Lemon sweetie pies, or an exercise in turning a kitchen disaster into pop art

I know, I know. I am totally off schedule. Right now I should be posting healthy, fresh recipes for getting back into shape for the new year. Instead I am writing about this delicious, lemony cookie. But I made a promise to my friend Clythie (who recently started her own blog about running and cooking called Run Cook Eat Repeat), and dammit I will keep my promises, even though it may take a while.

I made a batch of these cookies for a cookie exchange a few weeks ago. When I had finished the lemon curd to fill in the center of the cookies, I was so enamored of the glorious yellow and the sweet, tart, and fresh scent of lemon, I decided I had to get a picture of the stuff to spiff up a blog post and to brag on. Of course, this happened:

Argh! Catastrophe!

But then I had to admire the rather pleasing effect of the splatter pattern. And that lemon, placed just so! (It really landed just like that.) When I posted the photo on Facebook, a friend commented that the white sock disturbed the composition, and I agreed. For better effect next time, I need to coordinate my clothes to amp up the contrast (perhaps a blue sock?). Anyway, I had to laugh because the vanity of trying to get a good picture of this glorious lemon curd ended up in a big mess.

About 24 hours later, I had more lemons, made another batch of curd, and baked the cookies. And I finally got a good picture of the curd, which is like sunshine in a bowl, perfect to light up deepest, darkest winter. And the cookie tastes that way: the sweet, sour, fresh bite of curd paired with sweet, crispy cookie.

 
The recipe for these cookies comes from The All-American Cookie Book by Nancy Baggett. I gave the book to my husband for Christmas in 2001 (I wrote an inscription on the inside cover). I've made a lot of the cookies in this book, but this one may be my favorite.

Ingredients

For the curd:

• 2 large whole eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• finely grated zest of 2 large lemons
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup (2 oz) unsalted butter, cut into chunks

For the cookie dough:

• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1 large egg
• 2 1/2 tsps vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsps fresh lemon juice

 

Instructions

For the curd: In a heavy, nonreactive (non-aluminum, typically) pot, combine the curd ingredients. Whisk continuously while bringing the curd to a boil. Let it boil for a minute (keep whisking). Then remove the pot from the heat and keep whisking for another 30 seconds. Strain the curd (you may need to help it along through the strainer with the back of a wooden spoon) and let it cool completely. The curd can be made up to 4 days ahead of time.

For the cookies:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Prepare baking sheets (grease or cover with parchment paper or silpats).
• Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Make sure everything is evenly mixed together. 
• In a stand mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, and lemon zest until it's very light and fluffy.  
• Add the egg, 1 tablespoon water, vanilla, and lemon juice to the sugar-butter mixture. Keep beating until these are thoroughly mixed in. 
• Reduce the speed to slow and mix in about half the flour mixture. Then slowly add the rest of the flour mixture until evenly incorporated. 
• Shape the dough into a little ball (about 1 1/4 in) by rolling a piece of it in the palms of your hands. (Using a small scoop would be useful here to keep the balls evenly sized and the right size; I always make these too big!)
• Place the ball of cookie dough on the cookie sheet. With your thumb, press into the center of the ball until a well is formed and the dough sort of flattens out into a cookie-like shape. Don't push all the way through the dough.
• Place about 3/4 tsp of the lemon curd in the well.
• Repeat until you have used all the dough. (You may have some curd left over. Like I said, I always make these too big, so I end up with a lot of leftover curd. But you could put that on toast, or cake, or something. Or eat it with a spoon. Whatever makes you happy.)
• Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 10-13 minutes. Turn the baking sheet about halfway through the baking time so that the cookies bake evenly. Let them cool on wire racks. 
• Nancy Baggett warns that these cookies should be eaten fairly quickly because they grow softer after a few days. So far that hasn't been too much of a problem.    

Apple gingersnap cookies: Welcome to the #SundaySupper Autumn Apple Party

Fall. My favorite time of year. Rustling leaves. Rich colors. Sunlight that breaks in at an angle. Time to turn slowly inward, to the home, to the hearth, to reading books and poetry.

And of course fall serves up some of my favorite foods: rich stews, soups, roasts, made from and with squashes, pumpkins, root vegetables, brussels sprouts, and of course apples.

Summer apples start to appear in farmers markets in mid-summer, but they don't really start to show in large quantities in the markets with their great variety until mid to late August and then there's a flood of them and apple cider for weeks. So many different varieties, names, colors, textures. So much fun to try different varieties and find new favorites.

Apples are not native to the Americas--they originated around the area of Iran--but they have taken hold well here both agriculturally and culturally. One interesting fact about apples is that they are not true breeding. In other words, you could plant the seeds of an apple you love, and not one of the trees that came from that apple would produce apples like it. Most of the apples produced would, in fact, probably be inedible.

Sadly the vast variety of apples that used to exist is declining, in part because there are very few commercially grown varieties of apples. I hate to see the many varieties of apples and their wonderful names disappearing. So I say, get thee to a farmers market and try some new varieties of apples. Or find a farm where you can spend a day picking apples. Then come home and read Robert Frost's poem, "After Apple Picking" and enjoy the satisfaction of a day in the orchard.

This week's Sunday Supper is all about apples. I wanted to try making a cookie that I imagined a few months ago at the height of summer when I absolutely did not wish to bake: Apple gingersnap cookies. Apple and ginger are fantastic flavors together, and this cookie is no exception.

The cookie dough is easy to make, but you need to plan ahead. The dough should chill for at least 12 hours to let the flavors meld. I used boiled apple cider syrup in this recipe, which I discovered last fall, but you can use maple syrup, molasses, or even honey if you prefer, although doing so will change the flavor and the texture of the cookie a bit. For this cookie, I give the ingredients in milliliters and grams because I started with a gingersnap cookie from my favorite Swedish cookbook, Bonniers Stora Kokbok, and modified the recipe from there. Just about every measuring cup will give you the option of using milliliters, just be aware of the difference.

Ingredients    

• 100 ml water
• 400 ml sugar
• 300 grams unsalted butter
• 100 ml apple cider syrup
• 1 Tbsp ground cloves
• 1 Tbsp ground dried ginger
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 250 ml coarsely grated apple (from about 1 peeled, cored apple)
• 1,200 ml flour (plus more for flouring the board)
• 2 tsps baking soda

Directions

1. Mix half of the flour (600 ml) with the baking soda and set aside.
2. Heat water, sugar, butter, apple cider syrup, and spices in a pan on medium heat on the stove until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Then add the grated apples.
3. In a large bowl, combine the butter-sugar-spice-apple mixture with the flour-baking soda mixture. Then mix in the rest of the flour in bunches. (It's helpful to use a sturdy silicone spatula for this job.) If the dough starts to get too heavy to stir, feel free to get your hands in there and knead like you would a bread dough. (Your hands will smell amazing afterward, by the way.)
4. When the flour has been completely incorporated into the dough, sprinkle some flour on top, cover the bowl with plastic, and refrigerate the dough for 12 hours. 
5. On the day you plan to bake the cookies, pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees (F). Line three cookie sheets with parchment paper (or use silicone mats if you have them). 
6. Liberally flour a baking board and roll out slightly less than a quarter of the dough very thinly. Using cookie cutters, cut out shapes and fill one baking sheet.
7. Working on one baking sheet at a time, bake the cookies for 7 minutes. (Feel free to try to vary the time a few minutes up or down to get the consistency you want.)
8. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the sheet, then transfer them to a cooling rack and re-use the baking sheet for another batch. You will probably end making about 100 cookies, depending on the size of the cookie cutters you are using.

Sunday Supper wouldn't be complete without all the wonderful contributions from the rest of the group. This week's batch of apple goodness is particularly wonderful. Check all these out! 

Soups, Salads, Starters, and Breads

Cinnamon Apple Chips- Shockingly Delicious

Apple Celery Salad- In the Kitchen with Audrey and Maurene

Mini Apple Pumpkin Pancakes – The Daily Dish Recipes

Overnight Apple Cinnamon French Toast- In the Kitchen with KP

Curried Apple and Leek Soup-Soni’s Food for Thought

Endive Spears Topped With Apple, Blue Cheese and Hazelnut Salad- The Hand That Rocks the Ladle

Homemade Apple Jam – My Trials in the Kitchen

Caramel Apple Butter Cheesecake Dip- Chocolate Moosey

Caramel Apple Bread – famfriendsfood

Apple Pie Bread Baker Street

Apple, Bacon & Brie Popovers- I Run for Wine

Apple and Almond Brie Puff Pastry- Family Foodie

Apple, Leek and Gruyere Tarts- There and Back Again

Main Meals

Slow Cooker Honey Apple Pork Loin- The Meltaways

Apple-Glazed Meatballs- The Messy Baker

Apples & Buttons (Ham, Apples and Dumplings)- Cindy’s Recipes and Writings

Skillet Pork with Sweet Spiced Apples- Mama Mommy Mom

Chicken Apple Meatloaf with Tarragon Tomato Sauce – Diabetic Foodie

Baked Tilapia Apple Crisp- Daddy Knows Less

Pork Tenderloin with Calvados Cream Sauce Sustainable Dad

#SundaySupper Pulled Pork Sandwich With Pickled Red Onions Kwistin’s Favorites

Sides

Harvest Rice- Webicurean

Wild Rice with Apples, Dried Cranberries, and Walnuts – Ruffles and Truffles

Apple Topped Sweet Potato Mash- Momma’s Meals

Warm Spice Pecan Raisin Apple Chutney- Sue’s Nutrition Buzz

Desserts

Double Apple Pot Pie- What Smells So Good?

Apple Walnut Coffee Cake- The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen

Apple Streusel Cobbler- Big Bear’s Wife

Apple & Moroccan Cinnamon Gooey Sticky Buns- Crispy Bits & Burnt Ends

Spiced Caramel Apple Pie-Chelsea’s Culinary Indulgence

Apple Pear Kuchen for #SundaySupper (Apfel Birnen Kuchen)- Galactosemia in PDX

Apple Strudel - Magnolia Days

Old Fashioned Apple Crisp with Caramel Sauce-Noshing with the Nolands

Apple Cheesecake- Vintage Kitchen

Caramel Apple Crumble Bars- Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks

Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting- From Fast Food to Fresh Food

Cinnamon Apple Dessert Chimichangas- Juanita’s Cocina

Nutella Apple Quesadilla- Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts

Apple Crisp Ice Cream- Cravings of a Lunatic

Bavarian Apple Torte- The Lovely Pantry

Streusel Apple Crumb Pie + Pie Freezer Kits- Meal Planning Magic

French Apple Cobbler with Cinnamon-Maple Whipped Cream Weekend Gourmet

Chunky Apple-Apricot Bread Pudding- Comfy Cuisine

Apple Butter Spice Cake – Home Cooking Memories

Apple Pie and Custard- Happy Baking Days

#GlutenFree Deep Dish Carmel Apple Pie- Cooking Underwriter

Apple Brownies That Skinny Chick Can Bake

Country Apple Dumplings- Mom’s Test Kitchen

Apple-Gingersnap Cookies- Tora’s Real Food

Apple and Cranberry Turnovers- Flour on my Face

Applesauce Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake with Caramel Glaze- Hip Foodie Mom

Caramel Frosted Apple Cookies- No One Likes Crumbley Cookies

Apple and Pecans Cake- Basic N Delicious

Apple Pull Apart Monkey Bread- Gotta Get Baked

Beverages

Spiced Apple Ale Small Wallet Big Appetite

Apple Chia Tea- Pippi’s in the Kitchen Again

Please be sure you join us on Twitter throughout the day during #SundaySupper. We’ll be meeting up at 7:00 pm (Eastern) for our weekly #SundaySupper live chat where we’ll talk about our favorite apple recipes! All you have to do is follow the #SundaySupper hashtag, or you can follow us through TweetChat! We’d also love to feature your apple recipes on our #SundaySupper Pinterest board and share them with all of our followers!

Chocolate-chip lace cookies

I have been trying to corral my thoughts about Josh Vertiel's article in The Atlantic about the need to be fair to both farmer and eater and haven't really gotten them broken in yet. Until I do, I am going to have a  chocolate chip lace cookie and try to tire out my racing thoughts.

I based these cookies on a recipe for what's called havre flarn in Bonniers Stora Kokbok; I think flarn is equivalent to lace cookie, but I could be wrong. Anyway, they look lacy. I added some chocolate chips and sprinkled a little fleur de sel on top to balance the sweetness. They are incredibly easy to put together--just blend the ingredients in a bowl, drop teaspoonsful on your baking sheet, and slide them into a 385-degree oven (Fahrenheit) for nine minutes. Make sure to leave lots of space between them because they spread out a lot during baking. 

