The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies with Toffee Chunks and Brown Butter

The chocolate chip cookie. The baseline from which all other cookies must be judged, and yet a category so generous that it includes several robust sub-categories: crispy thin chocolate chip cookies, oversize jumbo chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip cookies containing alternatives to chocolate chips, and classic Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies. This recipe is a combination of those last two categories, and is my spin on the Cook's Illustrated chocolate chip cookie recipe. These are the chocolate chip cookies I bring into work on Monday, and that I might perhaps bring to your 4th of July picnic.

The secret to the recipe is browning most of the butter to add to the toffee notes of this chewy centered/crispy edged cookie. I took it a step further with a healthy dose of toffee bars, because if there is one thing that is true, it is that the Swedish people are a toffee-loving people. I prefer using Skol bars (or Daim if they are around, which is rare), but most often due to super market availability I end up using Heath Bars. I tend to think that taking the time to cut the larger bars into chunks makes for a better cookie, just like chocolate chunks make a better cookie than chocolate chips, but you can also find Bits of Heath or mini-heath bars that can speed the process up a bit. The end result is still a pretty awesome cookie, larger than your average Tollhouse cookie because, let's face it, nobody is satisfied by a single average size Tollhouse cookie. I challenge you to find a person who sees a larger chocolate chip cookie, and doesn't consider that a positive development.

As far as browning butter is concerned, the ideal is to have a light colored metal pan, as opposed to a nonstick pan. The dark coloring of the nonstick pan can make it a little more difficult to see when your butter is starting to brown and doesn't retain heat quite as well. When the butter is browned to a dark golden brown, it will start to smell nutty, and yes even a bit toffee-like. Your hand should get tired, if not from browning the butter than by the amount of whisking in this recipe. That can't be helped. Delicious will do what it does, and it'll take as long as it takes. Here is a video on how to make brown butter. Remember that it can go from brown to burnt quite fast, so move it from the hot pan to the heat proof bowl fast once it hits peak nuttiness. Brown butter is also the type of thing that you can make in larger batches and save in ice cube trays in the freezer for other recipes (although also remember that you need this brown butter hot enough to melt the rest of the butter for the recipe). You can either discard the milk solids through a strainer or use them. I tend to use them, as I don't mind the little flecks in the cookies and think they have flavor.

Much like I prefer delicious impurity filled grade B maple syrup for its more intense flavors, I prefer dark brown sugar to light brown sugar, but both work well. I tend to think that the darker my mix of brown butter and sugar is, the more complex my flavors end up being. Fun fact- if you have no brown sugar, a quick fix substitution is adding a tablespoon of molasses to white sugar, then pulsing in a food processor to blend. One final note, this is the recipe where I learned how to correctly level flour in a measuring cup. Scoop down and grab a full/overflowing cup of flour. Do not press down. Take a knife, and in one brisk swish, swipe it across the measuring cup. More accurate than filling from the bag or with scoops.    

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Toffee Chunks

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (8 3/4 ounces, I prefer King Arthur)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 14 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks, 10 tablespoons for browning and 4 tablespoons reserved at room temperature)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
• 3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar (5 1/4 ounces)
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 2 teaspoons good vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks (12 oz for chunks, I prefer Ghiradelli semisweet or bittersweet)
• 1 cup chopped heath bars (or other toffee bar such as Daim or Skol, etc.)

Instructions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large (18- by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat. 
2. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
3. Heat 10 tablespoons of the butter in a light colored skillet over medium-high heat until melted. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, about 3 minutes, depending on the heat of the pan. Remove skillet from heat quickly and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. 
4. Stir in remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted. These extra tablespoon make up for the milk solids that were burned off during the browning process.
5. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated.
6.  Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny. Setting a timer can be helpful. The waiting process allows the sugar molecules to dissolve into the butter mixture better.
7. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. 
8. Stir in chocolate chips and toffee chunks, giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.
9. Divide dough 3 tablespoon portions (we use our smaller sized ice cream scoop or a little over an 1/8 cup measure). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet, staggered.
10. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking.  Remember for the second set of cookies to give your oven a minute to come to temperature again after removing the first sheet.
11. Let cool on rack for one minute, then transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving. I know that part is hard. If you need to re-load the sheet, let the cookie sheet cool for five minutes before loading more cookies onto it.

