Beware the holiday cookie monster

(I had to make these Limoncello-Glazed Ricotta Drops from Lynne of My Gourmet Connection)

Uh, oh ....

I feel the onslaught of the holiday cookie monster approaching.

That's right — it's that time of year when you simply cannot bake enough cookies or try enough cookie recipes to appease that holiday monster.

For me, it started with Eat Christmas Cookies, Season Two: Christmas Cookies from Around the World over at Food Blogga. There you will find an assortment of cookie recipes to make your mouth water, and bring out that cookie monster in all of us.

I started with Lynne of My Gourmet Connection's Limoncello-Glazed Ricotta Drops, which turned out beautifully (see photo, above). I'm a sucker for lemon, and these cookies fit the bill on many levels — not too sweet, packed with flavor (I love limoncello!) and a nice cakey texture.

And if you have finished preparing the bulk of your Thanksgiving meal (check out today's Busy Cook for side dishes to complement it) and are looking for a fun finish to the feast that is different, give this recipe from Gannett News Service for homemade fortune cookies a try. You can write up individual messages to suit your guests or write down all the things for which you are grateful.

Times are tough, but there are still plenty of things to be thankful for. Let's all take some time this week to remember them.

Happy Thanksgiving!

(Homemade fortune cookies can be made in different flavors/Gannett News Service photo)

Fortune cookies can hold more than a prophecy. The creases of the crispy cookies also make perfect places for tucking a note of gratitude.

Homemade cookies are crisp only on the edges with a slightly chewy center. Even the simplest of recipes offer more flavor than the packaged variety, with just a touch of sweet.
Expect the batter to be thin, but after it is poured onto a silicone mat for baking, the baked result is easy to fold before you set its shape. Begin by cooking only two cookies at once, just to get the hang of the folding process.

A Silpat, the brand name for the silicone mats available at cookware stores, is recommended for these cookies, as it makes them easier to remove from the baking sheet.

Fortune Cookies

1. Nonstick spray
2. 2 egg whites
3. 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
4. 1/2 cup superfine sugar
5. 1 teaspoon almond extract (or vanilla extract)
6. 2 tablespoons water
7. Pinch salt
8. 16 notes (or fortunes) written on strips of paper
   

• Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.
• On half of a sheet tray, spray a Silpat with nonstick spray.
• In a medium bowl, whisk egg whites until foamy.
• Add the flour, sugar, extract, water and salt to the egg whites and beat until smooth, about 30 seconds.
• Pour or spoon 1 tablespoon of batter onto prepared Silpat and spread with the back of a spoon into a very thin 4-inch circle.
• Repeat on the other half of the sheet, making only 2 cookies per sheet tray.
• Bake the cookies on middle rack of oven until golden brown around edges, about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and, working very quickly with an offset spatula, remove cookie from baking sheet and place a fortune in the center of the round.
• Fold to create a half circle.
• Bend pointed edges of cookie toward each other. This should be done quickly since the cookie will become hard and brittle within 10 seconds.
• Let cool.

Makes 16 cookies.

Source: Paula Deen, Food Network personality and cookbook author

(Personalize your fortune cookie message with thankful thoughts/Gannett News Service photo)

Cocoa Fortune Cookies

1. 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
2. 4 large egg whites
3. 1 cup superfine sugar
4. 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
5. 3 tablespoons Dutch cocoa
6. Pinch salt
7. 3 tablespoons heavy cream
8. 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
9. 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
10. 50 notes (or fortunes) written on strips of paper
    

• Heat oven to 400 degrees.
• In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter; set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the egg whites and sugar, and beat on medium speed until frothy, about 30 seconds.
• Add the flour, cocoa and salt, and beat until combined.
• Add the melted butter, cream, almond extract and vanilla extract, and beat until combined, about 30 seconds.
• Drop a heaping teaspoon of batter onto a Silpat baking mat fitted in a baking pan, or use a nonstick baking sheet.
• Repeat with the remaining batter, spacing dollops at least 5 inches apart.
• Using the back of a tablespoon, spread each one into a 4-inch circle.
• Place baking pan in oven and bake the favors until the edges darken slightly, about 5 minutes.
• Transfer the baking pan to a heat-resistant surface. Working quickly, slide an offset spatula under a cookie and flip it over.
• Roll the cookie into a loose tube, and insert a paper fortune into the middle so that both the edges extend from the cookie.
• Using your index finger, make an indentation in the center of the tube, then pinch each end together with your other hand.
• Repeat the rolling-and-folding process with remaining cookies.
• Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.

Makes 50 cookies.

Source: Martha Stewart Weddings, 1998

Hazelnut Fortune Cookies

1. 1 egg white
2. 1 teaspoon hazelnut extract
3. 1 ounce hazelnut paste
4. 1/4 cup sugar
5. 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6. 3 tablespoons butter, melted but cooled
7. 1 cup chocolate, melted
8. 1/2 cup hazelnuts, chopped
9. 12 notes (or fortunes) written on strips of paper
10. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
    

• Lightly whip the egg white, hazelnut extract, hazelnut paste and sugar.
• Sift the flour and mix into the egg white until smooth.
• Stir in the butter.
• Using a template for a 3 1/2-half inch round, spread the batter on a sheet pan lined with a Silpat. (If you don’t have a template, you can drop 2 teaspoons of batter onto the sheet pan and spread evenly into a 3 and one-half inch circle.)
• Bake for approximately 5 minutes, until the edges become brown.
• Remove from the oven.
• One at a time and working quickly, turn a cookie over, place a fortune in the center of the cookie.
• Draw opposite edges towards the center, slightly overlapping, and then fold the ends downwards, in half.
• You can fold over the rim of a bowl.
• Cookies will crisp as they cool.
• When cool, coat the outer rim with melted chocolate and roll in chopped hazelnuts.

Makes 10 to 12 cookies.

Source: Pastry chef Anne Knewston, Dragonfish Asian Cafe, Portland, Oregon

Five-Spice Fortune Cookies

1. Butter for baking sheets
2. 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3. 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder (available at Asian markets or specialty stores.)
4. 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
5. 2 large egg whites
6. 16 notes (or fortunes) written on strips of paper
   

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat to 400 degrees.
• Butter a 6-inch-wide strip lengthwise across middle of two baking sheets (from one short side to the other).
• Sift together flour, five-spice powder and a pinch of salt into a bowl, and stir in sugar.
• Whisk egg whites in a bowl just until foamy.
• Add flour mixture and whisk until smooth.
• Put 2 teaspoons batter on one side of buttered area of one baking sheet and spread evenly into a round about 3 and one-half inches in diameter using back of a spoon or a small offset spatula.
• Place 2 teaspoons more batter on other half of buttered area and form another round.
• Bake rounds until golden around edge and paler gold in center, 5 to 6 minutes.
• Remove rounds from oven and, working quickly, flip one cookie over on baking sheet with a spatula.
• Transfer same cookie to a work surface, then put a fortune in center of inverted cookie and fold cookie in half (cookie will be hot).
• Lift up cookie with both hands by corners and press center of folded bottom edge perpendicularly against the edge of a countertop, making a crease.
• Continue folding in same direction to bring corners together to create a C shape.
• Hold for a few seconds while cookie cools and shape sets, then set aside to cool.
• Quickly invert and fold second hot cookie, this time working on baking sheet to keep cookie warm and malleable.
• Make two more cookies in same manner on second buttered baking sheet, then continue with remaining batter, using a buttered cool baking sheet for each batch.

Makes about 16 cookies.

Source: Adapted from Sara Moulton, Gourmet, September 2003