To Dorie Greenspan, it’s a great big cookie world
A couple of months ago, Dorie Greenspan and I broke bread — not cookies — over lunch at chef-of-the-moment Yves Camdeborde’s Le Comptoir in Paris, one of her favorite spots. Her book was not yet out, but the pre-publication crush of publicity had already begun.
It was just before noon, and before we left her apartment, she was juggling texts and emails from time zones both forward and back with the ease of whipping up a perfectly peaked meringue. In the baking world, Greenspan is as big as it gets, with a career rooted in cooking side-by-side with Julia Child (she wrote Baking With Julia).
Her 12th and newest cookbook, Dorie’s Cookies (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $35), is Barney the dinosaur-purple with a saucer-sized “world peace cookie” on the cover, the double-chocolate sablé that’s become her signature.
I spent an afternoon reading the 170 recipes, and after putting a half-dozen or so hot pink flags on recipes in the first chapter — “Brownies, bars, break-ups, and biscotti” — alone, I realized there were more recipes I wanted to try than flags. This isn’t just another cookie book. OK, it is another cookie book. But more than that, it’s a peek into Greenspan’s creative process — I mean, who goes to a cocktail bar and thinks, “Gin, honey and lemon — that would make a great cookie”?
I caught up with Greenspan at her home in Connecticut where she lives with her husband, Michael.
A cookie book — it seems so obvious. You and your son, Joshua, even had a cookie shop, Beurre & Sel, for a while.
I think I always knew I would write a cookie book. I just didn’t know when. This turned out to be the when. I said, now’s the moment I want to do a cookie book, but I didn’t do a greatest-hits, I didn’t do a “best of.” I did a few of those, but mostly it’s a whole new collection. Cookies! I love cookies! I find them endlessly fascinating. I feel like I could write another cookie book. Cookiedom is a big world.
Not limited to chocolate chip.
Oh, no. Cookies are boundlessly, limitlessly variable ... They can be savory and sweet and with flavors that you don’t normally think of as cookie flavors, and favorite desserts can be cookie-ized ... Once you take the blinders off and don’t think “a cookie is a cookie is a cookie,” you have the chance to do amazing things.
And with unexpected ingredients: Miso. Tahini. Garam masala. Matcha.
They’re all great in cookies. A couple of years ago, if you’d stopped me on the street and said, “What’s an unusual ingredient you put in a cookie?” or if I had thought of something, it wouldn’t be that surprising, but when you’re working on a book for three years as I did, all you think about is cookies.
So I’m in the supermarket looking at puffed rice, and I think, “I can put that in a cookie.” Rather than narrowing your perspective, it opens you up to new possibilities.
Like cookies with cocktails.
I got the idea of cocktail cookies when we were doing Beurre and Sel, because I had this idea that I wanted cookies to be for all times, and I think small — I wanted cookies for all times and for all people. I was thinking of all of these crackers that people serve with wine, and they’re not all that interesting, so I thought, “Well, I could make cookies that would be good with wine,” and I’m kind of a fool for alliteration, so once I had the name, “cocktail cookies,” I knew I had to make them.
Shall we all try to experiment more in the kitchen, or is this something best left to the pros?
No, not at all left for the experts. Wherever I can, I try to give a little variation on a recipe, so for coconut patties I give a variation — flavor them with rose or a new spice combination. I hope it’s a way of encouraging people to play around themselves.
Oh, people say, “Baking is so scary; it’s so scientific.” I wouldn’t suggest you use less flour or butter or forget the baking powder, but within a recipe, there are so many ways you can stamp your personality with what you love most; it just takes the tiniest bit of confidence to do that. I tell people to make the recipe the way it’s written and pay attention, and then, once you know how to do it, go have fun with it.
Because even if it doesn’t turn out as you’d imagined, it’s not a complete disaster.
With baking, if you have a mishap, it’s usually still tasty. It may not be as pretty as you want it to be, [but] a mess-up is a still a tasty thing.
With the holidays coming up, we all probably need a cookie we can make at the last minute. What do you recommend?
