Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know, I know: how much more basic can you get? But these are my basic chocolate chip cookies. You will not find pecans here. However, you will find browned butter and smoked sea salt. So while these might be basic, they are certainly not boring.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
yield: about 16 rather large cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cornstarch

3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1 tbsp vanilla

2 cups chocolate chips
sea salt or smoked sea salt (optional, but recommended)

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cornstarch.

In a pan over medium heat, brown the butter. Here's a helpful how-to if browning butter is new for you. Pour the browned butter into the bowl of a stand mixer and let it cool for 15 minutes or more. Add the sugars and mix until a wet sandy mixture forms. Add in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla, beating for 30 seconds to a minute on medium speed until creamy and the mixture is lightener in color. With the mixer running on low speed, add the dry ingredients gradually until combined. The dough should be stiff. Finally, add in the chocolate chips. Scoop dough into about 16 balls and sprinkle with sea salt. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Drop chilled dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake cookies for 15-17 minutes until barely browned around the edges and still a little puffy in the center.

Alternatively, once the dough balls have chilled for an hour or so, wrap them in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze them. When ready to bake, place desired number of cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place sheet in the oven and set to 325 degrees F (don't preheat the oven - the gradual warming helps to thaw the dough). Bake for 21 - 24 minutes. Enjoy!

Macaron Flavors

As the holidays approach and I fill macaron orders for friends and family, my thoughts have turned towards flavoring macarons. Initially, I came across a few blog posts that focus on the filling. Flavoring the shell usually requires adding liquid, which can damage the meringue and/or effect the end result. I even started not using any flavoring at all until my shells turned out right.

But since I've gotten more comfortable with these confections, I've branched out into flavoring both the shell and the filling. These are basically just notes and ideas that I've tried.

Lavender Macarons with Vanilla Buttercream

Fresh and Dried Herbs

Herbs are a great way to flavor a macaron shell. You never end up adding a large quantity, so you get a lot of bang for your buck. Not adding much (and the fact that herbs are basically dry) also means not affecting the consistency of the batter. These are a great place to start experimenting with flavors.

Lavender Macaron with Vanilla Buttercream Filling 

• Add 1 1/2 tbsp dried lavender to 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Process in a food processor or use a mortar and pestle until the lavender is ground and the sugar is fine. Sift if larger bits remain before using in the recipe.
• Replace the 1/4 cup superfine sugar called for in the recipe with the flavored sugar
• Fill with your favorite vanilla buttercream:

Vanilla Buttercream

1/4 cup salted butter, softened

1 cup confectioner's sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 - 2 tbsp heavy cream

Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add in the confectioner's sugar to make a stiff frosting. Add in the vanilla and half the cream to loosen frosting. If needed, add more cream to attain desired consistency.

Citrus Zests

Much like herbs, zest of lemon, orange, and lime are an easy way to pack your macaron shells with a ton of flavor without changing them much. Mixing in the zest and the sugar can cause the meringue to deflate (as it just did for me when I tried to make lime macarons). Folding in some zest 1/2 - 1 tbsp after the meringue is complete but before the almond flour mixture is incorporated is the best way to add zest.

I'm still figuring out the best fillings for these, so I'll just provide some warnings based on my experiences: jams and curds, on their own, can soften the macarons because of their liquid content. Additionally, jams aren't usually tart enough to offset the sweet shell. I've tried a citrus buttercream, and it kind of worked, but I'm still figuring this out.

Spices

Spices can be added to the meringue along with the sugar with reckless abandon. 2 tsp of cinnamon or 1/2 tsp of nutmeg (or both) won't do anything to damage the meringue, but they will definitely add a lot of flavor.

Cinnamon Macarons with Browned Butter Buttercream

Cocoa and Coffee

For my first attempt with cocoa macarons I recall the Angel Food Cake rule I learned in high school home economics (believe it or not). To make a chocolate Angel Food Cake, you simply add 1/2 cup of cocoa but remove 1/2 cup of flour to compensate. I took the same tactic here and had some success:

In my macaron recipe, use a scant cup (just under a cup) of powdered sugar and and add in 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder (do this before blending the powdered sugar and almond flour together, obviously). Blend the cocoa, almond meal, and powdered sugar together and continue with the recipe as normal.

Coffee can be a bit trickier. There are coffee extracts out there and instant coffee, not to mention coffee liqueurs. Personally, I use instant espresso (1 1/2 tsp dissolved in 1 1/2 tsp vanilla) to make a strong coffee flavoring.

Naturally, coffee and cocoa do go well together, so I've used both of these techniques at once. I think the extra cocoa helps to cancel out any liquidity provided by the coffee.

Cocoa Macarons with Chocolate Buttercream  (though a chocolate ganache would have been better)