Category Archives: cookies

Baseball Themed Gala Practice #1

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We are going to a gala at our temple next month and our administrator asked if I would make some desserts for the baseball themed event. At this point my providing pastries and other baked goods is more or less a tradition.

These tartlets are the first of three types of pastries I am making. In deference to a gluten intolerant friend these tartlets are gluten free, but you could not tell from the taste and texture. They are wonderful. (No brag, just fact, for anyone old enough to remember that TV line.)

For gluten free pastries I mix a specialty flour from an online baker named Kim. (Search Kim’s Artisan Bread Flour for more info.) It is an exceptional gluten free flour.

New design after QC’s brilliant suggestion!

A couple of weeks ago my uphill neighbors gave me a bag of oranges and I have been concocting ways of processing and returning them. These tartlets have a layer of fresh orange mousse, covered with a layer of dark chocolate mousse. The entire tartlet is topped with a gluten free sugar cookie striped with royal icing to give the impression of a baseball. Whew!

(If I tell you the cookie topping is supposed to be a baseball would that help?)

Key Lime Tartlets Using Kim’s Bread Flour

INGREDIENTS
• 100 g cold butter cut into small cubes
• 60 g icing sugar
• 200 g Kim’s Bread flour
• ½ tsp vanilla
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 eggs – 1 for the dough and the other 1 reserved for an egg wash

METHOD

  1. Mix butter with sugar until well incorporated 3-5 min
  2. Add salt then vanilla.
  3. Add egg and mix 3-5 min
  4. Stir in flour. Mix by hand until incorporated and forms a thick smooth(ish) sticky dough
  5. Cover with plastic and refrigerate for 30 min.
  6. Butter or lightly spray tartlet pans or use non-stick pans.
  7. Roll dough between parchment paper to about ⅛” thick
  8. Refrigerate rolled dough still between parchment paper until firm: 20 – 30 minutes
  9. Remove from fridge and while still firm, cut dough to rounds about 1” larger diameter than the mold. Cut all the rounds at once while still firm. If necessary, return to the fridge to firm up. Again, if necessary, use an offset spatula to remove the circles from the parchment paper. Keep the spatula clean.
  10. Lay tart dough circles over molds. This allows the dough to thaw slightly, then gently press into the molds and fill all crevices.
  11. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
  12. Return to fridge for 15 – 20 min to firm up the shell
  13. Prick holes in bottom of formed dough
  14. Place a mini cupcake paper in each tart and fill with with pastry weights (or beans)
  15. Paint edges of the tartlet with an egg-white wash. (Whisk one egg white with 1 Tbl water)
  16. Bake in preheated oven 350 deg F (175 C) for 8 min until edges are dry
  17. Remove pastry weights and bake an additional 4-6 minutes to dry the bottoms. Bake until the edges begin to turn light brown and the bottom is nearly dry. (I find it easier to dump the weights into a bowl then remove the cupcake papers.)
  18. Immediately remove from pans and cool on a wire rack

Dark Chocolate Mousse

INGREDIENTS
• ½ c chopped chocolate (72 percent)
• 1 c heavy cream
• 4 large egg yolks
• ⅓ c sugar
• Whipped cream, for serving
• Chocolate shavings, for garnish

METHOD

  1. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a water bath, making sure the water is not boiling. Set aside.
  2. In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks.
  3. Place the egg yolks in a small bowl and set over the same water bath to slightly heat while beating them with a whisk.
  4. Add the sugar to the yolks and then transfer the mixture to a stand mixer set up with the whisk attachment. Beat until the sugar is completely dissolved and the yolks double in size, about 5 minutes.
  5. Carefully fold the chocolate into the yolks.
  6. Lastly, fold in the whipped cream.
  7. Store the mousse in an unopened piping bag until ready to fill the tartlets.
  8. When ready to assemble the tartlets pipe about ¼” of chocolate mousse on top of the orange mousse. Store in a refrigerator to keep cold.

