Because Some Days You Just Need A Lot of Chocolate

Today is one of those days. A bit of a chocolate pick-me-up (no, I'm not making tiramisu, but that would be really good as well) is required to get on with the day. A cookie, not just any sort of chocolate cookie but a super chocolate cookie, an able-to-leap-tall-glasses-of-milk-in-a-single-bound kind of cookie,. Today calls for....

Double Chocolate Espresso Cookies (the name is a bit lacking, I know, maybe I'll come up with something more brilliant after I've eaten a few of these) Inspired by a rather blah day:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup dutch process cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp coarse sea salt (you can use 1 tsp regular salt, but I was looking for a bit o' salty crunch to these)
16 ounces semi sweet chocolate, chopped, melted and set aside to cool a bit
4 large eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste)
2 Tbsp instant espresso powder (more if you like, sadly I can only do caffeine in very small doses or get sick)
6 ounces (12 Tbsp or 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I used dark because that's what I usually have on hand)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup chocolate chips (optional, if you really really want a good chocolate kick in the tookus. This will make these triple chocolate boring name cookies)
1 cup chopped nuts (again, optional)
_________________________
-Preheat oven to 350f. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment.
-Whisk together the flour, cocoa, and baking powder, set aside.
-Cream the butter for about 1 minute, add the sugars and mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well to incorporate after each addition. Mix in the vanilla and espresso powder.
-Add the chocolate in a stream and mix well.
-Mix in the flour mixture and combine until the flour just disappears. Fold in the sea salt, chocolate chips and nuts.
-Allow the batter to sit for about 20 minutes or so (this allows it to set up a bit and makes for easier scooping).
-Scoop out the batter with a tablespoon or a small cookie scoop leaving 1 inch between each cookie. Bake for about 10 minutes, let cool on the sheet pan for 10 minutes, and then remove from the tray and finish cooling on a rack (you can also slide the parchment off of the sheet pan onto a cooling rack so you can scoop more cookies). The resulting cookie is cracked and chewy on the outside, soft, chocolatey and salty on the inside. This ended up making a lot of cookies, which you can store in the freezer in an airtight container.

Get yourself a big tall glass of milk and get to dunking! Oh yeah, and I'm renaming them Salty Triple Chocolate Kick in the Arse Cookies!
Happy Baking!

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9 1/2 hours to go...or something like that!

My cookies are in the oven, I have food on it's way. Coffee will be arriving with the food. I think I'll be set for a bit then. yay! My G rocks! Anyway, here are the cookies so far. I must say it's not my best neatest cookie rolling and cutting job, but I'll just call them "rustic" to get around that!






Just had a new sponsor! Thank you so much!!

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The Dough is in the Freezer

And I haven't had any new sponsors for ages. I am very happy with what I've raised so far though, so I won't complain! I will beg and plead without shame some more at the bottom of this post!

I've made the shortbread dough, as you can see from these photos:






The dough was a bit too soft to roll out (my butter was very very soft) so I've popped it into the freezer for a quick chill. Hope to have them baking in the next hour!

I'm not sure what number post this is....Hmmmmm. I'll have a count at 8:00 Pacific time.

Check out First Book, I am blogging to raise money for them today. Feel free to sponsor me. 49 posts in 24 hours, and I'm just a little bit more than halfway there! I'll be here until 6am Pacific time, so do feel free to drop in and leave a comment or two, it really helps boost my spirits!

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Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Since I'm making that mint chocolate chip ice cream I figured I should make something nice to go with it. I might as well treat myself to a nice treat around 2am when I'm starting to feel a bit sluggish, right? So I've found a recipe here. It seems very straightforward and has very few ingredients so I figure it's will be a snap to throw together in a half hour or so! I'll be starting these cookies for the next post! Tune in :D.

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Makin' Whoopie...

