COOKIES AND CANDY
| —1860s— | • Cookies are referred to as jumbles, and they can come in almost any form. |
| —1870s— | • Chocolate caramels (at least ten recipes are published during this period; see here) provide pleasure—and dental issues. |
| —1877— | • Gingersnaps (here). |
| —1910— | • Oatmeal macaroons. |
| —1930s— | • Ruth Wakefield invents the Toll House cookie, aka the chocolate chip cookie. |
| —1943— | • Brownies emerged from the nest three decades earlier, but the recipe finds its wings this year. |
| —1946— | • William Greenberg Jr. Desserts opens in New York City; it becomes famous for its Sand Tarts (here). |
| —1949— | • Party Balls (here): think Rice Krispies treat meets molasses cookie. |
| —1950s— | • A cookie is still spelled cooky. |
| —1960s— | • Rum Balls (here), because there isn’t enough rum in the cocktails. |
| —1969— | • Cookie Monster makes his debut on Sesame Street; in 2006, record levels of childhood obesity will cause him to stop scarfing down so many cookies on the show. |
| —1970s— | • No school lunch is complete without an oatmeal raisin cookie. |
| —1977— | • The first Mrs. Fields cookie store opens. |
| —1980s— | • The bar cookie decade. |
| —1991— | • Ben & Jerry’s introduces Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream. |
| —1993— | • We are so devoted to Italy that we abandon soft chewy cookies for hard, brittle biscotti. |
| —2000— | • Miniature madeleines, the shell-shaped French cakes, become the petit four at Manhattan restaurants. |
| —2008— | • David Leite deconstructs the chocolate chip cookie and rebuilds it into the platonic version (here). • Caramels covered in chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt obsess everyone, including the Obamas. |
| —2009— | • French sandwich-style macaroons rivet bakers and eaters alike, a trend launched by Parisian pastry king Pierre Hermé. |
COOKIES AND CANDY
The nineteenth century was a good time for someone with a sweet tooth, as you will see from the number of candy and cookie recipes in this chapter. Commercial candy making was just taking off, which is why by the early twentieth century, the candy recipes are replaced by more and more cookies—bars, macaroons, nut balls, quakes, crisps, and sablés, to name a few. And, of course, there is the indominable chocolate chip cookie invented in the 1930s, but repeatedly tweaked by absolutely everyone (myself included) in the search for Toll House perfection (see here and here).
Brownies and Bars
Caramelized Brown Butter Rice Krispies Treats
Cookies and Biscotti
Almond-Lemon Macaroons (Almendrados)
Buttery French TV Snacks (Croq-Télé)
Two-Day Madeleines with Brown Butter
Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Sablés
Canestrelli (Shortbread from Ovada)
Flat-and-Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cookies with Chocolate
Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Sablés
Flat-and-Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Other
Maida Heatter’s Rugelach (Walnut Horns)
Classic Financiers (Buttery Almond Cakes)
Two-Day Madeleines with Brown Butter
Candy
Holiday Cookies
Almond-Lemon Macaroons (Almendrados)
Not for those with a lot of fillings! (If you have a lot of fillings, you’ve probably had enough butterscotch anyway.) For the rest of you, what bliss—butterscotch is a form of slow and steady gratification. You get the sweet butter flavor you want, and the hard, chewy candy draws out the pleasure. Here, a “gill” (½ cup) of molasses adds a mineral dimension to the whole.
———
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
½ cup unsulphured molasses
½ teaspoon salt
Fleur de sel or Maldon sea salt for sprinkling (optional)
1. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Combine the butter, brown sugar, molasses, and salt in a medium heavy saucepan and attach a candy thermometer to the pan. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar, and boil until the mixture registers 255 degrees. Remove from the heat and pour into the buttered pan, tilting the pan so the butterscotch spreads evenly. Let stand until the butterscotch has firmed up and is cool enough to touch.
2. Use buttered scissors to cut the butterscotch into ¾-inch squares (first cut into ¾-inch-wide strips, then cut the strips into squares). Wrap the squares individually in wax paper or layer between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container.
MAKES ABOUT 12½ DOZEN CANDIES
COOKING NOTE
When cutting the butterscotch, if it becomes too firm, slip it back into the baking pan and warm in a 250-degree oven until it’s soft enough to cut.
DECEMBER 31, 1876: “THE HOUSEHOLD: RECEIPTS FOR THE TABLE.” RECIPE SIGNED SARAH.
—1876
GINGERSNAPS
Rarely does a cookie recipe give you the satisfaction of pounding the dough. Here you can do it with reckless abandon—in fact, Lillie, who contributed the recipe to the Times, instructed you to “beat hard with a rolling pin, which will make it crisp when baked.”
———
1 cup unsulphured molasses
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
Scant ¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Large pinch of salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
4 cups all-purpose flour
1. Warm the molasses, butter, and brown sugar in a large saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the butter is melted. Pour into a large bowl and stir until smooth.
2. Whisk the ginger, cinnamon, cayenne, salt, baking soda, and ¼ cup flour in a small bowl. Stir this into the butter mixture. Start whisking in the remaining 3 ¾ cups flour until the dough is too heavy for a whisk; switch to a wooden spoon and continue working in the flour until the dough is a cohesive lump and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
3. Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for a minute or two. Then pound the dough flat with a rolling pin, using a few stern whacks. Continuing with the rolling pin, pound it into a rectangle. Fold the dough into thirds, like a business letter, turn it 90 degrees, and repeat the pounding, shaping and folding 10 times. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, shape each half into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, and up to 24 hours.
4. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using one half of the dough at a time, working on a barely floured work surface, roll out the dough as thin as possible, 1⁄16 to ⅛ inch thick. Cut out the cookies using a 2½-inch round cookie cutter and transfer to the parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them an inch apart.
5. Bake until just browning on the edges, 8 to 10 minutes; turn the baking sheets 180 degrees after 4 minutes. Transfer the cookies to racks to cool. Repeat until the remaining dough has been used; reroll the scraps of dough to make more cookies.
MAKES ABOUT 6 DOZEN COOKIES
JANUARY 14, 1877: “RECEIPTS FOR THE TABLE.” RECIPE SIGNED LILLIE.
—1877
MOLASSES CANDY
Molasses candy would be good enough on its own, but here you get the glow of lemon too. This is a soft and airy confection, more like taffy than hard candy.
Make this with a friend: it’s an adventure. The original instructions say that after you cook the molasses mixture, you cool it enough to handle and then “pull it white,” which means pulling and stretching the warm, silky, utterly gorgeous brown mass like a piece of taffy until you’ve lightened the color and tightened the texture.
Referring to the candy-pulling instructions in Bruce Weinstein’s The Ultimate Candy Book, my friend Merrill and I attacked the mass with my two-year-old kids, who were the perfect height: they held on to the candy mass while we stretched it upward. When you pull candy, you’re simply stretching it and folding it over itself, again and again. At first the molasses mixture is like molten copper with a satin sheen. It’s soft and loose, and as you pull it, the color whitens and the layers collapse, creating thin striations of brown. Over time, the candy becomes stickier and more difficult to stretch. We spread our palms with soft butter and pulled the candy one last time into long, thin, ½-inch-diameter strands, then, using buttered scissors, snipped the strands into 1-inch pieces—pieces of candy.
———
2 cups unsulphured molasses
1½ teaspoons cider vinegar
¼ cup sugar
½ tablespoon unsalted butter, plus more for the baking sheet and your hands
½ teaspoon baking soda, dissolved in 2 teaspoons hot water
1½ teaspoons lemon extract or essence
1. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Combine the molasses, vinegar, sugar, and butter in a deep heavy saucepan and attach a candy thermometer to the pan. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar, and cook until the mixture reaches 255 degrees. Remove from the heat and, wearing an oven mitt on your stirring hand, stir in the dissolved baking soda and the lemon extract. Pour the mixture into the buttered dish and let stand until set up but still pourable, about 10 minutes.
2. Butter a baking sheet, or if you have a marble or granite countertop, butter a 15-inch-square area. Pour the molasses mixture onto the sheet or countertop. Lightly butter your hands and start folding the molasses mixture onto itself by lifting the corners and bringing them up onto the middle of the taffy. Continue folding the corners onto the center until the taffy can be gathered into a ball, about 3 minutes. The taffy is now ready to be pulled. (If your hands are small, you can divide the ball into 2 or 3 pieces before you begin to pull the candy.)
3. Holding the ball of candy with both hands, pull it into a rope about 2 feet long, twisting the rope as you pull. Bring the ends of the rope together, creating a 1-foot rope, then pull this rope to a length of 2 feet or more, twisting it as you pull. Bring the ends together again, and repeat the process until the taffy becomes golden and very hard to pull, about 10 minutes.
4. Divide the pulled candy into 4 pieces. Roll or pull each piece into a rope about ½ inch in diameter. Cut each rope into bite-sized pieces with buttered scissors. Wrap the cooled pieces individually in wax paper, or layer them between sheets of wax paper, and store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 weeks.
MAKES ABOUT 1 POUND
COOKING NOTE
As you pull the candy, focus on using your fingertips, which will help keep the ropes of candy evenly shaped.
AUGUST 12, 1877: “THE HOUSEHOLD: RECEIPTS FOR THE TABLE.” RECIPE SIGNED MOLLIE; PULLING INSTRUCTIONS ADAPTED FROM THE ULTIMATE CANDY BOOK, BY BRUCE WEINSTEIN.
—1877
Once you get the hang of preparing the filling—which requires boiling milk and sugar to the soft-ball stage and then beating it in a mixer—these chocolates are easy and fun to make. After cooking the first batch, I decided to add peppermint to the filling for a Peppermint Patty–like candy. Feel free to skip this variation and stick to the plain vanilla filling.
———
2 cups sugar
½ cup whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon peppermint extract (optional)
6 ounces 72% (or higher) cacao chocolate
1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine the sugar and milk in a small heavy saucepan, attach a candy thermometer to the pan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil until the mixture reaches 235 to 240 degrees.
2. Pour the hot mixture into the bowl of a mixer fitted with a whisk (or use a hand mixer) and beat until the mixture thickens, about 10 minutes, adding the vanilla and peppermint, if using, halfway through. Stop when the mixture is thick enough to shape.
3. Form the sugar mixture into small gumball-sized drops, and set on the parchment-lined baking sheet to cool.
4. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave. Using a fork, dip the sugar balls a few at a time into the chocolate, roll to lightly coat, and return to the parchment to cool and set. Then coat once more with chocolate.
MAKES ABOUT 50 CHOCOLATES
COOKING NOTE
When in doubt, make the cream balls smaller than you think. You want to really taste the chocolate.
SEPTEMBER 2, 1877: “RECEIPTS FOR THE TABLE,” RECIPE SIGNED CALIFORNIA.
—1877
JUMBLES
Jumbles were early cookies, many examples of which were uninspiring lumps of dough. But these jumbles are champs: crisp and buttery and trilling with freshly grated nutmeg.
———
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Large pinch of salt
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda, dissolved in a scant teaspoon of hot water
½ cup sour cream
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1. Whisk together the flour, nutmeg, and salt in a small bowl.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle (or in a bowl with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the baking soda mixture and sour cream and beat until blended. Beat in the egg. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour and beat just until the dough clings together. Refrigerate the dough, covered, until chilled.
3. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop the dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake until the cookies are golden brown on the edges, about 12 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool.
MAKES ABOUT 5 DOZEN COOKIES
JANUARY 13, 1878: “RECEIPTS FOR THE TABLE.” RECIPE SIGNED MOLLIE.
—1878
MACAROONS
These are unlike any macaroons I’ve tasted. Flat and shiny, with a crackled surface, they’re crisp on the perimeter, chewy in the center—the ideal cookie. Because I ground the almonds in a food processor, not a nut grinder, the texture was pleasantly pebbly.
———
½ pound blanched almonds, finely ground
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2½ cups confectioners’ sugar
3 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1. Position an oven rack on the bottom shelf and preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Blend the ground almonds and lemon zest in a bowl. Mix in the sugar, then stir in the whites.
2. Drop the macaroon batter by teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheets, keeping them 2 inches apart. Bake until golden on the edges, about 20 minutes. (You can bake them darker, but the texture will change; try it and see what you prefer.)
3. Let the macaroons cool on the baking sheets, then pluck them off. Store in an airtight tin.
MAKES 40 TO 45 MACAROONS
COOKING NOTES
Grinding the almonds together with the lemon zest will infuse the citron flavor more deeply into the cookies.
