Oatmeal Jam Bars

I recently did a little kitchen cabinet inventory and discovered that I may have been a little jam-crazy last summer. I still have five jars of tomato jam, nine (nine!) jars of jalapeno jelly, a few apricot rosemary, four sour cherry (hooray, my favorite!), a rhubarb, a peach, and a few plums. Canning season is just getting underway (I've already pickled some asparagus), and I need to make some space in the cupboard. So I polled twitter about what to do with all that fruity goodness. SO MANY GOOD IDEAS. Cakes and tarts and cookies, oh my! Roving Lemon passed along this recipe, originally from The Pioneer Woman, and since it was the simplest thing I had all the ingredients for, I made them to take to a party last week. They were a hit! Oh, and Adam is looking over my shoulder and suggests that you cut them into 16 smaller bars rather than 12.

Oatmeal Jam Bars
makes 12-16 bars depending on how you cut them
adapted, but not much, from The Pioneer Woman

I used plum jam, but I think the beauty here is that you can use whatever you want or have extra of - strawberry jam this month, peach in July, apple butter in September, woo!

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt (use 1/2 tsp if using fine sea salt or table salt)
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
10-12 ounces jam (I used one full 1/2 pint and a few spoonfuls from another 1/2 pint)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix together the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl, then use your fingers to smush the soft butter in. Cut a strip of parchment paper and use it to line the bottom and two sides of an 8x8 baking pan. Spray the pan with non stick spray.

Put half the oat mixture in the pan and use your hands or a spatula to press it firmly in an even layer. Spread the jam over the oats, then sprinkle the other half of the oats over the jam and use your hands to press it into an even layer. No need to pack quite as firmly here, you don't want to smush the jam to the bottom.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, rotating halfway through, until the top is light golden brown. Let cool in the pan, then use the parchment sling to lift the bars out of the pan (you may need to run a thin knife around the edge). Cut the bars into squares.

Irish Coffee Crunchies

In December, in addition to their usual cookie issue, Gourmet published an online feature: the best cookie recipe from each year they've been published.

I think it's a very cool idea. And these Irish Coffee Crunchies from 1977 are the second recipe I've tried from the feature. (The first was the honey refrigerator cookie from 1942, which tastes strongly of whatever honey you choose, so choose wisely, and is excellent with both cheese and chocolate fondues.)

These cookies were not my favorite, I may as well tell you. They were yummy in the way that all cookies are, for sure. And I like all the things that go in Irish Coffee, and I fully expected to l-o-v-e these, but the flavor wasn't strong enough for me. There's coffee in the cookies and the frosting, but mostly I just tasted crunchy oatmeal cookie. Good crunchy oatmeal cookie, but not what I had expected.

But here's the thing: my friends loved them. I put them on a plate with a note that said "please eat" when I was on my way out and when I got home, I heard the rave reviews. Someone actually said "best cookie ever" but I can't remember who to ask them why. You'll have to make them and decide for yourself!

Some of the comments online about these cookies claim that there must be something wrong with the dough! because it's difficult to roll out. It is, but it's not impossible. Add another teaspoon or two of coffee if it's really driving you mad, but persistence works, too. And make sure you get it to 1/8th of an inch, the thick ones are on the dry side. Oh, and one more thing - the recipes were published the same way they were in their respective years "in the interest of authenticity" so that's why the ingredient list is part of the instructions. Read it through once or twice before you start so you know you have everything you need.

Irish Coffee Crunchies

Gourmet, August 1977, via Gourmet's Favorite Cookies 1941-2008

In a bowl beat 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened, with 1/4 cup sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Beat in 2 teaspoons each of Irish whiskey and strong coffee and 1 teaspoon heavy cream. Add 2 cups quick-cooking oats and 1 cup flour sifted with 1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder and combine the mixture to form a dough. Roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick on a floured surface and with a 2 1/4-inch cutter cut out rounds. Bake the rounds on a buttered baking sheet in a preheated moderate oven (350° F.) for 15 minutes, or until they are lightly colored. Transfer the rounds to a rack and let them cool.

In a small bowl combine 2 teaspoons each of Irish whiskey and strong coffee and 1 teaspoon heavy cream. In a bowl combine 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted, and the coffee mixture, stir in 3 teaspoons boiling water, a little at a time, and beat the icing, adding a few drops more water if necessary, until it is smooth and of spreading consistency. Spread half the rounds thinly with the icing, top them with the remaining rounds, and coat the cookies with the icing. Transfer the cookies to a rack and let the icing set. Makes about 18 cookies.