Orange Mousse

INGREDIENTS
• ½ c orange juice
• ¼ c plus 1 tablespoons sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tbl unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ¼ tsp orange zest (from ¼ orange)
• ½ c heavy cream
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• Orange gel food coloring (optional)

METHOD

  1. In a small saucepan set over medium heat, bring the orange juice to a boil and cook until reduced by half, about 4 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile in a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup of the sugar, the salt and yolks until smooth. Whisking constantly, add half of the reduced orange juice to the yolk mixture to temper.
  3. When it is all incorporated, return the tempered yolk mixture to the pan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula to prevent the eggs from scrambling, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 7 minutes.
  4. Strain the mixture into a clean bowl and whisk in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, and the zest. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the mixture and refrigerate until chilled through, at least 5 hours.
  5. Pour the heavy cream into a medium bowl and add the vanilla and the remaining tablespoon sugar. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream on medium speed just until stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes, being careful avoid over-beating.
  6. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold half of the whipped cream into the chilled orange mixture. Pour that mixture into the remaining whipped cream and continue to fold until completely incorporated.
  7. Transfer the mixture to an unopened piping bag, close the end and refrigerate until ready to use.
  8. When ready to assemble the tartlets pipe about ¼” of orange mousse into the bottom of refrigerated tartlet shells. Store in a refrigerator to keep cold.

Kim’s Gluten Free Bread Flour Blend

Yield: 700g (5 c)
INGREDIENTS

  • 285g Bob’s Red Mill potato starch
  • 250g superfine white rice flour (DON’T use regular rice flour, ie Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 75g Tapioca flour
  • 75g Whey protein isolate or egg white protein.
  • 15g Xanthan gum

METHOD

Mix all ingredients, place in an air tight container and shake well to mix everything together.

Toffee/Chocolate Chip Cookies

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I saw an article rating (in the author’s opinion) the best chocolate chip cookie recipes and this was #1. It’s actually a toffee/chocolate chip cookie, but with the seriously heavy density of chocolate I felt it really deserved to be in this category.

These cookies require significantly more work and time than a “standard” cookie, but if you are looking for something outside the norm give these a try.

I followed the directions on the first browned butter try. After they went up in a cloud of not very pleasant burnt sugar, I “binned” them. (Binned is a GBBO term.) In the second attempt, I lowered the heat from medium high to low. I realize these terms are relative and individual results may vary.

The resultant cookies were about 3” diameter and a good thickness. The texture was excellent and the predominant flavor was chocolate with overtones of brown sugar and toffee. Were they the “best ever”? I guess I will have to keep trying.

Below is the modified recipe.

Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

INGREDIENTS
• 2 sticks (227 g) unsalted butter
• ½ (100 g) cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup (200 g) lightly packed dark brown sugar
• 1 ½ cups (190 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (127 g) bread flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp instant espresso powder, optional
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 10 ounces (283 grams) semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup toffee bits, homemade or Heath
• Flaky sea salt, for finishing

METHOD

  1. In a medium stainless pan set over low heat, melt the butter. Swirling the pan occasionally, it should become foamy as the water boils off. Once the mixture quiets, stir until the butter develops a nutty aroma and brown bits start to form at the bottom. When the bits turn amber, immediately remove from heat and pour into the bowl of a stand mixer or it will burn. Be sure to include the brown bits at the bottom of the pan.
  2. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar to the hot butter, stirring to combine. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, salt, espresso powder, and baking powder.
  4. Whisk in the eggs, yolk, and vanilla into the cooled butter mixture until combined. Gradually stir in the flour mixture with a rubber spatula. Stir in the chocolate chunks and toffee bits. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours but no more than 72 hours.
  5. Let dough sit at room temperature just until it is soft enough to scoop, about 1 hour. (In my kitchen the block of dough was still too hard to scoop so I used a knife to cut the dough into 50g portions, rolled them into balls with my hands and placed on a parchment lined baking sheet.)
  6. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  7. At this point, you can portion the dough, place it on a baking sheet, and freeze just until solid. Remove frozen balls of dough to an airtight container and store for up to 6 weeks.
  8. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and sprinkle flaky sea salt on top of the cookies, if desired. Let cookies cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
  9. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Homemade Toffee Bits

INGREDIENTS
• 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted American butter
• 1 cup (200 grams) light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon fine salt

METHOD

  1. Line a small rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
  2. In a heavy-bottomed small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the sugar and salt and whisk vigorously for one minute until combined. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture looks like melted peanut butter and a candy thermometer reaches 295 to 305°F, about 10 minutes.
  3. If the mixture separates at all, remove from heat and whisk vigorously until recombined. Return to heat and continue cooking.
  4. Immediately and carefully pour the hot toffee onto the prepared baking pan, allowing it to spread into an even layer. Let cool and harden for about 20 minutes.
  5. Place the sheet of toffee on a cutting board or in a zip top bag. Use a mallet, rolling pin, or heavy object to crack it into small pieces. You can also cut into bits with a sharp serrated knife. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Madeleine Cookies

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I was given a dozen miniature lemons from a friend. I decided to return them to her after some “processing.” She is also off processed sugar, so I substituted honey for the granulated sugar.

