[Cookies 085] Almond Horns

Good day, folks. Long time no see. I went on a bit of a vacation, if you can call sleeping in a tent for 5 consecutive nights without any showers or toilets or fresh coffee (God Forbid!!) a vacation. I was backpacking in the Sequoias for a week, trekking upwards of 20 miles in between the spindly pines and fields of wildflowers. Like last year! It was beautiful, duhhhhhhh, and I loved it. Extremely tiring and hard, hard work, but how else am I supposed to work off all the cookies I've been eating this summer?

So now I'm back in the comfort of my own home, equipped with all the "necessities" that supposedly I can't live without: internet, cars, TV, whatever. Hmph. And here I am updating my blog--how 21st century of me. Well, whatever, enough musings on modernity, I'll save it for another day. Maybe for the day when I finally buy a 1950s camping trailer and drive across the United States; or maybe for the day when I finally move into an old run-down Victorian estate out in the cornfields of Nebraska or the grasslands of Montana. Oh, yes, that will be the life.

Until then, I'm here. And in only 1 weeks time, I'll be.....IN GHANA! I'm studying abroad for 4 months in Accra! Ahhh!!! I make no promises about what the cooking situation will be once I'm there--I will have a kitchen, but I don't know what ingredients I'll be able to get (I'm hoping I'll be able to get some KICKASS chocolate though!). Yep, it's a big question mark over my cookie career, but I'll try my best.

But, hey, I haven't left yet. So I shall update on these last few recipes I've made before I head on out. Today: Almond Horns. Cute, right? And even though they sound a little on the simple side, they are really really delicious. Full of almond flavor, and though they are crunchy like shortbread, they don't taste as buttery. They aren't overly sweet either, so the sprinkling of powdered sugar on top of them really adds a nice touch. The cookie itself has a kind of toasted flavor, rich and nutty, and the sugar on top is just enough to heighten the slight saltiness of the cookie. Really, quite nice!

As for the ease of the recipe, you shouldn't have any problems making them. The recipe calls for 1 cup of almonds which you essentially grind up into almond meal, but I used my own pre-made almond meal that I had bought for some other recipes and it worked just find. However, 1 cup of almonds is not the same as 1 cup of almond meal (duh), so I added about 1/2 cup of almond meal at first, and then added a little more until the dough formed a workable shape. You're going to be shaping the dough into horns, so you don't want it too wet and sticky, but it should be able to hold it's shape and not be too dry either. Just use your best judgement, or follow the recipe and make your own almond meal--it's probably better anyways.

So if you're looking for a recipe that's perhaps more for your friends with rather sophisticated palates that can appreciate subtle flavorings (ah, yes, quite fancy and refined I dare say), then I'd absolutely suggest this cookie. Cute looking, has a nice warm and nutty flavor, and great with tea or coffee. I could eat them for a long time. Maybe for the entire plane ride to Ghana. Or not...even I have my limits.

Until later this week, my summery friends...

P.S. Have any of you been to Ghana? Are any of you from Ghana? If so, I'd love to hear about it! Advice? Things to see/do/eat? Anything! Everything! Tell me, tell me, I'm so excited!! Send me an email, or comment on this entry, whichever's your fancy.

Almond Horns

Makes 3 dozen

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted, plus more for dusting

1 large egg

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup whole raw almonds, toasted and finely ground in a food processor

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in egg and extracts. Reduce speed to low. Mix in flour mixture and almonds until just combined. Wrap dough in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.

Roll 1 tablespoon of dough into a 4-inch log; gently shape into a horseshoe. Repeat with remaining dough. Transfer to baking sheets lined with parchment.

Bake cookies (rotating sheets halfway through) until pale golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks using a spatula; let cool completely. Transfer to waxed paper. Sift sugar over cookies. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature 2 to 3 days.

****

{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 2/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 5/5
Tastiness: 4/5
Attractiveness: 4/5
Is it worth it?: Yes yes! Nothing that exciting or snazzy, but more of a cookie you can bring home to your parents. Is that weird? Did I totally mess up that figure of speech?

{Pairings}

Drink: A subtle tea, maybe an English Breakfast with milk.

Song: Horn -- Nick Drake (Not only does the title match, but the music pairs well with the cookie. I am a big nerd.)
Activity: These would be good at a craft party! Don't ask why, I just think they would. Knitting party, yeah? They don't get chocolate all over your fingers and are great to munch on. Yes. Yes, I paired this one well, pat on the back.

