Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Ginger Cookies

Here's my favorite new cookie recipe to wish you belated happy holidays. I can't seem to stop making these. They are the perfect winter cookie spiced with warming ginger and cinnamon. They are tender, soft and cakey on the inside with the slightest snap of a crust on the outside.

The original (gluten) recipe comes from Chez Panisse. But I spotted Shauna's gluten-free version on her site, Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef and was inspired, as I am by so many of her posts and recipes, to try them. I love that they don't contain any xanthan or guar gums, commonly found in most gluten-free recipes, each of which have adverse effects on me.

I started with Shauna's version and then began experimenting. First, I traded the butter for coconut oil, and used mostly maple syrup with a little brown sugar instead of the white sugar. And I also tried it with brown rice flour and chia instead of the white rice flour.

These cookies are addictive and the perfect accompaniment for a cup of hot tea, eggnog or horchata. They also make a great whoopie pie, sandwich cookie or ice cream sandwich. I made a whoopie pie for the photo with an eggnog filling (1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons eggnog. If you're going dairy-free, try a nondairy eggnog or rice milk-based horchata). But I most like to eat them on their own. Straight, simple, comforting. And I must mention, if you have an unhappy tummy, the ginger in these will make you feel much better. Rx: cookie!

I've been making double batches of these and keeping the dough in the freezer. I bake up a cookie sheet full at a time for fresh hot cookies on demand. (I have to confess to eating the occasional dough ball straight from the freezer and in the heat of summer, I find them particularly refreshing that way.)

Plan ahead, these need to go into the freezer for several hours or overnight. But you can make them like I do and keep the dough in the freezer for cookies anytime. I use a #40 ice cream scoop from the restaurant supply shop to make even, perfectly round cookies. These scoops are inexpensive and seem to be more sturdy than most others that I've used.

Happy baking to all and to all a good night! And a big thank you to Shauna for turning me on to these incredible cookies!



Ginger Cookies

1 1/2 cups sorghum flour
1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
2 tablespoons ground chia seeds
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 teaspoons ground ginger

1 cup coconut oil, room temperature
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup molasses


Measure out the flours and combine them in a medium-sized bowl. Add the chia, soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon. Whisk together to combine well. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the coconut oil, maple syrup and brown sugar. With a mixer, (I used a hand mixer), cream together. Add the eggs, vanilla and molasses, and mix again until evenly incorporated.

Add the flour mixture, half at a time and mix until completely incorporated.

Transfer the dough to a covered container and put into the freezer overnight or for several hours.

Before baking, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the dough from the freezer and using a #40 ice cream scoop, make as many dough balls as you want to bake. Place the dough balls on a silpat- or parchment-lined baking sheet and return the sheet to the freezer, while the oven warms up. When the oven is ready, move the cookie sheet from the freezer straight into the oven. Bake for 12 minutes. The cookies will look just slightly underdone when you remove them from the oven, but they will continue cooking on the sheet until they cool. Let cool completely on the sheet to firm up (or they'll stick and fall apart).

I think these have the best texture when eaten the same day or the next day after baking.

Note: once the dough has frozen, you can also scoop out your dough balls and freeze them in a covered container or ziptop bag for faster baking later on. Just remember to bake them straight from the freezer to hold their round shape.

Enjoy!

Adapted from Chez Panisse and Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef.

Gluten-Free Brownies

I love to bake. And I've spent years experimenting with recipes to find the one version of something that stops me in my tracks. The one that means the search is over. The one I will want to continue making forever. Like these chocolate chip cookies. And this shortbread. And this crumble. And these brownies. These are holy grail recipes. I would say that they are the recipes I would grab if the house caught on fire. But I think I know them so well, I wouldn't need to. I've made them so many times I can remember them.

But going gluten-free means redefining those old favorites so that I can still enjoy them. This will take time and experimentation. But I'm working on it. These brownies are the first to go gluten-free. They seemed like a good candidate. They are so easy to make, you don't even need a mixer. They are mostly eggs and chocolate and butter with a little flour to keep it all together. As a gluten-free flour, I used equal parts brown rice flour and tapioca flour. A lot of gluten-free recipes you see have combinations of a long list of alternative flours and even gums to hold things together. You don't have to fuss with all of that here. Just the two flours. One note, though: rice flours can be gritty if they are not very finely milled. I tried several brands. I kept seeing recommendations for Authentic Foods brand rice flours because they are milled superfine. I know, it's an extra step to have to mail order your rice flour, but it's truly worth it to avoid the grittiness. Other alternative gluten-free flours would probably work here as well, but this one works for me. Experiment and let me know what works for you.

These can be made in a square baking pan or as mini or full-size cupcakes. I've made them for several parties as cupcakes. If you're using a square baking pan, be sure to spray it and then line it with a strip of parchment hanging over the sides (seen here) for easy removal from the pan after baking and cooling.

The recipe below is for straight up, traditional brownies. For a spicy Mexican version, you can add 1/8 teaspoon chipotle powder, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder and 1 teaspoon cinnamon to the flour and give it some heat. These are my husband's favorite.