Chocolate Hazelnut Crinkle Cookies

So I know today is like some big important American Holiday, but it's also another important day: it's the Puma's birthday!

This last weekend while rehearsing bread recipes for T-day (I was in charge of bread, weee!) I also made these cookies to put in the mail to the ATL.

They are a little complicated, yes, but they are supremely delicious - moist, chewy, crinkly outside and infused with amazing hazelnut flavor. The classic chocolate crinkle is good, but if you want to kick it up, hazelnut ain't a bad way to go.

I've been making them since their first appearance in Gourmet in December of 2006, and they haven't disappointed yet. If the snowy white outside is very important to you, be very liberal with the powdered sugar. I hope you like them!

Chocolate Hazelnut Crinkle Cookies
adapted from Gourmet, December 2006

2/3 cup hazelnuts
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
6 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (no more than 60% cacao if marked), finely chopped
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup confectioners sugar

Make dough:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

Toast hazelnuts in a shallow baking pan in oven until skins split and nuts are pale golden, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven (turn oven off), then wrap hazelnuts in a kitchen towel and rub to remove any loose skins. Cool nuts completely. Pulse nuts with granulated sugar in a food processor until finely chopped.

Melt chocolate in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water or in top of a double boiler, stirring until smooth. Remove bowl from heat and set aside.

Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

Beat together butter and brown sugar in another bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in melted chocolate until combined. Add milk and vanilla, beating to incorporate. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Stir in nut mixture. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill dough until firm, 2 to 3 hours.

Form and bake cookies:
Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift confectioners sugar into a bowl. Halve dough and chill 1 half, wrapped in plastic wrap. Roll remaining half into 1-inch balls, placing them on a sheet of wax paper as rolled. Roll balls, 3 or 4 at a time, in confectioners sugar to coat generously and arrange 2 inches apart on lined baking sheets.

Bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are puffed and cracked and edges feel dry (but centers are still slightly soft), 12 to 18 minutes total. Transfer cookies (still on parchment) to racks to cool completely.

While first batch is baking, roll remaining dough into balls. Line cooled cookie sheets with fresh parchment, then coat balls with confectioners sugar and bake in same manner.

Pecan Pie Cookies

Well I can't stop baking. I KNOW! I know.

I know I'm eating things for dinner that aren't sugar based, but I can't quite remember what they are... Oh wait. I made those roasted tomatoes people keep talking about:
And then I made pesto using the end of our basil plant (yeah, it died, I don't know what happened) and the oil from the tomatoes and the garlic that roasted with them. It was tasty!

And then I forgot to take a picture of the pasta we ate it with. And it was maybe too salty... and I didn't write any of the ratios down. Bad blogger, bad! Well anyway.

Saturday morning I woke up early to make cookies. Ok, that's a lie, but I woke up early and knew we would be going to Alissa's that night (hi, Alissa!) AND I had a cookie recipe lurking in my brain. You know those recipes that lurk? I've got a couple more up there skulking in the corners for the week. You'll be glad to know they're mostly savory... but I digress. I first clicked over to this Land O'Lakes recipe via YumSugar, and it caught my attention because I know how Adam feels about pecans. In fact as he was chopping pecans he made up a song about them.

It sounded like a madrigal to me, and the lyrics were something along the lines of I effing love pecans, I effing love pecans. That is a well founded love. Pecans are delicious. And so are these cookies.
I found that I had to bake them for 11 minutes of the 8-12, but I'm starting to think my new oven runs a bit cold; everything takes slightly longer than it's supposed to. I'll have to get a thermometer and check, but until then I'll just bake to the long end of the suggested time. I also got 2 1/2 dozen cookies out of this, not 3 dozen, but that's pretty close I guess. Maybe next time I'll have to make them smaller.


Pecan Pie Cookies
From Land O'Lakes

Cookies:
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened (I use the defrost option on the microwave)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder

Filling:
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream (I used Half & Half since that's what was in the fridge)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Make the filling: combine the chopped pecans, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup of cream or half&half, and teaspoon of vanilla and stir. Set aside.

For the cookies, beat the brown sugar, butter, egg and teaspoon of vanilla in a bowl until creamy. Add the flour and baking powder and beat again until well mixed.

Roll the cookies into balls 1 1/4 inch in diameter and lay out on an ungreased cookie sheet. Make a depression with your thumb. I found it easier to rinse my fingers under cold water so they didn't stick to the melting butter in my warm kitchen. Spoon a scant teaspoon of filling into each cookie and bake for 8-12 minutes until golden brown. Cool for a minute or two on the cookie sheet then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Makes 2 1/2 to 3 dozen cookies.

