides, but that sort of adds to the Halloween-themed fun, no?

Ingredients

For the cookies

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

For the blood red buttercream

  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 3 heaping tablespoons seedless raspberry jam
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • Red gel food coloring

Preparation

In a small bowl, combine flour and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and extracts, beating well to combine.

Add flour mixture in two batches, beating well after each.

Divide dough in two portions; wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 2-inch round cutter, cut dough into circles and place about 1 inch apart on prepared sheets.

Bake for 10-11 minutes, until edges are set. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets for a few minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely before filling.

To make blood red buttercream, in a mixing bowl, beat butter and raspberry jam on medium speed for 2-3 minutes. Mixture will look lumpy; that’s okay. Add powdered sugar and beat until completely combined, scraping the sides of the bowl several times. Add food coloring and beat until fully combined.

Flip cookies over and top half with a generous dollop of filling (about 1/2 tablespoon or so). Top with remaining cookies to make sandwiches. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

 

Chocolate Orange Cookies

chocolateorangecookiesSometimes I wonder who first looked at a piece of citrus fruit and thought, “hmm, I’m going to scrape off the outer layer of that skin and bake with it.” Regardless, it was a great idea.

Proper zesting of oranges, lemons, and limes can best be achieved by using a microplane grater, like this one. When zesting, wash your fruit, dry it with a paper towel, and stick to the colored outer layer of your rind, leaving the white pith alone. I usually zest my fruit first, then slice it and juice it; you can always reserve the juice for another time.

This recipe is adapted from Boys Ahoy.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • Zest of one large orange
  • 10 2/3 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar (reserve 1/3 cup for rolling)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.

In a small bowl, combine 1/3 cup sugar with 1 teaspoon orange zest and mix together very well.

In a mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar, and remaining orange zest until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

Add egg, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon orange juice and beat until combined.

Add flour mixture in two batches, beating well and scraping the sides of the bowl a few times. Add remaining 1/2 tablespoon orange juice and beat until fully combined.

Using a 1-inch cookie scoop, scoop generous portions of dough and roll into balls. Dip in sugar/zest mixture, coating well.

Place on prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart and flatten with the bottom of a glass to about 1/2 inch thickness.

Bake for 10-11 minutes, until edges are set but centers are still just slightly puffy.

Remove from oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Witch Brew Cookies

witchbrewcookies

With just a few weeks to go until Halloween, these fun witch brew cookies are on their way to my goddaughter Mo and her little sister Margo, whose birthday also happens to fall on Halloween. Does this cookie look like something from a witch’s cauldron? I certainly hope so.

A word about spiral cookies: it’s very important to press your layers together firmly as you roll your dough log to avoid the small gaps you can see in the cookie here. This dough is very soft when rolled out, so waxed paper helps in handling a great deal. I found the original recipe for these over at Lady Behind the Curtain and chose not to roll the dough log in sprinkles before I sliced them, but that would definitely add an extra spooky kick (and some nice crunch) to these treats.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups plus 6 tablespoons all purpose flour, divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups butter, cut into cubes and softened
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • Leaf green, lemon yellow, violet, and black gel food coloring

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour with the baking powder, salt, powdered sugar, and sugar. Mix to combine.

Add butter a few cubes at a time, mixing until the texture has the consistency of sand.

Add the vanilla and mix just until a ball forms.

Divide dough into thirds; dough will be very soft.

Add food coloring and 2 tablespoons of flour to each ball, kneading with your hands to combine until you have even coloring. For the electric green color, use leaf green and lemon yellow.

Begin with the green ball; tape a sheet of waxed paper to your counter top and roll the dough ball between it and another sheet of waxed paper. Set aside; repeat this process with the black and violet layers.

Place the green layer, still on its waxed paper, on your counter top and remove the top sheet of waxed paper. Carefully remove the black and violet layers from their waxed paper and place them on top of the green layer.

Roll your layers into a log, pressing firmly as you go and using the bottom layer of waxed paper to help with rolling.

Wrap the log tightly and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with foil or parchment.

Remove dough log from the refrigerator and slice into 1/4 inch cookies.

Bake for 15-17 minutes, until cookies are no longer shiny on top.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes on cookie sheets, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Raspberry Thumbprints

chocolateraspberrythumbprintLaura, my cube wall-mate, accepted a new job in our company and is moving to a new office. In case you’re not familiar with the cube wall-mate (CWM), this is the person who sits on the other side of the wall that separates one section of office cubes from another, who you can hear but not see, as opposed to your cube mates, who are in the same cube row as you. Laura has been an awesome CWM; she’s very good at selective eavesdropping, always willing to say “hey, I wasn’t trying to listen in but I couldn’t help hearing and you actually need to talk to so-and-so about that,” has a top-notch sense of humor, and shares my fondness of kooky sayings like “those cookies are the bee’s knees.”

Laura and I have talked extensively about baking – she makes a mean chocolate pots de creme – and she requested a chocolate raspberry combo as her celebratory farewell cookies. And so, we have these chocolate raspberry thumbprints. The original recipe from Good Housekeeping neglected one very important note in preparation…you have to melt your 2 ounces of baking chocolate before you incorporate it into the dough. Which makes me wonder…how many people tried to make this recipe without melting their chocolate?

Farewell, Laura! We shall meet again on social media and in outside-work-life!

Ingredients

  • 2 3/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, slightly softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • About 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat butter on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add sugar; beat until well-combined and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add egg, vanilla, chocolate, and cocoa powder mixing well, scraping the sides of the bowl a few times.

Slowly add flour mixture, beating until fully incorporated.

Using a 1-inch cookie scoop, scoop dough and roll into balls. Place about 2 inches apart on baking sheets.

Using your 1/4 teaspoon measuring spoon, press a thumbprint well into the center of each cookie. Fill with 1/4 teaspoon raspberry jam.

Bake for 14 minutes, until jam is bubbly at the edges. Remove from oven and cool for 1-2 minutes on the baking sheets, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature; if stacking, place waxed paper between the layers.