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Last night I baked a batch of Molasses Spice Cookies with Rum Glaze from Cook's Illustrated. They are lovely cracked cookies with a sugar sparkle, and have the strongest molasses flavor of any cookie I've ever baked. The rum glaze is a tawny visual counterpoint to the dark cookie and gives a preceeding scent of rum when biting into the cookie.

Measure the molasses in a liquid measuring cup. If you find that the dough sticks to your palms as you shape the balls, moisten your hands occasionally in a bowl filled with cold water and shake off the excess. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time. If baked two sheets at a time, the cookies started on the bottom rack won’t develop the attractive cracks. The cookies should look slightly raw and underbaked when removed from the oven. If you plan to glaze the cookies (see recipe below), save the parchment paper used to bake them.

INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup granulated sugar (about 2 1/2 ounces), plus 1/2 cup for dipping

2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (11 1/4 ounces)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon table salt

12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened but still cool

1/3 cup dark brown sugar (about 2 1/2 ounces)

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup molasses (about 6 ounces), light or dark

For Glaze

1 cup confectioners' sugar (about 4 1/2 ounces)

2 1/2 - 3 tablespoons dark rum

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Place 1/2 cup sugar for dipping in 8- or 9-inch cake pan.

2. Whisk flour, baking soda, spices, and salt in medium bowl until thoroughly combined; set aside.

3. In standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter with brown and granulated sugars at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low and add yolk and vanilla; increase speed to medium and beat until incorporated, about 20 seconds. Reduce speed to medium-low and add molasses; beat until fully incorporated, about 20 seconds, scraping bottom and sides of bowl once with rubber spatula. Reduce speed to lowest setting; add flour mixture and beat until just incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping bowl down once. Give dough final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that no pockets of flour remain at bottom. Dough will be soft.

4. Using tablespoon measure, scoop heaping tablespoon of dough and roll between palms into 11/2-inch ball; drop ball into cake pan with sugar and repeat to form about 4 balls. Toss balls in sugar to coat and set on prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies are browned, still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone), about 11 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Do not overbake.

5. Cool cookies on baking sheet 5 minutes, then use wide metal spatula to transfer cookies to wire rack; cool cookies to room temperature. When completely cool, return cookies to cooled parchment-lined baking sheets. Whisk confectioners' sugar and 2 1/2 tablespoons dark rum in medium bowl untill smooth. If the glaze is too thick to drizzle, whisk in additional tablespoon rum. Dip spoon into glaze and then move spoon over cookies so that glaze drizzles down onto them; repeat as necessary. Transfer cookies to wire rack and allow glaze to dry, 10 to 15 minutes.

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Last night I baked a batch of Molasses Spice Cookies with Rum Glaze from Cook's Illustrated. They are lovely cracked cookies with a sugar sparkle, and have the strongest molasses flavor of any cookie I've ever baked. The rum glaze is a tawny visual counterpoint to the dark cookie and gives a preceeding scent of rum when biting into the cookie. <snip>

I made these molasses cookies a few weeks ago, sans the glaze, however, and really love them. They are so good by themselves, I couldn't imagine the glaze, but will probably try it when I have more time just to see how they are. I actually put the dough in the fridge overnight, which turned out to be a great way to keep the dough cool enough not to stick to my palms.

I haven't baked in a long time, so I was being very deliberate with the instructions. And I was very nervous about baking the cookies too long, as the recipe and the TV show really emphasize taking the cookies out while they still look underdone. But it worked! I also took the instructions too literally when it said to bake the cookies one sheet at time--fortunately my husband walked in to the kitchen at just the right time to remind me that our oven will accommodate two sheets pans side by side (well, I did say it's been a long time since I've baked anything :blink: and it definitely was a time saver!)

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I bought a Waring fryer on Saturday and tried this recipe for deep-fried chocolate chip cookie dough. The end product tasted great but looked horrible because I couldn't get any of them out of the frying basket without dealing with sticking. Is there a good explanation? I can speculate on possibilities but have no experience frying to know one way or the other:

1) Didn't fry long enough

2) Bad batter recipe

3) Didn't season the frying basket sufficiently

4) Wrong type of oil

5) Oil temperature too low

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Over the holidays I made a double batch of Magic-in-the-Middle cookies from the King Arthur Cookie Cookbook. They are a chocolate/peanut butter cookie with peanut butter filling. The 'magic' is that the filling is hidden inside the outer chocolate cookie. Quite simply they are one of the best, if not the best cookie I have had.

I've been searching for a unique peanut butter cookie for my Christmas cookies this year. I saw this post so I made these. They're really good, and they're going in my Christmas cookie packages.

