Monday, December 19, 2016

Dallas Holiday Bakeoff 2016: Sue Ellen's Black and White Cookies

Dallas Holiday Bakeoff 2016: Sue Ellen's Black and White Cookies

This Year's Dallas Holiday Bakeoff is a contest between the Shepard sisters. Click here for Kristin's entry.

Kristin may have been the more devious Shepard sister, but Sue Ellen was definitely the classier one. Nobody exudes style like Sue Ellen. Among her many memorable looks, the most iconic was the black and white dress from the fourth season, which she was wearing when she was arrested for shooting J.R. (spoiler: it was really her sister Kristin who did it!).

These Black and White Cookies pay homage to that iconic look, a buttery vanilla cookie half-dipped in dark chocolate. They taste as good as they look and would certainly give Sue Ellen the upper hand she needs to best Kristin.


Black and White Cookies

Sue Ellen's Black and White Cookies
Base cookie recipe adapted from Do-Almost-Anything Vanilla Cookie Dough by Dorie Greenspan

(Note: the ingredients represent a half-recipe from Greenspan's original recipe. I realize that I used both grams and ounces below; however, the gram measurements are from the original recipe and the ounces refer to ingredients packaged by the weight as indicated, so you don't actually have to weigh them.)

8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
131 grams (2/3 cup) sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract
272 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour
8 oz. dark chocolate (I used 2 Ghirardelli 60% cacao baking bars)
1/2 tsp. vegetable oil

1. Combine butter, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl if using a hand mixer). Beat on medium speed until creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple times while mixing. Add the egg whites and vanilla extract and mix on low speed, then add the flour in 3 or 4 additions, mixing on low speed as you add it. Scrape down the bowl as you go to evenly mix the dough.

2. Cut two large sheets of parchment paper and place the dough between the two sheets. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to a consistent thickness of about 1/4 inch. Place the dough on a baking sheet and chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours or freeze for 1 hour.

3. Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 F.

4. Carefully peel away the parchment from the rolled out dough (remove the top parchment first; carefully flip the dough over onto a clean sheet of parchment and then remove the other parchment). Using a 2 1/2 inch round cookie cutter, cut out cookies and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment or silicon, leaving about 1 inch between cookies. Collect dough scraps and re-roll as needed to use as much of the dough as possible.

5. Bake cookies until the edges a lightly golden, about 19 to 21 minutes. Rotate the cookie sheets top-to-bottom halfway through baking. Remove cookies from oven and cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

6. Chop the chocolate into 1/2 inch pieces. Place a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for about 1 minute. Stir the mixture, then microwave on high for 15 to 30 second increments, stirring after each heating, until the chocolate is almost completely melted, then stir the mixture until it is completely melted (the residual heat will melt and remaining chunks; you want to be careful not to over-microwave the chocolate, as it can burn). Stir in the vegetable oil. Transfer the mixture to a contain a tallish container--something that's barely wider than the cookies is ideal, like a coffee mug. Dip each cookie halfway into the melted chocolate, then transfer the cookie to a baking sheet lined with parchment or silicon to dry. Place the cookies in the refrigerator to firm up the chocolate.

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