Hello!
If you follow me over on Instagram, you may have noticed I’ve been re-igniting my love affair with cookies. As part of that, I’ve been brainstorming ideas for cookie boxes pegged to the rhythms of the sun and moon, rather than the holiday calendar. First, I developed a spring equinox cookie box, with rhubarb radish linzers, fig leaf and coconut glazed shortbread, apricot biscotti, and cream cheese-stuffed carrot cake crinkle cookies. I promised social media I’d release the carrot cake cookies from recipe note purgatory - you’ll find that recipe below.
Next, I’m working on a (belated, alas) summer equinox cookie box. This is the time of year our backyard fig tree unceremoniously dumps twenty pounds of figs on us within the span of about two weeks, so I’ve been feverishly baking, jamming, and freezing them before the end of harvest. I was making a fig mostarda, that tangy sweet-and-savory compote, when I was struck by an idea. Could I make a savory-ish linzer? I worked up a dough with a fancy 18-month old white cheddar and sandwiched my mostarda between two crisp, cheesy shortbreads. My wife promptly pronounced it a top five cookie, so I figured I’d better give you the recipe as well. These cookies are savory, sweet, and salty all at once, refusing to be categorized.
I’m still punting around ideas for the rest of my summer cookie box (stone fruit will certainly be involved). If you have any ideas, I’d love to hear them!
All my best,
Bronwen
A quick tidbit of Bayou Saint News - I’m teaching another layer cake class with Milk Street! This one will take place July 15, 22, and 29 from 6-7:30 pm Eastern time. We’ll talk: chiffon cake, olive oil cake, lemon curd, crème diplomat, layer cake decoration, edible flowers, Swiss meringue buttercream… truly we will have the time to go into so much detail and answer any question you might have about how I go about building and decorating a layer cake. The classes will be recorded if you can’t make them live. You can use code CAKE15 for 15% off! Come see me and my sweaty face on zoom, it will be a good time!
Cream Cheese Carrot Cake Crinkle Cookies (CCCCCC’s)
Makes 24 cookies
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These are very soft, cake-like crinkle cookies, with an unexpected cheesecake-inspired filling tucked inside (though you can bake the cookies without the cream cheese center as well- when done that way, they are dairy-free). You can skip the turmeric if you like, though I like it for the color and the soft earthiness it brings.
For the cream cheese center:
113 grams cream cheese, very soft
25 grams confectioner’s sugar
Stir together the cream cheese and confectioner’s sugar (you can do this with a mixer, but if your cream cheese is quite soft a stiff silicone spatula will work just fine). Pipe or dollop it into 24 small discs on a parchment-lined tray. Each dollop should contain about a heaping teaspoon of cream cheese mixture, or about 5.75 gram’s worth. Freeze until very firm, for at least two hours or as long as several days. The colder the cream cheese is, the easier stuffing the cookies will be.
For the carrot cake crinkle cookies:
Note: Use the smallest grater you have for the shredded carrot. It should be very fine. I had the best results baking these cookies fresh. The crinkle effect is not as pronounced or pretty when baked from frozen.
A second note: You may want to bake off one test cookie to test the length of time you’ll need for the crinkles in your own oven. If you prefer your crinkles very soft and fudgey, bake for around 14 minutes. If you prefer them firmer, you may need to bake for up to 16 minutes. 15 minutes was the sweet spot in my own oven (and to suit my personal tastes).
240 grams all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon ground cardamom
⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
⅛ teaspoon turmeric
75 grams coconut oil, room temperature
75 grams granulated sugar
75 grams brown sugar, light or dark
1 large egg (about 50 grams) (cold is fine)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
80 grams freshly gated carrot
100 grams granulated sugar, for rolling
120 grams confectioner’s sugar, for rolling
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, cardamom, ginger, and turmeric.
In another medium bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until it is fully incorporated. Then, whisk in the egg and vanilla extract.
Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stir, then add the remaining half. Add the shredded carrots. The dough will be thick and very sticky. Let the dough chill in the fridge for about ten minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F.
