My drop cookie experimentation began with a mistake. After school when I was seven years old, my good friend Hilleri Skolnik and her sister, Jennifer, came over. We wanted to make cookies. So we pulled out a bag of Nestlé Toll House chocolate chips and used the recipe from the back of the bag as a guide. But there was a problem. The cookies tasted awful and we couldn’t understand why. Only later did we figure out that we had used salt in place of sugar. Whoops.
Fortunately, one bad batch of chocolate chip cookies did not stop me from baking more cookies (even if I stopped following recipes for a while). While I was learning how to bake, I revisited chocolate chip cookies several times over, learning from mistakes as I went.
Drop cookies are made by “dropping”—portioning—spoonfuls of soft dough onto sheet pans. This category includes some of the most beloved home-baked cookies, like snickerdoodles and chocolate chip. Although I do technically “drop” cookie dough onto sheet pans, I use an ice cream scoop instead of a spoon to portion the dough. It is a far cleaner and faster process, and it guarantees that the cookies will all be approximately the same size. But sometimes I want irregularity, so I cut cookie dough into chunks to emphasize texture and give them a funky shape. Any ingredient that gets folded into the dough—from oats and peanut butter to chocolate or butterscotch chips—is there to contribute flavor and texture.
It’s a beautiful thing to watch a sheet of drop cookies bake. The cookies go through several stages. They first melt like ice cream and then they spread and poof. In the last stage of baking, they drop and deflate. This usually happens after I rotate the sheet pan and put the timer on for a few more minutes. When baking drop cookies, I am cognizant of carryover baking that occurs after the cookies have been removed from the oven. To prevent drop cookies from drying out as they cool, I use a metal spatula to transfer them to wire racks after a minute or two. A few, however, such as the Oatmeal Scotchies, need to cool completely on the pan to crisp up.
There is flexibility here. After making the Oatmeal Scotchies, for instance, I immediately wanted to try replacing butterscotch chips with homemade toffee. Phenomenal. While I love a good chocolate chip cookie, I had to share a bacon chocolate chip version. This chapter also plays around with alternative sugars, butters, and chocolate—which go a long way to modernize tried-and-true recipes. Yet whether classic or modern, the best drop cookies all have textural interest and strike a balance between salty and sweet. Achieve that set of criteria and you will be on track for sublime drop cookie creation.
“ANY WHICH WAY BUT YOU WILL NEVER LOSE” SNICKERDOODLES
makes approximately 42 cookies
WHAT MAKES THIS SIMPLE Pennsylvania Dutch cookie extraordinary is its perfect marriage of crisp, sugar-coated exterior and soft interior. Rolling the cookie dough in cinnamon sugar is the classic way to go about things, but I like to play around with infused sugars, too. Bright, vibrant violet sugar (see
Sources) makes a lovely, delicate tea cookie, while cocoa nib sugar gives the cookie a toasty, earthy quality. Any which way, you can’t lose.
Cream of tartar reacts with baking soda to cause the cookies to poof up and fall, giving snickerdoodles their signature soft interior. It tends to clump together in the jar, so I sift it with a fine-mesh sieve after measuring to get rid of chunks.
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups cane sugar, minus 1 tablespoon
1 tablespoon firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar, sifted
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup cane sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Heat the oven to 350°F and line a couple of half sheet (13 by 18-inch) pans with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter briefly on medium speed for 5 to 10 seconds. Add the sugars and beat until the butter mixture is aerated and pale in color, approximately 4 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to bring the batter together.
Crack the eggs into a small cup or bowl and add the vanilla.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, salts, and baking soda.
On medium speed, add the eggs and vanilla to the butter mixture, one egg at a time, mixing the first briefly before adding the second, until the batter resembles cottage cheese, approximately 5 seconds for each egg. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to bring the batter together. Mix on medium speed for 20 to 30 seconds to make nearly homogeneous.
Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix on low speed until the dough comes together but still looks shaggy, approximately 30 seconds. Do not overmix. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. With a plastic bench scraper, bring the dough completely together by hand.
Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl, ensuring there is plenty of room in the bowl to roll the dough in the sugar. Using a ¾-ounce (1½-tablespoon) ice cream scoop, portion the dough into 12 mounds and roll into balls. Coat each ball completely in the cinnamon sugar.