No, I haven't been watching reruns of "The Newlywed Game" (hopefully I haven't given any of you strange flashbacks to the show...we used to watch it when I was a young baker), I'm talking about Whoopie Pies. I have seen Whoopie Pies before and I always wanted to try them out. So, imagine how happy I was to find a recipe for them in Chocolate American Style by Lora Brody (a book I am just now beginning to appreciate). These little cakes look very promising with their deep dark chocolate rounds filled with billowy marshmallowy filling. These are just wonderful when you are having an attack of the sweet tooth. Easy to make and very very satisfying. The name is fun to say to boot, so really, you can't go wrong! These could also be perfect for a picnic as they last a while, are individually wrapped and are crowd pleasers.

Whoopie Pies (adapted from Chocolate American Style by Lora Brody) Makes 9 large pies, 18 smaller ones:

For the cakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour (5 ounces..I used the weight measurement instead of volume for this one)
3/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup whole milk (I used buttermilk instead of the whole milk and lemon juice cause I love the moisture buttermilk brings to the party)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla extract (or a little more if you like, I used 3 tsp or 1Tbsp of it)
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
__________________________
-Heat oven to 350f. Prepare two sheet pans by lining them with parchment paper.
-Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda into a medium bowl, set aside.
-Mix the milk, lemon juice and vanilla together and set aside (the mixture will thicken and curdle while it sits).
-Cream together the brown sugar, butter and egg until light and fluffy. Turn the mixer down to low and begin to add the flour and milk mixtures alternately. Starting with 1/3 of the flour adding 1/2 of the milk, 1/3 of the flour, the rest of the milk and then the rest of the flour mixture. Mix until just blended.
-Measure the batter out with a 1/4 cup (if you want 9 large pies) or about 2 tbsp each for smaller pies. Drop this batter onto the prepared sheet pans leaving about 2 inches between the cakes. Tap the sheets gently on a counter before baking to remove a bit of the air.
-Bake the cakes for 12-15 minutes (shorter time is needed for the smaller cakes, I'd say 8 to 12 minutes) until they are firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and cool on the sheet pans.

Filling:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 cups marshmallow cream or fluff ( I tried this with marshmallow cream, but it did not work out for me. I ordered the fluff and it really did make a difference....maybe it was just to warm here that one day for cream..)
2 tsp vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste if you have it on hand to add little beautiful vanilla specs to the filling)
___________________________________________
-Place everything but the vanilla in a mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat everything until it is blended, then stir in the vanilla.
-Spread half the little cakes with this mixture, then top with the other half of the cakes.
The Whoopie Pies may be wrapped individually in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to a week. I love to make these for road trips or picnics, they would be perfect for the Fourth of July. Next time anyone asks you where the best place to make whoopie is, you can smile and reply "in the kitchen, of course!".

Whooooooopie!
Happy Baking.


This post can also be seen at Just Baking.

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Macarons, Take Two (Oops, I did it again!)

Yes, yes...this is pretty much gratuitous back-patting. But really, I didn't think I would be able to do these twice (well, twice successfully, let's just not mention the first four failed attempts, shall we?) Anyway, I just wanted to put up some photos of the macarons, since I love taking photos so much. I did change the recipe from my first post in that I switched ground pistachios for the ground almonds (our apartment smelled like roasting pistachios, oh so nice) and filled them with:

1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
1 stick butter (room temperature)
2-3 cups powdered sugar (use as much as you need to get a nice piping consistency)
1 tsp kosher salt
____________________________
-Cream the butter until smooth, add the powdered sugar and begin mixing while adding the raspberry jam and the salt. Mix until smooth and pipeable.
-Pipe between two macarons and enjoy!

I do think I would have liked these even better with a more straightforward raspberry filling. I tried straight jam, but it was too thin. Definitely something I would like to explore further.

I might make more macarons in a week or so. I didn't realize how easy it was to get hooked on them. And they are just so pretty I have to post lots of photos!
Happy Baking!

