cookies – Backdoor Hospitality

My Paleo Ginger Cookies

Words can come out honestly and then other times they do anything but stand still. I feel like this these days. Staring blankly into the journal, computer screen, chopping board. In part, it’s due to unexpected anxiety attacks turning to panic attacks. They’ve been gripping me and I’m learning to lean into the deepContinue reading “My Paleo Ginger Cookies”

Coconut Lime Macaroons

So I mentioned to save those six egg whites from the Sour Cherry Grand Marnier Creme Brulee, but it’s taken a while to post a recipe. But that seems to be life. I’ve been in a post New Year’s state making lists of what I value, writing up a personal mission statement and embracing how life is so good. In July I was dredging through the seas of anxiety & fear, while September came and it was more like wading. Fear has plagued me in the past(I’m probably not the only one), and it crept up its little head again.

What I have been embracing is the present.

Looking at the little things that bring joy into my life. Those little things when you add them all up they are exponentially greater than any fear trying to budge its way into your heart & mind.

Little things…infectious laughter of my two year old, the smile on my four year old when I pick her up from the bus, the warmth of Ben’s hand on my back, special snapshot moments with friends that remind me of heaven and sharing these little macaroons with friends while watching Anne of Green Gables. What little things remind you of joy in this present?

A Year Ago: Grapefruit Yogurt Loaf Cake & Palace Temple & Hospitality

Coconut Lime Macaroons (printable recipe)

These little gems are perfect after you finished making the sour cherry creme brûlée, due to the leftover egg whites. I love limes and I love coconut, so they are pretty much a great combination. Plus, they’re a non-fuss sort of treat.

Ingredients:

6 egg whites, room temperature

1/2 cup agave nectar, or raw honey

2 cups almond flour

2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

zest of one lime

1/4 tsp lime oil

Frosting:

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

zest of 1/2 lime

juice of 1/2 lime

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on high speed until the egg whites are medium peaks. Add the agave nectar or honey and salt and whip again until stiff peaks.

In a separate bowl, combine the almond flour, unsweetened coconut, lime zest & lime oil. Combine. Pour 1/3 of dry ingredients into whipped egg whites and fold it into the egg whites. Continue with remaining 2/3 (in 1/3 portions) until the wet & dry ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Using a cookie scoop (about 2 Tb), scoop dough and place on the lined baking sheet 1 inch apart. Bake for 15 minutes (look for slightly browned parts on the top, but overall white). Cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Make the frosting: Sift the powdered sugar. Add in the butter and blend it all together using a fork. Add the lime juice & zest. Mix until it’s creamed together. Taste. If you need a bit more lime taste, then add a bit more zest.

Frost the tops of cooled macaroons. Serve and eat!

If you want to opt out with the frosting, then up the agave or honey to 3/4 cup in the macaroons.

Tasty Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was in the children section at a bookstore with my friend Tina. We were recalling some of our favorite childhood books. I pulled out Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs with nostalgic fondness. I remember thinking how amazing it would be if meatballs fell from the sky, and as a child I daydreamed about it. Then, there was Stone Soup, another favorite with ingredients like carrots, beef, potatoes & barley. I never had barley at that time, but it sounded wonderful. As I continued to pull out books there was a common theme Tina pointed out…FOOD. She said, “Kamille, you’ve always been a foodie.”

Never gave it much thought, but I guess she’s right. I still have my first cookbook from age 7, Mickey Mouse Cookbook with little notes inside. One of my favorite treats is checking out cookbooks from the library. When Tayers was born, I seriously had at least 10 cookbooks from the library (you know to read while nursing, etc). And what is it with the fascination with Food magazines. How many recipes does one truly need for Chocolate Cake, brownies, or apple pie? And if you look through my recipes you’ll see that I have three different chocolate chip cookie recipes available. So you might wonder why I’m offering you another one. Well, I haven’t done much baking lately and I’ve been trying to eliminate wheat flour from our diet; however, I wanted to make a special New Year’s Day treat, which could be made fairly quickly. I adapted my Superlative Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe with this one to make it a paleofied version. As Ben said after eating one, “these are good and not just Paleo good,” meaning they don’t taste like they’re a second rate version.

A Year Ago: Quicky Sticky Biscuits

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies (printable recipe)

I love my Superlative Chocolate Chip Cookies and these ones are even more moist, and possibly better. This is the first time I have used coconut sugar. It didn’t make the cookies taste like coconut either.