Substitutions note: I've also experimented with making these dairy-free, using Earth Balance baking sticks (trans fat free!). I'm hard pressed to tell you which I like better. The margarine gives them a little more chewiness in the texture which I love. But the butter is a little richer. I made batches of each and asked friends to give me a favorite. Even my 13-year-old buddy, Jackson, had a hard time picking a favorite, although he put in a good effort tasting one, then the other, then the first one again... Either way, you'll have fudgy brownies with chewy edges and big chocolate flavor.

Most important note: these are best made the day before serving. They'll be good after cooling from the oven, but the flavors develop overnight. They will be spectacular the next day. So make them a day ahead.


Gluten-Free Brownies

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon Authentic Foods Superfine brown rice flour
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon tapioca flour (or tapioca starch, same thing)
8 ounces 60-70% bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup or 228 grams)
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, measure out your brown rice flour and tapioca flour and stir well to combine. (If you're making the Mexican spicy version, add the spices to the flour and stir together.) Set aside.

With softened butter or cooking spray, grease a square baking pan (mine is 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches when measured across the top). Now cut a strip of parchment paper or foil a little narrower than the width of the pan and long enough to hang over on both sides. Place the foil/parchment in the pan and press it against the sides. It will stick to the pan. Now grease the paper as well. This seems fussy, but will insure that you get these babies out of the pan in one piece. The overhanging sides will act as a sling to lift out the brownies -- only when they are completely cool! You hear me!

In a cereal or soup-sized bowl, put the chopped chocolate and the butter. Microwave on 50% power in 30-second increments until the butter is completely melted. The chocolate won't look melted, but stir them together and it will melt completely. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk or stir together the eggs, salt, sugars and vanilla. (I use a giant whisk for this. Seen here.)

Add the melted chocolate to the egg mixture and whisk/stir together. Add the flour and gently whisk together completely.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes, until the top is crackly and shiny. (You want fudginess, so the toothpick test doesn't really work here.) If you make these as mini-cupcakes, bake approximately 20 minutes. For full-size cupcakes, 30-40 minutes, depending on how fudgy you want them.

Let cool completely. COMPLETELY. Then, if you can't stand it, using the sling you made with foil/parchment, lift the brownies out in one piece, slice and eat. But if you are made of stronger stuff than most, cover the cooled brownies in the pan and refrigerate or let sit on a cool counter overnight. The next day, use the sling to remove them, peel off the parchment/foil, slice and enjoy.

From the square pan, these can be cut into 9 giant brownies or 12-16 smaller ones. They are very rich so a little goes a long way. (Yields 12 full-size cupcakes or 24 minis.)

Adapted from David Lebovitz and Nick Malgieri.

Raspberry Oat Bars

During our visit to Seattle, we didn't make it to all the places on our list that we wanted to eat. But one place we did get to try several times was Macrina Bakery. With three locations around town, Macrina is a Seattle favorite for brunch, lunch and baked treats. Everything we tried there hooked us from the first bite. If we lived in Seattle, we'd be regulars.

When we got home, I wanted to try some more of Macrina's treats, so I picked up their cookbook, Leslie Mackie's Macrina Bakery & Cafe Cookbook. It includes a wide range of their recipes from breads and muffins to pastries, cakes, pies, cookies, and brunch items. The newest edition has an additional chapter on their most-requested recipes.



The recipe I wanted to try first is an easy one, they call them fruit and oat bars. You layer a sweet almond dough in the bottom of your baking pan and bake it. Then top with raspberry preserves in the center and an oat crumble sprinkled on top. They make for a beautiful dessert, snack or even an indulgent breakfast treat.

These will definitely satisfy your sweet tooth. You could probably make them with a little less sugar in the crumble topping if you want them a less sweet. I love that they are rustic and very comforting. The raspberries have a tartness that balances well with the almond dough. They would make a beautiful holiday treat too.

Note: I reduced the almond extract a bit. The first time out it was a little strong for my taste. (The original recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon. Make it as you like.) Don't be intimidated by having to make the almond dough separately. It's easy and it's worth it. It makes for a flavorful base.


Macrina's Raspberry Oat Bars

sweet almond dough:
1/4 cup whole almonds
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted


Toast the almonds on a baking sheet at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until they start to turn golden. Let them cool completely.

Grind the almonds in a food processor (mini-processor works great here) until finely ground. I did this in pulses. Measure out 2 tablespoons of the ground almonds and place in a mixing bowl. If you have any left over, save it to sprinkle over your oatmeal.

To the almonds, add sugar and flour and stir together.

In another small bowl, stir melted butter and vanilla and almond extracts. Pour this into the bowl with the almond mixture and stir together until a crumbly dough is formed. You want the dough to stick together when you press it between your fingers.

If you want to do this step ahead, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until you're ready to use it.

If you're ready to go now, get out your tart pan. The recipes calls for a 13x9x2 inch pan. I used two smaller tart pans because I wanted the fluted edge they provided. This made for a little thicker crust on the bottom, which I liked. It made the bars easier to handle when cut. Use what you have. To do it all in one pan, I will probably use my 9 1/2 inch square brownie pan next time.

