Pennsylvania Squares

Pennsylvania Squares (Source: Maida Heatter's Cookies (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1997 ed.), pg. 107.

This is a recipe that I had marked long ago as one to try. I was intrigued by Maida's introduction to the recipe when she stated that a taste tester at the Hershey company told her that it was her personal favorite. That is quite some recommendation!

After making these, I was certain that I had tasted them before. I don't know if it was the same recipe or just something similar. The cookies (or bars) have a thick, shortbread-like taste and consistency. There is an overall strong toffee flavor. 

I used plain old milk chocolate Hershey bars but you can use any brand you desire. I was thinking that a dark chocolate might be good. 

These are very easy to make. Getting them out of the pan might be the trickiest part although if you are very careful, there should not be any problems. I think lining the pan with a parchment sling or foil might work better.

This recipe makes 32 squares.

8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg yolk
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
8 1.45 oz. bars of Hershey's milk chocolate
5 oz. (1 1/4 cups) walnuts, chopped into small pieces

Adjust the oven rack one third from the bottom and preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9x13" baking pan.

Beat the butter until soft. Add the sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add the egg yolk and beat well. Add the flour on low speed, scraping the bowl as necessary. 

Transfer the dough to the pan in a thin layer. An easy way to do this is to spoon small pieces of the dough over the pan, then cover with a layer of wax paper. Using your fingers and palm, press down to form the dough into an even layer.

Bake for 23 minutes. The dough will rise and fall.

As soon as the pan comes out of the oven, place the chocolate over the dough allowing 1/4" to 1/2" space around the sides of the pan. After a minute, use a spoon to spread the melted chocolate over the top.

Sprinkle the nuts over the top. Cover with a piece of wax paper and press down to assure that they are embedded into the chocolate.

Use a small sharp knife to cut around the edges of the pan. Let stand until cool. Refrigerate until the chocolate has set.

Cut the cookies into 32 rectangles. Use a butter knife or a small spatula to gently ease the cookies out of the pan.

The cookies can be wrapped individually in cellophane or wax paper or place in an airtight container.

Black Pepper Cookies

Black Pepper Cookies

Source: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1999 ed.), pg. 189.

These spice cookies are delicious and pretty addictive. They are very firm, you might even call them "hard", but so good. They have a caramel-like flavor.

About the baking time - 12 minutes seems accurate but I would begin checking at 10 minutes and take them out as soon as they begin to turn a light, golden brown and before they turn too dark. When trying a new recipe, I always bake one sheet at a time to know if I need to adjust the time for the remaining. Once you know that, you can certainly bake several sheets at once, just flip and swap them about halfway through. 

This recipe once again brings up the evil pastry cloth. Not really evil, I suppose, but I do not own one and have never used one. I found an array of alternatives online that can be used for such, ranging from paper towels to cheesecloth. I wondered about my silicon mat and asked that question online and the answer was yes you can!

One drawback I found to the silicone mat is that the dough tended to stick after rolling it out, even with a generous dusting. However, the dough is very firm and forgiving. You can easily slide it off the mat with a spatula or flat knife (which is what I used) and the dough stays firm. It reminded me of making biscuits. 

Makes 36 cookies

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 lb. (2 sticks) butter
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. black pepper, ground fine
Generous pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. powdered cloves
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. powdered ginger
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg

Adjust the oven rack to high and preheat to 400 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment.

Sift together the flour and baking powder and set aside.

Beat the butter to soften it and then add the salt, pepper, cayenne, cloves, cinnamon,  and ginger.  You should scrape the bowl to make sure everything gets mixed.

Beat in the egg and the sugar, mixing and scraping the bowl.

On lowest speed, add the flour mixture.

Transfer to a board or flat surface and knead lightly. Divide the dough into three pieces. Work with one piece at a time. 

On a lightly floured pastry cloth (I used a silicon mat), roll out the dough to 1/8 to 1/4 thickness. 

Place the cookies about 3/4" apart on the cookie sheet. Use a spatula or a flat knife if the dough is sticking to your surface. This is a firm dough and easy to work with.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. I found that 10 1/2 to 11 minutes was good. You want to remove them from the oven before they begin to turn dark which they will do in a hurry. They will also continue to bake once removed so it is best to get them transferred to a wire rack immediately.

Store in an airtight container.

Peanut Butter Icebox Cookies

 

Peanut Butter Icebox Cookies (Source: Maida Heatter's Cookies (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1997 ed.), pg. 160.

Another day, another icebox cookie recipe. These are just like regular peanut butter cookies but shaped like a wafer. The dough is very easy to work with and it slices beautifully after it has been frozen if you use a large, sharp knife. 

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg

Makes 40 to 48 cookies

Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon. Set aside.

Beat the butter and peanut butter until soft.

Add the vanilla and almond extracts. Add the sugars. Beat until incorporated.