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If Everyone Else was Jumping Off of a Cliff, Would You? (or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Macaron)

Well, the answer to that is a resounding "no". I'm not usually one to jump on bandwagons or follow fads. I enjoy watching these from the sidelines and figuring that the fad will pass and everything will return to normal (well, not really normal, because, what is normal anyway?).
I will say though that in the past few months I've noticed an awful lot of people blogging about macarons and even more people posting photos of them on flickr. I am intrigued. With a little prompting from another Jen on flickr (who has told me it is the macarons over at Mad Baker that have piqued her curiosity...and I agree that Mad Baker's macarons are a sight to behold), I am, in fact, interested enough to try them out myself. Strangely enough, with all the years of my life spent baking, I have never made this particular cookie. I think I know why....they are not as easy as they look. So far I have tried three times with one recipe from a book of mine, and had no success. The first macarons turned out too puffy, no frilly feet. The second two batches turned out flat as pancakes, cracked all over and no feet. I tried changing a few things with each failed batch to no avail. I decided to change my tactics and try out a different recipe entirely. I did some research online and found a recipe that uses an Italian meringue (which is a cooked sugar poured into whipping egg whites) which promised better results. The recipe that works best for me was found at Tartelette a beautiful blog that I think everyone should check out, and check out often. The first batch of these (fourth batch total, for those of you keeping count) showed much more promise, there were little "feet" showing and the tops were smooth with no cracks. I decided to give it one more try, and finally, at last I had macarons that I could feel proud of. Here is the recipe (I did change the amount of espresso powder in these. But, you can change the flavorings however you like and add different colors, etc.....which I will be doing in a follow up post)

Espresso Macarons


120 gr. egg whites, divided (this ends up being 4 egg whites total)
35 gr. sugar
150 gr. almond meal
150 gr. powdered sugar
2 tsp. espresso powder (I used 3 Tbsp, and without the espresso powder this is a great base recipe for any flavors you wish to incorporate)
For the syrup:
150 gr. sugar and 50 gr. water
__________________________________
-Prepare 3 sheet pans by lining them with parchment paper.
Have a piping bag with a 1/2" round tip ready to go (I had to make parchment paper cones, as my piping bag still hasn't been located after our move a year ago. Doing this 5 times now has convinced me I really need to invest in a nice sturdy Ateco bag, although
I have gotten really really really good at making parchment cones).
-Sift together the almond meal, powdered sugar and espresso powder. Mix together with 60 grams of egg whites (2 egg whites) until well blended and set aside.
-In a stand mixer, whip the remaining 60 grams of egg whites with the 35 grams of sugar to medium-soft peaks, turn the mixer to low speed to keep the whites moving while you prepare your sugar syrup.
-In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, bring the 150 grams of sugar and 50 grams of water to about 230f.
-Turn your mixer back up to medium speed and slowly pour in the hot syrup (carefully) not worrying about any that sticks to the sides of the bowl. Whip the egg white and syrup mixture until the whites are cooled and you have a very pretty shiny meringue.
-Gently fold the meringue into the almond mixture.
-Pipe the mixture into 1" circles onto the prepared sheet pans leaving at least 1" of space between each (I leave a bit more, but I'm sometimes overly cautious). Let the pans sit out for about half hour to an hour to allow a "skin" to form on top (basically when you touch your finger to the surface, no batter will come off).
-Preheat oven to 300f (I found 320f to be too hot for mine, they exploded at this temperature...but then my oven runs hot). Bake the meringues, one sheet at a time (double sheet panned for insulation on the bottom) for about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool before filling.

Ganache filling:
6 1/2 ounces good quality semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (I used Trader Joe's 73% cause I like it), chopped into about 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp corn syrup
1 Tbsp butter
_________________________
-Heat cream, corn syrup and butter in a saucepan until it boils. Pour over the chocolate, making sure the chocolate is covered in the cream mixture. Let sit about 5 minutes and then whisk until the mixture is smooth and a pudding-like consistency.
-Pipe on bottoms of macarons, and top with another macaron.
-Let cookies sit until chocolate filling has set up.
Yum.

Having to try making these 5 times just goes to show that not every recipe works well for everybody. I am very pleased with the final results, even if the score is not even yet.....Cookies: 4, BarmyJen: 1. I plan on evening out that score in the next week or so. I hope to make one more flavor with these in the next few days. In the meantime, don't get frustrated with yourself, keep trying and changing things until you find what works out for you! I believe the Italian meringue method works best because it's simply a much more stable meringue.