Evenly space the balls on a prepared sheet pan. Bake the cookies for 8 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake until the tops are barely set and the edges are lightly golden, another 2 to 4 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 1 to 2 minutes. Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. They are best when baked the day the dough is made.
Infusing sugars with flavors is an easy way to add unexpected accents to cookies. I especially like to play around with them with snickerdoodles, rugelach, and kolachkes. Here’s the quick and dirty guide to making them. I use a food processor, but a clean spice grinder works, too. Sift all sugars before using to get rid of clumps and chunks. (The sugars are pictured here).
• COCOA NIB SUGAR: Grind 1 tablespoon cocoa nibs with 1 cup granulated sugar.
• LAVENDER SUGAR: Grind 1 tablespoon dried lavender flowers with 1 cup granulated sugar.
• CITRUS SUGAR: Zest 1 orange, 1 lemon, 1 grapefruit, and 1 lime. Rub the zest into 1 cup granulated sugar. Let dry out overnight, uncovered, and then grind.
• ROSE SUGAR: Rub 1 tablespoon rose water into 1 cup granulated sugar. To make the rose sugar pink, add a handful of organic (unsprayed) rose petals to the sugar as it is drying and then grind.
• VANILLA SUGAR: Scrape the seeds out of a vanilla pod and rub them into 1 cup granulated sugar. Let the pod dry out overnight. The next day, grind the seeds, pod, and sugar together. Sift before using.
OATMEAL SCOTCHIES
makes approximately 42 cookies
THERE IS ONE COOKIE that I cannot make: oatmeal raisin. When I was in culinary school, I spent a week trying to produce the perfect oatmeal raisin cookie. I was on a quest to make it flat and crisp, but it never worked out. The raisins always dried out or the cookies turned flabby. I finally set this cookie aside and moved on.
Yet two sources of inspiration drove me to revisit the oatmeal-cookie category. Three Sisters Garden in Kankakee, Illinois, sells unhulled oats that look like barley malt and I wanted to highlight these special oats in a cookie. Then along came my second source of inspiration. Luke LeFiles, a Carolina boy, managed the bar at Hot Chocolate for years. He constantly put in requests for oatmeal scotchies, the butterscotch-filled chewy cookies he remembered from home. One day I realized that swapping out raisins in exchange for butterscotch would solve my flabby oatmeal cookie problem: The butterscotch complemented the oats, and the batter baked like an oatmeal lace cookie.
Whether you have unhulled oats from a farm or old-fashioned oats from the grocery store, toasting oats before baking them draws out the flavor. I take a small amount of the toasted oats and grind them in a spice grinder to enhance the cookie’s delicate texture. For a variation of this recipe, use shards of
Toffee in place of butterscotch chips.
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons old-fashioned oats
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup cane sugar
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 extra-large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup cake flour
½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
1 cup (6 ounces) butterscotch chips
Heat the oven to 350°F and line a couple of half sheet (13 by 18-inch) pans with parchment paper.
Spread the oats across a third half sheet pan and toast lightly until the oats smell like cooked oatmeal, approximately 5 minutes. (Keep the oven on for the cookies.) Let cool. In a spice grinder, grind 2 tablespoons of the oats into a fine powder.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter briefly on medium speed for 5 to 10 seconds. Add the sugars and beat until the butter mixture is aerated and pale in color, approximately 4 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to bring the batter together.
Crack the egg into a small cup or bowl and add the vanilla.
Place the powdered and whole oats, flours, baking soda, and salts in a bowl and whisk to combine. Add the butterscotch chips and stir until lightly coated in flour.
On medium speed, add the egg and vanilla to the butter mixture and mix until the batter resembles cottage cheese, approximately 5 seconds. With a rubber spatula, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to bring the batter together. Mix on medium speed for another 20 seconds to make nearly homogeneous.
Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix on low speed until the batter comes together but still looks shaggy, approximately 30 seconds. Do not overmix. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. With a plastic bench scraper, bring the dough completely together by hand.
Portion the dough into 8 mounds using a ¾-ounce (1½-tablespoon) ice cream scoop and evenly distribute onto a prepared sheet pan. (The cookies will spread significantly as they bake.)
Bake for 8 minutes. Give the pan a sturdy tap against the counter or the oven to deflate the cookies. Rotate the pan and continue to bake until the edges are a deep golden brown, the centers have fallen, and the cookies are beginning to crisp and brown, another 4 to 6 minutes. (Do not underbake or the cookies won’t crisp up when they cool.) Let the cookies cool completely on the pan. Repeat with the remaining dough.