It's a cookie, not a dance.

Well, I made ice cream again. Don't get too excited, because I was too full of sushi last night to eat any, so I didn't take any pictures, which means if you want to see pretty pictures of ice cream, you'll have to go look at this one here and drool over that instead of my plain-jane but delicious vanilla. Phew! Holy run-on sentence, batman. Anyway, I couldn't have given you the recipe anyway, because I used (exactly) David Lebovitz's recipe from Perfect Scoop, which I suggest you go out and get immediately, if you're into home made ice cream. So what's the point of this post, exactly?



Ta-da! Not bad as far as leftover transformation, I think. I had egg whites leftover from the custard base for the ice cream, so I put them in a baggie in the fridge for a couple of days until I had a chance to make meringues. So I'm not blown away by the "cookies" themselves, but I had a lot of fun making them. Who knew beating egg whites could be so satisfying? Maybe since it's something I've never done before... also I have three more egg whites in a baggie in the freezer (the ice cream recipe calls for SIX! egg yolks!) so there may be an angel food cake or something in my future. (BTW, where did this sweet tooth come from? I've always been a savor-favorer.) I don't even think they were so bad in the humidity, though I do wonder about that little pebble effect on the surface. They taste like marshmallows, sort of. They're chewy. Your dentist will be mad at you for eating too many of these.

Moving on. What are you going to do with all those silly little cookies, Bruno? I'll be bringing them to Maine with me this weekend, where they will, I'm sure, pale in comparison with the feast Mama Bruno has prepared. I'll be back in a few days to share the details of the spread with you. If you need some interesting reading in the meantime, Mark Bittman put together quite a list of simple picnic food ideas. I like it because it's so vague... heh heh. Happy Fourth of July, people.

Meringue "cookies"
more or less adapted from the internet and its many, many meringue variations

egg whites (I used three)
sugar (1/4 cup per egg white used)
cream of tartar (just a bit, to stabilize the whites - I used 1/8 tsp)
AP flour for dusting the pans

Preheat oven to 200 F

1. Line a cookie sheet or two with parchment paper, dust with flour and shake off the excess.
2. Start with extremely clean beaters and bowl - a trace of fat will deflate your whites, defeating you before you even get anywhere.
3. Start on low speed, beat the egg whites until frothy and then soft peaks will start to form.
4. Up the speed to medium, slowly add sugar a little bit it a a time, beating until the whites are shiny/glossy and stiff peaks hold. (This means when you pull the beaters up out of the whites, the resulting peaks don't bend over at all).
5. Using two spoons, plop little piles of the whites on prepared cookie sheets. (Apparently you can pipe these using a pastry bag, but I like the ramshackle look of free-form meringues.)
6. Stick the pans in your pre-heated oven for an hour. After an hour, turn off the oven and LEAVE THEM IN THERE for at least another hour or up to overnight.

YES, overnight. I opened up my oven after a couple of hours and tasted the little buggers, but still left them there overnight because I'm lazy. And it was late. I took the photos above the next morning.

P.S. What's with that title? Ever time I read the word MERINGUE I also think MERENGUE, which is one letter off, but vastly different. Although, now that I think of it, you could probably come up with some sort of metaphor about dancing proteins. I'll leave that to Alton Brown.

There is no photo to do these cookies justice.

After a really lovely and long walk around Cambridge in the sunshine including stops for boys and stops for girls and lots of mocking of unnecessary kitchen gadgets (and a tasty quesadilla at Miracle of Science), I finally made my way back to Brighton late on Sunday afternoon. I called my darling cousin Dominique, who graduates from BC this coming weekend (go, smartypants go!) but finished her finals an interminable week ago. Needless to say, her still-studying housemates were glad to see her leave the apartment. We chopped chocolate, we mixed dry goods, we went to the store for more rolled oats, and we generally futzed about the kitchen while the lemon chicken marinated. The end result was the sweet + salty = deliciousness of these cookies. I'm sure the high quality Green & Black's vanilla white helped, but I don't even like white chocolate and I loooved these. These will be the cookies I send to people when they do nice things for me. Yes.

My original reaction to this recipe was hey! An excuse to buy Maldon Sea Salt! I aspire to be on of those people with 15 kinds of salt in the cupboard, so thank you, Deb, for the recipe and the reason.