Press the dough into the pan using your fingertips. At room temperature, it will spread out easily. Just be sure to press it firmly into the corners and about 3/4 inch up the sides. When the dough is evenly pressed into the pan, cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Remove the chilled crust from the fridge and line it with parchment paper. Fill the bottom with dried beans or pie weights. Bake for about 25 minutes until the edges start to turn golden brown. Remove the parchment and weights and put it back in the oven to bake for 3-5 more minutes until the bottom is no longer moist. Let cool.

This is a good time to make the oat crumble topping.

For crumble topping and bars:
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
1 to 1 1/4 cups brown sugar (depending on how sweet you'd like it)
1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 1/2 cups raspberry preserves

Cut the butter into 1/4-inch pieces. Place them in a food processor with the sugar, flour and oats. Pulse the processor for 2-3 seconds at a time until the mixture turns into a clumpy and crumbly dough. Set aside for a moment.

Spread the preserves evenly over the cooled almond dough.

Sprinkle the oat crumble over the top of the preserve layer.

Bake for about 30 minutes. To get a nice golden brown on top, I turned the broiler on for just a moment before removing these from the oven. Be sure to stay with them if you want to do this so you can pull them out at the right moment.

Let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting into bars. You can cut these into squares or rectangles depending on your preference. I liked the way they looked in long strips. How many bars you get depends on how you cut them. But these are big on flavor, so small servings are fine.

Adapted from Leslie Mackie's Macrina Bakery & Cafe Cookbook.

Almond Butter Crispy Treats

What is it about "back-to-school" that brings to mind peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, carrot sticks and Rice Krispy treats? When I was visiting Bi-Rite Market in San Francisco, I spied some peanut butter crispy treats dipped in chocolate at the checkout. Talk about an impulse buy. But I think I deserve some credit for making it all the way home with that treat to share with my husband. Ever since, I've been craving them like mad.

After a little experimentation, here's my version. You could really make these any way you want. I tried regular marshmallows, minis, vegan marshmallows (no gelatin), even marshmallow fluff, regular Rice Krispy cereal, organic brown crisped rice cereal... you get the picture. I liked the mini marshmallows with crisped brown rice cereal best. The minis melt faster and the brown rice cereal seemed a little more substantial. You can also make these without marshmallows subbing a caramelly base instead. But for me, it was all about that elastic quality that the marshmallows give.

You could do this with any nut butter. I really like it with the almond butter, but cashew or peanut butter would give it a stronger flavor. I also tried these with more nut butter proportionally, but they came out a little too pasty.

The chocolate dip gives them a little contrast. You get one end with chocolate and one without so you can experience the spectrum of flavors. Toasted almonds add a little crunch. You could spinkle them into the mix with the bar, if you like, but I think they might get pretty smashed up by the mixing.

While I won't pretend that these are in any way healthy, they do make a fun indulgence every once in awhile. They'd be great for a Halloween party too.

Almond Butter Crispy Treats

cooking spray
4 tablespoons butter
16 ounces mini marshmallows
1/2 cup almond butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
10 ounces crisped rice cereal
1 cup 60-70% bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted


Prep a 13x9x2 casserole/baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

Spray a large saucepan with cooking spray. Melt butter over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add the marshmallows and stir while those melt. You can let them sit a few seconds between stirring, but don't leave them for long. The bottom will brown and the tops will sit undisturbed.

When marshmallows are completely melted, add the almond butter and stir well until melted and completely incorporated. Remove from heat.

Add the salt and vanilla and stir well to combine. Add the crisped rice cereal and stir like mad to get the cereal evenly coated while it's still hot.

Immediately pour into prepared pan. Press into the pan with a spatula. Set aside to cool.

These are really better when you've let them cool completely and have at least an hour or so to set up. They're easier to slice that way too. But I won't blame you for carving out a little corner bit to taste.

While they're cooling, break up your chocolate into a microwave safe bowl and zap in 30-second increments at 50% power until melted. When your treats are completely cooled and set up, slice or cut them with cookie cutters (use cooking spray!!). Dip them into the melted chocolate and set on a parchment- or silpat-lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle with toasted slivered almonds. Let cool for the chocolate to firm up.

Chewey, Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

On the eve of our most American of holidays, I thought I'd share a most American cookie recipe with you. Even people who don't ever cook have made chocolate chip cookies. We all started out as kids making the recipe on the back of the Nestle's chocolate chip bag, right?

This recipe I've been making for years and years. I've made hundreds of batches of these cookies and had plenty of time to experiment with them. I started with Alton Brown's chewy cookie recipe. He did a show demonstrating the techniques for making thin, chewy and puffy chocolate chip cookies. Like there are hot dog people and hamburger people, I suppose there are different kinds of cookie people. It's all about the chewy for me and I'll tell you why: the chewy cookie is, of course, amazing right out the oven. What cookie isn't? But this cookie holds it's integrity the next day and the next, if it lasts that long. Because the dough is allowed to chill, or better yet, freeze, before baking, instead of spreading out all over the place and turning into a thin disc that dries out, it keeps its shape while baking and slowly sort of falls in on itself instead of spreading. This makes for a puddle of cookie in the middle. The photo below shows a cookie on the left that was only chilled (not frozen) before baking. It still spreads out too much. The cookie on the right was frozen before baking and it holds it's shape better to form a puddle of goodness in the center.