The flavor of the cookies improves after a day or two.
I used these to make the powdery macaroon coating for the Tortoni here.
MARCH 31, 1878: “RECEIPTS FOR THE TABLE.” RECIPE SIGNED M. A.
—1878
PEPPERMINTS
Peppermints were a popular European candy by the mid-nineteenth century. “Brandy balls,” a sweet made with peppermint and cinnamon—“all the spices that warm the tongue, like brandy does,” explained Francine Sagan, a food historian—were sold on the street in London in the 1850s.
But until Wrigley’s spearmint gum was introduced in America in 1893 and peppermint LifeSavers appeared on the market about a decade later, mint candy was something that was made at home. It was one of those things, like recaning a chair or boning a leg of lamb, that every woman seemed to know how to do. A recipe for peppermints that ran in the Times in 1879 is a surprise in that it actually gives precise measurements for all of the ingredients, which was not always the case with the paper’s nineteenth-century recipes.
Without candy-making expertise, however, I quickly ran into trouble: I boiled a pound of sugar and a little water for 5 minutes, at which point the mixture began to caramelize. Off the heat, I added peppermint extract and followed the instructions to beat the mixture until it thickened. But even if I’d beaten it with an airplane propeller, the mixture had determined to remain loose and glistening, so I gave up and poured the caramelized sugar onto a greased baking sheet.
Cooled, the candy looked like a shiny amber ink blot, attractive but not terribly promising. Then I tasted a piece and suddenly understood why you’d want to make candy at home. The caramelization of the sugar gave the candy an unexpected buttery flavor and bitterness, and the peppermint was profuse and alive in a way that you never find in store-bought candy.
To fix up the recipe into one that was less shards and more candy drops, I turned once again to Bruce Weinstein’s excellent The Ultimate Candy Book for help in writing a modern version. The proportions and method are based on his recipe for lemon drops.
———
1 cup sugar
⅓ cup light corn syrup
½ cup water
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting (optional)
1. Lightly oil a large baking sheet and line it with parchment paper. Oil the parchment.
2. Combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a medium heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan and cook, without stirring, until the syrup reaches 300 degrees. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and allow the syrup to cool to 270 degrees, then stir in the peppermint extract.
3. Pour teaspoonfuls of the hot syrup onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them ½ inch apart (transferring the hot syrup to a Pyrex measuring cup with a spout makes shaping the candies much easier.) Let cool.
4. When the candies are completely cool, peel them off the parchment. Wrap each piece in wax paper, or toss them all in confectioners’ sugar. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 months.
MAKES 30 TO 36 CANDIES
COOKING NOTES
Boyajian makes excellent extracts. Their peppermint extract is $5 for a 1-ounce bottle at www.amazon.com—you may also find it in specialty markets.
The candies should be kept between layers of wax paper in an airtight tin.
In addition to snacking on these mints, you can crush the candy and sprinkle the peppermint dust over chocolate ice cream and use the snippets to decorate cakes.
FEBRUARY 23, 1879: “RECEIPTS FOR THE TABLE.” RECIPE SIGNED G. PARTS OF THE RECIPE ADAPTED FROM THE ULTIMATE CANDY BOOK, BY BRUCE WEINSTEIN.
—1879
CHOCOLATE CARAMELS
———
4½ ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 cup whole milk
1 cup unsulphured molasses
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Butter an 8-inch-square baking dish. Combine the chocolate, milk, molasses, sugar, and butter in a heavy saucepan, attach a candy thermometer to the pan, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture reaches 245 degrees; scrape the bottom of the pan with the spoon to make sure the mixture doesn’t stick and burn.
2. Remove from the heat and, wearing an oven mitt, add the vanilla to the hot mixture. Quickly pour the mixture into the buttered baking dish.
3. When the caramel is cool enough to handle, transfer it to a cutting board. With a buttered chef’s knife (or scissors), cut into ½-inch-wide strips, then cut crosswise into ¾-inch pieces.
4. When they are completely cool, wrap the caramels individually in wax paper, or layer between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container. Store in a cool place.
MAKES 80 TO 100 PIECES
COOKING NOTES
If the caramel hardens too much to cut it, slip it back into the baking dish and into a 200-degree oven to soften.
If you like a firm caramel, bring the mixture to 250 degrees in Step 1.
MARCH 6, 1881: “RECEIPTS.” RECIPE SIGNED FANNY.
—1881
CHARLESTON COCONUT SWEETIES
These coconut meringues crackle and grow hollow in the oven, leaving you with a sweet fragile shell and a chewy coconut center.
———
½ cup coconut water (not milk—from a fresh coconut or a store-bought coconut water drink, like Zico)
3 cups sugar
½ cup water
4 large egg whites
Pinch of salt
2 cups grated fresh (or frozen) unsweetened coconut
1. Arrange the racks in your oven to accommodate 3 baking sheets and heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the coconut water, 2 cups sugar, and water in a small heavy saucepan, attach a candy thermometer to the pan, and bring to a boil. Cook until the mixture registers 250 degrees. Remove from the heat and let cool for a few minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites with the salt until foamy. Add the remaining 1 cup sugar a little at a time, beating until a glossy, elastic meringue forms.
3. With the mixer running, pour in the hot syrup in a thread-like stream as close to the sides of the bowl as possible to avoid the whisk. Some syrup will get thrown up on the sides of the bowl; this is fine. Keep beating after all the syrup is added to cool the mixture slightly.
4. Fold in the coconut. Drop the mixture by tablespoonfuls onto the parchment-lined baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Place the baking sheets in the oven and turn off the heat. Leave the candies in the oven until completely cool (overnight is easiest).
MAKES 40 TO 50 SWEETIES
COOKING NOTE
See here for instructions on opening a coconut. To grate the meat, press pieces of coconut through the grating disk of your food processor, or use the large holes on a hand grater.
OCTOBER 16, 1883: “RECEIPTS.” RECIPE SIGNED YADIS—THE LIVE OAKS.
—1883
PRALINES
———
2 cups packed and lightly mounded light brown sugar
1 cup whole milk
Large pinch of salt
⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup pecan halves
1. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and butter the paper. Combine the brown sugar, milk, salt, and cream of tartar in a heavy saucepan and attach a candy thermometer to the pan. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring frequently with a whisk, “until a fine thread of [the syrup] spun from a spoon and blown with the breath will wave and bend, but not break,” or until it reaches 245 degrees on the candy thermometer. It may take up to 30 minutes to reach this point.
2. Off the heat, stir in the butter. Pour the mixture into a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer and a large bowl) and beat until it thickens enough to leave a ribbon trail when the beater is lifted. Stir in the pecans.
3. Working quickly so the mixture doesn’t harden, drop the pralines by tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets. Let cool completely.
MAKES ABOUT 3 DOZEN PRALINES
COOKING NOTES
Be careful when cooking the syrup, because it boils over easily and froths when stirred. I suggest wearing an oven mitt, standing back from the saucepan, and using a whisk to stir, because it helps the syrup boil more calmly.
Don’t make the pralines any larger than a tablespoonful, or they’ll be sugar bombs.
NOVEMBER 14, 1937: “THE HOUSEWIFE WELCOMES A BUMPER NUT CROP,” BY EDDA MORGAN.
—1937
BROWNIES
I made many brownie recipes in an effort to find the best one to include in this book. There was a delicious, elemental one from 1913 that didn’t call for vanilla or salt, a ten-step monster from 1985 that produced a fine chocolaty square; and a few more recent examples, including Katherine Hepburn’s recipe and one by a French pastry chef that was like a souffléd brownie. In the end, though, I settled on this unadorned version, with classic proportions of butter, sugar, eggs, flour, and chocolate, which I believe is the best kind of brownie: a little buttery, a little bitter, a little salty, but mostly about the chocolate. These brownies also exhibit my favorite brownie detail, a shiny, chewy crackled surface.
This recipe ran close to the holidays in the middle of World War II and was highlighted as a sweet that traveled well as a care package for soldiers.
———
¼ pound semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
½ cup sifted all-purpose flour
½ cup chopped nuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch-square baking pan and line the base with parchment.
2. Melt the chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low heat. Remove from the heat.
3. Beat the eggs with the sugar until the sugar is mostly dissolved, and add to the chocolate mixture. Add the other ingredients and mix well. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
4. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost, but not quite, clean, about 25 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes, then invert the brownie onto a rack, remove the parchment, and turn it right side up. When cool, cut into 16 squares.
MAKES 16 BROWNIES
COOKING NOTE
You might laugh at the size of these brownies, which are 2-inch squares—brownie “bites” by today’s standard. Cut them larger at your (waistline’s) peril.
NOVEMBER 14, 1943: “GIFTS FOR THE ABSENT ONES,” BY JANE HOLT.
—1943
HONEY SPICE COOKIES
When I first made these cookies, I liked their crisp bottoms and pillowy interiors but was ambivalent about the flavor. Firmly stuck between sweet and savory, they needed a swing vote. So for the next batch, I sprinkled a little sea salt on a few of them and some raw sugar on others, and after a short stay in the oven, I had two very different cookies that I was crazy about. The ones with salt became a neatly formed biscuit suited to British cheeses. The ones with sugar became a lovely tea cookie, firm and fragrant, but not too sweet. Make the batch half sweet and half savory, and you’ll get plenty of both.
———
2⅓ cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup mild honey (such as clover or orange blossom)
1 large egg
Flaky sea salt and/or coarse raw sugar, such as Sugar in the Raw, for sprinkling
1. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice.
2. Beat the butter in a large bowl until soft. Beat in the honey. Add the egg and mix well. Add the flour mixture, mixing until blended. Chill for at least 3 hours.
3. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 baking sheets, or use nonstick sheets.
4. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured board to about 1⁄16 inch thick. Cut out cookies with a 2-inch round cutter and place 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. Sprinkle the tops with salt or sugar (or sprinkle half with salt and half with sugar).
5. Bake until lightly browned on the bottoms, 6 to 8 minutes, turning the pans around halfway through. Transfer to racks to cool.
MAKES ABOUT 6 DOZEN COOKIES
COOKING NOTES
The flavor of these cookies improves with time. Try to wait at least 2 days, if you can.
The original recipe called for fortified margarine, which I don’t even want to know exists. I changed it to butter.
OCTOBER 25, 1948: “NEWS OF FOOD: 350 KINDS OF CHEESE—3 TO 4 TONS OF IT—ALWAYS ARE ON HAND AT BROOKLYN STORE,” BY JANE NICKERSON.
—1948
PARTY BALLS
I can’t say the name of this recipe out loud without cracking a smile. Clearly whoever named Rice Krispies Treats missed an opportunity.
I’d argue that party balls are a superior variation on popcorn balls because they’re crackly rather than gooey, and because the molasses gives them a little austerity.
For a modern take on the party ball, see here.
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½ cup light corn syrup
½ cup molasses
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus softened butter for shaping
5½ cups rice cereal (like Rice Krispies)
1. Combine the corn syrup and molasses in a medium saucepan, attach a candy thermometer to the pan, and bring to a boil, stirring only enough to prevent burning, to a temperature of 240 degrees. Remove from the heat and stir in the vinegar and butter.
2. Place the cereal in a large buttered bowl, pour in the syrup, and stir well with a wooden spoon. Coat your palms with softened butter, form the mixture into balls (you’ll need to press the mixture firmly), and place on a greased baking sheet to cool. (Or press into a shallow greased baking pans and cut into bars when cool.)
MAKES TWENTY 2-INCH BALLS
COOKING NOTES
If shaping the balls by hand, you’ll need to wash and rebutter your hands occasionally.
I love this detail, which was added at the bottom of the original recipe: “While balls are still soft, a small birthday candle may be inserted into each, if desired.”
VARIATION
Make the balls small enough to pop into your mouth, and sprinkle each with a little Maldon sea salt. Serve, with a knowing wink, at a dinner party.
PERIOD DETAIL
A cookbook the Times published in 1875 included a nearly identical recipe that called for popcorn rather than cereal.
JULY 9, 1949: “NEWS OF FOOD: MOLDS USED FOR HOME-FREEZING OF ‘POPSICLES’ NOW SERVE AS MASKS FOR YOUNGSTERS’ DISHES,” BY JANE NICKERSON.
—1949
SPRINGERLE COOKIES
Springerle are hard anise-flavored tea cookies, roughly the same shape and color as mahjong tiles. Craig Claiborne wrote that the name springerle “derives from the old German word for a band or grouping of animals, such as a sprung of reindeer.”
