The Genius Desserts Challenge - Month #1 Cookies & Bars
If you aren’t already aware, I LOVE to bake! Because of my love of baking, I am embarking on a self challenge. Food52 and Kristen Miglore have a book out called Genius Desserts, and it has over 100 recipes inside (recipes are from many different chefs).
I am going to bake all of the recipes in this book and share it with you. I’ve laid it all out and will make at least two a week and this should take about a year (maybe more). I will be sharing my adventure on this blog. All of my experiences in baking will be added each week, and I am eager for you to join me through my joy of cooking.
I’m starting on Monday Oct 5th! Soooo excited for this! It begins with cookies 🍪 Join me on my adventure in baking and since I will have way more cookies than I can/should eat, make your requests. I will send cookies!
Week 1
Flourless Chocolate-Walnut Cookies
Here we go!!! Week one and I am very pleased to begin here, with these ooey gooey Flourless Chocolate-Walnut Cookies by Fransçios Payard. I have tried to make a similar cookie previously, one like those yummy cookies I have purchased at Whole Foods, and previously they turned into a large blob spread on my cookie sheet. It was a disaster, but this recipe, it is freakin golden!!!! So, easy and they came out absolutely divine.
A few tips from me:
After toasting my walnuts and chopping them, I ran them through a metal sifter. Why? Because, the chopping left a bunch of walnut “flour” behind and I didn’t want it to bind my cookies more than necessary.
I used King Arthur Black Cocoa which is a super dark dutch-process cocoa.
Make sure you allow your eggs to come to room temperature, approximately 30 minutes will do. I separated mine from the egg yolks first and then sat them to room temperature.
I used a 1 ounce scoop instead of a 2 ounce and ended up with double the amount. Next time I will make them larger, and probably double the recipe.
As well, I have a convection oven and I usually choose to either shorten my time or drop the temperature, this time I shortened the time and watched them carefully.
World Peace Cookies
I had no expectations for these cookies, as I had never heard of them before, but they proved to be very easy and pleasantly good. If you are someone who likes a somewhat crisp cookie, chocolate and being able to prep ahead, then these are for you. These cookies can be made ahead of time, sliced and frozen for quick homemade cookies. I can truly see how a great chocolate chip cookie could bring us some peace, especially in 2020. This recipe is by Pierre Hermé & Dorie Greenspan.
A few tips from me:
These cookies could easily be converted to vegan by replacing the butter with coconut oil or vegan “butter”. I may try this in the future.
I used King Arthur Triple Cocoa which is a blend of three cocoas: Dutch, for its depth of flavor; natural, for its chocolatey taste and a hint of warm color; and black, for its deep color.
In my convection oven, I had to drop the baking temperature to 320 degrees and cooking time to 11 minutes.
I would love to try these with a variety of chocolate chips, such as mint chocolate chips, or white chocolate.
WEEK 2
BEST COCOA BROWNIES by Alice Medrich
Honestly, I am usually a box brownie girl and I am happy with that, but I loved the ease with which these brownies can be made. These brownies do not require you to melt chocolate but rely on cocoa powder to give you their chocolaty goodness. They have an awesome chewy texture, and are great for your fudgy brownie lovers in the house.
A few tips from me:
I forgot to add the flaky salt!!! Don’t forget your flaky salt.
Personally I would have preferred halved walnuts as opposed to chopped, because I love a big crunch.
I used 1/2 dark cocoa powder and 1/2 regular cocoa powder for mine, for a deeper flavor. In the future I may add some espresso powder to boost it further.
BLONDIES by Cooks Illustrated
I think I have only made Blondies once in my life, they arent typically a request in my house, because me usually just go for chocolate chip cookies. But truth be told, these were much easier than making cookies and they have a awesome texture. The inside is chewy and the outside is crisp and remind me of toffee. This recipe was so easy to make, this one is a winner. Relatively low volume of ingredients, lack of complicated or long prep work, and their yumminesss are just a few reasons to make this.
A few tips from me:
I didn’t keep a close eye on my pecans as they were toasting, and mine got a little super toasted. My recommendation is if you have a convection oven turn your oven down a bit or keep a very close eye on yours.