Also on the topic of Christmas cookies, I bought the December issue of Gourmet, but last year's Gourmet Christmas cookie issue was more interesting to me. This issue has recipes for "trios" which are jam thumbprint cookies arranged so 3 are stuck together in a triangle shape, meringue stars, salted praline langues de chat, cinnamon palmiers, and double chocolate sandwich cookies. The cookies don't sound that exciting to me, but maybe they're better when made.

This year's Gourmet also has a number of Christmas candy recipes, and those look more interesting. The recipes are: mint lollipops, chocolate peanut toffee, passion-fruit gelees, peppermint patties, pistachio torrone, toasted-coconut marshmallow squares.

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I bought a Waring fryer on Saturday and tried this recipe for deep-fried chocolate chip cookie dough. The end product tasted great but looked horrible because I couldn't get any of them out of the frying basket without dealing with sticking. Is there a good explanation? I can speculate on possibilities but have no experience frying to know one way or the other:

1) Didn't fry long enough

2) Bad batter recipe

3) Didn't season the frying basket sufficiently

4) Wrong type of oil

5) Oil temperature too low

Wow, deep-fried chocolate chip cookie dough. It sounds good in a fried oreos/fried twinkies/fried candy bars-terrible-for-you kind of way. :( Have you tried these again? I'd guess the oil temperature was too low? Another possibility is that the cookie dough needed more time in the freezer to firm up. It seems the batter should form a crust when you drop them in. Was the batter fully cooked when you took them out?

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We tried out a few new recipes this x-mas cookie season.... A lemon cookie that is divine, a 'coal' cookie that looks like a lump of coal and is a must for any choco-holic, and a Stollen-Bites 'cookie'. All were very good, but I think the lemon cookies are (right now) my favorite of the bunch.

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I made my first ever biscotti tonight. I'm not a coffee drinker so was never drawn to this type of cookie. But, I needed something that would travel well and hold up for a few days. Since the people I made these for prefer fruit and nut goods to chocolate, I figured I'd give it a shot. I made the Lenox Almond Biscotti from Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home To Yours. I added dried cherries. They were simple to make but I was a little anxious about how to tell when they were done. They still seemed a little soft when I pulled them out of the second baking but I thought they'd be too dark if I left them in the oven. Besides, I figured they would set a little firmer once cooled. Just sampled one and they are great. The almond flavor shines through and the cornmeal gives it a good texture. I dunked it into a cup of tea to sea if it would hold together and it did. I think next time I might use some almond meal.

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Here's the recipe that Porcupine requested:

Almendrados (misspelled in my earlier post)--Almond sugar cookies

(my interpretation of a recipe from *My Kitchen in Spain* by Janet Mendel)

3/4 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. finely ground almonds (almond meal)

1 tsp. grated Meyer (or regular) lemon zest

2 large eggs, separated

1/4 tsp. almond extract (optional)

1/2 c. sliced almonds

Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or Silpats.

Combine sugar, almond meal and lemon zest. Whip egg whites to stiff peaks, lower beater speed to medium and add egg yolks. Fold egg mixture into almond-sugar mixture. Add almond extract, if using. Drop by Tablespoonful onto baking sheets-- leave lots of space between cookies, because they spread out. Top each one with sliced almonds. Bake until lightly browned. 10-12 minutes.

This amount of batter supposedly makes 2 dozen cookies. I increased the recipe by half, made them bigger, and got about 20. Your guess is as good as mine about how many you'll get ;)

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I see upthread from about a year ago some people were trying to recreate the Teaism salty oat. Anyone ever have any luck with that? Being banished to New Jersey, I would kill to be able to make some whenever I want. All we have up here are crappy black and white cookies.

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Most interesting thing learned: rest dough for up to 36 hours. Anyone ever done that?

Yes, but not intentionally and I wasn't thinking in terms of a comparison. Now I have a project for next week.

Recently I've been making the dough, portioning and freezing it so that I can bake, say, four cookies at a time. They are best warm from the oven. But I've noticed that with every passing day, the baked cookies are softer and gooeyer.

This is interesting stuff [for a geek like me]. Thanks for posting the link!

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NYT choc chip cookie article and recipe

Most interesting thing learned: rest dough for up to 36 hours. Anyone ever done that?

I often refrigerate the dough for a little while once I mix it up and then take the bowl back out to make individual batches. I prefer working with dough that's fairly cold for chocolate chip cookies. I haven't kept cc dough refrigerated that long, but I do it with the sand tarts I make at Christmas sometimes. It takes so long to make them that I stretch it over several days.
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So I love baking. Sometimes I fiddle with proportions, sometimes it works. Tonight, not so much. I looked at my chocolate chip cookies recipe and thought... I don't remember using two sticks of butter. The recipe calls for two eggs but I always use one to get the consistency I like, but I guess I normally use the two sticks of butter. Now, I have a really dry batter. Any ideas on how to fix it? Currently the batter is resting in the fridge. Thanks in advance.

