Swiss Chocolate Almond Cookies

I know it's latke season and doughnut season. But in the larger world out there it's also cookie season.

Well, actually, for me it is always cookie season. When I was a kid my Mom baked cookies all the time and when we got home from school we had milk and cookies every day. That was the snack -- before the days of chips (potato, kale or otherwise in little bags) and frozen pizza.

My brothers taught me how to dunk.

So when cookie season comes around I feel nostalgic. Sure, I make the old family favorites. Fannies. Peanut butter cookies. Chocolate Chunk Grand Finale cookies. 

But occasionally I try something new. I'm not always happy with the results and most often I discard the recipe.

But these were wonderful. And also perfect for dunking.

 

Swiss Chocolate Almond Cookies

• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 cups finely ground almonds (8 ounces)
• 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons sugar for rolling
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1/2 teaspoon orange extract)

In a food processor, pulse the chocolate until almost ground. Add the cocoa powder, cinnamon, salt and cloves and process on pulse to incorporate the ingredients until finely ground and well mixed. Place the mixture into a bowl, add the ground almonds and mix to blend the ingredients thoroughly.

In the bowl of an electric beater, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add the 3/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold in the extract and the chocolate-almond mixture.

Sprinkle a sheet of parchment paper with the 2 tablespoons sugar. Place the dough on top of the sugar. Place another piece of parchment paper on top. Roll or press the dough to a thickness of about 1/4 to 3/8 inch. Remove the top piece of parchment paper. Let the unbaked cookies air dry for at least 1-1/2 hours. 

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Cut out circles or shapes with a cookie cutter. Place the cut out cookies on the parchment paper, leaving room between each cookie for them to spread. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Let cookies cool on the sheet for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 36 cookies

Cookies That Taste Like Home

I don't celebrate Christmas, but I do celebrate cookies. And cookies are a big part of the Christmas season. 

And so -- cookies.

When it comes to cookies, Lebkuchen is a seasonal special, with the magical fragrance of spices that make you feel warm and cozy when the weather's cold. I have tasted many many versions over the years, the best on a trip to Germany a few years ago.

So I tried my hand at baking some, a few recipes that were just okay. Then I baked these. My Hungarian friend Eva says they taste like "home." I took that as a win.

Happy holidays, whatever one you celebrate.

Lebkuchen Gingerbread Cookies

• 3 cups minus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh orange peel
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil (or shortening or butter)
• 1 tablespoon orange juice (or use lemon juice)
• 1 large egg
• all-purpose flour
• candied ginger, dried cranberries, etc, optional

Combine the flour, orange peel, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl (or electric mixer bowl), whisk to distribute the ingredients evenly and set aside. Place the honey, molasses, brown sugar and coconut oil in a saucepan and cook over low-medium heat, stirring to blend the ingredients, until the coconut oil has melted and the liquid is smooth and evenly colored. Pour the liquid into the mixing bowl with the flour mixture. Add the orange juice and egg and mix ingredients thoroughly to make a smooth, evenly colored dough (about one minute at medium speed). The dough will be soft. Sprinkle the dough with some flour, wrap the dough or place it in a covered plastic container and refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheets. Roll the dough (in portions) on a floured surface to a 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out shapes. Place the shapes on the prepared cookie sheets, leaving some space between the cookies. Garnish the center with optional ginger, etc., if desired. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove the cookies from the oven and brush with icing while they are still warm.

Icing:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Prepare the icing while the cookies are baking. Place the sugar and water in a saucepan and cook, stirring to dissolve the sugar, for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the confectioners sugar and vanilla. Brush on the cookies while they are still warm.

Makes about 3-1/2 dozen 2-inch cookies

How to Substitute Ingredients: a Lesson for Kids and Everyone Else

Children learn a lot when they cook, and not just about food. You can ask the youngest ones to hand over the red pepper, not the green one. You can show them that a pie tin is round, a loaf pan is a rectangle.

Older kids can hone their measuring skills. Some begin to understand the difference between 1/4 cup and 1/2, what a dozen means, why a cake rises.

Recently my grandchildren, ages 3 and 5, learned another important cooking lesson: when and how to substitute ingredients. 

We happened to be baking Jam Cookies. 

I didn't have the chopped dates called for in my recipe. So we changed those to dark raisins.

I didn't have dried apricots, figs or cherries, so we used dried cranberries instead.

They wondered whether they could include chocolate chips.

Of course! Just throw some into the bowl.

Finally, we used a mixture of orange marmalade, rhubarb and apricot jam because I didn't have enough of any one kind except raspberry, which I couldn't use because of allergies.

The recipe worked.

