Dallas Holiday Bakeoff 2016: Kristin's Peanut Butter Ginger Cookies

This Year's Dallas Holiday Bakeoff is a contest between the Shepard sisters. Click here for Sue Ellen's entry.

J.R. and Bobby may be the famous sibling rivals on Dallas, but they fundamentally loved each other. I'm not sure you can say that about the shows most famous female sibling rivalry: the eternal contest between Sue Ellen and her younger sister Kristin. Whenever Sue Ellen gets what she wants, Kristin seems to want it too. And if she can't have it? Well, there's a reason "Kristin" is the answer to Dallas's most famous question.

Imagine if the Shepard girls' rivalry extended to the kitchen. What would they bake to show up the other? Being the spicier (and generally nuttier) of the two, these zippy Peanut Butter Ginger cookies are perfect for Kristin. Want to up the heat? Add a little cayenne pepper. Don't be shy...Kristin certainly wasn't. Just don't eat these from a balcony overlooking a swimming pool.

Kristin's Peanut Butter Ginger Cookies
Adapted from a recipe for Perfect Peanut Butter Ginger Cookies by The Ginger People

(Note: I made some changes from the original recipe, which includes an extra step of rolling the formed cookie dough in a mixture of "raw" sugar and fresh ginger, and more specificity about the ingredients. I also added a pinch of cayenne pepper for just a little more kick.)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (note: I substituted white whole wheat flour)
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup peanut butter (the original recipe called for creamy; I used crunchy)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla paste
Generous pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
5 oz. (about 1 cup) crystallized ginger, chopped into small pieces (less than 1/4-inch)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicon liners. In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and whisk together.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or alternatively a large bowl if using a hand mixer), combine the butter and sugar and beat on medium-high until creamy, about 5 minutes. Add the sugar and brown sugar and beat until well mixed, then add the egg and vanilla paste (and cayenne pepper, if using) and beat until mixed in. On low speed, add the mixed dried ingredients and the chopped crystallized ginger and beat until the dough is just evenly mixed.

4. Form the dough into 1-inch balls and place on the lined baking sheets about two inches apart. Flatten the balls slightly with the bottom of a glass or a fork (the latter will make fork-grooves). Bake for 9 to 11 minutes until the cookies have spread slightly and are lightly browned around the edges. Remove from the oven, allow to cool about 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in the refrigerator.

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Dallas Holiday Bakeoff 2016: Sue Ellen's Black and White Cookies

Dallas Holiday Bakeoff 2016: Sue Ellen's Black and White Cookies

This Year's Dallas Holiday Bakeoff is a contest between the Shepard sisters. Click here for Kristin's entry.

Kristin may have been the more devious Shepard sister, but Sue Ellen was definitely the classier one. Nobody exudes style like Sue Ellen. Among her many memorable looks, the most iconic was the black and white dress from the fourth season, which she was wearing when she was arrested for shooting J.R. (spoiler: it was really her sister Kristin who did it!).

These Black and White Cookies pay homage to that iconic look, a buttery vanilla cookie half-dipped in dark chocolate. They taste as good as they look and would certainly give Sue Ellen the upper hand she needs to best Kristin.

Sue Ellen's Black and White Cookies
Base cookie recipe adapted from Do-Almost-Anything Vanilla Cookie Dough by Dorie Greenspan

(Note: the ingredients represent a half-recipe from Greenspan's original recipe. I realize that I used both grams and ounces below; however, the gram measurements are from the original recipe and the ounces refer to ingredients packaged by the weight as indicated, so you don't actually have to weigh them.)

8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
131 grams (2/3 cup) sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract
272 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour
8 oz. dark chocolate (I used 2 Ghirardelli 60% cacao baking bars)
1/2 tsp. vegetable oil

1. Combine butter, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl if using a hand mixer). Beat on medium speed until creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple times while mixing. Add the egg whites and vanilla extract and mix on low speed, then add the flour in 3 or 4 additions, mixing on low speed as you add it. Scrape down the bowl as you go to evenly mix the dough.

2. Cut two large sheets of parchment paper and place the dough between the two sheets. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to a consistent thickness of about 1/4 inch. Place the dough on a baking sheet and chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours or freeze for 1 hour.

3. Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 F.

4. Carefully peel away the parchment from the rolled out dough (remove the top parchment first; carefully flip the dough over onto a clean sheet of parchment and then remove the other parchment). Using a 2 1/2 inch round cookie cutter, cut out cookies and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment or silicon, leaving about 1 inch between cookies. Collect dough scraps and re-roll as needed to use as much of the dough as possible.

5. Bake cookies until the edges a lightly golden, about 19 to 21 minutes. Rotate the cookie sheets top-to-bottom halfway through baking. Remove cookies from oven and cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

6. Chop the chocolate into 1/2 inch pieces. Place a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for about 1 minute. Stir the mixture, then microwave on high for 15 to 30 second increments, stirring after each heating, until the chocolate is almost completely melted, then stir the mixture until it is completely melted (the residual heat will melt and remaining chunks; you want to be careful not to over-microwave the chocolate, as it can burn). Stir in the vegetable oil. Transfer the mixture to a contain a tallish container--something that's barely wider than the cookies is ideal, like a coffee mug. Dip each cookie halfway into the melted chocolate, then transfer the cookie to a baking sheet lined with parchment or silicon to dry. Place the cookies in the refrigerator to firm up the chocolate.