Lenox Almond Biscotti (Basic Biscotti)

Almond Biscotti is a delicious and complex cookie perfect for dunking in coffee and serving either with breakfast, tea, or as a dessert with either ice cream or coffee. The almond scent and taste takes a plain shortbread style cookie and elevates it to the level of Italian dolci, ie, one of the best things ever. Biscotti is one of those things that for a very long time I labeled as "to be bought, not made". This was because I made the following (false) assumptions: a) I would have to make a large batch that I would never be able to finish and b) that it was too difficult to make. On point a, biscotti is meant to be dry and absorbent. It might almost be better after sitting out for a day, which is when the crunchiness that you associate with biscotti really sets in. This recipe lasts for about a week. I can't give you an exact total because I have always finished all the cookies within a week and they have always been delicious and not a hint stale. On the latter point, it is also surprisingly simple to make, once you get over your intimidation factor and the number of times it needs to go in the oven.

The dough is sticky and wet, a little surprising for what you think of as a dry, crumbly cookie. The thicker you make your logs, the flatter and wider your finished biscotti will be. So if you want a more domed biscotti, make your log taller and a little smaller. The log will spread a surprising amount, so be sure and place a solid amount of distance between the two. If you have problems with the logs touching during baking, as I did in these pictures, simply use a pastry scraper or a long serrated knife to separate the two logs along the seam or as close as you can get to it immediately after taking the logs out of the oven to cool. The smell of almond will fill your entire kitchen when making these, which both reassures you that you are on the right track and let's everyone else know that you mean business in the kitchen. Don't worry, we are delicious, the cookies tell you, right when you are trying to figure out what "starts to turn light golden" means. (The answer is right when the edges and tops just start to pick up a slight hint of color, but before the bottoms are thoroughly golden). The almond taste, while decidedly present, is a bit more delicate than its cooking nose would have you think. More of a subtle note than a hit you over the head nutty flavor.

This is your basic almond biscotti. From here, you can dunk half of it in melted chocolate (milk, white or dark chocolate) or vary it up in unlimited manners, including Crystallized Ginger with Orange Zest Biscotti, recipe to come soon, or Pistachio and Cranberry Biscotti, but this is your building block recipe, one of the first recipes I made from Dorie Greenspan's Baking, From My Home to Yours cookbook, adapted slightly because the oven I am using tends to run a little cool (if your oven runs hot, simply take five minutes off the cook time), and because I am not overly fond of the gritty texture of corn meal. This cookbook is wonderful if you are looking for a baking Bible. All the recipes are easy to vary according to taste but still create a sophisticated product on its own. For a dinner party these are great to prepare the day before for coffee at the end.

Lenox Almond Biscotti 

Cooking time: 40 Minutes Active, 1 1/2 hours Inactive
Makes about 30 cookies

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract
3/4 cup sliced almonds, blanched or unblanched

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.
2. Optional: Run corn meal through a food processor for 30 seconds.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the cornmeal and whisk again to blend.
3. Using a hand mixer in a large bowl (or a standing mixer with a paddle attachment if you have it), beat the butter and sugar together at medium speed for 3 minutes, until very smooth.
4. Add the eggs and continue to beat, scraping down the bowl as needed, for another 2 minutes, or until the mixture is light, smooth and creamy.
5. Beat in the almond extract.
6. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated. You'll have a soft, stick-to-your-fingers dough that will ball up around the paddle or beaters.
7. Scrape down the bowl, toss in the almonds and mix with a rubber spatula just to blend.
8. Scrape half the dough onto one side of the baking sheet. Using your fingers and a rubber spatula or scraper, work the dough into a log about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. The log will be more rectangular than domed, and bumpy, rough and uneven.
9. Form a second log with the remaining dough on the other side of the baking sheet. The logs will spread during cooking, so make sure there is a solid amount of space between them.
10. Bake for 20 minutes, rotating once, or until the logs are just becoming lightly golden on top but still soft and springy to the touch.
11. If the two logs have starting touching, use a pastry scraper or long serrated knife to quickly separate the logs.
11. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and cool the logs on the baking sheet for 30 minutes.
12. If you turned off the oven, bring it back up to 350 degrees F.
13. Using a wide metal spatula, transfer the logs to a cutting board and, with a pastry scraper or a long serrated knife, trim the ends and cut the logs into 3/4-inch-thick slices.
14. Return the slices to the baking sheet — this time standing them up like a marching band — and slide the sheet back into the oven. If you are concerned about even baking, rotate the thicker and less baked slices with the more golden slices on the pan prior to re-baking.

