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Ethereal Chocolate Chip Cookies

March 31, 2012 By 1 Comment

Pierre Hermé’s, that is.  I know I have been missing from action for close to a year when I promised to bake more often after giving this space a total revamp.  Thing is, I have been travelling quite a bit the past few months after finally getting over a furkid’s untimely and tragic departure (that rendered me quite incapable of daily functions for a couple of months).  And you know how it works, the longer you are away from performing a certain task, the more the inertia builds up.

But now, there is a perfect opportunity for me to return to the kitchen for baking –  a niece was recently hospitalised for an ailment, and what better way to give her cheer than via a box of chocolate cookies?  I mean, all children love chocolate cookies, right?  Incidentally, the PH Pastries book that I ordered online several weeks ago finally arrived on the day I decided to bake something.  What luck!

Recipe: PH’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

  • 120g pecan/macadamia nuts
  • 225g all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 240g Valrhona Guanaja chocolate
  • 150g unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 tsp fleur de sel de Guérande
  • 240g soft brown sugar
  • 75g egg (about 1.5 egg)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 170°C.
  2. Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper or silpat and set aside.
  3. Sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  4. Using a rolling pin, coarsely break the pecan or macadamia nuts into pieces. Chop the chocolate into pieces.
  5. Cut the butter into pieces and process it until creamy.
  6. Add in the fleur de sel and soft brown sugar. Cream until smooth.
  7. Incorporate the eggs and cream for about 3 minutes.
  8. Add in the sifted dry ingredients, coarsely choppted nuts and chocolate pieces. Beat for about 2 minutes.
  9. Divide dough into about 30g each. Shape the mounds of dough and arrange them on the baking sheets, leaving generous spaces between them. Bake for about 12 minutes.
  10. Remove baking sheet from oven. Transfer to a wire rack to cool before storing in an airtight container.

Yield: 30 5-cm diameter cookies
[credits: Pierre Hermé PASTRIES]

This chocolate cookie recipe is rather unlike other chocolate cookie recipes I’d come across, or even baked.  First of all, no cocoa powder was used at all.  And then it uses soft brown sugar instead of the usual caster or granulated sugar.  I’ve read several reviews on this particular recipe, and all were good.  Hence, in spite of the fact that I am no fan of both chocolates and cookies, I decided to try baking some of these.

The cookies smelled great even before they were sent into the oven, I kid you not.  Even the raw dough smelled different from the others I’ve baked.  And while the first batch was happily baking away in the oven, my two furkids were going absolutely bersek in the living room just by inhaling the aroma.

I love Pierre Hermé first and foremost for his ethereal macarons, especially the Ispahan.  But this chocolate cookie of his, is simply in a class of its own.  I doubt I will bake chocolate cookies using any other recipe ever again.

I predict there may be questions on the ingredients used, so I shall address them here first.  I used macadamia nuts, and followed the recipe closely because I happened to have all the ingredients at hand.  You could use any other fine sea salt other than fleur de sel de Guérande, and any types of chocolates you could find at your local supermarket.  The cookies will still turn out decent, but they will be different from what PH intended them to be.  Just so you know.

If there are any changes I would like to make to the recipe, it’s the Guanaja used.  Since Guanaja uses 70% of cocoa content, it is a little bitter to most people.  I might tweak it a little and use Caraïbe (66%) instead.

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Get Shorty!

June 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Not the mobster movie starring John Travolta and Gene Hackman but the buttery, melt-in-the-mouth Scottish confection that is the shortbread cookies.  Apparently shortbread cookies were once only served during Christmas and the Scottish New Year’s Eve.  I am glad this is no longer the case and that shortbread cookies are easily available all year round.

I was first introduced to shortbread cookies through my mum, who has a sweet tooth (yours truly inherited that trait from her, amongst other things).  When I was younger, she loved to procure her favourite All Butter Shortbread Fingers from Marks and Spencer from time to time, and these cookies were reserved as a very special treat or reward whenever I pleased her i.e. did well in school.  Nowadays, she is consciously cutting down on sweet stuff in her diet as age catches up.  But I know she will never reject shortbread when offered, especially if they are hand-baked by me.

Recipe: Very Short Shortbread

Ingredients

  • 255g all-purpose flour
  • 75g corn flour
  • 255g unsalted butter, cubed and softened
  • ½ tsp fine salt
  • 110g icing sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 150°C.
  2. Prepare a 9×9 inch pan by greasing with softened unsalted butter.
  3. Sift the flours into a medium bowl.  Set aside.
  4. Cream the cubed unsalted butter in a large mixing bowl.  Add the salt and cream at medium speed for about 1 minute.
  5. Add the icing sugar and cream for another 2-3 minutes.
  6. Add the vanilla extract.  Beat the mixture until well combined.
  7. Gradually add in the sifted flours until combined.
  8. Press the dough firmly into the pan (I use a flat-bottomed glass to help complete the deed).  Prick the surface of the dough lightly with a fork at regular 1-inch intervals.
  9. Bake for 35-40 minutes on a rack in the lower half of the oven, until lightly browned.
  10. Let cool in the pan set on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Invert onto a cutting board and cut into squares or fingers whilst still warm.  Cool completely on the wire rack before storing.