But more than that, the cookies were absolutely delicious. Even the adults gobbled them. The children were happy, they learned more than they realized.

They want to cook with me again. I love that.

Jam Bars

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1-1/2 cups quick cooking oats

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 14 tablespoons butter or margarine

• 3/4 cup golden or dark raisins or chopped dates or a mixture

• 1/3 cup dried cranberries or chopped dried cherries or other chopped dried fruit

• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

• 1-1/2 cups jam

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9"x13" cake pan. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Add the oats and brown sugar and mix the ingredients thoroughly to distribute them evenly. Cut the butter into chunks and work into the dry ingredients (with fingers or process on pulse in a food processor) until the butter is completely mixed in and the mixture looks crumbly. Mix in the raisins, dried fruit and chocolate chips. Press the mixture evenly inside the prepared pan. Spread the jam evenly on top. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool in the pan. Cut into bars or squares. 

Makes about 24

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The Birthday Dinner Dilemma

It's my daughter Gillian's birthday today. A round numbered one. And she asked if, instead of going out to dinner at some fancy shmancy joint to celebrate, whether I would make a special dinner at home.

Of course!

With the fancy shmancy china and silverware and different size wine glasses for different wines for different courses.

Of course!

So, okay, I have the china and silverware and wine glasses. All I have to do there is make sure I have candles for the candlesticks, iron the napkins, fill the salt cellars, set the table and so on. Ed will take care of the wine.

It's all good.

BUT WHAT SHOULD I COOK?

Something new and glamorous? Fancy shmancy?

Or old favorites like Pearly Meatballs? Fried Chicken Wings? Sticky Spicy Chicken Wings? with pre-dinner cocktails.

Should I make a soup? Like Beet Soup with Orange and Mint (even the name sounds fancy doesn't it?).

For the main course I'm thinking maybe lamb. Everyone in the family eats that. But she really does like turkey. Unfortunately turkey is not the universal family favorite, so maybe no? Plus -- Gillian is our family carver, so could I really ask her to do all that slicing and deboning for her birthday dinner?

Another dilemma is that Gillian is not such a big dessert person. Or at least what people consider the usual kinds of dessert. This dessert thing would be easy if the birthday person was my son-in-law Greg. He likes chocolate cake.

Ed would always welcome chef Raymond Oliver's Normandy Ice Cream (coffee with Grand Marnier).

For me, birthday dessert is always apple pie. 

We are celebrating in a few weeks, so I have some time to finalize the menu plus make sure I buy those candles. 

If anyone has suggestions -- I am all ears.

In the meantime, should I also make some candy? Like chocolate dipped dried fruit?

Chocolate Dipped Dried Fruit

• 2-1/2 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 1/2 ounce unsweetened chocolate
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter or coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons orange-flavored brandy or rum
• 50 pieces (approximately) dried fruit such as crystallized ginger, apricot halves, candied orange peel (about 6 ounces)

Melt the semisweet chocolate, unsweetened chocolate and butter in the top part of a double boiler over barely simmering water. Let the ingredients melt, remove the top part of the pan from the heat, pour in the brandy and stir to make a smooth, uniform mixture. Dip each piece of fruit in the chocolate mixture, shake off the excess and place on waxed paper or parchment paper to dry.

Makes approximately 50 pieces

Our Favorite Cookies

Aunt Fanny's Cookies

It wouldn't be my house if there weren't some of these in the freezer for the holidays. During Rosh Hashanah and of course, for my Break-the-Fast. These are my Mom's famous butter cookies. They are probably the most-loved, most-baked cookies in my (and once, my Mom's) repertoire.

When I was growing up I didn't know they were butter cookies because my Mom made them with shortening. After I got interested in cooking I asked her why she called them butter cookies and she explained that during WWII she couldn't get butter, but everyone wanted the cookies, and so -- 

We tried them with real butter and never looked back. Except for when I need something dairy-free, and then, of course, I go back to the shortening. These cookies are fabulous, either way, though, to confess, I like the butter ones much better.

Here they are, fresh from the oven.

In our family we never actually called them butter cookies, not because of the shortening but because the recipe came from my father's Aunt Fanny. So everyone in the family called them Fanny's (recipe), which is scrawled out as "Fannies" in all the old family recipe collections.

I don't know if anyone in my family is named for Aunt Fanny, but these cookies give her kind of the same immortality.

