Goldy's Kitchen Cookbook (26 page)

At this point, you may be wondering why there are so many chocolate cookie recipes in this book (apart from the fact that people like them). Chocolate cookies were far and away the favorite among readers who came to bookstore events. So for each book, I would work on a different chocolate cookie to take. Then Jim, bless him, would make batch after batch of the cookies and send them overnight to whatever city I was going to be in next. For this cookie, while I know white chocolate is not really chocolate, I love it anyway. So does our youngest son, whose soccer team also taste-tested one of my cheesecake recipes (see
here
). These are his favorite chocolate cookies.

1.
Do not alter the order in which the ingredients are combined.
In a large bowl, combine the oats and chocolate chips and set aside.

2.
In another large bowl, beat together the butter and sugars until creamy. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, stirring until thoroughly combined. The dough will be very stiff. Stir the milk and vanilla into the eggs, then stir this mixture into the butter mixture until thoroughly combined. Add the chips and oats and stir until well mixed.

3.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. When you are ready to make the cookies, let the dough come to room temperature.

4.
Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Butter 2 baking sheets or line them with silicone baking mats.

5.
Using a 2-tablespoon scoop, measure out dough and place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 9 to 12 minutes, or until cooked through. Cool the cookies on the sheet for 1 minute, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

6.
Place a cooling rack over wax paper. In the top of a double boiler, over simmering water, melt the white chocolate with the vegetable shortening. Holding a cooled cookie between your thumb and forefinger, dip the edge into the warm white chocolate to cover the top third of the cookie. Place it on the rack to dry completely.

7.
Store between layers of wax paper in an airtight container in a cool place.

Makes 5 dozen cookies

It does indeed take a strong arm to mix this cookie batter. And as I have learned, the results are improved if you chill the batter overnight. But the results are worth it. This recipe makes a
lot
of cookies (8 dozen). I have tried to bake 2 sheets at a time in several ovens that we've owned, without good results. So you may want to spread the baking over a couple of days.

1.
In a large, dry skillet, toast the nuts over medium-low heat, stirring, until they give off a nutty scent and have turned slightly darker, about 10 minutes. Turn out onto paper towels and allow to cool completely.

2.
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the butter and shortening on medium speed until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add the brown sugar and beat until thoroughly creamed into the butter mixture, about 5 minutes. Thoroughly beat in the eggs, then stir in the buttermilk.

3.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Gently stir into the butter mixture until you can see no more flour. Stir in the nuts, cherries, and chocolate chips. Chill the dough, tightly covered with plastic wrap, for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

4.
Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.

5.
I have found that these cookies are easier to scoop if the dough is
not
brought to room temperature. Using a ½-tablespoon scoop, measure out 12 cookies and place them 2 inches apart on the first baking sheet. Using the heel of your hand, gently push on each cookie to flatten slightly. Bake for 8 to 11 minutes, or until you can touch them lightly and leave almost no imprint. While the first dozen is baking, measure out the second dozen.

6.
Allow the cookies to cool 1 minute on the baking sheet, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. You can either bake all 8 dozen in this way, or bake the number you want, then rewrap the dough and chill it until you are ready to finish the baking. The batter keeps, well-wrapped, in the refrigerator for a week.

7.
Store the cookies at room temperature in an airtight container.

Makes 8 dozen cookies

I am a linzertorte fanatic. But they can be messy to slice and serve. If you've ever catered an event that involves pieces of pie, cake, torte, or tart for dessert, you will notice that a subtle (or sometimes not so subtle) competition goes on between the guests. They eye the other slices at the table: Was her slice bigger than mine? Did he get a (smaller) end piece from the pound cake, or a bigger one from the middle?

You can also be told: “I only want half a slice.” So you serve half a slice. Then you hear a grumbled, “Well, I wanted more than
that.”

This is all by way of saying that for Babsie's Tarts, my aim was to develop
individual
linzertortes, of equal size. My problem then became one of stability. Every time I picked up a tart, the filling would fall through the middle and land on the floor. That is why I finally wrote that one should
indent the center of the crust only slightly.
Any more than a very slight concavity, and your tarts will not hold up. You may serve them plain, or sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve with a scoop of best-quality vanilla ice cream.