Yield: 27 1×3 inch fingers
[credits: Joycleyn Shu @ KUIDAORE]

This recipe was generously shared by Joycelyn on her online blog.  She rightfully pointed out that the secret behind sensational shortbread lies in 2 main ingredients – the butter and corn flour – so it pays to use premium butter.  I like Lurpak and Elle & Vire butters over the more commonly available SCS butter.

One additional tip if you like your shortbread fingers to cut more neatly after baking: score the dough lightly before putting it into the oven.  In fact, I would perform this before pricking the surface with a fork.  Makes the task of cutting it easier although it means that you would have to ‘double-invert’ the baked dough to get the right side up.  But if you find the dough a little too soft to manage, just stick it in the freezer for a couple of minutes before scoring and pricking.

Mum loved it, as did the whole family.  This simple recipe is a gem and a definite keeper!

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The Biscuits of Prato

June 5, 2011 By 4 Comments

Otherwise known as ‘Biscotti di Prato’, or simply Biscotti (literally means ‘twice-baked’ in Italian).  These long and hard cookies which originated from the City of Prato in Italy are very dry and are traditionally served with a drink, into which they may be dunked.  I prefer to have my biscotti neat.  You would too, if you follow the recipe below.  It is too tasty to be dunked in coffee or any other beverage.

Recipe: Cinnamon Hazelnut Biscotti

Ingredients

  • 165 g all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/8 tsp fine salt
  • 80g butter, melted and cooled
  • 100g white sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 60g hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

Instructions

  1. Sift together the flour, ground cinnamon and baking powder in a medium bowl.  Mix well and set aside.
  2. Whisk the eggs and salt together in a large mixing bowl with a handheld whisk until well-mixed.
  3. Whisk in the sugar and vanilla extract and mix until smooth.  Whisk in the melted and cooled butter.
  4. Fold in the dry ingredients with a spatula and mix until smooth.
  5. Fold in the hazelnuts and stir with a spatula until well distributed.
  6. Using a plastic bag (cut open save for one length), shape the dough on a tray or baking sheet into a rectangular strip to any desirous dimension.  Place the tray or baking sheet to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.
  7. Preheat oven to 175°C.
  8. Remove the plastic bag from the chilled dough and place the dough in the centre of a baking sheet lined with a Silpat or baking paper.
  9. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the center is firm.  Remove baking sheet from oven to cool on a wire rack.  When loaf is cool enough to handle, use a serrated knife to slice the loaves diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices.  Return the slices to the baking sheet.
  10. Bake for an additional 10 minutes, turning over once.  Cool completely, and store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Yield : 18-20 slices

I have not been making time for baking in quite a while, and a group of friends who had once tasted my biscotti lamented about how they missed them.  I took the opportunity to prepare several batches in advance and froze them till the day I needed to bake them.  We had a dinner appointment but it was cancelled at the 11th hour because of a family emergency.  Nevertheless I was able to present them each with a box of biscotti to bring home to enjoy.

Just a word of caution: don’t indulge too much in the biscotti.  After all, they are baked twice and are thus what Chinese would term as ‘heaty’.  Eating too much of them at one sitting would most likely result in a sore throat or a heaty constitution.  Well, perhaps dunking them in some hot beverage isn’t half that bad an idea after all.  And in any case, the biscotti keep for at least a week in an air-tight container at room temperature.

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Wotcha Matcha

January 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I have an unhealthy fixation for anything to do with Matcha.  And no, it cannot be green tea leaves but Matcha – the finely-milled Japanese green tea powder.  You know, the type which is used in the elaborate Japanese Tea Ceremony.  Well then, you must have come to the conclusion that Matcha must not be cheap.  That’s right, Matcha is generally more expensive than other types of tea, which is why I usually only stock up my precious stash whenever we visit Japan.  It is way too expensive to acquire the quality types in Singapore.

And it is a given that I would always be on the lookout for any recipes that involved the usage of Matcha, in this case Matcha cookies.

Recipe: Matcha Cookies

Ingredients

  • 180g all-purpose flour
  • 20g Matcha
  • 160g unsalted butter, softened
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 1 medium egg, room temperature
  • 50g sliced almond

Instructions

  1. Sift together the flour and Matcha in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  2. Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until texture is light and fluffy.
  3. Add in the egg and mix until fully incorporated.
  4. Add in the dry ingredients and stir lightly by hand with a rubber spatula until smooth. Gently fold in the sliced almonds.
  5. Form into 2 rolls on waxed papers and chill overnight.
  6. Preheat oven to 180°C.
  7. Line a baking sheet with baking paper or silpat and set aside.
  8. Slice the chilled batter thinly and place them on the baking sheet.
  9. Bake for about 12-15 minutes
  10. Remove the cookies to a cooling rack to cool.