Related

Dallas Holiday Bakeoff 2016: Kristin's Peanut Butter Ginger Cookies
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Dallas Bakeoff: Pam's Emerald Mine Cookies

This recipe also appears this week on Dallas Decoder, representing Pamela Barnes Ewing in the Dallas Decoder Holiday Bakeoff IV: Pam vs. Katherine.

All she wanted was a life where she and Bobby were happy. And she got it, for the most part. But one evening, just as they were reconciling after 2 years apart, Pam had a terrible dream in which Bobby--her lifetime love and former husband--was murdered out of spite by her deranged half-sister Katherine.

You see, Katherine always had a thing for Bobby. She even fabricated a letter from Pam in which Pam said she wanted to end her marriage to Bobby. It was a contributing factor in their divorce.

During the dream, following Bobby's "death," Pam invested in a Colombian emerald mine in Bobby's honor, a decision that sent her on a grand adventure to South America. This dream was so vivid that Pam shared the whole thing with Bobby. Later, she made these cookies for Bobby, sort of as a joke, but in a way, they symbolized her unending love for him--that she would honor him even if he was gone. Of course, Katherine thought the symbolism was rather silly, opting to bake some frosted hats with cheap gumdrops. Pam knows that Bobby likes her cookies best.

Dallas Bakeoff: Pam's Emerald Mine Cookies
Adapted from Chocolate M&M Cookies by Dinners, Dishes and Desserts as adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

Makes about 24 cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. milk
1 cup green mini M&M's (I bought containers of the red and green Christmas mini M&Ms and separated them, using both the green and red M&Ms in cookies separately--so I guess I also made some "ruby mine" cookies)

1. Combine the butter, sugar and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes (alternatively, combine the ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a hand mixer). Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.

2. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Add dry ingredients to the bowl with butter and sugar and beat on low speed until combined. Add the milk and stir into the dough with a spatula, then stir in half of the M&Ms. Cover the mixing bowl with the dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least a half hour.

3. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheet with parchment or silicon baking mats.

4. Spoon the dough into golf-ball-size pieces and place 2 inches apart on the baking sheet (you should be able to get 12 onto each sheet). Flatten each mound slightly and place a few additional M&Ms on top of each cookie. Bake the cookies until the edges are done and the center appears slightly underdone, about 9 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minute, then carefully transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Katherine's Frosted Gingerbread Hat Cookies

Dallas Bakeoff: Katherine's Frosted Gingerbread Hat Cookies

This recipe also appears this week on Dallas Decoder, representing Katherine Wentworth in the Dallas Decoder Holiday Bakeoff IV: Pam vs. Katherine.

All she wanted was Bobby. Sure, he married her half-sister Pam (twice) and April, and almost married that dreadful Jenna, but Katherine knows deep in her heart that Bobby loved her best.

She baked these frosted gingerbread hat cookies to remind him of her bold sense of style. Katherine wears a good hat like no other woman on Dallas. The cookies are spicy and sweet, just like Katherine, and way better than Pam's emerald mine cookies, which sound like something that would chip a tooth.

Pam claims her cookies were inspired by a particularly vivid dream in which she invested in an emerald mine after Bobby's death because he'd been interested in emeralds. Can you imagine? Bobby was never interested in emeralds. And Bobby's death?! Need we more proof that sweet darling Pam is absolutely bonkers? Keep dreamin' Pam!

Katherine's Frosted Gingerbread Hat Cookies
Gingerbread recipe adapted from Gingerbread Cookies 101, The Food Network, from a Rick Rodgers recipe

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

12 3/4 oz. (3 cups) all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly milled black pepper
12 tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1 large egg
Simple cookie icing (see recipe below)
Red and green food coloring
Red and green gumdrops

1. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.

2. Combine butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in the molasses and egg. Add the combined dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined to form the dough. Divide the dough into two pieces, flatten into large discs and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 3 hours to chill completely.

3. Preheat oven to 350 F with two racks evenly spaced in the top and bottom thirds of the oven. Line three baking sheets with parchment or silicon baking mats (you can re-use one of the sheets if needed, unless you have an oven big enough to accommodate three baking sheets at once).

4. Place one of the dough discs on a floured surface and allow to warm slightly (about 10 minutes). Sprinkle the dough with a little flour and roll out to 1/8-inch thickness. Use a 2 1/2 inch round cookie or biscuit cutter to cut out circles of dough; transfer the circles to the baking sheet, spaced at least 1-inch apart. Re-roll any scraps and cut out additional circles. Repeat with the other chilled dough disc.

5. Bake the cookies until the edges are lightly browned and the dough looks dry on top, about 10-12 minutes (rotate the cookie sheets top-to-bottom and back-to-front halfway through baking). Cool the cookies on the sheets for about 5 minutes, then carefully transfer with a spatula to a wire rack to cool completely (cookies must be completely cooled before frosting).