Fannies

• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, cut into chunks (or one cup cold shortening)

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 large egg yolks

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• lekvar, jam, nut butter, etc.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat them in an electric mixer set at medium speed for about 1 minute, or until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the flour and mix another 1-2 minutes, or until the ingredients are almost blended. Add the egg yolks, salt and vanilla extract. Mix the ingredients 1-2 minutes, or until a uniform dough forms. Scoop pieces of dough and shape them into balls about 1" in diameter. Flatten the balls between your palms. Press each circle with your thumb to make an indentation in the center. Place the cookies on a cookie sheet, leaving an inch of space between them. Fill the thumb print spaces with a small amount of lekvar, jam, etc. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown. You can freeze these cookies for 6 months.

Makes about 60

S'mores for all Seasons

S'mores Chocolate Chip Cookies

Summer may be almost over and with it the picnics and going to the beach.

And s'mores over the campfire.

But I had this eureka moment the other day when I thought about incorporating the s'mores ingredients into a chocolate chip cookie. 

I made several versions, some stacked, some stuffed, some with cut up marshmallows, some with shaved chocolate.

But they were all too thick, too soft, too just not right.

This one is exactly what I had hoped: crispy, chocolate-y, marshmallow-y and just the right amount of graham cracker crumbs to give it extra sweetness and a gorgeous golden glow.

S'mores Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces chocolate chips
• 1 cup mini-marshmallows 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. Beat the butter, coconut oil, brown sugar, white sugar and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture is smooth and well blended. Add the eggs and beat the mixture until well blended. Add the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, baking powder and salt and blend them in thoroughly. Fold in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough and place each scoop on the cookie sheet, leaving room for the cookies to spread. Tuck the marshmallows beneath the dough as much as possible. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Makes about 48 cookies

Cream Cheese Cookies

While cleaning out/purging my files recently, I rediscovered this recipe for these Cream Cheese Cookies. It was on an old index card, in my mother's handwriting. I'd always wanted to try these, but never did because after the list of ingredients there was this instruction: "bake and freeze."

I don't remember watching my Mom bake these cookies and I had no clue what "bake and freeze" meant other than that I had to chill the dough before doing anything with it. She also never wrote down the oven temperature.

So I tried several versions. I rolled clumps of dough into 1-inch balls and baked them. I made some crescent shaped. The best ones were when I rolled the dough into two long logs, refrigerated them overnight and cut the logs into 1/4-inch slices, baked at 325 degrees.

My mother never said to dust the baked cookies with confectioners' sugar. I tried them with and without and think the cookies taste better and look nicer with that final garnish.

Glad I finally tried the recipe! The cookies are rich and tender, lightly sweet (only 2 tablespoons of sugar!), a perfect snack for a coffee or tea break.

Here's the recipe, with instructions.

MY MOTHER'S CREAM CHEESE COOKIES

• 1/2 pound butter
• 1/2 pound cream cheese
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• confectioners' sugar

Beat the butter and cream cheese together in the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium (or use a hand mixer) for 2-3 minutes, until softened and completely blended. Add the egg yolks, sugar, salt and vanilla extract and beat them in thoroughly. Add the flour gradually, beating it in until a smooth, uniform dough has formed. Cut the dough in half and roll each half into a long log about 1-inch in diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours, or until firm and cold. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Slice the logs into 1/4-inch slices and place the slices on cookie sheets. Bake for 23-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool. Dust with confectioners sugar (best if sifted over the cookies).

Makes about 60 cookies

Cheesecake Cookies

I usually bake the same cookie recipes over and over. Butter cookies. Grand Finale (chocolate chip) cookies. Peanut Butter cookies. 

But recently I decided to branch out with some Chinese cookies. And a few other recipes I'll post about here soon.

I got my inspiration straight from the "cookies" folder in my file cabinet on one of those days when I decided to do a purge of unnecessary stuff. This particular folder includes recipes clipped from magazines and newspapers. I should have known as I collected them that I would probably never actually make most of them.

But there were a few handwritten recipes that I just couldn't resist. A few from my Mom and my Aunt Beck. A few recipe cards that are sentimental for me because they are from friends and relatives that have passed away.

There was also this recipe for Cheesecake cookies from someone named Rose. I have no idea who she is, or was. My Mom had a friend Rose. Maybe it was hers. I don't recognize the handwriting on the index card. It isn't my Mom's handwriting. Or my Aunt's. 

Unlike most of the hand written recipes from women of my mother's generation, this one was complete with a list of ingredients (though not in the right order) and instructions on how to make the cookies. I've edited the recipe to conform to our more modern style of recipe writing. But below is the recipe for the most fabulous, tender, salty-and-sweet, tangy with cheese, creamy centered but crusty sandwiched cookies you can imagine.

Nice idea for Mother's Day.

Thanks Rose, whoever you are. These are great! 