This morning’s batch was good, but slightly over-baked. The tops didn’t look quite brown enough, but after removing them from the pan I discovered they were indeed over-baked. This recipe was adapted from Ricardo Cuisine.

I reduced the baking time by 2 minutes for this evening’s batch (a different recipe from this morning. This recipe was adapted from Baker By Nature.) For the final batch tomorrow I’ll reduce the time by another minute. I would like the fluted side to be a nice golden brown. If you try this recipe I would suggest adding a few tablespoons of lemon juice.

Some needed to be “naked” as they were destined for someone who was off processed sugar.

Madeleine– Classic French

INGREDIENTS
• 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted until browned
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tsp lemon zest, finely grated.
• 1 c all-purpose flour
• 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 3/4 c granulated sugar (optional 125 g honey)
• ½ c confectioners sugar, sifted, (optional)

METHOD

  1. Cut the butter in tablespoons and place them in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, reduce the heat to low and continue cooking, until the solids sink to the bottom of the pan and turn golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and pour the browned butter into a small bowl. Stir the vanilla and lemon zest into the butter, then set aside to cool.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside until needed.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed while gradually adding the sugar. Once all of the sugar has been added, increase the speed to medium-high and continue whipping the mixture until it’s very thick and pale in color, about 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the mixer off and, using a silicon spatula, fold in the flour mixture in three additions, stirring just until combined. Fold in the butter mixture.
  4. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, and up to 2 days.
  5. 30 minutes before you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees (F). Generously brush the molds of your madeleine pan (even if they are non-stick) with butter.
  6. Spoon teaspoons full of the batter into the center of each mold. You don’t need to spread the batter.
  7. Bake for 10-11 minutes, or until the “bellies” have risen and their tops are a very light golden.
  8. Cool madeleines in the pan placed on a cooling rack for a minute or two, then gently loosen them from the molds. If they stick, carefully run a small knife around the edge of the cakes until they release.
  9. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve warm, with coffee or tea.

KAB Recipe of 2024!

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I received a personalized email from King Arthur Baking (along with probably a million other customers) proclaiming their selection of the recipe of the year for 2024. How could I resist.?

There were two interesting techniques that I never used in cookies. The first was making brown butter. This adds a rich caramel taste. The other was tangzhong, which is used in many Japanese breads to provide a soft, fluffy texture.

I never made brown butter before (but will again) and was an unsure when it was “done.” The recipe states it will foam near the end, but it also foams near the beginning. The second foam is very fine and if you stir the butter and you can see the browned butter with some bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.

I also formed the dough into balls before refrigerating overnight. It seemed like s sensible step.

All the ingredients are ready
Second “fine” foam
It looks lumpy bit thats ok
An ice cream scoop was about right to make 90g balls of dough. They can be close together until ready to bake.
Balls need to be well spaced or they will meld together.
Well, they were not spaced out enough!
Soft and chewy as claimed, great flavor with hints of caramel.

Chocolate Chip Cookies – Supersized, Super Soft from KAB

PREP-45 mins: BAKE-15 to 22 mins: TOTAL-1 day 1 hr: YIELD-16 to 17 large (4″) cookies or 28 medium (3″) cookies

INGREDIENTS
• 2 cups (426g) light brown sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons table salt
• 16 tablespoons (226g) unsalted butter, cut into 1″ pieces
• 1/2 cup (113g) milk, whole preferred
• 2 3/4 cups (330g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour, divided
• 2 large eggs, cold from the refrigerator
• 1 tablespoon King Arthur Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups (340g) semisweet chocolate, preferably 60% to 65% cocoa content*
*Use chopped wafers or bars for best results; if using chocolate chips, chop them roughly before incorporating. (My chocolate chips were small so I didn’t chop them.)

