So when I was planning dinner for our group camping trip in the San Juan Islands last weekend, I decided to give her recipe a go. We were responsible for Saturday night dinner and I thought that a chocolaty hand-held dessert after plates of chicken tikka masala, cardamom rice and cucumber salad would be just perfect. I made the dough ahead of time, baked off a few for taste testing purposes*, formed the rest into balls and froze them. Come Saturday, all I had to do was pop them into the cabin’s oven for 15 minutes.
*Taste testing proved key. While the cookies were incredibly yummy, they were a bit sweet, which I remedied with a light sprinkling of sea salt before baking.
The Henry Island crowd gave them rave reviews. I actually remember Cecily saying, “This is the best cookie I’ve ever had.” And Jared, I’m pretty sure, gave up on his diet that night.
Since then, I’ve tweaked the recipe further by using dry roasted almonds and omitting the white chocolate altogether. The result: sweet, salty, chewy, crunchy, chocolaty goodness. Does your cookie do that?
Salted Chocolate Almond Cookies Recipe
Brown sugar is hygroscopic, meaning that it attracts water. This property is what keeps these cookies nice and chewy. As for sprinkling salt, use one that can stand up to baking (kosher salt will melt instantly). Adapted from a Tate’s Bake Shop recipe.
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup (2 1/2 sticks) room temperature butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup roughly chopped dry roasted almonds
Good quality semi-course sea salt for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a small mixing bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light a fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla; mix to incorporate. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
Add the chocolate chips and almonds. Using a large wooden spoon and some old fashioned elbow grease (dough will be stiff), stir to combine. Using a small ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop balls of dough two inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle each cookie with a small pinch of sea salt. Transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets. They will be quite soft out of the oven but will firm up as they cool.
We look forward to birthdays at work, especially since Wendy came on board. She was a pastry chef in her former life and, as you can imagine, turns out some phenomenal patisserie.
A few weeks ago she graced us with a French apricot almond raspberry tart (thank you Mike for being born). But not just any tart, this one had tangy fruit suspended in a baked almond cream over a sweet pastry crust. Seriously off the hook.
And be advised to make this for a group unless you want to test your will power in a serious way.
Apricot Almond Raspberry Tart
This is a perfect tart for a picnic, dinner party or potluck. The almond cream keeps it moist while the apricots and raspberries contribute a vibrant acidity. Adapted from Simply Sensational Desserts by Francois Payard.
3 tablespoons melted butter
7 fresh or canned apricots, pitted and cut into thirds
3 tablespoons sugar
1 – 1 3/4 cups Almond Cream (recipe follows)
One partially baked 9 1/2-inch tart shell made from sweet tart dough (I used this one)
1/2 pint raspberries
2 tablespoons slivered almonds
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and brush it with some of the melted butter. Arrange the apricots on the sheet, cut side up, and brush with the remaining butter. Sprinkle the apricots with the sugar. Place in the preheated oven and bake until tender, about 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool (leave the oven on).
Spread half of the almond cream into the tart shell and smooth into an even layer. Arrange the apricots, cut side up, in a pinwheel pattern, starting from the outside and working toward the center. Sprinkle the raspberries over the top and press down lightly into the cream. Spread the remaining almond cream over the fruit and sprinkle the slivered almonds over the top.
Note: the original recipe called for a total of 1 cup almond cream but if you’re like me, you’ll want to use closer to 2 cups.
Bake the tart until the filling is golden brown, about 25 minutes. If you used more than 1 cup of almond cream, it will take 30 minutes or more. Cool completely before serving.
Almond Cream
Also called frangipane, this almond cream compliments chocolate and fruits. It becomes somewhat cakey when baked and adds wonderful texture.
Makes about 2 cups
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup slivered almonds
8 1/2 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1/2 tablespoon) butter, softened
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Place 2 tablespoons of the sugar in the bowl of a food processor along with the almonds. Process until finely ground, about 1 minute.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and remaining 1/2 cup sugar on high speed until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add the ground almond mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Add the egg and egg yolk one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the flour until just combined. The cream can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
