Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (298 page)
Working with 1 tablespoon of dough at a time, roll dough into 1¹⁄
4
-inch balls. Roll each ball between palms into 3-inch-long rope. Place ropes on ungreased baking sheet and turn them up at each end to form crescent shapes.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Most gingerbread recipes turn out dough better suited for building material than for snacking. Could we make gingerbread cookies that actually tasted as good as they looked? To remedy the problem of stiff, dry cookies, we first added more butter. We found that to avoid very dry cookies, we needed at least 4 tablespoons of butter for every cup of flour. More sugar and molasses came next, making the cookies more flavorful, pleasantly sweet, and moist. A little bit of milk lent the cookies just the right extra measure of softness and lift. Then we discovered that just by rolling the dough thinner, we could also use our dough to make a tasty thin cookie that held up on the Christmas tree. Now, whether thick or thin, we had a cookie that wouldn’t be left behind on the cookie tray.
MAKES ABOUT 30 COOKIES
If you plan to decorate your gingerbread cookies and make ornaments out of them, follow the variation for Thin, Crisp Gingerbread Cookies. Because flour is not added during rolling, dough scraps can be rolled and cut as many times as necessary. Don’t overbake the cookies or they will be dry. If you make gingerbread people, this recipe will make about twenty 3-inch people.
3 | cups (15 ounces) all-purpose flour |
³⁄ | cup packed (5¹⁄ |
1 | tablespoon ground cinnamon |
1 | tablespoon ground ginger |
¹⁄ | teaspoon ground cloves |
³⁄ | teaspoon baking soda |
¹⁄ | teaspoon salt |
12 | tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces and softened |
³⁄ | cup molasses |
2 | tablespoons milk |
1.
Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, baking soda, and salt at low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Stop mixer and add butter pieces; mix at medium-low speed until mixture is sandy and resembles fine meal, about 1¹⁄
2
minutes. Reduce speed to low and, with mixer running, gradually add molasses and milk; mix until dough is evenly moistened, about 20 seconds. Increase speed to medium and mix until thoroughly combined, about 10 seconds.
2.
Scrape dough onto counter; divide in half. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, roll ¹⁄
4
inch thick between 2 large sheets of parchment paper. Leaving dough sandwiched between parchment layers, stack on baking sheet and freeze until firm, 15 to 20 minutes.
3.
Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
4.
Remove 1 dough sheet from freezer; place on counter. Peel off top parchment sheet and gently lay it back in place. Flip dough over; peel off and discard second parchment layer. Cut dough into 5-inch gingerbread people or 3-inch gingerbread people and place them ³⁄
4
inch apart on prepared baking sheets; set scraps aside. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake until set in centers and cookies barely retain imprint when touched very gently with fingertip, 8 to 11 minutes, switching and rotating baking sheets halfway through baking. Do not overbake. Let cookies cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; transfer cookies to wire rack and let cool to room temperature.
5.
Gather scraps; repeat rolling, cutting, and baking in steps 2 and 4. Repeat with remaining dough until all dough is used.
These gingersnap-like cookies are sturdy and therefore suitable for making ornaments. If you wish to thread the cookies, snip wooden skewers to ¹⁄
2
-inch lengths and press them into the cookies just before they go into the oven; remove skewers immediately after baking. Or, use drinking straw to punch holes in the cookies when they’re just out of the oven and still soft. If you make gingerbread people, this recipe will make about thirty 3-inch people.
Quarter, rather than halve, dough and roll each dough quarter ¹⁄
8
inch thick, reducing oven temperature to 325 degrees, and baking cookies until slightly darkened and firm in center when pressed with finger, about 15 to 20 minutes.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Spritz cookies, those golden-swirled holiday cookies, often end up bland, gummy, and tasteless. Unfortunately, this Scandinavian treat has fallen victim to many recipe modifications, such as the use of vegetable shortening instead of butter, an overload of eggs, and an excess of starchy confectioners’ sugar. We set out to spruce up spritz cookies and make them light, crisp, buttery treats—the life of any holiday party. The success of these confections rests primarily in the management of a finicky ingredient list. Carefully balancing the butter, sugar, flour, egg (yolk only), heavy cream (just a drop), vanilla, and salt is the only recipe for success—a few simple ingredients gathered in the proper proportions. Creaming the butter and sugar in the traditional fashion worked well and produced a dough light enough to easily press or pipe into shapes. As for shaping, either a cookie press or a pastry bag can be used—it’s up to you.
See “FILLING A PASTRY BAG AND PIPING SPRITZ COOKIES” illustrations that follow recipe.
MAKES ABOUT 72 SMALL COOKIES
If using a pastry bag, use a star tip to create the various shapes. For stars, a ¹⁄
2
- to ⁵⁄
8
-inch tip (measure the diameter of the tip at the smallest point) works best, but for rosettes and S shapes, use a ³⁄
8
-inch tip. To create stars, hold the bag at a 90-degree angle to baking sheet and pipe the dough straight down, about 1-inch in diameter. To create rosettes, pipe the dough while moving the bag in a circular motion, ending at the center of the rosette; rosettes should be about 1¹⁄
4
inches in diameter. To create S shapes, pipe the dough into compact Ss; they should be about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide. If you make an error while piping, the dough can be scraped off the baking sheet and re-piped.
1 | large egg yolk |
1 | tablespoon heavy cream |
1 | teaspoon vanilla extract |
16 | tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool |
²⁄ | cup (4²⁄ |
¹⁄ | teaspoon salt |
2 | cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour |
1.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk egg yolk, cream, and vanilla in small bowl until combined; set aside.
2.
Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter, sugar, and salt at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down bowl and beater as needed. With mixer running at medium speed, add yolk mixture and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. With mixer running at low speed, gradually beat in flour until combined, scraping down bowl and beater as needed. Give dough final stir to ensure that no flour pockets remain. (Dough can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 4 days; before using, let it stand at room temperature until softened, about 45 minutes.)
3.
If using cookie press to form cookies, follow manufacturer’s instructions to fill press. If using pastry bag, fit it with star tip and fill bag with half of dough. Press or pipe cookies onto prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 1¹⁄
2
inches apart, refilling cookie press or pastry bag as needed. Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies are light golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 10 to 15 minutes; transfer cookies to wire rack and let cool to room temperature.
Add 1 teaspoon juice from 1 lemon to yolk-cream mixture in step 1 and add 1 teaspoon finely grated zest from 1 lemon to butter along with sugar and salt in step 2.
Pulse ¹⁄
2
cup sliced almonds and 2 tablespoons of flour in food processor until powdery and evenly fine, about 12 pulses; combine almond mixture with remaining flour. Substitute ³⁄
4
teaspoon almond extract for vanilla.
1.
Make C-shape with 1 hand and hold piping bag. Fold bag over that hand about halfway down, insert tip, and scrape dough into bag.
2.
When bag is about half full, pull up sides, push down dough, and twist tightly while again pushing down on dough to squeeze out air.
3.
Grab bag at base of twist. Using other hand as guide, hold tip at 90-degree angle about ¹⁄
2
inch above baking sheet and squeeze to form shape.