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So I love baking. Sometimes I fiddle with proportions, sometimes it works. Tonight, not so much. I looked at my chocolate chip cookies recipe and thought... I don't remember using two sticks of butter. The recipe calls for two eggs but I always use one to get the consistency I like, but I guess I normally use the two sticks of butter. Now, I have a really dry batter. Any ideas on how to fix it? Currently the batter is resting in the fridge. Thanks in advance.
Am I crazy or does the obvious thing seem to be add more butter? Maybe just little by little? Or even doing so with a pre-beaten egg?
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Am I crazy or does the obvious thing seem to be add more butter? Maybe just little by little? Or even doing so with a pre-beaten egg?
No, I don't think you are crazy... I thought about the butter but the egg idea is even better.
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I would add the missing butter. Kind of similar to your situation -- last Christmas, I was making white chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies for holiday cookie packages. I made the batter a day ahead and refrigerated it, and the next day when I was scooping out the cookie dough onto the baking sheet, the dough seemed awfully crumbly and wouldn't hold together at all. At first I thought it was because the batter was cold, but I realized that I had forgotten to add the eggs when I was making the batter the day before. The only solution I could think of was to go ahead and just mix the eggs into the batter, which I did, and the cookies turned out fine.

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I just made the double chocolate cookies from The Best Recipe. I don't have the cookbook with me, but this recipe looks awfully similar to my memory. They were enjoyed by many, including the cook (which is rare). Not surprisingly with all that chocolate, they're a lot like brownie cookies and they're very rich. I know many have recommended the World Cookies (I think that's the title, Dorie greenspan chocolate cookies with little to no flour). That's not really my style cookie, so have never pursued it. I could seeing making the Best Recipe cookies again and would recommend it to others.

Oh, one unusual thing about these cookies--I actually got the number of cookies that the recipe said I would get out of them. Shocking! I almost never pull that off (what with the need to sample the dough carefully and all).

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I just made the double chocolate cookies from The Best Recipe. I don't have the cookbook with me, but this recipe looks awfully similar to my memory. They were enjoyed by many, including the cook (which is rare). Not surprisingly with all that chocolate, they're a lot like brownie cookies and they're very rich. I know many have recommended the World Cookies (I think that's the title, Dorie greenspan chocolate cookies with little to no flour). That's not really my style cookie, so have never pursued it. I could seeing making the Best Recipe cookies again and would recommend it to others.

Oh, one unusual thing about these cookies--I actually got the number of cookies that the recipe said I would get out of them. Shocking! I almost never pull that off (what with the need to sample the dough carefully and all).

I made the World Peace cookies one time, using my stash of Vahlrona cocoa powder and chopped vahlrona chocolate. Such a waste as I thought the cookies were grainy and not spectacular.

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I made the World Peace cookies one time, using my stash of Vahlrona cocoa powder and chopped vahlrona chocolate. Such a waste as I thought the cookies were grainy and not spectacular.

Really? These are my favorite cookies and used to be the most requested by my staff. I love sandy cookies.

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I don't think I'd ever had sandy cookies before these. Evidently they're not my favorite. ;)

Might not be my favorite, but definitely high on the list. Yesterday I made a batch for the first time in years and find they're perfect w Earl Grey, especially w plumped currants mixed into the dough.

Dorie Greenspan calls them "sable" (trans. as "sand") cookies, i.e. a French shortbread. While there's plenty of flour, what her version lacks are the egg yolks you'll find in most sable recipes. Thus, keeping the dough intact is a real challenge. I ended up making six logs to ease the process, freezing 3 for later. Might try adding a yolk next time just to compare.

FYI for those of you who enjoyed David Leite's chocolate chip cookies as much as James Beard Association did (I think he got an award for that article last year), do note that he's participating in the upcoming Dames d'Escoffier event.

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So if you were going to prepare cookies to give to people as a holiday "thank you" what would your combination be? My initial thoughts are:

1. chocolate chip cookies

2. chocolate peanut butter crispy balls

3. ______________________

My thoughts for the third include:

cheese straws (a savory twist)

biscotti (but I make them with chocolate chips so...)

butter cookies

something with oatmeal?

pumpkin mini muffins (again a less sweet option).

what do you think the third should be... the only thing to consider is that I am going to ship them overnight mail on Monday for delivery Tuesday so I'll bake them over the weekend.

Thanks in advance!

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I vote for biscotti. I'm making ginger biscotti* with filberts today.

Last night, Mr. MV helped me start my holiday baking. We made my favorite chocolate chip cookies with a twist by adding toffee chips. Excellent-chewy and crisp at the same time. The recipe is based on the Metropolitan Bakery's recipe. I think what makes this chocolate chip (nut) cookie stand apart is that it calls for grinding oats and milk chocolate morsels which become part of the dough.

I recommend this cookbook for a somewhat unique holiday gift for those who like to bake. The recipes range from sweet to savory goodies, and it's quiet approachable.