The tops of classic springerle have beautiful shapes pressed into the dough with carved wood boards or rolling pins, much like old butter molds. “There are many shapes and sizes of springerle boards,” Claiborne continued, “all of them with intaglio designs. Some of the designs are of human figures, others merely geometric studies. Human likenesses include various characters from fairy tales and nursery rhymes, witches on broomsticks, knights in full armor, and extravagantly caparisoned beldames.”
Springerle are true outliers in the cookie world. The dough is chilled overnight, and after the cookies are pressed with the intricately carved boards, they are left out overnight before they are baked. When the cookies finally get in the oven, they aren’t allowed to brown, but merely dry. And then the springerle schoolmarms recommend that you don’t eat them for another week (or three) to allow the flavor to develop.
But what you end up with is worth it all: a beautiful cookie that sings with anise and calls out for teatime.
———
4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
3 tablespoons anise seeds
1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. Place the eggs, sugar, and lemon zest in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle (or mix in a large bowl with a hand mixer) and beat for 5 minutes at medium speed. Reduce the speed to low and beat in the flour mixture, one half at a time, just until a dough forms (you may not need to add it all). Refrigerate the dough, covered, overnight.
3. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, and sprinkle the paper with the anise seeds. On a generously floured work surface, roll out the dough into a shape resembling that of your springerle board and 5⁄8 inch thick. If you don’t have a springerle board (or rolling pin), just roll out the dough into a 5⁄8-inch-thick square. Press a springerle board on top (or roll a springerle rolling pin over the dough), bearing down firmly to leave clear-cut designs. (Without the board or rolling pin, just leave your springerle patternless.)
4. With a floured knife, cut the cookies apart, following the lines of the designs (they’re usually square or rectangular). Arrange the cookies on the prepared sheets, on top of the anise seeds. Let stand overnight, uncovered, at room temperature.
5. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Bake the cookies until thoroughly dried but not at all colored, 13 to 15 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool.
MAKES ABOUT 3 DOZEN COOKIES
COOKING NOTE
Springerle molds are usually available on eBay—but you can also go patternless.
NOVEMBER 30, 1958: “THE SEASON FOR SPRINGERLE,” BY CRAIG CLAIBORNE. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM CRISCO KITCHENS.
—1958
FINNISH BRIDAL COOKIES
Thin, sweet, and buttery—use a tart jam for contrast.
———
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup Vanilla Sugar (recipe follows)
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 large egg white, stiffly beaten
About ⅓ cup thick jam or marmalade
1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. In a mixer fitted with a paddle (or in a bowl with a hand mixer), beat the butter with the vanilla sugar until very light and fluffy. Add the flour and beat until smooth. Fold in the beaten egg white.
2. Drop the dough by rounded half teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets, 1½ inches apart. Bake for 8 minutes, or until light brown around the edges (rotate the cookie sheets from front to back after 4 minutes). Remove the cookies and cool on a rack.
3. Spread the flat bottoms of half the cookies with the jam or marmalade. Cover with the remaining cookies to make little jam sandwiches.
MAKES ABOUT 2 DOZEN SANDWICH COOKIES
VANILLA SUGAR
Slit one-quarter of a vanilla bean open. Place in a covered jar with ½ cup sugar. Let stand for 3 to 4 days before using. (You can then remove the bean and reuse it to make more vanilla sugar—it’s the gift that keeps on giving.)
MAY 23, 1962: “FOOD NEWS: COOKED BIRD IS IN THE BAG.” RECIPE ADAPTED FROM EUROPEAN DESSERTS FOR AMERICAN KITCHENS, BY ELAINE ROSS.
—1962
RUM BALLS
What to have after cocktails and a meal of sherry-soaked 1960s dishes? Rum balls!
———
½ pound walnuts (about 2 cups), finely ground
½ pound bittersweet chocolate, finely grated
½ cup sugar
3 large egg whites, lightly beaten
About 5 tablespoons rum
4 to 6 ounces (about 1 cup) chocolate shot
1. Mix together the nuts, chocolate, sugar, and half the egg whites in a bowl. Add enough rum to moisten the mixture so that it comes together when pinched. Refrigerate the mixture until chilled. Refrigerate the remaining egg whites.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Shape the mixture into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in the remaining egg white and then in the chocolate shot. Set on the lined baking sheet and allow to dry. Store in a covered tin in the refrigerator. (The rum balls will keep for a week or two; let come to room temperature before serving.)
MAKES ABOUT 2½ DOZEN BALLS
COOKING NOTES
If you’re concerned about the use of uncooked egg whites, skip this recipe.
I’m not a fan of chocolate shot—aka chocolate sprinkles or jimmies—so I used unsweetened grated coconut. You could also substitute cacao nibs, lightly crushed.
DECEMBER 22, 1968: “SUGARPLUM TIME,” BY JEAN HEWITT.
—1968
SAND TARTS (PECAN SANDIES)
A good sand tart, like this beauty from the Madison Avenue pastry shop William Greenberg Jr. Desserts, explodes in your mouth as if tripwired.
———
6 ounces (about 1½ cups) pecans
1 pound lightly salted butter, softened
1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 large egg
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
4½ cups all-purpose flour
1. Using a Mouli grater, the fine plate of a meat grinder, or a food processor, grate the pecans; you should have about 2½ cups fluffy ground pecans. Do not use a blender.
2. In a mixer fitted with a paddle (or in a bowl with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar together until very light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Fold in the nuts. Stir in the flour. Divide the dough in two, wrap well, and chill.
3. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. Roll one half of the dough between sheets of wax paper to ¼ inch thick. Peel off the wax paper, then, using a 1½-inch round cutter, cut out cookies and arrange them 1 inch apart on the baking sheets. Gather up the scraps of dough into a ball, chill, and roll again. Repeat until all the dough has been used. Sprinkle the cookies with sugar.
5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the bottoms are lightly browned; the tops will remain pale. Cool on a rack.
6. Dip the cooled cookies in sugar, and store in a sealed container.
MAKES ABOUT 8 DOZEN COOKIES
COOKING NOTES
Pecan sandies always taste better after a day or two, so make them and hide them.
Be gentle with the dough, and you’ll be rewarded.
MARCH 29, 1971: “CAKES DECORATED WITH ARTISTIC FLAIR,” BY JEAN HEWITT. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM WILLIAM GREENBERG JR. DESSERTS IN NEW YORK CITY.
—1971
SPICE KRINKLES
Krinkles are cookies that are cracked or wrinkled on the surface—which means every little crevice adds texture to the cookie. These krinkles have the bonus of being both wrinkled and chewy.
———
12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
¼ cup molasses
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
¾ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1. In a mixer with a paddle attachment (or in a bowl with a hand mixer), beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and molasses. Sift together the remaining ingredients except the granulated sugar and stir into the dough. Wrap the dough in wax paper and chill for at least 2 hours, or as long as overnight.
2. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Pull or cut off pieces of dough and form into balls the size of walnuts. Dip the tops in the sugar and set 3 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake until set but not hard, 8 to 10 minutes. For a festive look, the cookies can be decorated while hot from the oven by pressing each one with a wooden butter print mold (see Cooking Note). Cool on a rack.
MAKES 36 TO 40 COOKIES
In the last step, you’re instructed to press the tops of the warm cookies with a “wooden butter print mold.” As I doubt you have a collection of these, you can use the bottom of an etched tumbler or patterned dish—or even just the tines of a fork.
DECEMBER 9, 1973: “HOLIDAY FARE: FOR A TRADITIONAL OPEN HOUSE,” BY JEAN HEWITT. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM FANNY PIERSON CRANE RECEIPTS.
—1973
PINE NUT COOKIES
———
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup toasted pine nuts
1. Heat the oven to 300 degrees. Butter and flour 2 baking sheets. In a mixer fitted with a paddle (or in a bowl with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk, vanilla, and flour. Mix in the nuts.
2. Drop the batter a teaspoon or so at a time onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake until pale golden, 20 to 25 minutes. While still hot, remove with a spatula to a rack and let cool.
MAKES ABOUT 2½ DOZEN COOKIES
READERS
“Did you know that the Times also published recipes on a roll of paper towels . . . at least twenty-five years ago? I received a roll as a gift from a visiting Boston friend. I make an exciting ‘variation’ of a cookie recipe that appeared on that roll of paper towels imprinted with ‘NY TIMES Recipes.’ ”
For Booth’s variation, she uses Wondra flour in place of the all-purpose flour and bakes the cookies on parchment-paper-lined baking sheets. She presses the delicate dough into a teaspoon, unmolds it onto the baking sheets, and makes a crosshatch pattern on top of each one with a fork dipped into water.
Lila Booth, Blue Bell, PA, e-mail
DECEMBER 7, 1977: “FOOD GIFTS YOU CAN MAKE AT HOME,” BY CRAIG CLAIBORNE. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM RITA ALEXANDER, A FRIEND AND NEIGHBOR OF CLAIBORNE.
—1977
FLORENTINES WITH GINGER
Wafer-thin almond and ginger cookies, whose bottoms are spread with a thin layer of chocolate.
———
¾ cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ cup sugar
1¾ cups grated or finely chopped almonds
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons finely chopped candied ginger
¼ pound semisweet chocolate, chopped
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with Silpats or other silicone baking mats or with parchment. If using parchment, brush with oil.
2. Combine the cream, butter, and sugar in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved and all the ingredients are well blended. Fold in the almonds, flour, and candied ginger and simmer for a minute to cook the flour. Remove from the heat.
3. Drop the batter about a tablespoon at a time onto the baking sheets, spacing the mounds 3 inches apart. Bake until golden on the edges and cooked in the center, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool briefly. (If the cookies become too cool, they will stick to the pans.)
4. Brush your thinnest spatula with oil, and use it to remove the cookies racks to cool.
5. When the cookies are thoroughly cool, melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave. Use a spatula to spread a little chocolate over the bottom of each cookie, and let stand upside down until the chocolate is set.
MAKES 2½ DOZEN COOKIES
COOKING NOTE
The almonds and ginger must be finely chopped to keep the cookies delicate—do this in a blender.
SEPTEMBER 23, 1979: “FOOD: A DESSERT THAT’S PUREED AND SIMPLE,” BY CRAIG CLAIBORNE WITH PIERRE FRANEY.
—1979
LEMON BARS
Usually very little creativity is expended on the lemon bar. Not so here. These have a whiff of coconut, and a core like pecan pie, all concealed by a sheath of lemon icing.
———
1½ cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 large eggs
1½ cups lightly packed dark brown sugar
¾ cup chopped pecans
¾ cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2¾ cups confectioners’ sugar
Grated zest of 2 lemons
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Mix in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
2. Press into a 12-by-18-inch baking pan. Bake until golden, 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Mix the eggs with the brown sugar, pecans, coconut, and vanilla. Pour over the partially baked pastry and bake for 20 to 30 minutes longer, or until the topping is firm. Remove from the oven.
4. Mix together the confectioners’ sugar, lemon zest, and juice until smooth. Spread over the bars. Let cool.
5. Cut into 1-by-1½-inch bars. (The bars can be frozen.)
MAKES 80 BARS
COOKING NOTE
The bars are better the next day, after the layers have settled and firmed.
NOVEMBER 2, 1983: “DESSERT PARTY: A FEAST OF SUMPTUOUS TREATS,” BY MARIAN BURROS. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM WORD OF MOUTH, A CATERING COMPANY AND TAKE-OUT SHOP IN NEW YORK CITY.
—1983
BROWN SUGAR SHORTBREAD
What is shortbread but butter and sugar met by a little flour? The brown sugar contributes caramel flavor, the salt contrast, and the almonds unnecessary but entirely welcome richness. This is a cookie for cookie purists, and it comes from the master of culinary purity, Alice Waters.
———
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
⅔ cup packed light brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
⅛ teaspoon salt
½ cup toasted unblanched almonds, coarsely chopped
1. In a mixer fitted with a paddle (or in a bowl with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the flour and salt and blend by hand until the dough is kneadable. Knead the nuts into the dough. Gather the dough into 2 balls, wrap in wax paper, and chill thoroughly.
2. Heat the oven to 300 degrees. On a lightly floured board, roll both halves of the dough into neat 8-inch circles, about ⅓ inch thick or slightly less. Place the circles on a buttered baking sheet and deeply score each one into 8 wedges. Prick the wedges decoratively with a fork.
