Anisplätzchen; German Anise Cookies

(about 3 dozen cookies)

My mother loaned me one of her German Christmas cookbooks for my holiday baking. I couldn't wait to try these anise cookies, although they turned out much flatter (for me) than the ones I remembered from my childhood.

I'm not entirely certain why my cookies didn't rise as much. It might have been the result of any or a combination of the following. I used baking powder instead of ammonium carbonate, my eggs might have been larger than the standard ones used in Germany or it might have been the humidity (I live about a mile from the ocean). If you like biscotti, then you might enjoy these anise cookies. They are unusually flavored, crisp, light cookies that are wonderful dipped into hot tea or coffee.

adapted from Handbuch für die Weihnachtsbäckerei 
from Kölner Zucker (Pfeifer & Langen) ©1978
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp ground anise
two pinches of baking powder (Hirschhornsalz/ammonium carbonate)
1 cup all purpose flour

Prepare the cookie sheets by greasing with butter and then lightly dusting them with flour. Set aside.

Beat the eggs until they are throthy. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar and continue to beat for about 15 minutes until the eggs are light, thick and creamy.

Beat in the anise and baking powder and when they are well combined, add the flour and beat for about one minute.

Drop tablespoons of batter onto the prepared cookie sheets about an inch or more apart; the batter will continue to spread. Leave the cookies in a warm kitchen for about 6-8 hours or overnight. The tops should dry and harden slightly.

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Bake the cookies in the middle of the oven for about 8-10 minutes or until they are very lightly browned around the edges.

Ginger Spice Cookies

(about 4 dozen cookies)


These flavorful ginger cookies are made in a food processor which makes quick work of finely chopping the candied ginger. I made two batches of these this year; one using less sugar. This sweeter version won out by a long shot.

1/4 cup unsulphured molasses

1 egg
1 3/4 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, *packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup candied ginger pieces

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cardamom

1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 cup salted butter, (1 stick) at room temperature

Whisk together the molasses and egg. Set aside.

Place the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, candied ginger, baking soda, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves into the bowl of a food processor (9 cup capacity or larger). Pulse and /or run the motor until the candied ginger is very finely chopped and well mixed into the flour and sugar mixture. * This recipe uses the minimum amount of sugar required for the cookies to spread nicely, so make sure to pack the brown sugar when measuring.

Remove the top of the food processor. Cut the butter into small pieces and distribute evenly over the flour mixture. Pour the reserved molasses and egg mixture over the butter. Replace the top.

Pulse, then run the motor until a ball of dough begins to form. Refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F for chewy cookies, OR Preheat oven to 375°F for crisp cookies.

Scoop out about one and a half teaspoonful of dough and shape into balls. Place about 2 inches apart on a silicone or parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Flatten the cookies with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar.

Bake for about 8-9 minutes for slightly chewy cookies (at 350°F), or bake about 10-11 minutes at 375°F for crisp cookies. They will crisp up as they cool.

Buttery Jam Thumbprint Cookies

(about 3 dozen cookies)

This is another shortbread type cookie that's delicate and buttery. I have always loved the simplicity of this recipe. These cookies are made in a food processor, shaped and filled with jam before they hit the oven.

I stopped using my thumb for making the indentations years ago because they just weren't uniform enough for me. I use the back of a small round  measuring spoon instead.

2 cups unbleached flour

3/4 cup icing sugar (confectioner's)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup salted butter, (2 sticks)

2 tsp vanilla extract

about 3 - 4 tbsp jam

more icing sugar for dusting

 

Place the flour, icing sugar and baking powder into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times until well mixed.

Remove the cover. Cut the butter into pieces and place evenly over the surface of the flour and sugar mixture. Sprinkle the vanilla extract over the butter. Replace the cover and pulse until the dough begins to form a ball.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Check and make sure the baking rack is positioned in the middle of the oven.

Using about one tablespoon of dough per cookie, roll into balls. Place these about 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

Press the back of a small round 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon into each cookie to create a nice uniform well. Dip the back of the measuring spoon into flour if it sticks to the dough.

Place about 1/4 teaspoon of jam into the center of each indentation.

