Tag Archives: holiday baking

Almond Butter and Jam Cookie Sandwiches

26 Saturday Oct 2013

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Almond Butter and Jam Cookie Sandwiches

I wasn’t one of those kids who wanted a PBJ sandwich in my lunchbox every day — I was more of a bologna and Kraft cheese kind of gal. (Don’t judge, people change.) And yet, there is still something innately comforting to me about the combination of peanut butter and jelly. These cookies are my attempt to combine that sense of comfort and familiarity with a set of ingredients that better match my grown-up palate.

It doesn’t take long to figure out I’m a little bit of an almond fanatic, so it was an easy leap for me to substitute almond butter in my cookie sandwiches. With apologies to George Washington Carver and the state of Georgia, I much prefer the sweet, cherry-like nuttiness of almonds to their legume counterparts.

For the filling, I chose two options: triple berry conserve, and chocolate ganache. (For traditional ganache, try this recipe, or go a little more high-falutin’ with a creme fraiche ganache here.) Both were great partners for the slightly savory notes of these tender shortbread rounds.

I love these because they are special without being complicated, small without feeling too precious. And let’s face it: no one can resist a tiny little cookie sandwich. There will always be a place on my table for the kind of food that brings out the kid in all of us.

Almond Butter Sammies In Progress

Almond Butter and Jam Cookie Sandwiches
makes 24 cookie sandwiches

1 c. unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks)
1/2 c. all-natural almond butter (I love Justin’s Nut Butters)
1/2 c. demerara or light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. fine salt
2 c. all-purpose flour (I prefer King Arthur)
granulated sugar for dipping
1/2 c. filling of your choice — jam, chocolate ganache, Nutella, or frosting
(It’s probably rather telling that I always have at least three of the four above on hand.)

Oven 325F. Line a baking sheet pan with parchment and set aside.

Cream together butter, almond butter, demerara sugar, and salt with an electric mixer on medium-high until well-combined. Gradually beat in half the flour, then stir in the remaining flour by hand.

On a piece of waxed paper, pat the dough out into a 6″x8″ rectangle and cut into 48 equal pieces, about 1″-square each. Roll pieces into balls, and place two inches apart on the cookie sheet. Dip the flat bottom of a glass or measuring cup in granulated sugar, then press the balls to flatten them to about 1/4″ in thickness.

Bake 12-14 minutes, until they are lightly brown and the centers are set. You will know they are done because they lose their shine. Remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheet for five minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely. Once cool, scoop about a teaspoon of filling on to a cookie, then sandwich with another. Do this like a good parent — gentle, but firm.

Store in an airtight container up to three days. Or freeze, well-wrapped, up to a month, then defrost at room temperature before serving. This is the perfect recipe to get a leg up on your holiday baking…

Cookies Waiting for Filling

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Chocolate-Orange Pound Cake

26 Monday Dec 2011

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Have you ever had a Terry’s Chocolate Orange? It is an orange-flavored chocolate sphere, wrapped in printed foil so it looks like a piece of fruit. Before eating, you thwack it hard against the table so it splits into twenty neat little segments. When I lived in England growing up, it was a Christmas tradition, and for me, December + nostalgia = inventive baking. :)

Enter Chocolate-Orange Pound Cake. It is bright and moist, orange-scented and chock full of mini-chocolate chips. It has a dense, tender crumb and a hint of tart citrus tang in the glaze. Pound cakes are not the simplest to make, but they are worth the effort. This just sings of holidays and making memories for me.

