Final cookie exchange post. Check out these goodies made by my colleagues! My next post will be the cookie that I made for the exchange.
Chocolate Pistachio Wafers
By Kelli
Ingredients
2 cups
all-purpose flour
½ cup
natural cocoa (not Dutch process)
½ teaspoon
ground cinnamon (I omitted)
1 cup
unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
2 2/3 cups
confectioner’s sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
1 large egg,
at room temperature
1-2 cups
pistachios
(original recipe calls for ~2 cups chopped walnuts and ~1cup chopped
pistachios)
Directions
1. Whisk the
flour, cocoa and cinnamon; set aside.
2. Using a
stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl using a hand
mixer), cream the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy but not melted.
3. Add the
confectioner’s sugar and salt; mix on medium-low speed until thoroughly
combined, about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low and
add the egg; mix until well blended.
4. Add the
nuts, and the flour mixture; as soon as the dough comes together, stop the
mixer. Scrape the dough onto a large sheet of plastic wrap. Using the wrap to
help shape the dough, gently press it into a 6-inch square that is 1 1/2 “
thick. (I just shape it into a log, slice & bake style J). Wrap in plastic wrap and
refrigerate until the dough is firm enough to slice, at least 4 hours.
5. Heat oven to
400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment (or a Silpat). Unwrap the dough, and
slice between 1/8 – ¼ in thick. Lay the slices 1/2” apart on the baking sheet.
Bake until the tops look dry and the nuts look golden, 8-10 minutes, rotating
the sheet halfway through. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet fro about
10 minutes and then transfer to a rack to cool completely. (I transfer to
cooling rack after 1 minute, so I can keep the baking moving).
Chocolate Truffles Recipe
By Joanna
**Please note, I kind of made it up as I went along, so the measurements
are best estimates, you may need to adjust slightly**
Yield: Makes approx. 6 dozen chocolate truffles.
Supplies
Wax paper
Double boiler (or use a sauce pan with a bowl or pan over top)
Chocolate thermometer (optional, I didn’t use this, but it is useful if
you want to temper the chocolate coating, that’s the advanced version and there
are lots of instructions online for this)
Mini chocolates mold (optional, I didn’t use this)
Ingredients
Basic truffle ingredients
3 ½ - 4 cups chopped semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (high quality,
62% cacao or higher), well chopped into small pieces (I used Bernard Callebaut
Chocolate)
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
½ cup butter (chopped into small chunks for easy melting with chocolate)
1 cup high quality milk chocolate or dark chocolate (for coating the
ganache)
Optional base flavorings
Vanilla extract
Mint extract
Cayenne pepper
Almond extract
Brandy
Kahlua
Coffee
Whole almonds or other nuts
Other ideas?
Optional Truffle Coatings
Cocoa powder
Finely chopped almonds or other nuts
Icing sugar
Crushed candy canes
Other ideas?
Directions
1. In
a heavy saucepan bring the heavy whipping cream to a simmer, be sure to stir
and scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula every few minutes. Careful because it can boil over quickly if
it gets too hot.
2. Place
the chocolate in a separate bowl. Pour the heated cream over the chocolate, add
the butter chunks. Allow to stand for a
few minutes then stir until smooth. This chocolate base is called ganache.
TIP:
If the chocolate doesn’t melt entirely you can put it on a double boiler to
melt. If you don’t have a double boiler,
a small pot with heated water and a bowl or pan on top will work too. Careful not to use too much heat to melt the
chocolate, be patient and keep stirring.
3. At
this point I separated the chocolate and cream mixture into a few smaller bowls
so that I could make different flavours.
Add the desired flavours to taste and stir. (I put either brandy or Kahlua in the entire
batch and then added the other flavours to taste in the smaller bowls.) Allow to cool to room temperature, then
cover and place in the refrigerator for two hours (or longer, I left it over
night because I have a life). Remove from fridge and with a teaspoon roll out
balls of the ganache. You could also
roll the ganache around an almond or another nut, ginger, candy, whatever you
like if you want an interesting centre to the truffle.
TIP: Ideally the ganache will have the consistency
of playdoh. If it’s too hard you will need to roll it in your hands more to
warm it so that you are able to shape it into a ball. If it’s too soft, roll quickly so it doesn’t
melt too quickly.
4. Place ball on a baking sheet lined with wax
paper. Place in refrigerator over
night or in freezer for 10-15 minutes.