Bake the cookies for about 15-20 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned and the jam has begun to bubble.

Remove from oven and dust the warm cookies with icing sugar. Cool completely on the cookie sheet.

My Mother's Heidesand; German Cookies

Heidesand is a type of German shortbread made with browned butter. My mother recently made two batches of these delicious cookies, experimenting with the flour. She used unbleached all purpose flour for her first batch. The resulting cookie was how I remembered it from my childhood; a rich buttery shortbread cookie. For her second batch she used only whole wheat pastry flour. This resulted in a very delicate, melt in your mouth type cookie which I loved, however it was quite crumbly, something my mum wasn't happy with. I decided to make this cookie using half all purpose and half whole wheat pastry flour. I love the way these turned out; tender cookies that don't break apart the moment you bite into them.

My mum's recipe is pretty simple; half a pound butter, half a pound flour, 3 ounces sugar and a bit of baking powder, salt and vanilla extract. She told me these cookies need to be baked in the upper third of the oven and removed as soon as they are firm without allowing their bottoms to brown. I let mine brown because I think they taste better that way. I'll leave the baking time up to you.

1/2 lb unsalted butter, (2 sticks)
1/3 cup, plus 1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup* whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour

Melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook until it begins to brown. You want the butter to be a nice rich brown, but take care not to let it to burn.

Remove the pot from heat and pour the butter into a glass or ceramic mixing bowl. Set aside a few hours until the butter has solidified.

Beat the butter until it's fluffy, making sure to scrape up the browned bits that have settled to the bottom of the bowl. Beat in the sugar slowly, followed by the vanilla extract, baking powder and salt.

Shift together the two flours and stir them into the butter mixture. You will have a very crumbly dough. Shape this into two or three logs, about 1 1/2 - 2 inches in diameter. If the mixture is too crumbly and difficult to shape into logs, then mix in a few drops of water or milk.

Refrigerate until the logs are firm; about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350°F. (Set the oven rack up one notch from the middle.)

Slice the cookies a "generous" 1/4 inch thick and place about 3/4 inch apart on a parchment paper or silicone lined cookie sheet.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes or until the cookies look slightly puffed and have not yet begun to brown around the edges. (I bake mine longer (15 minutes) until the edges do look browned.)

Remove from oven and cool completely on the cookie sheet giving them the chance to firm up a bit.

* A quarter pound of whole wheat pastry flour actually worked out to 3/4 cup, plus 3 tablespoons. I rounded this off to one cup.

Spice Cookies

(about 6 dozen 2" cookies)

This recipe makes a nice crisp spiced cookie, which isn't too sweet, and keeps well in a tin.

cookies
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground anise seed
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 sticks butter (1 cup), softened
1/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
3-4 tbsp half and half or milk

Combine the flours, sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, anise, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, salt, baking soda and baking powder until thoroughly mixed. Set aside.

With a wooden spoon, beat together the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl until fluffy; about 2 minutes.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter and brown sugar. Sprinkle the half and half or milk over the cookie mixture, a tablespoon at a time until the dough begins to form a ball.  Knead a few times and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Roll out a piece of dough on a lightly floured surface until it's about 1/5" thick and cut out the cookies. Place the cookies on parchment paper or a silicone baking mat about 1/2" apart.

Gather the scraps, combine with another piece of dough and roll out again. Continue until all of the dough is used up.

Bake the cookies in the middle of the oven on one row for about 10-14 minutes or until they begin to lightly brown along the edges. Remove from oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets.

glaze
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 tsp meringue powder
1/2 tsp pure lemon extract
about 1 tbsp water, give or take

Combine the icing sugar and meringue powder in a small bowl. Stir in the lemon extract, then very slowly add the water until you have a glaze that is thin enough to drizzle over the cookies.

Allow the glaze to harden for about 3 hours before transferring the cookies to a tin.

Festive Flourless Chocolate Cookies with Mint & Toasted Coconut

(about16 cookies)

This morning I baked these delicious festive chocolate cookies to take to a friend's place later today. I chopped up a dark minted chocolate bar and crushed a couple of mint candy canes. These cookies turned out fudgier than the ones I've made in the past (something I was rather pleased with) because I had to add an additional egg white. I suspect humidity might have been the culprit, but two egg whites just didn't cut it this time.

