THE NEW YORK TIMES, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020 N D5TIME: 30 MINUTES
YIELD: 16 BROWNIES5 tablespoons/70 grams unsalted butter,
plus more for greasing
2 ounces/55 grams unsweetened
chocolate, coarsely chopped or broken
up in ½- to 1-inch pieces (⅓ cup)
⅓ cup/80 milliliters neutral oil, such as
sunflower, grapeseed or canola
1½ cups/300 grams granulated sugar
1 cup/130 grams all-purpose flour
¼ cup/30 grams Dutch-processed cocoa
powder
¾ teaspoon kosher sea salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 ounces white chocolate, coarsely
chopped, or ½ cup white chocolate
chunks
Flaky sea salt, such as Maldon, as
needed- Heat oven to 350 degrees, and lightly grease
an 8-inch square baking pan. - Melt chocolate and butter in a small
saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently until
smooth. - Using a rubber spatula, scrape chocolate
mixture into large bowl. Whisk in oil and sugar,
and let cool for about 5 minutes. - As the chocolate mixture cools, whisk
together flour, cocoa powder and salt in a
medium bowl. - Whisk eggs into cooled chocolate mixture
until well combined, then whisk in vanilla. Using
a rubber spatula, fold in flour mixture. Fold in
most of the chocolate chunks, reserving the
larger chunks to place on top. - Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth
it into an even layer. Scatter the reserved
chocolate chunks on top. Sprinkle lightly with
flaky sea salt, and bake until the top is set and
firm to touch, 17 to 23 minutes. Transfer the
pan to a wire rack to cool completely before
cutting into 16 squares.
BLACK AND WHITE BROWNIESTIME: 25 MINUTES, PLUS COOLING
YIELD: ABOUT 3 DOZEN COOKIES
1⅔ cups/230 grams chopped
honey-roasted peanuts
2 cups/250 grams all-purpose flour
½ cup/110 grams dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup/225 grams unsalted butter (2
sticks), cold and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 large eggs, separated
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1½ teaspoons lemon or orange zest
⅔ cup/95 grams chopped salted, roasted
peanuts (or use more honey-roasted
peanuts)
About ½ cup/160 grams Concord
grape jam (or other thick jam)- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 3 baking
sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease
them. - In the bowl of a food processor, pulse
together 1 cup peanuts and ½ cup flour until
the nuts are coarsely ground. Pulse in
remaining flour, sugar, salt and nutmeg, then
add the butter and pulse until the mixture is
crumbly. Pulse in the egg yolks, vanilla extract
and zest. Continue to pulse until the dough is
well combined and starts to clump (but doesn’t
form a ball). - Working with 1 tablespoon of dough at a
time, form the mixture into 1-inch balls. - Put the egg whites in a shallow bowl, then
beat them lightly with a fork until frothy. Put the
remaining ⅔ cup chopped honey-roasted
peanuts in another shallow bowl, and stir in the
salted, roasted peanuts. - Dunk each ball of dough first in egg whites,
then in the nuts, rolling to coat the balls well.
Place the balls on the baking sheets 2 inches
apart. Using your thumb, press an indentation
in the center of each round of dough. - Using a small spoon (an espresso spoon
works well), fill the indentations with jam. Bake
until the edges of the cookies are just golden,
12 to 18 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to
cool.
HONEY-ROASTED PEANUT
THUMBPRINTS
TIME: 30 MINUTES, PLUS CHILLING
YIELD: 3 DOZEN COOKIES⅔ cup/75 grams almond flour
¾ cup/170 grams unsalted butter (1½
sticks), softened
2½ cup/305 grams confectioners’ sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon brandy, pastis or ouzo
½ teaspoon almond extract
1½ cups/190 grams all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt- In a medium skillet over medium heat, toast
the almond flour, stirring constantly, until
golden brown and fragrant, 6 to 8 minutes.
Immediately pour flour into a small bowl to
cool. Watch carefully: Once the flour begins to
toast, it will happen very quickly. - Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle
attachment or a handheld electric mixer, beat
butter and 1 cup confectioners’ sugar on low
speed until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in egg
yolk, brandy and almond extract until well
combined.- Reduce speed to low and gradually add
all-purpose flour, salt and toasted almond flour
until just incorporated. - Scrape the dough into an airtight container
and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. - When ready to bake, heat oven to 350
degrees and line 2 baking sheets with
parchment paper. - Using your hands, roll dough into 1-inch
balls and place balls 1 inch apart on the
prepared baking sheets. Bake for 12 to 18
minutes, until cookies begin to brown at edges.
Rotate cookie sheets halfway through for even
baking. - Place ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar into a
sieve. As soon as the cookies come out of the
oven, sift a thick layer of confectioners’ sugar
over the tops. Once cookies are cool, put
remaining ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar (plus any
sugar in the sieve) into a shallow bowl and toss
cookies again in confectioners’ sugar.
TOASTED ALMOND SNOWBALLSTIME: 1½ HOURS, PLUS CHILLING
YIELD: 12 DOZEN COOKIES
3 cups/375 grams all-purpose flour, plus
more for rolling the dough
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¾ cup/165 grams dark brown sugar
¾ cup/170 grams unsalted butter (1½
stick), at room temperature
1 large egg
½ cup/120 milliliters light molasses
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
Nonstick cooking spray (optional)
Royal Icing, for decorating (recipe on
NYT Cooking)
Food coloring, for decorating
Colored sugar, sprinkles and dragées,
for decorating- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour,
baking soda, salt and spices. Using an electric
mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or
hand-held electric beaters, beat brown sugar
and butter on medium speed until light and
fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add egg, molasses and
fresh ginger, and mix until well combined. - Reduce speed to low and gradually add dry
ingredients. Mix until just incorporated. - Divide dough in half and scrape onto two
pieces of plastic wrap, wrapping each piece
separately into a flat disk. Refrigerate for at
least 2 hours, or up to 5 days. - When ready to bake, heat oven to 350
degrees. Use parchment paper or nonstick
liners to line 3 baking sheets, or lightly grease
them with nonstick cooking spray. (You may
need to bake the cookies in batches.) - On a clean, lightly floured work surface, roll
one disk of dough ⅛-inch thick. Using cookie
cutters, cut out all the dough. With a small
metal spatula, place the gingerbread cut-outs
onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about
1 inch between cookies. Repeat with remaining
dough. You can reroll the scraps once. Collect
them from both pieces of dough, smush them
together into a disk and chill before rerolling
again.- Bake small cookies for 8 to 12 minutes, and
larger ones for 10 to 15 minutes, or until
cookies are firm to the touch and their edges
are slightly darker in color. Rotate cookie
sheets halfway through for even baking. - Let cookies cool on baking sheets until firm
enough to lift, about 5 minutes. Using a metal
spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack to cool
completely before decorating. - To decorate, thin the royal icing with water
until it’s as thick as heavy cream (thinner than
you’d use for piping). Divide it into small bowls
(or a muffin tin), and use food coloring to tint it
different colors. Use a brush to paint the
cookies with icing, and, if you like, use
toothpicks to apply more icing to make
patterns. Sprinkle with colored sugar or other
decorations, if you like, while the icing is still
wet. Put the decorated cookies on baking
sheets to set, then move them to tins or other
airtight containers with parchment between the
layers.
SPARKLY GINGERBREAD