6. Divide the cookie icing into several bowls, depending on how many colors of hats you want to make (it may depend on what colors of gum drops you have--I made red, green and white hats). Add a few drops of food coloring to each bowl and stir into the icing, adding additional drops as needed until the color of the frosting matches the gumdrops. Using a knife, spread about 1 teaspoon of frosting (maybe a little more) on each gingerbread circle, using the knife to spread an even layer so that the brown of the cookie does not show through and the icing goes to the edge of the circle. Place a matching-color gumdrop in the center of the circle and press down gently. Sprinkle the cookie with matching colored sugar (this helps give the cookie an even texture, since the gumdrop will have a sugar-coated texture, whereas the icing, without sprinkled sugar, will dry smooth). Continue as desired (I frosted some cookies without gumdrops and also left some unfrosted). Store cookies in the refrigerator.

Simple Cookie Icing

3 cups powdered (confectioner's) sugar
2 tbsp. light corn syrup
3 tbsp. milk, plus additional as needed

Combine powdered sugar, corn syrup and milk in medium bowl and stir with a fork until they form an even consistency. Add additional milk (in small increments, about 1 tsp.) as needed to reach a smooth texture similar to thick sour cream. Use immediately, as the icing will harden as it sits out. Multiply the recipe as needed so you enough icing for your cookies.

Related
Dallas Bakeoff: Pam's Emerald Mine Cookies

8-2-Eat: Holiday Cookies

8-2-Eat is my food-focused list series. A perfect Friday distraction. I shared some cookie recipes earlier this week. Here are 8 of my favorite from the last few years.

Chocolate Saltine Bark. This is one of those recipes where the enjoyment it brings is is inverse to its difficulty. It's so easy! Basically crackers baked with butter and sugar coated with melted chocolate and nuts.

Almond Lace Cookies. As a kid, my mom had a friend who would make these, and I loved them. They're a wonderful choice if you want something different that's elegant and old-fashioned.

Peanut Butter Blossoms. The first of several classics with peanut butter--this one topped with a Hershey's Kiss.

Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies. There are a lot of sugar cookie recipes floating around out there, but this one is by far the best I've ever had. It's buttery and sweet with the perfect texture.

Peanut Butter, Oatmeal and Chocolate Chip Cookies. This is the perfect cookie for the indecisive cookie lover. Can't choose between peanut butter, oatmeal or chocolate chip? Turn that "or" into an "and" and enjoy.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles. Classic snickerdoodles with a pumpkin twist.

Molasses Sandwich Cookies. The fresh lemon filling is a nice contrast to the molasses flavor of this sandwich cookie.

Peanut Butter Cookies. My longtime favorite and one of the first things I ever learned to cook.

Momofuku Milk Bar Blueberry & Cream Cookies

When we visited Momofuku CCDC for dinner recently, we left the restaurant with a rather large bag full of assorted cookies from Milk Bar, the restaurant's attached bakery. Since opening about a month ago, the bakery has maintained a rather long line of devoted sugaristas seeking cookies, soft-serve and crack (pie, that is).

Momofuku Milk Bar's five varieties of cookies. Note that the commercial version of Blueberry & Cream Cookies contains brown rice syrup and all-natural egg substitute.

I'm not one for long lines, so it's nice that if you're eating in Momofuku CCDC, you can order as much as you want from Milk Bar and take it to-go. So we sprang for two of each of the bakery's five varieties of cookies: the corn cookies and compost cookies that we already knew and love, chocolate-chocolate (as chocolatey as you'd expect), cornflake-marshmallow-chocolate-chip (a chocolate chip cookie with added crunch and goo), and--what turned out to be real revelation--blueberry and cream cookies.

Milk crumbs (just before adding the white chocolate)

In the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook, Momofuku pastry chef Christina Tosi explains that the cookie came about as a showcase for milk-crumb, a buttery baked crumble of flour, sugar and powdered milk (Tosi calls it "milk powder") coated with white chocolate. Tosi says she doesn't drink milk straight--surprising for someone who's made a name for herself from a brand called "Milk Bar"--but said the crumb was inspired by her idea of what the flavor of milk should be.

From there, Tosi thought of using the crumb in a cookie with a fruit flavor. Peaches were considered ("momofuku" is Japanese for "lucky peach"--not coincidentally the name of the restaurant brand's magazine), but in the end, she went with dried blueberries, which she found at Whole Foods (as did I, in size that conveniently is twice the amount Tosi's recipe calls for--perfect for making a double-batch as I did below).

So this is basically a sugar cookie with the aforementioned milk-crumb and dried blueberries mixed in. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time to make this. The milk-crumb needs to be baked and cooled, and the dough needs to chill for at least 1 hour. I promise you'll be happy with the results, which are buttery, creamy, fruity and sweet.

Blueberry & Cream Cookies
Adapted from a recipe from Momofuku Milk Bar by Christina Tosi

Makes about 75 cookies

Notes: I have doubled the ingredients for the cookies to make a double-batch. The amount of ingredients for the milk-crumb is the same as in the cookbook. Tosi's original cookie recipe calls for using a 1/2 recipe of milk-crumb. Tosi smartly includes weight (in grams) and volume measurements for her cookies. I used the weight measurements for dry ingredients measured by the cup or cup-portion (but I've included her volumetric conversions for those measurements below) and volume measurements for liquid ingredients and ingredients measured by teaspoon. Tosi's recipe calls for glucose instead of corn-syrup, but she notes that corn-syrup in half the amount of glucose may be substituted. Her recipe also calls for white chocolate, but I used white-chocolate chips, as the bar variety was not available at Giant or Whole Foods the day I baked the cookies.

