5
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
With a little help from molds and spritzes, rolling pins and textured mats, and even a meat mallet, these cookies take on designs, graphics, and whimsical appeal.
Walnut Cookies
MAKES ABOUT 2 DOZEN
We took these cookies to a fantastically indulgent level. First we added walnut liqueur to the cookie dough, and then shaped it with a springerle mold into edible walnuts. Sandwiched between the cookie shells is a luxurious chocolate filling mixed with (what else?) toasted walnuts.
FOR THE COOKIES
2½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon coarse salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1½ sticks (¾ cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1 tablespoon walnut liqueur
Confectioners’ sugar, sifted, for mold
FOR THE FILLING
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
½ cup walnuts, toasted (see this page) and finely chopped
Pinch of coarse salt
5 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted (see this page) and slightly cooled
1. Make the cookies: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium, beat butter, cream cheese, and granulated and brown sugars until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in egg yolk and walnut liqueur. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture, beating until just combined. Form dough into a 1-inch-thick disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Using a fine-mesh sieve, generously dust a walnut springerle mold with confectioners’ sugar. Cut a piece of dough about the size of the mold. Press dough into mold with fingers, working from center. Gently coax dough out of mold with fingertips and transfer with an offset spatula to a baking sheet. Repeat, spacing cookies 1 inch apart on parchment-lined sheets and cleaning mold often. Freeze cookies for 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 325°F. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until set, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks and let cool completely.
4. Make the filling: With an electric mixer on medium, beat butter and confectioners’ sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in walnuts and salt until combined. Beat in chocolate.
5. Pipe or spread 1 teaspoon filling on flat side of one cookie. Press flat side of another cookie onto filling to sandwich. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling. (Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.)
Stroopwafels
MAKES ABOUT 1 DOZEN
Two waffle cookies pressed together with caramel, stroopwafels (“syrup waffles”) are a favorite snack in the Netherlands, where they are often placed on top of hot drinks to keep the cookies warm and to melt the caramel. You’ll need a waffle-cone maker to prepare them, but if you love ice cream, that special equipment will do double duty. Waffle-cone makers look and work just like electric waffle irons; or you can use a cialde iron, the same tool used to cook Pizzelles (see this page).
FOR THE WAFFLES
1¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon coarse salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon lemon extract
⅓ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
FOR THE FILLING
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
⅓ cup heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ teaspoon coarse salt
1. Make the waffles: Heat an electric nonstick waffle-cone iron. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a large bowl, whisk eggs. Whisk in sugar until well combined; whisk in both extracts. While whisking, slowly add cooled butter in a steady stream until batter is smooth. Add flour mixture and whisk until thoroughly combined. Transfer batter to a large pastry bag fitted with a ½-inch round tip (such as Ateco #806). Pipe batter into a 2-inch circle in center of heated waffle-cone iron. Close lid and lock with clasp. Cook until golden brown, 1½ to 2 minutes. Using a small offset spatula, remove waffle and immediately transfer to a cutting board. Using a 3½-inch round cutter, cut out cookies; let cool completely on a wire rack. Repeat.
3. Make the filling: Combine sugar, corn syrup, and ¼ cup water in a medium saucepan. Without stirring, cook, carefully swirling, until sugar dissolves. Continue to cook without stirring, carefully swirling, until dark amber in color, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low and slowly add cream, stirring with a wooden spoon until combined. Add vanilla seeds, butter, and salt; stir until caramel is smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a heatproof bowl; set aside to cool slightly.
4. Spread caramel filling onto bottoms of half the cookies, then sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing to spread filling to edges. (Filled cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.)
Iranian Rice Cookies
MAKES ABOUT 16
These crumbly rice-flour cookies, called nan-e berenji, are made using cardamom and a sugar syrup infused with rose water, a classic ingredient in Middle Eastern sweets. One of the most traditional cookies in Persian culture, they’re served at special occasions, from the celebration of the New Year (Norouz) to weddings. Here, the textured end of a meat mallet is gently pressed into the dough to form a grid pattern.