METHOD

  1. In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar and salt. Set aside.
  2. To brown the butter: In a saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter. After several minutes, the butter will sizzle and may spatter. Continue to cook the butter, swirling the pan regularly, for about 5 to 7 minutes, until it’s a dark golden brown color and brown bits start collecting at the bottom of the pan; the butter will have stopped sizzling and may also have a layer of foam on the surface.
  3. Once the butter is browned, immediately pour it over the sugar mixture (be sure to scrape out the brown bits at the bottom) and whisk vigorously to combine; this helps dissolve the sugar slightly and creates the shiny surface of the baked cookies. (The mixture will stay lumpy and won’t become smooth at this point.) Set the empty saucepan aside to cool slightly.
  4. To make the tangzhong: In the same saucepan used to brown the butter, combine the milk with 3 tablespoons (23g) of the bread flour and whisk until no lumps remain.
  5. Place the saucepan over low heat and cook the mixture, stirring regularly with a whisk and then a flexible spatula, until it’s thickened, paste-like, and starts to come together into one mass, about 2 to 3 minutes.
  6. Remove from the heat and transfer directly to the bowl with the butter and sugar. Whisk until mostly smooth; some lumps of the tangzhong mixture are OK.
  7. Add the eggs and vanilla and continue whisking until smooth.
  8. Weigh or measure the remaining 2 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon (307g) bread flour by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Add the bread flour to the bowl with the butter and sugar, then add the baking powder and baking soda. Using a whisk or flexible spatula, stir until well combined and no dry spots remain.
  9. Place the bowl, uncovered, in the refrigerator and allow it to cool for 10 to 15 minutes.
  10. While the batter is cooling, use a serrated knife to roughly chop the chocolate into coarse pieces. Avoid chopping the chocolate too fine, as small pieces will melt when mixed into the dough.
  11. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and fold in the chopped chocolate. (Dough weighs 1440g. This will make sixteen 90g cookies before baking.)
  12. Return the dough to the refrigerator for 1 – 2 hours.
  13. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and form the dough into 85g to 90g balls, (50g for small cookies,) flatten slightly with the palm of your hand to about 3” diameter circles, cover and return to the refrigerator for 24 to 72 hours to allow the flavors to intensify.
  14. To bake the cookies: When you’re ready to bake, remove the chilled cookie dough from the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature for about 10 to 15 minutes to allow it to warm up slightly. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the center.
  15. Arrange the cookie dough balls on parchment-lined baking sheets, them 3″ to 4″ apart. (Five dough balls fit perfectly on a half-sheet pan. The 90g cookies can be arranged in a 2-1-2 pattern; the 50g cookies can be arranged in a slightly staggered 4 x 2 pattern.) For consistently shaped cookies, roll each piece of dough into a smooth ball before baking.
  16. Bake the large (90g) chocolate chip cookies for 18 to 22 minutes or the smaller (50g) cookies for 15 to 18 minutes, until the edges are set and the cookies are browned, rotating the pan halfway through baking to ensure even browning. (For best results, bake one pan of cookies at a time.) Remove the cookies from the oven and let them rest on the baking sheets until cool enough to handle, at least 15 minutes.

Storage information: Store leftover chocolate chip cookies, covered, for up to 5 days; their slightly crispy edges will soften and the cookies will maintain a soft texture. Freeze baked cookies for longer storage.

Pinball Wizard

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This week was our son, Neil’s, birthday. He is a coffee Q Grader, cat owner and competitive pin ball player. This cake was in honor of one of his many accomplishments?

It’s based on my extreme chocolate cake, shortbread cookies and added a new meringue buttercream frosting. It was a relatively small cake so the decorations were somewhat oversized, but overall it was acceptable.

The red and white is royal icing. The black and yellow is fondant.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream – From Sally’s Baking Addiction

INGREDIENTS
• 6 large egg whites (approximately 230g)
• 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
• 1 and 1/2 cups (3 sticks; 350g) unsalted butter, softened but still cool (60°F and firm) and cut into Tbsp size pieces
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