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. The cookies are best when baked the day the dough is made.
BROWNIE KRINKLES
makes approximately 42 cookies
MY MOM BAKED BROWNIE krinkles the day she invited my kindergarten teacher over for lunch. I must have been hovering around the kitchen, because I clearly remember biting into one of the cookies. It was as soft as a pillow and rich with chocolate, with a light layer of powdered-sugar sweetness that coated my tongue. I was hooked. This is the first memory I have of eating cookies. I still think of these cookies as special treats, and every so often I go off on a tangent and eat a dozen.
When making the batter, mix the chocolate into the oil and sugar while still warm. For best results, bake the cookies just until the edges are set and the tops no longer look raw. They dry out and lose their fudgy center if baked too long.
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
½ cup canola or sunflower oil
1¾ cups cane sugar
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
In a heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) barely simmering water in a pot (see
“Using a Double Boiler”), melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula. Keep warm.
Crack the eggs into a bowl and add the vanilla.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salts.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the oil and sugar on low speed for 1 minute. Add the melted chocolate and mix to combine, approximately 30 seconds.
Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. On medium speed, add the eggs and vanilla, one egg at a time, mixing briefly to incorporate before adding the next, approximately 5 seconds for each egg. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to bring the batter together. Mix on medium speed for 20 to 30 seconds to make nearly homogeneous.
Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix until the dough comes together but still looks shaggy, approximately 30 seconds. Do not overmix. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. With a plastic bench scraper, bring the dough completely together by hand.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the dough is firm, at least 30 minutes or overnight.
Heat the oven to 350°F and line a couple of half sheet (13 by 18-inch) pans with parchment paper.
Put the confectioners’ sugar in a bowl, ensuring there is plenty of room in the bowl to roll the dough in the sugar. Using a ¾-ounce (1½-tablespoon) ice cream scoop, portion the dough into 12 mounds and roll into balls. Coat the balls completely and generously with the confectioners’ sugar. (You will not use all of the sugar.) The dough should resemble snowballs.
Evenly space the balls on a prepared sheet pan. Add a generous pinch or two more confectioners’ sugar to the tops. Bake for 8 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake for another 3 to 4 minutes. The cookies will form crinkles and will be set in the middle. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 1 to 2 minutes. Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Dough can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.
CLASSIC CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
makes approximately 42 cookies
FOR MANY PEOPLE, CHOCOLATE chip is the touchstone for the perfect cookie. Almost everyone has an opinion on what makes a good one. It is a touchstone for me, too, but for a different reason.
In the late 1990s, when I took over as pastry chef at Marché, the general manager, Tom Powers, told me that a pastry chef’s talent could be measured by her chocolate chip cookie. I wanted my chocolate chip cookies to be the best that Tom had tasted. Together we discussed the criteria inherent in every great chocolate chip cookie. We both felt it was important to be able to taste not only the chocolate but also the vanilla, the brown sugar, and the salt. We liked cookies with a near-sugary, crisp crust and a soft interior. And they needed to taste like they had just come out of the oven, even if they had been baked hours earlier. Whenever I start tinkering with a chocolate chip recipe, the memory of these discussions reminds me to think through the fundamentals. Too much baking powder? Not enough salt?
My recipe has evolved to accommodate new sugars, salts, and chocolates on the market. And although chocolate is important, the cookie should taste great even without it. Sometimes I bake a batch without the chocolate because I want brown sugar cookies. To ensure they achieve a sugary crust, I bake them directly on baking sheets lightly coated with nonstick vegetable oil cooking spray. (Parchment paper inhibits these cookies from getting a crisp edge.) And, I dip the tops of the cookie dough lightly in the large sea salt flakes from Cyprus to give the cookies a dramatic salty crunch. Go salt crazy like me. Or not. Your choice.
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup cane sugar
1 cup firmly packed light muscovado sugar or dark brown sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 cups (8 ounces) chocolate discs (53% to 64% cacao)
Sea salt, preferably the Cyprus variety, for garnish (optional)
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter on medium speed for 5 to 10 seconds. Add the sugars and beat until the butter mixture is aerated and pale in color, approximately 4 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to bring the batter together.
Crack the eggs into a small cup or bowl and add the vanilla.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, kosher salt, sea salt flakes, baking powder, and baking soda.
On medium speed, add the eggs and vanilla to the butter mixture, one egg at a time, mixing the first briefly before adding the second, until the batter resembles cottage cheese, approximately 5 seconds
for each egg. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to bring the batter together. Mix on medium speed for 20 to 30 seconds to make nearly homogeneous.
Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix on low speed until the dough comes together but still looks shaggy, approximately 30 seconds. Do not overmix. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. With a plastic bench scraper, bring the dough completely together by hand.
With the plastic bench scraper, fold the chocolate into the dough until evenly distributed. Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap and wrap tightly. Refrigerate overnight.
Heat the oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a couple of half sheet (13 by 18-inch) pans with nonstick cooking spray.
Using a ¾-ounce (1½-tablespoon) ice cream scoop, portion the dough into 12 mounds. Be mindful that the chocolate pieces are evenly distributed among the mounds. Evenly space the mounds on a prepared sheet pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake until the edges begin to caramelize and the tops set, approximately 4 more minutes. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 1 to 2 minutes. Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Dough can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.
Chocolate chip cookies are perfectly designed for showing off different kinds of chocolate. My favorite chocolate happens to be the dark milks—chocolates that are too dark to be milk chocolate but too creamy to be dark chocolate. (See chocolate descriptions.) You can buy dark milk chocolate in bars or discs. The discs bake up elegantly in the cookies, giving the dough a layering effect, but the bars are also excellent if broken neatly into chunks with your hands. If using broken-up chocolate bars, it is far easier to cut the cookie dough into squares than it is to try to mash the cookie dough and its rectangular pieces of chocolate into a round ice cream scoop. If you are using chocolate bars, follow the method for shaping and cutting the cookie dough used in the Smoky Bacon Candy Bar Cookies. You will make approximately 40 cookies using this method.
SMOKY BACON CANDY BAR COOKIES
makes 40 cookies
THESE COOKIES ARE FOR the people who believe that everything is better with bacon. If you fall into this camp, I don’t have to convince you to try this sweet, smoky, savory cookie that celebrates the natural trifecta of bacon, chocolate, and brown sugar. It will probably be the first recipe you make from this book. And if you aren’t already a believer, bake these cookies and see if they convince you that this sweet-savory combo is a new classic.
These cookies require strategic shopping. Ask your butcher for slab bacon—the kind that hasn’t been sliced—and buy the smokiest variety they carry. (Nueske’s is a reliable option.) Look for bacon with a high ratio of fat to meat, because the rendered fat will be creamed with butter in the batter. Next, pick out a bacon-chocolate candy bar. Many new-wave chocolate producers, like Vosges, make decadent bars combining bacon with chocolate. I prefer milk chocolate bars, but dark chocolate bars will work, too. To echo the flavor of bacon in the cookie dough, I mix in smoked sea salt, though it is optional.
6 ounces slab bacon, cut into ¼-inch cubes
¾ cup (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more as needed
1 cup cane sugar
1 cup firmly packed light muscovado sugar or dark brown sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon smoked sea salt flakes (optional)
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (4 ounces) chocolate discs or chunks (53% to 64% cacao)
3 ounces bacon-chocolate candy bar (approximately 1 bar), broken into pieces with your hands
In a saucepan over low heat, cook the bacon until the meat is caramelized and most of the fat is rendered, approximately 15 minutes. Strain the bacon and all the fat from the pan through a fine-mesh strainer, reserving the fat and bacon separately. Refrigerate the fat until solidified. It is ready when it turns solid like shortening.
Weigh the bacon fat. You need 2 ounces for this recipe. If the fat is less than 2 ounces, add enough unsalted butter to make up the difference.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the bacon fat and the ¾ cup (6 ounces) butter briefly on medium speed for 10 to 20 seconds to combine. (If the bacon fat is very cold, this will take longer.) Add the sugars and beat until the butter mixture is aerated and pale in color, approximately 4 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to bring the batter together.
Crack the eggs into a small cup or bowl and add the vanilla.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, salts, baking powder, and baking soda.
On medium speed, add the eggs and vanilla, one egg at a time, mixing the first
briefly before adding the second, until the batter resembles cottage cheese, approximately 5 seconds for each egg. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to bring the batter together. Mix on medium speed for 20 to 30 seconds to make nearly homogeneous.
Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix on low speed until the dough just comes together but still looks shaggy, approximately 30 seconds. Do not overmix. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. With a plastic bench scraper, bring the dough completely together by hand and fold in the bacon, chocolate, and candy bar pieces.
Spray an 8-inch square baking pan (or other small baking pan) with nonstick cooking spray and line with plastic wrap, leaving a 4-inch overhang on all sides. Transfer the dough to the pan and pat down into the pan to make it even. Cover the dough with the overhanging plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
Heat the oven to 350°F and lightly coat a couple of half sheet (13 by 18-inch) pans with cooking spray.
Remove the set dough from the pan and place on a cutting board. Cut the dough into 1½-inch strips. Then cut each strip into ½-inch pieces of dough (the pieces will not be perfect, and that is okay).
Evenly space 12 pieces of dough on a prepared sheet pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake until the shape of the pieces has relaxed and the tops look set, approximately 5 to 7 minutes more. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 1 to 2 minutes. Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Dough can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.
GINGER SORGHUM COOKIES
makes approximately 31 cookies
THE WEEKLY NEWSPAPER Chicago Reader runs a series in which local chefs pick an ingredient and challenge another chef to make something with it. In 2011, when it was my turn, I got sorghum, which was a lucky break. (I was dreading mayonnaise or goat cheese.) For the challenge, my friend Rodrick Markus of Rare Tea Cellar set me up with vanilla sorghum syrup aged in a bourbon barrel. Extracted from sorghum cane, sorghum syrup tastes lighter than molasses, with a more rounded sweetness. I was sold. After I completed the Reader’s challenge (by making a carrot sorghum cake with a cheesecake layer), I added the ingredient to my pantry. I now use it frequently in place of molasses.
These cookies are all about the contrast between the mellow sweetness of sorghum, the fresh pop of grated ginger, and the earthy qualities of ground ginger and black pepper. The complexity of the spices allows them to pair well with Belgian-style ales—a fact not lost on Rochefort, a Belgian Trappist brewery that offers ginger cookies with beer tastings.
¾ cup (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1¼ cups firmly packed dark muscovado sugar or dark brown sugar
1 extra-large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ cup sorghum
2⅓ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon sea salt flakes
1½ teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon ground clove
⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup cane sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter briefly on medium speed for 5 to 10 seconds. Add the muscovado sugar and beat until the butter mixture is aerated and pale in color, approximately 4 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to bring the batter together.
On medium speed, add the egg, vanilla, and sorghum to the butter mixture and mix briefly to combine. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to bring the batter together. Mix on medium speed for 20 to 30 seconds to make nearly homogeneous.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salts, fresh and ground ginger, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and pepper.
Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix on low speed until the dough just comes together but still looks shaggy, approximately 30 seconds. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. With a plastic bench scraper, bring the dough completely together by hand.
Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap and wrap tightly. Refrigerate overnight.
Heat the oven to 350°F and line a couple of half sheet (13 by 18-inch) pans with parchment paper.
Mix the cane sugar and cinnamon for coating the cookies in a bowl, ensuring there is plenty of room in the bowl to roll the dough in the sugar. Using a ¾-ounce (1½-tablespoon) ice cream scoop, portion the dough into 12 mounds and roll into balls. Coat each ball completely with the cinnamon sugar.
Evenly space the balls on a prepared sheet pan. Bake the cookies for 8 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake until the edges are lightly golden and the tops are crinkled and set, another 4 to 6 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the sheet pan for 2 minutes. Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Dough can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.
PEANUT BUTTER PEANUT BRITTLE COOKIES
makes approximately 34 cookies
I GO THROUGH PHASES when I keep a hunk of this cookie dough in my refrigerator at home. There is something comforting in knowing that peanut butter cookies are within reach, especially during strawberry season. Few things are better than eating freshly spun strawberry ice cream with warm peanut butter cookies. My cookies are a little flatter and crisper than most. The surface gets these great crinkles, so you don’t need to press the tines of a fork to make crosshatch marks. Skippy is my usual choice for creamy, sweet-salty peanut butter. If experimenting with natural peanut butter, be sure to mix the jar well before using.
