Category: Dessert – Cookies

Servings: 6 dozen
Preheat: 350
Prep Time: 1 hour, plus 2 hours’ chilling
Source: New York Times

Jessica Hulett’s tender, cakey ricotta cookies taste like the white part of the best black and white cookie you’ve ever had. The recipe comes from Ms. Hulett’s grandmother Dorie, who used to flavor the cookies with anise, if she used flavoring at all. Adding lemon zest gives the cookies a fragrant brightness. We approve. —Melissa Clark

Ingredients: 

2 sticks (1 cup) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
425 grams sugar (about 2 cups)
1 ¾ cups ricotta cheese (15 ounces), preferably fresh
Finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
480 grams all-purpose flour (about 4 cups)
10 grams baking soda (2 teaspoons)
4 grams fine sea salt (about 3/4 teaspoon)
450 grams confectioners’ sugar (about 4 cups)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¼ cup to 1/2 cup milk, as needed

Directions: 

Using an electric mixer, cream 2 sticks butter with sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add ricotta, lemon zest and 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla and beat well. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Scrape the sides of the bowl down with a rubber spatula, then beat in flour, baking soda and salt. Cover dough and chill for at least 2 hours and up to a week.

Heat oven to 350 degrees and line several cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick liners. Shape tablespoons of dough into balls. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake until pale golden on the bottom, about 15 minutes. Let cool on wire racks.

Melt remaining tablespoon butter. Whisk confectioners’ sugar to break up any large lumps, then whisk in melted butter, lemon juice, remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla and enough milk to make a spreadable icing. Spread icing on cooled cookies, then let set for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Servings: 50
Preheat: 350
Prep Time: 
Source: From “The Last Touch”, Gourmet Magazine, October 1986

crsip delicious lemon cookie

Ingredients: 

1 ½ sticks (¾ cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ tablespoons freshly grated lemon rind (about 3 lemons)
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons double-acting baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
Confectioners’ sugar for sifting over the cookies

Directions: 

In a bowl with an electric mixer cream together the butter and the sugar, add the vanilla, the rind, and the lemon juice, beating, and beat the mixture until it is smooth.

Into the bowl sift together the flour, the baking powder, the baking soda, and the salt and blend the dough well.

On a piece of wax paper form the dough into a log 1 ½ inches in a diameter, using the paper as a guide.

Chill the log, wrapped in the wax paper and foil, for 2 hours. The dough may be made up to 3 months in advance and kept wrapped well and frozen.

Cut the log into ⅛-inch slices with a sharp knife and bake the cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets in a preheated 350℉ oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are just golden.

Transfer the cookies with a metal spatula to racks to cool and sift the confectioners’ sugar lightly over them. Makes about 50 cookies

Servings: 36 cookies
Preheat: 325
Prep Time: 1 hour
Source: https://www.simplysogood.com/creepy-witch-finger-cookies/

Tender crisp butter cookie shaped witch fingers. Creepy Witch finger cookies are a perfect Halloween treat. How can something that tastes this good look so bad?

Ingredients: 

1 cup unsalted butter softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon Almond extract
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt (1/2 teaspoon salt, if using salted butter)
3/4 cup whole blanched almonds
green food coloring (few drops)
1 tube red decorator gel or raspberry jam

Directions: 

In a bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg, almond and vanilla extract; beat in flour, baking powder and salt. Add a few drops of green food coloring until it reaches your desired green. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll heaping tablespoons of dough into finger shape for each cookie. Press almond firmly into one end for the nail. Squeeze in center to create knuckle shape; using a paring knife or toothpick, make several places to form knuckle.

Place on lightly greased baking sheets or parchment lined baking sheets. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until pale golden. Let cool for 3 minutes.

Lift up almond; squeeze red decorator gel onto nail bed and press almond back into place, so gel oozes out from underneath. Let cool. Makes about 28 large cigar size cookies. If you only use 1 teaspoon of dough, you will get about 4 dozen cookies.

Servings: 24 cookies
Preheat: 350
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Source: Dorie Greenspan

David’s favorite cookie – we made it for his 67th birthday.

