Chunky Peanut, Chocolate, and Cinnamon Cookies

Makes about 5 dozen

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 2/3 cup roasted, salted peanuts, coarsely chopped
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Chocolate or vanilla ice cream, for serving

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Put butter and peanut butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until combined, about 2 minutes. Add sugars; mix 2 minutes. Mix in eggs. Gradually add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips, peanuts, and vanilla with a mixing spoon until well distributed. Refrigerate dough until it is slightly firm, 15 minutes.
2. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Space balls 2 to 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Flatten slightly. Bake until just golden, about 13 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool. Serve with ice cream.

Jalapeno Corn Muffins

Serves 4

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for tin, melted
• 3/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 2 jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh or frozen (thawed) corn kernels
• Unsalted butter, for serving

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush the cups of a standard 12-cup muffin tin with melted butter, and set aside. Whisk together buttermilk, eggs, and sour cream in a medium bowl until combined, and set aside. Whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, jalapenos, and corn in a large bowl until combined.
2. With a rubber spatula, fold buttermilk mixture into cornmeal mixture until well combined. Fold in melted butter. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake until a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Let muffins cool in tin 5 minutes. Turn out into a basket or bowl lined with a clean kitchen towel; cover to keep warm. Serve with butter.

Chocolate Puddle Cookies

I've used both 365 organic powdered sugar from Whole Foods, and Hain organic powdered sugar with success. I prefer to use non-alkalized cocoa powder (Scharrfen Berger or Dagoba) but also tested with Droste, which is a Dutch-process cocoa powder. All with success. On the nut front, be mindful of how you toast your walnuts - it's the single factor that impacts the personality of these cookies most. Using deeply toasted walnuts makes for a much more intense, nutty cookie. Lightly toasted walnuts can sometimes be mistaken for chocolate chips, and make for a much more mild cookie. Both good! Also, cooking time - you don't want to over or under bake here - over bake, and your cookies will cool too a crisp, under bake, and they are too floppy and crumbly. Also, underbaking makes it more difficult to remove the cookies from the parchment paper after baking - you get the swing of it after a batch or two. Use large eggs, I suspect if you use extra-large, the batter will run, and you'll have to compensate with more powdered sugar.

3 cups / 11 oz / 310 g walnut halves, toasted & cooled
4 cups / 1 lb / 453 g confectioner's (powdered) sugar

1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons / 2 oz / 60 g unsweetened cocoa powder

scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
4 large egg whites, room temperature
1 tablespoon real, good-quality vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 320F / 160C degrees and position racks in the top and bottom third. Line three (preferably rimmed) baking sheets with parchment paper. Or you can bake in batches with fewer pans.

Make sure your walnuts have cooled a bit, then chop coarsely and set aside. Sift together the confectioner's sugar, cocoa powder, and sea salt. Stir in the walnuts, then add the egg whites and vanilla. Stir until well combined.

Spoon the batter onto the prepared sheets in mounds of about 2 tablespoons each, allowing for PLENTY of room between cookies. These cookies are like reverse Shrinky Dinks - they really expand. Don't try to get more than 6 cookies on each sheet, and try to avoid placing the batter too close to the edge of the pan.

Bake until they puff up. The tops should get glossy, and then crack a bit - about 12 -15 minutes. Have faith, they look sad at first, then really blossom. You may want to rotate the pans top/bottom/back/front.

Slide the cookies still on parchment onto a cooling rack, and let them cool completely. They will keep in an airtight for a couple days.

Makes 18 large cookies.

Orange-Yogurt Cake

Ingredients

Makes one 8-inch round cake

• Unsalted butter, softened, for pan
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest, plus 1 tablespoon orange juice
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large oranges (1 zested into thin strips, both segmented)
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch round cake pan. Stir flour, 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, the baking powder, baking soda, salt, yogurt, oil, orange zest and juice, egg, and vanilla in a bowl. Pour into pan. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
2. Place zest strips in a bowl. Stir in segments and remaining tablespoon sugar. Garnish cake with some segments; serve with the rest. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

Cigarettes Russes

Ingredients

Makes 30 to 40

• 2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 10 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 6 large egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped medium fine
• 1 1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup
• Vegetable-oil cooking spray

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour, and salt; make a well in the center. Add melted butter, egg whites, cream, and vanilla. Mix until well combined. Refrigerate, covered, for at least 2 hours or overnight.
2. Heat oven to 425 degrees. place rack in center. Spray two baking sheets (do not use air-cushioned sheets or line with parchment) with vegetable-oil spray. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of batter onto baking sheet. Using the back of a spoon, spread batter into a very thin 6-by-3 1/2-inch oval. Repeat, making three more ovals of batter on the sheet.
3. Bake just until brown around edges, about 6 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare second baking sheet. Working quickly, use a knife or long metal spatula to transfer a cookie to a work surface; roll around a chopstick or thin wooden dowel, forming a cigarette shape; place on wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining 3 cookies. If they get too stiff, return baking sheet to oven for 30 seconds. Continue baking and shaping cookies until batter is used up.
4. Combine chocolate, corn syrup, and remaining 4 tablespoons butter in a double boiler over simmering water; stir occasionally with a rubber spatula until smooth. Let cool slightly. Dip about 1 inch of each cooled cookie into chocolate. Place on a wire rack, with dipped section off the edge, to dry. Store between waxed paper in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days.

Butterscotch Cookies

Ingredients

Makes about 30 cookies

• 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups dark-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in egg, dry milk, and vanilla.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running, slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture. Fold in pecans.
4. Drop heaping tablespoons of batter onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Lightly flour your fingers and press each piece of batter into a 3-inch circle.
5. Transfer to oven and bake until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Dipped Shortbread

Makes 4 dozen 2 1/2-inch heart cookies

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon canola oil or pure vegetable shortening

Directions

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar, and vanilla until combined. On slow speed, beat in flour and salt until combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap; chill until firm, at least 2 hours, or overnight.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until 1/16-to-1/8 inch thick. Cut out hearts with a 2-inch heart cookie cutter. Transfer cookies to an ungreased baking sheet; chill for 30 minutes.
3. Heat oven to 300 degrees with a rack in the center. Press the tines of a fork into each cookie to make designs. Bake until just beginning to brown around the edges, about 18 minutes. (Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for about 5 days.)
4. In the top of a double boiler or in a heat-proof bowl set over simmering water, melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally. Stir in the oil. Dip half or one third of each cookie into the chocolate mixture. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack to dry, or place them on a piece of parchment paper in the freezer for 10 minutes. Serve.