½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup cane sugar
½ cup firmly packed light muscovado sugar or light brown sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 extra-large egg, at room temperature
1 tablespoon whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon sea salt flakes
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup cane sugar
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter briefly on medium speed for 5 to 10 seconds. Add the sugars and beat until the butter mixture is aerated and pale in color, approximately 4 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to bring the batter together. Add the peanut butter and mix on medium speed to combine thoroughly, approximately 1 minute.
Crack the egg into a small cup or bowl and add the milk and vanilla.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, salts, baking powder, and baking soda.
On medium speed, gradually add the egg, milk, and vanilla to the butter mixture. Mix for 5 seconds. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to bring the batter together. Mix on medium speed for 20 to 30 seconds to make nearly homogeneous.
Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix on low speed until the dough comes together but still looks shaggy, approximately 30 seconds. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to bring the batter together. Mix for another 10 seconds on medium speed. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. With a plastic bench scraper, bring the dough completely together by hand.
Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap and wrap tightly. Refrigerate overnight.
Heat the oven to 350°F and line a couple of half sheet (13 by 18-inch) pans with parchment paper.
Put the sugar for coating the cookies in a bowl, ensuring there is plenty of room to roll the dough in the sugar. Using a ¾-ounce (1½-tablespoon) ice cream scoop, portion the dough into 12 mounds and roll into balls. Gently coat each ball completely with the sugar. Evenly space the balls on a prepared sheet pan. Press a couple of peanut brittle shards into the top of the rounds.
Bake the cookies for 8 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake until the tops are barely set and the edges are lightly golden, 4 to 5 minutes. They will firm up as they cool, but they still will be chewy. For crispy cookies, bake for 7 to 9 minutes more after rotating the pan. Let the cookies cool completely on the pan. Repeat with the remaining dough.
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Dough can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.
LEMON GOAT-BUTTER TEA CAKES
makes approximately 32 cookies
MOST PEOPLE EITHER LOVE goat cheese or hate it. I hate it, but I love goat butter. It has a mild, sour flavor that adds unexpected depth to baked goods—and it tastes nothing like goat cheese. The kitchen was already stocked with goat butter for our goat butter brioche when I started thinking about what else we could do with this delicate ingredient. Flavored with lemon zest and orange blossom water, this lovely cookie is perfect with afternoon tea—but it is not at all a girly cookie. Its complex flavors also make it a favorite of my husband, Dan Tompkins. These cookies bake very quickly, so keep an eye on them. They are best when still soft in the center, and they dry out when baked too long.
½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted goat butter, at room temperature
1 cup minus 1 tablespoon cane sugar
Zest of 1 lemon (approximately 1 tablespoon)
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon orange blossom water (optional)
1¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon sea salt flakes
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons coarse cornmeal
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter briefly on medium speed for 5 seconds. Add the cane sugar and lemon zest and beat until the butter mixture is aerated and very white, approximately 4 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to bring the batter together.
Crack the eggs into a small cup or bowl and add the vanilla and orange blossom water.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salts.
On medium speed, add the eggs, vanilla, and orange blossom water to the butter mixture, one egg at a time, mixing briefly before adding the second, until the batter resembles cottage cheese, approximately 5 seconds for each egg. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to bring the batter together. Mix on medium speed for 20 to 30 seconds to make nearly homogeneous.
Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix on low speed until the dough just comes together but still looks shaggy, approximately 30 seconds. Do not overmix. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. With a plastic bench scraper, bring the dough completely together by hand.
Transfer the dough to a piece of plastic wrap and wrap tightly. Refrigerate overnight.
Heat the oven to 350°F and line a couple of half sheet (13 by 18-inch) pans with parchment paper.
Whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and cornmeal in a bowl, ensuring there is
plenty of room in the bowl to roll the dough in the sugar.
Portion the dough into 12 mounds using a ¾-ounce (1½-tablespoon) ice cream scoop. Coat the mounds completely and generously with the confectioners’ sugar mixture. (You will not use all of the sugar.) The dough should resemble snowballs.
Evenly space the mounds on the prepared baking sheet. Add a generous pinch or two more confectioners’ sugar to the tops. Bake for 8 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake for another 3 to 4 minutes.
The cookies will crinkle and set on top, but they will not brown. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 1 to 2 minutes. Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with the remaining dough.
These cookies have a short shelf life. Store them in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Unbaked dough can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.
