Hi there sorry it’s been so long. The lovely folks over at Quirk Books were kind enough to send me “The Cookiepedia” by Stacy Adimando with photos by Tara Striano to look over.
I found the cookbook to be a fun read with a great assortment of recipes and luscious photos. It is pulled together nicely with categories listed as “Buttery, Chocolaty, Fancy, Fruity, Spicy, and Nutty & Seedy”, a fun graphic design and a user friendly spiral binding inside the covers. I have baked a few recipes from it and my favorite so far are these “Mint Thins” cookies: (photo and recipe reprinted with permission from Quirk Books)
Mint Thins by Stacy Adimondo, makes: 3 dozen cookies
preheat oven to 350°F
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 ounces semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup unsalted butter
¾ teaspoon peppermint flavor
Nobody you know will not come by when you say you’re
baking homemade mint thins. (If they don’t so much as
ask, consider defriending them immediately.) The question
is: Do you want to share?
The baking and dunking takes
no time (especially if you’re tasting as you go),
but these bite-size treats do hold up best (and taste yummiest)
once the mint chocolate has had ample time to set. If
you’re protective of your stash, store them in the freezer.
They’re best with a chill anyway.
1. Cream the butter until it’s light and fluffy.
Add the powdered sugar and continue mixing,
stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl as
needed. Mix in the egg and vanilla extract.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
Add the flour mixture by halves, beating to
incorporate after each addition.
2. Turn out the dough onto a clean surface
and form it into a disk with your hands. Split
the disk in half and place them in the fridge
to firm up for 1 hour.
Tip:
If you’re short
on time, do 25
minutes in the
freezer instead.
3. Working on a floured surface (you’ll need
a decent amount, since the dough is sticky),
roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thick. Shape the
cookies using a 1-1/2-inch round cutter and
place them on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, then let cool
completely.
4. Break up the chocolate into a bowl and set it
over a small pot of simmering water (make sure
the bowl doesn’t touch the water). Add the butter
and the peppermint flavor and stir the mixture
steadily until it’s fully melted and looks glossy and
smooth. Remove the bowl and let the chocolate
cool slightly.
5. One by one, drop the cookies in the chocolate,
then scoop them out with a fork to let the excess
drip off. (Tap the cookies against the side of the
bowl to help drain the extra chocolate.) Move
them carefully to a wire rack or parchment-paper lined
baking sheet. When they’re all coated, move
the sheet to the refrigerator or freezer to set.
Mint thins, meet chocolate chip
cookie dough. You’re a match made
in heaven.
Mint-Thin-Stuffed Cookies
Prepare a batch of the mint thins
and store them in the freezer. Then
prepare a batch of the chocolate
chip dough on page 43. When both
are chilled, sandwich the mint cookie
between 1 tablespoon each of the
chocolate chip dough, then press the
dough around the mint thin to cover
it completely. Bake according to the
chocolate chip directions.
Run out and get the book :$18.95 from Quirk Books, ISBN #978-1-59474-535-5 wherever great cookbooks are sold. 🙂 BTW check out lots of other great books from Quirk Books here.