15. Bake the biscotti for another 20 minutes, or until they are golden and firm. Transfer them to racks and cool to room temperature.

Peppermint Mocha Cookies

These cookies are almost like a tiny little brownie topped with peppermint butter cream. I make them every year for Christmas as my official "festive" cookie. They're a bit more unusual than your standard sugar cookie or gingerbread cookie, but feel right at home among their more traditional holiday brethren, and round out any good cookie exchange with a rich chocolate option. And if you want them outside the month of December, just omit the food coloring, or go with red or blue instead of the admittedly Christmas driven green. They're not that hard to make. They look adorable, and you get to play around with a mallet. Who doesn't want to play with a mallet?

Speaking of which, when crushing your candy canes, try and really crush them down into a fine crumb of candy cane. You want the cookies to have a bit of texture and crunch, but not have such large pieces that they get caught in your teeth while eating. The color of the candy cane will still be evident against the butter cream backdrop. Make sure to ice then top immediately, instead of icing a large number then going back to top with candies. The frosting will start to harden very quickly, and once that happens, the peppermint won't stick. It is easiest to just got frost, top, plate. Frost. Top. Plate. If pressed for time, the cookies can be made the day before you frost. Store in an air-tight plastic container along with a slice of torn up sandwich bread. The sandwich bread prevents the cookies from drying out and keeps the chew. They may stick together very slightly when stacked. This is fine. Remember, you are frosting the cookies, so small blemishes on the top will be washed a way in a delicious layer of mint frosting. Frosting covers all. Be generous with the frosting. It's meant to be a thick, almost cake-like layer of frosting.

The cookies will not spread very much in the oven. They are meant to be about the size of a silver dollar.

Cooking Time: 30 minutes active, 30 minutes inactive Makes 24-30 small cookies

Ingredients

Cookies
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2   cup cocoa powder
1/2   teaspoon baking soda
1/2   teaspoon table salt
8      tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), softened but still cool
3/4   cup granulated sugar
1/2   cup brewed espresso or strong coffee, cooled

1/2   teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
1      teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting
6     tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
2     cups confectioners' sugar
2     tablespoons milk
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract (or to taste)
3 to 4 drops green or red food coloring 
4      peppermint candy canes (or about 10-12 peppermint wheels), crushed into crumbs

Instructions

1. For the cookies: Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large (18 by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Sift flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together into medium bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula.
4. Dissolve espresso powder into cold coffee. (If coffee is warm, dissolve espresso powder, then place measuring cup of coffee in a larger measuring cup serving as an ice water bath to cool quickly.
5. Add cooled espresso and vanilla and beat at medium-low speed until combined. Don't worry if it looks curdled, that will fix itself when you add the dry ingredients. Scrape down bowl.



Don't worry, it'll work itself out.



It may curdle when coffee is added

6. With mixer on low speed, gradually add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
7. Roll dough into thirty 1-inch balls. Place 15 balls on each prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. 
8. Bake until just set, rotating sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through baking, 8 to 11 minutes. 

9. Cool cookies on sheets for 2 minutes; transfer with metal spatula to wire rack to cool completely, at least 30 minutes. (Cookies can be stored in airtight container with a torn piece of sandwich bread or a couple of sugar cubes for up to 4 days.)
10. For the frosting: Take the candy canes, and place inside a gallon ziploc bag. Seal the bag tightly, then place on a cutting board and strike with the smooth, wide side of a mallet until the candy canes become a fine powder. Set aside while you make the frosting.
11. With an electric mixer, beat butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. 
12. With mixer running, add confectioners' sugar a 1/4 cup at a time and beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 45 seconds. 
13. Scrape down bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully combined and starting to cream, about 3 minutes. Scrape down bowl.
14. Add milk, peppermint extract, and food coloring and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice. 
15. Frost a cooled cookie with a rubber spatula or angled spatula and immediately sprinkle with crushed mints. Place on a plate for the frosting to harden, and continue frosting the rest of the cookies. (Once frosted, cookies are best served within 3 days.)