Rose's Cheesecake Cookies

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons milk or cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter and set it aside. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, nuts and brown sugar and mix to distribute the ingredients evenly. Add the melted butter and mix until the mixture is crumbly. Remove one cup of this mixture and set it aside. Place the remaining mixture inside an 8-inch square baking pan. Press the crumbs down firmly to cover the bottom of the pan evenly. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until firm. Remove the pan from the oven and set it aside. Beat the cream cheese and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until well blended. Add the egg, lemon juice, milk and vanilla and beat the ingredients for another minute or until thoroughly blended. Spoon the cheese mixture evenly over the baked crumbs. Top with the remaining, reserved unbaked crumbs. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool. Cut into small squares (16 pieces).

Makes 16 cookies

Warning! These cookies are irresistible.

WARNING!

Do not make these if you are on a diet.

Even if you aren't, hide them from yourself. As for me, as soon as they're cool I store these in my basement freezer so that if I am tempted to get one I at least have to walk down and up a flight of stairs.

These ultra-buttery, pleasurably sweet, satisfyingly crispy cookies are monstrously difficult to resist. 

The inspiration for the recipe -- Dutch Butter cookies -- thanks to a friend, Ro Dekker, z"l, who passed away many years ago. She was a brave, smart, funny, good and righteous woman. She and her children escaped on the last boat out of Holland to America in World War II. (Her husband Mauritz, z"l, was already in the United States.) Everyone else in her family stayed behind and perished in the Holocaust.

I will always think of Ro when I eat these.

dutch butter cookies (Jan Hagels)

• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

• 1 large egg, beaten

• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

• 3/4 cup sliced almonds

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13”x9” cookie sheet with parchment paper and butter the parchment paper (or use spray). Beat the butter, brown sugar, lemon peel and 1 tablespoon of the egg in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix at medium speed for about 2 minutes or until well blended. Add the flour and beat at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until a uniform dough has formed. Place the dough on the parchment paper and press to completely cover the entire pan. Be sure to make the dough as even as possible. Use a small rolling pin or tumbler to make the dough even. Brush the entire surface of the dough with the remaining egg. Scatter the almonds evenly on top of the dough. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar evenly over the almonds. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until the surface is golden brown. While still warm, cut the cookies in 4 equal parts lengthwise and widthwise, to make 16 large cookies. (Or cut into smaller pieces.)

Note: pizza cutter works well for cutting

Makes 16 cookies

Chinese Cookies

Passover is sort of like the visit from the grandchildren.

Both are joyous, thrilling and celebratory.

You love every precious moment.

It's also so nice when it's over. 

This is not a complaint. Just a statement of reality.

When the kids and grandkids leave after a visit, the house looks like the recycle guy made a mistake and dropped his truck full of stuff in your living room. Ah, the mess (despite your children's tidying up). But it's worth it. You wouldn't have it any other way and anyone who is a grandparent will tell you the same thing.

Besides, after they leave it's suddenly very calm and quiet and you can relax and sip a glass of leftover Passover wine.

When Passover is over you think over the hard work needed to get through the holiday. Cleaning the cabinets, the fridge. Getting out the dishes, setting the table, arranging the bridge chairs, making tons of food.  All the cooking, the matzo balls and chremslich, haroset and flourless chocolate cake were worth it. You wouldn't have it any other way and endless numbers of people will tell you it's worth it.

Besides, after it's over you can relax and sip a glass of leftover Passover wine.

And also, after Passover is over and you clean up from the visit and put away the new groceries, you can start to cook and eat all the foods you missed during the holiday. 

For me, that means cookies. Cookies are always what I miss most during Passover.

Like these almond cookies. When I was a kid these were known as Chinese cookies because they were served for dessert at so many Chinese restaurants in the New York Metropolitan area. Chinese cookies are tender and crumbly, redolent of almond, with a clump of sweet chocolate in the middle and a half almond in the very center.

This rich cookie, giver of childhood memories, is a perfect way to end a Passover diet.

“Chinese” Cookies

• 2/3 cup shortening
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup ground almonds
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 ounces semisweet chocolate
• sliced or halved almonds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat the shortening, coconut oil and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium for 1-2 minutes or until smooth and well blended. Add the ground almonds, egg and almond extract and beat them in. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix for 1-2 minutes or until the dough is thoroughly blended and uniform. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/2-inch thick. Cut out circles with a 2-1/2-inch cookie cutter. Place the circles on (ungreased) cookie sheets. Bake for about 18 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove the cookies from the oven and use a rigid spatula to place each on a rack to cool. Melt the chocolate. Spoon a small amount of melted chocolate into the center and swirl the melted chocolate to form a small circle in the center of each cookie. Place an almond half or slice in the middle of the chocolate. Let dry.

Makes about 24