1.
In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat until thoroughly incorporated. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks slightly with the vanilla and lemon zest. Add to the butter mixture, stirring thoroughly. Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, and salt together. Stir the flour mixture into the creamed mixture. Stir in the almonds.

2.
Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Coat the cups of 2 nonstick muffin tins with cooking spray. Using a 2-tablespoon scoop (or measuring out in two
1-tablespoon increments), press one scoop of dough gently to cover the bottom of each muffin cup. Only
slightly
indent the dough to form a “tart shell.” Any more than a slight indentation will mean that the jam that is to be cooked in the center will leak through. Place 2 teaspoons of jam in the center of each tart.

3.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the dough has risen and turned golden brown around the jam. After the pans have been removed from the oven, use a sharp knife to loosen the edges of each tart. Allow the tarts to cool in the pan until cool to the touch, at least 1 hour. Using a butter knife, gently lever the tarts out onto racks to cool completely.

Makes 24 tarts

Note:
  
Citrus zests and nuts are easily ground in a coffee grinder used only for that purpose.

When my sisters and I were little, we used to answer the phone, “Motts' Candy Shop, which nut do you want?” Needless to say, we found this hilarious. Our parents did not.

The great thing about these cookies is that you can roll the dough into logs and freeze them, then slice and bake whenever you want fresh cookies.

1.
In a wide skillet, toast the almonds over low heat, stirring frequently, until they turn slightly brown and give off a nutty scent, about 10 minutes. Turn out onto paper towels and allow to cool completely.

2.
In a bowl, mix together the almonds, baking soda, salt, and flours. Set aside.

3.
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy, about 5 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and beat on medium-low speed until very creamy, about 5 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and beat in the egg and vanilla. Continue to beat until well blended. Stir in the flour mixture just until well combined. Do not overbeat.

4.
Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces and place them in the bottom of 3 zippered plastic freezer bags. Roll each section of the dough into logs. Zip the bags closed and place them in the freezer overnight.

5.
Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

6.
Remove one log at a time from the freezer. Take it out of the bag. While each log is still frozen, place it on a cutting board and use a large, sharp knife to divide it in half. Put the rest of the log back in the freezer. Divide the half roll into 12 equal slices. Place them on one of the baking sheets. Flatten each cold cookie slightly with the palm of your hand. When the first dozen cookies is baked and cooling, you may remove the rest of the roll from the freezer and start on it. (The cookies hold together better, cook more evenly, and develop a better texture if they are placed in the oven while they are still frozen.)

7.
Bake one sheet at a time for about 10 minutes, or until the cookies have turned golden brown at the edges. Rotate the baking sheets from front to back after 5 minutes. Cool completely on racks.

Makes 6 dozen cookies

If you like toffee and chocolate the way Goldy fans do, you're going to love this recipe. This is the cookie I took out on the road when I visited bookstores for
Crunch Time.

1,
In a large skillet, toast the pecans over low heat, stirring frequently, or until the nuts begin to change color and give off a nutty scent, about 10 minutes. Turn the nuts out onto paper towels and allow them to cool, then chop them roughly and set aside.

2.
Sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3.
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until the mixture is very creamy. Add the brown sugar and beat very well, until the mixture is creamy and uniform. Add the granulated sugar and again beat very well, until you have a uniform, creamy mixture. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.

4.
Using a large wooden spoon, stir in the flour mixture just until combined. Then stir in the cooled pecans, oats, chocolate chips, and toffee bits, blending only until thoroughly mixed.

5.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator until thoroughly chilled, 3 hours or overnight. When you are ready to make the cookies, take the bowl out of the refrigerator and allow the dough to warm slightly while the oven is preheating.

6.
Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

7.
Measure out the dough by tablespoons and place the cookies 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Place no more than a dozen cookies on each sheet. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are very browned and the centers are no longer soft.

8.
Let the cookies set up for 2 minutes on the baking sheet. Then transfer the cookies to racks to cool completely. Store in airtight containers or in zippered freezer bags. These cookies freeze well.

Makes 4 dozen cookies