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Chocolate-Orange Pound Cake
makes one Bundt-style cake, two large loaves, or four small loaves

For cake:
1 c. unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks, 8 oz.)
2 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste or real vanilla extract
3 tsp. orange oil (see Recipe Notes)
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt (not coarse)
5 large eggs
3 Tbsp. espresso powder or instant coffee powder
1/4 c. warm water
1/4 c. milk
1/2 c. creme fraiche or whole-fat sour cream
1 c. unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 c. all-purpose flour (I prefer King Arthur)
1 c. semi-sweet mini-chocolate chips, plus more for topping glazed cakes (I use Ghiradelli)

For glaze:
1 c. sifted powdered sugar
1/4 c. orange juice powder (see Recipe Notes, can substitute zest of one orange and use freshly squeezed orange juice in place of water)
3 Tbsp. water
1/4 tsp. orange oil

Oven 325F. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a medium mixing bowl for 3 minutes, until lighter in color and fluffy. Add vanilla, orange oil, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and beat again for 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time while blending and beat well after each addition. Scrape sides of bowl often with silicon spatula. (Quick tip: it may be tempting to cut short the blending time, but this part is key to a moist, tender pound cake. Your patience will pay off, I promise.)

Dissolve espresso powder in warm water in a small bowl. (Another quick tip: coffee really brings out the best in chocolate; if you don’t have espresso powder, use 1/4 c. dark brewed coffee in place of the warm water.) Whisk in milk and creme fraiche/sour cream. In separate small mixing bowl, whisk or sift together cocoa and flour. Beat this dry ingredient mixture into the batter, alternating in turns with the liquid. Take your time, being sure mixture is thoroughly blended and sides of bowl are scraped after each addition. (Add liquid, blend, scrape; add dry, blend, scrape; repeat… again, totally worth your time.) Your reward will be a homogeneous, fluffy, dense batter, worthy of a tussle over who licks the beaters. Gently stir in the mini-chips with a silicon spatula, being sure to fold in batter from the bottom of bowl to evenly distribute all the little chocolaty morsels.

Pour into well-greased or parchment-lined pans; you have several size options, depending on your needs. This recipe produces 8 cups of batter which can be baked in a 12-cup capacity Bundt-style pan, two 5″x10″ glass loaf pans, or four 4″x7″ small loaf pans. (I used these nifty French Bake-and-Give Wooden Bakers, which come with single-use wooden pans and parchment paper liners; they make for such beautiful gifts.)

Your cooking time will differ based on the container you choose, but approximate times are: one hour, twenty minutes for Bundt; one hour, ten minutes for two large loaves; and one hour even for four small loaves. Watch yours closely and pull them from oven as soon as a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. (Beware the rogue melted chocolate chip which pretends to be raw cake batter; always test twice, just in case. It would be a shame to overcook your cake and waste all that earlier effort.)

Allow cakes to cool 15 minutes in pans on cooling rack, then turn out of pan if desired. (I usually leave cakes in loaf-style pans and just slice in the container before serving.) Allow to cool completely before glazing. To make glaze, whisk ingredients in small mixing bowl until thoroughly blended and smooth. Drizzle over top of cake(s) and then sprinkle liberally with more mini-chocolate chips.

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Recipe Notes + Tips:
The key to getting intense orange flavor in this recipe is the use of orange oil. It is cold-pressed from the peel of the fruit, and it takes about 44 oranges to make each ounce of orange oil. I use Boyajian brand citrus oils; see their site for availability near you, but you can always find it on-line at King Arthur Flour or Amazon. It is absolutely worth having in your pantry.

The glaze in this recipe features a second source of orange flavor in the form of orange juice powder, also available from King Arthur Flour. It is essentially all-natural orange juice in solid, concentrated form. I love the flavor punch you get from such a small amount, but unlike orange oil, it’s really not necessary to have it for the recipe to work. As mentioned above, simply substitute the finely chopped zest of one orange and 3 Tbsp. of freshly squeezed orange juice for the orange juice powder and water. However, if you’re an adventurous cook/eater, I’d encourage you to try out orange juice powder, as well as its compatriots, lemon juice and pineapple juice powders. (I’d also love to hear about any recipe inventions they inspire. :)

Chewy Almond Macaroons

22 Thursday Dec 2011

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Fair warning: only those with a sizable sweet tooth need apply. But somehow these cookies manage to be both decadently sweet and pleasantly light. They look like your average sugar cookie, but then the scent of almond gives away their secret identity. The first bite tells the rest of the story: crispy, crackly edges give way to rich, chewy centers… soon all that’s left is a dusting of powdered sugar on your fingertips and a satisfied smile on your face. And to me, that’s what baking is all about. :)

