flourless peanut butter cookies

while we're on the subject of flourless cookies (i swear, HOW did i not know about this stuff?!) here's another one for you! and let me just reiterate that i'm totally into this flourless cookie thing because they also happen to not contain a great deal of added fats, so i can feel pretty awesome about eating them.

so apparently, these flourless peanut butter cookies have been an internet sensation for quite some time but i didn't discover them until a recent thekitchn post. these cookies are dangerously easy to make and quite yummy. if you don't like peanut butter, these might not be the cookies for you. a couple of pointers when making these cookies:

1. don't smush them down too flat! i may or may not have done this and some of my cookies turned out rather biscuit like (not necessarily a bad thing). if you leave them a bit thicker, you'll get a chewy center. mmmm.
2. i added chocolate chips to some of the tops of mine. definitely recommended: peanut butter and chocolate, you just can't go wrong.

sensational peanut butter cookies (from thekitchn)
makes 18 cookies

• 1 cup peanut butter (ALWAYS natural chunky peanut butter. i also happened to use salted because that's what i had, which was fine, but i wouldn't necessarily recommend it).
• 3/4 cup natural cane sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• additional sugar for rolling

• preheat oven to 375.
• mix all the ingredients up in a bowl. roll walnut-sized pieces into balls and roll balls in the additional sugar.
  
• place on a parchment-lined (or foil-whatever you have) baking sheet and flatten slightly with a fork in a crisscross pattern.
  
• push chocolate chips into dough
  
• bake for 10 minutes. remove and let cool before removing from baking sheet.

flourless chocolate cookies at café angelique

isn't it amazing when you discover something you should have already known about? this is precisely what happened to me last weekend when my blood sugar took a dangerous dip and the search for caffeine got desperate. sadly, it always seems to be my mother that witnesses these episodes (saint that she is). "i think there's a place around this corner," i gasped. moments later, we walked into cafe angelique in soho. the last thing i expected to find was a flourless chocolate cookie. seriously, how did i never know such a cookie existed?!

and what a cookie it was...these ones were very plump and tall, crispy on the outside and dense and fudgy on the inside. serious chocolate hit. walnuts provided a good chocolate contrast and additional crunchiness. chocoholics unite! even more surprising was the simplicity of the core ingredients: egg whites, cocoa, sugar, and walnuts. so, they were practically healthy! and at $2.50 each, almost a bargain.


here's a recipe to try from nymag (although i haven't attempted it yet, so no guarantees here).

françois payard’s flourless chocolate-walnut cookies (courtesy of nymag.com)

• 2 3/4 cups walnut halves
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons unsweetened dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

• preheat oven to 350. spread the walnut halves on a large-rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 9 minutes, until they are golden and fragrant.
  
• let cool slightly, then transfer the walnut halves to a work surface and coarsely chop them.
• position two racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and lower temperature to 320. line two large-rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
• in a large bowl, whisk (or combine in an electric mixer on low speed) the confectioners’ sugar with the cocoa powder and salt followed by the chopped walnuts. While whisking (or once you change the speed to medium), add the egg whites and vanilla extract and beat just until the batter is moistened (do not overbeat or it will stiffen).
  
• spoon the batter onto the baking sheets in 12 evenly spaced mounds, and bake for 14 to 16 minutes, until the tops are glossy and lightly cracked; shift the pans from front to back and top to bottom halfway through to ensure even baking.
  
• slide the parchment paper (with the cookies) onto 2 wire racks. let cookies cool completely, and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

cafecito

There once was a time when two girls were just starting out their formidable years at NYU. However, these were not ordinary NYU girls. These girls were broke and instantly became friends. Friend number one (let's call her zo) got a job on campus. Friend number two (let's call her sarah), found the glistening path of waitressing. She chose a small cuban restaurant on avenue c, with a nice long cozy bar and friendly neighborhood clientele. Friend number one (zo) was happy to visit whenever possible and consume as many sangrias/mango margaritas/mojitos as were placed in front of her.

Then one day, the unthinkable happened. Friend number two found a Real Job—a full-time one. Friend number 1 was heartbroken, not so much because of the occasional free snacks she would no longer be enjoying (although they were nice), but more so because she had so enjoyed having a regular place to visit where she sat and chatted with the other waitresses, the busboys knew her face, and the manager kept his eye on her and how many drinks she was downing/tostones she was eating.


The two girls graduated and friend number one also found full time work. Friend number two's Real Job paid so poorly that she started to pick up shifts again on the weekends. Friend number one was sympathetic but excited to have the excuse to visit cafecito regularly again. She would spend the better part of her Saturdays hunkered down at the bar, talking to the other bar regulars and the staff, until friend number two finished her shift and the two sat to share a meal.

Friend number one’s cafecito favorites:

• mojitos and mango margaritas: mmm

• ensalada de pollo: delicious, filling and satisfying, without the guilt of a more
common cuban meal

• ensalada de camarones en escabeche: a refreshing lettuce-less salad

• pollo cafecito: deeee-lish

• YELLOW rice and BLACK beans (not white and red): in my opinion, few places do better and no meal is complete without them

• Plantains (tostones and maduros): so hard to choose between that i have often made sarah venture into the kitchen to make me a “combo plate”. And no, you can’t actually order it. The tostones come with a garlic sauce that is so wonderfully strong, I smell like it for days.

• CHIMICHURRI: I put it on everything

• Flourless chocolate cake: surprising, I know, but cafecito has one of the top 3 flourless chocolate cakes I have ever had. It’s light and fluffy with a perfect crispy top. It’s topped off with dulce de leche and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

If sick, be sure to stick to a sangria spritzer and chicken soup (with lime).

One of my--ahem, I mean, friend number one's favorite restaurants in new york city. Period.

a trip to the other coast (cont'd)

NUMBER 2 - THE BUCHE (de noel)


This one ranks a bit higher than the others since it's a once a year thing. For as long as I can remember, the only Christmas celebration activity done in my family was going to my mom's friend's house for Christmas dinner. My mom (fabulous baker that she is) was in charge of one thing: the Bûche de Noël. It's a thin flourless chocolate jelly roll cake rolled up with fresh whipped cream and then lightly frosted and dusted with powdered sugar. My mom always used a recipe from the Silver Palate cookbook but a similar recipe "Lighter-Than-Air Chocolate Roll" is here. In my wheat glory days, the branch stemming off from the rest of the log was a frosted Twinkie, which all of the kids would fight over.