After ten minutes, roll the cookie dough into 24 balls with lightly oiled hands. Tuck a frozen disc of cream cheese into each ball of cookie dough, re-roll, then toss first in granulated sugar, and then with confectioner’s sugar. Place each cookie onto two parchment-lined trays.
Bake for 14-16 minutes, rotating once, until the cookies are puffed and the edges are lightly set. Let cool completely on the tray before eating or storing.
Finished cookies can be stored in a sealed container for up to three days.
Cheddar Shortbread Linzers with Fig Mostarda
Makes around 18 cookies, depending on how you cut them
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For the Fig Mostarda:
Makes about 1 ½ cups
Note: Fresh figs are a low-acid fruit, so recipes for shelf-stable canned fig jams and mostardas typically require a tested amount of bottled lemon juice or 5% acidity vinegar to ensure they are safe for water-bath canning. I have not tested the pH or otherwise verified the safety of the recipe below for canning, so I recommend treating it as a refrigerator preserve.
Another note: You will have mostarda left over after filling the cookies. Use the remaining on cheese plates or in sandwiches.
300 grams fresh figs, woody part of the stem removed
150 grams sugar
60 grams vinegar (I used a combo of red wine vinegar and sherry vinegar)
15 grams lemon juice
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt (I use Diamond Crystal)
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the figs with the sugar and blend into a purée. It does not need to be perfectly smooth - I like to see a few shreds of fig here and there.
Put the purée in a medium non-reactive pot and add the vinegar, lemon juice, mustard seeds, and salt, and stir to combine.
Place the pot over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the mostarda has thickened and reduced, about 13-14 minutes. The finished mostarda should be glossy and produce large, rippling bubbles across the surface of the preserve, and you should be able to draw a clear path in the bottom of the pot with a heat proof spatula.
Remove the mostarda from the heat and cool over an ice bath until cold. Scrape into a jar and refrigerate until ready to use. The finished mostarda will last for several weeks, refrigerated.
For the Cheddar Shortbread
Note: I used an 18 month aged white cheddar, parmesan, and a combination of the two in my recipe tests. In general, I think an aged, drier cheese will do better here.
Another note: I used one round cookie cutter (about 6 cm in diameter) for the bottom of the cookie and an array of smaller shapes to cut out the window in the top of the linzer. You can play around with pretty much any size or shape - just keep an eye on the baking time.
220 grams all purpose flour
80 grams sugar
20 grams rice flour
¼ teaspoon kosher salt (I use Diamond Crystal)
160 grams unsalted butter, cold, cut into ½ inch cubes
1 large egg yolk (about 18 grams)
100 grams aged cheddar, finely shredded (or a combo of cheddar and parm)
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the all purpose flour, sugar, rice flour, and salt. Pulse to combine. Add the cold butter and continue to pulse until the butter is very finely broken down and resembles coarse cornmeal. Add the egg yolk and the cheddar and process until a rough, sandy dough has just begun to form.
Tip the dough onto your counter and gently knead it until it just comes together.
Immediately place the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll into a thin, even sheet about ¾ centimeter high. Slide the parchment onto a sheet tray and place in the fridge. Chill until firm, about 1 hour.
When the dough is firm, cut out your cookies rounds. Using a second, smaller cookie cutter, cut a hole in the center of half the cookies. Gather up the scraps of dough and repeat the rolling, chilling, and cutting process once more. Keep unbaked cookies cold while you’re working.
When you are ready to bake your cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the cookies on two sheet trays. Bake for 14-16 minutes rotating once from top to bottom and front to back, or until the cookies are tinged golden brown at the base and edges and feel firm to the touch. Let cool completely.
When you are ready to fill the cookies, turn the “bottom” halves over so that their flatter side now faces up. Put a dollop of mostarda in the center and sandwich it with the “top” half of the shortbread. Continue until all the cookies are filled.
The shortbread are best the day they are assembled but can be stored at room temperature for up to 48 hours.
I always look forward to these newsletters & the recipes are certainly a bonus treat! Can't wait to try some of these--big cookie fan over here! :)