3. Bake until lightly browned and cooked through, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the shortbread cool on the sheets.
4. Cut into wedges and serve alone or with fresh cherries.
MAKES 16 SHORTBREAD WEDGES
JUNE 29, 1986: “STAR-SPANGLED PICNIC,” BY CRAIG CLAIBORNE. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM ALICE WATERS.
—1986
MAIDA HEATTER’S RUGELACH (WALNUT HORNS)
Maida Heatter, the grand dame of home baking, is responsible for a number of terrific recipes in this book, including the Cuban Black Beans and Rice here and the Preheated-Oven Popovers here. Like many of her fans, I adore her recipes not because they’re particularly surprising or inventive, but because they work so seamlessly. Heatter has thought of every detail so you don’t have to. Take Step 1 in this recipe: she knows the dough has a tendency to creep up on the beaters, so she tells you to scrape it off and finish adding the flour by hand. Tough dough averted.
The first batch, before you find your bearings with the dough, may be hard on the eyes. Mine resembled an explosion of cinnamon sugar and pastry dough. But the rugelach improved with each batch, and they certainly tasted perfect, so light and unbelievably buttery, with crisp little walnuts and chewy currants.
———
For the Pastry
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
½ pound cream cheese, at room temperature
½ teaspoon salt (optional)
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
For the Filling
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
¾ cup dried currants or raisins
1¼ cups walnuts, finely chopped
For the Glaze
1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 teaspoon water
1. Prepare the pastry the night before you are ready to bake: Put the butter, cream cheese, and salt into the large bowl of a mixer. Beat on medium, then high speed, until the mixture is creamy and smooth. Then beat on low speed while gradually adding the flour. If the dough starts to overly coat the beaters, scrape it off the beaters and continue adding the flour, stirring it in with your hands until thoroughly and evenly blended. The dough will be extremely sticky.
2. Scrape the dough off your hands and fingers. Rinse, wash, and dry your hands. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured board. Flour your hands and gather the dough into a short sausage shape. Cut this into 3 pieces of equal size. Flatten each piece slightly, forming it into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
3. When ready to bake, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil. Combine the sugar and cinnamon for the filling and set aside.
4. Place 1 disk of dough on a floured pastry cloth. Hammer the dough firmly with a rolling pin to soften it slightly; do not let it become warm. Quickly roll out the dough, turning it occasionally, with the floured rolling pin into a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Don’t worry about a slightly uneven edge. Using a pastry brush, brush the dough with a tablespoon of the melted butter. Sprinkle the dough all over with one-third of the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Sprinkle with one-third of the currants and one-third of the walnuts. Roll the rolling pin lightly over the top to press the filling slightly into the dough.
5. Using a long sharp knife, cut the circle into 12 pie-shaped wedges. Roll up each wedge jelly-roll fashion, rolling from the outside toward the point. Do not be dismayed if some of the filling falls out. Place the rolls point side down about 1 inch apart on one foil-covered cookie sheet. Repeat with a second ball of dough and then a third, filling and rolling each as indicated.
6. Brush the top of each walnut horn lightly and evenly with the glaze. Bake for 30 minutes. Preferably at mid-point during the baking, reverse the sheets top to bottom and front to back, to ensure even browning. When the horns are cooked, remove them with a metal spatula and transfer them to racks to cool.
MAKES 3 DOZEN COOKIES
COOKING NOTES
The dough is so soft it feels like wet cold cream. When rolling it out, be generous with the flour and work quickly. If you have a rimless baking sheet, roll out the dough on it and place the sheet in the fridge to chill the dough again before forming the rugelach.
You can skip the glaze. It doesn’t add much curb appeal, and that will save you a step.
MAY 22, 1988: “FOOD: EASY DOES IT,” BY CRAIG CLAIBORNE WITH PIERRE FRANEY. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM MAIDA HEATTER.
—1988
CANESTRELLI (SHORTBREAD FROM OVADA)
A flat round cookie that’s a little nutty, a little salty, and not too sweet. Use these as the bookends of an ice cream sandwich filled with chocolate or honey ice cream.
———
1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup semolina flour
½ pound (2 sticks) lightly salted butter, softened
½ cup sugar
1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Sift together the flour and semolina and set aside.
2. Place the butter in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle (or mix in a bowl with a hand mixer) and beat on high speed for 1 minute, then add the sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy. Lower the speed of the mixer and add the flour mixture a cup at a time, scraping down the walls of the bowl and beating until the ingredients are just blended. Be careful not to overmix, because the semolina, which is high in gluten, can toughen the canestrelli. The dough will be somewhat crumbly.
3. Press the dough together into a ball, place on a lightly floured surface or wax paper, and roll it out ¼ inch thick. Cut the dough into small round shapes. (I use a juice glass with a 2-inch-diameter rim.)
4. Using a metal spatula, transfer the canestrelli to ungreased baking sheets, placing them an inch apart. Prick them all over with the tines of a fork, making a design of your choice. If you cannot get all of the dough into the oven at once, wrap the extra dough in wax paper and refrigerate in the meantime.
5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies begin to blush with color. Remove from the baking sheets with a metal spatula and cool on racks. (The cookies can be stored for up to 2 weeks in an airtight tin.)
MAKES ABOUT 3 DOZEN COOKIES
AUGUST 27, 1989: “FOOD: DISTINCTIVE ITALIAN FARE: LIGURIA,” BY JOHN MARTIN TAYLOR. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM COUNTRY HOST COOKBOOK, BY RONA DEME.
—1989
RUTH’S OATMEAL CRISPS
This is a great example of the power of shortening and salt in cookies. Butter would be too heavy and the cookies wouldn’t be quite as crisp and chewy, and without the salt, they would be too sweet. This recipe won the cookie contest at the 1966 Kentucky State Fair; Ruth is a friend of the winner, Martha Adkins.
———
1½ cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups oats (not quick-cooking)
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup golden raisins
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
2. Beat the shortening and sugars in a large bowl just enough to blend well. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until thoroughly mixed. Add the oats and mix again. Add to the flour mixture, mixing well. Stir in the nuts and raisins.
3. Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto the parchment-lined baking sheets, 1½ inches apart. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool.
MAKES ABOUT 5 DOZEN COOKIES
AUGUST 30, 1989: “STATE FAIRS FANCIER, BUT THE LURE IS STILL THAT BLUE RIBBON,” BY MOLLY O’NEILL. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM MARTHA ADKINS OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, WINNER OF THE 1966 ARCHWAY COOKIE CONTEST AT THE KENTUCKY STATE FAIR.
—1989
A crisp, direct hit of ginger, just as you’d want. Gingersnaps get better with time and can be kept for at least a month.
———
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon white vinegar
¼ cup unsulphured molasses
1. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon.
2. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle (or in a bowl with a hand mixer), beat the butter for a minute, then add the sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, vinegar, molasses, and flour mixture. Refrigerate the dough, covered, until chilled.
3. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Shape the dough into balls 1 inch in diameter and place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Slightly flatten the balls with the wet tines of a fork, then press again to make a crosshatch pattern. The cookies should be about ½ inch high.
4. Bake for 14 to 18 minutes—14 for a soft center, 18 for a crisp cookie. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then remove them with a spatula and cool on racks.
MAKES ABOUT 5 DOZEN COOKIES
DECEMBER 6, 1992: “COOKIES FOR EATING AND GIVING AS CHRISTMAS GIFTS,” BY MOIRA HODGSON.
—1992
ENGLISH TEA CART WAFERS
This is the kind of recipe—a delicate sandwich cookie spread with jam and dipped in chocolate—that takes a few times to perfect. The first time, you’ll be so thrilled that you survived all the spreading, dipping, and layering that you’ll proclaim them the best cookies you’ve ever eaten. And they are great. But the truth is that the first time you make them, you’ll probably get a proportion wrong: the chocolate overdipped, the cookies too large—something. And each time thereafter you’ll refine your technique, until your cookies are so dainty and wonderful, you’ll think about selling them. My crash-course advice is to keep the cookies as narrow as a finger and the layers of jam and chocolate as thin as possible.
———
For the Cookies
½ pound (2 sticks) cool lightly salted butter, cut into chunks
⅔ cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2¼ cups sifted all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
For the Chocolate Glaze
2 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
¼ cup raspberry preserves
1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. To make the cookies, beat together the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add the egg yolks and vanilla and beat until smooth. Combine the flour and baking powder, and stir into the butter mixture.
2. Place the dough in a cookie press fitted with a 1-inch bar cookie disk with 3 stripes. Press out the dough 3 inches long and 2 inches apart. (If you don’t have a cookie press, use a pastry bag fitted with a ½-inch plain round tip and pipe 3-inch-long stripes on the parchment, 2 inches apart.)
3. Bake until set but not brown, 5 to 8 minutes, turning the pan back to front halfway through baking. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool.
4. Combine the glaze ingredients in a double boiler over low heat and stir frequently until the chocolate is melted and the sugar has dissolved. Dip each end of half of the wafers in the glaze. Return to the rack to dry.
5. Gently spread the raspberry preserves on the flat side of the undipped wafers. Top each wafer with a chocolate-dipped wafer to make a sandwich. Handle very carefully. (The cookies can be stored in an airtight tin in a cool place for up to 3 weeks; do not freeze.)
MAKES ABOUT 2 DOZEN COOKIES
DECEMBER 13, 1992: “FOOD: SWEET DREAMS,” BY MOLLY O’NEILL.
—1992
SWEDISH NUT BALLS
Molly O’Neill’s mother made these cookies for the holidays, as did my own mother. They keep well for weeks—as long as you hide them.
———
½ pound (2 sticks) cold lightly salted butter, cut into chunks
1¾ cups confectioners’ sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
Large pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup finely ground pecans
1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Beat together the butter and ¾ cup of the confectioners’ sugar in a bowl. Add the flour, salt, vanilla, and ground pecans. Stir to combine.
2. Shape the dough into balls, using a slightly rounded teaspoon for each, and place 2 inches apart on the parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until the edges turn gold, about 20 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool. (The cookies can be frozen in an airtight container, with wax paper between each layer, for up to 6 months. Defrost for 30 minutes.)
3. Just before serving, place the remaining cup of confectioners’ sugar in a plastic bag. Add several cookies and shake gently to dust with sugar. Repeat with the remaining cookies.
MAKES 4 TO 5 DOZEN COOKIES
DECEMBER 13, 1992: “FOOD: SWEET DREAMS,” BY MOLLY O’NEILL.
—1992
CRANBERRY PISTACHIO BISCOTTI
If the 1970s were the decade of oatmeal cookies and the 1980s the decade of bar cookies, the 1990s were definitely the decade of biscotti. This recipe is clearly a derivative—a delicious, acceptable derivative—of the austere almond originals found in Tuscany.
———
1¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ cup mild extra virgin olive oil
¾ cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Scant ½ teaspoon almond extract
2 large eggs
½ cup dried cranberries
1½ cups shelled unsalted pistachios
1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick baking spray (to anchor the parchment), and line with parchment paper. Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl.
2. Beat the olive oil and sugar together in the bowl of a mixer (or in a bowl with a hand mixer). Add the vanilla and almond extracts and eggs, beating until completely blended. Beating on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture. Slowly beat in the cranberries and pistachios.
3. Divide the dough in half. Form each half into a log about 12 inches long and 2 inches wide on the baking sheet, spacing the logs about 4 inches apart. (The dough will be very sticky; to make it easier to form the logs, rinse your hands in cool water.) Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the logs are light brown. Remove from the oven and reduce the heat to 275 degrees. Let the logs cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes.
4. With a long metal spatula, remove the logs to a cutting board. Use a long sharp knife to cut the logs on the diagonal into ¾-inch-thick slices. Stand the slices upright on the baking sheet and return to the oven for 8 to 9 minutes, until they are light brown. Transfer to a rack to cool. (Layered between sheets of wax paper in a tin, the biscotti can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.)
MAKES 3 DOZEN BISCOTTI
NOVEMBER 1, 1995: “GIFTS TO MAKE AT HOME,” BY SUZANNE HAMLIN.
—1995
PEPPER-CUMIN COOKIES
“Just as good needs evil to seem really, really good, and darkness exists only when contrasted with light,” Molly O’Neill, the Times columnist, wrote, “discrete taste sensations require their opposites in order to be more fully realized.” Here, the sugar brings out the best in the salt and pepper, as the lemon zest does with the cumin.
———
2 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon black peppercorns, cracked
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, cracked
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Put the flour, sugar, salt, lemon zest, cracked peppercorns, and cumin in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and vanilla and pulse until the mixture just forms a dough.
