NBM, Day 16: Cashew Cookies

I knew I was going to have a busy day, so availed myself of a cookie dough I'd made for the holidays but never got around to baking. Actually, when I made the dough for these Cashew Cookies from Cookies and Brownies by the great Alice Medrich, I thought for sure that I'd screwed them up. The dough is made in a food processor, and by the time I got done processing, a lot of the cashew oil was seeping from the dough. I pressed ahead, shaping the dough into my lazy-guy rectangular logs, and then popped them into the freezer. Apparently, there was no problem with the dough as the cookies sliced and baked just fine. Go figure!

NBM, Day 11: Cornmeal Thumbprint Cookies

During the holidays, I made the Cornmeal Thumbprint Cookies from Emily Luchetti’s Fearless Baker and loved them. Since I love the flavor combo of cornmeal, lime, and blueberry, I decided to return to the recipe and tweak it by adding lime zest to the dough. A bit of blueberry preserve tops each cookie. Definitely a keeper combo!

NBM, Day 3: Heirloom Vanilla Sugar Cookies

For day three of National Baking Month, I baked off some cookie dough I’d made and frozen a couple of weeks ago. I love a simple, flavorful sugar cookie, and these Heirloom Vanilla Sugar Cookies, from Shauna Sever’s Pure Vanilla, are top notch. Making these cookies reminded me that I love the big, soft frosted sugar cookie recipe in this book, not to mention the amazing Vanilla Cloud Cake. Fortunately, I have 28 more days of National Baking Month.

TWD: The Rugelach That Won Over France

This week, for our third visit with Baking Chez Moi, we made the cookie that apparently caused a culinary coup: The Rugelach That Won Over France. They are indeed lovely. The dough is dreamy to work with, even when rolled out fairly thin, and it bakes up with crispy, flaky layers.

After reading a few comments at the rugelach P&Q thread, I decided that the filling needed to be really non-chunky, so I used mini semisweet chocolate chips, I chopped up the cherries, and I zapped the coconut and toasted pecans in the food processor. It was a little bit of extra work, but I think it was worth it as I had no trouble rolling up the filling in the dough, nor did I have any problems slicing the dough once it was chilled.

I am trying to make it a point to follow each recipe to the letter the first time through, but I opted not to freeze this cookie dough prior to baking it. I did put the unsliced rolls of dough on a cookie sheet on my enclosed back porch to chill (nature's refrigerator!) and felt that that did the trick, plus left the dough perfectly sliceable.

While these cookies are a bit of a production to pull together, I think they are worth it. The only real problem with them is that they are distressingly bite-size. It's far too easy to start eating them and then lose track of how many have been consumed (as I lapse into passive voice in an effort to not acknowledge the embarrassing reality of how many rugelach I have eaten today -- for research purposes, of course).

Full disclosure: This book won me over at the get-go!

TWD: Palets de Dames

With the arrival of Baking Chez Moi, it's time for more baking with Dorie Greenspan! I missed out on the bake-along for Baking From My Home to Yours and started out with best intentions to stick with Baking With Julia. Circumstances and schedules, however, left me falling far behind, and I ended up bailing on that endeavor. This time, I'm determined to stick with the plan and make my way through Baking Chez Moi.

Our first recipe is Palets de Dames. They're a simple cookie with a dough that is borderline cake batter and requires refrigeration to firm up before baking. After the cookies are baked, they cool and then are dipped in a simple glaze. The sprinkles are optional, but who am I to miss out on a chance to use sprinkles? The fairly unassuming nature of these cookies makes me think they could be a nice option for a holiday cookie tray to contrast with other more complicated offerings.

Michele's Pies

Last Saturday, I was on my way home from Brooklyn via Stamford. I'd been busy all day in Brooklyn and didn't have the opportunity to make any bakery visits. As Claire and I were heading for home, driving north on Route 7 in Norwalk, I caught a glimpse of a man picking up a sandwich-board type sign on the side of the road. I said to Claire, "Was it just me, or did that sign say something about free pie samples?" She concurred, and I replied, "There must be a pie bakery in that plaza." I checked the clock on the dashboard; it read 7:55. I looked for the next available left-hand turn and prayed that the shop would be open til 8 p.m.

Much to our good luck, Michele's Pies in Norwalk was indeed open until 8, and I think we snuck in as the last customers of the day. I definitely wanted something but didn't want to commit to an entire pie. Lucky for me, Michele's carries small pies (probably two servings per pie, unless you're incredibly hungry). I ordered one pineapple crumb and one chocolate peanut-butter dream. In addition to pies, Michele's carries quick breads, savory pies, and cookies, among other items. Claire went for a couple of peanut blossoms, and I also got a couple of pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting.

The verdict? Very nice pies. The crust was incredibly flaky. Of the two I ordered, I liked the chocolate peanut-butter pie best. I really liked that the pineapple crumb was made with tidbits of fresh pineapple, but I kind of wished that maybe there had been something binding the pineapple bits together. It's a small gripe, though. Pineapple is a pretty unusual pie ingredient, and I loved having the chance to sample it in that use.

You can find Michele's Pies in the Town Line Center in Norwalk, Conn.