Cookie Calendar: Chocolate Fudge

Fudge may be stretching the definition of "cookie" a bit, but if The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion can define brownies as a cookie category, than I can throw fudge in as a no-bake bar cookie.

Many people might not even recognize Alton Brown's fudge recipe as "fudge" since it involves no evaporated milk or Velveeta. Processed milk products and chocolate chips make a very-similar-to-fudge candy easy to produce, but most of us wait to get the real deal from a specialty shop.

I certainly can't blame 'em. It takes a long time to produce this confection, waiting for it to hit the correct temperatures and then beating in enough air to turn it from chocolate to fudge. I'm not sure myself if our fudge turned out as it should, but for now it least, it looks good!

Later: Though I stuck the fudge in the freezer to force it to harden, it still turned awfully soft the moment it started to warm up. I put the cut-up squares bag in the freezer to harden again, but they still turned to mush after 15 minutes at room temperature.

I can think of two possible reasons: One, perhaps I didn't whip enough air into the fudge (it did still look a bit shiny); two, maybe it was too humid a day for fudge. The latter seems unlikely in a dry, heated house in the middle of winter, but the results I got seem a lot like what happens to candy makers on wet days.

Chocolate Fudge
Source: Alton Brown
Yield: 64 one-inch pieces

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups sugar
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3 tablespoons butter, plus more for greasing pan
1 cup half-and-half
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped, roasted nuts, optional

Grease an 8 by 8-inch pan with butter. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar, chocolate, 1 1/2 tablespoons of the butter, half-and-half, and corn syrup. Over medium heat, stir with a wooden spoon until sugar is dissolved and chocolate is melted. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and boil for 3 minutes. Remove the cover and attach a candy thermometer to the pot. Cook until the thermometer reads 234 degrees F. Remove from the heat and add the remaining butter. Do not stir. Let the mixture cool for 10 minutes or until it drops to 130 degrees F. Add vanilla and nuts, if desired, and mix until well-blended and the shiny texture becomes matte. Pour into the prepared pan. Let sit in cool dry area until firm. Cut into 1-inch pieces and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Cookie Calendar: Fudgy No-Bake Cookies

Christmas is creeping up on us, and if baking looks like an ever-fainter possibility for you, you might be in the market for some quick-to-whip-up no-bake cookies.

I remember having a recipe for Fudgy No-Bake Cookies on a recipe card that came in a novel or with a baking set at some point in my childhood. Who knows where that ended up. I remember the basics, though: chocolate, oats, and peanut butter.

You might never guess these cookies had peanut butter, with the way chocolate dominates the flavor. This particular iteration I found on Allrecipes, which seemed closest to what I remembered, calls for chunky peanut butter, but I think ours used smooth. The peanut butter adds richness and a kind of soft, grainy texture.

I've posted several no-bake recipes here, in part necessitated by lack of an oven last year. This recipe, like Rice Krispies Treats, is no bake but not no cook; if you want to stay far from the kitchen, try Holiday Rum Balls or Booze Balls.

Fudgy No-Bake Cookies
Source: Adapted from Allrecipes
Yield: 36 cookies

2 cups white sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
3 cups quick cooking oats

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, cocoa, milk and margarine. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, salt, peanut butter and oats.

2. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Allow cookies to cool for at least 1 hour. Store in an airtight container.

Cookie Calendar: Rice Krispies Treats

I haven't made Rice Krispies treats myself since I was a kid, but my aunt used to make them for every family holiday party. Most of the kids in the family looked forward to the semi-annual tradition greatly (and no doubt there were a number of grown-ups who relished them as well).

My aunt may no longer be with us, but this particular treat makes me think of her forever now.

At the second cookie exchange I attended while living in Las Vegas, one of the young new teachers brought Rice Krispies treats to share as her contribution at the suggestion of the art teacher. She didn't know how to bake, so she appreciated any recipe that would be simple to create. Unfortunately, her treats turned out a little gooier than they should have been, but I don't recall there being any leftovers nonetheless.

Rice Krispies Treats
Source: Kellogg's
Yield: 12 treats

3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 package (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows OR 4 cups miniature marshmallows OR 1 jar (7 oz.) marshmallow crème
6 cups Rice Krispies

1. In large saucepan melt butter and salt over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

2. Add cereal. Stir until well coated.

3. Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Best if served the same day.

MICROWAVE DIRECTIONS:
In microwave-safe bowl heat butter and marshmallows on HIGH for 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Follow steps 2 and 3 above. Microwave cooking times may vary.

Note:
Store no more than two days at room temperature in airtight container. To freeze, place in layers separated by wax paper in airtight container. Freeze for up to 6 weeks. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

Cookie Calendar: Booze Balls

We created these truffle-like cookies a few evenings ago while enjoying another viewing of A Christmas Carol on DVD (see? Make it festive!). Scott did have to make a chocolate run to the convenience store when we decided to make a double batch and discovered we were 40 grams short on chocolate, but otherwise this recipe went a good deal more smoothly than the Rum Balls.