The cookie I want will have creases and overlapping folds, kind of like a floppy puppy with too much fur. While baking, you want them to look like the photo below. See how they are still holding their shape in the center instead of just spreading out?



Before we married, my husband lived 1,000 miles away and I would travel to visit him usually once a month or so. Most of his friends lived in his neighborhood, within a few blocks of each other, and were always hanging out together. These cookies became so popular with them that they would come through the door and ask "Did you make the cookies?" THE cookies. Because these are the kind of cookies you could commit to for life, forsaking all others. My hubby likes them too. (There's a reason his dad nicknamed him "Batch" as a kid.) Couldn't have hurt in helping persuade him to move here.

I have to warn you, these cookies are more trouble than the average chocolate chip cookie. But once you've had them, there's no going back. And all the credit goes to Mr. Brown, the Bill Nye of the food world. His technique really works. I just took it one step further by freezing the dough balls, to ensure the perfect cookie every time. Otherwise, if you just chill the dough before baking, it sometimes spreads a bit too much. If the dough is scooped out with a small ice cream scoop (a #40 size) and frozen completely, then baked, it will hold it's shape initially and then fall down in a puddle just like it should, without excessive spreading. That's the secret.



The recipe also calls for a few departures from the traditional -- all in the name of chewy... the use of bread flour instead of all-purpose; melting the butter instead of just softening it; a little milk; more brown sugar than white sugar; an extra egg yolk; and a baking temperature of 375 degrees instead of 350.

Note: I'm giving you the single batch amounts here, but I rarely make these without making a double batch. Since you're going to freeze the dough balls anyway, they are very easy to bake off as needed for hot cookies anytime. The only problem here is that this is also the finest cookie dough you will ever taste. And when you open the freezer and see those little dough balls peeking out at you through their freezer bag, you'll be seduced into eating them straight from the freezer, as I must confess, I just did while typing this. (As I was taking the bag from the freezer, I noted that earlier in the day there were two freezer bags of cookie dough balls, and now there is just one. Hmm. My hubby was alone in the house this afternoon. Suspicious.)

Be sure to buy some quality dark chocolate chips, not semisweet, which is too sweet in an already sweet cookie. These are my favorites and they're easily accessible in the grocery store these days: Ghiradelli's 60% chip and Scharffen Berger's 70% bittersweet chunk.

Last tip: get a #40 ice cream scoop at a restaurant supply store. I went through several before finding one (cheaper) in a restaurant supply that has endured long past the others, even an Oxo one. You want the kind with a little arm that sweeps the inside of the scoop to release the dough.

While they are humble in appearance, these make wonderful gifts and elicit moans of pleasure.

Chewy, Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk (I use whole milk)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips or chunks
vegetable oil spray

Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the egg, egg yolk, milk and vanilla. Set aside.

Melt the butter (I usually do it in the microwave in 20-30 second rounds at 50% power until melted.) Add the sugars and mix together until well combined.

Add the egg mixture and mix again until well combined.

About a third at a time, add the flour and mix in.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Using a spatula, scrape around the edges and bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is well incorporated.

At this point, you can cover the dough and chill it for later scooping, or jump right into the scooping...

Take your #40 ice cream scoop and hold it over the sink while spraying it inside and out with vegetable oil spray. You can shake off the excess. If it gets sticky part way through, just rinse it off and spray and start again.

Scoop the dough out and place on a silpat or parchment-lined cookie sheet or half sheet pan. Be sure it will fit inside your freezer. You can line up your dough wads pretty close together to make the most of the space. You won't be baking them on this, just freezing. When the dough is all scooped out, place the pan in the freezer until frozen through (I've never timed this, but it happens pretty quickly, less than an hour.)

When the dough balls are frozen through, place them in an airtight freezer bag to store until baking. Store in freezer.

To bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place 6-8 balls of dough on a half sheet-sized pan. You don't want them bumping into each other. Bake for approximately 12 minutes. You might set your timer for 10-11 minutes and start watching them continuously from there. This is very important!! You want to pull them out when they still look slightly underdone in the center, but golden brown around the edges. You'll have to learn how they bake in your oven to decide on the perfect baking time. Also, watch to see if you need to rotate them halfway through for even baking.

Remove from oven and let cool in pan on a rack until completely cool. If you're baking more, use another sheet or wait on this one. Do not rush them out of their pan. They need to cool completely to set up and come off the pan without falling apart. They will continue cooking in the pan while cooling. Your patience will be rewarded!

Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies. Recipes easily doubles.

Adapted from Alton Brown.

Brownies

Looking for something to make your sweetie for Valentine's Day or maybe just looking to be sweet to yourself? These brownies are the thing. I used to have a favorite cappucino brownie recipe. They were quite tasty and gorgeous when cut on a diagonal and spinkled half and half with powdered sugar and cocoa powder. But then I found these brownies and forgot all about those other ones. Haven't made them since, in fact.

These brownies have a lot going for them. They're incredibly easy to make...for kids, nonbakers, even folks with almost no kitchen tools. You only need a big spoon or a whisk, one large bowl, one small bowl and a baking pan. Now understand that these brownies would be worth it even if you had to dirty up every bowl in the kitchen and had flour in your hair. But you don't. They can be stirred together in minutes.

