Mama is working late tonight and the kiddos are in bed.
I have the house to myself.
And, with no tv and a bake sale coming up, I decided to spend the evening baking. I love to bake and don't get much time to do it a capella. Mind you, baking with the kids is great because we are creating something together and I'm passing on a favorite hobby and skill, but I've been ready to try some more complicated recipes. It has been at times frustrating, exhilarating, and rejuvenating. While I'll do lots of bake-sale baking with the kids--we made Jumbo M&M Cookies today--I wanted to do some on my own. I chose a recipe with liquor and a recipe with nuts, neither of which I would let the kiddos sample: Joe Frogger Cookies and Chocolate-Almond Biscottini.
The Froggers--an old molasses cookie with several spices and rum (think slavery-era food)--are chilling in the refrigerator, both spicier and saltier than the version I've had at Sturbridge. But the recipe is from several websites, many of them famed New England B&Bs, so we'll see. I'm going to add an OSV touch to them and sprinkle them with raw sugar.
Meanwhile, the biscottini--a small biscotti (or, probably, normal size, but not the huge ones you get here in the US covered in chocolate and about a foot long)--are having their first bake in the oven. They'll cool, then be cut crosswise, and baked on each side in batches. This recipe comes from our friend in Chicago who made biscotti often. I can't tell what book she got the recipes from--and she gave me 4 or 5 of them--but if this is successful, I'm going to track it down.
I know my baking project will keep me in the kitchen long past Mama's return later tonight, but I'm having such a good time. And she's out tomorrow night too. I wonder what cookies I'll make then?
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Jumbo M&M Cookies
Nestle's Chocolate Chip Pan Cookie Recipe
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
12 oz M&M candies
Preheat oven to 375F. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, both sugars and vanilla in large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Gradually beat flour mixture into butter mixture. Stir in M&Ms (do not use mixer, as they will break). Drop by 1/4 cup measure onto cookie sheet, spacing several inches apart (usually 6 per cookie sheet). Bake 10-14 minutes or until golden.
adapted from the back of Nestle Chocolate Chips bag
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Joe Frogger Cookies
A Colonial ginger cookie loved by generations of New Englanders, these were originally made by Black Joe Brown and Aunt Crese of Gingerbread Hill. Seamen took them on long voyages as they kept well.
3 ½ cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon allspice
1 cup molasses
½ cup vegetable shortening
1 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons Dark rum
1/3 cup hot water
Instructions:
Mix flour, salt, ginger, baking soda,cloves, nutmeg and allspice in a medium bowl. In a large mixmaster bowl, beat together the molasses, shortening and brown sugar. Combine hot water and rum.
To the sugar-molasses mixture, add alternately the dry ingredients and the diluted rum. (If the dough is dry, add an additional tablespoon or two of water, one at a time.)
Roll out the dough between two sheets of waxed paper until ¼ inch thick. Refrigerate for at least two hours. (If desired, refrigerated dough may then be put into freezer bags and frozen for later use).
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 2 baking sheets.
Cut the dough into 3-inch cookies with a cookie cutter (or coffee can for the traditional larger size). Place them on greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 for 10 -12 minutes. Cookies should be dark around the edges and firm in centers. Set baking sheet on a rack to cool for 3 minutes. Then remove the cookies to a rack to cool completely.
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Chocolate-Almond Biscottini
3/4 cup natural whole almonds
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa
2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder (I didn't have this so just added a tad more cocoa)
2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 egg white, lightly beaten
Adjust oven rack to center of oven; preheat to 350F. Place almonds on small cookie sheet and toast until the skins are a deep golden color, about 9 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board, cool slightly, chop coarsely, and set aside. Leave oven on.
Line a 14 x 17" cookie sheet with parchment paer; set aside.
Place flour, sugar, cocoa, coffee powder, and baking powder in bowl of electric mixer. Run machine on low speed to combine, about 40 seconds.
In a small bowl, whisk together whole eggs, 2 egg whites, and vanilla extract. Add to flour mixture and beat on low speed until dough starts to come together in a crumbly mass, about 30 seconds. Stir in almonds. Turn dough onto a well-floured work surface (dough will be soft and sticky). With well-floured hands, gently knead 2-3 times until dough begins to hold together in a sticky mass; divide dough into thirds. Shape into 3 ropes, each approximately 11" long. Place ropes 3" apart on lined pan. With fingertips, lightly flatten each into a log 1/2" high, 2 1/2" wide, and 13" long. Brush logs with lightly beaten egg white.
Bake in preheated oven until logs are firm to the touch, about 20 minutes. Place cookie sheet on wire rack and cool for 5 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 325F. Transfer logs to cutting board. Leave parchment on baking sheet. With a serrated knife, cut logs crosswise at a slight diagonal into 1/2"-thick slices. Place half of the slices cut side down on pan, spacing them 1/2" apart. Return to oven and bake until surfaces are dry to the touch, about 7 minutes on each side. Transfer biscotti to wire rack and cool completely. Reline pan with fresh parchment and repeat with remaining slices. Biscotti can be stored in a tin lined with wax paper for 3 weeks.
My hints: I used my silicon baking sheet. Also, when arranging once-baked slices on cookie sheet, put them all the the same direction (i.e. flat side towards you, or vice versa) so that when you flip them, you can tell which ones you've done.
Our Chicago friend
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