KITCHEN SINK COOKIES
makes approximately 42 cookies
WHEN YOUR PANTRY CONTAINS the bottom of a bag of pretzels, a single serving of cereal, a handful of raisins, and an open bag of nuts, this recipe will help clean house. The best kitchen sink cookies are full of texture. To contrast chewy raisins and rich chocolate chunks, I always add a crunchy cereal. (I prefer Cracklin’ Oat Bran.) I also freeze a sheet of peanut butter and fold it into the batter so that each cookie has an elegant ribbon of peanut flavor running through it. It takes extra time to create this effect, but the result makes it unquestionably worthwhile. Some bites are full of peanut richness while others are crunchy with pepitas and pretzels. Eat these cookies within a day or two of baking them; after that they lose their crunch.
1 cup creamy, peanut butter
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup cane sugar
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 extra-large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon sea salt flakes
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 heaping cup (5 ounces) chocolate chunks or chips (preferably 64% cacao)
½ cup raisins
½ cup pepitas, toasted
1 heaping cup crunchy cereal (such as Cracklin’ Oat Bran)
½ heaping cup sourdough pretzel nubs
Invert a half sheet (13 by 18-inch) pan and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Cover with parchment paper and spray again.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and salt on medium speed until soft and easy to spread, approximately 3 minutes. Using an offset spatula, spread the peanut butter across the parchment paper in a thin layer. Put a piece of parchment paper on top. Clean the offset spatula and use it to smooth the paper to create an even layer of peanut butter.
Place in the freezer for 1½ hours, or until the peanut butter has the consistency of soft rubber. Keep frozen until ready to mix into the dough.
Heat the oven to 350°F and line a couple of half sheet (13 by 18-inch) pans with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter briefly on medium speed for 5 to 10 seconds. Add the sugars and beat until the butter mixture is aerated and pale in color, approximately 4 minutes.
Crack the egg into a small cup or bowl and add the vanilla.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salts, and cinnamon. Stir in the chocolate chunks, raisins, and pepitas.
On medium speed, add the egg and vanilla to the butter mixture and mix until the batter resembles cottage cheese, approximately 5 seconds. With a rubber spatula, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to bring the batter together. Mix on medium speed for 20 to 30 seconds to make nearly homogeneous.
Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix on low speed until the batter comes together but still looks shaggy, approximately 30 seconds. Add the cereal and pretzels and mix just until the ingredients are incorporated and the pretzel and cereal pieces break into smaller pieces, approximately 30 seconds more. Do not overmix.
Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. Remove the top layer of parchment paper from the frozen peanut butter. Using your hands or an offset spatula, peel off pieces of peanut butter and place in the bowl. With a plastic bench scraper, fold the peanut butter into the dough briefly by hand until just integrated but not completely blended into the dough. (Work quickly so the peanut butter stays chilled.)
Portion the dough into 12 mounds using a ¾-ounce (1½-tablespoon) ice cream scoop and evenly distribute on a prepared sheet pan.
Bake for 8 minutes. Rotate and tap the pan to flatten the cookies. Continue to bake until the edges are set and the centers have fallen and are beginning to crisp and brown, approximately 4 minutes more. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 1 to 2 minutes. Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. Dough can be refrigerated for up to 1 week, but is better when baked the day it is made.
JILL’S SPICED DOUBLE-CHOCOLATE COOKIES
makes approximately 26 caramelized white chocolate cookies and 40 rocky road cookies
A COUPLE OF YEARS ago, I bought a vintage cookie cart with the idea that there would always be a plate on it reserved for a cookie developed by one of my employees. Jill Maddock rose to the challenge with a chocolate dough spiced with clove and cayenne, which she then divided in half to make two cookies. The first cookie had a ribbon of white chocolate folded into the dough. The second was a rocky road–inspired cookie, which utilized the marshmallow trimmings we accumulate from our hot-chocolate production.
Here, I borrow her idea but swap out the white chocolate in favor of caramelized
white chocolate for a richer effect. For the rocky part of the rocky road cookie, I make a simple brittle with gianduja and smoked almonds.
Instead of scooping the rocky road dough into mounds, I cut it into chunks. When the chunks bake, the chocolate and marshmallow ooze out the sides, giving the cookies a funky look. Plan to make these cookies over the course of a few days.
