Nutter Butter

Life-saving Almond Cookies... it could happen!

The other day I was wandering aimlessly through the grocery store - one of those days where I couldn't seem to remember what the heck it was I needed to get, so I just walked up and down the aisles hoping to jog my memory. And before you recommend I make a list next time, I had.  I forgot it.  Yup, I was totally bringing by A-game that day.... But this story has a happy ending (even though I had to make a second trip to get garbage bags), for when I was wandering past the jams, jellies and Nutella, I spied a nice big jar of Almond Butter.  Don't get me wrong, I've seen almond butter before, but this time I found myself wondering why everyone has a recipe for peanut butter cookies, but I've never seen almond butter cookies.  Nut butters are all fairly similar, so it seems a pretty logical swap.  Of course, as I sat down to write this tonight, I did a Google search for Almond Butter Cookies and found there are several out there.  Huh, who knew?  Probably lots of people, just not me.

Inspiration in the grocery aisle

Anyway, tonight I decided to give my brilliant idea a spin.  Hubby and I had spent a full day working on the yard and doing some gardening, so we deserved a little treat.  Besides, tomorrow is "Baking Monday" at the office and I've got nothing made.  The simplest way to proceed is pretty obvious - take a peanut butter cookie recipe that you already love, and swap out some ingredients, so that's what I did.  I worked great.  I changed out peanut butter for almond butter, chopped roasted peanuts for chopped toasted almonds, and added a little bit of almond extract to the vanilla.  I also added a bit more salt, since the roasted peanuts are normally already salted, where my toasted almonds were not.  I also decided to melt the butter, since I know in my favourite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, the melted butter makes for a chewier cookie.  12 minutes in the oven and a decent amount of time to cool and they were ready for a taste test.  They got the initial seal of approval from hubby, as well as myself, so now it's up to the office tasters tomorrow.  But I'm optimistic; they're chewy, not too sweet and have a decent almond flavour to them.  Besides, maybe this is a decent substitute for all those folks out there who have the misfortune of being deathly allergic to peanuts, but have no problems with almonds.  Oh my god!  I just made cookies that can save lives!  Ok, so I'm not going to cure cancer anytime soon with my baking, but maybe there's some poor peanut-allergic person out there who really misses pb cookies, and I can brighten their day.  Even if it doesn't get me a Nobel Prize, I'm happy to do my part in making the world a little bit sweeter.

Happy Baking!

Almond Butter Cookies
Makes 48 cookies
Adapted form Cook's Illustrated Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:
355g (2 1/2 Cups) flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp table salt
226 g (1 Cup) unsalted butter, melted
220g (1 Cup) light brown sugar
201g (1 Cup) granulated sugar
320 g (1 Cup) unsalted almond butter, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract
140g (1 Cup) whole almonds

35g (1/4 Cup) sliced almonds

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300˚F and place rack in centre of oven.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a skillet, gently toast the whole almonds, being careful not to burn or scorch them.  

As soon as they are toasted, remove them from the pan and allow them to cool on a plate or wooden cutting board.  

Coarsely chop the almonds, either with a sharp knife, or with a food processor, using short 1-second pulses.  Set aside.

In a medium bow, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together melted butter and both sugars until well combined.   

Beat in the almond butter until fully incorporated.  

Add the eggs, one at a time, along with vanilla and almond extract.  Mix the batter well, scraping down the bowl as necessary to make sure everything is fully incorporated.

Gently mix in the dry ingredients until just a few streaks of flour remain.  

Finally, add the chopped almonds and mix until the nuts are well dispersed.
Using a small scoop (a #70 or 35mm disher is my stand-by for cookies), scoop heaping tablespoonfuls if dough onto prepared cookie sheet, allowing about 1 1/2 inches of space between.  

Gently press a couple of sliced almonds into the top of each cookie, flattening the cookies a bit as you go.

Bake until cookies are puffy and golden around the edges, about 12 minutes.

Cool cookies on cookie sheet until they set up, about 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely (about 10 minutes), as these cookies are really soft until the are fully cooled.

Almond butter cookies will keep for 4-5 days in an airtight container.

Back to Basics....

