CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD HEARTS: National Shortbread Day

Today is National Shortbread Day! I love shortbread! The large amount of butter is what makes shortbread short: the term short, when applied to biscuits and pastry, means crumbly, like shortcrust pastry should be. It is the reason why the fat added to biscuits and pastries is called shortening.

The history of shortbread goes back to at least the 12^th century and originally started life as ‘biscuit bread’; biscuits that were made from left-over bread dough that was sometimes sweetened and dried out in the oven to form a hard, dry rusk. Over time the leavening was lost and exchanged for butter, making it an expensive fancy treat that was only bought for celebrations such as Christmas and Hogsmanay (Scottish New Year). There are similar ‘breads’ outside of Scotland such as Shrewsbury cakes and Goosnagh cakes.

So what's a new recipe for Shortbread? Here's one for Chocolate Shortbread Hearts from Melissa Clark that appeared in the New York Times! You can make it today for National Shortbread Day or save this recipe for Valentine's Day!

The dough is basic, and you can decorate in so many different ways! I love versatile recipes, don't you? These buttery shortbread cookies are dunked partway in melted chocolate and sprinleed with freeze-dried raspberries. I found some really good freeze-dried raspberries at Trader Joe's, and now always have them in my pantry. You can also use flaky sea salt, chopped pistachios or coconut to top the dipped chocolate!

CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD HEARTS

Tips:
Be sure not to roll the dough thinner than 1/2 inc or the cookies might break. 
Use European-style butter. It's higher in butter fat and the cream was cultured before churned. I use French butter.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 cup salted European-style (or cultured) butter, softened
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 6 ounces dark, milk or white chocolate chips, or use some of each (about 1 cup)
• 1/3 cup freeze-dried raspberries, lightly crushed 

Directions

1. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder and salt.
2. In bowl of electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in yolk, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Form dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
3. Once chilled, remove plastic wrap and sandwich dough between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll it out into a 1/2-inch-thick slab. Leaving dough between the parchment, place it on a baking sheet or large plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes (or up to 24 hours).
4. Heat oven to 325 degrees, and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
5. Pull dough from refrigerator, and remove parchment from dough. Using a 2-inch heart-shaped cutter, cut out as many hearts as possible. Transfer them to the prepared cookie sheets. Reroll the dough scraps and repeat.
6. Bake cookies for 18 to 23 minutes, until puffed and set, rotating the cookie sheets halfway through. Transfer pans to wire racks to cool completely.
7. In heatproof measuring cup, melt chocolate in the microwave in 20-second intervals, stirring in between.
8. Dip half of each cooled cookie in melted chocolate, letting excess drip back into measuring cup. Place back on parchment-lined baking sheets, and sprinkle chocolate with crushed raspberries. Let cool until chocolate is set, then store in an airtight container.

Triple Chocolate Olive Oil Brownies for Chanukah

The other day I was looking through the Food section of the New York Times, and I saw an article and recipe for Olive Oil Brownies for Hanukah. What a great idea. Perhaps this will be a new Chanukah tradition. After all, Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of the oil that lasted for eight days.

I have my own olive oil brownie recipe (below), but I like Melissa Clark's tips, and I'm going to try her recipe this weekend. From the article and recipe, I think her brownies will be much fudgier than my recipe. You might want to try both recipes and see which you prefer. And, you have eight days to celebrate.

Olive Oil is a great substitute for butter or vegetable oil in your brownies. If you planned to use vegetable oil anyway, olive oil won't change the texture of the brownies. And, if you use a fresh fruity olive oil, you'll be able to taste the olive oil which is a great complement to the chocolate in the brownies. Olive oil also gives the brownies a bit of a peppery note. If you want to be close to the taste of classic brownies, use a mild olive oil. Please, please, don't use the olive oil that's been sitting in your pantry for three months and that might be rancid.  

