Bake the Book: Convent Cookies

Bake the Book: Convent Cookies might be a good recipe to expand your dessert recipe box. This lacto ovo vegetarian recipe serves 36 and costs 20 cents per serving. One serving contains 127 calories, 2g of protein, and 8g of fat. 6 people have made this recipe and would make it again. This recipe from Serious Eats requires unsalted butter, slivered almonds, whole almonds, and salt. From preparation to the plate, this recipe takes around 45 minutes. All things considered, we decided this recipe deserves a spoonacular score of 10%. This score is not so spectacular. If you like this recipe, take a look at these similar recipes: Bake the Book: Anise Cookies, Bake the Book: Shortbread Cookies, and Bake the Book: Scribble Cookies.

Servings: 36

 

Ingredients:

2 egg whites

5 egg yolks

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1/4 teaspoon salt

Sliced or slivered almonds, for topping

1 cup sugar, plus extra for topping

7 ounces (scant 1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup water

1 cup whole almonds, skins on

Equipment:

oven

baking sheet

frying pan

sauce pan

wooden spoon

spatula

food processor

bowl

baking paper

wire rack

Cooking instruction summary:

Procedures 1 Preheat the oven to 350°F.  2 Place the almonds on a baking sheet and toast until golden in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Place a nonstick mat on a baking sheet or lightly grease the pan.  3 Combine the 1 cup sugar and the water in a small saucepan, wiping the edges with a wet brush or your wet hands so no crystals form, and cook until it turns a golden caramel color. Add the almonds and stir quickly with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon. Pour onto the prepared baking sheet. Let cool, and then grind in a food processor until the consistency resembles little sugar rocks but not powder.  4 Cream the butter in a mixer until pale and fluffy, and then add the egg yolks, one at a time. In a small bowl, combine the salt and flour and add gradually to the batter, scraping the sides as needed. Add the ground caramelized almonds until just combined.  5 Put about one-fourth of the mixture between two pieces of parchment paper (the size of your baking sheet) and roll out to about 1/4-inch thickness. Keeping the rolled-out mixture between the parchment sheets, transfer to the baking sheet then place in the freezer for 10 minutes; repeat the process with the rest of the dough. Remove the baking sheets from the freezer, one at a time, beginning with the one that has been in the freezer the longest. Carefully peel off one of the parchment pieces to expose the cookie dough, and then put it back lightly, flip over the cookie dough, and peel off the other sheet. (This step makes the cookies easier to handle.) 6 Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut out 21/2-inch circles of dough (or whatever shape you desire) and place on the baking sheet. Repeat the process with the rest of the dough and gather the scraps to roll again. The scraps can be rerolled up to three times. If the dough starts to feel sticky, refrigerate or freeze it briefly.  7 Preheat the oven to 350°F. 8 Beat the egg whites lightly and brush the tops of the cookies. Decorate with sliced or slivered almonds and a bit of sugar. Bake until the edges begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

Step by step:


1. 1

2. Preheat the oven to 350°F. 

3. 2

4. Place the almonds on a baking sheet and toast until golden in the center, 8 to 10 minutes.

5. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

6. Place a nonstick mat on a baking sheet or lightly grease the pan. 

7. 3

8. Combine the 1 cup sugar and the water in a small saucepan, wiping the edges with a wet brush or your wet hands so no crystals form, and cook until it turns a golden caramel color.

9. Add the almonds and stir quickly with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon.

10. Pour onto the prepared baking sheet.

11. Let cool, and then grind in a food processor until the consistency resembles little sugar rocks but not powder. 

12. 4

13. Cream the butter in a mixer until pale and fluffy, and then add the egg yolks, one at a time. In a small bowl, combine the salt and flour and add gradually to the batter, scraping the sides as needed.

14. Add the ground caramelized almonds until just combined. 

15. 5

16. Put about one-fourth of the mixture between two pieces of parchment paper (the size of your baking sheet) and roll out to about 1/4-inch thickness. Keeping the rolled-out mixture between the parchment sheets, transfer to the baking sheet then place in the freezer for 10 minutes; repeat the process with the rest of the dough.

17. Remove the baking sheets from the freezer, one at a time, beginning with the one that has been in the freezer the longest. Carefully peel off one of the parchment pieces to expose the cookie dough, and then put it back lightly, flip over the cookie dough, and peel off the other sheet. (This step makes the cookies easier to handle.)

18. 6

19. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

20. Cut out 21/2-inch circles of dough (or whatever shape you desire) and place on the baking sheet. Repeat the process with the rest of the dough and gather the scraps to roll again. The scraps can be rerolled up to three times. If the dough starts to feel sticky, refrigerate or freeze it briefly. 