Another
option: try putting ganache in ice cube trays or chocolate mold trays to get
square or other shaped chocolates instead of rolling into balls, I didn’t do
this but thought about it after….no guarantees how this will work
5. Melt
milk chocolate and/or dark chocolate on a double boiler, stirring regularly
until smooth. I melted both milk and dark chocolate separately so I could use
both for coating and decorating.Remove ganache balls from freezer/fridge. Put a
~tablespoon of the melted chocolate in palm of hand and roll ganache ball in
palm until covered.
6. Put
topping options into different bowls. Place warm chocolate covered ganache from
your palm into a bowl with one of the topping choices and spoon toppings over
it and ensure it’s covered. Place on wax
paper on a baking sheet with wax paper and place into freezer for a couple
minutes to allow it to harden.
Tips: You don’t have
to use a topping. I used dark and milk
chocolate to make a pattern or put an almond silver on top. Be creative, you can really do anything
here.
Five-Minute
Fudge
Original recipe found here.
From Jen
Serves 32 (2 pounds)
Ingredients
1 bag semisweet chocolate morsels (12 ounces)
9 ounces butterscotch morsels (3/4 of a 12 ounce bag)
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 can or package of walnut halves (8 ounces)
1/2 cup currants (a couple handfuls)
8-inch cake pan, lightly greased with softened butter
Candied red and green cherries, for garnish (optional)
Directions
1. Place a heavy pot on the stove and pre-heat it over low heat. Add
chocolate and butterscotch morsels and condensed milk and stir until morsels
are melted and condensed milk is combined. Save the empty condensed milk can.
2. Stir in the vanilla and remove the fudge from heat. Add the nuts and
currants and stir in immediately.
3. Cover the empty condensed milk can with plastic wrap and center it
in the greased cake pan. Spoon fudge into pan around can, making sure to center
the can if it drifts.
4. The fudge will set up almost immediately. Garnish can only be added
in the first minute or two that the fudge is in the pan, so work quickly.
Decorate your wreath with "holly" made from cut candied red and green
cherries. A wreath left plain can be garnished with a pretty fabric bow when
serving.
Chill covered in the refrigerator. Slice the
fudge very thin when ready to serve – a little goes a long way!
New options/ twists added by
Jen
‘Smores Fudge
Ingredients
1.5 cups crushed graham crackers
1 cup mini marshmallows
Directions
Prepare fudge as outlined above, up to and including
the vanilla. Remove from heat. Add the graham crackers and marshmallows and
stir in immediately. Drop and spread into a parchment lined pan.
*Optional- Scatter a handful or two of marshmallows in
the bottom of the pan. Once set, invert pan for a marshmallow topped fudge.
Shortbread and Toffee Fudge
Ingredients
1-2 packages of shortbread (any brand) other cookies
would work too
1.5 packages Skor bits
Directions
Prepare fudge as outlined above, up to and including
the vanilla. Remove from heat. Add the cookie bits and skor bits and stir in
immediately. Drop and spread into a parchment lined pan.
*Optional- Scatter a handful or two of the skor bits
in the bottom of the pan. Once set, invert pan for a toffee bit topped fudge.
Peanut and Pretzel Fudge
Ingredients
9 ounces peanut butter chips (3/4 of a 12 ounce bag)
1.5
cups pretzels (broken into
pieces)
1 cup peanuts (salted or unsalted depending on
preference)
0.75 cups Reece’s Pieces
Directions
Prepare fudge as outlined above, up to and including
the vanilla, replacing the butterscotch morsels for the peanut butter chips.
Remove from heat. Add the pretzels, peanuts, and Reece’s
Pieces and stir in immediately. Drop and spread into a parchment lined pan.
*Optional- Scatter a handful or two of the pretzels,
peanuts and Reece’s Pieces in the bottom of the pan. Once set, invert pan for a
pretzel, peanut and Reece’s Pieces topped fudge.
Raisin, Coconut
and Rice Krispies Fudge
Ingredients
Raisins
Shredded coconut
Rice Krispies
Directions
Prepare fudge as outlined above, up to and including
the vanilla. Remove from heat. Add the raisins, coconut and Rice Krispies and
stir in immediately. Drop and spread into a parchment lined pan.
*Optional- Scatter a handful or two of raisins,
coconut and Rice Krispies in the bottom of the pan. Once set, invert pan for a raisins,
coconut and Rice Krispies topped fudge.
Note: This is a very forgiving recipe is you keep the
chocolate chips, butterscotch bits and milk proportions the same. Options are
endless with the type of chocolate or bits (mint flavored, white chocolate,
etc), add ins (nuts, Oreos, dried fruit, etc.) or flavorings (orange extract,
peppermint, etc.) used.
