the sweet gourmand

Yayy Merry Christmas!  I will attempt to finish up my cookie posts today…
This was the third cookie in my assortment.  The cookie is actually pretty great, considering I usually like the thick and moist chocolate chip cookies.  But, after I had City Bakery’s thin and chewy chocolate chip cookie in NY, I found a new light!  These cookies aren’t “crisp” as in they will break in half if you bend them… but the outside is crisp and still pretty chewy when you bite into it.  Buttery and delicious.

The only unfortunate thing about these cookies is that I realized how I don’t really like cashews in baked goods as much as I like other nuts… to be honest, I don’t even know why I had this half used bag of cashews in my house!  I just found them in the freezer and wanted to use them up, so I found this recipe from Claudia Fleming’s “The Last Course.”  Next time, I would probably make this with a different nut hehe…  I also had white chocolate to use up, and thought they would go great with the cashews, so I turned her recipe into a triple chocolate one.  Yum yum.

I actually at first tried to roll them into logs and cut slices like I usually like to do with other Christmas cookies… but alas, my rolls were too large in diameter and they spread like CRAZY… so I had to take my slices and divide them in half.  It was a big mess.  I’d say, just stick to rolling teaspoonfuls.

Recipes usually say they make way more cookies than they actually do… In this case, it says 10 dozen small cookies.  I dunno if it ACTUALLY makes 10 dozen, b/c I didn’t count mine.  But, I do know, that it made a heck of a lot of cookies!!! They didn’t seem to end…… Mainly b/c you have you shape them so small since they spread so much to make the thin chewy cookie.  So just be prepared!  You will be making lots and lots of cashew crisps.

Triple Chocolate Cashew Crisps
Adapted from Claudia Fleming’s “The Last Course”
Makes about 10 dozen small cookies

2 1/2 cups toasted cashews
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks, 8 oz.) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Grated zest of 1 orange
2 large eggs
1 3/4 tsp baking soda
4 oz white chocolate, chopped
4 oz milk chocolate, chopped
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

1.  Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Bake nuts until golden brown, 7 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2.  In a food processor, finely grind 1/2 cup of cashews with 1 tbsp flour.  Add ground nut mixture to remaining flour and mix in salt.  Corasely chop remaining 2 cups of nuts.

 3.  With an electric mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes.  Add vanilla and orange zest and beat well to combine.  Add eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.

4.  In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 tsp walter.  Add mixture to butter mixture and beat to combine.  Add flour mixture in two batches, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.  Stir in chocolate and remaining cashews.  Refrigerate dough for a couple of hours or overnight.

5.   Preheat oven to 325ºF.  Form heaping teaspoons of dough into balls and place them 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.  Bake cookes until golden brown, about 15 min., rotating sheets halfway.  Store in airtight container.