Milk crumb:

40g (1/2 cup) plus 20g (1/4 cup) powdered milk
40g (1/4 cup) all-purpose flour
12g (2 tbsp.) cornstarch
25g (2 tbsp.) sugar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
90g (3 oz.) white chocolate chips

Cookies:

450g (2 cups or 4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
300g (1 1/2 cups) sugar
300g (1 1/3 cups) light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup light corn syrup
4 large eggs
640g all-purpose flour (4 cups)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. kosher salt
260g (1 1/2 cups) dried blueberries

Make the milk crumb:

1. Preheat the oven to 250 F.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the first 40g (1/2 cup) of powdered milk, flour, cornstarch, sugar and salt. Add the melted butter and toss with a spatula until the mixture comes together in small clusters.

3. Spread the crumbs on a baking sheet lined with a silicon baking mat or parchment. Bake for 20 minutes until the crumbs are fragrant and look "sandy." Remove the crumbs from the oven and allow them to cool.

4. Transfer the crumbs to a medium bowl and break up any clusters larger than about 1/2 inch. Add the remaining 20g (1/4) of powdered milk and toss to distribute it evenly. Melt the white chocolate (I did this in the microwave using the package directions) and pour it over the crumb mixture. Toss the clusters with a spatula to coat with white chocolate. Allow the white chocolate to cool (takes about 15-20 minutes), tossing the clusters every 5 minutes.

Make the cookies:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, sugar, brown sugar and corn syrup and beat on medium-high until creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, add the eggs and beat on medium-high for another 7-8 minutes (I recommend scraping down the sides of the bowl every so often while doing this).

2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Add the butter mixture and combine at low speed until the dough just comes together, no longer than a minute. Add the baked milk crumbs and dried blueberries and blend on low-speed until incorporated, about 30 seconds.

3. Portion the dough onto sheet pans lined with silicon baking mats or parchment (you'll need at least 4 standard-size baking sheets) in balls about the size of golf balls, 2-3 inches apart. Flatten the tops slightly. Wrap the sheet pans with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, up to 1 week.

4. Preheat oven to 350 F with two racks evenly spaced apart.

5. Remove and discard the plastic wrap. Bake for 16-18 minutes, rotating the cookies top-to-bottom and front-to-back after the first 8 minutes (note: this is a little shorter than Tosi's original baking time, but I also made the cookies a little smaller). The cookies should be lightly browned on the edges and light yellow in the middle--continue baking another 1-2 minutes until they reach this point. Cool the cookies completely on the baking sheets, then transfer to an air-tight storage container.


Related

Restaurant: Momofuku CCDC (Washington, D.C.)

Corn Cookies

Compost Cookies

Peanut Butter Maple Cookies

There are so many delicious varieties of cookies, making it hard to choose a favorite. But in my heart of hearts, I know that peanut butter cookies are, and have always been, my top choice.

For years, I've relied on the America's Test Kitchen recipe as my standard go-to for peanut butter cookies, which I make for the holidays pretty much every year. This year, I wanted to try something different, so I turned to my cookbook shelf to see what I could find.

The New Basics Cookbook, the 1989 classic by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins, had what I was looking for. Their peanut butter cookie recipe includes maple syrup and no added salt except for what's in the peanut butter and the peanuts if you're using a salted variety. The maple added a nice flavor and I didn't miss the extra salt.

I experimented with the look of these cookies a bit. Traditionally, peanut butter cookie dough is rolled into balls and then flattened with a fork, making a clean, round edge and that characteristic hatch-mark pattern. Curious how they would look, I spooned the dough on the baking sheet without first rolling it and added the hatch-mark and also left a few "un-hatched." I like the rougher look and the results were just as tasty.

Peanut Butter Maple Cookies

Adapted from Peanut Butter Cookies, The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins

Makes about 45-50 cookies

1cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup crunchy peanut butter

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

14 oz. all-purpose flour (approx. 3 cups)

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 cup roasted peanuts (salted or unsalted), coarsely chopped (about the size of the peanut chunks in the peanut butter)

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.

2. Combine butter, peanut butter and brown sugar in a bowl of a stand mixer and beat--first at a low speed and then at a high speed--until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (alternatively, combine in a large bowl and beat with a hand mixer). On low speed, beat in the maple syrup, egg and vanilla, then increase speed and beat until combined.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and peanuts. Add to the butter-sugar mixture and slowly beat until combined. 

4. Spoon the batter in rounded tablespoonfuls (about golf-ball size) onto baking sheets lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat, about 2-3 inches apart (aim for about 12-15 cookies per sheet for a standard-size baking sheet). Flatten slightly with a fork dipped in flour (or don't, as it really isn't necessary, it just looks cool). 

5. Bake until lightly browned in places on top and around the bottom, about 8-9 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Related

Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Peanut Butter, Oatmeal and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sue Ellen's Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

This recipe also appears this week on Dallas Decoder, representing Sue Ellen Ewing in the Dallas Decoder Holiday Bakeoff III: Sue Ellen vs. Judith.

Although Sue Ellen doesn't spend a lot time in the kitchen as an adult, she would sometimes make Peanut Butter Blossoms for John Ross around the holidays.