1½ sticks (¾ cup) unsalted butter
¼ cup sugar
⅛ teaspoon rose water
1 large egg yolk
½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ cup white rice flour, plus more for dusting
½ teaspoon ground cardamom, preferably fresh
½ teaspoon coarse salt
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a fine-mesh sieve with 4 layers of cheesecloth; set over a small liquid measuring cup. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until beginning to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until foamy, stirring occasionally, until butter turns golden brown with a nutty aroma, and milk solids separate into brown specks that sink to bottom, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and strain butter through prepared sieve, leaving solids behind. Let cool slightly.
2. In another small saucepan over medium heat, stir together sugar and 2 tablespoons water until sugar has dissolved; transfer to a large bowl. Let cool slightly. Add rose water and stir to combine.
3. Add egg yolk to sugar mixture; whisk until light and slightly thickened. Continue whisking and drizzle in strained brown butter until thick and incorporated. In a medium bowl, whisk together both flours, the cardamom, and salt. Add to brown butter mixture and stir until incorporated.
4. Roll or scoop dough into 1½-inch balls and place about 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Imprint each ball with the grooved side of a meat mallet, pressing to ¼ inch thick. Dust mallet with rice flour as needed to prevent sticking. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges of cookies just turn light golden, 16 to 18 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely. (Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.)
Chocolate-Dipped Bear Paws
MAKES 2 DOZEN
Our bear paws may look like madeleines, a cakey treat, but they are actually crisp cookies. We’ve updated the original Czech classic, with its ground nuts and warm spices, by dipping it in melted bittersweet chocolate. To bake these cookies in one batch, you will need two madeleine pans. You can also bake them in two batches, cooling and buttering the pan between uses.
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
¾ cup sugar
2½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon coarse salt
4 ounces almonds, toasted (see this page) and finely ground (see Tip)
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped and melted (see this page)
1. In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add flour, spices, salt, and almonds, and beat on low until dough starts to come together, about 1 minute. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush 2 madeleine pans with butter. Press 2 packed tablespoons of dough into each mold (dough should be level with top of the mold). Bake cookies, rotating pans halfway through, until edges are brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer pans to wire racks and let cool 10 minutes. Invert pans over racks and tap to release the cookies from the mold. Let cool completely.
3. Dip each cookie on the diagonal into melted chocolate, then place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate until chocolate is set, about 30 minutes. (Dipped cookies can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator up to 3 days; undipped cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.)
TIP
The best way to finely grind toasted almonds is in your food processor, pulsing to check on consistency. Too long in the processor will turn the nuts and their oils into almond butter.
Speculaas
MAKES ABOUT 2 DOZEN
One of the most popular Dutch treats is a spice-filled, crunchy cookie called speculaas, or “mirror,” since it reflects the image of the carved wooden (or, more common today, earthenware) mold from which it’s shaped. To follow custom, use molds of windmills or figures in traditional Dutch clothing. But feel free to “break the mold” and use any cookie cutter you please; just roll out the dough to ¼ inch thick.
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1½ teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon freshly ground mace
¼ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
1½ sticks (¾ cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup whole milk
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium, beat butter and both sugars until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add half the flour mixture and mix on low until just combined. Mix in milk, followed by remaining flour mixture. Shape dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
2. Dab speculaas mold all over with a small piece of dough (the buttery coating helps prevent sticking). Generously sprinkle mold with flour, tapping to remove excess. Take a piece of dough roughly the same size as mold; using your palm, press into mold. Using a thin knife, scrape off excess dough. Invert mold over parchment-lined baking sheets; rap far end of mold against sheet, holding it at an angle to release cookie. Sprinkle mold with flour; repeat with remaining dough. Gather scraps (refrigerate if too soft) and form more cookies. Freeze at least 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until firm and golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer parchment with cookies to wire racks and let cool completely. (Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.)