[Cookie 084] Oatmeal Bars with Dates and Walnuts

Eighty-four. 84. Feels good. Nice number. Still powering on, though--no stopping! I will finish this project! Eighty-four isn't even half (AH!!!!!), but 87.5 is, so let's just hold off the enormous celebrations and parades until then, okay? Great.

Now on to something more related: Dates. Do you like them? I had my first date (fruit! I'm referring to the fruit) just when making these Oatmeal Bars with Dates and Walnuts, though I have had date-flavored and date-filled sweets before. This was just my first time eating one whole and unfettered. And pitting one.

Does anyone else get totally grossed out by them!? Something about them really really grosses me out. I don't want to get into the specifics for fear of ruining this recipe for you (or even dates entirely), so I'll just let this picture do the talking.

It's just...icky. I'm not a huge fan. And the thing is, if it was just the pitting that bothered me, it wouldn't be so much an issue--but I'm not the biggest fan of how they taste either. I dunno, I suppose they just aren't my cup of tea. That being said, these bars would go great with a cup of tea as part of an afternoon snack! Maybe it will all just work out in the end!

These bars have a few bits of chopped up dates in them, but they work really well in tandem with the walnuts. It's a crunchy-savory and chewy-sweet combination at work. I also really like how Martha has you grind up some oats to make oatflour, which is used in addition to whole wheat flour--very wheaty indeed. These are super hearty, soft, sweet, and tasty bars; they actually seem more like a cake to me, though. Not a bad thing! I liked them. But then again, I could eat only granola for my entire life and be pretty happy.

The only issue I had with these was that my dad didn't like them (he's not so much a fan of the whole-wheaty, grainy, oatsy, hippie stuff. This meant that the entire batch rested on the shoulders of my mom and I, which is just too much to handle! I ate more than my fair share, but after sitting on the counter at room temperature for nearly a week, my mom kindly suggested that they might not be...safe...to eat. I thought they still tasted good! Maybe mold is just a natural flavor pairing with dates! Whatever. I retired the rest of the batch to the trash can. Moral of the story: make these bars for bake sales, parties, and for large gatherings of people. They are hard to eat a lot of in a short amount of time.

Yep, that's it. My foray into the world of dates was a little disturbing, but yielded tasty results! (Haha, remember that Simpson's episode where Marge is watching soap operas on TV and keeps writing down "with Sexy Results!" Ah memories...)

[ Oh, and a little bit of shameless self-promotion: I just started another blog solely for my photos and other little bits of nonsense. It's a Wordpress blog, because I figured WHY KEEP IT SIMPLE AND EASY, when you can make your life slightly more convoluted by using multiple websites for the same purpose?! Oh, well whatever, this is the URL: zziee.wordpress.com Drop by and say herro! ]

Oatmeal Bars with Dates and Walnuts

Makes 2 dozen

Ingredients

1 cup finely ground old-fashioned rolled oats

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon allspice

2 cups packed light-brown sugar

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

3 large eggs

2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups walnuts (5 1/2 ounces), toasted and chopped

1 cup dates (5 ounces), pitted and chopped

Vegetable-oil cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together ground oats, flour, 1 cup whole oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and allspice in a large bowl; set aside.

Put brown sugar and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

Reduce speed to low. Add oat mixture, and mix until just combined. Mix in walnuts and dates.

Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Spread batter evenly in dish. Scatter remaining 1/2 cup whole oats over top. Bake until golden and a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.Cool completely in pan on a wire rack; cut into bars.

****

{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 3/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 3/5
Tastiness: 3.5/5
Attractiveness: 2/5
Is it worth it?: Yeah, for an afternoon snack, bake sale, road trip, whatever. They ain't dainty though, so don't say I didn't warn you (?)

{Pairings}
Drink: Irish Breakfast tea or Apple Cider (despite the time I year I chose to make these, I think they are an autumn cookie for sure!)

Song: I Wanna Be Sedated -- The Ramones (SORRY bad pun, great song)
Activity: You come home from school, it's October, the leaves are changing, wind is blowing a little, breezy and cool. You've got your lil' JanSport backpack filled with brand new Lisa Frank folders and jelly pens. You throw your stuff on to the floor in your bedroom and run downstairs to tell your mom/dad how your day went, and SURPRISE, kick-ass oatmeal bars waiting for you on a tray, complete with a cup of apple juice and some carrots or celery. You take the snack over to the TV, turn on some late afternoon cartoons and zone out before you have to go do homework. Ah, yes, that would have been great...