*Here's a great resource from Joy of Baking-many ideas.

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I vote for biscotti. I'm making ginger biscotti with filberts today. I made my favorite chocolate chip cookies with a twist by adding toffee chips. Excellent-chewy and crisp at the same time. The recipe is based on the Metropolitan Bakery's recipe. I think what makes this chocolate chip (nut) cookie stand apart is that it calls for grinding oats and milk chocolate morsels which becomes part of the dough.

I recommend this cookbook for a somewhat unique holiday gift for those who like to bake. The recipes range from sweet to savory goodies.

I have crystallized ginger from Trader Joes... is that what you are using in the biscotti? That would definitely make it different than the chocolate chip cookies...

This recipe looks promising....

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I have crystallized ginger from Trader Joes... is that what you are using in the biscotti? That would definitely make it different than the chocolate chip cookies...

This recipelooks promising....

I'm using the recipe from the Joy of Baking link above. IIRC, it calls for ground ginger.

eta: Yup, ground ginger :)

Link here.

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Well, this is a shopping question that doesn't quite fit the Kitchen 911 or Equipment 911 topics, so I'm going for the most relevant forum:

Where do you find those clear, thin cellophany tubular sleeves for small gifts of cookies?

I received several batches this way last week and think they're way cooler than pricier tins.

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Well, this is a shopping question that doesn't quite fit the Kitchen 911 or Equipment 911 topics, so I'm going for the most relevant forum:

Where do you find those clear, thin cellophany tubular sleeves for small gifts of cookies?

I received several batches this way last week and think they're way cooler than pricier tins.

Try Michael's. I stocked up on cellophane bags and an assortment of neat gift boxes, including "professional" -looking chocolate-type boxes and Chinese take-outs.

AC Moore is also a good source.

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I did say a few days ago, that I would post this recipe after I'd made a second batch and had written down what I had done.

My daughter thinks that I should go into business, making these, and become the next Famous Amos, but I'm afraid that ain't gon' happen.

Brown Butter Pecan Shortbread Cookies with turbinado sugar and fleur de sel

(makes about 2 dozen cookies)

2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup pecans, toasted and ground

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. fine salt

2 Tbsp. turbinado or other coarse sugar

1 Tbsp. fleur de sel (or flaked or coarse sea salt)

Melt one stick of butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan until the milk solids have turned a rich brown color and the butter smells nutty. Watch carefully, so that it doesn't burn. Cool in a small bowl and then chill for a couple of hours in the fridge. Have the second stick of butter at room temp.

Toast the pecans in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes until they have toasted lightly--don't let them burn. Cool and then finely grind them in a food processor. A high-speed blender will turn them into pecan butter, so beware of that.

Sift together the flour and salt.

With a standing or hand-held mixer, cream both butters together with the brown sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla and ground pecans and beat until well combined. Add half the flour until just combined, and then the rest of the flour. Don't over beat at this point. The dough will be kind of shaggy. Dump out onto plastic wrap or wax paper and gather into a large ball. Cut the ball in half and use wax paper or plastic wrap to form logs, 2-3" in diameter. Mix together turbinado sugar and fleur de sel and roll the logs in the mixture, pressing it into the dough. Wrap the logs and chill thoroughly for a couple of hours or overnight.

Pre-heat oven to 350 f. Slice the logs into 1/4" rounds and lay out on Silpat or parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for 12 minutes, or slightly longer if two sheets are in the oven at the same time, rotating the pans half-way through.

Allow cookies to cool on baking pan (they crumble if you try lifting them off the pan while they are still hot).

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I thought I would bring this thread back to life.  My husband is the baker in our household and he likes to experiment with new recipes this year.  So far this year's winners are:

Eggnog Chai Cookies

Salted Butterscotch Cheesecake Bars, these are quite rich so you'll be glad they are in small squares

From last year:

Coconut Rum Balls

Sun-Dried Tomato and Pepperoni Rugelach, these are savory and so good....

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Made the vanilla basil shorties from the Washington Post cookie issue, and they were a resounding hit at my office holiday luncheon.  Nice that you can make the dough and filling ahead of time; I just need to invest in a better icing-spreader device.

Also made the orange-chocolate-pine nut cookies, but they were not nearly as good.  Flavor was okay, but they stuck like crazy to the parchment paper and the pine nuts didn't offset the sweetness enough for me.

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For mint and chocolate lovers, I have to recommend the Tollhouse mint and dark chocolate chips (haven't seen a similar product from anyone else, don't mean to be a shill, I'm sure anything similar would work just as well, etc.). I grabbed them in the store on a whim and used them in place of the white chips in their white chip chocolate cookies (I believe the same recipe is right on the bag). On man, these are a huge hit and feel very Christmas-y (yes, the mint chips are green). Can't stop eating them!!!

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