Pistachio Porn

Around the same time I posted the request for recipe requests, I also asked the guys at work. Most of them defer and claim they’ll love anything I make. I think they’re just afraid I’ll stop bringing them cookies if they offer any critical feedback. Anyone who’s ever critiqued my writing knows that’s just not true. I’ve been absolutely shredded in the past and I’m still… um, if I wasn’t in school I’d still be… writing.

Fortunately, we’ve got a new guy at work.

When I told him I’d make anything, any recipe that would challenge me, but still fit in the magic cookie tin, he came back with this:

Indian Spice Cookies

Wow. Neat! I’ve used garam masala in curries, but I’d never seen garam masala used in a dessert.

Garam masala isn’t a spice on it’s own, so this isn’t quite like making a snickerdoodle which has the cinnamon on the outside… and it’s not quite like a gingersnap. Ginger snaps use a mixture of spices, but they’re all “sweet” spices. Garam masala includes things like cumin (used in making chilli and curry) and black pepper!

I was so making these things.

But of course I can’t just make a plain old cookie even if it was crazy spiced. But I didn’t want to mess with the reportedly soft and chewy texture by adding nuts or something, so I decided they needed some kind of prettying up. A little bit of icing never hurt any cookie. So I made a rosewater glaze and then pressed the damp glaze into finely chopped pistachios.

A bit of a gilded lily, yes, but I think the sweetness of the nuts and glaze worked well to balance the amazing bite of the cookies.

These went over amazingly well with the guys in the construction trailer. And yes, I know, I’m shooting fish in a barrel, but I figure if the cookies weren’t great, 6 guys wouldn’t have cleaned out the entire tin in half a day.

Unfortunately I didn’t actually have garam masala on hand. What I did have were many of the spices that often go into the mixtures that you find in the spice section. Those mixtures can vary in content, and in heat level so I made my own, and scaled down the more savoury spices. If you’ve got some in your cupboard already, give it a shot. If not, here’s what I did for mine:

Garam Masala:

• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 1/2 tsp ground pepper
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves (I think I may have used allspice though)
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Put them all together in a jar and shake.

Now that you’ve got perfectly balanced garam masala, you can make the cookies.

What you need:

Cookies:

• 1/2 cup butter (softened)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• 1 tsp. Garam Masala
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Topping:

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 tsp rosewater
• About 1/2 to 3/4 cup of very finely chopped pistachios

What you gotta do:

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Cream the butter and brown sugar.

Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.

If you feel like dirtying another dish, sift the dry ingredients together into a bowl. If not, pile the flour on one side, and put the other dry stuff on top.

Mix the dry stuff together a bit before starting to incorporate it into the wet part.

Spicey!

Drop teaspoons of dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment if you don’t want to have to wash it afterwards.

Bake the cookies for a mere 10 minutes. Watch them. Don’t let them get too brown. They’re quite golden in colour already and a little extra will have them looking too dark.

Cool them on a rack while you chop the nuts. 

put all the glaze ingredients (not the nuts) in a bowl and mix them.

Dip the cooled cookies into the glaze

and then press them into the nuts.

Once they’ve set, pack them up in the cookie tin, take them to work, and see if anyone can guess what they’re seasoned with.

I’m going to give Lyra Marlow’s suggestion of creamsicle cookies a shot in a couple weeks. And I’m really wondering how I can pull of angel’s suggestion of strawberry shortcake!

What’s the strangest ingredient you’ve ever put in a cookie or dessert??

Black Forest... Cookies!?

Last week a coworker who knows I like to bake offered me a challenge. Black Forest Cake. In a cookie.

Chocolate, cherries, cream. Holy crap yes. So, I started searching. Initially I’d figured I’d make a chocolate sugar cookie and sandwich two together with something cherry-ish between them. Maybe top it with some kind of creamy glaze or icing… Seemed like a lot of steps, particularly if I was making some of it up as I went. And I’d have to present these to the people at work who come by my desk and say “Cookie?” Not something I want to do with a complicated recipe that I’ve never tried before.

And then I came across a thumbprint cookie that was freaking perfect. A minor adjustment to incorporate the cherries and I had it! And holy crap do they look fancy. And holy crap did people ever keep coming back to my desk looking for more. Too bad the recipe only makes 28. I definitely need to do a double batch next time.

Black Forest Cookies

What you need:

For the cookie part:

• ½  cup butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg, separated 
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder (regular, not dutch process)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup sugar, for coating the cookies

For the gooey filling:

• ½ c cream cheese
• 3 tbsp dried cherries, chopped (if you don’t have or can’t find dried, I suppose you could use some other kind but really, look for the dried ones, they’re awesome)
• ¼ c icing sugar

To make them look super fancy:

• ½ c semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

What you gotta do:

As usual, have all the ingredients waiting for you on the counter. It’s best if everything is the same temperature: room temperature. But don’t bother preheating the oven quite yet.

As with nearly all cookie recipes, you start by creaming the butter and sugar.

Separate the egg, set the white aside, and add the yolk to the butter/sugar along with the vanilla and milk.

Sift the flour and cocoa together. I use a sieve over a bowl.

I recommend a bowl wider than the sieve.

I just dumped all the dry stuff in with the wet and started stirring. And panicking. It looks really dry at first. Like way too dry.

But I kept stirring and eventually it all mixed in and formed a really soft dough.

That’s why I wrapped it up and put it in the fridge for an hour. I totally did the dishes while it chilled. Totally did. Okay, yeah, total bullshit. But I thought about doing them.

Once it firms up a little, roll it all into balls. Yup, do all of them first. (Actually, preheat the oven to 350 first).

You get a better idea of how many there are, get a chance to make sure they’re all about the same size, and you won’t be constantly wiping egg white off your hands to roll the next one.

Yup, egg white. Dip each ball in the egg white.

Actually, best to dip only half of it, then roll it in your palm to spread it around. A bit too much egg white isn’t terrible. It comes off looking and tasting kinda meringue-like, but if you’re aiming to make these look fancy, less egg white is better.

Roll the whited balls in sugar and place them on a cookie sheet. With your thumb, a bottle cap, or a half teaspoon measure, press the balls down and make a dent.

Bake about 10-12 minutes, and then while they’re taking a minute to cool on the pan, use that measuring spoon to refresh the dent in the middle. You could probably skip this step if the dent stays, or if you’re okay with a slightly shallower dent.

Put them all on a rack to cool completely. You can make the filling while they cool.

Combine the cream cheese, icing sugar and chopped cherries in a bowl, then transfer it to a sammich bag.

Cut the corner off the bag and squeeze a bit of the filling into each cookie.

Resist the urge to poke at them or eat them. They’re not done yet and yes they really need the last step.

(Note the white-ish meringuey coating. It's actually kinda crispy and tasty, but has a slightly different aesthetic.)

Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave on medium heat. Seriously, everything in the microwave should be done on medium heat unless it’s water you’re trying to boil. The radiation is just too intense; you’ll scorch the chocolate.

Once it’s all melted, put in into a sammich bag as well, and trim a tiny bit off the corner.

Back and forth across the top of the cookies and the decorating is done. They’ll need a minute or two in  the freezer to set before you can pack them into the magic cookie tin to take to work. Keep them in the fridge though, there's cream cheese in them.

So, there we go. Black Forest Cookies.

Alright folks, here's your chance. Challenge me.

What kind of cookie do you want me to make?