Whoa.  My primer on the 10 most common spatulas (and how to choose the best one for the job) is the lead story on Gourmet.com! My favorite is the home baker’s best friend.

These are not from City Bakery (too crispy and marzipan-y).  Nor Jacques Torres (too sweet).  Not Bouchon (too buttery) either.  After making Levain Bakery copycats, eating the real deal and amassing 310+ comments, those are close but no cigar.

My favorite chocolate chip cookies are not from a bakery per se. I’ve been telling people about them for years, but it hasn’t caught on. So now I’ll shout it out for everyone to hear.

First, some criteria. Chocolate chip cookies should not be the size of your face. Bouchon, you sophisticated French bakery, what were you thinking? Maybe you can take a page from French Women Don’t Get Fat about portion control. Second, CC cookies should not be crispy. Then they’re just like crackers and what’s the point? Lastly, CC cookies cannot have nuts. It totally disrupts the texture. Okay, I’ll let the nut people put nuts in their cookies, but not mine.

The magical place I speak of is Times Square Hot Bagels on W. 44 St. and 7 Ave. They’re one of the few places in New York that makes traditional bagels, but never mind that, we’re talking cookies here.  They’re pliable, toffee-esque (probably from brown sugar) and chock full of chocolate CHUNKS.  One will set you back about 80 cents (they’re $12.50/pound). You can eat one or two and be satisfied without feeling gross afterwards. Since they’re at the crossroads of the world, you don’t have an excuse not to try them.

I first heard about these through church. After service, there was a huge table of humble-looking cookies. I was wowed and only had these clues: a checkerboard logo and some name with “Times Square.” Eventually, I tracked down the store.

A little caveat: sometimes the cookies from the shop are a bit hard. They can easily be fixed with a sprinkle of water and 10 seconds in the microwave. The only guarantee of getting a fresh cookie is to attend the evening service at Redeemer church. Try it: you might like the cookies. And the service. Senior pastor Tim Keller is like a modern day C.S. Lewis. He randomly speaks throughout the day, but he’s always at the 6:00 service at the Hunter College auditorium (69 St. between Park and Lex). Well actually he’s on vacation (no doubt reading more philosophical material) till Aug. 16, but you get the idea.

Times Square Hot Bagels
200A W. 44 St. (by 7 Ave.)
New York, NY 10036
212-997-7300

Like most ingredients, butter undergoes a beautiful transformation when it’s heated. I would never dream of using nuts or whole spices without toasting them first, and caramelized sugar intensifies the flavor of homemade chocolate-hazelnut spread. Likewise, brown butter adds another dimension to otherwise familiar foods. There’s a reason why it’s called beurre noisette (hazelnut) in French: it has a seductive, nutty flavor.

Brown butter is already in financiers, icing and shortbread. It might as well be the new bacon. But I never had a proper application until trying the sea salt cookies from the Brown Butter Cookie Company. (I’m not being facetious. That’s the name of the company.) Holy goodness, they smelled intoxicating. They tasted even better.

Since pound cake is all about the butter, I thought it would be an excellent vehicle for beurre noisette. As the old tale goes, take a pound each of butter, sugar, eggs and flour, and “beat it all well together for an hour with your hand, or a great wooden spoon.” There you have it: pound cake. Thankfully, the method and the ratios have changed over the years.

The recipe I tried is traditional in that it doesn’t call for chemical leaveners (ie baking soda). Therefore, don’t cheat on the creaming stage: it’s your only chance to aerate the batter.

My cake had an inviting tan color and a crackly crust, but it was very firm. I don’t know if it was the recipe (I forgot to adjust the liquid. As butter boils down, 25% of it evaporates. No worries though—the version below should be correct.) or my temperamental oven. But it was a good launching pad and as expected, irresistably buttery.

Brown Butter Pound Cake
adapted from Flo Braker in The Joy of Cooking

1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups sifted (before measuring) cake flour*, or weigh out 196 grams
5 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup milk
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
heaping 1/4 tsp salt

Cut the butter into small pieces and put it into a large, cold saucepan. Over medium heat, swirl the butter occasionally as it melts. Foam will rise to the top, and the milk solids will sink to the bottom. Stir the butter more frequently as it starts to color; you don’t want the solids to burn. When the liquid turns golden and releases a nutty aroma (about 10 minutes, but I wasn’t really counting), immediately take it off the heat and pour into a clean bowl. If you burned some of it like I did, strain the butter through a fine mesh sieve or coffee filter. Cover well and refrigerate until the butter is solid, a couple hours.

Have all ingredients at room temperature, 68-70° F. Preheat the oven to 325° F. Grease and flour on 9 x 5-inch (8-cup) loaf pan or line the bottom with wax or parchment paper.

Resift the flour twice. I know it’s a pain, but you want the cake to be airy, don’t you?

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, vanilla and milk.

In a large bowl, but the butter until creamy, about 30 seconds. Gradually add the sugars and salt. Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat on high speed until lightened in color and texture, 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually drizzle in the egg mixture, about 1 tablespoon at a time, and beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the flour in 3 parts, beating on low speed or stirring with a rubber spatula until smooth and scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Scrape the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes. Let cool.

*In a jiffy, here’s how to substitute 1 cup unsifted cake flour: measure 2 tablespoons cornstarch and add enough all-purpose flour till it equals 1 cup. Some people think cornstarch tastes chalky, so you can also substitute 7/8 cup (that’s 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour.

More on brown butter:
San Francisco Chronicle tutorial
Brown Butter Cookie Company
Pastry chef Michael Laiskonis’s financiers
Lottie + Doof’s shortbread
Martha Stewart’s brown sugar pound cake with brown butter icing

The first time I tried avocado in a dessert, it was in a milkshake at an eclectic restaurant. I loved avocados; I loved sugar. Why not? Then my cousin pointed out, “Ew! You’re going to drink pure fat!” By the time the shake came, I could only muster a sip. My mom, ever the good sport, finished it for me.

Ten or so years later, I encountered an avocado Popsicle at the New Orleans farmers market. By now I knew that avocados were common in Southeast Asian and Latin American desserts and wasn’t grossed out. This Popsicle was like ice cream on a stick; it was refreshing on that blistering day.

When my aunt recently visited me, she brought along gifts: Harbor Sweets chocolate, Trader Joe’s freeze-dried mangosteens, lettuce and avocados. (She was just being practical with the veggies.) That avocado was getting softer by the day, and like all surplus food, I had to turn it into dessert. I almost went with avocado pancakes, but they’re savory. So I went with this tender cake from Accidental Hedonist. As Kate says, “Done correctly, it’s a cake that can sit with pride next to your zucchini bread or pumpkin cake.” It doesn’t taste gross, but it’s faintly vegetal in a good way, like carrot cake.

It’s so good that I might substitute puréed avocado for butter in other recipes. It’s kind of healthy too: avocado’s high in omega 3s, vitamin E and fiber. If you’re worried that people will be put off by the green color, just tell them you made a pistachio cake, which sounds far fancier. Trust me, it’s worth saving your avocados for.

Recipe is at Accidental Hedonist
You can skip the walnuts and dried fruit if you wish. To make 20 cupcakes, bake for about 20 min. in a 350° F oven.

Related links:
More Vegetables in Dessert: Heirloom Tomato Cake, Chocolate-Potato Cake, Bean Brownies, Classic Carrot Cake and Potato-Chip Cookies
Gourmet’s Test Kitchen Challenge: Avocado Marshmallows v. Avocado Crème Brûlée
More on my Trip to New Orleans and the Relief Work That We Did

The last time I hoarded leftovers, everyone must have laughed their faces off.  Some people bring home entrées; others take home french fries. I do both and then some, like the time I doggie bagged bread cubes that were meant for the fondue pot.  I had the last laugh when I turned them into Nutella bread pudding and made everyone jealous.

It gets even better: the other day I used leftover saltine crackers (from Hill Country barbecue) for chocolate-caramel bars.  I’m not one to relish in packaged foods and refined flour, but the saltines are key. I tried a similar recipe with homemade graham crackers, but you really do need a flimsy base to soak up the toffee. A fancy “crust” will only break your jaw. I haven’t gone crackers: these are even surpass the chocolate matzoh crunch that’s become popular of late.

Bittersweet Chocolate-Caramel Cracker Cookies

Adapted from Deep Dark Chocolate by Sara Perry

1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, divided
35 saltine crackers
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
10 ounces premium dark chocolate, coarsely chopped (about 1 3/4 cups)

For topping:
1 cup toasted unsalted nuts, chopped medium coarse or
1/2 cup cacao nibs or
5 teaspoons fine salt (such as fleur de sel or gray sea salt), turbindado sugar, finely ground espresso, pepper, spice blends/rubs

Special equipment: a 10-by-15-inch pan

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). To make the cookies easy to remove, line a 10-by-15-inch pan with a sheet of foil, shiny side up, leaving a few inches hanging over the longer edges. Drizzle 1/4 cup melted butter onto the foil-lined pan, and brush to cover the bottom of the pan. Line the pan with the crackers (don’t worry if there are small gaps).

2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the remaining 1 cup butter and the brown sugar and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, until the mixture forms a thick syrup (248°F/120°C on a candy thermometer). Remove from the heat and slowly whisk in the condensed milk until blended. Pour the mixture over the crackers, making sure all the crackers are covered.

3. Bake until the syrup layer bubbles, for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven, scatter the chocolate over the topping, and allow them to melt for 5 minutes. Using the back of a spoon or an offset spatula, spread the chocolate over the surface and sprinkle with the nuts, cacao nibs, salt, spices, etc. Using your fingers or the back of a spoon, press the nuts into the chocolate. Freeze until the chocolate sets, about 30 minutes.

4. Remove from the freezer and invert the pan onto a clean surface (don’t worry if you lose some nuts from the surface; they’ll be great for topping an ice cream sundae or for adding to cookie dough). Carefully peel back the foil to reveal the soda-cracker underside of the cookies. Using a sharp knife, cut the cookies along the cracker outlines. This is easier to do when the cookies have begun to thaw slightly. Invert and cut the squares into quarters for bite-size pieces or thirds for finger-size pieces.