Ingredients

• 3 deciliters rolled oats
• 2 deciliters sugar (if you have any vanilla sugar, this is a nice place for it)
• 1/2 deciliter sugar cane or corn syrup
• 150 grams melted butter (don't use margarine--just don't)
• 1/2 deciliter half-and-half
• 1 and 1/2 deciliter all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips (bittersweet is good, but any flavor will do)
• fleur de sel (to sprinkle on afterward)

Tips for Success

• Use parchment paper to line your baking sheets because the cookies will be very soft when they first come out of the oven; they harden up as they cool.
• Use two teaspoons to measure out each lump of dough onto the parchment and space them well (better to make more batches than get one gigantic glob). Try to keep the cookies as consistently sized as possible. Consistency means even cooking. 
• Watch the first batch carefully. The edges and tops of the cookies should start turning golden-brown, but they can burn quickly. Adjust the timing and temperature slightly up or down as needed. 
• Let the cookies sit in the pan for a few minutes before you slide them onto your cooling grates. They are so soft when they first come out that it's really easy to tear them. 
• Sprinkle salt while they are still hot so that the salt adheres to the cookie. 
• Try not to eat them all right away. :)

Now, I will try to get back eventually with some sort of cogent discussion of Josh Vertiel's stance on Slow Food USA, but in the meantime, mmmmm.  

My mother's gingerbread cookies

Like many moms and daughters, my mother and I sometimes have a strained relationship. Although it's far better now than when I was a teen and screaming matches were the norm, the distance between us (about 4,144 miles; she lives just outside Stockholm, Sweden) helps to keep the peace.

And yet, I miss her at times. And I miss the Christmas traditions I grew up with, which I try to re-create but don't always attain. (Of course some of those traditions I don't mind failing to re-create: I can't stand pickled herring, and I dislike lutefisk--I must be a bad Scandinavian.)

One of the traditions I do like is making gingerbread cookies. For years, I tried different recipes, but none of them were "right," and then a couple of years ago, my mother sent me a handwritten note with a recipe and some old cookie cutters.

This most valuable of all gifts held the recipe to my mother's gingerbread cookies, which was also my Finnish grandmother's favorite recipe and came from a 1940's cookbook called Hemhushållningens Grunder (which means the foundations of household care) by Rima Melander. And now I am going to share it with you.

Before you get started, you should be prepared for a few things. First, you will start the dough at least one day before you get to baking so that the flavors have time to mellow and blend and so that the dough has plenty of time to relax. Second, this recipe requires a bit of muscle in the stirring and mixing phase. Third, this recipe makes an enormous batch of cookies as a photo from a few years ago shows. It will take several hours to bake them all. If you don't want to make them all at once, you can cut the dough in half and refrigerate the unused portion for up to a week.

OK, now that caveats are out of the way, let's get to work. You will need:

• 1 Tbsp orange zest (no white part), very finely chopped
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground dried ginger
• 2 tsp cloves
• 200 grams syrup (I use Lyle's Golden Syrup, which is made from cane sugar, but you can use corn syrup; for extra flavor, feel free to replace some of the syrup with molasses)
• 400 grams white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 300 grams butter
• 3 large eggs
• 800 grams all purpose flour

And here's how to put it all together. Mix sugar, syrup, and spices in a pot with a thick bottom:

Over medium heat, bring the sugar and spice (and everything nice) mixture to a gentle simmer:

Here's where it gets exciting. Take the pot off the heat, add the baking soda to the mix, and stir intensely until the mix cools off a bit. It will froth up quite a lot.

When the mix has cooled a bit, stir in the butter (this may take a little while) and then stir in the eggs. Finally, add the flour to the mix in the pot, a few tablespoons at a time. When the mix in the pot gets too stiff to continue stirring, make a mount of the remaining flour on a bread board; make a hole in the middle of the mound of flour; pour in the sugar, spice, and butter mixture; and start mixing it all together. It will make a big mess, but eventually you will be able to combine the flour with the sugar and spices. When you have a nice smooth dough, sprinkle flour in a bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and then sprinkle some flour over the top of the dough. Put it in the refrigerator to rest at least 24 hours.

On the day when you plan to bake the cookies, get the dough out of the refrigerator and let it warm up for at least an hour (or rolling out the dough will just be too difficult). Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

On a floured board, cut the dough into manageable pieces. Watch out for small thieving hands!

Roll out the dough to about a quarter inch thickness and cut shapes with cookie cutters. (Or you can go freehand if you like.) The moose, the squirrel, and the hedgehog are new additions to my cookie cutter collection. I found them at IKEA.

 

Bake them for 5-6 minutes and let them cool on a baking rack (they will be pliable when they first come out of the oven, but will crisp up as they cool). Enjoy!