The only fussiness comes from putting foil or parchment across the baking pan to make a sling. You're certainly welcome to make them without this step, but it makes them so much easier to remove in one piece. Then you can cut them however you like, if you get a chance to cut them at all.



One more thing, and I know this will probably go unheard in most cases. But just know, these brownies are really, really good when you make them and just let them cool a little. But if you wait until the next day...they are ohhhhmygawwwwwd good. So try making them the night before. Let them cool completely after baking, cover them and refrigerate or let sit out on the counter overnight. The next day they will be to die for. I have yet to find anyone (not one single person) who hasn't been blown away by these brownies. People who don't like sweets, even people who don't like chocolate. Heck, I'm not even that much of a brownie fan myself. But these elevate the genre.

Be sure to use good quality chocolate. By that I mean not the cheapo chocolate chips. Get 60-70% bittersweet chocolate, like Ghiradelli or Scharrfen Berger. You will be rewarded. You can also add nuts to these, if you like, about 1/2 - 2/3 cup. I've made them with chopped, salted macadamias and they were lovely. But I prefer them straight up. Nuts or no nuts in your brownies is kind of a religious thing, like beans or no beans in your chili. It's your call.

I ran across this recipe on my favorite baking blog by David Lebovitz. He shared the recipe from the book Chocolate: From Simple Cookies to Extravagant Showstoppers by Nick Malgieri. I hestitated about sharing this one because it's fully presented on David's funny and informative blog. But these brownies are so good, everyone needs to know about them. I can only imagine the other recipes that might be found in Malgieri's book. So I hope this turns you on to not only the brownies, but a great baking blog and an award-winning baking book. Thank you Mr. Lebovitz and Mr. Malgieri for sharing the love with these brownies.

By the way, David lives in Paris, but often teaches in the U.S. He's got a new book coming out this spring called The Sweet Life in Paris. Check it out. He also teaches classes and does a chocolate tour of Paris. Check out his schedule for more infomation. I've taken one of his classes and can tell you to run, not walk, to sign up. His desserts are reliably spectacular and he is wet-your-pants hilarious. His ice cream book, The Perfect Scoop, is my bible on making ice cream.

Brownies

8 ounces 60-70% bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup or 228 grams)
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup flour

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

With softened butter or cooking spray, grease a square baking pan (mine is 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches when measured across the top). Now cut a strip of parchment paper or foil a little narrower than the width of the pan and long enough to hang over on both sides. Place the foil/parchment in the pan and press it against the sides. It will stick to the pan. Now grease the paper as well. This seems fussy, but will insure that you get these babies out of the pan in one piece. The overhanging sides will act as a sling to lift out the brownies -- only when they are completely cool! You hear me!

In a cereal or soup-sized bowl, put the chopped chocolate and the butter. Microwave on 50% power in 30-second increments until the butter is completely melted. The chocolate won't look melted, but stir them together and it will melt completely. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk or stir together the eggs, salt, sugars and vanilla. (I like to use a giant version of my favorite whisk to do this. See photo. I have several mini-versions of this whisk for eggs, etc. But this big daddy version is reserved for heavy batters and mostly, these brownies. It is the perfect tool to mix these together.)



Add the melted chocolate to the egg mixture and whisk/stir together. Add the flour and gently whisk together completely.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes, until the top is crackly and shiny. (You want fudginess, so the toothpick test doesn't really work here.)

Let cool completely. COMPLETELY. Then, if you can't stand it, using the sling you made with foil/parchment, lift the brownies out in one piece, slice and eat. But if you are made of stronger stuff than most, cover the cooled brownies in the pan and refrigerate or let sit on a cool counter overnight. The next day, use the sling to remove them, peel off the parchment/foil, slice and enjoy.

I like to say that these will serve 9, if cut into 9 squares, or my husband. (He's in the kitchen circling around the cooling brownies as I type this.)

Adapted from David Lebovitz and Nick Malgieri. Bless you both.

Happy Valentine's!

Chocolate Almond Bars

So my holiday baking may have started slow, a bit late for posting here in time for preholiday planning. Sorry for that. I had a work deadline, and then suddenly it was Christmas. But I know that's how it is for everyone. Now that we're safely past New Year's, I'm making up for lost time. I can't stop baking.

There have been several experiments. Some chocolate hazelnut cookies with warm spices, that were just, well, too spicy, for my enjoyment. But that little detour has been more than made up for by these fine specimens. These chocolate almond bars have a lot going for them. They are fast and easy to put together in the food processor. They are primarily made of almond butter and as we all know, almonds are way good for us. They are gluten-free, no flour. And they combine two of my favorite flavor combos–almonds and chocolate.



This comes from a little recipe tucked away in the December issue of Food & Wine. It didn't take up much space and there wasn't even a photo with it to seduce me but the ingredient list intrigued me.

These will bake up pretty soft. You'll think they aren't done, but pull them out anyway. You'll like their chewy centers.