TIP
Be sure to flour the speculaas mold, to prevent the dough from sticking.
Spiced Cardamom Cookies
MAKES 5 DOZEN
No icing or other embellishment is needed for these lightly spicy treats, which are a cross between gingerbread cookies and animal crackers. They get their character instead from their charming wood-grain texture. To re-create them, you can use a faux-bois mat or a rolling pin with a textured surface. Make the dough a day before you plan to bake the cookies.
5¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon coarse salt
1 tablespoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces and room temperature
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup dark corn syrup
¼ cup heavy cream, room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cardamom, allspice, pepper, and cloves. Place butter in another large bowl. In a large saucepan, bring both sugars, corn syrup, and ¼ cup water to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Pour hot sugar mixture over butter. With an electric mixer on low, beat until combined.
2. Add cream, egg, and vanilla, and with mixer on medium, beat until well combined. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture, beating until just incorporated. Shape dough into 3 disks and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate overnight (or freeze up to 1 month; thaw in the refrigerator before using).
3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Working with one disk at a time, roll out between lightly floured parchment to ⅛-inch thickness. Place a lightly floured faux-bois mat on dough, pattern side down. With rolling pin, lightly roll over mat to imprint dough. Carefully remove mat. Transfer dough on parchment to a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, about 10 minutes. Repeat with remaining disks.
4. Using a sharp paring knife, cut out shapes to mimic wood chips about 1½ by 3 inches. Transfer cookies to parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing about 1 inch apart. Roll out and cut scraps once. Bake cookies until edges are golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer to wire racks and let cool. (Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 weeks.)
Danish Butter Cookies
MAKES ABOUT 20
In Denmark, where these ring-shaped Christmas cookies were created in the 1840s, they are commonly known as vaniljekranse (“vanilla wreaths”). They’re a good excuse to splurge on a European butter with a high butterfat content. It gives the cookies a softer texture and richer flavor. The Danes have always used salted butter, so our recipe follows that tradition.
2 sticks (1 cup) best-quality salted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, room temperature
2½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1. Preheat oven to 325°F. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add vanilla and egg, and beat to combine. Gradually add flour, beating until well incorporated. Transfer dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 7/16-inch star tip (such as Ateco #825).
2. Pipe 2½-inch rings onto parchment-lined baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until lightly golden around edges but still light on top, about 20 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks and let cool completely. (Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.)
TIPS
Beginning with room-temperature ingredients creates a more easily piped dough. As we recommend when piping meringues, dab a little dough between the parchment and baking sheet in each corner to hold the paper in place. And when piping, don’t put all the dough in the pastry bag in one go. A smaller amount gives you better control.
Pizzelles
MAKES ABOUT 20
According to some culinary historians, the crisp Italian wafer cookie known as the pizzelle has been around since the eighth century, making it one of the world’s oldest. Pizzelle batter is cooked on a special pan (cialde iron), which gives the cookies decorative patterns. It was once common for the irons to be customized to reflect a family’s crest. We’ve made our pizzelles (kissed with anise) into pretty snowflakes, dusted, as is customary, with confectioners’ sugar.
1¼ teaspoons anise seeds
1¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon coarse salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon anise extract
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Confectioners’ sugar, sifted (optional)
1. Heat a nonstick pizzelle iron. In a small skillet, toast anise seeds over high heat, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer seeds to a spice grinder, let cool, and finely grind. Scrape into a medium bowl; whisk together with flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a large bowl, whisk eggs and granulated sugar until well combined. Whisk in vanilla and anise extracts. Slowly add cooled butter in a steady stream, whisking continuously, until batter is smooth. Stir in flour mixture until just combined (do not overmix).
3. Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a ½-inch round tip (such as Ateco #806). Pipe about 2 tablespoons batter in a circle around the center of each pattern on the heated pizzelle iron. Close and seal with clasp. Cook until golden brown, about 45 seconds.