METHOD

  1. Make sure all the tools you are using are completely cleaned, dried, and grease-free. A quick wipe with a little lemon juice or white vinegar is very helpful.
  2. Separate the eggs 1 at a time into a small bowl, then transfer to the metal stand mixer bowl. Repeat with the remaining egg whites. This way, if a yolk breaks in one of them, you don’t waste the whole batch.
  3. Whisk sugar into the egg whites, then set the bowl over a saucepan filled with two inches of simmering water over medium heat assuring the bottom of the egg whites bowl don’t touch the water.
  4. Whisk the whites and sugar constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture has thinned out, about 4 minutes. The mixture will be thick and tacky at first, then thin out and be frothy white on top. To test that it’s ready, you can use your finger, or an instant read thermometer. Lightly and quickly dip your finger (it’s very hot, be careful) and rub the mixture between your thumb and finger. You shouldn’t feel any sugar granules. If using a thermometer, the temperature should read 160°F (71°C).
  5. Don’t let it cool down to start this next step– it’s important to begin mixing while it is still warm. On medium-high speed, beat the mixture until stiff glossy peaks form and the meringue is no longer warm to the touch, at least 10-15 minutes. On particularly humid days, this has taken me up to 17-18 minutes. If it’s still not reaching stiff peaks, stop the mixer, place the bowl–uncovered–in the refrigerator for 10 minutes, then return to the mixer and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
  6. If the bowl and meringue still feel warm, wait until both cool to room temperature (around 70°F (21°C)) before adding the butter in the next step. Feel free to place it in the refrigerator. A warm bowl and meringue will melt the butter.
  7. Switch the stand mixer to the paddle attachment. On medium-high speed, add the butter 1 Tablespoon at a time. Wait for the butter to fully mix in before adding the next Tablespoon. After all the butter has been added, turn the mixer down to medium speed and fully beat in the vanilla and salt, about 30 seconds.
  8. Add any color the beat until uniform. (Gel food coloring only.)
  9. Your Swiss meringue buttercream should be thick, creamy, and silky smooth.

Notes
Too Thick or Too Thin:

  1. If your meringue has separated, curdled, or is too thick at any point after you mix in all of the butter, place the mixture in your heat-proof bowl back over a pot of 2 inches of simmering water.
  2. Without stirring, let the edges of the meringue warm up and become liquid (the center of the meringue will still be solid), about 1-2 minutes.
  3. Remove from heat and return to the mixer. Beat meringue on low speed for 30 seconds, then switch to medium-high speed and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Works every time.
  4. If your mixture has become too thin and soupy after you add the butter, place the entire bowl in the refrigerator (covered or uncovered, doesn’t matter) for 20 minutes to cool down, then return it to the mixer and beat on medium-high speed until thickened. Any longer than this will solidify the butter, so only refrigerate in 20 minute spurts. If it’s still soupy, place back in the refrigerator for longer before re-whipping again.

Black Chocolate Cookies… Revisited

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The second day of Mah Jongg at our house provided the opportunity to bake these black chocolate cookies again. (Follow the link for recipe and method.)

These are delicious cookies with the bitterness of the Dutch process cocoa offset by the sparkling sugar sprinkled on the top. Previously I flooded them with royal icing, (but this coarse sugar is easier.)

New “Best Ever” Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

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Thanks to my friend Beth here is a new chocolate chip cookie recipe. I can’t even tell you how long Beth and I have been friends. Our parents were life long friends before us and we simply continued the relationship.

This recipe has slightly different ingredient ratios than my “go-to” recipe. Plus it doesn’t use light brown sugar but substitutes turbinado sugar for the white granulated sugar, which adds a light caramel flavor. The author did not specify what kind of sugar to use, but the video showed a non-white sugar. The turbinado would add some of he flavor removed by not using the light brown sugar. (Full disclosure, I didn’t have any turbinado but did have some demarara which is similar to turbinado but a little darker and coarser.)

This author (Emojoie) only made 4 cookies (mine were 123g each) whereas next time I will make a dozen (~40g each) or so.

Chocolate Chip Cookies Best Ever from YouTube

INGREDIENTS
• 100g butter, softened.
• 80g Demerara or turbinado sugar
• 1g salt
• 50 g (1 large egg)
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 160g all-purpose flour
• 3g baking soda
• 100 g (3/4 c) chocolate chips
• 50g hazelnuts (optional)

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 375° F.
  2. Beat by hand: butter, sugar and salt in large bowl until creamy. (Don’t over beat.)
  3. Fork whip the egg and add in two additions mixing to incorporate after each addition
  4. Add vanilla and mix well
  5. Gradually add flour mixture mixing by hand. (Again, don’t over beat.) it should form one large ball between wet and dry dough.
  6. Stir in morsels and optional hazelnuts and mix by hand.
  7. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
  8. Divide the dough into 135 g portions
  9. Form into balls with hands and add more chocolate to the top
  10. Bake for 13 – 14 minutes or until golden brown. Do NOT overbake!
  11. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

4th of July Cookies 2023

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I saw this cookie design online and as the timing was perfect, how could I resist? I used my Macadamia Nut Shortbread and a basic royal icing recipe. The cookies are delicious, timely and fun to make.