Also, the original recipe called for salted almond butter. We couldn't find any with salt, so I added a wee bit to bring up the flavor. It was just right. They'll taste flat without it.



Also, in collecting ingredients during preholiday shopping, I ran across some new chocolate chips and chunks. Scharffen Berger has these new 70% baking chunks. (We should all just take a moment here and say, thank you.) Ghiradelli has new "gourmet baking chips" in different percentages. I tried the 72% in several things this Christmas and used them here too. You can also find Dagoba Xocoatl cocoa nibs which would make an excellent addition to any chocolate cookie that you wanted to give a little kick. Scharffen Berger also has tasty nibs. And last, at Costco I happened to find a 3 pound (!) bag of my default chocolate chips, Ghiradelli's 60% chips.

Be forewarned, it's really, really hard to stop eating these. I had to pry them away from my husband so that I could get a photo. Usually I can try one cookie and walk away. But these things are subtle. By the third or fourth bite, you're reaching for another one and then you're hooked. My husband says it's "the chewiness with the roasty nuttiness and then, of course, there's the chocolate." Uh huh. What he said.

Chocolate Almond Bars

1 cup roasted almond butter
2 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
3/4 cup dark (70%) chocolate chips or chunks
1/2 cup salted, roasted almonds, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Line a baking pan (approximately 8x12 or 9x13 inch) with foil or parchment, leaving an overhang to act as a sling later. Spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

If you're using a new jar of almond butter, you might notice the oil will probably be separated on top of the almond butter. Take a moment to stir it up with a spoon or knife to incorporate the oil back into the butter. It doesn't have to be completely homogenous, just stir them together.

In a food processor, combine the almond butter, powdered sugar, butter, baking soda, salt and egg. Pulse until it's combined and creamy looking. (The recipe warns that if you overmix, the fat can separate, but I didn't have any problems.)

Turn out the dough into a bowl and add the roasted almonds and chocolate chips or chunks. Using a sturdy wooden spoon, stir in the nuts and chips.

Dump out the dough into the greased pan and flatten it out evenly with the wooden spoon.

Bake for 18-20 minutes. No more. They won't look done, but pull them out anyway. And be careful when you pull them out of the oven, don't tilt the pan or they could slide a bit.

Let cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes. Use the overhanging parchment/foil to lift the bars out of the pan. Be careful, they crumble easily. Set down on a cutting board and cut into bars, batons, even rounds using a biscuit cutter...whatever you like. Just keep them relatively small as they will crumble easily and are easier to hang on to if they aren't too big. How many you get out of this recipe depends on how you cut them so I'll leave that up to you.

The recipe says they keep up to 3 days in a container, but I can't imagine them lasting that long. See if you can make them last 24 hours.

Adapted from the December 2008 issue of Food & Wine magazine.

Pecan Pie Bars

Thinking of making a pie for Thanksgiving but don't want the extra hassle of making the pie crust? Here's a tasty solution. I made this last week as an alternative to the usual pecan pie my dad requests for his birthday. We all love that pie, but it's pretty over the top. I was trying to think of a way to enjoy the flavor but in smaller increments. A bar cookie version seemed like a way to have a thinner layer of pie filling and also, could be cut into whatever size bars you'd like.

I used Rebecca Rather's pecan pie bar crust recipe. It's basically a brown sugar shortbread. It's much, much, let me just say again, MUCH, easier to make than a pie crust and frankly, much better than any crust pairing I've tried with this pecan pie filling. Rather's recipe makes a huge batch. I cut her proportions in half to make a 9x9 inch square pan version. We still got about 2 dozen small bars out of it. I used our favorite pecan pie filling, posted previously, from the Park Cafe outside of Glacier National Park. I ended up with a little more filling than I needed for that square pan, but I poured the 1/2 cup excess filling and pecans into a little baking dish and had a chef's treat, or in this case, a chef's husband's treat.

My dad called the next day saying his office co-workers (with whom he'd shared his treats) demanded the recipe, and BEFORE Thanksgiving they said. So here it is.

Pecan Pie Bars

crust:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 9x9 inch baking pan. Cut 2 8-inch pieces of parchment paper to fit across the baking pan and over the sides. Place these in the pan and spray again with cooking spray. (These are really, really sticky. Even with the parchment, double spraying and in a nonstick pan, they were still a little sticky to remove so go the extra mile. You don't want to have to chip them out of the pan.)

Beat the butter in a mixer on medium speed about one minute. Add the flour and salt and mix on low until the flour is incorporated and the dough is crumbly.

Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the pan. It's ok if it extends up the sides just a little.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until it turns a deep, golden brown. Remove from the oven but leave the oven on.

filling:
(You can rinse out the same mixer bowl and paddle and reuse them here.)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup Karo syrup (light syrup or half light and half dark)
3 eggs
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups pecans, toasted

In the mixer, cream together the sugar and butter until completely combined and the butter is light and fluffy.

Add the Karo syrup, eggs, salt and vanilla and mix together well.

Remove from the mixer and stir in the pecans.

Pour all but about 1/2 cup of filling and pecans into prepared pan with crust. Set pan on a cookie sheet.

