Tuesday, May 12, 2009

COOKIE MAKES A COMEBACK '09 • MAPLE PISTACHIO CRÈMES

The post should have been titled "I'm a Freaking Awesome Sister," 'cause I really didn't want to make any cookies for this cookie shebang Whit's running. At this particular verse of "My Life," it appears that I just don't belong in the kitchen. But if nothing else I'm supportive (What, making the button wasn't enough?), so this Sunday-last I found myself in the kitchen putting together some Maple Pistachio Crèmes from Hannah Kaminsky's My Sweet Vegan.

Were I to make these again, being the maple-taste-fan that I am (Didn't know that? Well now you know; give me a maple bar and you'll have yourself a sticky slave.), I think I'd boost the maple syrup in the cookies and perhaps in the creme as well.

Anyhow, I think the point of this nonsense is to post the recipe, so here goes. Once again, I snatched it from My Sweet Vegan. You should know that Miss Kaminsky was 18 when she published this little marvel. Awe-inspiring.
Ingredients for the Cookies:
1/2 cup • Margarine [which sounds evil I know, but use Earth Balance Buttery Sticks and you've got it made]
2/3 cup • Maple Syrup
2 3/4 cups • All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon • Baking Powder
1 teaspoon • Vanilla Extract
1/4 teaspoon • Salt

Ingredients for the Pistachio Crème:
1 cup • Shelled Raw Pistachios or 2/3 cup Pistachio Butter
1/4 cup • Plain Soy Creamer
3 tablespoons • Maple Syrup
1/2 teaspoon • Vanilla

Directions:
• "Preheat your oven to 350ºF and line two baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper.

• In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the margarine and then stir in the maple syrup. Add in 2 cups of the flour, along with the baking power, vanilla, and salt. Stir the batter until all of the ingredients are fully combined. Add in the remainder of the flour and combine. The batter should be rather thick, so resist the temptation to add more and combine. Scoop out walnut-sized balls and roll them in your hands to make them nicely rounded. Place the balls onto your prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, but don't' want for them to brown. Once the cookies firm up a bit, and no longer appear moist on top, they are done! Let the cookies cool on the sheets.


• To make the pistachio crème, toss the pistachios into your food processor and pulverize them for up to 10 minutes, so that they become relatively smooth and paste-like. With the motor-running, drizzle in the soy creamer, followed by the maple syrup and vanilla. Process until completely combined and smooth. Once the cookies are fully cooled, drop a dollop of the crème (about 1 to 2 teaspoons) onto the flat side of one cookie, and top with a second cookie. Repeat with the remaining cookies.


• Makes 12 to 18 sandwich cookies." (Which I clearly didn't make, as I wasn't feeling sandwichy . . . )


So this little experience taught me that you food bloggers are off your rockers.
Typing up that whole recipe wasn't any fun at all. What's wrong with you?

Sure do love you, Whit. And I'm awfully glad that your Cookie Comeback comes only once a year. It'll be one of the few times a year I don't make cookies from a Cherrybrook Kitchen mix.

6 comments:

rabidrunner said...

I'm a maple snob. Cannot, will not, won't ever eat anything but Maple Syrup taken from the tree. I went to a wedding in Vermont last summer and came back with three big jugs of maple syrup - the best ever. It's gone now. Wanna go to Vermont with me? It's worth it!

While in Vermont they had these awesome maple cookies everywhere. I kept thinking I was going to find a recipe for a maplish cookie and make 'em. Now I'll try yours.

In regards to the cookie comeback, do we have to do the picture hooplah? If so, I ain't playin.

Megan said...

I don't care what SHE says, pictures are not necessary at all. Probably preferred, except that you are one of those people who take pictures with something other than cameras like Whitney and my chic teeny Sonys (okay, not cheek or that cool, but mine is neato cause it has 12.1 megapixels. But then again, hers is pink, so I guess she wins the dumb camera award) and you even have a blog of pictures. So if you don't, where's your excuse?

We have a fabulous neighborhood grocery market and that's where I found legitimate maple syrup that didn't deplete Sophie's college tuition fund. But I can't guarantee it came from Vermont (as the bottle's been trashed), and I deserve some Vermont Maple Syrup; we all do.

The Fear Fam said...

I lived in Vermont most of my childhood, so I have been spoiled by real maple syrup as well. And those leaf-shaped maple candies as well.

Mmmm.

Ok, now I think I'm going to have to try this recipe, for nostalgia purposes if nothing else.

rabidrunner said...

It's not the actualy photo that scares me, it's the un-photogenic kitchen. All right, I'll consider it.

whitneyingram said...

I just noticed you went into my post and added the little accent in creme. You are crazy meticulous. But I like it.

whitneyingram said...

And rabid, you don't have to have pictures. And I don't have to accept your submission.




kidding. But not really.