Ultimate Chocolate Cookie Book - Bruce Weinstein [80]
MAKES ABOUT 4 DOZEN COOKIES
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (11/2 sticks) cool, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 large egg white, at room temperature
2 tablespoons milk (regular, low-fat, or nonfat)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups rolled oats (do not use quick-cooking oats)
3 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
1. Position the rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl until the cinnamon and soda are evenly distributed; set aside.
2. Soften the butter in a large bowl, using an electric mixer at medium speed, about 1 minute. Add both kinds of sugar and the corn syrup; continue beating at medium speed until soft, light, and pale brown, about 2 more minutes. Beat in the egg, then the egg white, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Turn off the beaters, add the prepared flour mixture (in stages, if necessary), and beat at low speed just until incor porated. Stir in the oats and chocolate chips with a wooden spoon until the chips are evenly distributed.
3. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a large ungreased baking sheet, preferably nonstick, spacing the mounds about 2 inches apart. Bake for 6 minutes, rotate the baking sheet front to back, and continue baking for about 7 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned, somewhat soft, but definitely set. Cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Cool the baking sheet for 5 minutes before baking another batch, or use a second baking sheet that hasn’t been in the oven.
Recommended storage
5 days at room temperature
Not recommended for freezing
Customize It!
Reduce the semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips to 11/2 cups and add 11/2 cups of any of the following, or a combination of any of the following: butterscotch chips, chopped pecans, chopped walnuts, dried cranberries, M&Ms, milk chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, raisins, Reese’s Pieces, roasted unsalted peanuts, sweetened shredded coconut, or white chocolate chips.
SPUMETTI
These crisp meringue cookies are popular in Italy at Christmastime. They’re best dipped in sweet wine, red wine, or a strong cup of coffee. You’ll need four large baking sheets to make this recipe: you bake two sheets, then let the cookies cool completely on those sheets, meanwhile baking two more sheets. Why not just use two sheets? Since the cookies take a while to cool, it would be unsafe to leave the egg-white mixture at room temperature for all that time. Do not refrigerate the egg-white-and-cocoa mixture or it will lose its silky texture and the cookies will turn gummy.
MAKES ABOUT 41/2 DOZEN COOKIES
3 cups whole hazelnuts (about 3/4 pound), toasted and skins removed (see page 96 for instructions on toasting the hazelnuts)
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
41/4 cups confectioners’ sugar (1 pound)
2 tablespoon cocoa powder, preferably natural, sifted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1. Place 2 cups of the hazelnuts in a food processor fitted with the chopping blade; pulse a few times to grind the nuts into coarse pieces; set aside. Cut the remaining nuts in half; set aside as well.
2. In a dry, large, clean bowl, beat the egg whites and salt with an electric mixer at high speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until the cream of tartar is dissolved into the mixture, just until it’s opaque, about 15 seconds. Do not make a meringue with peaks; do not let the egg whites begin to billow up with air. Mix in the confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, and cinnamon; beat at medium speed until the mixture looks like thick, sticky canned frosting, about 6 minutes.
3. Beat in the coarsely chopped hazelnuts; continue beating for 3 minutes until the mixture is sticky,