As the book states, these are quite tasty when refrigerated. I would say best when warm or cold.
I used the chocolate chips and white chocolate chips, and next time I intend on just using white chocolate.
WEEK 3
SECRETLY VEGAN SALTED CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES by Ovenly
These cookies are really moist. I think that the oil and the 24 hours in the fridge before cooking is what creates the texture. They are not chewy, not cake-like, and not crunchy, so it is hard to describe. It is almost like a cookie dough consistency. The edges have a splendid crisp to them.
For the neutral oil in the recipe, I used fractionated coconut oil and I was pleasantly surprised that the flavor of the oil didn’t come through in the cookies. There is a perfect amount of chocolate chips in these cookies. This recipe yielded about 20 cookies for me.
I would love to try this recipe as a base for a peanut butter filled chocolate chip cookie, something super gooey and decadent.
A few tips from me:
To truly make these cookies vegan make sure you are using vegan chocolate chips and vegan sugar.
Shauna Sever’S CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE BRITTLE
Wow! This is the first recipe from this book that I just couldn’t seem to get right. I made it twice, and both times it ended up a bit too dark on the edges. Overall, the recipe is very easy to prepare and the ingredients are simple. They are quite good and satisfy the craving for sweet and crunchy all at once. As stated in the book, they would make a great gift, maybe jarred or in a lovely tin.
I own a convection oven, and the first time I baked them per the directions in the recipe and I feared that my oven or the thick pan I used caused the over dark edges. Then I vowed to try again because I wanted then to look like the ones in the book. The second time I turned my oven down to 340 degrees and baked for 20 minutes. Maybe, I should have been watching them like a hawk, who knows, but again the edges were dark. A third try was not an option. I felt beat by the Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle.
Maybe I will go back and try again in a few weeks or closer to the holidays.
But for now, a few tips from me:
Watch these like a hawk for the last 10 minutes
I will be using the stove top to incorporate my butter and sugar next time, I feel like maybe the microwave didn’t accomplish it that great.
Be patient with the melting butter and sugar incorporation, it’s important that it doesn’t separate.
I am curious how the texture would be with these if I used almond flour mixed with a gluten-free 50/50 flour.
Next time, I plan on double batching and creating multiple flavors.
Such as; white chocolate and macadamia nut or chocolate chip, pecan & toffee or peanut butter, and chocolate chip (using peanut flour) or toasted coconut, and white chocolate
WEEK 4
COCONUT CUSTARD MACAROONS by Danielle Kartes
Talk about easy and decadent! I don’t particularly love coconut macaroons, but these are another story. The sweetened condensed milk in them creates the custard like aspect and because of the sugary-ness of them, they get crispy around the edges and caramelize. The YouTube video making these touches on the choice between using 2 tablespoons to place them on the sheet or a scoop, and I opted for the scoop. I think that it definitely encouraged them to have more outer edge crisp.
These are my tips and observations for this one:
As the recipe states, you MUST use parchment paper or you will never get these off the pan.
I have a convection oven, so I turned the temperature down to 355 degrees, and cooked them for 11 minutes..
I initially didn’t have enough sweetened coconut, and so I improvised and sweetened some natural shredded coconut with simple syrup and set to dry overnight. This would be an excellent way to control the sugar in your cookies if they are too sweet.
SKINNY PEANUT WAFERS by Maida Heatter
Upon reading this recipe I was skeptical about what it would yield. I wish I could say I was wrong but honestly these cookies, in my opinion, are not big on taste and if I am eating the calories then I want to enjoy the act. They do not have peanut butter in them so the peanut taste is somewhat subtle, and if it wasn’t for the honey roasted peanuts on the top, I would question that they were peanut cookies. Fresh out of the oven was most definitely the best way to eat these but it is not the intended way because they are meant to be crisp. I would say that these are a cookie that’s for a special palate. The only online recipe I could find for this is from the website The Pudge Factor.
These are my tips and observations for this one:
Try not to over pulse your peanuts, they will become peanut butter.
Make a lot of room for these to spread on the pan because they sure spread a bunch.
Cool your melted butter before adding it because it could cook your eggs.