2. Transfer the dough to a work surface. Shape into 1-inch balls and place them 2 inches apart on the parchment-lined baking sheets. Flatten each cookie with the palm of your hand to ¼ inch thick.
3. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Remove from the pans and place them on a rack to cool.
MAKES ABOUT 2½ DOZEN COOKIES
DECEMBER 1, 1996: “SUGAR AND SPICE,” BY MOLLY O’NEILL.
—1996
COCOA CHRISTMAS COOKIES
A recipe headnote is designed to entice and to inform, so I’m going to inform you of one drawback of these cookies: they’re ugly. No, they’re really ugly, a chocolate dab topped with straggly ribbons of lemon icing. The good news is they’re delicious, and that lemon icing is a crucial counterpoint to the sweet spiced cookie.
———
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Valrhona, Callebaut, or Droste
1½ tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups plump, moist raisins, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon orange juice
¾ pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1¼ cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup apricot jam
¼ cup whole milk, at room temperature
1½ cups lightly toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
1½ cups confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1. Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Combine the raisins and orange juice in a small bowl; reserve.
2. In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or in a bowl with a hand mixer), beat the butter and granulated sugar together until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute on medium speed after each addition. Beat in the vanilla, jam, and milk. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, beating only until it is incorporated. Stir in the nuts and the reserved raisins and juice. Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours, or for as long as 2 days.
3. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment, or use nonstick sheets. Using a tablespoon of dough for each cookie, roll the dough between your palms to form walnut-sized balls, and place on the baking sheets, 1½ inches apart.
4. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the tops look dry; the tops may crack, which is fine. Transfer the cookies to a rack.
5. While the cookies are baking, make the glaze: Combine the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. After the cookies have cooled for a few minutes, dip their tops into the glaze, and place them on a rack to cool to room temperature. (The cookies can also be painted with the glaze using a fine pastry brush.)
MAKES ABOUT 7 DOZEN COOKIES
DECEMBER 16, 1998: “THE CHEF: OF SICILIAN CHRISTMAS EVES PAST AND FUTURE,” BY ALFRED PORTALE AND FLORENCE FABRICANT.
—1998
CORNMEAL BISCOTTI
Generally I don’t believe biscotti should contain butter or fat of any kind, because it makes the texture of the finished cookie too dense and too soft, but I’m willing to accept these biscotti as the sole exception. Classic biscotti are as hard as shale; these are crumbly and coarse from the cornmeal. A Spartan amount of sugar and rosemary gives them a pleasant muskiness. Most biscotti recipes instruct you to serve the cookies with vin santo, a sweet dessert wine, but because the cookies themselves are usually so sweet, it ends up being a sickening combination. Not so here.
———
½ cup coarsely chopped blanched almonds
¼ cup coarsely chopped skinned hazelnuts
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon minced rosemary
1½ tablespoons finely grated orange zest
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup coarse yellow cornmeal
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon anise seeds
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon water
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the nuts out on a rimmed baking sheet and toast them in the oven, stirring occasionally, until lightly golden around the edges, about 6 to 8 minutes. Let cool on a rack. (Keep the oven on.)
2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Turn off the heat and add the rosemary and orange zest. Let cool.
3. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beating at low speed, mix together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda, and anise seeds (or mix by hand in a bowl with a wooden spoon). Add 2 eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the cooled melted butter and mix to combine. Stir in the nuts. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Form the dough into a log 2 inches wide and place it on the baking sheet. Mix the remaining egg with the water in a small bowl. Brush this wash over the log, then bake the log until it is a deep golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool on a rack. Reduce the oven temperature to 200 degrees.
5. Using a serrated knife, slice the log on a diagonal into ¼-inch-wide pieces. Arrange the biscotti on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets and dry them in the oven until crisp, 40 minutes to 1 hour. Let cool on a rack.
MAKES ABOUT 2½ DOZEN COOKIES
I’d add a large pinch of sea salt to the flour mixture in Step 3.
SERVING SUGGESTION
A glass of vin santo.
PERIOD DETAIL
The first biscotti recipe to appear in the Times was published in 1970. The recipe, a classic nut-and-anise-flavored cookie, came from Mrs. August Sebastiani, who also contributed the malfatti recipe here.
APRIL 21, 1999: “THE CHEF,” BY CLAUDIA FLEMING WITH MELISSA CLARK.
—1999
CASHEW BUTTERSCOTCH BARS
I never thought I’d recommend a recipe containing butterscotch chips, but I’m open to change. Are you?
The recipe comes from Amy Scherber, the owner of Amy’s Bread and one of New York City’s finest bread bakers. If you’ve had semolina bread with fennel seeds and golden raisins, she is the one who created it.
———
½ pound (2 sticks) plus 5½ tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1¾ teaspoons kosher salt
2½ cups all-purpose flour
One 10-ounce bag butterscotch chips, preferably Hershey’s
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
5½ teaspoons water
2½ cups salted cashew pieces
1. Center a rack in the oven and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13-by-18-inch rimmed baking sheet, including the sides. In a mixer fitted with a paddle, beat ½ pound plus 2 tablespoons butter and the brown sugar together (or mix in a bowl with a rubber spatula) until smooth. Stir the salt into the flour, then add the flour to the butter and sugar mixture and mix until the dough is well combined but still crumbly (if the dough is mixed until a ball forms, the crust will be tough).
2. Pat the dough—don’t pack it!—evenly into the bottom of the buttered pan. Bake for 5 minutes. With a fork, prick the dough deeply all over, return the pan to the oven, and bake until the dough is lightly browned, dry, and no longer soft to the touch, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack (leave the oven on).
3. Combine the remaining 3½ tablespoons butter, the butterscotch chips, corn syrup, and water and cook in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the butter and butterscotch chips are melted, about 5 minutes. Pour the topping over the crust, using a spatula to spread it evenly all the way to the corners. Sprinkle the cashew pieces on top, pressing down lightly.
4. Bake until the topping is bubbly and the cashews are lightly browned, 12 to 16 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool completely before cutting into 2-by-3-inch bars.
MAKES 3 DOZEN BARS
PERIOD DETAIL
Bar cookies emerged sometime in the 1930s. Although brownies already existed, Laura Shapiro, a food historian, wrote in an e-mail: “Cookie bars in the form we know them appear in the first Joy of Cooking (1931), including ‘Almond and Date Squares,’ ‘Brownies or Fudge Squares,’ and—ta da! ‘Date Bars,’ two versions but both made the way we do now and rolled in confectioners’ sugar.” Also in 1931, Irma Rombauer made “Quick Caramel Squares”—a cake baked in a “shallow greased pan” and iced, then cut into squares.
SEPTEMBER 22, 1999: “THE CHEF: A COOKIE THAT TRANSCENDS THE AGES,” BY AMY SCHERBER WITH DORIE GREENSPAN.
—1999
CLASSIC FINANCIERS (BUTTERY ALMOND CAKES)
The financier is a tiny almond cake that is leavened with egg whites, moistened with browned butter, and baked in small shallow molds. Such simplicity is deceiving: a great financier is springy, damp, and nutty, with an exterior that’s as crisp as an eggshell. The shape may be round in some pastry shops, rectangular in others, but the base is rarely anything but almond. It has been that way for more than a century.
In Memorial Historique de la Pâtisserie, published in 1890, Pierre Lacam wrote that the financier was created by a baker named Lasne, whose bakery on the Rue St.-Denis was near the Bourse, the financial center of Paris. Presumably the rich little cake was named for the rich financiers who frequented his bakery. The cake was baked in rectangular molds the shape of gold bars.
Nick Malgieri, the director of the baking program at New York’s Institute for Culinary Education, said a similar cake, made with nuts, egg whites, and brown butter, existed even before that. It was made, he said, by nuns of the Order of the Visitation and was called a visitandine. It’s possible that the baker Lasne simply altered the shape and the name of the cake to flatter his clientele.
The recipe has withstood the test of time, despite a lack of notice from cookbook authors. There is no mention of the financier in Le Cordon Bleu at Home or La Varenne Pratique, two of the leading encyclopedic French cookbooks. Nor is it in Lindsey Shere’s Chez Panisse Desserts, which is populated with French desserts that are largely underappreciated in America. And the financier earns just a vague definition in some editions of Larousse Gastronomique.
———
9 tablespoons unsalted butter
1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar, plus (optional) for dusting
¾ cup almond flour or ½ cup unbleached whole almonds
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Generously butter twelve 2-by-4-inch (measured at the top) rectangular financier molds. Refrigerate. Heat the butter in a small pan over medium-low heat, occasionally swirling, until it begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
2. Sift the sugar over the almond flour in a medium bowl. Or, if using whole almonds, process them with the sugar in a food processor until mostly fine, then transfer to a bowl. Add both flours, baking powder, and the salt and gently whisk to combine. Add the egg whites one at a time, whisking just to combine. Do not overwork, or the cakes will be tough.
3. Add the vanilla to the butter. In a steady stream, whisk the butter into the flour mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours.
4. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Set the molds on a baking sheet. Spoon the batter into a pastry bag that has a ¼-inch round tip, and pipe into the molds, filling them halfway. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until browned and springy. Remove from oven and cool for 2 minutes before unmolding, then cool completely on a rack.
5. Serve plain or dusted with confectioners’ sugar, or rewarm and serve with ice cream.
MAKES 12 SMALL CAKES
COOKING NOTES
A few steps make or break these little cakes. The first, browning the butter, is what defines the financiers’ flavor and adds depth to the almonds. You need to heat the butter over medium-low heat until it begins to brown and smell nutty. It is best to do this slowly and to keep a careful eye on it. Once butter begins to brown, it burns easily. Remove it the moment it turns the color of a chestnut. Undercooking it is equally damaging, for then it would lack—mon Dieu!—the necessary aroma.
The second trick is to mix the batter as little as possible. It should be stirred until just blended. If you stir too much, the gluten in the flour will get overworked and the cakes will be tough.
The batter then has to rest before baking. A few hours in the refrigerator, and the flavors will harmonize and the batter will firm, making it easier to pipe into the molds.
The one decision you need to make regards texture. If you use almond flour, the cake will be finer but denser. If you grind the almonds, it will be coarser and rustic. I prefer grinding my own. Somehow the roughness of home-ground almonds and flecks of almond skin in the finished cakes give them a kind of soulful intensity that you find in Parisian pastries.
Financiers must be eaten on the day they’re baked.
NOVEMBER 24, 1999: “THE PASTRY CHEF’S RICH LITTLE SECRET,” BY AMANDA HESSER. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM FRANÇOIS PAYARD, THE CHEF AND OWNER OF PAYARD PÂTISSERIE IN NEW YORK CITY.
—1999
PETIT BEURRE COOKIES
I first encountered this cookie at Jean Georges, the 4-star restaurant in New York. The cookie was 2 inches in diameter, about as thick as a plate, and the color of sand. It was perched on a neat circle of raspberries.
Anticipating something crisp, I struck it with my fork, and it fractured without a problem. But I felt as if I had stabbed at air. It wasn’t until I tried to scoop up a piece that things really got strange. Everywhere I touched the cookie, it fell apart. When I finally got the cookie into my mouth, the mere pressure of my teeth dragging it off my fork caused it to collapse into a million sweet, buttery crumbs. Poof! It was gone.
After that, I tried to keep each piece intact long enough to figure out what it was made of. Did it contain meringue? Was it made with low-gluten White Lily flour, rendering it lighter than air? It yielded no clues.
Eventually, I got hold of the recipe, which essentially asks you to bind butter together with cookie crumbs. First a standard almond cookie dough is mixed, shaped into a cookie the size of a Frisbee, and baked. That’s the warm-up.
Then that large, tasty cookie is smashed to bits. Very fine bits, which are mixed with a lot more butter and whirled in a mixer until they are as light and fluffy as whipped butter. This mixture is spread onto a baking sheet and chilled. Hours later, cookies are cut from it and baked. After they emerge from the oven, filling your house with the aroma of sweet butter, you put the cooled cookies—still on the baking sheet—in the refrigerator until they’re cold. (Chilling them makes lifting them possible.)
Whoever spent hours figuring out this method was an ingenious person, but he or she would have benefited from more fresh air. Vongerichten came across the original recipe in Nouvelle Cuisine Bourgeoise pour la Ville et pour la Campagne, a nineteenth-century cookbook by Urbain Dubois. It does work at home, but you might save it for when you are feeling patient and steady of hand. The rewards are worth every careful step.