Pignoli Cookies (Pinenut Cookies)

Recently, TK and I got to go on the trip of a lifetime to Tuscany. This was my first time in Italy, and now, NOW, I get why everyone talks about Italian cookies and why they are the best things in the world. Now I understand why they are not the same as the powdered sugar balls you get every Christmas, and that deceptively simple looking cookies pack a ton of surprising and wonderful flavor. The answer, boys and girls, is almond paste.

I dislike Marzipan. I think it is overly sweet and somehow texturally off. So perhaps it is not surprising that I have shied away from almond paste. Maybe I just needed to grow into it. You can't always expect a nine-year old to get a subtle thing like almond paste. But now, I have figured out that almond paste is both what makes my favorite coffee cake from Germany delicious AND the secret behind pine nut cookies. You don't necessarily look at the pine nut, flavor enhancer to pestos everywhere, as a sweet thing. But it really works in combination with the sweet almond paste and meringue of the egg whites.

You would be amazed at how difficult it is to find good Italian recipes. There is a glut on the market for all things Italian, but so many of them are based off of what Americans consider Italian food to be, or even worse, as easy food for people who don't know how to cook. Every corner than can be cut is cut. This is not to say that my quest for a good Italian cookbook can't be met. I'm just really really intimidated by what happens when you search for "Italian cookbook" on Amazon, and the reviews are no help because so many of the people looking are not really looking what I'm looking for. I don't want easy Italian food. I'm not really interested in the best marinara. I want to learn how to make that delicious pear and ricotta cake that blew my mind.

So here is my first attempt at pignoli cookies. There are both crispy and chewy varieties of pignoli cookies. I fell in love with the chewy, straight up almond paste ones that were a ball of pine nuts. It seems much easier to find recipes for the crispy and more meringue ones. This are the other, more chewy cookie. I am pushing it away from the original recipe and towards my goal by adding more almond paste and cooking for less time (the main difference between a chewy pignoli cookie and a crispy one). So just trust me on this one, and try this recipe. 

Make sure you get pure almond paste, not marzipan, and NOT almond filling. Also lean towards the almond paste that comes in a can or tub rather than the tube, which tends to be dryer. This is surprisingly easy to make, as it is a food processor recipe. The dough will be extremely sticky. it'll stick to your fingers, everything. The pine nuts will give it its shape and cookie-ness. Don't worry if it sticks to your hand. These cookies mean business, and are a messy affair.

Pignoli (Pine Nut) Cookies

After blending with sugar/flour

Chunky from the can

Ingredients

12 oz of pure Almond paste (NOT Almond filling and NOT Marzipan)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup of powdered sugar

1/4 cup of flour

3 egg whites, lightly beaten

10-12 oz Pignoli (Pine Nuts)

Cooking Time: 30 minutes active, 40 minutes inactive Makes 24-30 cookies


Instructions

1. Add almond paste to food processor. Paste will break up in chunks. Pulse processor several times then grind until chunks are completely broken up. 
2. Pulse the powdered sugar and the flour into the almond paste. Blend until mixture looks like very rough sand. 
3. Beat egg whites lightly for 1-2 minutes in small bowl with whisk.
4. Add egg whites and process until dough comes together.
5. Scoop out a small piece of dough (about a small spoon). It will be very sticky. Slide off of spoon and roll in pine nuts till completely covered, and place 2" apart on cookie sheet lines with parchment paper. 
6. Bake 300 degrees about 25 min. Remove to wire racks to cool, then keep covered. 
7. Freeze cookies if you're not going to use them right away, then take out as needed.

Happy Baking!!!

Menu: Christmas Party Menu

Another  year, another holiday party. This is the one party that we have taken to throwing every year, partially as an excuse to buy a Christmas tree. Partially because this time of the year just makes me want to make cookies, cookies, and yet more cookies. Yet again, we were a little insane in the amount of food we prepared, but there are so many things we've started looking forward to as "something we'll do for the holiday party" that it's just hard to stop yourself. We'll be posting recipes as we find the time, recover from our hangovers, and look with horror at the mess we made.

