Win A Copy of “The Gourmet Cookie Book”
When Gourmet magazine folded in 2009, the publishers realized there was a treasure trove of past recipes to be turned into collector’s items. Hence, “The Gourmet Cookie Book.”
Note: I’m giving away a copy of this book! Just leave a comment at the end of this blog post in order to enter the prize drawing.
Although the magazine is gone, it provided a lot of other publishing possibilities. The former executive editor, Ruth Reichl, wrote a novel (“Delicious!”) plus TWO memoirs (“Save Me the Plums” and “My Kitchen Year”) about Gourmet and its demise. There have been other compilations of the magazine’s well-tested recipes.
Gourmet’s executive chef, Sara Moulton, researched its recipe archives and picked out “the best” cookie recipe from each year, from the magazine’s debut in 1941 to its end in 2009.
Gourmet seemed to be written for folks who aspired to chic dinner parties, exotic travel and prestigious restaurant meals. The cookie recipes in Gourmet tended to feature upscale trends of the time, although there’s a recipe for Honey Refrigerator Cookies from 1942, when World War II rationing made sugar scarce.
“Cookies turn out to be an excellent indicator of what we have been eating,” write the Gourmet editors. “An ingredient must have a solid place at America’s table before it makes its way into the cookie cupboard. So when pistachios start showing up in cookies in the ’80s, you know that the luxurious nut has finally become part of the American food landscape.”
This being Gourmet, many of the book’s recipes have an elitist flair, such as Galettes de Noel (1969), Biscotti Di Regina (1956), and Walnut Acorn Cookies (2000).
I guess I was never part of the Gourmet audience. Because frankly, I’ll take a down-to-earth chocolate chip cookie over a sophisticated pistachio tuille, any day.
One recipe that caught my eye was the one below for Gianduia Brownies (1998), a decadent combo of hazelnuts, chocolate, and Nutella chocolate-hazelnut spread. Gourmet shared the story of how Gianduia came about during the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century. The British naval blockade against Napoleon cut off much of the cacao shipped from the Americas. To avoid using too much of the now-scarce chocolate, the confectioners of Piedmont (then occupied by the French) added finely ground hazelnuts to their chocolate. The result was gianduia (zhan-DOO-yah).
Like most Gourmet recipes, these brownies require a bit of labor — roasting, skinning and grinding the hazelnuts. But sometimes the work is worth that Gourmet touch.
I’m giving away a copy of this book! To enter the prize drawing, just leave a comment at the end of this blog post. I’ll draw out a winner on Dec. 5, and contact you for your snail mail address.
Gianduia Brownies
1 ¼ cups hazelnuts (about 6 ¼ ounces)
4 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened)
3 ounces fine-quality milk chocolate
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
¼ cup Nutella (chocolate-hazelnut spread)
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ cup sugar
2 large eggs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour a 9-inch square baking pan, knocking out excess flour.
Toast the hazelnuts in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the nuts are lightly colored and skins are blistered. Wrap the nuts in a kitchen towel and steam for 1 minute, then rub them in the towel to remove the loose skins. Cool completely before grinding.
In a food processor, pulse hazelnuts until coarsely ground (bits should be about 1/8 inch).
Chop chocolate into small pieces and, in a double boiler or a metal bowl, set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, melt chocolates with butter and Nutella, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove top of double boiler or bowl from heat.
While chocolates are melting, into a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and a pinch of salt. Whisk sugar into chocolate mixture until combined well. Add eggs, whisking until mixture is glossy and smooth. Stir in flour mixture and hazelnuts until just combined.
Pour batter into baking pan and bake in middle of oven35-40 minutes, or until a tester comes out with moist crumbs adhering to it. Cool brownies completely in pan on a rack, and cut into 16 squares.
Brownies keep 5 days, layered between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container at cool room temperature.
—The Gourmet Cookie Book
HONEY REFRIGERATOR COOKIES
Sugar was rationed during World War II, and this 1942 recipe showed readers how to replace some of it with honey.
1/2 cup honey
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup shortening
1 egg
2½ cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon soda
½ teaspoon salt
1/2 cup walnuts
Cream together honey, brown sugar and shortening. Beat in egg; then add flour, sifted with baking powder, soda and salt. Add walnuts. Shape the dough into 2-inch diameter rectangular logs. Allow dough to ripen for a day or two in the refrigerator. Slice and bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Makes about 80 cookies.
— “The Gourmet Cookie Book”
TRIOS
The classic thumbprint cookie got a modern makeover in a 2007 issue of Gourmet. Three flavors of jam creates a cookie that looks like a holiday ornament.
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
About 2 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam
About 2 tablespoons apricot preserves
About 2 tablespoons strawberry preserves
Special equipment: A 1/2-inch-thick wooden spoon handle or dowel
Whisk together flour and salt. In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until very pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes, then beat in egg and vanilla.
At low speed, mix in flour mixture in three batches just until a dough forms. Divide dough in half and form each piece into a 6-inch disk, then chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in middle. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Roll each of 3 separate level teaspoons of dough into a ball, then flatten each ball slightly (to 1 inch wide and less than 1/2 inch thick). Arrange them in a triangle on baking sheet, with edges touching in center, then make a deep indentation in center of each round with wooden spoon handle. Make more cookies, arranging them 1 inch apart on baking sheets. Chill the cookies for an hour or more so cookies will hold their shape when baked.
Fill indentation in each cookie with about 1/8 teaspoon jam (each cookie should have 3 different fillings), avoiding any large pieces of fruit.
Bake until cookies are baked through and golden brown on edges, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
Makes about 3-1/2 dozen cookies.
— The Gourmet Cookie Book