[Cookie 083] Maple-Pecan Shortbread

Stroke of genius. How did I not think of this before. Oh man oh man.

Okay, let me back up. Backstory first. Well, there's no really backstory per se, but more of a source of inspiration. Barbecues; grills; charcoal. Fire! This is how we cook foods during the hottest days of the summer in order to avoid heating up our kitchen to hellish temperatures, right? Oven-roasting is out, as is loading up all 4 burners with huge pots of boiling water and simmering stews, and obviously baking seems completely out of the question. Thus the spareness of posts on this blog (or at least, that's the excuse du jour). So how to get around this issue without confining all baking to the wee hours of the night, if we are to do it at all?

Here's my great, albeit hair-brained, idea: BBQ'd cookies!!!!!!!!

Okay, okay, I can feel your collective eye-rolling coming at me from all over cyberspace--it sounds ridiculous, but hear me out. You make sure to make a cookie dough that doesn't spread hardly at all, so as to avoid it dripping in between the grill bars. And the dough will have nuts it in, because fire roasted nuts are next to godliness. And then, once grilled, you serve these cookies with grilled fruits (grilled peaches anyone??). Dollop with ice cream. Dessert. Done.

Alright, so maybe that won't work. But here's a more rational idea: what about putting your cookie sheet (or other metal heat-enduring surface) on top of your grill and then closing the lid, essentially using your BBQ like an outdoor oven. Does that work? Has anyone tried that?

Anyway, these cookies here, these Maple-Pecan Shortbread don't exactly seem like a super summery cookie (more of an autumnal one, in my opinion, what with the maple and the pecans and the everything), but I made them for both a summer picnic, as well as a 4th of July BBQ at my brother and sister-in-law's house, and they were a hit at both events. These cookies are really good. Surprisingly so. In fact, they might have been even more of a hit at the 4th of July BBQ since by then they were a day old, and these guys improve with age FOR SURE.

So you got ya dough, which has ground up pecans in it as well as a hefty amount of maple syrup, and after the baked cookies have sat around for a day, the maple flavor really deepens. Actually, the recipe also calls for Maple Extract, which I couldn't find anywhere so I omitted it--and no problem! The cookies were still extremely mapley, but I bet they would be really incredible if you have maple extract on hand as well.

Lastly, because you roll out the dough and cut it with a cookie cutter, and then decorate each cookie with a pecan half and some turbinado sugar, you WITHOUT A DOUBT produce a beautiful set of cookies. You can't really screw up the look of these, unless you don't know how to use a cookie cutter (and if that's your situation, you probably shouldn't be reading my blog, juss sayin'). So, they are perfect to bring to a party if you want to impress people but not do anything too elaborate. Simplicity is highly underrated in baking!

And very very lastly, if you are just crazy enough to try either of my BBQ cookie ideas--LET ME KNOW SO WE CAN BE FRIENDS FOREVER!! If you send pictures, I will love you even more/think you are even crazier/admire you a lot. And even if you bake these in the normal way, I will admire you for enduring the oppressive heat of your kitchen in the name of tastiness!

P.S. AWSHIT this is genius!!

P.P.S. Sorry for the lack of photos! I was too busy eating cookie dough/pecans to grab my camera during the baking process -_-

Maple-Pecan Shortbread

Makes about 2 dozen

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

1/2 cup cake flour (not self-rising)

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup pecan halves (about 2 1/4 ounces), finely chopped

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 large egg yolk

1/4 teaspoon pure maple extract

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

Into a medium bowl, sift flours and salt. Whisk in 1/2 cup chopped pecans, set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until smooth and light, about one minute. Add the maple syrup, egg yolk, and extract; beat on medium speed until well combined. On low speed, gradually add flour mixture, beating until just combined. Dough should be smooth and pliable. Flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic; chill until firm, 1 1/2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out rounds using a two-inch cookie cutter; place one inch apart on prepared baking sheet. Brush tops with beaten egg; sprinkle centers with remaining 1/4 cup pecans. Sprinkle the entire surface with turbinado sugar.

Bake cookies, rotating baking sheet halfway through, until golden around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Store in airtight containers at room temperature up to four days.

****

{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 2/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 2/5 (Maple extract, where y'at?!)
Tastiness: 4.5/5
Attractiveness: 4/5
Is it worth it?: Hell yeah! Worth firing up the ol' oven in July...maybe...

