cookie – Westchester Supper Club

December 15, 2019December 15, 2019 » by Dino » Theme: Cookie Swap

Notes

Serving size is 1 cookie

These raspberry filled Grinch Cookies are perfect for Christmas and so easy to make with an easy homemade sugar cookie dough. Can use store bought dough for a time saver!

If you don’t have a heart cookie cutter, use a small paring knife to make the heart shaped center of the cookie.

Store leftover baked and filled cookies in the refrigerator for up to 5 days in tightly covered container.

Unfilled cookies can be frozen for up to 2 months after baking in a freezer proof container or bag.

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter , softened
1 cup sugar
1 pinch salt
1 egg , at room temperature
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
3–4 drops green food coloring
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup all-natural seedless raspberry preserves, jam, or jelly
green sugar sprinkles

Instructions

Place butter, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Using a stand-up mixer with a paddle attachment or a handheld mixer, cream ingredients together at medium speed until light and fluffy (about 4 minutes).
Scrape down sides, add egg and vanilla, Beat for another 2–3 minutes, scraping down sides as necessary, until well combined. Add 3–4 drops of green food coloring and mix for another minute or until the green coloring is evenly distributed throughout dough and there are no streaks of color.
Slowly add flour, ½ cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Dough should be firm, not sticky, but still be soft. Divide dough in half and put each half between two pieces of heavy-duty freezer plastic wrap or parchment paper. Roll each piece of dough to ¼″ thick and place in refrigerator on flat surface for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or use a silicone baking mat.
Remove one prepared dough sheet at a time from refrigerator. Remove top layer of parchment paper or plastic wrap and cut out 30 cookies using a round shaped cutter with a heart insert. Place on baking sheet and coat the top of each cookie with green sprinkles, if using. Take out other cookie dough sheet and cut out 30 cookies using just a round shaped cutter. Place on baking sheet.
Bake 8–10 minutes, or until lightly brown on edges. Let cool for minute or two on baking sheet, then transfer to wire rack to cool.
When cookies are completely cooled, take the round cookies and spread a little of the raspberry preserves on each one. At this point, if you haven’t used the green sprinkles, sift powdered sugar on top of each heart cut-out cookie. Lightly press it on top of jelled cookie.

December 11, 2016 » by Michael » Theme: Cookie Swap

Twix

null — Twix (Millionaire’s shortbread) has a lot going for it: a crunchy shortbread base; a chewy, caramel-like filling; and a shiny, snappy chocolate top (and bottom). The only thing that could make it better would be foolproof methods for producing all three layers. We started by making a quick shortbread with melted butter rather than pulling out the mixer or food processor. Sweetened condensed milk is important to the flavor of the filling, but it also makes the filling vulnerable to breaking because the whey proteins, crucial to keeping the mixture emulsified, have been damaged by heat both during processing and during the cooking of the filling. We added fresh cream to supply just enough whey to keep it together. Melting the chocolate very carefully so that it never got too hot and stirring in grated chocolate at the end created a smooth, firm top layer, which made a suitably elegant finish for this rich yet refined cookie.

ingredients

Crust

2 ½cups (12 ½ ounces) all-purpose flour

½cup (3 ½ ounces) granulated sugar

¾teaspoon salt

16tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1cup packed (7 ounces) brown sugar

½cup heavy cream

½cup corn syrup

8tablespoons unsalted butter

½teaspoon salt

Chocolate

8ounces bittersweet chocolate (6 ounces chopped fine, 2 ounces grated)

Makes 40 cookies

For a caramel filling with the right texture, monitor the temperature with an instant-read thermometer. We prefer Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Premium Baking Bar for this recipe. Grating a portion of the chocolate is important for getting the chocolate to set properly; the small holes on a box grater work well for this task. Stir often while melting the chocolate and don’t overheat it.

1. FOR THE CRUST: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Make foil sling for 13 by 9-inch baking pan by folding 2 long sheets of aluminum foil; first sheet should be 13 inches wide and second sheet should be 9 inches wide. Lay sheets of foil in pan perpendicular to each other, with extra foil hanging over edges of pan. Push foil into corners and up sides of pan, smoothing foil flush to pan. Combine flour, sugar, and salt in medium bowl. Add melted butter and stir with rubber spatula until flour is evenly moistened. Crumble dough evenly over bottom of prepared pan. Using your fingertips and palm of your hand, press and smooth dough into even thickness. Using fork, pierce dough at 1-inch intervals. Bake until light golden brown and firm to touch, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack. Using sturdy metal spatula, press on entire surface of warm crust to compress (this will make finished bars easier to cut). Let crust cool until it is just warm, at least 20 minutes.

