Anyone can go to a store and grab a gift card or click on some generic and soon-to-be-outdated piece of electronics online and call it a gift. But when you actually take the time and effort to make a gift — to craft it with your hands, to cook it in your oven — that is when your friends and relatives truly know their present was made with love.
A lot of people shy away from biscotti because the cookies can be so hard; every bite brings with it a subconscious fear of a broken tooth. But that is true only of Italian-style biscotti, which are (or were originally) meant to be dunked in coffee or wine. American-style biscotti, such as the ones I made, are lighter, crunchier and softer.
Yield: About 15 biscotti
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter
⅔ cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ teaspoons baking powder
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, beat the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla and baking powder until the mixture is smooth and creamy (this is easiest with a stand mixer or a hand-held mixer). Beat in the eggs; the batter may look slightly curdled. Lower the mixer speed, add the flour and mix until it comes together in one ball.
3. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet, shaping it into a rough log about 14 inches long (it will be easier to use your wetted fingertips and a dough scraper). It will be about 2½ inches wide and about ¾ inch thick.
4. Bake the dough for 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven and let cool on the pan anywhere from 5 to 25 minutes; just work it into the schedule of whatever else you’re doing in the kitchen. Five minutes before cutting, use a spray bottle filled with room-temperature water to lightly but thoroughly spritz the log, making sure to cover the sides as well as the top. Softening the crust just this little bit will make slicing the biscotti much easier.
5. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Wait another 5 minutes, then cut the biscotti on a diagonal into ½- to ¾-inch slices. When you’re slicing, be sure to hold the knife straight up and down; if you cut at an angle, the biscotti may topple over during their second bake.
6. Bake 25 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer to a rack to cool. Store in an airtight container. If they aren’t as crunchy as you’d like, and if the weather is dry, store them uncovered overnight, to continue drying. Biscotti can be stored at room temperature for 1 week or may be wrapped airtight and frozen.
These squares have three layers: The bottom layer is a crust of flour, butter and peanut butter, sweetened with sugar and flavored with vanilla. On top of that is a filling, which is basically chocolate and butter held together with flour, corn syrup and sugar. And on the top is a frosting made entirely of butterscotch chips (or white chocolate chips) melted together with peanut butter. If you have any friends who complain that desserts are not sweet enough these days, this is the gift to make for them.
Yield: 24 squares
For the crust:
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
⅓ cup peanut butter, smooth or chunky
¾ cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
For the filling:
4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup light corn syrup
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
½ cup (3 ounces) chocolate chips, peanut butter chips or peanut butter pieces, optional
For the frosting:
¾ cup butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, white confectionery coating disks or a combination
¼ cup smooth peanut butter
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-by-13-inch, 11-by-11-inch or similar-sized pan.
2. To make the crust: In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat the butter and peanut butter until soft and well-blended (this is easiest with a stand mixer or a hand-held mixer). Stir in the sugar, salt and vanilla. Mix in the flour; the mixture will feel dry and will be crumbly. Press the dough into the prepared pan. This is best accomplished by covering the crumbs with a piece of plastic wrap and using a small pastry rolling pin (or a can on its side) to roll out the crust evenly. Bake the crust for 8 to 10 minutes, until it has lightly browned around the edges. Remove the pan from the oven.
3. To make the filling: In a medium-sized saucepan set over low heat (or in a microwave-safe bowl), melt and stir together the chocolate, butter, salt and corn syrup. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sugar and flour. Add the eggs, beating until well-blended, then mix in the chips. Spread the filling evenly onto the crust.
4. Bake the squares for 22 to 24 minutes. The top should be shiny and look set. For the best chewy texture, don’t overbake; a tester inserted into the center won’t come out clean but will have sticky crumbs clinging to it. Remove the squares from the oven and cool to lukewarm while you make the frosting.