The classic Betty Crocker recipe is one that Sue Ellen perfected during her years on the Texas pageant circuit. Even if cooking wasn't her showcase "talent," the judges appreciated well-rounded contestants (figuratively that is, Sue Ellen never ate cookies back then, having to keep her figure pageant-ready). They sure impressed J.R. though--it's one of the reasons he started paying closer attention to this stunning brunette.

They are a much better choice for serving children than Judith's Mole Cookies, which are hot and spicy. And honestly, isn't mole something you eat with enchiladas?

The cookies also symbolically represent Sue Ellen's loving relationship with her son John Ross, as each cookie is finished with a Kiss.

Sue Ellen's Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
Adapted from the classic Betty Crocker recipe

Makes about 3 dozen

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar, plus more for coating the dough
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy or chunky, I used the latter)
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
36 Hershey's Kisses, unwrapped

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter, 1/2 cup sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter and egg on medium speed until combined and smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture and beat on low speed until combined.

3. Place about 1/4 cup sugar on a small plate. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and then roll the balls in the sugar to coat. Place sugar-coated dough balls 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat. Bake until the edges are light golden-brown, about 8 to 10 minutes.

4. Remove cookies from the oven and immediately place a Hershey's Kiss in the center of each cookie, pushing down a bit on the kiss until the cookie cracks around it. Allow to cool on the baking for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Cookies will need to cool for several hours for the chocolate kisses to fully firm up again (be careful not to bump any of the chocolate tips with your arm while working with them).

Related: 

Judith's Mole Cookies

Judith's Mole Cookies

This recipe also appears this week on Dallas Decoder, representing Judith Ryland in the Dallas Decoder Holiday Bakeoff III: Sue Ellen vs. Judith.

Like Sue Ellen, Judith Ryland doesn't spend a lot of time in the kitchen, but she does have a few recipes nestled among the tricks up her sleeves.

Take these mole cookies for example. She got the idea from her drug-dealing buddy Luis. They are inspired by the flavor of mole sauce, the complex and spicy sauce from the Oaxacan region of northern Mexico. Judith grew to love mole during her "business trips" and thought it could be clever to incorporate the sauce's nuts, seeds, spices, chocolate and chiles in a cookie.

They sure beat the socks off Sue Ellen's Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies, a recipe so easy a child could make them. Pity poor Candace lost her hands. Judith could have put her to work making these.

The cookies also represent Judith's tumultuous relationship with her son Harris, as they are finished with a kick.

Mole Cookies

Makes 3 dozen

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground clove
1 tsp. ancho chili pepper (use more or less as desired)
1/2 cup toasted almond slivers (see note)
1/4 cup unsalted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1/2 cup raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, sugar and peanut butter on medium speed until combined. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat until smooth.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, clove and chili powder. Add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and beat a few more times to combine. Stir in the toasted almonds, pepitas and raisins.

3. Spoon golf-bowl-sized balls of dough 2-3 inches apart onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat. Bake until the cookies look dried out and browned around the edges (it can be hard to tell they are browned, since they are, well, brown, but they will color a bit on the edges and look somewhat dry), about 12-14 minutes. Cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Note: To toast almond slivers, heat in a small frying pan over medium-low heat, tossing occasionally until lightly browned and fragrant, about 8 minutes.

Related: 

Sue Ellen's Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

Washington Post Food Section Cookie Issue

I've made no secret of the fact that I'm a huge fan of the Washington Post Food section. During my blog's first year, I featured its stories (along with those of the New York Times' then Dining section) in a weekly "battle" called Food (Section) Fight, which the Post's Food section won. Although I discontinued that feature in 2013, I still continue to include Post Food section stories in each edition of The Feed, my weekly roundup of interesting food-related stories.

One of the best things about the Post Food section is its regular special issues. I look forward to all of them--the Top Tomato recipes issue, which I was featured in this year, is a definite favorite, as are the two Thanksgiving issues--but the one that is the most fun is the holiday cookie issue. I feel like a little kid when I unfold the paper on the first Wednesday of December to a beautiful full-page spread of cookies. Beautiful cookies. They featured more than two-dozen recipes this year. It's always an interesting mix, always something new.

Lemon Sablés fresh from the oven.

I made two of this year's cookie recipes and loved both of them: the Lemon Sablés and the Congolais, a type of French coconut macaroon. 

The Lemon Sablés are a recipe by Heather Ross of Wildflour Baking, a bakery in Alexandria, Virginia (if you like beautifully decorated cookies, check out the pictures on Wildflour's website, they are exquisite). Sablés are a classic French cookie not too dissimilar from a shortbread. The recipe in the Post includes an optional lemon-sugar glaze, which I omitted because I was taking the cookies to work. I think they would be delicious either way.

Congolais, headed to the oven.

The Congolais also make their home in Alexandria and are also of French origin. The recipe is from Bastille pastry chef and co-owner Michelle Poteaux. The sablés were very good, but the congolais were exquisite. I loved these! And they are so easy too. The Lemon Sablés require a little more effort because you must first chill the dough and then slice the cookies, but that's really not very hard either. 

Lemon Sablés

Recipes (from the Washington Post website):

Congolais (French coconut macaroons)

Lemon Sablés

Butter Pecan Maple Cookies

It's hard to choose what my favorite nut is, but if I had to pick just one, it would be pecans. These butter pecan maple cookies, a recipe from Inspired by Charm, showcase the nut perfectly, which goes so well with maple.