Pour remaining filling and pecans into a small ramekin or baking dish. Set this on the side of the same cookie sheet.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes until set. (Ramekin can be removed after about 20 minutes.) Remove from oven and let cool completely. Then refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Remove from pan using overhanging parchment as handles. Remove parchment and cut on a board into squares.

Store in refrigerator if you have any left. You probably won't.

Number of servings depends on how big you want to cut the squares. Could be 12 or 24. You can easily double this recipe, but keep it mind that it will be easier to remove in two square pans rather than one big pan.

Crust recipe adapted from Rebecca Rather's The Pastry Queen cookbook.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Brown Butter Toffee Bars

These brown butter toffee bars were featured on Martha Stewart recently in promotion of her new Cookie book. Brown butter is very in these days. It's simply butter than has been melted and then taken further, and cooked until the milk solids brown. You thought butter was rich enough, right? This is butter taken to the next level. It's caramely and nutty. (To learn more about brown butter, check out Michael Ruhlman's primer.)

These toffee bars are suh-weet, but addictive. The nuttiness of the brown butter layered with the toffee bits tastes like pure gold. If you like blondies, these are the ultimate.

The toffee bits were a bit hard to find. In Austin, I found some at Randalls. Also, I substituted pecans for the walnuts in Martha's recipe just because I like them better. I toasted them first to bring out their flavor. Her recipe uses parchment in the bottom of the pan, which is then buttered and floured. I was out of parchment, so I just buttered and floured the pan itself. I had no trouble with sticking, but did find the bars a bit awkward to remove. Next time, I'll try baking them in a square pan and making them a little taller. They'd be much easier to get out of the pan without cracking that way.

The bars will seem underdone when you first remove them, but they firm up after completely cooling. You'll love their denseness.


1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup lightly toasted and chopped pecans
1 cup toffee bits


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter and flour a 9x13 baking pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

Brown the butter: over medium heat, melt, then brown the butter to a deep golden color. For me, this took about 4 minutes. Don't get distracted. The butter can go from golden to burned pretty quickly. To stop the cooking, pour into a bowl set in an ice bath until cooled.

In a mixer, combine cooled brown butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat on medium about 3 minutes.

Add flour, pecans and toffee bits and mix until combined.

Pour into pan and bake 40-45 minutes. Let cool completely before placing a cutting board over the pan and flipping it out. Flip again on another board to turn them right side up and cut into squares.

These are almost as good 3 days later, if they last that long.

Adapted from Martha Stewart.

Triple Chocolate Cookies

These are our favorite cookies for pure chocolate flavor. With three kinds of chocolate and only 1/3 cup of flour, these are chocolate bombs. They will rev your engine like a strong cup of coffee. The recipe comes from Rebecca Rather's The Pastry Queen cookbook. Rather owns Rather Sweet bakery in Fredericksburg, just outside of Austin. It's worth the trip just to have lunch and then, of course, dessert, at her bakery. She serves huge versions of these cookies in the bakery. But we usually make them smaller so they're easier to eat. I've heard she's recently opened a new cafe, Rebecca's Table, which I'm looking forward to checking out next time I'm out there.

2 cups chopped pecans
6 tablepoons unsalted butter
8 ounces bittersweet (70%) chocolate, chopped
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (we use Ghiradelli 60% chips)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spread the pecans on a cookie sheet and toast for 6-7 minutes until you can smell their toasty goodness. Let cool.

Melt butter, bittersweet and unsweetened chocolates in a bowl in the microwave at 50% power for 30-second increments until mostly melted. Stir to finish melting and combine chocolate and butter until glossy.

Beat eggs and sugar in mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and the melted chocolate and butter mixture. Mix for about 2 minutes to completely combine.

Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Add to the chocolate batter and stir until just combined. Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips and combine. Refrigerate for at least half an hour.

Scoop out batter with a small ice cream scoop that's been sprayed with cooking spray. (I use a 2-teaspoon Oxo scoop.) Place on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper or a silicone mat. Press the tops of the cookies slightly to flatten them out.

Bake 12-14 minutes until they're just barely done. Remove from the oven and let cool on the pan for 10-15 minutes before removing with a spatula. If you pull them off too soon, they'll stick and come apart.

Adapted from The Pastry Queen, by Rebecca Rather.

Dulce Crispy Treats

Here's a new spin on an old favorite, Rice Crispy Treats. But this version has a little more grown-up appeal...it uses dulce de leche in place of marshmallows. Are you groaning in ecstasy yet? (Dulce de leche is a Latin dessert sauce made with caramelized milk.) It also has the extra crunch of sliced almonds. One downside, or upside, depending on how you look at it, is that these little treats need to be eaten right away. They lose their crunch after a day or so. I haven't tried this yet, but I suspect a coating of dark chocolate would help them stay crispy a little longer.