Happy Baking!

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Applesauce Spice Bars

I was perusing my fairly new Dorie Greenspan book Baking: From My Home to Yours when I came across this recipe. I saw the photo and just stopped. These looked so gorgeous and yummy and memory evoking, that I just had to try them out. I also had all the ingredients on hand (except for the rum, but my raisins are soaked in rum, so that works for me) and the directions looked so easy. Both the bar cookie and the topping are made in a saucepan, which means less mess to clean up, which means I can go back outside and enjoy the sun for a bit longer. This all adds up to a must make for me.

Applesauce Spice Bars:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon (I added a little extra, cause I'm like that, and I have no allspice)
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter (4 ounces, 8 Tbsp)
1 cup packed brown sugar (Dorie's recipe calls for light brown sugar, but I only had dark and I do like the extra little bit of flavor)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract (or a bit extra)
1 Tbsp applejack, brandy or dark rum (optional, as I said, my raisins are soaked in rum, so I'll be using them)
1 baking apple (suggested are: Rome or Cortland. I only had Granny Smith's, so that's what I used), peeled, cored and finely diced
1/2 cup plump moist raisins
1/2 cup pecans
___________________________
-Preheat oven to 350f. Butter a 9x13" baking pan, and line the bottom with parchment, butter the paper and dust the inside with flour. Place the pan on a baking sheet.
-Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt.
-In a heavy bottomed saucepan melt the butter over low heat. Add the brown sugar and stir with a whisk until it is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the pan from the heat.
-Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, until they are well blended. Add the applesauce, vanilla and booze, whisk until smooth. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir in the the dry ingredients, mixing only until they have just disappeared. Fold in the apple, raisins and nuts.
Scrape into the prepared pan and smooth.
-Bake for 20-25 mintues, or until the bars just start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Place on a cooling rack, and make the glaze (mmmmmmmmmmmm, smells so good!)

The Glaze: (I did make a double batch of this due to saucepan size, and recommend a double batch if you like caramelly goodness)

2 1/2 Tbsp heavy cream
1/3 cup packed brown sugar (again the recipe calls for light)
2 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp corn syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla
________________________________
-In a small saucepan, whisk together everything but the vanilla (I unfortunately only have one saucepan, so I had to use my large one, I just kept an eye on things in case it needed less simmer time). Place the pan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil whisking frequently. Adjust the heat so that the glaze simmers and cook, whisking frequently for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
-Turn the cooled bars out onto a rack, then invert the bars so they are upright on another rack. Place the sheetpan under the rack to serve as a drip catcher. Pour the hot glaze over the bars and spread out with a metal spatula evenly over the bars. Allow to cool to room temperature before you cut them. These are very light and very good. Not nearly as rich as the caramel apple cupcakes I made last fall. I do have a sneaking suspicion that these would have been even better if I had allspice (note to self, buy allspice).

Now, currently here in the lower Bay area it's quite nice out, and these bars are wonderful with a nice glass of iced tea. However, I feel these would be equally splendid with a nice hot cuppa.

Happy Baking!

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Got Moooo-Juice? Make These!

Yum. BarmyMom has dubbed these "killer brownies". Now, I'm not one for violence, but I suppose I could see a person in a fit of chocomania considering killing for these brownies. I just call them my gooey brownies. These are very moist and very dense and not cake-like at all. The low flour content and high chocolate and butter content makes for a lovely melt-in-the-mouth brownie, the density of them almost like a fudge. This is a very serious brownie, definitely a brownie that calls for a tall cool glass of moooo-juice or a big mug of steaming hot coffee. Versatility lies in the extras that you add. I like to add mini chocolate chips and pecans. I have also added peanut butter chips or white chocolate chips for a bit of variation. Macadamia nuts in this brownie? Can you say YUM!? Anyway you change it up, the brownie is a favorite among kids and adults. The other big plus with these brownies is how easy they are to make. One pot is all you need to mix them up, and one pan is all you need to bake them. I'm just about drooling as these bake.