1 1/3 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder, I used Hershey's unsweetened Special Dark

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted
1/2 cup minted dark chocolate, chopped

1/3 cup mint candy cane, crushed (about 3 medium)

*2 - 3 large egg whites, slightly beaten

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine the icing sugar, cocoa powder, coconut, chocolate and mint candy in a large bowl. When the dry ingredients are well combined, stir in the egg whites just until everything is evenly moist. *This time two egg whites weren't enough. I imagine this might have something to do with humidity. The cookie mixture was still dry and crumbly looking after I added the two egg whites, so I added a third. The batter then was runnier than usual; the reason I increased the oven temperature from 325°F to 350°F. The resulting cookies seemed nice and fudgy to me, so I might use three egg whites the next time I make these. :)

Drop by the heaping teaspoonful onto parchment or silicone lined cookie sheets.

Bake for about **8-12 minutes or until the tops have puffed up and cracked (they will deflate slightly as they cool). Cool these cookies completely before carefully peeling off the parchment or silicone mat. **I baked these in a counter top convection oven which tends to bake things faster. I would keep a close eye on these regardless which type oven is used as overbaking these can result in dry cookies.

I like to make these cookies in small batches because they seem tastiest within a day or two of being made.

Lemon Love Notes

(about 16 squares)

I haven't been cooking much this week. My 16 year old refrigerator died and the new one I ordered won't arrive until next weekend. When I was younger, 30 year old refrigerators weren't so unusual. I remember living in more than one rental with an ancient refrigerator, one so old the walls in the tiny freezer would be coated in a good 3 to 5 inches of ice! I can't say I miss that, but I do wonder why appliances don't seem to last more than 10-15 years these days. I keep hearing it's because of the electronic components, but the only thing fancy about mine was its frost free feature; is this really enough to cut its lifespan in half?

Yesterday I brought home half a carton of eggs for breakfast. I had two left over and wasn't sure how long they would last on my kitchen counter. My mum once told me my grandmother used to keep her eggs at room temperature for weeks without any going bad. Again, what's changed?

I decided to use those last two eggs and my last stick of butter for these Lemon Love Notes. A friend reminded me of them recently. We sampled them years ago at a dinner party, and fortunately I remember the hostess telling me where to find the recipe for these divine treats. The lemony filling on top of the buttery shortbread make these a winner.

Adapted from, Homemade Cookies by the Food Editors of Farm Journal (1971).

1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
1 cup sifted flour
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2/3 cup sugar (the original recipe calls for 1 cup sugar)
2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
zest from one large lemon

Heat oven to 350°F.

Mix butter, 1 cup flour and confectioners' sugar. Press into an ungreased 8-inch square pan. Bake for *8 minutes or until golden. *Mine took about 15 minutes in a small convection oven. Remove from oven and place pan on rack. Leave the oven on.

Whisk together sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, baking powder, eggs and lemon juice. When the sugar has dissolved, stir in the lemon zest. Pour evenly over baked, cooled mixture in pan. Bake for another **25 minutes. (Top puffs up in baking, but falls in cooling.) **Mine were ready after about 15 minutes, but I poured the filling over a very warm crust.

Cool in pan on rack and cut into small squares or rectangles. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Chocolate Crunch Bars

I haven't really given baking much thought this month. I had planned on skipping it entirely, but by the time this weekend came around, I lost my resolve. A simple cookie recipe might have been more appropriate for me, but instead I made a rather rich bar cookie, which in reality was closer to candy. Oh well. It was a recipe I bookmarked several months ago in one of my cookbooks, The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion; The Essential Cookie Cookbook, (The Countryman Press, 2004).

This recipe was aptly named, Sinfully Rich Chocolate Crunch Bars. Curiously the very same recipe is posted on the King Arthur website where it's been renamed, Yuletide Toffee Squares. I wondered briefly if the first name scared too many people away, lol.

I have scaled the original King Arthur recipe down to fit a 13x9 inch pan.

