Christmas Cookie #12 – World Peace Cookie by Dorie Greenspan. A perfect way to finish off the 12 cookies and think of the beauty and joy this season brings to us. This is mostly her writing of the recipe from her blog, with my comments in italics. She explains it beautifully and I could in no way come close to her expertise in recipe writing. That said, all the comments in italics in the recipe below reflect my experiences when making this cookie.
I did roll this into a log shape using the technique I learned in school (see picture below) to ensure even sized cookies. My dough wasn’t crumbly at all. In fact it was moist and slightly sticky. But with a little flour on my hands I managed to get a rough log then made it circular using the bench scraper/parchment paper technique above. This cookie has no eggs in it. I know, hard to believe. I don’t think I have ever made a cookie recipe without eggs. To say Ms. Greenspan is a wizard in the kitchen would be an understatement. These cookies come out of the oven crisp on top and chewy in the center. They do harden up and in spite of what I say about preferring soft chewy cookies, the taste of these could easily change my mind.
The raw dough is very tasty – and I’m not a fan of tasting raw cookie dough. There was a wonderfully keen fellow in my “Around the World Cookies” class at the PC Cooking School who loved raw dough and every time I left his group to tend to another, I’m sure he ate some raw dough :). I hope he liked the finished product as much as the raw dough.
Christmas Cookie #12 – World Peace Cookie, a wish for Christmas. I think we should all make a batch of these just in case the nuclear codes fall into the wrong hands!! I hope you enjoy making at least some of these 12 Cookies of Christmas as much as I enjoyed finding and trying them out for you. For the record, I made more than 12, these were just the 12 I chose based on technique and taste. My favorites are #1, 2, I wish all of you a very happy and joyous Christmas as well as a Happy Hanukkah. Whatever holiday you celebrate – be safe, and watch out for the other guy! Health and happiness in 2017 for all! As always – enjoy!
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder – I used Ghirardelli
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature – I used Churn 84 European Style butter
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt – I used Maldon Sea Salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips – I used ¾ cup Lindt Dark couverture, chopped
Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together
Working with a stand mixer and the paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer in a large bowl) beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy
Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more
This is brilliant – Turn off the mixer, pour in the flour mixture, drape a kitchen towel over the stand mixer to protect yourself and your kitchen from flying flour and pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time
Take a peek — if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of times more; if not, remove the towel
Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough — for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don’t be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly
Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate
Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half
Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter
Wrap the logs in plastic wrap (I used parchment) and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours
(The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking — just slice the logs into cookies and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.)
Getting ready to bake:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C) – I have a convection and preheated to 350f but dropped it down to 320 for the cooking time – they came out perfect just as she described – my oven doesn’t go up in 5 degree intervals
Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats
Working with a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick – I made mine ¼” thick – there are lots of treats on my sweet table and I want you to try all of them, or at least as many as your doctor will allow you to have
(The rounds are likely to crack as you’re cutting them — don’t be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie – this will happen, mostly because of the chunks of chocolate in the dough)
Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about one inch between them
Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes — they won’t look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be
Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature
For the record – and those who know me, I actually followed the instructions this time 🙂
