Epiphany Stars

“I think it is fun to have another cookie to bake after the rush of Christmas. These cookies symbolize the story of La Befana (pronounced La Bay-fah-nah), who travels around Italy on the Feast of the Epiphany, which falls on January 6 and celebrates the visit of the three Magi to the Christ Child. I like to bake these on the eve of Epiphany and eat them the next day, when I take the Christmas tree down. Rich, rolled sugar cookies spiked with a bit of anisette, they are superb with a cup of hot chocolate.”

- Gina dePalma, pastry chef at Babbo Ristorante, NYC

You have got to love a person who comes up with an excuse to bake another cookie after everyone else has made their resolutions.  Amen, sister.

Ingredients

For the cookies:

• 3 ½ cups unbleached flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 ½ cups (3 sticks/12 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons anisette
• Freshly grated zest of 1 orange

For the glaze:

• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• Multicolored sprinkles

Directions

To make the cookies: In a medium bowl, whisk the four, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until creamy and light, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and egg yolks, one at a time, scraping down the sides after each addition, followed by the vanilla extract, anisette, and orange zest. Beat in the dry ingredients on low speed to form a stiff dough. Remove the dough from the bowl, flatten it into a disk, wrap it in plastic, and chill until it is firm enough to roll, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray or butter or line them with parchment paper.

Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces; work with 1 piece at a time, keeping the remaining pieces refrigerated. On a floured surface, roll the dough to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Using a floured 2-inch star-shaped cookie cutter, cut the dough into stars. Place the cookies ½ inch apart on the baking sheets. Gather the scraps together and repeat rolling and cutting until you have used all the scraps; it may be necessary to refrigerate the scraps until they are firm enough to roll again.

To make the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk with the cream. Using a small pastry brush, lightly brush the surface of the cookies with a bit of glaze and decorate them with the sprinkles.
Bake the cookies until they are lightly golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes, rotating the baking sheets 180 degrees halfway through the baking time to ensure even browning. Allow the cookies to cool slightly on the baking sheets, then gently remove them with a spatula to a wire rack to cool completely.

The cookies can be stored in an airtight container, layered between sheets of parchment paper, for up to 4 days.  Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

When You Can't Ski, Make Chocolate Chip Cookies

Major Obvious was bummed this past weekend because we had to cancel our ski trip when Little Man came down with a cold.  Cookies to the rescue!  My brother accidentally bought me a million pistachios from Whole Foods, so I threw those in, too.  And by the way, David Lebovitz is a genius.

Chocolate Chip Cookies – David Lebovitz

Ingredients

·       2 1/2 cups (350 g) all-purpose flour

·       3/4 teaspoon baking soda

·       1/8 teaspoon salt

·       1 cup (8 ounces/225 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

·       1 cup (215 g) packed light brown sugar

·       3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar

·       1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·       2 large eggs, at room temperature

·       2 cups (about 225 g) nuts, such as walnuts, pecans, almonds, or pistachios, toasted and coarsely chopped

·       14 ounces (400 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into 1/2- to 1-inch (1.5- to 3-cm) chunks or 3 cups (340 g) chocolate drops

Directions

1.     In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

2.     In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl by hand), beat together the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla on medium speed just until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time until thoroughly incorporated, then stir in the flour mixture followed by the nuts and chocolate chunks.

3.     On a lightly floured work surface, divide the dough into quarters. Shape each quarter into a log about 9 inches (23 cm) long. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, preferably for 24 hours.

4.     Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

5.     Slice the logs into disks 3/4 inch (2 cm) thick and place the disks 3 inches (8 cm) apart on the prepared baking sheets. If the nuts or chips crumble out, simply push them back in.

6.     Bake, rotating the baking sheets midway through baking, until the cookies are very lightly browned in the centers, about 10 minutes. If you like soft chocolate chip cookies, as I do, err on the side of underbaking.

7.     Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to handle, then use a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack.  

8.     Storage: The dough logs can be refrigerated for 1 week or frozen for up to 1 month. The baked cookies will keep well in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

The Weather Outside is Frightful

The snow is really coming down out there.  For the first time in his young life, Little Man is having a Snow Day.  No School!!!

Perhaps it's a cliche, but traditions sometime weather the storm for a reason.  When one bakes cookies while it's snowing outside, the house gets even cozier.  The air smells like vanilla, sugar, butter and yummy-ness.

Martha Stewart's incredible team at Everyday Food has come up with this fantastic idea for holiday cookies.  Make your favorite sugar cookie dough recipe, separate the dough and dye each kind a different color.  Roll out the "main" dough into a sheet, add different colored dough on top (with dots, stripes, or whatever you'd like).  Roll again, use cookie cutters, and voila!  For some reason, this exact methodology is not posted on the Everyday Food website even though it was featured in their printed magazine (the last printed issue that's ever going to be published, apparently).  

Happy Baking and Happy Holidays!

A Little Addictive Cookie - Just In Time For The Holidays

Major Obvious came home from work one day bearing this package.  Now, normally I do not condone packaged cookies in the house.  (I will bend for cookies that are "home-baked" in the grocery store).  I just can't help but feel that the cookie manufacturers of the world are shoving trans fats into the little treats at every turn.  (How else can the biscuits stay "fresh" for a year on the shelf?)  The worst of it is, I never seem to see the term "hydrogenated" anywhere on UK packaging, so I can't help but wonder whether these cookies are filled with trans fats anyway or if, perhaps, this country is more health conscious than the United States.

But these little Nice biscuits are very, very hard to resist.  Whenever I eat one, I automatically pop another and then another in my mouth.  Then, I run out of the kitchen so I don't eat the whole box in one sitting.  They are crunchy with tiny little coconut pieces in the cookie, and then a fluffy vanilla cream filling provides a great additional treat.  They're awesome.  They're probably going to make me gain an additional 3 pounds on top of the traditional holiday weight, but oh well.  'Tis the season!