Tuiles and Trees

Earlier this week, Dan and I decorated our first Christmas tree together!

Apparently, if you wait until the week of Christmas to decorate your tree, all of the ornaments go on sale. We decided to do a classy tree, with glass ball ornaments.. ok so they're mostly "shatterproof" glass, aka plastic.

That same evening, I tested the good graces of my La Farine apron once again. Flipping through my cookie book, I scanned ingredient lists to find something I could actually make. (A lot of the recipes call for cream of tartar.. probably a good thing we don't have any, or Dan and I would eat way too many cookies.)

I stumbled upon tuiles, a super thin wafer cookie that is incredibly pliable when hot, and very stiff and crunchy when cooled. They also look a lot like GIANT potato chips.

The recipe toted the difficulty of making these cookies--not only do they involve an unusual shaping method, they also require precise removal from the oven. The line between crisp and chewy is almost as thin as the line between crisp and burnt.

Fortunately, I had luck on my side.

Well, except on this batch.. I used parchment paper instead of aluminum foil, because I like to experiment. Outcome: cookie fail.

I'm not going to give you a recipe, because you should really just go buy the book. I will give you some advice, however:

1. Use aluminum foil, dull side up, liberally buttered. Alice Medrich claims silicone mats work as well--I don't yet have silicone mats with which to test, but I trust her.

2. After 10 minutes in the oven, check often.

3. Once they're out of the oven, work fast. On your first batch, I recommend making just one or two cookies, so you see how they behave right out of the oven. From there, you can increase the size of your batches.

4. Feel free to re-use aluminum foil, just make sure to re-butter!

Happy baking!

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com.

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Earth-Shattering Toblerone Cookies

I saw this recipe in CGCCMiyM Cookies and knew I had to make it, as soon as possible. Unfortunately, we ran out of chocolate chips.. so I delayed, hoping for a care package from parents well-stocked with chocolate chips. But then we ran out of chocolate.. and cocoa powder... and things got desperate.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, so D and I went to the student store in search of something acceptable to tide us over. (The care package did arrive eventually, with chocolate chips, mint chips, butterscotch chips, cappuccino chips, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and cocoa powder. Phew!) What we found was more than acceptable--Toblerone!

We got home, and after gobbling up a whole bar of Toblerone all by myself (D gave up non-homemade desserts for lent, poor guy), I set about making these cookies with the remaining two bars.

I didn't have any corn syrup, as the recipe called for, but Toblerone bars have honey in them, so I replaced the corn syrup with honey.

Freeze half of the dough!!! After you split it into chunks of dough, freeze the chunks on an extra baking tray and then throw the frozen chunks into a ziptop bag in the freezer for later. Just label them with the baking time/temperature, the date, and the recipe name. I promise, any cookies you make will get eaten within 24 hours. Your waistline will thank you for using the freezer method of self-control.

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Earth Shattering Toblerone Cookies
makes 16 big, delicious, crunchy, crispy cookies, plus 1 cookie dough ball for sampling
adapted from Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-your-Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich


Equipment
baking tray(s)
aluminum foil
kitchen scale (sorry, didn't take volume measurements on this one!)
two bowls
butter melting equipment
oven

Ingredients
6oz all-purpose flour
0.5t baking soda
1.25 sticks unsalted butter
1.5oz quick oats
3.5oz white sugar
1.75oz brown sugar
2oz. honey
2T milk
0.5t salt
2 regular size Toblerone bars

Directions
1. Mix the flour and baking soda together in a small bowl, fluffing it lightly with a fork or whisk.
2. Melt the butter completely in a medium bowl, and then add the oats, sugars, honey, milk and salt.
3. Add the dry to the wet and mix until everything is just incorporated.
4. While the dough is cooling, chop your Toblerone bars into small chunks. Mix these into the dough.
5. Break off a chunk of cookie dough to tide you over while the dough rests overnight in the refrigerator. (No raw eggs! Whoohoo!)
6. The following day, line baking trays with aluminum foil and preheat your oven to 325°F. Break the cookie dough into 1.75oz pieces (about the size of a golf ball), placing four cookies on each tray. Flatten the dough slightly before you bake.
7. Bake these for 20-25 minutes at 325°F, until they are dark golden brown. Let them cool completely before eating.
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When I have access to an ice cream maker, I intend to make these into chocolate chunk cookie dough ice cream.