{Pairings}
Drink: I'd wash these guys down with some iced tea, perhaps with a sprig or two of sage thrown in? (That's how my ma makes hers, and it's da bomb diggity!)

Song: The Grove (Is Hotter than an Ocean's Oven When the Rays of Light Do Boil) -- Big Blood
Activity: BBQ some cookies, plz

[Cookie 072] Cream Cheese Walnut Cookies

I think it's time I start getting real with all of you. Yeah, I seem so nice and lovely and admirable and fantastic and funny and brilliant and modest and everything great on this blog (shut up, don't argue), but the truth is, I'm not all sugar and spice and everything nice. I hate Starbucks and Whole Foods and think you shouldn't ever patronize either store, I can't stand Christmas songs, and I have absolutely no problem with the lyrics and message of this song:

Man, I really do love that song. So, is anyone still reading this? Have I alienated all of you yet? I just thought, you know, you should know a little bit more about the real me. Did I mention my finger nails are painted black today? Yeah WHADDUP don't fuck with me.

Okay, that's enough for now. I promise I'm not bipolar or that I suffer from multiple personalities or anything like that. Here, if I offended you, here's a recipe for some kick ass cookies that will make you forget everything you've just read in this entry.

These Cream Cheese Walnut Cookies are insanely addictive, and so simple. I actually thought that the recipe was going to be another one of those Martha recipes that wasn't fully edited and was missing key ingredients, but it worked out just right. The cream cheese is perfect and provides this hint of savoriness and tartness that's really awesome. Oh and don't even get me started about the dough...I nearly ate it all, alone. So not only am I a total badass, but a pathetic one at that.

Oh and be forewarned: I halved this recipe and still had a massive amount of cookies. This is good, and bad. Good because who doesn't like a lot of cookies?? Bad because bikini season is right around the corner. You weigh the pros and cons.

So, I hope this was an enlightening read for you. I hope you all start following Lil Wayne on twitter, because he'll be updating from jail through Lil Twist supposedly. And I mean seriously, his tweets are pretty great.

Cream Cheese Walnut Cookies

Makes about 4 dozen

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
• 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 6 ounces cream cheese, (not whipped) room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups walnut halves (1 1/2 cups toasted and coarsely chopped), 1 cup finely chopped

Directions

1. Whisk together flour and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Put butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in sugar and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture, and mix until just combined (do not overmix). Mix in toasted walnuts.
2. Transfer dough to a work surface. Divide in half; shape each half into an 8 1/2-inch long log about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap each log in parchment paper; freeze until firm, about 30 minutes or up to 2 weeks.
3. Preheat oven to 350 with racks in upper and lower thirds. Unwrap 1 log, and roll in 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, coating completely. Cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Space 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
4. Bake cookies, rotating halfway through, until golden around edges, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Repeat with remaining log and remaining 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

****

{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 3/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 4/5
Tastiness: 4/5
Attractiveness: 3.5/5 (The toasted nuts look like purdy lil' gems...ain't that sweet)
Is it worth it?: Yes, it really is. These things are very very tasty.

{Pairings}
Drink: Blood, Absinthe, or seven shots of Jack Daniels--depending on how badass you are feeling. Or combine them all!

Song: Roger That -- Young Money
Activity: Stealing candy from a baby

[Cookie 066] Hazelnut Cookies

Movin' right along, aren't we. Well, as you can tell, I had leftover Hazelnuts from the last recipe so what better cookie to make than the one with this very nut as its name. Yes, that sentence was poorly written, but you probably caught on that I am referring to Hazelnut Cookies (note to self: do not write blog entries past 11 pm, especially when sick).

Yeah, I'm sick with a cold. Boo hoo, so is everyone else in the world. But all I really want when I'm sick is a nice cup of soup (Matzo ball, anyone?) and then a cookie. Unfortunately, I don't think this one cuts it. Nope. And the recipe isn't even listed on the Martha Stewart website, and for good reason. It's another bizarro recipe that didn't work, and this time it wasn't my fault (I think/hope).

So, I was all gung-ho about the idea of a egg white-based nut cookie at first. I was imagining a meringue (which Martha did a bang up job making a recipe for, if you remember) with finely ground nuts mixed in, but I think the recipe got the order of the steps all wrong. First, you beat up the eggs until soft peaks--no prob. Then--then--she has you add a bunch of sugar, without any cream of tartar and without doing the subsequent whisking over a pot of simmering water. Ever made marshmallows before? Well you're about to.