4. Using a small spatula, release and remove cookies. Using kitchen shears or a 4½-inch ring mold, trim any ragged edges, if desired. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining batter. Dust cooled cookies with confectioners’ sugar, if desired. (Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 weeks.)
Brown-Butter Honey Cookies
MAKES ABOUT 5 DOZEN
Just a few touches take this cookie from plain to extraordinary. Brown butter gives it a lovely nutty flavor, a small amount of cardamom adds just enough spice, and rolling the dough with an embossed rolling pin supplies a beautiful pattern. The pins come in a wide variety of designs—basket weave as shown here, flowers, even whimsical cats and dogs.
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter
2¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon coarse salt
½ cup packed dark brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup honey
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook, swirling pan occasionally, until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes; transfer brown butter to heatproof bowl and cool until solid.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cardamom, and salt. In another large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium, beat brown butter and both sugars until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add honey, cream, egg yolk, and vanilla. Continue beating until well combined, about 1 minute more. Gradually add flour mixture and mix on low until just combined. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces and cover with plastic wrap.
3. Preheat oven to 325°F. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll out on lightly floured parchment to ⅛-inch thickness. Roll with a textured rolling pin to imprint. Using a 2½-inch square cutter, cut out cookies and transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough, rerolling the scraps one time. Freeze until solid, about 15 minutes.
4. Transfer chilled cookies to fresh parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing about 1 inch apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until lightly golden brown, 16 to 18 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely. (Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 weeks.)
PERFECTING
SPRITZ COOKIES
Think of the spritz (both the basic vanilla dough and the method) as the starting point for endless variations. It’s a multitasker in the best way possible. Mini tweaks to the basic recipe—hints of spices or a dash of cocoa or a touch of citrus zest—and an assortment of cookie-press disks to craft all kinds of shapes offer you a world of cookies. That’s what we call smart baking.
MAKES ABOUT 4 DOZEN
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon coarse salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Citrus and/or Vanilla Glaze (recipes follow)
Sanding sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
1. Whisk together flour and salt in a large bowl. In another large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high, beat butter and granulated sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture and mix on low until just combined. (At this point, dough can be refrigerated overnight or frozen up to 1 month.)
2. Preheat oven to 350°F and chill baking sheets (see Tips on this page). Knead dough briefly to soften. Fill a cookie press with dough and fit with disk to make shapes. Squeeze cookies directly onto chilled baking sheets. Bake cookies until firm, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks and let cool completely.
3. Dip cookies, face down, into glaze. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, if desired. Transfer to a wire rack set over parchment and let set, about 10 minutes. (Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.)
Citrus Glaze
Combine 3 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar, ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh citrus juice (such as lemon or orange), 3 teaspoons finely grated citrus zest, and 3 tablespoons light corn syrup in a medium bowl. Whisk until smooth.
Vanilla Glaze
Combine 3 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar, ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk, 3 tablespoons light corn syrup, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in a medium bowl. Whisk until smooth.
SPRITZ VARIATIONS
Chocolate Dough
Replace ⅓ cup flour with ⅓ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder.
Citrus Dough
Replace vanilla extract with 1 teaspoon finely grated citrus zest and 1 tablespoon fresh citrus juice (such as lemon or orange).
Spiced Dough
Add 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground allspice, and ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper when you add flour mixture.
● Cold, unlined, and ungreased baking sheets will help the cookies retain their shape; they won’t spread while baking.
● Make sure the butter is on the softer side of room temperature. The dough should be fairly soft and supple for squeezing through the press.
● For a light, crisp cookie, cream the butter mixture well—both before and after the egg is added—and don’t overmix after adding the flour.
● A cookie press fitted with a disk is the secret tool to making these beautiful shapes. Hold the filled cookie press directly against the baking sheet and press the dough through the holes. You can change the disks at any time for different shapes.