I love to experiment with new recipes and try new things with my baking.  Every time I taste some new delicacy or lay eyes on some stunning pastry creation, I see it as a challenge... I putter and play in my kitchen, making a huge mess and plenty of mistakes until I achieve some sort of success.  Often times though, it's nice to get back to basics and make something that puts a smile on everyone's faces without breaking a sweat.  Everyone needs a recipe like this, even if they don't cook very often.  I'd bet that for most people (in North America at least), that back-to-basics recipe is Chocolate Chip Cookies.

When I make them, I'll often make a double batch, baking only 6 or 12 of them at the time.  The rest of the dough, I scoop out into individual balls onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and freeze for an hour or so, before transferring them to a ziploc bag, to store in the freezer.  If the need or craving strikes, I can have hot-from-the-oven comfort food in the 15 minutes they take to bake.  This trick has come in handy for lots of little "emergencies" over the years... like the time one of our nieces walked through the door asking "Auntie, do you have any treats you baked?" before she even had her coat off.  Or when I got a panicked call from a friend, needing help getting her home ready for a last-minute showing, I grabbed the bag of frozen cookie dough and ran out the door to help - remembering a realtor's tip I read, saying that homey smells like vanilla and fresh-baked cookies help sell homes.  That realtor must be right, because the couple who viewed the house that day moved into it several weeks later.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

(adapted from Cook's Illustrated's The New Best Recipe)

makes 36-42 cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/8 Cups (300 g) all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 Cup (200 g) brown sugar

1/2 Cup (100 g) granulated sugar

3/4 Cup  (180 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1 whole egg plus 1 egg yolk

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 Cups (200 g) chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300F, adjust rack to middle of oven and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.  

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.  In the bowl of a stand mixer (or if mixing by hand, use a large mixing bowl), blend together melted butter, granulated and brown sugars.  Mix in egg & additional yolk and vanilla.  Add dry ingredients and mix until well combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Using #70 disher, or two table spoons, drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 1/2 - 2 inches apart.  Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the cookies edges are firm and golden brown, while the centres are still soft and puffy.  Allow to cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.  Voilà!

Memories of Saturdays at the Mall

Well the wait is over, and tonight is the Artists' Gala at the new Alberta Art Gallery.  Tomorrow morning VIPs and government officials will cut the ribbon and Edmontonians collective culture level will go up a couple of notches.  For my friend, she will finally be able to catch up on some badly needed sleep.  I've volunteered to help out tonight, so I've decided to bake her another little treat I think she will enjoy;  Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops, from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: From My Home To Yours"

This is a fairly new recipe for me - I tried it out a couple of weeks ago, but discovered I was very low on malt powder, so I had to settle for only 1/2 a batch.  They were good.  They have that nice, smooth taste that you get with malted chocolate, and it reminded me of Saturdays as a child...

Every Saturday, as far back as I can remember, mom, my sister and I would pick Grandma up from the hairdressers and head for the mall.  We would spend the entire day there, window shopping with or without purpose.  We didn't always buy something, but it was part of our week - a day for just us girls, occasionally joined by my aunt and three cousins for a bit.  For my sister and I, we knew which treats we could look forward to having, depending on the mall we were headed to.  The best fries and gravy in the entire world from the dive-y cafeteria across from Sears (7- & 12-year-olds don't exactly have the most refined palates) or a chocolate malt from the bright orange malt spot near the bowling alley.  Mid-afternoon, no mater what the time of year, that icy-cold malt was the best treat for us to enjoy while mom and grandma rested their feet for a few minutes.  We're all grown up now, and sadly, our beloved Grandma has passed.  Saturdays at the mall don't happen as often as the used to, but I still enjoy a day hanging out with my mom in retail heaven when we get the chance.  The malt stops are all gone now, as is that dumpy cafeteria, but the memories are as fresh as ever for me.