It got gross, guys, I'm tellin' you the truth. I add the sugar and then these eggs just don't stiffen up for the life of them (I want to make a "that's what she said" joke here, but I don't think I know how...). They just got gummy and gooey, like taffy, and it was nasty. I whisked and whisked with my little red electric mixer, but to no avail. They just wouldn't stiffen (that's what she said! Hmm...the "they" part of that sentence just makes that joke gross). Anyway, I pushed on and added the nuts and flour and all that. Yeah, no way, this was not working.

However, I think it could have worked if the ingredients were added in a different order. Maybe if you whisk up the egg whites until they form stiff peaks and then fold in the dry ingredients, then the dough wouldn't get gummy and it would be more edible. Who knows. I'm open for suggestions, as always!

End results? They tasted hard and chewy. The exact polar opposite of the category they were listed in: "light and delicate." FAIL. Okay, Martha, I don't know what's up with this, but thanks for trying. I did dip these in my coffee, and that made them a little more edible, but coffee makes everything better. Seriously, yesterday I took a DayQuil, an Airborne tablet, and then drank 2 cups of coffee, and let me tell you--I was ready to FLY! Whoooooweee! Probably not the best medical advice, but if you want to feel like a rockstar for 5 hours, drink that medical combo and avoid making these cookies. Done and done.

(No recipe, because it's not on the MS website, but you wouldn't want it anyway.)

But wait! Don't go! Cheer up, I have a really tasty super yummy delicious chocolatey goody happy snappy fabulous recipe for you after this one! Get ready! I'm gonna go take a NyQuil and pass out--but keep an eye out, I'll be posting this next recipe soon! Until then, lovelies...

****

{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 3/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 4/5
Tastiness: 1.5/5
Attractiveness: 2/5
Is it worth it?: No

{Pairings}
Drink: Coffee--Hazelnut coffee, if you're really crazy. Throw in a DayQuil for good luck!

Song: Haven't Got a Clue -- The Flaming Lips
Activity: Have you ever ate an AirBorne tablet without water? It's insane, but probably better than these cookies.

[Cookie 065] Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies (And PARTY TIME!)

It's time to celebrate! Unleash the balloons! Start the party! Get the piano out, round up all my horse, pig, mouse, and other bizarre unnatural animal friends and get this party going. If you don't know what I'm talking about, watch that video--it's worth it, the best part's at the end.

Aaaaanyways....Hurrah! One year DONE! I've been on this project for a year now, and I'm still goin strong. I feel like now is a good time to reflect, and while most recipes from The Book are pretty simple and delicious, occasionally a recipe might go something like this:

Okay truth be told, that was just an excuse for me to post that video, which just cracks me up every time. Look, the point is, some recipes suck, most don't, and I like baking. Hurray for this blog's first birthday--now let's move on.

Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies! Yeah, so I didn't go off and make something spectacularly exciting to celebrate the monumentous event. Big deal. These cookies were just fine, so I'm happy. They weren't anything shockingly amazing, but they tasted nice and could be easily modified in a bunch of different ways. Don't like hazelnuts? Try walnuts, or pecans, or maybe even pine nuts. And you can choose whatever filling you want: jams, preserves, even Nutella could work (when could Nutella not work, is the real question). You could even fill the centers with home made whipped cream and top the cookies with macerated bits of strawberries if you're really feeling ambitious. Or you could make your own preserves--fig, perhaps?

I only had one main bug with these guys, besides the fact that my food processor totally didn't evenly chop up my hazelnuts. The dough breaks easily, so you have to make the thumbprints very gingerly. I used the back of a wooden spoon to make the indentations both times and that worked well. I filled the thumbprints with a currant jam which was really tasty!

All in all, these taste just like you expect them to. No hidden surprises, and though that can be a good thing, I thought it made these a little on the boring side. I think it's because the actually cookie part just wasn't very interestingly flavored. Maybe you could use the flavorings from the Sweet Cardamom Crackers instead--that was such a great flavored dough, and would taste amazing with the hazelnuts! I can't believe I just thought of that now. That's a million dollar idea there, that is.

