Adventures in cookie-baking

More baking! On Saturday night, a few of us baked low-fat oatmeal cookies from my friend's massive Good Housekeeping cookbook, and last night, I baked Italian almond cookies with three of my friends from Italian and Art History class. Both batches turned out great.

We altered the recipe of the oatmeal cookies a bit, since they were oatmeal raisin and we didn't have raisins. We also added cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg to the recipe. We threw in a bag of peanut M&Ms, but there were so few of them and so many cookies that half of the cookies were M&M-less. Here's the recipe, with alterations:

Low-Fat Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1/2 cup(s) (1 stick) light corn-oil spread (56 to 60 percent fat)
• 3/4 cup(s) packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup(s) sugar
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
• 2 cup(s) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup(s) quick-cooking oats
• 1 teaspoon(s) baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of nutmeg
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray 2 large cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat corn-oil spread, brown sugar, and sugar until combined. Increase speed to high; beat until light and fluffy.
3. Add egg whites, egg, and vanilla extract; beat until smooth.
4. With spoon, stir in flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt until combined.
5. Drop dough by level tablespoons, about 2 inches apart, on cookie sheets. Place cookie sheets on 2 oven racks. Bake cookies 10 to 12 minutes until golden, rotating cookie sheets between upper and lower racks halfway through baking time. With pancake turner, remove cookies to wire racks to cool.
6. Repeat until all batter is used. Store cookies in tightly covered containers.

Photos are from my camera phone, not the best quality, but they still make the cookies look yummy! We made several small cookies, plus one big cookie-cake for my friend's housemates.




Even better, though, were the cookies we baked last night. We had originally wanted to bake tarallucci, sort of Italian sugar cookies, from a recipe taken from a bag of tarallucci from an Italian imports store. Unfortunately, though, since the recipe was in Italian, it called for a specific type of flour (farina 00) made in Italy, but not common here. We didn't want to try the recipe with all-purpose flour since it called for 200g - about 5 1/2 cups of flour!

Instead, we looked up Italian cookie recipes, and found this one for almond cookies. These cookies are made with no flour - just almonds! They were soft when they came out of the oven, but soon turned crispy, and would be great with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee. We actually halved the recipe, since we didn't have enough almonds, so the cookies pictured were our whole batch. It was the perfect amount and they were delicious! Here's the recipe with its original proportions, before we halved it:


Italian Almond Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups blanched whole almonds (about 12 ounces), plus 15 for garnishing
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preparation

Arrange racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 350°F. Lightly oil 2 large baking sheets, then line with parchment paper.

In food processor, combine 2 1/4 cups almonds and 1/3 cup sugar. Process until finely ground, scraping down sides once or twice. Set aside.

In electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat egg whites and salt at high speed until soft peaks form. Reduce speed to medium and gradually sprinkle in remaining 1/3 cup sugar. Return speed to high and beat mixture until stiff, shiny peaks form. Gently fold in ground almond mixture and almond and vanilla extracts.

Roll mixture into 1-inch balls, place 2 inches apart on baking sheets, and flatten slightly. Top each with an almond. Bake until cookies are golden, switching positions of pans halfway through, about 25 minutes. Cool on sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Cookies keep, wrapped, several days, or frozen, several weeks. Recrisp in warm oven.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

And, to top it all off, this cookie recipe came with a written legend on epicurious.com!

Amaretti

According to legend, in the early 1700s, a Milanese bishop made a surprise visit to the town of Saronno in Lombardy. A young couple paid tribute to the bishop by welcoming him with their unique homemade cookies, made from crushed apricot kernels and almonds, egg whites, and sugar. The bishop so loved the cookies that he blessed the couple, and the recipe became a local favorite.

Today, bakeries throughout the region, and in Italian communities around the world, carry amaretti di Saronno, but it's worth the (small) effort to make them yourself. The recipe is simple, and fresh from the oven, they have a crisp-yet-tender texture that's beyond compare.