(I could have easily titled this post Almond Obsession Part 2, since I already indulged myself last week with the Cherry Jam and Almond Cookie Bars. If you’ve seen the light and bought your own case of almond paste, you’re going to love these…)

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Chewy Almond Macaroons
makes 36 cookies

21 oz. almond paste (see cookie bar Recipe Notes for more info)
2 c. granulated sugar
3/4 tsp. salt (not coarse)
4 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 tsp. almond extract
sifted confectioner’s sugar for topping

Oven 325F. Blend the almond paste, sugar, and salt with electric mixer until well-mixed and crumbly. Add egg whites and almond extract and mix again until the dough is a smooth, sticky paste. Using two spoons, scoop the dough by heaped tablespoons on to lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheets. Leave two inches between each, as cookies will spread quite a bit.

Generously sift powdered sugar over the tops of each little mound of cookie dough. (I love this part — it looks like a little snow-topped mountain range.) Use three fingers to press each cookie a little flatter. Bake for about 20 minutes, until edges are lightly browned and crispy. Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pans, then eat one and transfer the rest to an airtight container. :)

Recipe Notes + Tips:
Many Americans associate macaroons with coconut, but the term macaroon (from the French macaron) refers to any cookie which uses ground nuts and egg white as binding agents instead of flour and whole eggs. Although macaroons include ground nuts or sweetened nut pastes for the body of the cookie, flavors can range from berry to citrus, chocolate to coffee.

Macaroons are super simple to make and are a great gluten-free alternative. This recipe easily halves or doubles, and the cookies can be frozen, well-wrapped, for up to three months. My thanks for recipe inspiration go to King Arthur Flour yet again, this time for their bakery’s Almond Bianchi cookies.

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Cherry Jam and Almond Cookie Bars

16 Friday Dec 2011

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I may be slightly more enamored of almonds than the average person. (Doesn’t everyone buy Odense almond paste in bulk?) But you don’t have to be an almond devotee to appreciate these deliciously dense, chewy cookie bars. Cherries and almonds play very well together, and this recipe makes the most of their complimentary flavors. These are nutty and buttery, just the right blend of salty and sweet. I prefer tart cherry jam for the filling, but you can easily substitute raspberry or apricot. Unlike most cookie bars, these are even more moist in the days after baking, and you won’t find a better partner for a hot cup of tea. Case of almond paste, anyone? :)

Cherry Jam and Almond Cookie Bars
makes 32 cookie bars

3/4 c. unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
7 oz. almond paste (about 3/4 c., see Recipe Notes)
1 c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste or real vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 egg
3 c. all-purpose flour (I prefer King Arthur)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt (not coarse)
12 oz. sour cherry jam (I use Favorit brand)
1/2 c. sliced almonds
2 Tbsp. coarse sugar (optional)

Oven 375F. Beat softened butter, almond paste, and sugar in electric mixer until well-blended. Add egg and extracts and mix again until thoroughly combined. In separate medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir dry mixture into wet ingredients with rubber spatula until uniformly mixed. Dough will be crumbly.

Reserve 1 1/2 c. dough and use your hands to press the rest into the bottom of a 9″x13″ buttered glass baking dish. Warm jam in microwave one minute and then spread over cookie base. Pat the reserved dough into rounds approximately 1/2″ thick and 3″ across, then place on top of jam. (There will be spaces between the dough rounds where the jam shows through.) Sprinkle top evenly with sliced almonds, then coarse sugar, and bake 26-28 minutes until top is lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into 32 squares.

Recipe Notes + Tips:
Almond paste is a blend of ground almonds and sugar syrup, usually about 45% almonds. You can make your own, but for this recipe, packaged almond paste is perfectly fine. I find all the large grocery stores in our area stock almond paste in the baking aisle, but you can also buy it on-line. I buy it in bulk on Amazon.com, but dozens of other sites sell it.