Ingredients:

3 1/3 cups (8 3/4 ounces) almond flour

1 tsp baking soda

10 Tb unsalted butter

1 cup coconut sugar

1 tsp Celtic sea salt

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg yolk

4 ounces Valhrona chocolate (82% cacao), chopped into small pieces

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Vanilla sea salt, or flaked sea salt

Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with parchment paper & set aside. Measure almond flour & baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.

On medium heat, melt 8 Tb of butter in a pan, constantly swirling until the butter is browned and smells like yummy toasted nuts (about 3 -4 minutes). Pour the melted butter into a metal bowl, while trying to leave the bits in the pan. Add the remainder 2 Tb of butter to melted butter and stir till it’s all melted. Add the sugar, vanilla & salt and thoroughly combine. Add the egg & egg yolk and mix for 30 seconds then allow it to rest for 1 minute. Continue to mix for 30 seconds again, then rest for 1 minute and repeat one more time.

Add the almond flour & baking soda to the wet mixture and stir to combine. Add in the chopped chocolate & pecans and mix throughout. Place 2 Tb of dough onto the parchment paper, spaced 2 inches apart. Sprinkle vanilla salt or flaked sea salt on top of dough. Bake for 12 minutes. Let cool completely on pan and then remove.

Zucchini Walnut Anise Sandwich Cookies

Before I get to these lovelies, (which I’m sure you’re dying to try) I have been reminiscing of high school gym class. Worst yet, first day of gym class as a freshman. Oh, and it’s co-ed. For me, nothing could have been worse. I wasn’t uncoordinated or even the last to be picked for teamsContinue reading “Zucchini Walnut Anise Sandwich Cookies”

Sandwich Cookie Bakery & Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies

Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies

Before I tell you about these wonderful little gems, let me digress. I have this little dream of opening a bakery. It’s a fantasy really, because in reality I know I will most likely not ever do it. The realism side in me shines brightly during these visions of grandeur. I see the long hours, the upfront costs and the early morning hours. So, someone else with the will can go ahead of me and follow their dream. However, if I did open a shop that I truly believe would succeed, it would be a Sandwich Cookie Bakery Shop. Cupcakes are so seven years ago, but cookies in sandwich form are going to be popping up. I’m convinced of it. If you stroll around the blogosphere, it’s all about the “whoopie pie,” which people loosely tie with what I deem as the coveted Sandwich Cookie.

If you’re in the mood for a cupcake without the all too often top heavy frosting, then make some of these sandwich cookies I’ve made over the past year.

Rhubarb Sandwich Cookies with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Homemade Graham Cracker Sandwiches

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Lemon Cookies with Coconut & Lemon Filling

Make Your Own Oreos

My Little Debbie Oatmeal Pies

Tomorrow is my birthday and I thought providing another cookie recipe would be a fantastic addition to your day, especially since I haven’t added any new recipes lately. I baked for a woman’s tea this past week through Ben’s financial company, which was a nice break from motherhood and a time to have people ‘ooo’ & ‘aww’ over my food (so easy to win me over). And since it was an afternoon tea, I knew a butter shortbread cookie would be great; but, a Lemon Lavender Butter Cookie would be perfect. So now to the recipe.

Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookie (printable recipe)

This recipe has also been used to make the Orange Cardamom Cookies & Bursting with Delight Lime Cookies . Both of those had an icing on top and these Lemon Lavender Cookies would be perfect with a honey glaze.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
1 1/2 teaspoons culinary lavender
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Make dough:
Whisk together flour, lemon zest, lavender, and salt.

Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, then beat in yolk and cream. At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches just until a dough forms. Put the dough on parchment paper.

Mound the dough together and roll into a log. Once you get a basic log shape, position the dough in the middle of the parchment. Then, take the parchment that’s north of the dough and cover it over the dough. Take a bench scraper and push the edge of it at the base of the parchment covered dough, trying to make a concentric log. Roll the log so the parchment covers the whole thing and twist the edges. Refrigerate for 3 hours to overnight.

Cut and bake cookies:
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.

Remove firm dough. Unroll the parchment so the dough is still sitting on top of the paper. Place on a cutting board. Cut the dough into 1/8 inch. Transfer cookies to a parchment-lined large baking sheet, arranging them 1 inch apart.

Bake until edges are golden-brown, 12-15 minutes. Cool on baking sheet 5 minutes, then slide cookies, still on parchment, onto a rack to cool completely.