Ingredients: 

Sesame Crunch
1/4 C (40g) sesame seeds
2 Tbsp white sugar
2 tsp water

Cookie Dough
3/4 cup (102 g) all purpose flour
1/3 cup (28 g) unsweetened cocoa powder (sift if there are lumps)
1/4 tsp baking soda
6 tbsp (85 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/4 cup (63 g) tahini
3/4 cup (150 g) granulated white sugar
1/3 cup (67 g) packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp fine salt
1 large egg
6 oz (170 g) finely chopped dark chocolate (or 1 cup chocolate chips)

Directions: 

Line 2 baking sheets with silicon mats or parchment paper. Preheat oven.

Sesame crunch.
Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat, or lightly butter the baking sheet, and place it near the stove. Measure out sesame seeds and place them near the stove. Sprinkle granulated white sugar in the bottom of a small heavy skillet (non-stick is great here), then drizzle it with water. Place the skillet over medium-high heat and allow the sugar to come to a boil. Continue cooking, swirling gently 1 or 2 times to make sure all the sugar is incorporated, until it starts turning color. Once it is pale golden in spots, gently stir it with a silicone spatula until it is evenly amber in color (this will happen quickly, so don’t turn your back), then add the sesame seeds and stir to coat. Once coated evenly in the caramel, scrape the mixture out onto your prepared baking sheet, spread it as thinly as you can manage (don’t worry if it clumps) and let it cool completely. Once cool, finely chop the sesame crunch (you want pieces no larger than a pea) and set aside.

Cookie dough
Whisk the flour, cocoa, and baking soda together in a medium bowl. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, tahini, both sugars, and salt. Cream together on medium speed for 2 minutes until creamy and pale in color, scraping down the bowl a few times to incorporate everything. Add egg and cream for another minute or so, again scraping down the bowl.

With the mixer off, add the flour-cocoa mixture all at once and stir on low speed until the dry ingredients are almost but not quite combined. Pour in the chopped chocolate and the chopped sesame crunch, and mix until the dry ingredients have disappeared and the chocolate and sesame crunch are evenly distributed. Give the dough, which will look like frosting, a few turns with a spatula.

Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop out level portions of dough on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2″ between each cookie (they will spread in the oven!). Bake in the preheated oven for 13-15 minutes, rotating the pans top to bottom and front to back half-way through baking, until the edges are just set. Allow the cookies to rest on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then move to a rack.

Servings: 2 dozen brownies
Preheat: 375
Prep Time: 45 min
Source: A Taste of Home

People will not believe how wonderful these bars are. They have a unique flavor which people will come back for more.

Ingredients: 

4 cups finely chopped green tomatoes
2 cups packed brown sugar, divided
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon extract
3/4 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions: 

Drain tomatoes on paper towels for 10 minutes. In a saucepan, combine tomatoes, 1 cup of brown sugar and lemon juice. Simmer, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in extract; set aside.

In a bowl, cream the butter and remaining brown sugar. Add flour, baking soda and salt; mix well. Stir in oats and nuts. Press 2-1/2 cups on a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Spread tomato mixture over crust. Crumble remaining oat mixture on top. Bake at 375° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.

Servings: Makes 2 dozen cookies
Preheat: 375
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Source: Sullivan Street Bakery Cookbook

We named these chocolate-packed rounds colpa degno because the term roughly translates as “worth the guilt.” Created by Megan Fitzroy Phelan, currently an owner of Longoven Restaurant.

These cookies are small and addictive and so delightful that they are worth any remorse you might feel from eating a half dozen or so.

Ingredients: 

1 2/3 cups (185 g) confectioners’ sugar
1/2 scant cup (40 g) unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 g) coarse sea salt
Whites from 2 large eggs
1 1/4 teaspoons (6 g) vanilla extract
1/2 cup (100 g) milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup (100 g) dark chocolate chips

Directions: 

Heat the oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt with a fork in a medium bowl to combine. Whisk together the egg whites and the vanilla with the fork in a small bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg whites; stir the mixture with the fork until it just begins to come together. Add the chocolates and stir until well combined. The dough will be extremely sticky and as dark as black licorice.

At the bakery, we use a #60 scoop (like a small ice cream scoop) to scoop and ball these, but an ordinary 1 tablespoon measuring spoon works well too. Pack the batter into the spoon by squashing and dragging the spoon against the inside of the bowl to make sure the rounds of dough are tight and compact—if the dough is too loosely packed, the cookies tend to really spread out and separate as they bake. Place the rounds of dough on the parchment-lined cookie sheet a good 3 inches apart and bake for about 12 minutes or until the tops are glossy and set. When the cookies are done, they will be quite gooey, but they will continue to cook as they cool. Once they’ve cooled off enough to eat, they should be soft and chewy—if they’re hard or crisp, they’ve baked too much. Cool the cookies on the paper, set on a wire rack, for 10 minutes. Repeat with the remaining dough. Serve these cookies the day they are made.