This year, we added a spicy nut mix, homemade liver mousse, and a second vegetarian option of spicy sweet potato (a recipe I made up and am still working on perfecting). We also made pignoli cookies, which I had for the first time during our recent Tuscany trip. I insisted on trying to replicate them. These aren't quite as good as the ones I had in Italy but were an excellent first attempt and stand up on their own. In addition, we had our old favorites. You just can't go wrong with this beef recipe, or with bacon wrapped dates that matter. There's bacon. There's date. It's perfect.


So enjoy, and have a happy holiday season!

Appetizers -

Bacon Wrapped Dates with Honey Mascarpone
Spicy Nuts

Chicken "Faux Gras" Mousse with Cucumber Gelee

Truffle Butter Popcorn

Pistachio and Cranberry Stuffed Brie with Raw Honey

Main Courses -

Spanakopita Triangles (Vegetarian) We made these smaller than the dinner-sized portions we usually make. Just cut the phyllo six ways horizontally instead of in half vertically.

Chipotle Sweet Potato Pockets (Vegetarian)

Brown Sugar and Citrus Cured Salmon

Ginger and Vodka Cured Beef Tenderloin

Cookies -

Peppermint Mocha Cookies

Pignoli (Pine nut) Cookies

Molasses Crinkles

Holiday Rice Krispie Treats

Beverages -

Mulled Wine

Egg Nog

Mocha Ice Box Cake (Cookie Cake)

I saw Barefoot Contessa make this cake on her show, and I thought, okay, this is so over-the-top crazy and rich, it just has to be good. Otherwise, how did it get green-lighted? The answer is that this is both completely unexpected and exactly what you think it is going to be. That is, an almost tiramisu like "cake" where chocolate chip cookies replace the lady fingers. The cookies absorb the whip cream and coffee liqueur while the chips remain for welcome chunks of chocolate. This is a diet killer, but if you're going off the diet, go big.

The recipe hinges on choice of cookie. While I make a pretty mean chewy chocolate chip cookie, its fraternal twin the crispy chocolate chip cookie is not something I've mastered. Plus, since the general ease of making this dish is part of its appeal, do you really want to have to make a whole other dessert just to start this recipe? So, the goal should be to score some crispy, thin (absorbant) cookies from the grocer's bakery or the food aisle if you can find it. I realize this can be a little hard to find (we get Otterbein's Chocolate Chip, which they sell at Giant and Calvert Woodley. Tate's cookies or Anna's Ginger Snaps, etc. are also good options). Ginger snaps are a nice variation from the chocolate chip version.

The mocha whipped cream is a rich and complex cream, and is a sneaky little tool to keep in your whip cream arsenal to drop on anything chocolate and sweet as a finisher. Brownie? Dab a little mocha whip cream on that. The shaved chocolate, which seems like a gratuitous thing, actually is more than garnish and really does add a distinct flavor profile to the cake. It's good without the shavings, but the dish tastes way more complete with them on. Again, the tiramisu comparison invites itself and is appropriate here. Before you know it, this recipe will be in your standards list of a quick and easy way to celebrate a special occasion in a classy yet comforting way.

Mocha Ice Box Cake (Cookie Cake) 2 cups cold heavy cream 12 ounces Italian mascarpone cheese 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, such as Pernigotti 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 3 (8-ounce) packages chocolate chip cookies, such as Tate's Bake Shop Shaved semisweet chocolate, for garnish Instructions Using either a hand mixer or standing mixer with a whisk attachment, combine the heavy cream, mascarpone, sugar, coffee liqueur, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and vanilla. Mix on low speed to combine and then slowly raise the speed, until it forms firm peaks (when the whisk is lifted out of the cream the cream remains stiff at the end of the attachment). To assemble the cake, arrange chocolate chip cookies flat in an 8-inch springform pan, covering the bottom as much as possible like a puzzle. (I break some cookies to fill in the spaces.) Spread a fifth of the mocha whipped cream evenly over the cookies.  Place another layer of cookies on top, lying flat and touching, followed by another fifth of the cream. Continue layering cookies and cream until there are 5 layers of each and you've hit the top of the spring form pan, ending with a layer of cream. Smooth the top, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. Run a small sharp knife around the outside of the cake and remove the sides of the pan.  Using a fine grater or rasp, grate thin shaving of chocolate on the top of cake. Cut in wedges, and serve cold.  Cooking Time: 12 hours Inactive, 30 minutes active