5. To make the frosting: In a medium-sized saucepan set over low heat (or in a microwave-safe bowl), melt the chips, stirring often. Add the peanut butter and stir until smooth. Spread the frosting over the warm bars. Cool completely before cutting, using a knife sprayed with nonstick vegetable oil spray, or warmed in hot water, wiping it often. These squares are sinfully rich, so cut the 2-inch squares in half, if desired.
it manages to be sweet, hot, spicy and savory all at the same time. They take a bit of effort, but they are not at all difficult to make. You just blanch walnuts in boiling water for a minute, drain them, and while they are still hot toss them with sugar and corn oil. Then you bake them for a half hour or so, stirring occasionally so they do not burn, and then mix them with an irresistible combination of spices and cayenne pepper (you can use as much or as little of the pepper as you want). The only problem is you will want to eat so many of them yourself.
Yield: 15 servings
1 pound walnut halves
½ cup granulated sugar
2½ tablespoons corn oil
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, see note 1
1¼ teaspoons ground cumin
¼ teaspoon coriander
½ teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon chili powder Note: These nuts are quite spicy. If you like your food with less of a kick, use less cayenne.
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Blanch the walnuts in a large pot of boiling water for 1 minute and drain well. While still hot, put nuts in a bowl and toss with the sugar and corn oil. Let stand 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the salt, pepper, cayenne, cumin, coriander, ginger, cloves and chili powder, and set aside.
3. Arrange the nuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking tray. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, turning every 5 to 10 minutes. When nuts are brown and crispy, put them into a bowl. While they are still warm, add the seasonings and toss well. Spread the nuts in a single layer to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
As the name implies, they are fudgier and chewier than cake brownies and, to my taste buds, infinitely better. These brownies have just enough flour to hold everything together — the butter, the eggs, the sugar, the nuts and the three kinds of chocolate. And to make them even more memorable, I added another layer of chocolate on top in the form of a ganache frosting.
Yield: 16 servings
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (up to 64 percent cacao), finely chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
½ cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
½ cup chocolate chips or chunks, optional
½ cup chopped nuts, toasted and cooled completely
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and position an oven rack in the center. Line an 8-inch-square cake pan with foil or parchment paper across the bottom and up two of the sides, then lightly coat with unflavored oil or canola-oil spray.
2. If you have a microwave, place the butter, 6 ounces of the semisweet or bittersweet chocolate and the unsweetened chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 1 minute. Stir. If not completely melted, heat 30 more seconds and stir again. If not completely melted, heat 15 more seconds and stir again. Continue until the ingredients are melted and thoroughly mixed together. If you don’t have a microwave, bring 2 inches of water to a boil in the bottom of a double boiler. Place the butter, 6 ounces of the semisweet or bittersweet chocolate and unsweetened chocolate in the top of a double boiler and turn off the heat. Stir occasionally with a spatula until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
3. Remove the chocolate mixture from the heat and whisk in the sugar. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, stirring well to incorporate each before adding the next. Stir in the vanilla extract. Whisk in the flour and salt. Continue to stir until the mixture changes from dull and broken-looking to smooth and shiny, about 1 minute. Whisk in the chocolate chips and chopped nuts, if using.
4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it (do not overbake). Transfer to a rack and cool completely.
5. If desired, frost the brownies with chocolate ganache, a recipe for which runs below. Lift the brownies out of the pan by gently pulling up on the overhanging parchment or foil (you may have to loosen the brownies from the pan by running a thin knife or flexible spatula around the edges). Set the brownies on a cutting surface and use a chef’s knife to cut into 16 equal pieces.
A ganache is ridiculously easy to make — chop up good-quality chocolate, pour in very hot milk and stir — but it makes everything better.
Yield: 1 cup
4 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (up to 60 percent cacao), finely chopped
½ cup heavy whipping cream
1. Place the chocolate in a small bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until it begins to boil. Immediately pour the cream over the chocolate. Let the mixture sit for 1 minute, then gently whisk until the ganache is completely smooth.
2. To use as frosting for brownies, let the ganache cool for 1 hour, then cover with plastic wrap and set aside to finish cooling at room temperature until it has the consistency of frosting, 4 to 6 hours.