Lindor Truffle Peanut Butter Blossoms

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I spent this past weekend working on a huge tea party. I made vegetarian Cornish pasties, three kinds of pie (including this one), and two flavors of scones for 100 guests. I’ve done parties for 300+, but this event was my Everest. Note to bakers everywhere: if you’re making pastry for 100, spring for a sous chef. It’s been three full days since that party, and I still haven’t fully recovered.

Since I’m all pastried out, I’m keeping it simple today with these Lindor Truffle Peanut Butter Blossoms. That’s right, classic Peanut Butter Blossoms are dressed up with milk chocolate Lindt Lindor Truffles!

The cookie base is rich, chewy, and chock-full of peanut butter flavor. And did I mention that it just happens to be gluten-free? That’s right–there’s no wheat flour in these little cookies 😊 The structure comes from a combination of creamy peanut butter, eggs, and cornstarch. Add a little baking powder, and the resulting cookies come out super soft and puffy.

Oh, I almost forgot the best part–these peanut butter cookies come together in less than half an hour and don’t require a chill!

While you could certainly serve the peanut butter cookies by their lonesome, it’s the holidays, so they are just screaming for a little something extra! Peanut Butter Blossoms are traditionally made with Hershey’s Kisses–and you may certainly go that route here–but why not try something a little more decadent? Lindt Lindor Truffles are everywhere this time of year. I’m not a huge candy person, but I can’t resist their chocolate shells and creamy ganache centers. Here, they’re pressed into the tops of our warm peanut butter cookies, making every bite creamy and luxurious. I prefer the milk chocolate variety, but you may use dark chocolate or any other flavor you like. A warning, however, that Lindor Truffles do contain gluten (a fact which I somehow overlooked until right before I hit publish today). If you or one of your guests must be gluten-free, I suggest using the traditional Hershey’s Kisses or any other gluten-free chocolate you enjoy.

Seriously, y’all. These little cookies are so good–perfect for all your holiday parties and cookie swaps. Lindor Truffle Peanut Butter Blossoms are guaranteed holiday crowd pleaser ❤️💚

Lindor Truffle Peanut Butter Blossoms
makes about 2 dozen cookies

1 1/2 cups creamy-style peanut butter* (almost an entire 16.3 ounce jar; I used Skippy)
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/8 teaspoon baking powder
24-25 Lindt Lindor Truffles (I use the Milk Chocolate variety), unwrapped

Preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat peanut butter and light brown sugar until combined. Mix in egg and yolk, followed by vanilla. Beat in cornstarch and baking powder.

Scoop dough in 2 tablespoon increments and roll into balls. Place dough balls at least 2 inches apart on prepared pans. Bake 8-9 minutes, until no longer shiny. Let cool five minutes on the pans before pressing one Lindt Lindor Truffle into the top of each cookie. Let cool and additional ten minutes before removing to a rack or serving plate.

Truffles will re-solidify after several hours at room temperature. They are best eaten with a napkin handy to catch any drips from the ganache centers. Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

Note:

Do not use natural peanut butter here. These cookies need the homogenous texture of creamy-style peanut butter.

Chai Shortbread Snowballs

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Sometimes I make a recipe and like it enough to post it, but then, when I go to make it again, I am disappointed. I feel that way about a few recipes on this site and will be posting better alternatives as we move into 2017.

One that I am out to fix? My Whipped Shortbread Snowballs. They are super buttery and delicious as written, but they are also incredibly fragile. So fragile that coating them in confectioner’s sugar is near impossible. Forget about stacking them in a container or putting them on a cookie tray–they’ll all break. There’s nothing wrong with delicate cookies (I love these Apple Cider Snaps), but I don’t want to make cookies that fall apart the second I go to eat one.