1/2 cup salted butter, melted (1 stick)
2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
3 cups gluten free rolled oats (not the quick cooking kind)
1 1/3 cups (9 ounces) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips
2 tbsp virgin coconut oil (the kind that is solid at room temperature)
2/3 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

Lightly grease a 13x9 inch pan. After greasing the pan, I lined mine with parchment paper because there was mention of the oat base sticking to the pan on the King Arthur website. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and vanilla and salt, and stir until you have a smooth thick mixture. Add the oats and combine until they are evenly coated. Press the mixture firmly into the pan.

Bake the oat base for 10 to 14 minutes, or until it's an even light golden brown. Watch carefully after about 9 minutes; mine was done at 11 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

Melt the chocolate and coconut oil together, stirring constantly until smooth. Spread the mixture evenly over the cooled oat base and sprinkle on the chopped toasted nuts.

Cover very loosely and chill the squares in the refrigerator until the chocolate is firm. Remove from the refrigerator and carefully remove the bars from the pan.

Cut into small squares.

Canada Cornstarch Shortbread with Chocolate

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(about 16 cookies)

The very first time I made shortbread it was from a recipe off the back of a Canada Cornstarch Box. This is one of the best recipes I have ever come across. It produces a rich, buttery shortbread which melts in your mouth.

Occasionally, I'll wrap the shortbread around pieces of chocolate for a delightful, but decadent treat.

adapted from Canada Cornstarch
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
3/4 cup unbleached flour
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2sticks), cut up
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 oz baking chocolate bar, broken into 16 pieces*


Place the cornstarch, icing sugar, salt and flour into the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to combine.  Add the butter and sprinkle the vanilla extract evenly over the top. Run the motor until a soft dough begins to form.

Preheat oven to 300°F.

Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces. Encase a piece of chocolate inside each piece of dough.

Place the cookies about an inch (or more) apart of an ungreased cookie sheet. Come hell or high water, I was determined to get all of these cookies onto my small baking sheet for my counter top oven. This shortbread will spread a bit as you can see from my photo. Bake for about 25-35  minutes or until the edges begin to brown.

Remove from oven and cool on baking sheet for a minute or two, then remove shortbread onto a wire rack.

*I have always used baking chocolate for this, so I have no idea how regular chocolate might behave, but I would probably give that a try if that's all I had on hand. I like using milk chocolate for this, but all I had was bittersweet which turned out rather nice.

Rum Balls

(28-32 rum balls)

Rum balls are pretty easy to make, and one of those things I associate with Christmas. I use whatever I happen to have on hand. It can be day old cake, cookies...  various nuts, such as pecans, walnuts, coconut or hazelnuts.. cocoa powder or chocolate.. bourbon, if you don't care for rum. The rum and melted butter binds everything together, and those amounts can vary depending on the moisture content of the cake or cookie crumbs. I rarely add sugar because the mixture usually already seems sweet enough to me. If I were to add any, I would probably use icing sugar for these.

Peppermint Meringues

(about 75 small meringues)

The peppermint extract in these is so intense (I added a 1/4 teaspoon), they remind me of after dinner mints which dissolve in your mouth. I like them so much, a part of me regrets not having fired up my large oven so I could have doubled the recipe.

They were very easy to make, but they do need to be stored in an air-tight tin, especially if it's humid. Dallas has had a lot of rain recently and I've noticed these meringues will soften if left out on a plate for a day.

Zimtsterne

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(30-34 small cookies)

December is almost always a hectic month for me and I often end up buying a lot of my baked goods. Zimtsterne are among the items I look for when I head to the German deli. I didn't see any this year, and decided to take the plunge and make them myself. I will admit not only did they turn into a bit of a challenge, they didn't even look like the ones I was used to, but I loved the taste and texture of these cookies. They were so much better than any of the store bought versions I have purchased over the years!

These wonderful star-shaped, chewy cookies are gluten free, and "iced" with meringue. They contain ground almonds and cinnamon; Zimt = cinnamon, Sterne = stars.