Do you own a kitchen scale? What's your favorite use for it? Let me know in a comment or by emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com!

Book Review: Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-In-Your-Mouth Cookies

In high school, I went to one of my teammate's birthday parties and had some of the best chocolate cake I'd ever had in my life. When I got home, my mom informed me that my teammate's mother was Alice Medrich. As it turns out, Berkeley isn't a bad place to grow up.

A number of years later, with that knowledge in hand, I felt confident purchasing her new cookie book, Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-In-Your-Mouth Cookies. I've only made two of the recipes so far, but  my confidence was certainly deserved.

First, I made her whole-wheat biscotti. Last time I made biscotti, I accidentally turned the oven to 450°F instead of 350°F. These clearly turned out better. There wasn't anything particularly mind-blowing about the cookies, but they were really quite good. (They also made great spoons for eating pudding.)

Second, I made her Peanut Butter Clouds (although mine had a twist). This is something I never would have thought to make. So far in my life, I've been very much so a cookie purist--chocolate chip cookies, maybe some oatmeal thrown in. They were divine.When you buy the book, make them, ASAP.

The book also has a few sections on ingredients and prepping your kitchen for cookie madness. They're really helpful, so I suggest reading them. (It's helpful knowledge for more than just cookie baking.)

Ok, so the recipes are delicious, and D is certainly enjoying me owning a cookie cookbook, but a few notes of warning:
1. You will make cookies more often, and you will eat them (because they are delicious).
2. This is not a book full of quick cookie recipes to make on the fly. A lot of them involve interesting and different ingredients that you probably don't have on hand. Many others involve sitting overnight in the refrigerator. There are some quick and easy recipes, but it's not the majority of the book.
3. The book is terribly, horribly, awfully organized. I find that it's impossible to find almost anything in it, so I've taken to using post-it flags every time I find a recipe I like. Pretty soon it's going to be filled with flags. The book has an index, but it's surprisingly difficult to read. The table of contents isn't much help either, especially if you like crunchy, chewy, crispy gooey and melt-in-your-mouth cookies.

Still, all-in-all, this book is a win. I mean, it has upwards of 6 different brownies recipes--what more can a girl ask for in a cookbook???

Remix: Peanut Butter Cookies

When I say peanut butter cookies, I know what you're thinking:

(peanut butter + sugar + eggs) * oven = cookie

Well, it's time to rethink the peanut butter cookie. The original recipe came from Alice Medrich's book, Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-your-Mouth Cookies. I made two batches--one was exactly as she specified in her book, the other with my own addition. Mine won, hands down.

These are the originals, with chopped peanuts on top

The cookie itself is crispy but gets stuck in your teeth like cotton candy. The Reese's Peanut Butter Cup I snuck in the middle? The chocolate and peanut butter melt and stick to your tongue. It's an incredible play of textures.

The best part? The cookie is only 50 calories.

You'll burn off at least 2 cookies if you whisk by hand.

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Peanut Butter Surprises

makes 30-35 cookies

adapted from Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-your-Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich

Equipment

whisk + really strong arm OR electric mixer OR stand mixer

bowl

measuring cups OR scale+1 measuring spoon

rubber spatula (OR something similar)

parchment paper

2 baking trays

plastic bag OR pastry bag OR spoon

oven

Ingredients

3 egg whites

0.125t cream of tartar

4.60 oz sugar (2/3c)

3oz chunky all-natural peanut butter (1/3c)

2 bags Reese's Minis (they come in bags and are pre-unwrapped)

chopped peanuts (optional)