Oddly, I tried piping the blue circle inside the red one (center cookie) but they just didn’t look as good. I could only frost a couple cookies at a time or the flood/fill would dry before I could feather the colors.

I used these small squeeze bottles to pipe the required small amounts of icing. I find I have better control than if I use a piping bag.

4th of July Cookies 2023

Macadamia Nut Shortbread Cookies

INGREDIENTS
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup macadamia nuts, finely chopped

METHOD

  1. Beat the butter until smooth and add in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Gradually add flour then mix in the 1 cup of chopped macadamia nuts.
  2. Transfer the batter to a sheet of parchment paper. Lay a second sheet over top and roll to 1/4-inch thickness. Place it onto a cookie sheet and refrigerate until firm.
  3. Preheat oven to 300°F and remove dough from refrigerator.
  4. Cut the cookies using a star cookie cutter. Re-roll the scraps and use as much as possible.
  5. Place the stars onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, cover, and chill for 30 minutes.
  6. Bake for 20 minutes until edges begin to brown.
  7. Cool the cookies completely.

Royal Icing

INGREDIENTS
• 4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 3 Tablespoons meringue powder (not plain egg white powder)
• 9–10 Tablespoons room temperature water

METHOD

  1. Pour confectioners’ sugar, meringue powder, and 9 Tablespoons of water into a large bowl.
  2. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat icing ingredients together on high speed for ~2 minutes.
  3. When lifting the whisk up off the icing, the icing should drizzle down and smooth out within 5-10 seconds. If it’s too thick, beat in more water 1 Tablespoon at a time.
  4. The longer you beat the royal icing, the thicker it becomes. If your royal icing is too thin, just keep beating it to introduce more air OR you can add more confectioners’ sugar.

Assembly

  1. Pipe a thin bead of white royal icing around the edges of the cookies and let dry.
  2. Flood/fill 2 or 3 cookies and while still wet pipe a drop of red and a drop of blue in the center of the cookie.
  3. Pipe a ring of red royal icing around the blue and white drops, then pipe a blue ring outside the red circle.
  4. Use a toothpick to draw a line through the icing from the center to the tip of each star then leave to dry.

Sometimes You Feel Like a Macadamia Nut…

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Last night I made a clone of the macadamia nut cookies we had in Kauai. Basically, they are a shortbread cookie with fine ground macadamia nuts in the batter, and a dark chocolate coating.

Roll the dough into an approximation of a rectangle to minimize waste and chill for two hours. Cut the chilled dough into 1”x2” rectangles and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. They do not spread so they can be placed fairly close together (like 1/4” – 1/2” apart.)

Once baked and completely cooled melt ~200g of dark chocolate and 1 Tbl corn syrup and dip one corner in the mix. Transfer the remainder to a piping bag. Sprinkle some coarse crushed macadamia nuts on the still wet chocolate and let the piping bag of chocolate cool and thicken slightly. Snip the end off the bag and pipe a chocolate swirl across the cookie. Leave to dry at room temperature or in the fridge.

QC said these may be the best cookies Dede’s Bakery and Confectionery ever made! High praise indeed.

Macadamia Nut Shortbread Cookies

INGREDIENTS
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
• 8 oz. dark chocolate
• 1 Tbl corn syrup
• 1/4 cup macadamia nuts, finely chopped

METHOD

  1. Beat the butter until smooth and add in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Gradually add flour then mix in the 1 cup of chopped macadamia nuts.
  2. Transfer the batter to a sheet of parchment paper. Lay a second sheet over top and roll to 1/4-inch thickness. Try to shape into a rectangle as much as possible. Place it onto a cookie sheet and refrigerate for 2 hours.
  3. Preheat oven to 300°F and remove dough from refrigerator.
  4. Slice the cookie batter into 1×2 inch rectangles. Transfer to a cookie sheet lined with parchment and bake for 20 – 25 minutes. The edges should be slightly browned.
  5. Cool the cookies completely.
  6. Melt and mix the chocolate and corn syrup then dip the corner of the cookies in the chocolate. Gently remove any excess chocolate, lay it out on a sheet of parchment and sprinkle with some finely chopped macadamia nuts.
  7. Place into the fridge to set the chocolate and then serve.