Servings: 25 cookies
Preheat: 325
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Source: Real Simple, April 2009

A delicious light cookie
Great for Passover

Ingredients: 

1 14-ounce package sweetened shredded coconut
1 cup sliced almonds
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 large egg whites

Directions: 

Heat oven to 325° F.
In a large bowl, combine the coconut, almonds, sugar, lemon zest, and salt.
Mix in the egg whites- (whisk them- per Carol).
Drop mounds of the mixture (each equal to 2 tablespoons) onto 2 parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them 1½ inches apart.
Bake, switching the baking sheets halfway through, until the edges begin to brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
Cool slightly on baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Servings: 8 servings; makes two 9 1/2- to 10-inch cookies, plus leftovers ( 16 smaller hearts)
Preheat: 350
Prep Time: fast
Source: Deb Lindsey, Washington Post

Use heart cookie cutter

Ingredients: 

FOR THE COOKIES

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-process
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) cold unsalted butter, cut into 18 pieces
1 cold large egg yolk
1 tablespoon ice-cold water
Sanding sugar (optional)

For the Frosting
3 ounces semisweet chocolate
1/2 Cup heavy cream

Directions: 

DIRECTIONS

For the cookies: Combine the flour, confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder and salt in a food processor and pulse to blend. Scatter the pieces of butter over the mixture and pulse until they are cut in and the mixture looks grainy.

Lightly whisk together the yolk and water in a small bowl; add to the food processor a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When incorporated, process in 10-second pulses until the dough forms clumps and curds. Pinch the dough, and it should hold together; if it doesn’t, pulse a few more times.

Turn the dough onto a work surface (not floured), divide it in half, shape each piece into a disk and put each disk between sheets of parchment or wax paper. One at a time, roll the dough out into a round, turning it over frequently and peeling away the paper often. Try to get a circle that’s 9 to 10 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick (a little thicker is fine). Slide each of the rounds, still between the papers, onto a baking sheet (you can stack them). Refrigerate for 2 hours or freeze for 1 hour.

When you’re ready to bake, position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees. Have a few large baking sheets at hand.

Peel away the top and bottom pieces of paper on each round and then replace them. (If you don’t peel them first, the dough may buckle during baking.)

Use a pencil to draw a large heart on the top paper of each circle, then use a sharp knife to cut the dough around the heart. Lift off the paper, remove the excess dough (reserve the scraps) and slide the hearts, still on the bottom pieces of paper, onto separate baking sheets. (While they are baking, gather the scraps together, reroll them, chill and then use heart-shaped cutters to make additional cookies; bake one sheet at a time for 12 to 15 minutes.)

At this point, If you don’t plan to ice the cookies, you can sprinkle them with sanding sugar, if you’d like.

Bake the large hearts for 19 to 22 minutes, rotating the baking sheets top to bottom and front to back after 10 minutes, until they’re dull-looking, a little crinkled, set around the edges and almost firm at their centers. Let the cookies rest for 5 minutes, then carefully slide them, paper and all, onto racks; cool to room temperature. (smaller hearts – 10 minutes)

Frosting
Bring heavy cream to boil. Then pour it into a heatproof bowl that contains the chopped chocolate. Stir until combined and thick. Cool Ganache and spread.

Servings: 30 cookies
Preheat: 325
Prep Time: 
Source: Food 52 Blog

This recipe grew out of a need to satisfy cravings for my favorite childhood cookie. I knew that if I went to the store and simply bought a package of Fig Newtons, I would probably be disappointed, as taste memories always seem to be more vibrant than the food that inspired them.

But I had a hunch that homemade Fig Newtons might just live up to my nostalgia-fueled expectations — and boy, did they ever. Soft and slightly chewy with the pleasant pop of tiny fig seeds in the filling, these figgy lovelies manage not only to outshine the cookie that inspired them, but they’re also good enough to make new memories.