Butter Pecan Maple Cookies
Adapted from a recipe by Inspired by Charm

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ tsp. almond extract
½ cup toasted coarsely chopped pecans (see note)
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling on top
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/3 cup pure maple syrup

1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F.

2. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on low to combine, scrap down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then beat on high for 5 minutes until the mixture is thoroughly combined and pale in color. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and beat until smooth. Add the pecans and beat on low until blended in.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ½ tsp. salt, baking powder and ground nutmeg. Add the combined dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and beat on low until just combined. Stir with a spoon to make sure the dry ingredients are incorporated.

4. Form the dough into 1-inch balls and place 2-3 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat (about 12 cookies per standard half-sheet). Bake until lightly browned around the edges, about 22-27 minutes. Remove from the oven and, while still hot, brush each cookie with maple syrup, then sprinkle with a little kosher salt. After 5 minutes, transfer cookie to a wire rack to cool completely.

Note: To toast the pecans, heat an oven to 350 F. Spread the coarsely chopped pecans on a baking sheet and roast until fragrant, about 7-8 minutes.

Butterscotch-Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies with Smoked Sea Salt

I've been really into smoked sea salt ever since I picked some up at the Spice and Tea Exchange in Rehoboth Beach. I've used int to make bruschetta, crostini, a margarita and today a cookie.

Smoke isn't a flavor you often associated with cookies, but burnt flavors certainly are, like caramel, for example. I thought the smoky flavor of the sea salt would go nicely with the butterscotch chips, making for an interesting variation of an oatmeal cookie. The base recipe comes from A Girl, Market, a Meal.

Butterscotch-Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies with Smoked Sea Salt
Adapted from a recipe for Salted Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies by A Girl, a Market, a Meal

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup milk chocolate chips
Smoked sea salt (may substitute regular flaky sea salt)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on low to combine, scrap down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then beat on high for 5 minutes until the mixture is thoroughly combined and pale in color. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract until smooth.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda to combine. Add the combined dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat on low until smooth. With a large spoon, stir in the oats, butterscotch chips and chocolate chips until evenly combined.

4. Measure out rounded tablespoonfuls of dough and place about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment or silicon baking mats. Sprinkle each cookie with a pinch of smoked sea salt.

5. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

The Feed: December 3, 2014

The Washington Post Food section dazzles us today with their annual cookie issue. Pictured here: my Peanut Butter, Oatmeal and Chocolate Chip Cookies.

The Feed is my weekly round up of interesting food-related stories from newspapers, magazines, blogs and websites. 

Washington Post: "The 2014 Holiday Cookie Round-Up from The Washington Post Food Section," by Becky Krystal.
If you don't subscribe to the Washington Post in hardcopy, consider picking up today's issue just so you can enjoy all these cookies in their glorious larger-than-life full-color splendor. This year's selections--more than two-dozen--come from pasty chefs and experts and include Lemon Sables, Congolais (a French macaroon), Honeyed Sriracha Cookies and Salted Chocolate-Rye and Pecan Cookies.

Washington Post: "Crossover Cookies, a Savory Alternative to Sweet, Bite-Size Holiday Treats," by Nancy Baggett.
This is a subset of the above cookie story focusing on savory crossover cookies, the unsweetened alternative to the holiday sugar rush. I'm intrigued by several of the selections, including the Sun-Dried Tomato and Pepperoni Rugelach, Peppercorn-Chive Cheddar Wafers and Spicy Smoked Tea-Pecan Crisps.

Washington Post: "A Dallas Restaurant Rebellion: Chefs Band Together to Thwart Newspaper Critic," by Tim Carman.
Major newspaper restaurant critics wield a lot of power over the dining scene they cover. A good rating means filled seats; a bad rating can spell disaster. Even in these days of bloggers, Yelpers and Instagrammers, the knowledgeable voice of a seasoned critic still matters. So what happened when Dallas restaurants had enough of Dallas Morning News critic Leslie Brenner's biting reviews? They bit back. Carman details the fascinating story of how some Dallas restaurants have banded together in protest against Brenner.

Washington Post: "Champagne Flutes’ Tune Now Out of Favor," by Dave McIntyre.
Remember when champagne coupes fell out of favor to be replaced by flutes because coupes aerated sparkling wine too quickly? Well, now the flute is under attack for inhibiting aroma, with a tulip shape being talked about as the new better glass. McIntyre examine whether the new shape is worth it.

New York Times: "Restaurant Review: Danny Meyer’s Marta in NoMad," by Pete Wells.
Meyer, the New York restauranteur behind big names like Gramercy Tavern, Union Square Cafe and Shake Shack, has opened Marta, serving Roman style pizza, the ultra-thin style that I routinely enjoy at Posto Thin Crust Pizza. The pizzas aren't cheap: most hit in the upper teens, while one with truffles tops out at $60 (remember, these are individually sized). But they sound amazing, especially the crust, which Wells describes as pure crunch with no soupy middle.

New York Times: "City Kitchen: Braise Your Way Through Winter," by David Tanis.
'Tis the season for tough cuts of meat made tender by long, slow cooking in braises and stews. Doesn't that sound good right now?