So, how am I going to fix that recipe? Like I do most cookies: I’ll add cornstarch. I love cornstarch. It keeps chewy cookies soft, gives my cakes a tender crumb, and it makes my Chocolate Cream Pie nice and sliceable. Here, it adds just enough structure to these cookies to keep them from crumbling without fundamentally altering the crispy, melty texture. Cornstarch is magic, I tell you. If you want to make a better, sturdier version of my Whipped Shortbread Snowballs, add 1/4 cup of cornstarch when you add the confectioner’s sugar, then follow the recipe as written. Voilà! They’ll still melt in your mouth, but they won’t crumble all over your floors.

I could leave it at that, basically posting the same recipe twice in a year, but that’s not really my style. Today’s shortbread take that classic recipe and turn it up a bit with the addition of chai. Black tea leaves, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and black pepper (yes, black pepper!) are blitzed into the flour before its mixed with the whipped butter, confectioner’s sugar, and cornstarch. The resulting cookies have all the flavors of your favorite chai tea latte. Coat them in more confectioner’s sugar for that signature holiday cookie look and watch them disappear at your next holiday party!

Chai Shortbread Snowballs
makes about 2 dozen cookies

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon black tea leaves (I use PG Tips)
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Coating:
1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar

Preheat oven to 275F. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Set aside.

In a food processor, combine flour, tea leaves, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, black pepper, and salt. Process about 15-20 seconds, until tea leaves are broken down. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer for 1 minute, until light and fluffy. Add confectioner’s sugar and cornstarch, and mix for 1 minute. Turn mixer to high and beat for 6 minutes, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Mix in vanilla. Beat in flour mixture in two installments.

Scoop dough in 2 tablespoon increments and place them at least 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake 14 minutes before rotating pans from top to bottom racks. Bake an additional 12-14 minutes.

Let cookies cool on pans for 5 minutes. Place confectioner’s sugar in a small-medium mixing bowl. Gently coat each cookie in confectioner’s sugar before placing it on a rack to cool completely.

Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

Hot Chocolate Mix

On Gratitude

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Thanksgiving is almost here. In the last few weeks, I’ve posted three new pie recipes, my “ideal” stuffing, and even a couple of holiday breakfast recommendations. I toiled over cranberry sauce this past weekend in a last ditch effort to give you another recipe for your turkey dinners, but realized that you had likely nailed down your menus already.

So today, I have no recipe to share or any pie-making tips. No, today I have something much more important: gratitude. That’s what this holiday is really about anyway. The big meal is nice and all, but it’s not what makes Thanksgiving…well, Thanksgiving.

I’ve mentioned before that 2016 has been a rough year for me. It started off with the amicable end to a meaningful romantic relationship and has been a wild ride ever since. I moved. I switched careers (again). I worked entirely too much. I mourned.

When things don’t go your way, it’s easy to get sullen and nasty. You think too hard about the state of your life and all the things you don’t have instead of the things you do, and suddenly you’re miserable. And people should be allowed to be miserable without explanation. But the thing about misery is that it doesn’t hurt anyone else–it only hurts the person feeling it.

I won’t say that I haven’t been a miserable wreck at all this year. That simply isn’t true. But I have made a point of looking for the good, even if the only decent thing that happened that week is that my bodega finally started carrying the 12-ounce cans of Sugar-Free Red Bull.* If, every night, I can think of one good thing that happened that day, then I must be doing alright. But I have a lot more than one thing for which to be grateful.

*This hasn’t actually happened, but a girl can dream.

1. I am grateful for my family. I have not always been the best sister or daughter. I have put my family through a lot in the last 31 years. But they have always stood up for me and sometimes done things that seemed impossible, and for that I am thankful. This year, my mom came up to New York to help me move. I called to ask in January, and before I could even finish the sentence, she said “I’ll book a ticket.” I had barely packed and it was absolutely freezing, but she never complained once. My parents gave me the best birthday gift ever–they partially funded my girls’ trip to Swans Island, Maine. I really needed that week with my friends. My sisters are my heroes. They have taken more than their fair share of crazy phone calls. Our running text chain is my favorite thing on earth. How lucky that we were all born with the same sense of humor. Bottom line: I won the lottery on families. I have no idea how I got so lucky.