Forget everything you know about cookie baking. Get a scale (you need precision) and a paper-thin flexible spatula, and do not veer from the instruction. This is no time to toss in some chopped chocolate.
———
½ pound all-purpose flour
3 ounces almond flour (from 3 ounces slivered almonds—see Cooking Note)
2¾ ounces confectioners’ sugar
10 ounces (2½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle (or in a bowl with a hand mixer), mix the two flours, confectioners’ sugar, and 6½ ounces butter on medium-low speed until a dough forms.
2. Transfer to a baking sheet and roll out ⅛ inch thick. The shape of the dough does not matter, but smooth the edges for even browning. Bake until barely golden brown at the edges, 25 to 35 minutes; be careful not to overbake. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
3. Using your fingers, crumble the dough into fine crumbs, and place in the mixer bowl (or another large bowl). Using the paddle (or hand mixer), mix in the remaining 3½ ounces butter, beating at medium speed. The mixture will gather into small pieces and, after a few minutes, will change to a dough, pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Continue to mix until the mixture becomes fluffy and creamy like whipped butter; this may take an additional 5 minutes.
4. Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap. Using a rubber spatula, transfer the dough to the sheet and spread into a thick oval. Cover with plastic wrap and use a rolling pin to roll the mixture to about ⅓ inch thick. Chill until firm, about 1 hour.
5. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut circles from the chilled dough. Transfer to the baking sheet, spacing the cookies at least 2 inches apart. (Scraps of dough may be rerolled and chilled to make additional cookies.)
6. Bake until the edges are golden brown, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheet, then transfer the baking sheet to the refrigerator; allow the cookies to become well chilled.
7. Fifteen minutes before serving, use a thin flexible spatula to remove the cookies from the sheet. The chilled cookies can be placed atop a circle of raspberries or other berries. If desired, garnish each plate with a scoop of ice cream.
MAKES 10 TO 12 COOKIES
COOKING NOTE
Almond flour can be purchased or prepared by pulverizing blanched almonds with some of the sugar in a food processor. Avoid overprocessing the almonds into a paste.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
These cookies are best made for a party and served with something like Tea Ice Cream (here) or Blueberry Ice Cream (here). I might spread lightly sweetened crème fraîche on each plate and top it with berries and then a petit beurre. It’s not a cookie you’d serve on its own, unless you’re alone, in which case all foods are fair game.
JULY 19, 2000: “HOW THE COOKIE SHOULD CRUMBLE,” BY AMANDA HESSER. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM JEAN GEORGES IN NEW YORK CITY.
—2000
ENGLISH TOFFEE
This is a Victorian candy, which Dorie Greenspan, who wrote about it, described as “a cross between peanut brittle and caramel.”
———
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1½ cups sugar
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
3 tablespoons water
2 cups (about 12 ounces) almonds or other nuts, toasted and chopped
¾ pound semisweet chocolate, melted
Sea salt (optional)
1. Lightly butter a 12-by-18-inch rimmed baking sheet and line with foil; butter the foil. Have ready 2 large cutting boards or pieces of cardboard covered with parchment or wax paper.
2. Melt the butter in a large heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar, corn syrup, and water. Attach a candy thermometer to the pan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches 300 degrees. Remove from the heat, stir in 1 cup chopped nuts, and quickly pour into the foil-lined pan, spreading the mixture with the back of a spoon or offset spatula to fill the pan.
3. When the candy is just firm enough to handle, turn out onto one parchment-covered surface, peel off the foil, and allow to cool completely.
4. Wipe the top of the candy with a damp paper towel to remove excess butter, and allow to dry.
5. Use a small offset spatula to spread half the chocolate quickly over the candy. Scatter half of the remaining nuts over the chocolate. Cover with parchment or wax paper, place the second parchment-covered surface on top, and turn the candy over onto the second surface. Remove the top board and paper. Quickly spread the candy with the remaining chocolate, sprinkle with sea salt, if using, and scatter on the remaining nuts. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to set the chocolate.
6. Break the candy into 2-inch pieces and pack into a container with a tight-fitting top, using parchment or wax paper to separate the layers. (The candy will keep at cool room temperature for up to 1 week.)
MAKES ABOUT 3 POUNDS
COOKING NOTES
Greenspan urged readers to buy a candy thermometer before attempting this recipe: “For toffee, the recommended thermometer is the type that looks like a ruler—long and flat, with the mercury tube in the center and the readouts printed on either side. Most important, the ruler-type thermometer has little feet that raise the mercury bulb above the bottom of the pan, so you get an accurate reading of the contents.”
I like a little flaky sea salt, such as Maldon or fleur de sel, sprinkled on the toffee right after it’s spread with chocolate.
DECEMBER 13, 2000: “CRUNCH, CRUNCH: THE HOLIDAY APPROACHES,” BY DORIE GREENSPAN. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM CHOCOLATE, BY NICK MALGIERI.
—2000
TWO-DAY MADELEINES WITH BROWN BUTTER
Madeleines are often a beginning baker’s fantasy of what great baking is about. So if you’ve never made them before, go ahead. You’ll be surprised by how easy they are, and it’s hard not to feel triumphant as their famous “hump” rises in the oven. (You don’t have to take 2 days to make these, but the resting time improves both the flavor and the rise.)
———
7 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 large eggs
½ cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Large pinch of sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1. Melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat, and cook until it begins to smell nutty and turns brown. Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl.
2. Beat the eggs and sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk (or in a bowl with a hand mixer), until fluffy. Remove the bowl from the mixer and sift the flour, salt, and baking powder over the eggs. Fold together with a spatula. Pour in the butter and lemon zest and fold together.
3. Spoon the batter into a pastry bag fitted with a small (about ¼-inch) round tip. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
4. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Generously butter and flour a madeleine pan (small or large molds). Pipe batter into the molds so they are three-quarters full.
5. Bake until the madeleines form humps and are nut brown around the edges, 6 to 8 minutes (1 to 3 minutes longer if using large molds). Remove from the oven and bang the pan on a countertop to release the madeleines. Carefully lift out any that stick. Wrap in a napkin to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining batter.
MAKES ABOUT 5 DOZEN SMALL MADELEINES
VARIATION
After adding the butter in Step 2, you could fold in any number of flavors, like ½ cup finely chopped nuts, the grated zest of an orange, ½ cup grated coconut, or 1 teaspoon ground cardamom.
APRIL 18, 2001: “WHEN A SWEET NOTHING BECOMES REALLY SOMETHING,” BY AMANDA HESSER. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM NICOLE KAPLAN, THE PASTRY CHEF AT ELEVEN MADISON PARK IN NEW YORK.
—2001
MAPLE SHORTBREAD BARS
As I was testing recipes for this book, I often discovered that readers would recommend more than one recipe from the same story. (Both this recipe and the Dijon and Cognac Beef Stew here, each of which was recommended by several readers, came from the same Regina Schrambling piece, “When the Path to Serenity Wends Past the Stove.”) This made me suspect that the popularity of the recipes has a lot to do with the story itself—that if people really like a story, they’re more inclined to try the recipes. Which led me to worry that I might have overlooked a number of excellent recipes simply because the accompanying stories weren’t that interesting. You’ll have to let me know.
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For the Crust
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, well chilled
For the Filling
1½ cups packed light brown sugar
⅔ cup real maple syrup
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon maple extract
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups (about 8 ounces) chopped pecans
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. To make the crust, combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Slice the butter, and cut it into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture is crumbly. Press onto the bottom and ½ inch up the sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.
2. Bake for 15 to 25 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown. Cool on a rack. (Leave the oven on.)
3. For the filling, combine all the ingredients except the pecans in a bowl and mix until smooth. Pour into the cooled crust. Distribute the nuts evenly over the top. Bake until the filling is set, about 30 minutes. Cool on a rack before cutting into bars.
MAKES 2 DOZEN BARS
COOKING NOTES
The crust is crumbly and difficult to work with. You may want to chill the dough for a few minutes before pressing it into the baking pan.
Maple extract is an odd bird—dark as tar and fairly bitter—but don’t be discouraged. It gives the sweet filling something to stand up to.
SEPTEMBER 19, 2001: “WHEN THE PATH TO SERENITY WENDS PAST THE STOVE,” BY REGINA SCHRAMBLING. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM THE NEW CARRYOUT CUISINE, BY PHYLLIS MÉRAS WITH LINDA GLICK CONWAY.
—2001
CHOCOLATE QUAKES
These cookies, sometimes called krinkles, are dusted with confectioners’ sugar before baking, so when they expand in the oven, their domed surfaces crack, making them look like ice-covered earth after a frost heave.
———
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-process
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
⅛ teaspoon salt
¼ cup finely ground pecans or almonds
¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips
About ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar
1. In a mixer fitted with a whisk (or in a bowl with a hand mixer), beat the butter, granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla on low speed until pale yellow in color and thickened, about 1 minute. Sift the cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt into the bowl and mix on low speed until incorporated. Fold in the nuts and chocolate chips. Cover and chill until the dough is firm enough to handle, about 1 hour.
2. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or foil. Place the confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl.
3. Form the chilled dough into 1-inch balls, place in the confectioners’ sugar, and roll to coat completely. Place on the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between the cookies. Bake for 12 minutes, or until the cookies are puffed and the surfaces have cracked; the centers will appear underdone. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
MAKES 20 TO 24 COOKIES
COOKING NOTE
Use the best cocoa powder you can find.
FEBRUARY 6, 2002: “THIS TIME, CHOCOLATE TAKES A POWDER,” BY REGINA SCHRAMBLING. ADAPTED FROM GOT MILK? THE COOKIE BOOK, BY PEGGY CULLEN.
BUCKWHEAT COOKIES
These will cause you to pause and ponder what you seek in a cookie. If the answer is chocolate, move along to another recipe. If it’s engaging flavor and not too much sugar, you have found the holy grail. These cookies, which are great with tea, taste like sweet wet stone—in a good way, I promise.
Buckwheat flour is available at www.arrowheadmills.com. (For a similarly reserved cookie, see the Honey Spice Cookies here.)
———
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
⅔ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
2 large egg yolks, beaten
1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Put the dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse once or twice to mix. Add the butter and pulse about 15 times, until pea-sized pieces form. Add the egg yolks and pulse 8 times, or until the dough just comes together. (Alternatively, combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and stir with a whisk to mix. Beat the butter in a bowl until fluffy, and add the egg yolks. Beat in the dry ingredients in 2 batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions.)
2. Form tablespoons of dough into balls and place 1½ inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Use a fork to press the dough into 3⁄8-inch-thick rounds.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden around the edges. Cool on a rack.
MAKES ABOUT 6 DOZEN COOKIES
SEPTEMBER 1, 2004: “TEMPTATION; THE COOKIES THAT SIMPLY WOULD NOT GO FOR A RIDE,” BY MELISSA CLARK. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM ELENA ROVERA, A FOUNDER OF CASCINA DEL CORNALE, A MARKET AND RESTAURANT NEAR ALBA IN ITALY.
—2002
DORIE GREENSPAN’S SABLÉS
Dorie Greenspan, an expert baker and cookbook author, has written cookbooks with Julia Child, Daniel Boulud, and Pierre Hermé, and over the years has perfected her ability to glean tips from such masters. Greenspan’s remarkably good sablés (so called for their sand-like texture—sable means “sand” in French), for instance, were formulated after years of studying other pastry chefs. She liked the homespun quality of Paris baker Lionel Poilâne’s sablés and the delicacy of Alsatian pastry chef André Lerch’s. From Poilâne, she learned to leave the dough elemental, and from Lerch, she discovered that using confectioners’ sugar keeps the dough tender and allows the sugar to provide the necessary “sand” in the crumb.
———
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter (preferably high-fat, like Plugrá), softened
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon salt, preferably sea salt
2 large egg yolks, preferably at room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
For the Decoration (Optional)
1 egg yolk
Crystal or dazzle sugar
1. In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or in a bowl with a hand mixer), beat the butter at medium speed until it is smooth and very creamy. Add the sugars and salt and beat until smooth and velvety, not fluffy and airy, about 1 minute. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the egg yolks, beating until well blended.