New York Times: "Cranberry Growers Search for Ways to Share Their Bounty," by Kim Severson.
A coworker was telling me recently about how there is a glut of cranberries on the market these days. Severson writes about the surplus, which is leading growers to search for new ways to market their product beyond Thanksgiving and "craisins."

A Thought for Food: "Cranberry Sauce Ice Cream," by Brian Samuels.
Speaking of things you can do with extra cranberries, Samuels offers this recipe for ice cream. Yum.

Mother Would Know: "How to Make Turkey Soup," by Laura Kumin.
Still got leftover turkey? Perhaps you (like me) tossed the carcass in the freezer to use later? Kumin offers a delicious play-by-play for simple, classic turkey soup.

Bunkycooks: "Southern Heat Has Been Submitted and We’re Off to New Adventures!" by Gwen Pratesi.
A big hand for Pratesi, who announced on her blog, Bunkycooks, that she's completed work on a new cookbook co-written with Louisville, KY chef Anthony Lamas. The book is due to be published in the fall of 2015.

NPR: "Girl Scouts Bring Cookie Sales Online With Sites, App," by Melissa Block.
Don't want to stop and shop from the girls outside the grocery store? Next year you can get your Girl Scout cookies online.

Wall Street Journal: "New Ideas for Thanksgiving Desserts With Fall Flavors from Chef Christina Tosi," by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan.
The lauded Momofuku Milk Bar chef Christina Tosi shares ideas for getting creative with fall-flavored desserts, like an apple pie-inspired apple cake made with brown butter and apple-cinnamon compote.

Wall Street Journal: "Isaac McHale’s Recipe for Parsnip and Barley Risotto," by Kitty Greenwald.
I never turn down a good risotto, and this sounds like an intriguing flavor combination.

Cook In 101: Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cook In 101 focuses on basic recipes and cooking techniques to help novice cooks get into the kitchen and make delicious, healthy meals in a reasonable amount of time.


Cook In 101 is supposed to focus on healthy recipes. I would argue that can include cookies (in so far as you subscribe to the idea that a healthy diet is one that includes sweet treats but in moderation). 

For the novice baker, there's no better place to start than with a batch of classic chocolate chip cookies. They're simple, use few ingredients and everybody loves them. Some cookie doughs require chilling, forming into a log and cutting--these you just spoon onto the baking sheet and pop in the oven, making them a prime example of a "drop" cookie.

Chocolate chip cookie dough, once mixed, is ready to be portioned onto baking sheets.

Let's take a closer look at this recipe. Most cookie recipes have a few elements in common. They generally contain fat (usually butter) and sugar, which are often combined together in a process some recipes refer to as "creaming." This step usually incorporates any other non-dry ingredients as well, such as eggs and vanilla extract. Adding these ingredients together first allows you to really beat the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy--the added air makes the cookies have a lighter texture without which they'd be pretty dense. 

The other half of the cookie equation is the dry ingredients, which are typically mostly flour with small amounts of salt and leavening ingredients (baking powder, baking soda or both). These ingredients should be stirred together separately and then added to the creamed mixture of butter, sugar and eggs. 

The last step is adding the additional flavorings that make cookies distinctive. In this case, it's the chocolate chips. Although Nestle's Toll House Semisweet Chocolate Morsels are the classic choice (chocolate chip cookies were invented at the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts by Ruth Graves Wakefield), I prefer the Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips. Their flatter design allows the chips to spread out when the cookies spread during baking, creating little layers of chocolate within the cookies that I really like. Although nuts or oats may also be added, I wanted to keep these very simple, which results on more focus on the chocolate chips themselves (for something a little more complex, check out Peanut Butter, Oatmeal and Chocolate Chip Cookies).

When spooning the dough onto the baking sheets, keep in mind that the cookies will spread out as they bake, so you need to leave space between them, usually about 3 inches. When I made this batch, I evenly spaced about 12 balls of dough per cookie sheet. Aim to make each ball of dough a little larger than a golf ball. Some of the cookies ran together a little bit, but that's okay. As they cool, you can carefully break them apart. It doesn't affect their taste at all.

When baking the cookies, be sure to keep your eye on them. Recipes include cooking times as guidance, not as absolutes. My recipe below says 10 to 12 minutes, which was my experience, but yours might be different, depending on your oven, altitude and whether you like browner or lighter cookies. The more important instruction is what the end product should look like: browned around the edges and lightly browned on top. This produces a cookie with crunchy sides and a chewy middle.

When they come out of the oven, let the cookies cool for a few minutes between you do anything with them. They're still very soft and will fall apart if you try to transfer them to a cooling rack or plate too quickly. As they cool and the sugars crystallize, they become harder and can be moved. I definitely recommend eating some as soon as they're baked. Warm cookies are amazing, and they will be softer just baked than they will be a day later as the sugars fully crystallize. Store then in the fridge and enjoy for up to a week or so.

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

Equipment:

Oven
Measuring cups and spoons
Large mixing bowl
Stand mixer with paddle attachment (if you don't have this, use a hand mixer and a second mixing bowl)
Wire whisk
Wooden spoon (for stirring the dough)
3 baking sheets
Silpat (silicone baking mat that fits inside a baking sheet) or parchment paper
Cooling racks

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli bittersweet 60% cacao chips)

1. Adjust oven racks to top and bottom third. Preheat oven to 375 F.

2. Add butter to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the sugars and vanilla and beat until combined and creamy. Add the eggs one-at-a-time and beat in until combined.

3. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Transfer the creamed butter-sugar mixture to the bowl with the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir until evenly mixed into the dough.

4. Line three baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper. Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 to 3 inches between dough balls. Aim to put about 12 cookies per standard-size half sheet (13 X 18 inches). Bake until browned around the edges and lightly browned in places on top, about 10 to 12 minutes. Allow to cool on the rack a few minutes then carefully transfer cookies to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Best of 2013: Desserts

It might be hard to believe if you visit around the holidays, but normally, we don't eat dessert often at our house. Certainly, it's not with every meal or even every week. But every now and then, it's nice to have a really good sweet treat. Not some "light" diet-oriented dessert. Uh-uh. I'm talking something satisfying and decadent. I'd rather have dessert only every now and then and have it be incredible than have low-cal desserts all the time.

Cakes and Pies

I loved this unique Coffee Cake with Coffee Frosting from a recipe by The Pioneer Woman was the perfect winter treat, while Melissa Clarks' recipe for Strawberry Shortcake with Lemon-Pepper Syrup was just as good for summer. Another unusual but tasty cake was the Gin & Tonic Cake, inspired by my favorite cocktail. For out-and-out decadence, nothing tops this Chocolate Truffle Cake, from a recipe by Chef Naomi Pomeroy.

For Thanksgiving, I was blown away by Fine Cooking's recipe for Bourbon-Caramel Pumpkin Tart. And my Apple Custard Pie with Gingersnap Cookie Crust was my effort to combine the best of apple pie and pumpkin pie into one holiday treat.

Ice Cream

I didn't make as much ice cream this year, but when I did, I went for interesting, seasonal flavors. Last winter, I created the By the Fire Sundae with maple-bacon ice cream, a brown butter blondie, caramel and smoky whipped cream. In the spring, taking advantage of my favorite herb, I made Mint-Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. And in the summer, I discovered that sweet corn is just as great for dessert as a dinner side in Sweet Corn Ice Cream with Blackberry Sauce.

For lovers of ice cream pie, there's also this wonderfully festive Cereal Milk Ice Cream Pie with Compost Cookie Crust, an ode to the creative ideas of Momofuku Milk Bar Chef Christina Tosi (whose cookbook I got for Christmas--so look for more Momofuku treats next year).

Cookies

As usual, December featured lots of cookie recipes. My favorite were the Molasses Sandwich Cookies with lemon filling (we paired it with Almond Lace Cookies in this year's Dallas Desserts Holiday Bakeoff with Dallas Decoder). I also shared a recipe for Chocolate Saltine Bark, a longtime simple holiday favorite.

Another first this year: I attempted to create several original cookie recipes. My favorite were the Peanut Butter, Oatmeal and Chocolate Chip Cookies, which were like three great cookies rolled into one.

Ewing Molasses Sandwich Cookies

This recipe also appears this week on Dallas Decoder, representing the Ewing family in the Dallas Decoder Holiday Bakeoff II: Ryland vs. Ewing.

"Mama used to make these when we were kids. She said the dark molasses reminded her of the crude oil coming out of daddy's fields. They were my favorite, although I had to move quick if I wanted any, since J.R. usually hid them away in his room and told mama some story about how daddy had invited the ranch hands to the house since it was holidays and they'd eaten them all. Now my Annie makes them and they're just as good as I remember. Sandwich cookies are a multi-step process. If that's too complicated for you then, well, you're probably a Ryland and better off with some lace cookies that have far fewer ingredients to keep track of."  - Bobby

A coworker made these for our holiday party dessert contest this year, and I thought they were really delicious. I asked her for the recipe and made them myself the next day. I love the contrast of the rich molasses with the light lemon filling.

It's easy to over-bake the cookies, so be careful not to, since their high sugar content will make them too hard.

Molasses Spice Lemon Sandwich Cookies
Adapted from Cook's Country, America's Test Kitchen

Makes 30 to 36 cookies

Cookies:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
3/4 tsp. table salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (plus 1/2 cup for rolling cookies)
1/4 cup dark unsulphured molasses
1 large egg
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Filling:
Pinch salt
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 cups confectioners' (powdered) sugar

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, molasses, egg and melted butter until combined. Scrape mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the dough is firm, about an hour.

3. Preheat oven to 375 F with racks in the upper-middle and lower-middle positions.

4. Line two baking sheets with Silpat or parchment. Place remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into 3/4-inch wide balls and roll in the sugar. Place on baking sheets, leaving 2 inches of room between them (the cookies will spread). Flatten slightly to keep the balls from rolling around when you put the them in the oven. Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, rotating backing sheets halfway through (top to bottom and front to back). Cookies are done when they are spread and the tops being to crack. Cool on baking sheets for 3 minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.

5. Make filling: combine salt, butter and lemon juice in a medium and mix with a fork. Add the confectioners' sugar and beat with the fork until combined and smooth (you could try using a whisk, but I didn't have much luck with that).

6. Assemble cookies: Spread the bottom side (i.e. the flat side) of a cookie with about 1 tsp. of filling. Find another cookie that's approximately the same side and press the bottom side of that cookie onto the filling, making a sandwich. Repeat with all the remaining cookies.