1 1/2 cups crisped rice cereal (I used brown rice crisps)
3 teaspoons canola oil
2 1/2 cups thinly sliced almonds
one can dulce de leche (recipe below)
salt

You can buy dulce de leche at most grocery stores these days. But it's expensive. I usually make my own with a can of sweetened condensed milk. Using the pointy end of a bottle opener, poke two holes on opposite sides of the top of the can. Remove the label. Place the can in a medium saucepan. Pour water into the pan until it reaches two-thirds of the way up the can. Bring the water to a boil and then lower heat to a simmer. Keep a sharp eye on the pan and add more water as needed to keep the level at two-thirds of the way up the can. This is very important. You don't want the can to boil continuously or the water level to drop too low. If the can gets too hot, it can be EXPLOSIVE. So pay attention. Simmer for about one hour until the milk bubbling at the top of the can turns a deep golden. Be very careful when removing the can from the water. I usually use tongs. It's very hot and the condensed milk will be like lava. I recommend making your dulce de leche earlier in the day and then letting it cool.

I've also tried a method where you microwave the sweetened condensed milk in 2-4 minute bursts at 50%, then 30% power levels until it caramelizes. I found this to be more of a hassle than the stove top method. There's also a recipe here using milk, sugar, corn syrup and cinnamon. I'd leave out the cinnamon for this application.

Now, back to the crispies...
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Toss the rice crispies cereal with 2 teaspoons of canola oil. Spread evenly on a baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes until rice is crisped. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool.

When the rice is cool, stir in the sliced almonds. Add 2/3 cup dulce de leche and the remaining 1 teaspoon of oil and stir well to coat evenly.

Spray a little cooking spray or canola oil into your hands and coat them like you're putting on lotion. Scoop out heaping tablespoons of the mixture and form into discs. This is very sticky stuff. I had to reapply the cooking spray a few times to keep it from sticking to my fingers.

Sprinkle the tops of the crispy cakes with a little salt, then bake 10-12 minutes until just golden brown.

Let cool. You can spread more dulce de leche on the tops of them, if you like, before serving.

Adapted from the October 2007 Gourmet magazine.

Cashew Snowballs

These cookies have all the things I love about shortbread, the crumbly, sandy texture, and the not-too-sweetness, with the additional underlying golden luxuriousness of ground cashews and just a touch of salt to round them out. There's not much sugar in the dough itself, leaving room for the powdered sugar coating that makes them fun for the holidays. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

2 sticks + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar (for dough)
2 cups powdered sugar (for coating after baking)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
2 1/4 cups (11 oz.) unsalted, roasted cashews
1/2 teaspoon salt


Pulse cashews in food processor until mostly ground with a few larger bits for texture. Set aside.

Cream butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and vanilla in mixer until well combined. Mix in flour, then ground cashews and salt until completely combined.

Put half of the dough on a piece of plastic wrap and form into one-inch thick logs. Enclose in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Repeat with second half of dough. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut each log into half-inch pieces and form into balls in your hand. Bake for 20 minutes.

Fill small bowl or mini loaf pan with the powdered sugar for coating. As soon as you take the cookies from the oven, two at a time, roll them in the powdered sugar completely coating them. Set on plate or sheet pan to cool. Repeat with the rest of the cookies. When completely cool, roll again in the powdered sugar. The heat from the first rolling will melt the sugar onto the cookies creating a very sticky coating. The second coat will stick to the first, creating a more powdery layer.

Be careful or these will end up all over the front of your shirt. I like to make them fairly small, so that they can be eaten in one bite.

Adapted from a Food and Wine recipe.

Shortbread

There are those recipes you find, and treasure, that are simple in their perfection. This is one of them. Shortbread is made of only four ingredients. It's simple, fast and easy. Big return on investment. This is the perfect alternative to sugar cookies which have always seemed to me to be more about the shapes and decoration and not so much about the flavor. These are all about the flavor and the texture. They are pure vanilla goodness with that layered, sandy, texture that you can't get enough of. Just look at them from the back to see all the layers.



Shortbread can be baked in the traditional ceramic pan that leaves a decorative impression, as my friend Jennifer taught me to make it in Atlanta many years ago. Or it can be rolled out and cut with cookie cutters. Or even simply pressed into a square baking pan and then cut into strips. Just keep in mind that you may need to adjust the baking time a bit. What you're looking for is a golden color with just a touch of browning around the edges. Let cool completely to get the sandy, crumbly, addictive texture that shortbread is known for.

To dress them up, feel free to dip them or drizzle them with melted dark chocolate.

This recipe is based on the quantity to fill a traditional, ceramic shortbread pan. Mine has nine sections, each with a decorative impression, making nine square cookies. But I usually prefer to roll them out and cut them with cookie cutters. This is one of our holiday favorites and so much better than any sugar cookie I've ever tasted. The recipe can be easily multiplied for bigger batches. You can also refrigerate extra dough for a few days for later baking or to give away as treats.



Shortbread

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

With a wooden spoon or spatula, stir the butter in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add powdered sugar and stir in. Add vanilla and stir in. Add flour, in two increments, and stir in.

If you're going to use a ceramic shortbread pan, press the dough into the pan and bake 20-30 minutes until golden and edges begin to brown. Let cool in pan completely before turning out and cutting into squares.

If you want to use cookie cutters, shape the dough into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour to make the dough easier to work with. Then roll out, cut into shapes with your favorite cookie cutters, place on a silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet and refrigerate for approximately 15 minutes so they will hold their shape when baked. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden with browned edges.

Adapted from Brown Bag Ceramic Shortbread Pan recipe.