Rhubarb Sandwich Cookies with Strawberry Cream Cheese Filling

Our house definitely looks “lived in” right now. Library books all around, artwork hung to dry on the mantle, and a deep freezer & other patio items inside our house as well. All the decks in our condo are being cleaned, sanded & repainted this week, which means bringing in everything or putting it in the scarce space in front of our house. Hence–a deep freezer in our living room.

There are times in life when embracing the “lived in” motif is needed. Trying to escape it, hide it, or tackle it is just adding more stress and less time for the people around us. It’s easy for me to put on my tunnel vision goggles and charge straight ahead in cleaning up without giving a second glance at the nudging of a little girl wanting her mama to dance with her, or sitting down to talk to my husband. When I think about the land of Facebook, there are some people who are proudly seated on their ‘anti-FB’ platform. I get it, really I do. Waste away hours by being sucked in. However, I propose that FB is also community, an arena for hospitality.

For instance, my friend Shelley wouldn’t have known I was making these cookies if I hadn’t put it in my update. And, she wouldn’t have had the opportunity of eating them either (because I got to drop some off to her later). Although there are many ways in which technology can suck us in and turn others out, I think if our priorities are straight, it can be a good thing.

Rhubarb Sandwich Cookies with Strawberry Cream Cheese Filling

(printable recipe)

A note about the sugars. Demerara is an unrefined equivalent to brown sugar, while rapadura is an unrefined equivalent to granulated sugar. Rapadura looks similar to sand. Since neither are refined, they have a more complex taste & smell, which is similar to caramel & molasses. If you don’t have oat bran on hand, you could pulverize (food processor) 1/4 cup of oats. The whole wheat pastry flour could be replaced with unbleached all-purpose flour as well.
Ingredients:

1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup oat bran
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly ground cardamom
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
8 Tb (1 stick or 1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup demerara sugar
1/4 cup rapadura sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg, room temperature
1 cup medium diced rhubarb, 1/4 in

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting & Directions

Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Take out your eggs & butter to get them to room temperature.

In a small bowl, add oats, oat bran, w.w. pastry flour, spices, baking soda & salt. Mix to combine and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream on medium speed the two sugars, butter & vanilla for 1 minute. Scrape down sides and add the egg on low speed. Mix till combined and add the dry ingredients. Mix till thoroughly combined and add the rhubarb.

Using a tablespoon, scoop a leveled Tb of cookie dough on parchment lined sheets leaving 1 1/2 -2 inches apart. Bake for 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack till cookies are cool and transfer to foil.

Put 2 tsp of frosting on one turned over cookie. Take an unfrosted cookie and sandwich it together. Makes about 20 cookies.

My Little Debbie Oatmeal Pies

Ben and I just got back today from San Diego, while our girls were graciously taken care of by Ben’s folks. The downside of our trip was recovering from the sickness that invaded our family & I still carried the first couple days in southern California. It was great though. I got to read without interruption, enjoy sunshine & the salty breeze from the ocean, and spend a lot of time with my wonderful, dear friend Veronica. It was a real treat (thank you Steve & Cherie!).

These cookies are also a real treat. They are addictive with that last note of saltiness to draw you in to take another bite. As far as the real Little Debbie’s in the sealed bag found in the white box–not completely a fan. Ben on the other hand is a fan. Once when we were in the store he picked up a box of Little Debbie’s Oatmeal Cream Pies and said he wanted to buy them. In my haste & grandiose perception of what may not be so easily attainable I say, “Oh, don’t buy that…I could make that!” The problem being–is I have been known to say those last four words many a times, especially at the moment when (specifically) Ben wants the designated said item right then (not two weeks later).

However, there was a time when I followed through on my “I could make that,” by making these Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies. And you would do everyone in your household or work a favor by chanting, “I did make that!” My girls were sure to speak the praises through continuous, “MMMM!”

Little Debbie Oatmeal Pies (printable recipe)

This recipe is revised from one online (one of those copycat kinds); however, as I truly don’t like using shortening if at all possible–I omitted it from the filling & used butter instead. If you want a more firm filling like that found in the store kind, then use shortening where you see butter in the creme filling portion. These cookies are very moist. If you want them a bit more firm, then try putting them in the fridge for a while to firm them up.

