Ultimate Chocolate Cookie Book - Bruce Weinstein [16]
5. Bake for about 12 minutes. Use an oven mitt or a hot pad to hold on to the baking sheet, then give it two or three hard raps against the oven rack to make the cookies fall. Bake for about 1 more minute, or until the cookies are flat and crackly but somewhat soft to the touch. Cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Cool the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then lightly butter it again before baking further batches.
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NOTE: If the oil separates out of the melted butterscotch chips, all is not lost. The eggs, added later, will re-emulsify it as they’re beaten in.
Recommended storage
4 days at room temperature
3 months in the freezer
Mix It Up!
Banana Split Chocolate Chip Cookies: Reduce the chocolate chips to 11/2 cups; add 1 cup crushed banana chips and 1/2 cup chopped dried strawberries with the remaining chips.
Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookie: Reduce the chocolate chips to 11/2 cups and add 11/2 cups chopped pecans with the remaining chips.
Butterscotch Heath Bar Cookies: Omit the chocolate chips; substitute 3 cups chopped Heath bars.
Butterscotch Maple Chocolate Chip Cookies: Substitute maple extract for the vanilla extract.
Butterscotch Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies: Reduce the chocolate chips to 11/2 cups and add 11/2 cups peanut butter chips with the remaining chips.
Butterscotch Trail Mix Cookies: Substitute 3 cups purchased chocolate-chip trail mix for the chocolate chips.
CATS’ TONGUES
Here’s a chocolate version of one of the first French cookies, a favorite of professional bakers: pailles d’or (slivers of gold, a reference to their color) or more colloquially, langues des chats (cats’ tongues, a reference to their elongated shape). We’ve taken these classic cookies and sandwiched them with a chocolate and raspberry filling.
MAKES ABOUT 2 DOZEN THIN SANDWICH COOKIES
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cool, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus additional for greasing the baking sheet
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting the baking sheet
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
11/2 tablespoons raspberry liqueur, such as Chambord
1. Position the rack in the upper third of the oven only. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Butter and flour a large baking sheet; set aside. Beat the egg whites and salt in a small bowl with a fork until foamy; set aside as well.
2. Beat the butter in a large bowl, using an electric mixer at medium speed, until softened, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 more minute. Remove the beaters and use a rubber spatula to fold in the frothy egg-white mixture, adding one-quarter of it at a time. Continue folding and stirring until smooth and light. Finally, stir in the flour just until smooth and well incorporated.
3. Fit a pastry bag with a round, 3/8-inch tip; fill with the dough, squeezing it down toward the tip without compressing the dough tightly. Alternatively, place the dough in a zip-closed plastic bag and snip off one of the corners so that you have a 3/8-inch-wide opening.
4. Pipe or squeeze the dough onto the prepared baking sheet so that it forms fingerlike cookies about 3 inches in length. Space the cookies 2 inches apart.
5. Bake for about 6 minutes, or until the edges are a pale beige yet the middle is still springy to the touch. Cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Cool the baking sheet for 5 minutes before buttering and flouring again so you can bake additional batches.
6. When all the cookies have cooled, place the chocolate in the top half of a double boiler set over about 1 inch of simmering water, or in a medium bowl that fits tightly over a medium saucepan with about the same amount of simmering water. Stir until half the chocolate has melted, then remove