2. Turn off the mixer and pour in the flour. Drape a kitchen towel over the mixer and pulse the mixer about 5 times at low speed for 1 to 2 seconds each time. Take a peek: if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of more times; if not, remove the towel. Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough and the dough looks uniformly moist. If you still have some flour in the bottom of the bowl, stop mixing and use a rubber spatula to work it into the dough. (The dough will not come together in a ball—and it shouldn’t. You want to work the dough as little as possible. What you’re aiming for is a soft, moist, clumpy dough. When pinched, it should feel a little like Play-Doh.)
3. Scrape the dough onto a work surface, gather it into a ball, and divide it in half. Shape each piece into a smooth log about 9 inches long (it’s easiest to work on a piece of plastic wrap and use the plastic to help form the log). Wrap the logs well and chill them for at least 2 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.)
4. When ready to bake, center a rack in the oven and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. If desired, to decorate the edges of the sablés, whisk the egg yolk until smooth. Place 1 log of chilled dough on a piece of wax paper and brush it with yolk (the glue), then sprinkle the entire surface of the log with coarse sugar. Trim the ends of the roll if they are ragged and slice the log into ⅓-inch-thick cookies.
5. Place the rounds on the baking sheet, leaving an inch of space between the cookies, and bake for 17 to 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet at the halfway point. When properly baked, the cookies will be light brown on the bottom, lightly golden around the edges, and pale on top. Let the cookies rest for 1 or 2 minutes before carefully lifting them onto a rack with a wide metal spatula. Repeat with the remaining log of dough. (Make sure the sheet is cool before baking the second batch.)
MAKES ABOUT 50 COOKIES
VARIATIONS
Lemon Sablés: Before mixing the butter and sugar together, pour the sugar into a bowl and add the grated zest of 1 to 1½ lemons. Work the zest and sugar together with your fingertips until the mixture is moist and aromatic, then cream the butter with it.
Parmesan Sablés: Replace the sugars with ¾ cup very finely grated Parmesan added to the beaten butter. A few grains of fleur de sel can be gently pressed into the top of each sablé before the baking sheet is slipped into the oven.
NOVEMBER 7, 2004: “COOKIE MASTER,” BY JULIA MOSKIN. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM DORIE GREENSPAN.
—2004
PIERRE HERMÉ’S CHOCOLATE SABLÉS
Pierre Hermé, the world’s most famous pastry chef, is best known for his macaroons, but these sablés aren’t too shabby either. Luckily for us, Dorie Greenspan, a food writer who’s an exceptional baker herself, teamed up with Hermé for two books, Desserts and Chocolate Desserts, recording many of his sweet gems. Greenspan, according to the accompanying article by Julia Moskin, said these sablés are “the most important innovation in cookies since Toll House.”
“They are definitely sablés,” Moskin wrote, “but also very American in their explosive crunch and addictive combination of salt, chocolate, and the caramel warmth of brown sugar.”
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1¼ cups all-purpose flour
⅓ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
11 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
⅔ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon fleur de sel or ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chip-sized bits
1. Sift the flour, cocoa, and baking soda together.
2. Put the butter in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or mix in a bowl with a hand mixer) and beat at medium speed until soft and creamy. Add the sugars, salt, and vanilla and beat for another 1 or 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until the dry ingredients are incorporated (the dough may look crumbly). For the best texture, work the dough as little as possible. Toss in the chocolate; mix to incorporate.
3. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into a log that is 1½ inches in diameter. (As you’re shaping the log, flatten it once or twice and roll it up from one long side to the other, to make certain you haven’t got an air channel.) Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and chill them for at least 1 hour. (Wrapped airtight, the logs can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for 1 month.)
4. Center a rack in the oven and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with a sharp thin-bladed knife, slice the logs of dough into ½-inch-thick rounds. (If any of the cookies break, squeeze the broken-off bit back onto the cookie.) Place the cookies on the parchment-lined sheets, leaving an inch of space between them. Bake the first sheet for 12 minutes. The cookies will not look done, nor will they be firm, but that is the way they should be. Transfer the sheet to a rack and let the cookies rest, on the sheet, until they are only just warm. Repeat with the second sheet of cookies.
MAKES ABOUT 3 DOZEN COOKIES
NOVEMBER 7, 2004: “COOKIE MASTER,” BY JULIA MOSKIN. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM PIERRE HERMÉ AND DORIE GREENSPAN.
—2004
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4 packets powdered gelatin
1 cup water
2½ cups sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
Grated zest of 1 orange
3 drops yellow food coloring
1. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish. Dissolve the gelatin in ½ cup water and let stand for 5 minutes.
2. Combine 2 cups sugar and the remaining ½ cup water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly and washing down the sides of the pan several times with a pastry brush that has been dipped in cold water to prevent crystallization. Add the gelatin and continue boiling and stirring until the mixture thickens, about 15 minutes.
3. Add the lemon juice and orange zest and boil for 5 more minutes. Stir in the food coloring. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish and let set up for about 1 hour.
4. Put the remaining ½ cup sugar in a shallow bowl. Butter a large chef’s knife and your fingers. Cut the lemon gel into ½-inch squares and coat with the sugar.
MAKES 256 GUMDROPS
DECEMBER 18, 2005: “THE WAY WE EAT: FREE RANGING,” BY AMANDA HESSER. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM MAKING GREAT CANDY, BY LAURA DOVER DORAN.
—2005
SALTED BUTTER CARAMELS
Great-tasting candy is much easier to make than it might seem. Getting it to look perfect is the difficult part. As long as you don’t mind aesthetic imperfections, all you need to do is buy a good candy thermometer and get boiling. You’ll have candy made sooner than you can bake a batch of cookies.
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1⅓ cups heavy cream
2 cups sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
⅓ cup honey
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
1 tablespoon fleur de sel or sea salt
1½ pounds bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (optional)
1. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, letting it extend over the sides. Grease with vegetable oil. Pour the cream into a heavy 4-quart saucepan. Attach a candy thermometer to the pan, and bring to a boil. Add the sugar, corn syrup, and honey, and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes to a boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches 257 degrees, 15 to 30 minutes.
2. Remove the pan from the heat and, with oven mitts on, stir in the butter, vanilla, and 2 teaspoons salt. Pour into the prepared pan.
3. If you are not coating the caramels in chocolate, let cool slightly and then sprinkle with the remaining teaspoon of salt. When the caramel is completely cool, coat a cutting board and the blade of a large chef’s knife with vegetable oil. Invert the caramel onto the cutting board, peel off the foil, and invert again. Cut the caramel into eight 1-inch-wide strips; then cut each strip into ½-inch pieces.
4. To coat the caramels with chocolate, melt the chocolate in a double boiler (temper the chocolate if you want the coating to have polish; directions can be found at www.baking911.com). Using a fork to hold the caramels, dip them one at a time into the chocolate and set them on a rack to cool. As you go, after dipping 4 caramels, sprinkle each with a little of the remaining teaspoon of salt. Transfer to parchment paper to set up.
MAKES 128 CARAMELS
PERIOD DETAIL
This was the moment for salt, butter, and caramel. The three came together in another form—ice cream—a year after this recipe appeared; see here. By 2008, the trio went mainstream, showing up as a Häagen-Dazs flavor (salted caramel ice cream), at Starbucks (salted caramel hot chocolate), and in Walmart (as boxed chocolates).
DECEMBER 18, 2005: “THE WAY WE EAT: FREE RANGING,” BY AMANDA HESSER. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM TRUFFLES, CANDIES, AND CONFECTIONS, BY CAROLE BLOOM.
—2005
FLAT-AND-CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Everyone declares his chocolate chip cookies the best, right? I fell into that trap too. I mean, I really fell into that trap. Not only did I claim that these cookies were the best flat-and-chewy version around, I noted that I’d worked with my colleague Jill Santopietro on the recipe for six months. The ink on the recipe was not yet dry when the complaint e-mails began rolling in. One particularly memorable one came from a woman who said making the cookies was the first time she and her child had baked together and that I’d ruined the magical once-in-a-lifetime-moment with salty cookies!
It’s true that these cookies contain more salt than the average cookie, but that’s intentional. The extra salt counteracts—and complements—the sugar, butter, and richness of the chocolate. What I didn’t realize was that the salt I’d used to test the recipes, Diamond Crystal kosher salt, is less salty tasting than the other major brand, Morton, which is iodized. So please use Diamond. They are terrible when made with Morton!
Also, to guard against anyone who rounds their tablespoons, I’ve changed the measurement to “1 scant tablespoon” salt.
Again, if you get the salt right, these truly are the best flat-and-chewy chocolate chip cookies, so don’t listen to what David Leite says here. . . .
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2 cups all-purpose flour
1¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 scant tablespoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1½ cups packed light brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups (about 12 ounces) chopped bittersweet chocolate (chunks and shavings)
2 cups (about 8 ounces) chopped toasted walnuts (optional)
1. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
2. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle (or in a bowl with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugars until fluffy, 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla. Add the flour mixture all at once and blend until a dough forms. Fold in the chocolate and walnuts. Refrigerate the dough until chilled, preferably overnight.
3. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats or other silicone baking liners. Roll 2½-tablespoon lumps of dough into balls, place 3 inches apart on the baking sheet, and flatten to ½-inch-thick disks. (Chill the remaining dough between batches.)
4. Bake until the edges are golden brown, 14 to 16 minutes. Let cool slightly on the baking sheets, then transfer to a rack.
MAKES 30 TO 35 COOKIES
JANUARY 22, 2006: “THE ARSENAL,” BY AMANDA HESSER.
—2006
HAZELNUT BAKLAVA
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For the Nut Filling
2 cups (about 8 ounces) skinned hazelnuts
1 cup (4 ounces) slivered almonds
1½ tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
⅛ teaspoon salt
For the Pastry
One 1-pound package frozen phyllo dough, defrosted
1½ cups warm clarified butter
For the Honey Syrup
1¼ cups sugar
¾ cup water
⅓ cup honey
2 strips lemon zest—½ inch wide by 2 inches long
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon rosewater
1 teaspoon orange-flower water
1 cinnamon stick
3 whole cloves
⅛ teaspoon salt
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. To make the filling, pulse together the hazelnuts, almonds, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in a food processor until the nuts are finely ground.
2. Unfold the phyllo dough on a large work surface. With a sharp knife, slice the stack of dough crosswise in half, forming two 9-by-12-inch rectangles. Cover entirely with 1 or 2 damp dish cloths.
3. With a pastry brush, generously brush the bottom of a 9-by-12-inch baking pan with clarified butter. Carefully place 1 phyllo sheet in the pan (it should just fit) and brush with butter. Repeat with 7 more phyllo sheets, brushing each sheet with butter. (Keep the unused phyllo covered as you work.) Sprinkle about one-third of the filling evenly over the top layer. Repeat the layering process with 6 more sheets of phyllo, brushing each sheet with butter. Sprinkle another one-third of the filling evenly over the top layer. Repeat the layering process with another 8 sheets of phyllo, buttering each sheet. Sprinkle the remaining filling over the phyllo. Cover with 2 more sheets of phyllo, leaving the top layer unbuttered.
4. Place your palms in the center of the top of the baklava and gently move your hands in an outward sweeping motion, flattening and smoothing the pastry. Brush an additional ¼ cup melted butter evenly over top layer.
5. Using a sharp-pointed knife, carefully slice the baklava into 2-inch-wide diagonal strips. Repeat in the opposite direction, forming a diamond pattern. Bake the baklava until golden and flaky, 50 to 60 minutes, rotating the pan as necessary to ensure even baking.
6. Meanwhile, combine all the honey syrup ingredients in a medium heavy saucepan, bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, and cook until the sugar has completely dissolved, about 5 minutes. Transfer the syrup to a bowl and refrigerate, stirring occasionally, until cool. Once it has cooled, strain the syrup into a liquid measuring cup.
7. While the baklava is still very hot, pour the cooled syrup into the cracks between the diamond-shaped pieces; reserve about 3 tablespoons syrup. Drizzle the reserved syrup evenly over the top of the baklava. Let cool on a wire rack for 2 hours, then cover with foil and let sit for at least 4 hours, or overnight, before serving.
MAKES ABOUT 2½ DOZEN PIECES
COOKING NOTE
Rosewater and orange-flower water are available in Middle Eastern markets.
MARCH 29, 2006: “TO LURE THE FRENCH, DON’T BE TOO SWEET,” BY MELISSA CLARK. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM PÂTISSERIE MALIKA IN PARIS.
—2006
ALMOND-LEMON MACAROONS (ALMENDRADOS)
These look like little almond buttons, yet are soft inside, like almond paste dampened with lemon.