This recipe is adapted from an old out-of-print German cookbook my mum gave me; Das neue große Kochbuch by Roland Gööck ©1963

The Ginger People's Chewy Ginger Snaps

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(about 52 cookies)

I never think of a ginger snap as chewy, but rather as a crispy thin cookie. While I was shopping at World Market, I noticed a recipe on the back of a tin of the Ginger People's, Crystallized Ginger Chips, for "Chewy" Ginger Snaps, and decided to give these a try. I was very excited by the prospect that recipes on the back of containers rarely let you down.

This recipe made darn good cookies, although I did make a few adjustments (in parentheses) after baking two batches (half the recipe) of these. The main change I made was decreasing the amount of sugar because I found them a tad on the sweet side after rolling them in the additional sugar. For whatever reason, both batches of cookies refused to crack nicely for me.

I liked this cookie enough that I'll be making these again.

Daring Baker Challenge, February 2011; Panna Cotta and Florentines

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

I have never made or had Panna Cotta. I loved the simplicity of this recipe; it's the perfect dessert for a dinner party. The only thing I changed was the milk/cream ratio which I inverted to 1 cup cream to 3 cups milk. The result was still seemed very rich to me. I will definitely make this again!

Jam Squares

(16 squares)

I didn't get very much baking done last month for the holidays, but it's still very much on my mind.

These delicious jam squares are very easy to make. I have made these with different types of jam; all of them have hit the spot. Just use whatever you like or have on hand.

If you prefer these a bit less sweet, then use a bit less jam and/or replace part of the jam with a sugarless, fruit-only spread.

3/4 cup flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
a few pinches of salt, to taste
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
7 tbsp unsalted butter, melted (1 stick, less 1 tbsp)
3/4 -1 cup jam

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and rolled oats in a bowl. Add the melted butter and stir until well mixed.

Pat about 2/3 of the mixture firmly into an 8" square baking pan. Spread the jam over that and then sprinkle the remaining flour/oat mixture over the jam.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until the bars are evenly browned.

Remove from oven and cool. Cut into squares.

Browned Butter Balls

(about 36 cookies)

This recipe has evolved for me over the years. I first started making them when I was still a child.  It began with a recipe for Pecan Sandies in one of my mum's cookbooks. Sometimes I'd swap out the pecans for walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts.

Some years I made these without nuts. This year I excluded the nuts and browned the butter. They turned out great.. a browned butter shortbread.

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp rum or brandy
2/3 cup icing sugar
2 cups unbleached flour
1/4 tsp baking powder

icing sugar

Heat the butter in a small saucepan carefully until it takes on a medium brown colour. Take care for it not to burn and remove from heat immediately when it's done. Pour into a glass bowl and allow to cool. Add the salt, vanilla and rum or brandy and stir thoroughly.

Heat the oven to 325ºF.

Combine the icing sugar, flour and baking powder. Slowly add it to the butter mixture and stir until you have a firm dough.

Shape the dough into small balls and place them onto an ungreased cookie sheet (or you can use a silicone liner, but this isn't necessary; I use one simply out of habit). These hold their shape so they can be placed closer together.

Bake them for about 20-25 minutes or until they are a light golden brown. Sift the additional icing sugar over them while they are still warm.

Lace Cookies

(about 70)

I've had a lot going on  this month and won't be able to bake most of the things I had planned on. The following is one of the quicker and easier cookie recipes I know of.  It's from one of my favourite cookbooks. The cookbook doesn't have a lot of photos, but it has some of the best cookie recipes I have come across anywhere.

These lace cookies are thin and crispy and have a nice buttery flavour.

The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion; The Essential Cookie Cookbook
2004 The Countryman Press, Woodstock, Vermont

3 tbsp unbleached flour
2 1/4 cups rolled oats (not the quick kind)
2 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone mats.

In a bowl combine the flour, oats, sugar and salt. Warm the butter until it's just melted and stir that into the dry mixture.

Beat the egg and vanilla together and stir that into the cookie mixture.

Drop the batter by the teaspoonful onto the prepared baking sheets..  these spread a lot, so leave plenty of room between them.

Bake for about 6-7 minutes, or until they are a medium brown around the edges. Remove and allow to cool completely on the liners. They will come off very easily if you bend the silicone mat slightly.