21. 7

22. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

23. 8

24. Beat the egg whites lightly and brush the tops of the cookies. Decorate with sliced or slivered almonds and a bit of sugar.

25. Bake until the edges begin to brown, about 10 minutes.

26. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.


Nutrition Information:

Quickview
126k Calories
2g Protein
7g Total Fat
12g Carbs
1% Health Score
Limit These
Calories
126k
6%

Fat
7g
12%

  Saturated Fat
3g
20%

Carbohydrates
12g
4%

  Sugar
5g
6%

Cholesterol
38mg
13%

Sodium
21mg
1%

Get Enough Of These
Protein
2g
5%

Vitamin E
1mg
10%

Manganese
0.17mg
8%

Vitamin B2
0.11mg
7%

Selenium
4µg
7%

Folate
20µg
5%

Vitamin B1
0.08mg
5%

Phosphorus
43mg
4%

Magnesium
15mg
4%

Vitamin A
173IU
3%

Iron
0.62mg
3%

Fiber
0.82g
3%

Copper
0.06mg
3%

Vitamin B3
0.63mg
3%

Calcium
19mg
2%

Zinc
0.27mg
2%

Vitamin D
0.22µg
1%

Potassium
50mg
1%

Vitamin B5
0.14mg
1%

covered percent of daily need
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Food Trivia

Cooking food is one of the great revolutionary innovations of history because it not only transformed the way we prepare food, but because it also became a center of cultural communion and organized society.

Food Joke

I tried not to be biased in hiring a handicapped person, but his placement counselor assured me that he would be a good, reliable busboy. I had never had a mentally-handicapped employee, and I wasn't sure I wanted one. I wasn't sure how my customers would react to Stevie. He was short, a little dumpy, and had the smooth facial features and thick-tongued speech of Down Syndrome. I wasn't worried about most of my trucker customers because truckers don't generally care who buses tables as long as the meatloaf platter is good and the pies are homemade. The four-wheeler drivers were the ones who concerned me; the mouthy college kids traveling to school; the yuppie snobs who secretly polish their silverware with their napkins for fear of catching some dreaded "truck stop germ;" the pairs of white-shirted business men on expense accounts who think every truck stop waitress wants to be flirted with. I knew those people would be uncomfortable around Stevie so I closely watched him for the first few weeks. I shouldn't have worried. After the first week, Stevie had my staff wrapped around his stubby little finger, and within a month my truck regulars had adopted him as their official truck stop mascot. After that, I really didn't care what the rest of the customers thought of him. He was like a 21-year-old in blue jeans and Nikes, eager to laugh and eager to please, but fierce in his attention to his duties. Every salt and pepper shaker was exactly in its place, not a bread crumb or coffee spill was visible when Stevie got done with the table. Our only problem was convincing him to wait to clean a table until after the customers were finished. He would hover in the background, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, scanning the dining room until a table was empty. Then he would scurry to the empty table and carefully bus the dishes and glasses onto a cart and meticulously wipe the table up with a practiced flourish of his rag. If he thought a customer was watching, his brow would pucker with added concentration. He took pride in doing his job exactly right, and you had to love how hard he tried to please each and every person he met. Over time, we learned that he lived with his mother, a widow who was disabled after repeated surgeries for cancer. They lived on their Social Security benefits in public housing two miles from the truck stop. Their social worker, who stopped to check on him every so often, admitted they had fallen between the cracks. Money was tight, and what I paid him was probably the difference between them being able to live together and Stevie being sent to a group home. That's why the restaurant was a gloomy place that morning last August, the first morning in three years that Stevie had missed work. He was at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester getting a new valve or something put in his heart. His social worker said that people with Down Syndrome often had heart problems at an early age so this wasn't unexpected, and there was a good chance he would come through the surgery in good shape and be back at work in a few months. A ripple of excitement ran through the staff later that morning when word came that he was out of surgery, in recovery and doing fine. Frannie, my head waitress, let out a war whoop and did a little dance in the aisle when she heard the good news. Belle Ringer, one of our regular trucker customers, stared at the sight of the 50-year-old grandmother of four doing a victory shimmy beside his table. Frannie blushed, smoothed her apron and shot Belle Ringer a withering look. He grinned. "OK, Frannie, what was that all about?" he asked. "We just got word that Stevie is out of surgery and going to be okay." "I was wondering where he was. I had a new joke to tell him. What was the surgery about?" Frannie quickly told Belle Ringer and the other two drivers sitting at his booth about Stevie's surgery, then sighed. "Yeah, I'm glad he is going to be OK," she said, "but I don't know how he and his mom are going to handle all the bills. From what I hear, they're barely getti.

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