Beat in the egg.

On low speed, add the flour mixture and beat until mixed.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Knead it slightly and form it into a ball. Using the heel of your hand, "push off" the dough away from you. Do this to all of the dough and then reform it and push it off again. The dough will have a clay-like texture. 

Now form it into an oblong shape about 10-12 inches long and 2 inches in diameter. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze until firm (several hours if using refrigerator, about 45 minutes if freezing it). You can freeze it until you are ready to bake.

When ready to make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350. Line cookie sheets with foil or parchment. Slice the dough about 1/4 thick and place them 1" apart on the sheets. Bake for 18-20 minutes until lightly colored and slightly dark around the edges. Transfer to a rack to cool.

New Mexican Chocolate Icebox Cookies

New Mexican Chocolate Icebox Cookies (Source: Maida Heatter's Cookies (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1997 ed.), pg. 163.

Maida Heatter fans are probably familiar with her Mexican Chocolate Icebox Cookies. I made them here (gulp...13 years ago!) and have heard many favorable comments about them. Since I have a tendency to make something new every time I'm in the kitchen, I don't think I've made those since then. So, I had to go back and look closely at that recipe to compare them with the "new" cookies. 

It turns out there are quite a number of differences. This recipe uses chocolate instead of cocoa powder, does not have cayenne or black pepper and has brown sugar instead of white. Okay, so the two recipes are entirely different from each other!

These cookies are quite good, and I found myself going back for more. The flavor is unique (another difference is this recipe calls for nutmeg instead of cinnamon).  I didn't bake the entire portion of dough at once so more to look forward to. That is the beauty of icebox cookies. 

A note about the loaf pan size - this calls for a 10 x 5 x 3 pan. I didn't have one so instead opted for an unusual pan that I have that measures 12 x 4 x 3. It worked fine and any size that deviates should probably only affect the size of the cookies.

Another note - the recipe lists pine nuts, but Maida says any other nut can be used or you may skip them altogether. I've never used pine nuts in my life and thought about using pecans but eventually decided not to use any at all.

This recipe makes 66 cookies.

3 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
6 oz. semisweet chocolate, cut into pieces
2 2/3 oz. (5 1/3 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 cup sour cream
3 oz. pine nuts (optional)

Prepare a 10 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan with two pieces of wax paper or aluminum foil. Cut one piece slightly longer than the length of the pan and the other slightly wider than the width so that you will have handles that overlap the edges.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.

Chop the chocolate in a food processor of use a heavy knife. The chocolate must be fine.

Cream together the butter and the shortening.

Beat in the sugar and mix well.

Add the egg, vanilla and sour cream.

Add the sifted flour ingredients on low speed. Beat only until thoroughly incorporated.

Add the chocolate and nuts (if using).

Press the dough firmly into the prepared pan. Fold the paper over the top and firmly press down.

Freeze for 6-8 hours or more.

When ready to bake, line cookie sheets with parchment or foil. Heat the oven to 400.

Remove the dough from the pan and carefully remove the paper. Cut lenghtwise with a sharp knife and then cut 1/4" inch slices. Place them 2" inches apart on the cookie sheets and bake for 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Belgian Almond Cookies

 

Belgian Almond Cookies (Source: Maida Heatter's New Book of Great Desserts (Alfred A. Knopf, 1982. pg. 326.

These cookies are known as "Pain d'Amandes" in the French Flanders region where they originate. They are very crisp and chewy. The dough is frozen so you can bake all or some at a time. 

The cookies are made with both finely ground almonds as well as whole almonds. When kneading, the whole almonds will keep falling out but as you knead, they will begin to stay in place. I was dreading slicing them (after freezing) since Maida says that they may tend to crumble. She suggested trying different knives and she likes using a serrated knife. So I tried the serrated knife first and had some crumbling. I then tried my large Chef's knife and it worked much better. Slice them gently. The blade should slide through smoothly and you should get an unbroken cookie.

2 1/4 sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups (10 oz.) whole blanched almonds
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/3 cup milk
Brandy or whisky
4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

Set 1 cup of the whole almonds aside. Put the other cup of almonds in a food processor or blender and finely ground.

Add the ground almonds to the flour mixture.

Add the sugar.

Pour the milk into a measuring cup and add either whisky or brandy until it measures 1/2 cup. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and the melted butter. Mix with a wooden spoon.

Turn out onto a work surface and knead it until the dough is firm.

Add the reserved whole almonds to the dough and knead them in - they will have a tendency to fall out of the dough. Just keep sticking them back in.

On a long piece of wax paper, shape the dough into a 13"x2" inch log. Wrap in the paper and transfer it to the freezer.

When ready to bake, heat the oven to 350. Use a sharp knife to slice 1/4" pieces. (You may need to test different knives to find the one that works best for you.) Place on a cookie sheet lined with foil and bake for 14-16 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown.