I was headed to a holiday cookie party and needed something gluten free. This recipe is a riff on the Swiss cookie Basler brunsli. The recipe halved easily, which produced 12 fairly large cookie balls. Aside from that, the only way I deviated from the recipe as written was nearly doubling the spices (because I could barely taste them in the dry mix even before adding chocolate), using a mix of unsweetened chocolate and semi-sweet (almost 50/50, because it's what I had), and baking them on a greased, rimmed baking sheet rather than parchment on a flat cookie sheet. I'll also mention that everything was at room temperature.
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
54 grams (¼ cup) plus 285 grams (1⅓ cups) white sugar
250 grams (2½ cups) blanched almond flour
21 grams (¼ cup) cocoa powder
½ teaspoon table salt
4 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
In a 12-inch skillet over medium, combine the almond flour and remaining spice mixture. Cook, stirring frequently and breaking up any lumps, until fragrant and lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool until barely warm to the touch, 15 to 20 minutes.
Heat the oven to 375°F with racks in the upper- and lower-middle positions. Line 2 baking sheets with kitchen parchment.
In a small bowl, stir together the cinnamon, cardamom and ginger. Measure ¼ teaspoon of the spice mixture into another small bowl, stir in the 54 grams (¼ cup) sugar and set aside.
Once the almond flour mixture is cool, whisk in the remaining 285 grams (1⅓ cups)
sugar, the cocoa and salt. Use a spatula to stir in the egg whites and
vanilla until evenly moistened. Stir in the chocolate. The dough will be
sticky. Using
two soup spoons, drop a few 2-tablespoon portions of dough into the
spiced sugar, then gently roll to coat evenly. Arrange the sugar-coated
balls on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Repeat with
the remaining dough. Bake
until the cookies have cracks in their surfaces and a toothpick
inserted into a cookies at the center of the baking sheets comes out
with few crumbs attached, 12 to 15 minutes, switching and rotating the
sheets halfway through. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5
minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
I had some questionable moments making these. The first was knowing when the almond flour was toasted sufficiently, but I think I got it right through several tastings, the aroma, and change in color. Then when I was measuring the cocoa powder, I first filled the volume measuring cup, but added it to the bowl while checking the weight. I barely added half the volume before I'd met the weight quantity! I suppose it stands to reason that different cocoa powders might have different weights per gram. I used the weight quantity (as well as the weight quantity for the almond flour.) Then I made the mistake of leaving my bowl of chocolate sitting on top of the oven while it preheated; when I went to add it to the dough, I found it warm and the bottom had melted. I went ahead and mixed it in anyway, thinking it was just a small quantity, but I think the chocolate was warm enough that it dissolved into the batter. I don't detect very many pieces (although I did chop it pretty small.)
When scooping the dough, I wasn't sure how big to make the cookies. "Soup spoons" can vary greatly in size, and of course there's the heaping factor. How much to heap? Since I was making only 12, I could quickly see that I wasn't making them nearly large enough; they should be about 1 1/2" in diameter. I ended up jamming more dough onto the bottoms of some of the balls to end up with an even 12 that were more or less the same size. I also nudged them a bit after sugaring to make them a little less bumpy, but I wish I'd picked them up and rolled them (gently!) between my palms to fully round them. They didn't really change shape at all as they baked, so they ended up looking more like lumps of coal. (Were they supposed to flatten somewhat? It looks like it in their photos, but mine didn't. That affects the baking time.) The fact that you're supposed to test them with a toothpick indicates these should have some depth to them. When I tested mine, they came out still wet inside. I ended up adding about 5 -- 6 more minutes to the baking time before I felt safe taking them out. (You definitely don't want to over bake these or you won't get that chewy interior.)
Because these are coated in sugar, you want to let them cool on the pan long enough to firm up a bit, but not so long that the sugar starts to harden or you won't be able to get them up. Five minutes was a bit too long in my case. They came up okay, but just barely. They probably could have done with a minute less in the oven, as the bottoms were quite brown and overly chewy. I debated about using an air-bake pan, which I use with cookies I think might burn easily (because my oven heats from the bottom), but since there was no butter I thought it would be okay just using a heavy aluminum pan and placing them on the next rung above the middle. (Things tend to bake more slowly on an air-bake, so I use those pans with caution.)
These were a little sweet for their uncomplicated flavor. The spices were very subtle, and the sugar crust on the outside added to the sweet impression. They could have used more salt-- I would double it even, or at least sprinkle it on top. Otherwise, they tasted a lot like a brownie, with a similar texture on the interior. A little orange, tahini, chili and/or coffee would pump up the flavor as well-- pretty much any flavor that goes with chocolate-- however these additions take them further away from their inspiration to the point of being almost an entirely different cookie.
Conclusion: I wouldn't be inclined to make these again unless I used a different flavor. (I'm really leaning towards the coffee.) They're so similar to a brownie, but not as good, and more work. With more spices and more salt (and more finesse), they would be a nice chocolate addition to a cookie plate (or if you need a gluten-free option), but they're nothing to get excited about on their own.
Recipe: Chocolate-Almond Spice Cookies via Milk Street
No comments:
Post a Comment