Cookies

1 cup butter, room temperature
¾ cup dark brown sugar
½ cup rapadura sugar
1 Tb molasses
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, room temperature
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1 ½ cups Quick Cooking Oats

crème Filling

2 tsp very hot water
¼ tsp salt
2 cups marshmallow crème (7-ounce jar)
½ cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup powdered sugar
½ tsp vanilla

Directions for Cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugars, molasses, vanilla & eggs for 1 minute. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda & cinnamon. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until just combined. Mix in the oats.

Using a cookie scooper (2 Tb), drop onto lined baking sheet, two inches apart. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes, or until the cookies are just starting to darken around the edges. They will still appear moist in the center. Be careful not to over bake them. Transfer cookies on hot sheet to a wire rack and let sit for 10 minutes and transfer to foil.

Filling: While your cookies are baking, prepare the filling. Use a small bowl to dissolve the salt in 2 teaspoons of very hot water. Set this solution aside to cool. Combine the marshmallow crème, ½ cup butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl and mix well with an electric mixer on high speed until fluffy. Add the cooled salt solution to the filling mixture and combine with the mixer.

Assembling: Distribute the crème filling evenly amongst half of the cookies. Take the other cookie and put on top of the crème cookie, pressing gently to make a sandwich.

Lemons for Lindsey

Coconut Cream Cheese Filling

My good friend Lindsey’s birthday was last weekend and I know my practical gifts of love made in my kitchen are always a sure hit with people, especially Lindsey who never hesitates to sing my culinary praises. In fact, if I’m feeling a bit blue, I can ask Lindsey what she liked about my latest creation & by the end—I’m encouraged. Ya know, sometimes it doesn’t take much.

When I asked Lindsey what her favorite type of flavors or desserts were she said, “Lemon, not pie or cake–not so much!” Well, I understood what she was talking about. Because I really like lemon desserts, but lemon meringue & a lemon cake (or should I say lemon filling) doesn’t sit well with me. I do like lemon curd though & lemon tart; however, the meringue atop a lemon pie is so sad most of the time. And the lemon filling in cakes is typically poorly done. I knew what she needed was lemon sandwich cookies, but all the recipes you would come across for lemon sandwiches are the rolled out kind and this tired mama wasn’t feelin’ it after putting my girls down for bed & cleaning up the chaotic remains.

So after perusing my cookbooks I came across this Vanilla Sugar Cookie and knew it could easily be adapted to suit that lemon hankering I was seeking. I thought I would make two different kinds of frosting to spice things up a bit. And since I wasn’t about to go and buy more cream cheese than what my fridge was holding, I did what any inventive baker would do–split it in half & say a blessing to see if the frosting would multiply like the loaves & fish. Some had lemon & some had coconut filling. And I would say both hit a great spot with just the right amount of lemon in the cookie. Ben even said, “These are pretty good for a lemon cookie, because I don’t like lemon cookies.” And he ate more than one.

Lemon Cream Cheese Filling

Lemon Sandwich Cookies with Coconut & Lemon Filling (printable recipe)

I was inspired by the Vanilla Sugar Cookie in The Good Cookie Cookbook. I wanted to make a lemon cookie and used two different fillings. One is a lemon filling, while the other is coconut filling. You choose what you like best..or do both!

Cookie Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar
zest from one lemon (about 2 Tb)
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
½ tsp lemon essence
squeezed juice of one half lemon
Coarse sugar (turbinado) for sprinkling

Coconut Filling Ingredients & Lemon Filling Ingredients

½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp coconut extract
1 cup sweetened coconut
½ to 1 tsp lemon essence

Directions for cookies: Preheat the oven to 375. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silipat.

Put the granulated sugar into a bowl and add the lemon zest to the sugar. Using your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar, in order to get as much of the oil out of the zest as possible. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, & salt and set aside.

In a mixer bowl, add the butter and beat on medium speed for about 1 minute. Add powdered sugar & the lemon zest sugar to the butter, beat on medium speed for 3 minutes, till the mixture is light & fluffy. Turn off the mixer and add one egg at a time, briefly beating at low speed just until the egg is combined. Add lemon essence & lemon juice and mix for about 10 seconds. With mixer on low, slowly add dry ingredients until it’s all combined.

Put about ½ cup of coarse sugar in a bowl, then take the other half of the lemon and do one light squeeze onto the sugar. It will get the sugar a bit wet, but not drenching it. Have your hands lightly wet, put one tablespoon of dough in your hand and roll it to make a ball. Continue doing this placing the rolled dough 2 inches apart on the lined baking sheet. Either roll the balls around in the lemon turbinado sugar or sprinkle the lemon turbinado sugar on top. Lightly press down on each ball, so you’re making them into a circle (not too much & not too little either). Bake for 9-11 minutes.

Put on a cooling rack and let them cool for about 5 minutes. Remove and put on aluminum paper. Meanwhile, make the frosting.

Directions for Frosting: Beat the butter in your stand mixer on medium speed for 1 minute. It should be light & fluffy. Now add the cream cheese in halved pieces and beat for 2 to 3 minutes, still on medium speed. Turn mixer down to low and slowly add powdered sugar. Once the powdered sugar has been fully incorporated, then turn up the speed to medium and beat for an additional 30 seconds.

Get out a medium bowl and scoop out 1/3 of the frosting. Add ½ tsp of lemon essence to the bowl and mix thoroughly. Set aside and there is your lemon frosting.

Add the 1 cup sweetened coconut & 1 tsp coconut extract, mix thoroughly and there is your coconut frosting.

Assembling: You might have assorted sizes, so match up the ones most similar and begin frosting by putting about 1 tablespoon of frosting on each cookie smoothing it out and put another cookie on top. Then eat one or two to sample, so you can attest to their goodness to your family & friends.

Bursting with Delight Cookies

Not only are these cookies bursting with delight, but I have been reflecting upon this notion as I await what the Christian world calls “Holy Week” or “Passion Week.” As my girls took their nap today, I was folding laundry listening to the song, ‘O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus.’ One of the lines says, “How he loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore…how for them he intercedeth.” I was struck by how great his love is for me. When I was a little girl I would stand up on mall benches and sing “Jesus Loves Me.” When people would ask me why I believed in Jesus, I would respond with, “why wouldn’t I (this at a very young age).”

I think it’s because I was drawn to Jesus’ incredible love. I knew he was good, but not just good as in the superhero fighting the villain, it was much deeper than that. And as my oldest is three understanding more concepts, listening to all the stories we tell her, taking initiative in conversations & thoughtfulness, I’m seeing how at such a young age–Jesus makes sense. I was reading to her some Bible stories, very simplistic in nature, and it came to the part where Jesus was being crucified (like I said, it was simplistic, not the Passion in full swing) where she had a sadness in her eye. I could identify with that sadness and conjure it up from when I was her age, because I like her, could see why it was so sad. It was sad & lonely, because this person who was so incredibly good & just was being robbed of life.

But the part in which I burst forth, as did she, was when we soon realized that wasn’t the end of the story, but Jesus overcame death, bursting forth from the tomb–leaving it empty. I could see the shadow of sadness quickly being replaced with joy & hope in my three year old’s eyes. And as I saw in this child illustrated Bible, feet on a cross, my eyes got misty connecting with the same mourning my daughter was feeling. But, unlike watching a fake romance movie Hollywood has portrayed giving us hope deferred & hope renewed–this is such a better love story. This is a love story even a three year old understands to be true & wholeheartedly genuine.

And even though we rarely think about feasting upon cookies during this season of Lent (most people giving them up), I do offer you a burst of delight upon your senses (not that I think these compare to the Easter story at all). I made these cookies for my mom getaway a couple weeks back and I find they have a wonderful marriage with sour, freshness of the lime, the creamy depth of the cream cheese, the buttery, saltiness of the caramel and the crunch & melding of it all with the macadamia nuts. I like how the flavors blend, some pack more of a punch, while others leave a nice undertone on in your mouth.

I think that’s why I find these cookies applicable with this post–it’s about awakening the senses. So as you might read the Passion story for the first time or the 70th time, notice how much of the story deals with smell, touch, taste, sight, & sound. How Jesus reached us with our senses. How the Lenten season is typically about denying the senses, yet as Jesus burst forth from the tomb on Easter morning–we burst forth in celebration with him to feast in a hope no longer deferred.

Burst Delights (printable recipe)

I used my Orange Cardamom Cookies as the base for these Lime-Cream Cheese-Macadamia Nut-Caramel Cookies.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons lime zest
1/4 cup macadamia nuts, measure out 1/4 cup and finely chop it up
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 lime for juice

Cream Cheese-Caramel Icing

1/3 – 1/2 cup whipped cream cheese
1/4 cup homemade caramel sauce (or store bought)
splash of lime oil essence (or extract)
2 teaspoons lime zest

Make dough:
Whisk together flour, zest, 3 Tb. finely ground macadamia nuts, and salt.

Cut and bake cookies:
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.

Bake until edges are golden-brown, 12-15 minutes. While the cookies are still warm, slice the zested lime in half and squeeze the juice over the cookies. The cookies will absorb the juice and give the cookies that great lime kick. Cool on baking sheet and arrange with below directions.

Make Icing:

Put the whipped cream cheese in a small bowl and add 1 Tb of caramel sauce at a time. Mixing to get a balance of caramel & cream cheese. Then add some lime essence, just a splash. You want to have a balance of the flavors. Not too much of the lime, but enough to have it stand out.

Putting them together:

With a spoon, put about 1/2 teaspoon icing on each cookie & swirl around. Drizzle caramel over the cookies with a fork or spoon. Sprinkle with remaining chopped macadamia nut & lime zest.

Throw Nabisco Out with Homemade Oreos

There are some people who say they’ve never enjoyed Oreos. I, on the other hand, have always enjoyed them. In fact, in high school I spent pretty much every weekend of my junior year at my surrogate family’s house–the Carrillo’s. Veronica (then Carrillo) is (and has been) one of my dearest of friends since I was four years old. We are complete opposites, share a plethora of memories, and loyalty can always be found in her.

While being the adopted daughter, I would hear the question from Mrs. Carrillo, “Kamille, is there anything you want at the store?” To which she would hear, “I guess some double stuff Oreos?!” And come the next couple times around to making the grocery list, Mrs. Carrillo would instinctively have the double stuff on the list (or have them waiting for me). “But now I’m taking it back, I’m taking it all back.” Those Nabisco kind have nothing on these chocolatey mixed with white chocolate goodness.

And they went rather well with my mom get away weekend. I got away with some of my fellow mom friends, and it was beyond glorious. Being able to spend time to know and be known by these women I dearly love & respect was a glimpse of heaven bound. So, in terms of these cookies, I must say that the first bite of just the cookies left me a bit disappointed. I was expecting a little bit more depth of chocolate richness; but, in that first bite I felt it lacking. However, as the flavors began to meld and the salt kicked in–the chocolate popped, which made me want another bite. And that’s how these cookies work–you can’t just have one.

Homemade Oreos (printable recipe)

This recipe comes from The Essence of Chocolate. If you were wondering if you would go back to Oreos after tasting these, the answer is NO! You will want to make the dough when you’re ready to start rolling it out. Putting it in the fridge will make it too hard to roll and not necessary.

Ingredients

Filling:

1/2 cup heavy cream
8 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped

Cookies:

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups plus 3 Tb all-purpose flour
3/4 cup plus 1 Tb unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
15 Tb (7 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 3/4-inch cubes, at room temperature

For the Filling:

In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil over medium heat. Remove the cream from the heat and add the white chocolate (making sure all of the chocolate is covered by the cream). Let stand for one minute then whisk to melt. It will take about 6 hours to let the filling to get to the right consistency.

For the Cookies:

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add all of the ingredients except for the butter and combine on low speed. With the mixer running, add the butter a few pieces at a time, until all of it has been added. The mixture will have a sandy texture at first and then will begin to form pebble-size pieces. As soon as the dough starts to come together, stop the mixer.

Transfer the dough to a board and use the heel of your hand to shape the dough into a block about 5 by 7 inches. Cut the block into 2 pieces.

One at a time, roll each block of dough between two pieces of lightly floured parchment paper until 1/8 inch thick. Use a 2-inch circular cookie cutter (I used a big pastry coupler). Place 1/2 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking. Remove from oven and put on a cooling rack leaving the cookies on the sheet for 2 to 5 minutes (the cookies will be too soft to remove initially). Then transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

The dough trimmings can be pushed together once and rerolled to make more cookies (only re-roll twice).

To Assemble:

Place half of the cookies upside down on a work surface. Whip the filling lightly with a whisk just to aerate it a bit; it will lighten in color and fluff up. Do not overwhip, or the filling may begin to separate.

Transfer the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch plain tip or use a disposable pastry bag and cut an opening at the tip of the bag. Pipe about 1 1/2 teaspoon of filling in the center of each cookie. Top with another cookie, right side up. Gently, using your fingertips, press the cookies together until the filling comes just to the edges.

The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Note: for the leftover dough you have rolled twice, I just put it on the baking sheet and baked it. Then, had that for the family to munch on.