Killer Brownies: (makes one 9x13" pan, one serving or as many as you like...)

4 ounces (squares) unsweetened baking chocolate
1 ounce (square) semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste (well, really, I think you could go with 2 tsp of vanilla, and yes, you can use extract instead of paste, but as I've said, ad nauseum, I'm a vanilla freak and will add extra vanilla wherever I believe it will enhance a recipe)
1 tsp. salt
2 cups (here is where you can go nuts with variations) mini semi sweet chocolate chips, or half nuts, half chips, or add 2 cups of chips and 1 cup of nuts, or macadamias, or pecans, or whatever you fancy that you think will be nummy in brownies, experiment! Go for it! I am using pecans and chocolate chips for these today. Mmmmmmm.
_______________________________________________
-Preheat oven to 350f, grease a 9x13" pan with pan spray.
-Melt the butter, unsweetened chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate squares together.
-Stir sugar into the melted butter/chocolate mixture, let cool for about 10 minutes.
-Stir in the eggs, one at a time, mixing until well blended after each addition, add the vanilla.

-Mix in the flour and salt until just blended, and then stir in the chocolate chips, or nuts, or blend of both or whatever you are going to stir in. Pour the mixture into the prepared 9x13" pan.
-Bake the brownies for 20 to 30 minutes. You don't want to overbake these. I bake them until the top has formed a crust, and until they spring back a bit (they will not spring back like cake will) when gently pressed in the center of the pan (they will still be a bit moist).
-Allow to cool to room temperature, brew a cup of coffee and enjoy! Or, if you have ice cream on hand, serve them warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. Oh, what I wouldn't give for a pint of vanilla ice cream right now!

Happy Baking! And thank you to those of you who wished me a quick recovery this past week when I was down with the flu.

*sidenote* There may be a few less posts here during the next three months or so, as continued wedding planning is keeping me busier than I had previously thought it would.*

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Going Boldly Where no Barmy Baker has Gone Before: Checkerboard Cookies (the last of the holiday cookies? Maybe, Maybe not..)

Well, I've done tons of favorite cookies for the Holidays these past few weeks, and I've decided to try out a cookie I've never made before. Sure I've seen it made by classmates when I was in the Baking and Pastry program I attended..well, one classmate, and the cookies were beautiful. I wanted to recreate this beautiful cookie to give out with all the other cookies I've been working on this season. I only hope they taste as good as they look.
I know many people ask why I take the time to make so many varieties of cookies this time of year. "What is the draw? What possesses you to do this? Why would you spend so much time on baked product?". There are many answers. The first being that I love to spread the joy that I feel when I make each cookie and when each turns out beautifully (and I have been blessed with every cookie turning out incredibly this year). Another reason is that I do just love to give, and this is a great excuse to do so. At this time in baking (about a day away from mailing everything) I feel fairly secure in the cookies I have already baked, and know that I have one day left to experiment. So, I am going to try out checkerboard cookies. I have meant to try them out before, but never got around to it (I figure my still being unemployed...sigh...this time of year has given me a bit of time to try them). So, without further yapping and hoo-ha..I bring you:

Checkerboard Cookies (this recipe is from Cookies Unlimited by Nick Malgieri).

First you will need to make two cookie doughs. They are:

French Vanilla Sables: (If you want to avoid washing your mixing bowl twice, then do what I did and mix up these cookies first, then mix up the chocolate ones in the same bowl after you have scraped out the vanilla dough. It won't harm the chocolate cookies, and it helps out with dishes)

12 Tbsps (or 1 1/2 sticks or 6 ounces) unsalted butter, room temp
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
__________________________________

-Cream together the butter and sugar on medium speed for about 4-5 minutes or until the mixture is light in color and fluffy. Add the vanilla and egg yolk, continue beating until smooth , about 2 minutes.
-Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beater and add the flour, mix until combined.
-Press the dough into a 1 inch thick square and chill, wrapped, for 3 hours or several days.