If ever you need a cookie in a flash, the almond crackles — three ingredients, you could use a fork, but I use my fingers. It takes longer to preheat the oven than it does to make these cookies and put them on a baking sheet. Oh, I love them. It’s sugar, egg and sliced almonds, no butter or flour, and you mix them up and either put them in a muffin tin or on a baking sheet and that’s it — and they are spectacular.
You go to a cookie swap. What do you take and what do you hope to bring home?
I feel like I can’t go anywhere unless I bring world peace cookies. I hope to get a new recipe. That’s what’s so wonderful about working in food. As Julia [Child] said to me, “We’re so lucky to be in food, because we’ll never stop learning.” If you love food and love learning about food, you’re always curious and always learning something new.
World peace cookies
Makes about 36 cookies
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 stick plus 3 tablespoons (11 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chip-size bits, or an equal amount of store-bought chocolate mini chips
1. Sift flour, cocoa and baking soda together and keep close at hand.
2. Working in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer, beat butter on medium speed until it is soft and creamy. (If you’d like, you can make the dough by hand using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.) Add both sugars, salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more.
3. Reduce mixer speed to low and add sifted dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated — the dough may look crumbly, but that’s fine. For the best texture, you want to work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.
4. Turn dough out onto a smooth work surface, divide it in half, gather each half together and, working with one half at a time, shape the dough into a log that is 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and chill for at least 3 hours or for up to 3 days.
5. Get ready to bake: Center a rack in the oven and heat to 325 degrees. Have two lined baking sheets at hand.
6. Working with a sharp thin-bladed knife, slice rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. (The rounds often crack as you’re cutting them — just squeeze the bits back onto the cookie.) Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch of spread space between each round, and bake for 12 minutes — they won’t look done nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be. Transfer baking sheet to a cooling rack and let cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature. Repeat with the second sheet of cookies.
Storing: The dough can be made ahead and either chilled or frozen. In fact, if you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking — let it warm just enough so that you can slice the rounds; bake the cookies 1 minute longer. Packed airtight, baked cookies will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days; they can be frozen for up to 2 months.
Nutritional analysis per cookie: 94 calories, 6 grams fat, 9 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram protein, 9 milligrams cholesterol, 46 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber, 57 percent of calories from fat.
“Dorie’s Cookies” by Dorie Greenspan
Pumpkin whoopie pies with dulce de leche filling
Makes 16 cookies
For the whoopie pies:
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into chunks, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1/2 cup buttermilk, preferably at room temperature
- 3/4 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped (if frozen, don’t thaw)
For the filling:
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into chunks, at room temperature
- 1 cup marshmallow creme (or Marshmallow Fluff)
- 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
- Pinch of fine sea salt
- 1/4 cup dulce de leche, homemade or store-bought
1. Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and heat it to 375 degrees. Butter or spray two standard muffin tins (even if the tins are nonstick).
2. Make the cookies: Whisk together flour, cinnamon, cardamom, baking powder and baking soda.
3. Working with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat butter, sugar and salt together on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add egg and beat for another 2 minutes or so, until creamy. Beat in vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low, add pumpkin puree and beat until it’s fully incorporated; don’t be discouraged when the mixture curdles — it will soon smooth out. Turn off the mixer, scrape down the bowl and add half of the dry ingredients. Pulse to begin the mixing and then mix on low, scraping the bowl as needed, until the flour mixture is blended in. Beat in buttermilk. Turn off mixer, add remaining dry ingredients, pulse and then mix on low until you have a lovely smooth batter.
4. Switch to a flexible spatula and fold in the cranberries. Don’t be too thorough — it’s better to have an uneven mix than to break the berries and turn the batter red.
5. Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop out level portions of dough, or use a tablespoon to get rounded spoonfuls, and fill the muffin tins. The scoops of dough will sit upright in the center of the tins, but when baked they’ll melt evenly into the cups. Bake for 11 to 12 minutes, rotating the pans top to bottom and front to back after 6 minutes, or until they are puffed, golden brown and springy to the touch. Transfer pan to a rack and let cookies rest for 5 minutes, then turn them out on the racks and allow them to cool completely.
