Chocolate Spice Cookies

What do you call it when you make something that tastes super delicious, with the perfect amount of crisp on the outside, implying the existence of loads of butter, and absolute chewiness in the center, with all the right spices to make your mouth warm up but not fire up, and yet, it's low calorie and made with applesauce and little butter?

I call that Victory.


Chocolate Spice Cookies
Adapted from a recipe by Nick Malgieri in Perfect Light Desserts
Makes about 36 cookies

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into your measuring cup
1/3 cup alkalized (Dutch-process) cocoa powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup molasses

Prepare the oven racks by placing one of them in the upper third and one in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and set aside.

In another bowl, beat together the butter and sugar. Since the butter is melted, it is easy to do this by hand rather than with an electric mixer. A large wooden spoon or rubber spatula should do the trick. Beat in the applesauce and molasses.

Add in the dry ingredients and stir until you form a soft dough.

On two cookie sheets or jelly roll pans lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mats, drop tablespoons of dough, spacing them out about an inch apart. You can also use an ice cream scoop to make evenly sized dough balls.

Bake for 10 minutes. Halfway through baking, swap the two cookie sheet locations and turn them from front to back. Don't overbake the cookies. If they look a little undone and moist, that's a good thing. Take them out! If they look a little undone they will turn out perfectly chewy as they set!

Leave the cookies on the sheet (or slide the parchment onto a rack) to cool for a few minutes, then transfer from the paper to the rack with a flat spatula.

Store in an airtight container and layer with wax paper so they don't stick to each other.

There are only 61 calories per cookie and 2 g fat!


Step-by-Step in Pictures
In a bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. Set aside...

Beat together the melted butter and sugar...

Beat in the applesauce and molasses...

Stir in the dry ingredients...

Form a soft dough...

Drop tablespoonfuls evenly apart on the cookie sheets...

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes. Don't overbake!

Yum!

Gooey Turtle Bars, Where Gooey Describes the Homemade Caramel Layer!

I bought a new cookbook. I know I'm not supposed to because I'm out of room. But I couldn't resist. Alice Medrich came out with a new cookie cookbook. I spent an evening studying it from cover to cover. In typical Marni fashion, I sat comfortably on the couch in sweats, I had HGTV on in the background, and I had a pack of Post-It note strips to mark the pages of the cookbook that I'd want to return to. But by the end of reading this cookbook, I had marked so many pages that the usefulness of this page-marking technique had been lost. I can't wait to make, well, basically everything out of this book!


Gooey Turtle Bars has an adjective in the title that I'm quite fond of. Not only is homemade caramel gooey, but it is unbeatable. Alice Medrich's version is perfect. It does require a candy thermometer because caramel is very sensitive to temperature. You have to watch closely to be sure you do not go over the specified temperature or your caramel will not be caramel. But I have faith in your abilities as a baker and I'm sure you can handle it! If you want to experiment with different flavors, try adding something other than vanilla to the caramel, such as lavender or almond extract. Or maybe add some fleur de sel.

And remember, when you're tired of stirring (you aren't allowed to stop for the entire 15 minutes the caramel is cooking), and you're about to throw in the towel and you find yourself whining that it's never going to reach 235 degrees F, just remember, your bicep is going to be so impressive! And your tummy is going to be so happy. And then I promise you'll make it through okay.


Gooey Turtle Bars
Adapted from a recipe by Alice Medrich in Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich

1 recipe Shortbread Crust (see below)
1 3/4 cups (12.25 ounces) packed brown sugar
1/4 cup honey or light corn syrup
3/8 teaspoon salt (1/2 teaspoon for coarse or flaky sea salt)
1/4 cup water
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups (7 ounces) pecan halves, toasted
6 ounces milk chocolate or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, or 1 cup milk chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven.

Line a 9x13-inch metal baking pan with foil on the bottom and all four sides, leaving some overhang for pulling the baked goods out of the pan to cut later. Follow the recipe below for the Shortbread Crust and then continue here with the instructions.