Olive oil might be healthier than butter, but don't kid yourself. There's a lot of chocolate and sugar in  these brownies, so don't substitute olive oil for health reasons. One more thing, I add Sea Salt to the finish these brownies because I love salt and chocolate! It's optional, as would be adding the chocolate chips to the batter  for Triple Chocolate Olive Oil Brownies. You can also add chopped walnuts for texture. And, as always, use the very best freshest ingredients.

Triple Chocolate Olive Oil Brownies

Ingredients 
3/4 cup mild or lightly fruity olive oil, plus more for oiling the pan
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
Chocolate Chips
Sea Salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line 9-by-13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving 2-inch overhang on   2 sides. Oil foil (don't include overhang).
Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, and salt in medium bowl. Melt chocolate with oil in medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently. Let cool slightly. Stir in sugar and eggs. Add flour mixture, and stir to combine.
Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake until toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs -- 30 to 35 minutes.
Sprinkle Sea Salt on the Brownies while they're still hot (that way the salt will stick)
Cool brownies completely in pan on cooling rack.
Use foil overhang to help lift them out of pan.
Cut into squares.

Whoopie Pies

So, I opened the New York Times Food section (Dining) today, to find one of my favorite foods the lead story--Whoopie Pies. According to the article by Micheline Maynard, Whoopie Pies originated in Pennsylvania's Amish country and then migrated to Maine. They're now made in many upscale bakeries all over the nation including the Magnolia Bakery in New York City, and can also be found at comfort food markets such as Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. They're even in the Williams-Sonoma catalogue. Well, I'm in heaven. Of course, the article goes on to cite filling variations, such as cointreau, almond, raspberry, etc. Some bakeries even make the cake in pumpkin or vanilla flavor! Heaven forbid! I like my Whoopie Pies pure!

A whoopie pie is essentially two pies-two round pieces of chocolate cake--with a cream filling in the middle. Oreo makes an Oreo Cakester and Hostess makes the Suzy Q, but those are not real Whoopie Pies, although they can be eaten in a pinch.

I grew up close to Pennsylvania Dutch country (o.k. that's what we called it), and as a child, we often stopped at the Pennsylvania Dutch open markets for all kinds of treats. Whoopie Pies were a very special favorite of mine and one I could only obtain depending on the adult with me. Dietary concerns. The real whoopie pies were two small flattish chocolate cakes with a filling made from Crisco mixed with vanilla, egg whites and sugar, or dare I say it, pure butter mixed with sugar, and egg whites and maybe a little vanilla. Those were the days.

We often spent summers in Maine, and the whoopie pie was there, too. I remember the Maine version as good--well, what kid doesn't think a cream filled chocolate cake-pie is good--but not as good as the Amish whoopie pie. They didn't seem as rich, but don't get me wrong, they were tasty! Probably not made with as much lard, crisco or butter. The chocolate cake was different, too.

The Epicurious recipe for Whoopie Pies uses Droste brand Dutch-process cocoa for the reicipe for a richer chocolate flavor and the filling recipe uses marshmallow cream. The NY Times article has a recipe adapted from Zingerman's Bakehouse in Ann Arbor, MI. With a little more digging, I found an article on the History of Whoopie Pies in What's Cooking America. The article mentions the 1930s cookbook Yummy Book by the Durkee Mower Company, the manufacturer of Marshmallow Fluff. Needless to say the filling was more like marshmallow. I think the whoopie pie goes further back, so if you find something, let me know.

O.K. Whoopie Pies are a lot like Moon Pies, in case you're from another part of the country. I hail from near Lancaster County, so they'll always be those mouth-watering Whoopie Pies to me--and probably made with vegetable shortening or butter filling. Yes, that was the old crisco or the rich butter from local cows. Zing--straight to the arteries, but what a treat!

Here's a filling recipe from that 1930s cookbook

Whoopie Pie Filling:
1 cup solid vegetable shortening*
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 cups Marshmallow Fluff**
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

* Butter may be substituted for all or part of the vegetable shortening, although traditional Whoopie Pies are made with vegetable shortening only

What a great comfort food for these troubled times.