2. I have the best friends in the world. When your life falls apart, it’s your friends who help you put it back together. I could elaborate, but there are too many things to say. And so, I’ll just say thank you.

3. I get to cook and bake all day everyday. When I started really getting into baking, I was working as a nanny. While every family I’ve worked for has allowed me to do some cooking for them, I haven’t really had my heart in full-time childcare in years. When I was feeling stuck professionally earlier this year, a personal chef job seemingly fell out of the sky just when I needed it most. Now, I bake at home in the mornings and cook for a family of four in the afternoons. It’s definitely exhausting, but my heart is in it.

4. I live in New York. I have literally always wanted to live here. I had an idea nine years ago that being a New Yorker would be glamorous, and it is sometimes. The rest of the time, it’s crazy. If you really want to live in New York, prepare to work all the time, pay way too much rent for a tiny apartment, and constantly be hustling. Nothing is easy here. But, nine years in, I feel like I sort of know what I’m doing.

5. I have everything that I need. There is money in my bank account–not a ton, but enough. I have clean, nice clothes. There is always food in my refrigerator. I have a roof over my head.

6. I am grateful for this excellent schnauzer. Her name is Stella. She smells like Fritos and dirt, and she is perfect.

7. I’m grateful for this little corner of the Internet. When I clicked “publish” last year, I had no idea what E2 Bakes would become. It’s a lot of work running a blog: recipe testing, writing into the wee hours, spending money on ingredients. And then there’s the agonizing over whether anyone will read the post I’ve spent 12 hours creating. Thank you to each and every one of you for reading, commenting, liking, sharing, and (most importantly) making these recipes in your kitchens. Nothing makes me happier than hearing how my recipes are working for you.

I may have had a rough year, but as you can see, I have plenty of goodness in my life. I hope you do too! What are you thankful for? Let me know in the comments.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Chocolate Hazelnut Pie

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I’ve only been blogging for a year, but in that limited time I think I’ve given you pie options that will please just about everyone at your holiday table. From a decidedly not-dense Pumpkin Pie to the elegant Black Bottom Pear & Almond Pie to a pecan pie completely devoid of corn syrup, I’ve got you covered. Of course, there’s always that one person who doesn’t care for pie, but they can have Pumpkin Icebox Cake. And for that lunatic who doesn’t like sweets…well, give them thirds on stuffing.

So, what else could I think to bake into a pie this close to Thanksgiving? Well, an entire jar of Nutella. And tons of toasted hazelnuts and chocolate chips. Chocolate Hazelnut Pie, y’all. I’d say I’m sorry for throwing a wrench into your dessert menu plans, but I’m not 😊

This pie, you guys. It’s a thing to behold. It starts the way most do, by rolling out pie dough and fitting it into a pie plate. Pretty standard stuff, but that’s about as classic as this pie gets. Once that pie crust is crimped and beautiful, fill it with the entire contents of a jar of Nutella. Yes, the whole jar (except that spoonful you’re saving for your mid-baking snack). Spread it around with the back of a spoon until it’s in a mostly-even layer. It may not want to stick to the crust at first due to any residual flour, but keep moving the spoon until it does.

Once all that glorious chocolate-hazelnut spread is in the pie crust, put it in the freezer while you make the filling. Toast some hazelnuts in the oven and then envelop them in a clean kitchen towel. Lay the towel on the counter and rub to release the skins from the hazelnuts. This step doesn’t have to be done perfectly, so don’t stress yourself out. If some hazelnuts still have a bit of skin (or a lot of it), they just do. More of the skins will come off when you chop the nuts, but again, don’t make yourself crazy. They’re going in a pie with a bunch of chocolate and Nutella. Nobody’s going to notice an errant fleck of hazelnut skin.