To make the topping: In a heavy 2- to 3-quart saucepan (about 8 inches in diameter) with a candy thermometer attached to the inside, combine the brown sugar, honey, salt, and water and cook on medium heat. Drop the 4 tablespoons butter into the pan. Stir constantly so the mixture doesn't burn (be sure you're using a heatproof spatula or you'll have delicious plastic in your caramel). Scrape the bottom and sides of the pan as you stir. Allow the mixture to reach a medium boil and continue stirring and scraping the pan for about 3 minutes until the sugar is completely dissolved. Stir in the sweetened condensed milk and bring the mixture back to a boil. Don't stop stirring!

Continue boiling the mixture until the candy thermometer reads 235 degrees F. From beginning to end, it should take you about 15 minutes of stirring to make this caramel. Yes, your arm may get tired, but think of the biceps you're generating! As soon as the temperature reads 235, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Moving quickly, pour the caramel over the warm Shortbread Crust. You can tilt the pan or use an offset spatula to make sure the caramel is covering the entire crust. The caramel will start to set right away so you'll need to be quick. Sprinkle the toasted pecans and chopped chocolate over the sticky caramel and carefully press the pieces into the caramel with the palm of your hand so that everything is "glued" in place. Allow the caramel to cool and the chocolate to set before cutting into squares.

When you're ready to cut into pieces, lift up the overhang of foil, transfer to your cutting board, and peel off the foil. Use a long sharp knife to cut through the nuts and all the way down into the bars. Store in an airtight container for about a week.


Shortbread Crust
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and still warm
1/2 cup (3.5 ounces) sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups (9 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Line the pan with foil on the bottom and all four sides.

In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Mix well, then add the flour and mix just until incorporated. The dough will be oily and wet but that's totally normal. Use your hands to press the dough evenly over the bottom of the pan. Smooth out any bumps and make sure to get the dough to reach the edges and corners of the pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is a rich golden brown with well-browned darker edges. Let cool before adding the caramel layer of the Gooey Turtle Bars above.


Step-by-Step in Pictures
To make the crust, melt the butter with the sugar, vanilla, and salt...

Stir to combine...

Add the flour and stir just until incorporated...

The dough will be oily and wet but that's normal...

Press the dough into the pan so that the surface is even and smooth...

Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges are golden...

To make the caramel topping, combine the brown sugar, honey or corn syrup, salt, and water over medium heat...

Add the butter...

Allow the mixture to reach a boil and cook for about 3 minutes, then add the sweetened condensed milk and let it return to boil...

Stir constantly and maintain a boil until the thermometer reads 235 degrees F...

Stir in the vanilla, then pour the caramel into the pan over the crust...

Scatter the toasted pecans and chopped chocolate over the caramel and press the pieces down so they stick...

Let the caramel cool and the chocolate set before slicing and serving. YUM!!

Cranberry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

This is an amazing chocolate chip cookie. It's chewy and spicy (from cinnamon!) and attractive and thick! It's also festive for the holidays with the red polka dots of dried cranberries.

And let's talk for a second about cranberries. I was just at my parents' house for Thanksgiving weekend. My mom went crazy with the cranberries. She bought two giant bags of fresh and two more bags of dried. She said, "I'm sure we'll find a use for these." Ha! Well, it would take weeks of baking up a storm to use up that many cranberries, but I did bake several cranberry-required desserts over the weekend and managed to make quite a dent in my mom's cranberry stash. So ok, maybe she was kind of right.


Cranberries are a really special ingredient because they're seasonal and gorgeous. I absolutely LOVE them! And from the looks of my mom's giant cranberry purchase, she loves them, too. But over the weekend, we heard on the radio that a lot of people have an aversion to cranberries like they have an aversion to marzipan and caviar. The radio host said it's a love it or hate it kind of food, no in between. Well, I hope you love it, because I'll be sharing more cranberry recipes with you soon!


Cranberry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Adapted from a recipe by Marcel Desaulniers in I’m Dreaming of a Chocolate Christmas
Makes about 40 cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-tablespoon pieces and softened
1 cup tightly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups quick oats
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
1 cup pecans, chopped and toasted (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt onto a large piece of wax paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Should only take a few minutes, but the mixture should be completely smooth. Scrape down the sides as necessary to incorporate all of the mixture. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for about 30 seconds after each addition. Scrape down the sides. Add the vanilla and beat another 15 seconds.

On low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients (that you sifted onto wax paper) by lifting up and folding the wax paper and aiming it into the bowl. Mix for about 1 minute, until the mixture is well-combined.