*I have never tried making these using parchment paper as the liner. The recipe does mention that they might stick (tenaciously) if you don't remove them with a metal spatula as soon as they have cooled slightly.

Lemon Bars

(about 25 squares)

These lemon squares probably won't last very long, which kinda makes them a bad idea, but I have been thinking about them for quite some time now.

shortbread crust
1 cup flour
3 tbsp icing sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
8 tbsp butter, (1 stick)

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Combine the flour, icing sugar, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the dough blade. Pulse a few times to combine well.

Cut the butter into a few pieces and scatter them evenly over the flour mixture. Pulse a few more times until the mixture resembles a course crumbs.

Remove and pack firmly into the bottom of an 8" square baking dish.

Bake the shortbread for about 20 minutes or until the top looks golden brown. In the meantime, prepare the lemon curd.

lemon curd
1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar, depending on how tangy or sweet you like your curd
zest from 2 large lemons
juice from 2 large lemons, about 1/2 cup
2 eggs
2 egg yolks

Place the sugar and lemon zest into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Let the motor run until the zest and sugar are well combined.

Add the lemon juice, eggs and egg yolks. Run the motor until the mixture is well combined.

When the shortbread crust is ready, remove it from the oven and pour the lemon mixture evenly over it.

Return to the oven and continue baking for another 20 minutes or until the lemon curd has set.

Remove and allow to cool. Dust with icing sugar, if you like. Cut into squares.

Flourless Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pecans

(about 6-8 cookies)

I woke up to a very cold house this morning and wondered what was up with the temperature. Its nearing the end of March and often I'm already running the air conditioner. Well, I looked out of the window and there was snow on the ground; in Dallas of all places.

This seems to have been an unusual year. Last month around President's Day we had snow which remained on the ground for several days as well. Brings back memories of Canada.

Cold days seem nice for baking, so I made a batch of these cookies to have with my coffee this morning. I wasn't thinking and used white chocolate chips which are too sweet for this. In retrospect, I should have used semi or bittersweet chocolate chips.

1 1/3 cups icing sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder, I used Hershey's unsweetened natural

1/2 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup pecans, lightly toasted and broken up
2 large egg whites, slightly beaten

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Combine the icing sugar, cocoa powder, chocolate chips and pecans in a large bowl. When the dry ingredients are well combined, stir in the egg whites just until everything is evenly moist.

Drop by the heaping tablespoonful onto parchment or Spilat lined cookie sheets (those French baking mats).

Bake for about 16-18 minutes or until the tops are slightly cracked. I err on the side of slightly under-baked as I like them somewhat chewy. Allow to cool before removing from the cookie sheets.

I make these in small batches because they seem best the day they are made or perhaps one day later.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

(about 24 cookies)

My mother found out she had celiac disease a year or two ago and complained about how awful some of the gluten free products were. Initially I tried out various store bought cakes, cookies and breads. In the process, I came across a wonderful bakery outside of Seattle, Wow Baking Company which makes some of the best cookies I've tasted. I can tolerate gluten just fine, but sometimes I can't resist picking up a tub of their Ginger Molasses Cookies. They are simply amazing.

I've also started to experiment in the kitchen a bit. This peanut butter cookie recipe appears to be quite popular on the internet. What bothered me about it though was the amount of sugar used. One cup of sugar to one cup of peanut butter. Too sweet for my taste. I cut the sugar by half, added a tablespoon of cornstarch and the cookie turned out great.

1 cup chunky peanut butter, unsweetened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1 large egg

1 - 1 1/2  3.5 oz bars of semi-sweet chocolate, broken into pieces (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine the peanut butter, sugar, cornstarch and baking soda in a bowl. When it's well mixed, add the egg and continue to mix until the egg is well incorporated. The dough will also lose it's sticky, gooey consistancy.

Shape small walnut sized pieces into balls, place on an ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart, and flatten with a fork or the bottom of a glass. Place a piece of chocolate onto the centre of each cookie, if using.

Bake for about 12 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned; the centre should still be soft. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool on the cookie sheet.