Quality almond paste should only include almonds and sugar, never any preservatives or flavorings. One note: marzipan is almost identical to almond paste, but with fewer almonds and more sugar. It will serve in most recipes in place of almond paste, although the results will be sweeter and a tad less moist. (However, in one important way, they are entirely the same: I could happily eat either one by the tube. :)

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Vanilla Bean Butterballs with Chocolate Ganache

12 Monday Dec 2011

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It takes a lot to trump the perfect chocolate chip cookie, but these just might do it. Little nuggets of soft, buttery shortbread sandwiched around creamy chocolate, covered in the warm, sweet crunch of vanilla sugar… forget sugarplums, I’ve got visions of butterballs dancing in my head. ;)

A pile of these make a delicious gift, whether birthday, holiday, or hostess. And although they are sugar-coated show-stoppers, the recipe is actually quite simple — only seven ingredients and a bit of planning involved. My fourteen-year-old just made his first solo batch for a local cookie contest (he won), and he seconds my infatuation. Can cookies sparkle? I think these might…

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Vanilla Bean Butterballs with Chocolate Ganache
makes 18 sandwich cookies

For shortbread:
1 c. unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks)
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt (not coarse)
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste or real vanilla extract
about 2 c. vanilla sugar for rolling (see Recipe Notes below)

For chocolate ganache filling:
4 oz. quality semi-sweet chocolate (I like Ghiradelli or Scharffen Berger)
1/3 c. heavy cream
1/4 tsp. salt (not coarse)

With the whisk of an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft and fluffy, about three minutes. Add granulated sugar, salt, and vanilla, and mix again until well-blended. Stir in the flour by hand until it forms a soft dough. Shape dough into a disc, wrap in plastic, and chill for at least 3 hours, up to a week.

Working with well-chilled dough, break off teaspoon-size piece and roll into 36 balls about 3/4″ across. (Making them uniform in size is more important than their exact diameter.) Place balls on wax/parchment-paper lined plate and freeze for 30 minutes. While they are in the freezer, make the chocolate ganache for the filling.

Place chocolate, cream, and salt in small pan over medium heat, stirring. Remove from heat as soon as chocolate melts and combines with cream into a glossy mixture. Transfer ganache to a bowl and refrigerate until the consistency of thick pudding. (It needs to be stiff enough to hold your cookie sandwiches together.)

Preheat oven to 375F. Place balls of chilled dough about two inches apart on cookie sheets and bake 10-12 minutes. Cook just until set but not browned. While cookies cool on baking sheets, place vanilla sugar in a shallow bowl for rolling. To assemble, put a smear of ganache on the flat bottom of one cookie, then place another on top. Roll in vanilla sugar until well-coated. I refrigerate mine for at least a half hour afterwards to be sure they are well-stuck, but they can be stored at room temperature after that. (You can also sandwich these with raspberry jam, but the exclusion of chocolate from a recipe is frowned upon by my household…)

Recipe Notes + Tips:
Although you can certainly roll these in plain sugar, I love the added flavor and scent that comes from using vanilla sugar. To make your own, just slice a vanilla bean length-wise and add it to four cups of granulated sugar in an airtight container; wait two or three weeks before using, and whenever you think about it, shake the container to evenly distribute the vanilla. As you use it, add more plain sugar to the container to maintain your supply.

Vanilla sugar is a fantastic addition to your pantry, and there’s no end to its uses: add a teaspoon to your morning tea or coffee; sprinkle it over oatmeal or cream of wheat; give plain yogurt a flavor-boost or blend it into your favorite smoothie; add depth to baked goods from blueberry muffins to lemon bars to apple pie; make a jar of vanilla-cinnamon sugar to use on snickerdoodles, as a topping on grilled peaches, or to caramelize figs… did I mention there’s no end to its uses? :)

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This recipe is adapted from one in Gale Gand’s 2006 cookbook Chocolate and Vanilla. As you might guess from the title, half the recipes are chocolate-focused and the other half vanilla, and all of them I’ve tried are delicious. (Clarkson Potter: 2006, ISBN 978-0307238528)