Ingredients: 

For the cookie dough

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) butter, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Zest of one orange

For the fig filling

1 pound dried figs, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup water

Directions: 

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a mixing bowl and set aside. In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), beat the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Add the egg, vanilla, and orange zest and beat until combined. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until well blended. Scoop the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, shape into a disc, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Combine the figs and water in a medium saucepan. Bring the water to a boil, cover, and allow the water to boil until the figs have absorbed it. Transfer the figs to a food processor and pulse until the mixture is completely smooth.
Preheat the oven to 325? F. Place a large piece of parchment on your work surface and flour it liberally. Divide the chilled dough into 4 pieces, place one piece on the parchment, and return the other 3 to the refrigerator.

Shape the piece of dough into a rectangle, then roll the dough, stopping frequently to make sure it isn’t sticking to the parchment, into a long rectangle (about 4 inches wide by 12 inches long). Be vigilant about lifting and reflouring the dough as you roll to prevent sticking.
Scoop the fig filling into a pastry bag or a plastic zip-top bag with one corner cut off. Pipe the filling in a 1-inch strip down the center of the dough rectangle. Fold one side of the dough over the filling, then the other. Press down on the seam to close it.

Using the parchment, flip the cookie roll over, seam-side down. Transfer it gingerly to a baking sheet and refrigerate while you repeat this step with the other 3 pieces of dough. Bake the logs of dough for about 16 minutes or until the dough is no longer tacky and has begun to brown around the edges.
While the cookie rolls are still warm, cut them into 1 1/2- to 2-inch cookies. Immediately place the cookies in a single layer inside a plastic zip-top bag and close the bag. This seems counterintuitive, but in order to keep the cookies soft, like the real thing, they need to steam.

Cool the cookies completely. Remove them from the bags and place in an airtight container. They can be kept, at room temperature, for up to 2 weeks.

Servings: Makes 24 Cookies ( upto 3 dozen)
Preheat: 350
Prep Time: 
Source: Excerpted from The How Can It Be Gluten Free Cookbook. Excerpted by permission of America’s Test Kitchen.

We started our testing by swapping in our flour blend for the all-purpose flour in a standard Toll House cookie recipe. It was no surprise that these cookies had problems: They were flat, sandy, and greasy. We’d discovered during our baked goods testing that gluten-free flour blends simply can’t absorb as much fat as all-purpose flour can, so cutting back on the butter helped to minimize greasiness. Less butter, along with some xanthan gum, also helped alleviate the spread issue, so the cookies didn’t bake up so flat. As for the sandiness, we knew from our gluten-free muffin testing (see Chapter 1) that fixing this problem required a two-step approach. The starches in our blend needed more liquid as well as more time to hydrate and soften, so we added a couple tablespoons of milk and let the dough rest for 30 minutes. This resting time also had a secondary benefit: It gave the sugar time to dissolve, which led to faster caramelization in the oven. And that meant a cookie not just with deeper flavor, but also with a chewier center and crisper edges. Finally, we wanted our cookies to be less cakey and more chewy. We realized creaming the butter, as the original Toll House recipe directs, was aerating the butter too much. Melting the butter instead, and changing the ratio of brown sugar to granulated sugar, gave our cookies the right chewy texture. The extra brown sugar also gave our cookies a more complex, toffee-like flavor. Bite for bite, this was a chocolate chip cookie that could rival the best versions of the classic. Not all brands of chocolate chips are processed in a gluten-free facility, so read labels carefully.

Ingredients: 

8 ounces (13/4 cups) ATK Gluten-Free Flour Blend
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
5 1/4 ounces (3/4 cup packed) light brown sugar
2 1/3 ounces (1/3 cup) granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
7 1/2 ounces (11/4 cups) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions: 

1. Whisk flour blend, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt together in medium bowl; set aside. Whisk melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together in large bowl until well combined and smooth. Whisk in egg, milk, and vanilla and continue to whisk until smooth. Stir in flour mixture with rubber spatula and mix until soft, homogeneous dough forms. Fold in chocolate chips. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rest for 30 minutes. (Dough will be sticky and soft.)

2. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using 2 soup spoons and working with about 11/2 tablespoons of dough at a time, portion dough and space 2 inches apart on prepared sheets. Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until golden brown and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 11 to 13 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking.

3. Let cookies cool on sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. (Cookies are best eaten on day they are baked, but they can be cooled and placed immediately in airtight container and stored at room temperature for up to 1 day.)