Remove the Nutella-filled pie crust from the freezer and scatter the chopped hazelnuts over the top. Throw in a cup of semisweet chocolate chips, too. And then drown everything in a gooey mixture of dark corn syrup,* sugar, eggs, melted butter, apple cider vinegar, vanilla, and salt. Brush the exposed crust with milk and bake the pie for 50-55 minutes, until golden. And then wait for a seemingly never-ending few hours until you can have a slice.

*Note: Dark Corn Syrup is not the same as High Fructose Corn Syrup. If you still don’t care to use it, I’ve written a substitution in the notes below.

A few words of warning about this Chocolate Hazelnut Pie. 1) It’s a bit gooey and won’t slice completely cleanly, but it isn’t a challenge by any means. 2) This pie is pretty sweet and is best served in small slices. A touch of unsweetened or barely sweetened whipped cream couldn’t hurt. 3) Ignore my suggestions about tiny slices because this nutty, chocolaty pie is a Nutella lover’s dream. Thanksgiving is one day per year. Eat your Nutella-filled pie with gusto and be thankful that it exists. I know I am.

Now, someone come take the last 3/4 of this pie away from me before I eat the whole thing.

Chocolate Hazelnut Pie
makes 1 deep-dish (or standard*) 9-inch pie

1 1/2 cups whole raw hazelnuts
1/2 recipe Cream Cheese Pie Dough or other good crust
1 13 ounce jar Nutella (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 cup dark corn syrup*
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
milk, for brushing
whipped cream, for serving

Place oven racks at the top and bottom positions. Preheat the oven to 350F. Lay hazelnuts in an even layer on an ungreased baking sheet. Toast for 5 minutes. Check to see if they are fragrant and the skins are starting to split. If they aren’t, toast an additional 1-2 minutes. Allow the warm hazelnuts to rest for 2-3 minutes before pouring them onto the middle of a kitchen towel on a flat surface. Fold the kitchen towel over the hazelnuts and then use your hands to rub the towel until the skins release from the hazelnuts. Discard the skins. Roughly chop the hazelnuts. Set aside.

On a floured surface, roll pie dough to a 12-inch diameter. Transfer dough to a deep dish (or standard) pie plate. Trim the excess to 1/2-inch and crimp the edges. Freeze crust for 5 minutes. Use the back of a spoon to spread the Nutella in an even layer over the bottom of the pie crust before freezing for at least 15 more minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together dark corn syrup and granulated sugar. Add eggs one at a time, whisking completely after each addition. Stir in apple cider vinegar, vanilla, and salt. While whisking constantly, drizzle in melted butter.

Remove pie crust from the freezer and lay it on a baking sheet. Sprinkle chopped hazelnuts and semisweet chocolate chips over the layer of Nutella. Pour liquid mixture over the top.* Brush any exposed crust with milk. Bake pie on the bottom rack of the oven for 25 minutes. Move pie to the top rack and very loosely tent with foil. Bake an additional 20 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for 5-10 more minutes, until golden. The filling should jiggle a little when it comes out of the oven, but will solidify within ten minutes.

Let pie cool completely on a rack. Serve in small slices with whipped cream, if desired.

Pie will keep covered at room temperature for up to three days, or in the refrigerator for up to five.

Notes:

1. A deep-dish pie plate is recommended for this pie, but a standard will work. If you use a standard pie plate, you may have some leftover filling.
2. If you do not wish to use dark corn syrup, you may make a substitute with molasses and Lyle’s Golden Syrup (or mild honey). Pour 1/4 cup molasses in the bottom of a liquid measuring cup. Add 3/4 cup Lyle’s Golden Syrup. Stir. Continue with recipe as written.
3. If you are using a standard pie plate, you may have some leftover liquid mixture.

e2 bakes brooklyn

sweets & sass from a baking brooklynite.

Lindor Truffle Peanut Butter Blossoms

Chai Shortbread Snowballs

Hot Chocolate Mix

On Gratitude

Chocolate Hazelnut Pie