Add the chocolate chips, oats, and cranberries (and pecans if using) and mix on low for another 30 seconds. The dough will be pretty thick with these latest additions. It's a lot of add-ins! Take the bowl out of the stand mixer and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the add-ins are evenly distributed.

Use an ice cream scoop or a tablespoon to drop heaping tablespoons onto the baking sheets, at least an inch apart so they don't grow into each other. The larger the cookie you decide to make, the more space you will need in between them.

Bake the cookies on the top and center racks of the oven for 10-15 minutes depending on cookie size. Halfway through the baking time, switch the sheets between top and center racks and turn them around from back to front.

If you can't bake all the cookies at once, leave the unbaked cookie dough in the bowl out on the counter at room temperature while you finish up baking the first batch (as opposed to chilling the dough).

Remove the baking sheets from the oven and cool the cookies on the baking sheets for about 30 minutes before using a spatula to slide them onto a cooling rack. Store in an airtight plastic container. They'll keep well for a few days out on the counter or you can refrigerate them and they'll last for a few weeks (2 or 3 easily)! Or you can do what I like to do and freeze a bunch for later.


Step-by-Step in Pictures
Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt...

Beat together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar...

Add the two eggs, one at a time...

Add the vanilla...

Gradually add the dry ingredients...

Add the chocolate chips, oats, and cranberries (and pecans if using) and mix on low...

Then take the bowl out of the stand mixer and continue stirring by hand till incorporated...

Place cookie dough balls on a baking sheet, spaced evenly apart...

Perfect little mounds of yumminess!

Bake at 325 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes, cool, and enjoy!

Double Chocolate Cinnamon Cookies

That's right. Two chocolates and cinnamon. If I do my math correctly, then 2 + 1 = triple threat?

This recipe comes from Mixingbowl.com magazine, which I'd never heard of until a week ago. My parents drove down to LA to help my sister and her husband pack up their condo to move (They bought a house! They got the keys last night!). I came over to help. And I ended up packing with them till 3am, then sleeping on their couch the rest of the night. During one of my mom's many drives to the grocery store, Home Depot, or moving supplies store, my mom picked up this MixingBowl.com magazine as a thank-you to me for helping out. You know, Mom, I would have done it for nothing, but you know what else, Mom? I won't say no to a baking magazine. So thanks!

Apparently there's an online baking community with members who love to bake and post recipes and then some are selected for the print edition. It's a fun website. Who knew! So this recipe comes to you from member CULINARYCARA. I suppose it also comes from my sister. I mean, I have to thank my sister for moving, because I never would have known about this magazine or the delicious cookie recipe inside it if I had not come over to help my sister pack and somehow compel my mom to treat me to a gift.


Double Chocolate Cinnamon Cookies
Adapted from a recipe by MixingBowl.com member CULINARYCARA in MixingBowl.com Magazine's Fall/Winter 2010 edition

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional (I skipped this)
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 12-ounce package semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients by sifting together flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and the cayenne if you're using that. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and both sugars with an electric mixer on medium to high speed. Beat in the two eggs, one at a time. Beat in the vanilla. Then add the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Lay a piece of plastic wrap across your work surface. Drop cookie dough along most of the length of the plastic wrap to form a log. Wrap tightly. Repeat with another piece of plastic wrap to create a second dough log. Each log should be about 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter. It actually took me three logs to use up the dough. Refrigerate until chilled.

Remove a log from fridge and let thaw only long enough to be able to slice the cookie dough, but not so long that the dough is soft again (because it's much easier to slice when still pretty chilled). Place the cookie dough slices about 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 or 9 minutes, or until the edges are set but the center still feels soft. Remove from oven and let sit 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 48 cookies.


Step-by-Step in Pictures
Combine dry ingredients...

Set aside...

Cream the butter and both sugars...

Add the eggs, one at a time...

Add the vanilla...

Add the dry ingredients...

Stir in chocolate chips...

Form logs with the dough and chill in fridge...

Slice the logs...

Place the slices evenly apart on the cookie sheet...

Bake at 375 degrees F for about 8 minutes...

Remove from oven, let cool 5 minutes, then transfer from pan to wire rack...

Yum!!