CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES \\ HOLIDAY STYLE
How many of you cookie swap? Well, I’d be lying if I said I’d been to a cookie swap in the last five years, but it was one my favorite thing about holidays growing up. My mom was a cookie swap queen. And by that I mean, mostly, she baked her standard pale and crispy and perfectly uniform sugar cookies in the shape of bells and holly and trees and mittens, and let us sprinkle on the sugar, dutifully took them to the church cookie swap the first Sunday in December, and came home with a box overflowing with two dozen snowballs (Mexican Wedding Cookies), Peanut Butter Blossoms, homemade toffee, and in later years, those little round pretzels with melted chocolate and M and M’s meant to look like red-nosed reindeer. You can pop back several of those in just one bite.
I didn’t plan to write about cookie swapping, any more than I had planned to make my CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES FOR MODERN TIMES from my book, EVERY DAY IS SATURDAY, look like little shortbread-meets-scones. But, in an effort to get ahead for holiday events, I made huge batches of dough, and tucked, rolled and froze them into logs for safe keeping. When I did slice and bake them, sprinkled in sea salt, they Looked like an entirely different cookie: impressively uniform, and unlike their drop (or roll into balls and bake) counterparts, they held their shape perfectly, standing up tall and proud—crispier and a big crumbly.
For the record, these are not The Cookies—aka, Alison Roman’s Salted Butter and Chocolate Chunk Cookies—though I do realize they vaguely resemble them. Folks have been rolling, slicing and baking cookies for years—this isn’t my invention or anyone else’s that was born after 1980, but this method is widely shared because it works, and very well. These are less shortbread, more cookie-scone-hybrid—toothsome and crumbly, and absolutely loaded with chocolate.
I learned how to make a NICE TIGHT roll from Dorie Greenspan years ago, in a cookie-making sesh somehow she and I were both a part of, and I’ve never forgotten it and I use her method absolutely every time.
READ ON FOR THE RECIPE—AND A PERFECT SLICE AND BAKE HOW-TO, BELOW:
SLICE-AND-BAKE ALMOND CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES FOR MODERN TIMES
REPRINTED FROM EVERY DAY IS SATURDAY WITH PERMISSION BY CHRONICLE BOOKS
Making these cookies in a log to slice and bake yields a tall, firm almost scone-like cookie that’s chunky and delicious, wonderful with hot tea or coffee and easy to stack, pack and give in a holiday cookie box.
3 CUPS GLUTEN-FREE ALL- PURPOSE FLOUR or ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
1 CUP (120 G) ALMOND FLOUR
1 1/2 CUPS (300 G) DARK BROWN SUGAR OR (290 G) COCONUT SUGAR
1/2 CUP (100 G) GRANULATED SUGAR
1 1/2 TSP BAKING SODA
1 TSP FLAKY SEA SALT, SUCH AS MALDON, PLUS MORE FOR SPRINKLING
1 CUP (2 STICKS/225 G) UNSALTED BUTTER, MELTED
2 LARGE EGGS, AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
2 TSP PURE VANILLA EXTRACT
15 OZ (470G) BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE, CHOPPED
WHISK TOGETHER THE FLOURS, SUGARS, BAKING SODA, AND SALT IN A MEDIUM BOWL.
IN A SEPARATE SMALL BOWL, WHISK TOGETHER THE MELTED BUTTER, EGGS, AND VANILLA, WHISKING VIGOROUSLY. STIR THE WET INGREDIENTS INTO THE DRY INGREDIENTS. MIX IN THE CHOCOLATE, RESERVING JUST A BIT FOR THE TOPS, MAKING SURE THEY’RE EVENLY DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE DOUGH.
DIVIDE THE DOUGH INTO TWO PARTS. THEN, USING THE DORIE GREENSPAN, PERFECT SLICE AND BAKE COOKIE LOG METHOD (SEE BELOW), ROLL THE DOUGH INTO TWO TIGHT LOGS. NOTE: THE DOUGH WILL FEEL DRY AND PACKED WITh CHOCOLATE—KEEP WORKING IT INTO A ROUND. IT WILL WORK BUT REQUIRES YOUR PATIENCE. SLIDE INTO EMPTY PAPER TOWEL ROLLS, AND FREEZE FOR 1 HOUR, OR UP TO 1 MONTH.
PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 375°F (190°C). LINE TWO BAKING SHEETS WITH PARCHMENT PAPER OR SILICONE BAKING MATS. REMOVE THE DOUGH FROM THE FREEZER AND SLICE INTO 1 1/4 INCH THICK ROUNDS (IF THE DOUGH HAS BEEN FROZEN LONGER THAN A DAY, LEAVE IT AT ROOM TEMP FOR FIVE TO TEN MINUTES BEFORE SLICING).
ARRANGE THE DOUGH ON PREPARED BAKING SHEETS WITH PLENTY OF SPACE BETWEEN THEM. PRESS RESERVED CHOCOLATE INTO THE TOPS OF THE COOKIES.
BAKE, ONE SHEET AT A TIME, UNTIL GOLDEN AND CRISPY ON THE OUTSIDE EDGES (THEY WILL CONTINUE TO BAKE ON THE PAN AS THEY COOL), 10 TO 12 MINUTES. REMOVE FROM THE OVEN AND SPRINKLE WITH SALT (OR SKIP IT IF THAT’S NOT YOUR THING).
LET COOL ON THE PAN FOR AT LEAST 2 MINUTES, BEFORE TRANSFERRING TO PLATES. FOR THIS VERSION, LET THEM COOL COMPLETELY BEFORE EATING. STACK AND PACK THEM INTO COOKIE BOXES OR FOOD-SAFE CELLOPHANE BAGS.
STORAGE: KEEP THE COOKIES IN AN AIRTIGHT CONTAINER AT ROOM TEMPERATURE FOR UP TO THREE DAYS.
PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES
TOTAL TIME: 45 MINUTES
MAKES ABOUT 36 COOKIES (DEPENDING ON SIZE)
THE DORIE GREENSPAN’s, PERFECT SLICE-AND BAKE-COOKIE SHAPING METHOD
On a clean, dry work surface, like a marble table or a clean cutting board, roll your cookie dough into a long cylinder, about 10 to 12 inches long, between your hands and the surface (I like to keep a classic wooden ruler nearby as a guide). Remember that the skinnier your log is, the smaller the diameter of your cookies will be. I like to keep mine beefy and plump, about 1 1/2 to 2 full inches across.
Slide your dough onto a cut length of parchment paper that is about two-inches wider than your log on either side. Use a bench-scraper, or a firm ruler, to tuck and roll the log into the parchment paper, pulling it tighter, until the sides of the dough log are smooth, even and highly wrapped in the parchment. Roll any remaining parchment around the log, tucking in the sides so that the dough doesn’t get dry (HERE is a quick visual tutorial from Dorie).
Remove a finished paper towel roll and slice it lengthwise with sharp scissors to make an open cylinder. Slide your cookie log inside the paper towel roll to help it hold its shape (so it won’t get flat on one side while it chills), one per roll, and store in the fridge or freezer. (HERE is a video of Dorie doing this herself!)
**This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.** images belong to Sarah Copeland, and should not be pinned or posted without attribution. **
Photos // HARRISON LUBIN
Food + Prop Styling // SARAH COPELAND
Ceramics // HERRIOT GRACE + LAIL
Linen // CRATE + BARREL