2. FOR THE FILLING: Stir all ingredients together in large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until mixture registers between 236 and 239 degrees (temperature will fluctuate), 16 to 20 minutes. Pour over crust and spread to even thickness (mixture will be very hot). Let cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours.

3. FOR THE CHOCOLATE: Microwave chopped chocolate in bowl at 50 percent power, stirring every 15 seconds, until melted but not much warmer than body temperature (check by holding in palm of your hand), 1 to 2 minutes. Add grated chocolate and stir until smooth, returning to microwave for no more than 5 seconds at a time to finish melting if necessary. Spread chocolate evenly over surface of filling. Refrigerate shortbread until chocolate is just set, about 10 minutes. (I flipped it over then coated the other side too. That made it very tricky to cut without cracking the chotolate.

4. Using foil overhang, lift shortbread out of pan and transfer to cutting board; discard foil. Using serrated knife and gentle sawing motion, cut shortbread in half crosswise to create two 6 1/2 by 9-inch rectangles. Cut each rectangle in half to make four 3 1/2 by 9-inch strips. Cut each strip crosswise into 10 equal pieces. (Shortbread can be stored at room temperature, between layers of parchment, for up to 1 week.)

December 23, 2015July 21, 2016 » by Michael » Theme: Cookie Swap

Fauxreos (Oreo Clones)

I was very happy with how this came out. In my opinion they were pretty similar to Oreo’s and they were maybe a little better.

This is a mix of 2 recipes. I tripled the cookie recipe and doubled the filling recipe and I think that worked out just about perfectly. (may have been the other way around). Anyway in my opinion I over-stuffed a bunch of them (like double or triple stuffed Oreo’s). I think I used ½ inch round cookie cutter for this.

Makes about 24 cookies.

Ingredients

1 3/4 C (9 oz) all-purpose flour

1/2 C and 2 T (2 oz) brut or natural unsweetened cocoa powder. (I used Double Dutch Cocoa Blend which is apparently a dark blend of Dutch-process and black cocoas)

1/4 t Kosher salt

2 sticks (8 oz) room temperature unsalted butter

1/2 C granulated sugar 2 T light brown sugar 3 T honey

For the filling:

2 ounces shortening or unsalted butter at room temperature

5 ounces powdered sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

To make the cookies

Whisk the flour, cocoa, and salt together in a bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugars, and honey together until fluffy, about four minutes. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three parts, beating each until just combined. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least a half an hour and up to two days. The dough can also be made ahead and frozen for up to two months. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, and working quickly, roll out the dough on a lightly (rolled in cocoa instead of flour) surface to 1/4 inch thickness. I roll the dough out on a piece of wax paper, and then flip it over onto another piece of wax paper and peel off the piece that is now on the top. This makes it easier to pick up the cookies intact to place them on the cookie sheet.

Gather up the scraps, roll them out, and make more cookies. You might have to put the scraps back into the fridge if it’s warm in your kitchen. Bake each sheet of cookies for 15-18 minutes, until the cookies are firm. Transfer them to a wire rack and let cool completely.

To make the filling: With a hand or stand mixer, cream together shortening/butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Cream on medium speed for five minutes; use a rubber spatula to scrape the bowl down periodically. The long mixing time aerates the filling, making it especially white and less gritty.

Using a spatula, transfer the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip. Alternately, portion with a melon-baller sized ice cream scoop, or by using Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off as a makeshift pastry bag.

To assemble the cookies: Flip half the wafers upside down. Onto each, pipe or scoop 1 teaspoon of filling (specifically: 1/4 oz for Double Stuf, 1/8 ounce for regular) directly into the center. To finish, top with remaining wafers and press down with your fingers, applying very even pressure so the filling will spread uniformly across the cookie.

Transfer cookies to an airtight container and refrigerate for several hours. This is crucial. After whipping the filling, it will be quite soft. Refrigerating it (especially if you’re using butter) will solidify the filling, restoring its proper texture, and bonding it with the wafers. Serve.