Dark Chocolate Sables:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup alkalized (dutch process) cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 stick (8 Tbsps or 4 ounces) unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
__________________________________
-Combine in a bowl: flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt, stir well to mix, set aside.
-Cream together the sugar and butter for about 4-5 minutes on medium until it is light and fluffly. Then beat in the egg and vanilla for about 2 minutes, until the mixture is smooth.
-Scrape down the bowl and beaters and add the flour mixture. Mix until combined.
-Press the dough into a 1 inch thick square, wrap and chill for a few hours or a few days.

Now that you have your dough made, the fun begins (well, some might call it fun, I might call it tedious...but when I say tedious I mean more time consuming and putzy, not difficult). At this point with the cookies, you will wish you had a dough sheeter, if a dough sheeter wasn't the size of a smart car, or a horse, then it would be on my wish list for Christmas...as it is, we have no room here for a horse, or a dough sheeter. But I digress...

Tedious Checkerboard Cookie directions:

You will need both of the doughs from above, and one egg white to bind the dough together (beaten).

-Remove the vanilla dough from the refrigerator.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into an 8x12 inch rectangle about 3/8 inch thick. Slide the cookie dough onto a cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap and chill until firm again, about 30 minutes. Repeat this step with the chocolate dough.
-Remove the vanilla dough from the fridge again and coat it lightly with the egg white. Slide the chocolate dough on top of the vanilla, place a sheet pan over the top of this and press lightly to adhere the dough together.
-Immediately cut the layered dough in half, making two 8x6 inch rectangles. Paint the top of one rectangle with egg white and place the second one over it so you have 4 layers of alternating chocolate and vanilla dough. Gently press the top of this with a pan, and then chill for several hours before continuing.
-Remove the dough from the fridge and place it on a cutting board. Using a long sharp knife cut the dough along the 6 inch side into 16 - 3/8 inch thick slices.

-Place one piece of the dough, alternating stripes facing upward, on a work surface. Paint the top of it lightly with egg white.
Place another piece of dough on top of this so that vanilla stripes are covering chocolate stripes and vice-a-versa, repeat this, making sure you are alternating colors, until you have a stack of four slices. Repeat with the remaining slices of dough, and you will have four stacks of alternating nummy dough.
-Gently press the sides of the stacks so they are squared off on the sides and wrap and chill these for several hours, they may also be frozen at this point.
-When you are ready to bake these, preheat oven to 350 degrees, slice the cookies 1/4 inch thick and lay them out on sheet pans lined with parchement paper or foil. Bake for about 8 to 12 minutes, or until they become dull in appearance and feel firm to the touch.
-Cool on a rack.
-Put your feet up, proudly gaze at your beautiful little checkered cookies, have an Irish coffee and relax. It is well deserved.

Whew!
As this is a new recipe for me, I just thought I would share what I noticed: The chocolate dough is a bit stiffer than the vanilla, but a bit easier to work with (not that either dough is very difficult to handle). There seems to be just a smidge more of the chocolate dough than the vanilla, so 3/8 of an inch thick was doable with the chocolate dough, the vanilla I rolled out to a bit over 1/4 inch, this didn't really effect the cookies too much. I also noticed that I had just slightly less than a 12x8 inch rectangle to begin with, but I think I was being more cautious with the rolling. If I make these again, and I believe I will, I think I will make another batch of the chocolate dough so I can wrap a border of it around the cookies. And I must take back what I said about this being tedious. It really wasn't that bad. Time consuming? Yes, if you are planning on starting and completing the cookies on the same day, but you can do them in stages with chilling a day or so between. Are they worth the time? Yes, I believe they are. They are a light cookie with nice flavor and are not as sweet as some festive cookies. What I really am saying is that these are more about looks than substance...maybe more vanilla or using some extract would help. Maybe orange extract in the chocolate dough? Maybe peppermint extract in the vanilla..but still..these are impressive in look if nothing else. Of course, sometimes it is just nice to have a pretty yet mellow cookie to offer amongst all the other very flavorful cookies, it makes for good contrast.

Happy Baking! Happy Holidays!

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