So yeah, a little bit anticlimactic for a milestone like this one, but who cares! I've got some more recipes coming up that are...interesting. And delicious. And I'll try to post them sooner rather than later! Au revoir, mes amis, and I'll leave you with this last entirely unrelated, yet hilarious, video (ignore the weird gibberish part in the beginning):

Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies

Makes about 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 large egg, separated, each part lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 cup toasted skinned hazelnuts, ground
• Strawberry jam, for filling

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Put butter and 1/2 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg yolk and vanilla, and mix well. Reduce speed to low. Add flour and salt, and mix until just combined. Refrigerate dough for 2 hours.
2. Stir together toasted hazelnuts and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Roll dough into 1-inch balls; dip balls in egg white, then in hazelnut-sugar mixture. Space 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Press down center of each ball with your thumb. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven; press down centers again with the end of a wooden spoon. Return to oven. Bake cookies until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes more. Let cool slightly on sheets on wire racks. Fill each center with jam. Cookies can be stored in a single layer in airtight containers at room temperature up to 2 days.

****

{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 3/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 3/5
Tastiness: 3.5/5
Attractiveness: 4/5
Is it worth it?: If these sound tasty to you, bake them. If you're not a hazelnut fan, don't bother.

{Pairings}
Drink: Almond Milk might be nice, yes?

Song: I Can't Give You Anything But Love -- Cliff Edwards
Activity: Rent Duck Soup or A Night at the Opera! Embrace the old! Paint on a Groucho Marx mustache!

[Cookie 063] Peanut Butter Cookies

Quick! Don't look now, but I'm making a speedy cover up of my last disastrous post! Avert your eyes--do not look at the horrid toffee-laden blondie brick that resembled some sort of ancient artifact that you would find in the Egyptian wing at the Met. Look at this! Look! Better! Tastier! Peanut Butter Cookies!

Now, I had hoped to make this post a Valentine's-themed post, but since that holiday gives me the creeps/I'm bitter/I didn't make a "Valentines-y" cookie, I just thought I'd post this recipe instead. But honestly, any cookie you make is perfect for Valentine's Day, because anything homemade and sweet will totally get you some. ...Get you some high-fives and hugs. That's all you get.

But wait, not everyone likes Peanut Butter Cookies! Well too bad. If you don't like them, it means you are crazy. Or it means that your taste buds are inadequate (side note: I'm reading Brillat-Savarin's The Physiology of Taste [I should be reading it now, and not blogging, but whatever] for my Food and Aesthetics class, and he's basically making me fall even further in love with food and eating. I recommend you read this book, ASAP. And he says that when 2 people eat the same dish and one person likes it and one doesn't, it often means that the other person just doesn't have as many taste buds. Okay, that was a bad generalization of his writings, but it better illustrates my point. You should read it, seriously!).

Aaaaaanyway, that was a long parenthetical. What I want to get across is that these cookies are really good. They're like the shortbread version of Peanut Butter Cookies. These aren't your traditionally chewy, squishy Peanut Butter Cookies; they are crumbly and sandy and buttery and really nice. That is, permitting that you don't burn your first batch like I did. I don't know what's wrong with my oven, but it's totally lost its mind. My first batch came out black as the night sky, and emitted so much smoke that I literally had to set the cookies to cool outside my window, on top of my air-conditioner. Yeah. Don't let these babies burn.

I hope you're keeping up with me. I keep getting onto these long tangents, probably because I'm just trying to procrastinate on my homework. Here, let me summarize this post in one sentence: These cookies are really yummy and perfect for your lover or yourself or your Super Bowl Party that you already had.

So, make em! And while you're at it, fix my oven! Or, better yet, buy me a kitchen timer. I DON'T HAVE ONE! I know, they're like $5, but I'm cheap and lazy and a college student (redundant, I know). Whatever, I'll stop rambling if you bake these. Thanks!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Makes 2 1/2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for flattening cookies
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup smooth peanut butter (crunchy can also be used)
• 1/2 cup salted peanuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Sift flour and baking soda into a bowl.
2. Put butter and both sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy; about 3 minutes. Add egg; mix until well combined. Mix in vanilla and then peanut butter. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in peanuts.
3. Drop batter by heaping tablespoons onto baking sheets lines with parchment paper, spacing 1 1/2 inches apart. Dip the bottom of a galss in flour, tapping off excess and use it to flatten balls slightly. Firmly press fork tines into each dough ball to make a cross-hatch pattern.
4. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until centers are firm and edges are lightly browned, about 25 minutes. transfer cookies on parchment to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

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{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 1/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 4/5
Tastiness: 3.5/5
Attractiveness: 4/5
Is it worth it?: Yes! A pleasant cookie for pleasant people.

{Pairings}
Drink: Chocolate Soy Milk! Oh god yes.

Song: Happy Valentine's Day -- Outkast
Activity: Reading Brillat-Savarin's The Physiology of Taste