So sis - if you're feeling a tad nostalgic, you should give these ones a try.  I can still hear the sound of plastic spoons scraping up the last bits of malt from waxed-paper cups... :-)

Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops
excerpted from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: From My Home To Yours"
makes about 30 cookies

1 3/4 Cups (248 g) all-purpose flour
1 Cup (140 g) malt powder (or Ovaltine, regular or chocolate-flavoured)
1/4 Cup (23 g) coca powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1stick + 3 Tbsp (157 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 Cup (134 g) sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 Cup (60 ml) whole milk
2 Cups (200 g) Whoppers or Maltesers (coarsley chopped)
1 Cup (172 g) chocolate chips or chunks

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F (325F is what I used), placing rack in the centre of oven.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats (*highly recommended*  this cookie dough tends to be a bit sticky)

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, malt powder, cocoa, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.
Working with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer & a very large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy (approx. 3 minutes).  Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition.  Beat in the vanilla (don't be concerned if the mixture looks a little curdled, it will even out when the dry ingredients are added).  With mixer on low speed, add hlaf of the dry ingredients, mixing just until they disappear into the batter.  Mix in the milk, then the remaining dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated.  The batter will look more like fudge frosting than cookie dough, but that's the way this one should look.  Using a rubber spatula, mix Whoppers & chocolate chips into the batter by hand.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls (or using #70 disher) onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2-inches between scoops.  Bake for 11-13 minutes.  When done, cookies will be puffed and set but slightly soft to the touch.  Let the cookies cool on the sheets for 2 minutes before transferring to cooling racks.  Repeat with the remaining dough, cooling the baking sheets completely between batches.

Recipe Test Night

My sister recently sent me a cookie recipe that she thought I might like. She doesn't cook or bake very often since she moved to Southern California, a bad week of storms and heavy rain have caused her Canadian hibernating genes to kick into high gear and dust off the measuring cups. This was one of the many things she made last week, and I thought today was the perfect day to give them a try. After all, I had a busy day at work, and a full 45 minutes on the Wii Fit.. I've earned a cookie or two, haven't I?

Well, for starters, I had to make a few necessary changes to the recipe... Call me a food snob, but it just goes against everything I believe in to use Crisco in a cookie recipe when butter is so readily available - so I swapped the Crisco for unsalted butter, and then I took sis' suggestion of adding Skor bar bits (Heath Bar bits if you're south of the 49th) - at least to 1/2 of the recipe, since this was a test batch anyway. Sneaking a taste of the raw batter ('cuz who doesn't like raw cookie dough?), I also decided to increase the vanilla and salt in order turn up the volume on the flavours. Lacking any real instructions form the original recipe, I used the basic creaming method to prepare the batter. I baked one sheet of cookies at the recommended temperature of 375F which, as I suspected, was way too hot for cookies, so I fell back on my tried-and-true habit of baking all cookies at 300F and adjusting the cooking time. The result is a moist, chewy cookie that is cooked all the way through without being too brown around the edges.

The end result is interesting...a kind of "everything-cookie" (hence the name). Can't decide if you're in the mood for chocolate chip, oatmeal or peanut butter cookies? This cookie is a combination of all three - satisfying just about any craving you may have. I'm guessing this is why these were well received by my group of tasters (hubby's co-workers, along with my own).

So here you are, the initial test recipe for Everything Cookies. I'm still convinced that there's room for improvement, so I'll make a few more batches I'm sure, tweaking here and there in search of perfection. Perhaps decreasing the amount of butter slightly and increasing the peanut butter for a more pronounced peanut flavour...? I also invite you all to try the recipe yourselves and tell me what improvements you think these could use.

Everything Cookies
makes 42-48 cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 Cups (213 grams) all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 Cups (190 grams) oatmeal (large flake is preferred over quick-cooking)

1 Cup (226 grams or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 Cup (201 grams) granulated sugar
1 Cup (180 grams) brown sugar
1 Cup (284 grams) smooth peanut butter
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 Cups (300 grams) chocolate chips
1 1/2 Cups (200 grams) Skor bits (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300F, placing rack in the centre of oven. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.

In a medium bowl, mix together oatmeal, flour, salt and baking soda, and set aside.
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add peanut butter and vanilla and mix on medium-high speed until fully combined. Turn mixer down to medium and add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed to make sure everything is well mixed. With mixer on low speed, mix in 1/3 of the dry ingredients, gradually mixing in t second and final thirds of the dry mixture, just until no more streaks of flour remain. Take care not to over-mix the batter.

Using #70 disher or an ice-cream scoop, drop mounds of dough (about the size of a golf ball) onto cookie sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, one sheet at a time, for 15-18 minutes, until the edges start to turn a pale golden brown. Remove from oven, and allow to cool on cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. While it's tempting to enjoy cookies while they are fresh from the oven and gooey, these cookies are so much better once they have cooled completely.