It helped that I found a meat pounder to use for crushing the cookies this time around. Last time we attempted a lightweight skillet and our fingers before finally settling on the edge of a wooden cutting board. Of course, you should use your food processor and save yourself a good deal of time.

We did have to make a few substitutions. Since they don't sell chocolate chips here as far as we can tell (though you can buy packaged chocolate-chip cookies), we used chopped-up dark chocolate bars. Thus, ours might taste a little sweeter than yours. We also used rum rather than bourbon or brandy since we didn't want to buy yet another bottle of liquor that we will not finish in the next four and a half months.

Also, since our box of prunes was three dried plums short of the amount required, we subbed in a couple tablespoons of golden raisins. Chopped up into mush, they didn't stand out much at all.

We used the plain granulated sugar we had on hand for decoration, which as you can see in the picture produced a sparkly coat for each ball that didn't end up absorbed by the moisture of the balls after a couple of days of "maturation."

As for the taste: These balls do remind me of truffles infused with liqueur, with their soft, somewhat grainy texture and chocolaty yet slightly fruity and boozy flavor. They also remind me a little of chocolate Lara Bars without the nuts.

Cookie Tip #20: Some cookies, such as gingerbread men and stained-glass cut-outs, make excellent tree decorations. When you make the string holes in your cookies before baking, make them much bigger than you expect to need to allow for puffing in the oven. Why not buy a small artificial tree for a table (one out of reach of pets!) and decorate it entirely in edible ornamentations? Think popcorn or cereal garlands, candy canes, and, of course, cookies. Just don't expect it to last until Christmas day!

Booze Balls
Source: Food Network
Yield: 4-1/2 dozen one-inch balls

• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (12 ounces!)


• 20 chocolate wafer cookies (about 1/2 a 9-ounce box)


• ½ cup finely chopped pitted dried plums (about 15)


• ½ cup confectioners' sugar


• ¼ cup bourbon or 1/3 to 1/2 cup brandy


• ¼ cup sweetened condensed milk


• ¼ cup granulated sugar, or colored decorating sugars, for garnish

Put chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on medium power for a minute. Stir and repeat until the chocolate melts, about 3 minutes in all depending on the power of your microwave. Alternatively, put the chocolates in a heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with 1-inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl on the pan (without touching the water). Stir occasionally until melted and smooth.

Process the cookies in a food processor until finely ground (you should have about 1 1/2 cups ground cookies). Alternatively, put cookies inside a heavy re-sealable plastic bag and crush by moving a rolling pin over the cookies.

Stir the cookie crumbs, dried plums, confectioners' sugar, bourbon or brandy, and condensed milk into the chocolate until evenly combined.

Cover and refrigerate the mixture until firm enough to roll into balls, about 45 minutes. Scoop a tablespoon or so of the mixture into small balls with a cookie or small ice cream scoop and set onto a baking sheet or a large plate. Roll each portion by hand into a smooth ball.

Store booze balls in an air tight container at room temperature for a day to allow the flavors to come together. Store balls in the refrigerator for a week or freeze for up to 1 month.

To serve, put the sugar on a plate and roll the balls in it to coat. Serve at room temperature.

Download Booze Balls into MacGourmet.

Cookie Calendar: Holiday Rum Balls

Surprise! I did get to make some cookies this year. True, maybe these unbaked balls are not cookies in the strictest sense, but they were part of the 12 Days of Cookies in 2002. Plus, these sorts of recipes are the closest I can get without an oven.

The taste is kind of like raw cookie dough, with the slightly boozy flavor associated with the usual vanilla extract turned up to 11 with the addition of rum. Also like cookie dough, licking the remainders off the bowl (and my fingers) proved addictive.

I can't report yet how the balls themselves taste, as they need to mature for a couple of days before consumption, sort of like a fruitcake. I'll let you know later if they are a success!

Cookie Tip #16: If you plan to give homemade cookies as gifts, plan on finding some pretty tins to present them in. To keep the cookies from getting covered in each others' crumbs, pick up some cupcake papers to keep each variety separate. Alternatively, it's cute to put each variety in its own clear or decorative cellophane bag (they often sell them in a prominent place with other Wilton baking stuff at craft and discount stores during the holidays, but you can always find them by the cake decorating supplies) and then pile the bags in a gift basket.

Holiday Rum Balls
Source: Lynn Kearney of Food Network Kitchens
Yield: 3 dozen balls (but we only got 2 dozen)

• 2 cups fine vanilla wafer crumbs


• 1 ½ cups confectioner's sugar, divided


• ½ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped fine


• ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon dark rum


• ¼ cup dark corn syrup


• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

In a large bowl combine wafer crumbs, 1 cup confectioners' sugar, walnuts, rum, corn syrup, butter and knead together. Roll into 1 inch balls and then into remaining confectioners' sugar. Arrange rum balls on a baking sheet, cover well with plastic wrap and let sit for 48 hours.

Download Holiday Rum Balls into MacGourmet.