San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Walnuts and amaro transform a basic treat into a decadent adult dessert
I used to work at a cafe where I had to bake an acutely distressing cookie. The process started out by chilling and portioning the dough. When it was time to bake, I'd first place spoon anchors on each corner of a sheet pan so the parchment wouldn't flip up in the warm convection wind and stick to the raw dough (this worked about of the time). Then these ginger-molasses cookies needed to be rotated at three minutes, individually punched down with the back of a spoon and sprinkled with demerara sugar at six minutes, cooled on the sheet pan and then carefully transferred to a cooling rack.
They were very popular, delicious cookies, but they left me with a burn scar and emotions that are triggered every time I want to bake cookies. Cookies are supposed to be cute and easy. In my experience, they're deceptively a lot more work.
With that in mind, this week's recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars with Walnut & Amaro is about 86% less fussy than making cookies, but absolutely worthy of nestling into a holiday cookie tin or bringing to your cookie exchange party. Really, they are ideal for anytime snacking and still moist (with a crunchy topping) on day two or three.
The batter is relatively straightforward: Butter and sugar are creamed together before the usual suspects are added, yielding a tender, moist cookie bar. What sets
Choose a citrusy brand of amaro such as Amaro Montenegro or R. Jelinek to flavor these cookie bars.
these cookie bars apart are the walnuts that make the dough taste nutty, sour cream for tangy moisture, and bitter-sweet amaro.
Sometimes saying “bitter” can feel divisive — especially when describing the taste of food. If you're not familiar with amaro, it's an Italian liquor that is quite varied and adds flavor profiles to baked goods in ways that not other flavoring agent can. Amari (plural for amaro) can taste like dried orange to orange blossom to very minty and herbaceous to dark, chocolatey and vegetal. There are several kinds you may be familiar with, like Fernet Branca. I prefer more citrusy amari like Amaro Montenegro or even the Czech version called R. Jelinek. To reinforce that flavor, I add orange zest to the batter.
The topping of the cookie bar is where most of the cookie-like texture
comes from, and it's also where the chocolate is added. But, instead of folding chocolate chips into the batter, I simply press them into the top. Then, I add a generous sugary coating, which melts, browns and becomes a crisp, glassy glaze. As you bite into it, the cookie bar's topping crumbles and melts in your mouth, and the nutty base feels soft and moist.
Some of you may love baking cookies, and to that I say keep baking them! But, remember these cookie bars the next time you want an easy-bake solution.