6. Make the filling: Working with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a medium bowl with a hand mixer, beat butter, marshmallow crème, sugar and salt together on medium-high speed, scraping the bowl and beater(s) as needed, about 3 minutes, until very smooth. Lower the mixer speed, add dulce de leche and beat until thoroughly blended.
7. Using a spoon or a small cookie scoop, place filling on the flat sides of half of the cookies; sandwich with the other cookies, flat sides down. The cookies can be eaten now, but the filling benefits from a 30-minute stay in the refrigerator. Just don’t eat them from the fridge — you’ll deprive yourself of the cookies’ wonderful texture.
Nutritional analysis per pie: 247 calories, 13 grams fat, 31 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams protein, 47 milligrams cholesterol, 165 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber, 46 percent of calories from fat.
“Dorie’s Cookies” by Dorie Greenspan
Vanilla polka dots
Makes about 20 cookies
- About 1/2 cup pearl sugar (sometimes called Swedish sugar)
- 1/4 recipe Do-Almost-Anything vanilla cookie dough (below), just made and still soft
1. Center a rack in the oven and heat it to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Wrap the base of a jam or other flat-bottomed jar in plastic wrap. Put the pearl sugar in a small bowl.
2. Spoon out the dough using a small cookie scoop, scoop out level portions of dough or use a teaspoon to get rounded spoonfuls. Shape each portion into a ball between your palms. Roll the balls in the sugar to coat and place them on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Gently press each cookie down with the plastic-wrapped jar to slightly flatten.
3. Bake 20 to 22 minutes, rotating the sheet after 11 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown around the edges and on the bottom. Transfer the sheet to a rack and allow cookies to rest for 5 minutes before lifting them onto the rack to cool completely.
Nutritional analysis per cookie: 101 calories, 5 grams fat, 13 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram protein, 12 milligrams cholesterol, 27 milligrams sodium, trace dietary fiber, 43 percent of calories from fat.
“Dorie’s Cookies” by Dorie Greenspan
Do-Almost-Anything vanilla cookie dough: a basic recipe
Makes about 80 cookies
- 1 pound unsalted butter, cut into chunks, at room temperature
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- Sanding sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
1. Working with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat butter, sugar and salt together on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low and blend in egg whites, followed by vanilla. The dough might curdle, but it will smooth out with mixing and the addition of the flour. Still working on low speed, add flour in 3 or 4 additions, beating only until it is almost incorporated each time before adding more; scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl a couple of times as you work and then continue to mix until the flour has disappeared into the dough.
2. The dough is ready to be divided, flavored (if needed) and scooped or rolled. Or, if you’d like to make plain cookies, divide the dough into quarters and shape each piece into a disk. Working with one disk at a time, place the dough between sheets of parchment paper and roll it to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Slide the dough, still between the paper, onto a baking sheet — you can stack the slabs — and freeze for at least 1 hour, or refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
3. When you’re ready to bake, position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and heat it to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
4. Working with one disk at a time, peel away the paper on both sides of the dough and return the dough to one sheet. Use a 2-inch cookie cutter (choose your shape, and change the size, if you’d like, knowing that the yield will change with it) to cut out as many cookies as you can and place them on the baking sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. (Gather the scraps together, then combine with scraps from the other pieces of dough, re-roll and chill before cutting and baking on a cool baking sheet.) If you’d like to sprinkle the cut-outs with sanding sugar, now’s the time.
5. Bake the cookies for 19 to 21 minutes, rotating the sheets front to back and top to bottom after 10 minutes, or until they are golden around the edges and on the bottom. Cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring them to cool completely.
6. Repeat with the remaining dough, using cool baking sheets.
Nutritional analysis per cookie: 81 calories, 5 grams fat, 8 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram protein, 12 milligrams cholesterol, 8 milligrams sodium, trace dietary fiber, 54 percent of calories from fat.
“Dorie’s Cookies” by Dorie Greenspan
This story was originally published November 10, 2016 at 4:24 PM with the headline "To Dorie Greenspan, it’s a great big cookie world."