Fancy cookies pair well with fresh fruit for summer
Caption
Fancy cookies pair well with fresh fruit for summer
Snickerdoodles and almond macaroons go well with fruit for dessert.
- Snickerdoodles
Ingredients:
•1 cup shortening
•1 1/2 cups sugar
•2 eggs
•2 3/4 cups flour
•2 teaspoons cream of tartar
•1 teaspoon baking soda
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•Cinnamon sugar
Directions:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly between each addition.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Add to the shortening mixture, beating well. Gather the dough in a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
Tear off walnut-size pieces of dough and roll each into a ball. Dust with cinnamon sugar and place on an ungreased baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart. Bake until the cookies are light brown and firm on top, 10 to 15 minutes; the tops will be deeply cracked, and the centers will still be somewhat soft.
Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to finish. Store in an airtight container.
Servings: 4 dozen cookies
- Almond macaroons
Ingredients:
1 pound blanched almonds, either whole or slivered
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 egg whites
Directions:
Heat the oven to 300 degrees.
Grease 3 baking sheets.
Grind the almonds, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add the vanilla extract and pulse to mix in.
Beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Add them to the food processor and pulse 3 or 4 times to mix in. The mixture should form a grainy batter.
Wet your hands (this keeps the dough from sticking). Tear off walnut-sized pieces of the dough and roll each between your palms into a ball.
Place the cookies about 2 to
3 inches apart on the baking sheets and bake until they are golden, about 25 minutes. Halfway through, rotate the sheets to get even browning. Remove from oven and cool.
Servings: 3 dozen cookies
Posted: Sunday, June 17, 2012 12:01 am
Fancy cookies pair well with fresh fruit for summer
By RUSS PARSONS, Los Angeles Times
The Press of Atlantic City Media Group
At the heart of the fruit season, a simple cookie can be a cook's best friend. Right now we have late-season citrus including mandarins and sweet strawberries, and the first apricots and cherries, peaches and nectarines.
An almond macaroon is about as simple as a cookie can get - just five ingredients: almonds, sugar, salt, egg whites and a whiff of vanilla. Grind the almonds, sugar, salt and vanilla to a fine powder; beat the egg whites to soft peaks and pulse them into the almond mixture. Roll between wet palms (they're sticky as heck) and bake.
The cookies come out of the oven crisp on the outside yet moist and chewy on the inside, with a flavor that is deeply and purely almond. A perfect match for citrus or stone fruit.
The flavor of a snickerdoodle is a little more complex than the macaroon - a combination of browned wheat, the slight bitterness of cream of tartar and sweet spicy cinnamon sugar.
To make cinnamon sugar, mix 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon (or to taste) with a quarter cup of granulated sugar.
Posted in
Food
on
Sunday, June 17, 2012 12:01 am.
