Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (295 page)
MAKES ABOUT 80 COOKIES
VANILLA SABLÉS
1 | large egg |
10 | tablespoons unsalted butter, softened |
¹⁄ | cup plus 1 tablespoon (2³⁄ |
¹⁄ | teaspoon salt |
1 | teaspoon vanilla extract |
1¹⁄ | cups (7¹⁄ |
CHOCOLATE SABLÉS
1 | large egg |
10 | tablespoons unsalted butter, softened |
¹⁄ | cup plus 1 tablespoon (2³⁄ |
¹⁄ | teaspoon salt |
1 | teaspoon vanilla extract |
1¹⁄ | cups (6²⁄ |
¹⁄ | cup (³⁄ |
1. FOR VANILLA SABLÉS:
Place 2 eggs in small saucepan, cover with water by 1 inch, and bring to boil over high heat. Remove pan from heat, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, fill small bowl with ice water. Using slotted spoon, transfer eggs to ice water and let stand 5 minutes. Crack eggs and peel shells. Separate yolks from whites; discard whites. Press yolks, 1 at a time, through fine-mesh strainer into small bowl, reserving 1 strained yolk for chocolate sables.
2.
Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter, granulated sugar, salt, and cooked egg yolk on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low, add vanilla, and mix until incorporated. Stop mixer; add flour and mix on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds. Using rubber spatula, press dough into cohesive mass.
3. FOR CHOCOLATE SABLÉS:
Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter, sugar, salt, and reserved cooked egg yolk on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low, add vanilla, and mix until incorporated. Stop mixer; add flour and cocoa and mix on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds. Using rubber spatula, press dough into cohesive mass.
4. TO FORM SPIRAL COOKIES:
Halve each batch of dough. Roll out each portion on parchment paper into 8 by 6-inch rectangle, ¹⁄
4
inch thick. Briefly chill dough until firm enough to handle. Using bench scraper, place 1 plain cookie dough rectangle on top of 1 chocolate dough rectangle. Repeat to make 2 double rectangles. Roll out each double rectangle on parchment into 9 by 6-inch rectangle (if too firm, let rest until malleable). Starting at long end, roll each into tight log. Twist ends of parchment to seal and chill logs 1 hour.
5.
Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using chef’s knife, slice dough into ¹⁄
4
-inch-thick rounds, rotating dough so that it won’t become misshapen from weight of knife. Place cookies 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets.
6.
Bake until centers of cookies are pale golden brown with edges slightly darker than centers, about 15 minutes, switching and rotating baking sheets halfway through baking. Let cookies cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes; transfer cookies to wire rack and let cool to room temperature.
1.
Slice slightly chilled dough into ¹⁄
4
-inch thick rounds and roll into balls.
2.
Roll each ball into a 6-inch rope, tapering ends.
3.
Pick up 1 end of rope and cross it over to form half of pretzel shape.
4.
Bring second end over to complete shape.
1.
Halve each batch of dough. Roll out each portion on parchment paper into 8 by 6-inch rectangle, ¹⁄
4
inch thick. Briefly chill dough until firm enough to handle.
2.
Using bench scraper, place 1 plain cookie dough rectangle on top of 1 chocolate dough rectangle. Repeat to make 2 double rectangles.
3.
Roll out each double rectangle on parchment into 9 by 6-inch rectangle (if too firm, let rest until malleable). Starting at long end, roll each into tight log.
4.
Twist ends of parchment to seal and chill logs 1 hour. Slice logs into ¹⁄
4
-inch rounds.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Chocolate butter cookies usually taste bland or surrender their crisp, delicate appeal to a chewy, brownielike texture. We wanted to cram big chocolate flavor into a tender, crisp cookie. Cocoa powder—with a much higher percentage of cocoa solids than other forms of chocolate—was clearly the best candidate to maximize chocolate flavor, so we first doubled the amount of cocoa in our working recipe. The cocoa did indeed boost the flavor, but the texture of our cookie was now dry and pasty. Reducing the flour and adding egg yolks for more structure was the answer. Extra vanilla extract enhanced the aromatics in the chocolate for even more chocolate flavor. Then we discovered that “blooming” the cocoa powder in melted butter (along with a teaspoon of instant espresso) before adding it to the dough really maximized the chocolate flavor. The only remaining challenge was to take the cookies out of the oven at just the right moment, as overcooking robbed the cookies of the chocolate flavor we had worked so hard to establish.