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (9 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup firmly packed dark muscovado sugar or dark brown sugar
¾ cup cane sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2⅔ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
¼ teaspoon ground clove
⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
12 ounces gianduja or milk chocolate–hazelnut bars, broken into pieces
2 cups (10 ounces) smoked almonds
Before mixing the base dough with additional ingredients, let it to come to room temperature.
In a saucepan, melt 5 ounces (½ cup plus 2 tablespoons) of the butter over medium-low heat and cook until the milk solids have fallen to the bottom of the pot and turned golden brown and fragrant like toasted nuts, 7 minutes or longer, depending on how cold the butter is to start. Pour the butter into a heatproof bowl and refrigerate, stirring occasionally, until the butter is solid like shortening at room temperature, approximately 30 minutes. You will be left with 4 ounces of brown butter.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the brown butter and the remaining 4 ounces (½ cup) butter briefly on medium speed for 15 to 20 seconds to combine. Add the sugars and beat until the butter mixture is aerated and pale in color, approximately 4 minutes.
Crack the eggs into a small cup or bowl and add the vanilla.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salts, and spices.
On medium speed, add the eggs and vanilla to the butter mixture, one egg at a time, mixing the first briefly before adding the second, until the batter resembles cottage cheese, approximately 5 seconds for each egg. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to bring the batter together. Mix on medium speed for 20 to 30 seconds to make nearly homogeneous.
Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix on low speed until the dough comes together but still looks shaggy, approximately 30 seconds. Do not overmix. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. With a plastic bench scraper, bring the dough completely together by hand. Divide the dough into two equal masses. Transfer each mass to a sheet of plastic wrap and wrap tightly. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 2 hours or overnight.
Invert a half sheet (13 by 18-inch) pan and spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Line the top with parchment paper. With an offset spatula, spread the melted caramelized white chocolate evenly across the parchment. Place the baking sheet in the freezer until frozen completely, approximately 30 minutes.
While the chocolate freezes, take one of the base dough halves and put it in a large bowl to let it to come to room temperature.
Heat the oven to 350°F and line a couple of half sheet pans (13 by 18-inch) with parchment paper.
Using a plastic bench scraper, fold the sheet of white chocolate into the dough until it is “ribboned” throughout. The chocolate will break up into shards.
Using a ¾-ounce (1½-tablespoon) ice cream scoop, portion the dough into 12 mounds. Evenly space the mounds on a prepared sheet pan. Bake for approximately 8 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake another 3 to 5 minutes. This cookie is best when chewy, so avoid overbaking. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 1 to 2 minutes. Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days. Dough can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.
Spray an 8-inch square baking pan (or other small baking pan) with cooking spray and line it with plastic wrap, leaving a 4-inch overhang on all sides.
In a heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) barely simmering water in a pot, melt the gianduja, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula. Remove the bowl from the pot and fold the almonds into the chocolate. Pour the gianduja and almonds into the prepared baking pan and cover with the overhanging plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm and set, like a brittle, approximately 30 minutes.
If using freshly made marshmallows, put the marshmallows in the freezer until firm, approximately 30 minutes. (This makes it easier to mix the marshmallows into the dough. Store-bought mini marshmallows do not need to be frozen.) Meanwhile, take the remaining half of base dough out of the refrigerator and put it in a large bowl to let it come to room temperature.
Invert the gianduja brittle onto a cutting board and slice into cubes approximately the size of dimes. Put the cubes and the frozen marshmallows into a large bowl. Add the base dough and, with a plastic bench scraper, mix the gianduja brittle and marshmallows into the dough.
Spray an 8-inch square baking pan (or other small baking pan) with cooking spray and line it with plastic wrap, leaving a 4-inch overhang on all sides.
Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and pat down to flatten into the pan. Fold the overhanging plastic wrap over the dough and refrigerate until set, 1 hour or overnight.
Heat the oven to 350°F and coat a couple of half sheet (13 by 18-inch) pans with cooking spray.
Remove the set dough from the pan and place on a cutting board. Cut the dough into 1½-inch strips. Then cut each strip into ½-inch pieces of dough (the pieces will not be perfect, and that is okay).
Evenly space 12 pieces of dough on a prepared sheet pan. Bake for approximately 8 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake until the shape of the pieces has relaxed and the tops look set, approximately 5 to 7 minutes more. Let the cookies cool completely on the sheet pan. Repeat with the remaining dough.
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days. Dough can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.
