you should know that i'm not a cookie person. i'm not really a sweets person, but if i'm going to eat something sweet it should be nice and squishy like a cupcake.
and then my friend sarah made the most incredible cookies ever and i changed my mind. it starts with sugar cookies (this recipe makes cookies that are chewier and softer than most sugar cookies i've had before - perhaps why i fell so desperately in love).
then you make cookie sandwiches. sarah put chocolate ganache and pistachio cream in the middle. honestly, i couldn't taste the pistachio cream very much, but maybe it is a magic ingredient that makes everything else taste better. when i got to whole foods, they didn't have pistachio cream, so i got chestnut cream instead. i have no idea what chestnut cream is, but it tastes like sweet. or, as my sister would say: it tastes like diabetes.
see what i mean - the chestnut cream just looks like sticky sweetness. that's what it is. plus chestnuts. my chocolate ganache doesn't look like it's delicious, but don't worry: it is.
perfect little sandwich!
lots of perfect little sandwiches! the recipe probably made 60 sugar cookies (i made them pretty small), so 30 sandwiches. i brought about 10 to school to give to friends, took about 10 over to willis's house one night, and joey and i ate the other 10. or: i ate about 7 of them and joey ate about 3. oh, and this was round two of making them (they are so easy to make...plus i have this weird jar of chestnut cream just hanging out in my fridge...): round one ended with cookies going to abby and aaron, me and joey, and my the staff of favorite bar (the bartenders, musician, and bouncer dude at the door). yes, i brought a ziploc bag of cookies to a bar. what of it?
here's sarah's recipe (from america's test kitchen's "baker's illustrated" cookbook - she copied it down for me). these cookies are so good that you will feel like a professional chef and all around you should/will regard you that way. my roommate, for example, looked like he needed to sit down when he first tried them - that was how intense the look of happiness on his face was.
Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies:
2 c. flour (all purpose)
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2 sticks butter (16 tbs)
1 c sugar (plus more for rolling dough)
1 tbs light brown sugar
1 egg
1 ½ tsp vanilla
1. Preheat to 375. Adjust oven racks to upper and lower 1/3. Prepare 2 baking sheets (parchment, silpat, or just grease the pans)
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt to combine.
3. In an electric mixer (or by hand) cream the butter with the sugars. Add the egg and the vanilla and beat on low until combined (30 seconds).
4. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat on low until just combined (30 seconds).
5. Put about ½ cup of sugar in a bowl. Fill another bowl with cold water. Dip your hands in the water and shake off any excess (to keep hands from sticking to the dough). Roll about a tablespoon of dough into a ball. Roll the ball in sugar, then place it on the pan. Repeat until you’re done with the dough, placing balls about 2 inches apart. You should get about 12 per sheet and make about 24. (For the sandwiches, I made them much smaller and there were about 40).
6. Get a drinking glass with a flat bottom. Grease the bottom of the glass and dip it in sugar to keep it from sticking. Flatten the dough balls until they’re about ¾ in thick. Don’t over flatted (I made that mistake. It doesn’t take much pressure to get it right. Don’t squish.) You’ll need to dip the glass back in sugar every 2-3 cookies.
7. Bake until cookies are golden brown around the edges and very lightly colored in the centers, 15-18 min [miss claire note: for my little ones i only cooked them for 9 minutes]. Cool on the pan for 10 min and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way.
For sandwiches, make ganache:
¾ c heavy cream (or half and half)
2 tbs butter
6 oz chocolate (dark, bittersweet, or semisweet)
1 tbs cognac
Heat cream and butter in the microwave on high until bubbling, about 1.5 min (or bring to simmer on the stove). Chop up chocolate by hand or in food processor. Pour hot cream over chopped chocolate and let it sit for 5 min. With a whisk, mix until smooth. Let sit at room temp at least an hour or overnight to develop texture. Will keep in the fridge for weeks.
[obviously: spread one cookie with chestnut cream, one with ganache, and smush together. repeat. store in a tupperware on the counter - they are better after a day of sitting, i think - they soften up a bit.]
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