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2 cups (about 12 ounces) blanched whole almonds, plus about 30 almonds for decoration
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1. Grind the 2 cups almonds very fine in a food processor. Add ¾ cup sugar, the egg, and lemon zest and pulse to make a cohesive dough. Transfer to a medium bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.
2. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat or other silicone baking liner. Place the remaining ¼ cup sugar in a small bowl.
3. Pinching off pieces of dough about the size of a walnut, roll them into balls, then roll in the sugar. Gently press an almond point first into the top of each cookie, so that half the almond can be seen, and arrange the cookies 1 inch apart on the baking sheet.
4. Bake until the cookies have the barest hint of color but are still soft, 10 to 12 minutes. (The cookies must be soft when removed from the oven or they will be too hard when they cool.) Transfer to racks, to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
MAKES ABOUT 2½ DOZEN COOKIES
MARCH 28, 2007: “FOR A SWEETER PASSOVER, OLD AND NEW SEPHARDIC DELIGHTS,” BY JOAN NATHAN. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM DULCE LO VIVAS, BY ANA BENSADÓN.
—2007
SWEDISH GINGER COOKIES
You can’t find a simpler recipe, nor one that will provoke as much conversation once you reveal that the richness and moisture come from bacon fat. Do not use fancy bacon: Oscar Mayer is the only way to go. And eat them up quickly—this won’t be a problem—as they’re best fresh.
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¾ cup bacon fat (rendered from about 1½ pounds bacon)
1 cup sugar, plus more for coating the cookies
¼ cup unsulphured dark molasses
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon salt
1. In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or in a bowl with a hand mixer), mix all the ingredients until blended. Refrigerate the dough until chilled.
2. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll the dough into small gum-ball-sized balls, dip in sugar, put 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets, and flatten with your fingers to 1- to 2-inch disks. Bake until dark brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.
MAKES ABOUT 80 COOKIES
COOKING NOTE
If making these by hand—which is easy—first blend the sugar and molasses, then add the bacon fat and egg. Finally, mix together the dry ingredients and fold them into the wet bacon fat mixture.
APRIL 8, 2007: “LET’S EAT,” BY CATHY HORYN.
—2007
CARAMELIZED BROWN BUTTER RICE KRISPIES TREATS
Less gooey, more composed than the childhood kind. If you want the latter, use 12 ounces of marshmallows.
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½ pound (2 sticks) salted or unsalted butter, preferably cultured
One 10½-ounce bag marshmallows
⅛ teaspoon salt if using unsalted butter
One 12-ounce box Rice Krispies cereal
1. Line an 11-by-17 inch rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper, or butter it well. Melt the butter in a large pot, over medium-low heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden, and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Watch closely and stir often.
2. When the butter is evenly browned, stir in the marshmallows, and the salt if using unsalted butter. Cook, stirring often, until the marshmallows melt and the mixture turns pale brown, then stir constantly until lightly browned but not dark, 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Turn off the heat, add the cereal, and mix well, preferably with a silicone spoon or a spatula. Scrape into the prepared pan and press down lightly. If necessary, butter your hands to press the mixture flat. Let cool, and cut into squares or bars.
MAKES 40 TREATS
OCTOBER 31, 2007: “GOOD TASTE TAKES A HOLIDAY,” BY JULIA MOSKIN. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM COLIN ALEVRAS, THE CHEF AT THE TASTING ROOM IN NEW YORK CITY.
—2007
WHITE BARK BALLS
If Party Balls (here), and Caramelized Brown Butter Rice Krispies Treats (above) married and had a baby, it would be a White Bark Ball.
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1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
¾ pound white chocolate
Colored sugar for sprinkling (optional)
1. Combine the Rice Krispies, peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, and butter in a medium bowl, and mix until very well combined. Firmly compress into balls 1½ inches in diameter. Place on a baking sheet, cover, and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 4 hours, or overnight.
2. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler over medium-low heat, stirring until completely smooth. Pour the chocolate into a wide shallow bowl. Working quickly, in small batches, roll the chilled balls in the chocolate, turning gently with a fork. Transfer to wax paper. If desired, sprinkle the tops of the cookies with colored sugar.
3. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator long enough for the chocolate to become firm, 30 minutes to 1 hour, then transfer the balls to an airtight container. (The balls can be stored in a cool place for up to 3 days or refrigerated for up to 3 weeks.)
MAKES ABOUT 3 DOZEN BALLS
COOKING NOTE
If you’re into the current fondness for contrasting flavors, then add a pinch of salt to the Rice Krispies mixture in Step 1, and sprinkle the finished balls with a little coarse sea salt at the end of Step 2.
DECEMBER 19, 2007: “IN THE KITCHEN OF LONG AGO, WITH GRANDMA,” BY JENNIFER STEINHAUER. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM ISABELLE STEINHAUER.
—2007
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
“Too bad sainthood is not generally conferred on bakers, for there is one who is a possible candidate for canonization,” wrote David Leite. “She fulfills most of the requirements: (1) She’s dead. (2) She demonstrated heroic virtue. (3) Cults have been formed around her work. (4) Her invention is considered by many to be a miracle. The woman: Ruth Graves Wakefield. Her contribution to the world: the chocolate chip cookie.” Sometime in the 1930s, Wakefield added chopped chocolate to a cookie recipe and changed baking forever.
And so, more than seventy years after Wakefield’s culinary eureka, Leite researched some of New York’s best chocolate chip cookies (an arduous task, clearly). He talked to Maury Rubin at City Bakery; Jacques Torres, the chocolate maker; Dorie Greenspan, the baking writer; and Shirley Corriher, a food science expert, among others, to divine the essential parts of great chocolate chip cookie.
Leite learned that 24 to 36 hours resting time for the dough allows the liquid ingredients to be fully absorbed, making for a more richly flavored cookie. Baking large—5- to 6-inch—cookies gives them three textures, from crisp on the perimeter to chewy to gooey in the center. The ratio of chocolate to dough should be 40 to 60. And you must add a generous portion of salt to the dough to give the cookies “dimension.”
Leite’s impressive recipe incorporates all these principles—and draws heavily on one of Jacques Torres’s recipes.
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1¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons (8½ ounces) cake flour
1⅔ cups (8½ ounces) bread flour
1¼ teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons coarse salt
2½ sticks (10 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1¼ cups (10 ounces) packed light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1¼ pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see Cooking Note)
Sea salt
1. Sift the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.
2. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle (or in a bowl with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed until very light, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce the speed to low, add the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop in the chocolate pieces and incorporate them without breaking them. Press a sheet of plastic wrap against the dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. (The dough can be used in batches, and it can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.)
3. When ready to bake, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat or other silicone baking mat.
4. Scoop six 3½-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto the baking sheet, making sure to turn any chocolate pieces that are poking up horizontally; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer the sheet to a rack for 10 minutes, then slip the cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with the remaining dough, or reserve the dough, refrigerated, for baking the next day.
5. Eat warm, with a big napkin.
COOKING NOTE
Leite noted, “Disks are sold at Jacques Torres Chocolate; Valrhona fèves, oval-shaped chocolate pieces, are at Whole Foods.” If you can’t find chocolate disks or fèves, just chop up 1¼ pounds of chocolate, use the chunks, shards and all, and your cookies will turn out fine. Believe me!
MAKES 1½ DOZEN LARGE COOKIES
JULY 9, 2008: “PERFECTION? HINT: IT’S WARM AND HAS A SECRET,” BY DAVID LEITE. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM JACQUES TORRES.
—2008
BROWN BUTTER PEACH BARS
Christine Muhlke, who replaced me as the food editor at the Times Magazine, has a knack for identifying signposts at the nexus of food and style. One week it’s the Crop Mob a group of young volunteer farmers. The next it’s Japanese paper bowls she spotted in Paris. In this story, Muhlke visited Big Sur Bakery, a recent glimmer of culinary light on California’s Highway 1.
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For the Jam
1 cup sugar
Grated zest and juice of 2 oranges
½ vanilla bean, split
4 cups diced (½-inch) unpeeled peaches (about 2 pounds peaches)
For the Crust
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
½ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1½ cups all-purpose flour
For the Filling
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
Grated zest of 2 oranges
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ vanilla bean, split
10 tablespoons (1¼ sticks) unsalted butter
1. To make the jam, mix together the sugar and orange zest and juice in a 3-quart pot, using a wooden spoon. Using a paring knife, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean, and add the vanilla bean and seeds to the pan. Attach a candy thermometer to the pot, bring to a boil over medium heat, and cook for a few minutes, until the mixture reaches 220 degrees.
2. Add the peaches and boil, stirring occasionally, until the peaches turn into a thick jam and the thermometer returns to 220 degrees, 35 to 45 minutes. Wear long oven mitts, as the jam can splatter. When the jam begins to stick to the bottom of the pan, it’s nearly there. Transfer the jam to a baking pan to cool. Remove the vanilla bean.
3. To prepare the crust, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Cook until the white milk solids start to brown and smell nutty, 5 to 10 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve set over a heatproof container. Freeze the butter until solid.
4. Mix together the confectioners’ sugar and flour in a large bowl. Scoop the chilled brown butter into the flour mixture and, using a pastry cutter, blend until crumbly. Transfer the mixture to a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and firmly pat it evenly over the bottom of the pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the crust until golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool. (Leave the oven on.)
6. To make the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, zest, and flour in a large bowl.
7. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean, and place the seeds, vanilla bean, and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until the butter melts and the white milk solids start to brown and smell nutty; strain through a fine sieve. Remove the vanilla bean. Carefully add the brown butter to the egg and flour mixture, whisking until the butter is incorporated.
8. To assemble the bars, spread half of the filling over the baked crust. Spoon large dollops of the peach jam over the filling; reserve a quarter of the jam. Pour the remaining brown butter filling over the peach jam, and finish by spooning smaller dollops of the reserved jam over the top. Bake until the filling is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely. Cut into bars.
MAKES 2 DOZEN BARS
AUGUST 10, 2008: “THE WAY WE EAT: WOOD-FIRED,” BY CHRISTINE MUHLKE. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM BIG SUR BAKERY IN BIG SUR, CALIFORNIA.
—2008
BUTTERY FRENCH TV SNACKS (CROQ-TÉLÉ)
These pyramid-shaped cookies are not only France’s delicious little version of a TV snack (epitomizing the difference between the French and Americans: fragile and buttery versus filling and salty), they are surprisingly malleable! The first time I made them, I decided to have my two-year-old twins help me. The loose and granular dough, much of which ended up permanently wedged into the grooves of the kitchen floor, was eventually shaped into pointy mounds and laid on a baking sheet set on the floor, only to be smashed flat when my son fell on top of the baking sheet. Turns out you can shape and reshape the cookie dough, and it still turns out well.
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¾ cup blanched whole almonds or hazelnuts, lightly toasted
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon kosher or flaky sea salt (if using fine sea or table salt, use 3⁄8 teaspoon)
1 cup all-purpose flour
7 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
1. Position 2 oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Grind the nuts, sugar, and salt to a fine meal in a food processor.
2. Beat the flour and butter together in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or in a bowl with a hand mixer) on low speed until the texture is sandy. Add the nut mixture and mix until the dough starts to form small lumps, then keep mixing until the dough just holds together when pinched between your fingers. (Do not use wet fingers: the cookies will collapse.)
3. Pinch off about a teaspoon of dough, place it in the palm of your hand, and, with your fingertips, pinch and press the dough together until the cookie has a flat bottom and pointed top, like a rough pyramid. The cookies need not be perfectly smooth or equal in size. Place on the parchment-lined sheets and shape more cookies, spacing them about 1 inch apart.
4. Bake for about 15 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through. The cookies should be turning golden brown on the edges. Cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to racks and cool completely. (The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week.)
MAKES 2 TO 3 DOZEN COOKIES
COOKING NOTE
“Butter is like the concrete you use to pour the foundation of a building,” Anita Chu, the author of both this recipe and Field Guide to Cookies, said. “So it’s very important to get it right: the temperature, the texture, the aeration.” The butter should be creamed for at least 3 minutes—a process that creates the air bubbles that expand in the oven and leavens the cookies. It’s a good tip to remember for all baking.
DECEMBER 17, 2008: “BUTTER HOLDS THE SECRET TO COOKIES THAT SING,” BY JULIA MOSKIN. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM FIELD GUIDE TO COOKIES, BY ANITA CHU, WHO ADAPTED IT FROM ARNAUD LARHER, A PASTRY CHEF IN PARIS.
—2008