Yield: 15 cookies

[credits: Japanese Green Tea Hibiki-an]

Three kinds of people make up the world, well, at least to me, that is.  The first kind do not like in the least bit anything to do with Matcha – they find the herbaceous taste offensive; the second kind do not mind their lives with or without Matcha; and the third kind, like me, cannot get enough of Matcha – we crave for Matcha like vampires crave for blood.  Ermm… alright, that’s not a very apt analogy but you get the idea.

If you belong to the first group, do yourself a favour and skip this recipe.  For people belonging to the second group, my guess is that you do not have Matcha readily available at home, and the price of Matcha would put you off trying out this recipe anyway.  So that leaves us with the third group, the half-crazy group of us who treat any recipes with Matcha with utter reverence.  You must try this recipe!  But go ahead and half the recipe.  I did, because the whole recipe would have used up too much of my Matcha.  You see, I prefer to reserve my Matcha for drinking.

The cookies are not in the least crunchy and crispy, like other cookies we are used to.  They are more, for lack of a better word, cake-like.  You would have to try it to know what I’m talking about.  One thing for certain, I will not be sharing my Matcha cookies.  I am rather selfish where my Matcha is concerned.

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Ho Ho Ho Horlicks!

December 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A few years back, these whimsical Horlicks Doggie Cookies were all the rage on the internet.  Every other respectable baker I knew was trying it out and giving their verdict on the recipe on their own sites.  Seeing how cute the cookies looked, I wasted no time in joining the bandwagon as well.  I just had to satisfy my insatiable curiosity – how would Horlicks, my favourite drink from my childhood, taste like in a cookie?

Recipe: Horlicks Doggie Cookies

Ingredients

  • 200g top flour
  • 25g corn flour
  • 25g milk powder
  • 180g butter (Golden Churn recommended)
  • 80g horlicks
  • 100g large chocolate chips
  • some mini chocolate chips
  • a pack of Koko Krunch

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 140°C.
  2. Line a baking sheet with baking paper or silpat and set aside.
  3. Sift together the top flour, corn flour and milk powder in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  4. Cream together the butter and Horlicks in a large mixing bowl for about 3 minutes at low speed. Take care not to over-beat.
  5. Add in the sifted dry ingredients and beat for about 1 minute to form dough.
  6. Divide dough into 11-12g each.
  7. Add 3-4 large chocolate chips into the divided dough and roll into balls. Place them neatly onto the baking sheet.
  8. Use the mini chocolate chips as the ‘nose’ and add 2 Koko Krunch for the ‘ears’.
  9. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the cookie is golden brown in colour.
  10. Remove baking sheet from oven. Transfer to a wire rack to cool before storing in an airtight container.

Yield : 25 cookies

My verdict?  These cookies are as good as they could get!  Just steer clear if you’re not a big Horlicks fan.

These cookies are simply super-duper c.u.t.e., and I’m positively sure they will be such a hit with young children.  I’m most certainly too late to get into my nephews and nieces’ good books for Christmas this year, not to mention that we would also be out of town.  However, I am absolutely determined to become their most favourite auntie again during Lunar New Year next year!

If you are, like me, in a situation where you have several young children to please, then this recipe is a keeper for sure!

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Moments of Melting

December 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

This Melting Moments recipe is my personal favourite because as the name suggests, it simply melts in the mouth.   I tend to like pastries and the likes that are not saccharine sweet, and this is one of the few savoury recipes I treasure.  Once you’ve started popping one into your mouth, you won’t be able to stop until you’ve finished the last of the lot.  This, you can be rest assured.

Recipe: Melting Moments

Ingredients

  • 225g all-purpose flour
  • 75g corn flour
  • 250g unsalted butter, softened
  • 55g icing sugar
  • pinch of fine salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
  2. Prepare a baking tray lined with Silpat or non-stick baking paper.
  3. Sift together the flours.
  4. Sift the icing sugar into a large mixing bowl.
  5. Add in the butter and salt to the sugar and beat the mixture till light and fluffy.
  6. Add in the vanilla extract.
  7. Gradually add in the sifted flours until combined.
  8. Place the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a fluted nozzle and pipe 1-inch rounds onto the prepared baking tray.
  9. Bake for 15 minutes, or until cookies are golden.
  10. Cool the cookies on the baking tray.

Yield: 45 cookies

I like baking these cookies as a simple treat for family and friends because preparing and baking them are rather hassle-free.   It helps that the requisite ingredients are easily always available in any baking enthusiast’s refrigerator, including mine.  With such a simple recipe, you won’t need to use much elbow grease too.

If you like having your cookies turn out looking like roses, use Wilton’s 2D tip like I did. I must caution though, that this recipe churns out batter of rather stiff consistency, so expect the ‘roses’ you pipe to have jagged edges.

These cookies keep well, for a couple of weeks in an air-tight container.  Since Christmas is around the corner, this recipe is a good start if you want to please family and friends alike.

Happy baking!

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Filed Under: baking, cookies