Al Dente

Super-Chocolate Holiday Cookies

Trying to get big chocolate flavor into a crisp holiday cookie is no easy feat. Any decent baker can get a soft, chewy cookie to scream “chocolate,” but a dough that can withstand a rolling pin and cookie cutters simply can’t be too soft. Most chocolate butter cookies skimp on the gooey chocolate and their chocolate flavor is quite modest.

After making hundreds of cookies that looked good but failed to impress our tasters, we finally hit upon the right formula. Start with cocoa powder. It has more cocoa solids than other forms of chocolate so its flavor is more intense. Also, you can add a lot of cocoa powder without worrying about the dough becoming too soft--a big problem in any recipe that calls for melted chocolate. We found that the bitter, roasted notes of espresso powder accentuate similar qualities in the cocoa powder. But the test kitchen’s big discovery: Blooming the cocoa and espresso powders in melted butter intensifies their flavor. Our dough is easy to roll, cut out, and decorate (the finished cookies sure look pretty in this photo). Best of all, our Best Chocolate Butter Cookies will satisfy even the biggest chocolate lover. If you’re planning on baking anything this holiday season, you will want to test-drive this recipe as well as the 700 other cookies, pies, cakes, and more in America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book.

Best Chocolate Butter Cookies

Natural cocoa powder will work in this recipe, but we found that Dutch-processed yields the best chocolate flavor. Espresso powder provides complexity, but instant coffee can be substituted in a pinch. The dough can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator for up to three days or in the freezer for up to two weeks. Defrost frozen dough in the refrigerator overnight, then let stand at room temperature until firm yet malleable, about 30 minutes. The cookies are refined enough to serve plain, but a dusting of sifted confectioners' sugar or chocolate glaze is a nice touch. Baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days but should be dusted with sugar or glazed the day they are served.

Ingredients:
20 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 1/2 sticks), softened to cool room temperature (about 65 degrees)
1/2 cup cocoa powder (about 2 ounces)
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 cup sugar (7 ounces)
1/4 teaspoon table salt
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (11 1/4 ounces)

Optional Bittersweet Chocolate Glaze:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375 degrees. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and espresso powder; stir until mixture forms smooth paste. Set aside to cool, 15 to 20 minutes.

2. In standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix remaining 16 tablespoons butter, sugar, salt, and cooled cocoa mixture on high speed until well combined and fluffy, about 1 minute, scraping sides of mixing bowl once or twice with rubber spatula. Add yolks and vanilla and mix on medium speed until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape sides of bowl. With mixer running on low, add flour in three additions, waiting until each addition is incorporated before adding next and scraping bowl after each addition. Continue to mix until dough forms cohesive ball, about 5 seconds. Turn dough onto counter; divide into three 4-inch disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate until dough is firm yet malleable, 45 to 60 minutes. (Alternatively, shape dough log, 2 inches in diameter and about 12 inches long; use parchment paper or plastic wrap to roll into neat cylinder. Chill until very firm and cold, at least 1 hour.)

3. Roll out 1 dough disk between 2 large sheets parchment paper to even thickness of 3/16 inch. (If dough becomes soft and sticky, slide rolled dough on parchment onto baking sheet and rechill until firm, about 10 minutes.) Peel parchment from one side of dough and cut into desired shapes using cookie cutter(s); using thin metal spatula, place shapes on parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Gather dough scraps and chill. (For cylinder-shaped dough, simply slice cookies 1/4 inch thick and place on parchment-lined baking sheets.)

4. Bake until cookies show slight resistance to touch (see photo below), 10 to 12 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking time; if cookies begin to darken on edges, they have overbaked. Cool for 5 minutes, then, using spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack; cool completely. Repeat steps 3 and 4 with remaining dough disks and scraps, rerolling scraps just once. Decorate as desired.

5. For Glaze: Melt bittersweet chocolate with butter and whisk until smooth. Add corn syrup and vanilla extract and mix until smooth and shiny. Use back of spoon to spread scant 1 teaspoon glaze almost to edge of each cookie. (If necessary, reheat to prolong fluidity of glaze.) Allow glazed cookies to dry at least 20 minutes.

Makes about 4 dozen 2 1/2-inch cookies.   

Reprinted with permission from Cook's Illustrated magazine.

--Jack Bishop, Editorial Director, America’s Test Kitchen

A Most Unusual Bird

At Cook’s Country magazine, we’re always on the lookout for old-fashioned American recipes that have fallen out of favor but deserve a wider audience. In test-kitchen-speak, we call these “lost recipes.” When one of our editors ran across a recipe for Thompson Turkey, aka Black Turkey, Lacquered Turkey, or Seasoned Blackened Turkey, she was intrigued.

The recipe was devised by humorist Morton Thompson in the 1940s, and popularized by Jeffrey Steingarten in his landmark book The Man Who Ate Everything (1997). Thompson called his method “the only way to cook a turkey” and the actual recipe reads like a hilarious New Yorker piece. There are dozens of ingredients, at least five bowls (with various pastes and spice mixes), and pauses to make Ramos Fizz cocktails with gin and the leftover egg whites (the yolks are rubbed onto the bird to create the spice paste which hardens and blackens in the oven). The stuffed bird spends the better part of the day in the oven and requires the cook to reapply the shellac-like coating several times. Thompson tells readers that by the time the bird is done it will look “ruined.” But beneath the blackened crust, he promises the bird will be a “gorgeous mahogany, reminding one of those golden-browns found in precious Rembrandts.” With a description like this, no wonder this recipe lives on in blogs and chat rooms.

Unfortunately, like many things you find on the web, our test kitchen concluded the hype wasn’t justified. We invested an entire day preparing a Thompson turkey, including shopping for the 30-odd ingredients--everything from crushed pineapple and poppy seeds to mace and water chestnuts. The finished bird sure looked the part, as seen in this photo of two test cooks chiseling away the blackened exterior. Too bad the bird was exceedingly dry and the stuffing made with ground veal and bread crumbs tasted like livery pâté. We think the Holiday Stuffed Turkey recipe in The Cook’s Country Cookbook is a better bet this holiday season. Not as entertaining to read about, but a more reliable way to guarantee a moist bird this Thanksgiving.

--Jack Bishop, Editorial Director, America’s Test Kitchen