All of our Holiday cookie packages have gone and, I think, have also been received, so our slightly crazy annual cookie project is done for another year (apart from some gingerbread I’ll bake tomorrow for our gingerbread tree .) Gingerbread is still Julia’s and David’s favorite, and my grandmother’s Date Nut Rolls are still mine, but we’ve introduced three new cookies this year that are strong contenders for the family cookie cannon: Mocha Toffee Cashew Bars, Walnut Acorn Cookies and Cornetti (recipes below.) The new Cornetti are a labor of love, but they’re delightfully chewy, and they have a refreshingly bright orange flavor that’s a nice contrast to the buttery, nutty, chocolaty flavors of the rest of the assortment. As always, we’ve packed and sent a lot of cookies, but there are still plenty left for us and our guests to enjoy during our long, relaxed Holiday break in Southampton.
This Year’s Tin
No paint this year, jus lots of glitter, stuck to Modpodge painted on by hand.
The Cookies
Bottom Layer
Clockwise, from the top:
Mini Pecan Pies
Mocha Toffee Cashew Bars (recipe below)
Walnut Acorn Cookies (recipe below)
Bizcocho (recipe)
Date Nut Roll (recipe)
Cornetti (recipe below)
Checkerboard Shortbread (recipe)
Top Layer
Gingerbread (recipe)
Rolled Sugar Cookies (recipe)
Some scenes from production:
Recipes
Mocha Toffee Cashew Bars
(Gourmet, December 1987. Makes about 4 dozen.)
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 tablespoons instant-espresso powder* dissolved in 2 tablespoons boiling water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped
3/4 cup salted roasted cashews (4 oz), chopped
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at moderately high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in yolk and vanilla, then gradually add espresso mixture, beating until combined well. Add flour and salt and mix at low speed until just combined.
Spread batter evenly in an ungreased 15 1/2- by 10 1/2-inch baking pan (1 inch deep) and bake in middle of oven until top puffs slightly and sides pull away from edge of pan, 16 to 22 minutes. (Watch carefully toward end of baking; base can burn easily.)
While base is baking, melt chocolate in a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally, then remove top of double boiler or bowl from heat. Spread chocolate over warm base and immediately sprinkle with cashews. Cool completely in pan on a rack, then cut into 48 bars. Chill until chocolate is firm, about 15 minutes.
Walnut Acorn Cookies
(Gourmet, December 2000. Makes about 4 dozen)
For cookies:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup finely chopped walnuts (4 oz)
For decoration
8 oz semisweet chocolate, melted
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts (2 oz)
Make cookies:
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat together butter, brown sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Mix in flour mixture at low speed, then stir in walnuts.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Form 2 teaspoons dough into an egglike shape resembling an acorn. Make more “acorns,” arranging them 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake in batches in middle of oven until undersides are light brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool.
Decorate cookies:
Dip half of each cookie in melted chocolate and then in chopped nuts. Place as coated on a baking sheet lined with wax paper to set, about 15 minutes.
Cornetti
(Gourmet, December 1989. Makes about 4 dozen.)
2 1/3 cups finely ground blanched almonds
1 cup coarsely chopped blanched almonds
1 cup white cornmeal (not stone-ground)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup finely chopped candied orange peel
5 large egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat together the ground almonds, the cornmeal, the flour, the granulated sugar, the peel, the egg whites and the vanilla until the mixture forms a dough, and divide the dough into 3 pieces. Sprinkle 1 cup of the confectioners’ sugar onto a clean work surface, on the surface roll the dough into 10-inch-long logs, and chill the logs, uncovered, on a jelly-roll pan overnight.
Cut each log crosswise into 8 pieces and, with moistened hands, form each piece into a 3-inch-long oval with tapered ends. Dip the ovals in the chopped almonds, sprinkle them with the remaining ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar and form them into crescent shapes, arranging them 1 inch apart on 2 buttered baking sheets.
Let the cookies dry at room temperature for 2 hours, and bake them in the upper third of a preheated 425 degrees F oven for 7 to 8 minutes, or until they are pale golden. Transfer the cookies with a spatula to racks and let them cool.
