Chocolate chippers, lemon bars, madeleines, brownies, shortbread, thumbprints, rugelach, biscotti, mandelbrot, and fortune cookies we all love them. We love them even better when they are home-baked. The ultimate comfort food, fresh-baked cookies offer instant reassurance, consolation, and community.
1 recipe Chocolate Dip or Drizzle, optional (recipe follows)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
Break up cookie dough into large bowl; let stand 10—15 minutes to soften. Add flour, pecans, toffee bits, and vanilla extract to the cookie dough; mix well with your fingers, the paddle attachment of an electric stand mixer, or a wooden spoon.
Divide dough into two equal halves. On the cookie sheet, shape each dough half into a 12-inch-long, 2-inch-wide, 3/4-inch-high rectangle, spacing the dough halves about three inches apart.
Bake 26—28 minutes until the logs are deep golden brown and spring back in the center when touched. Remove sheet from oven; keep oven on.
Using two pancake turners, lift logs, one at a time, from the cookie sheet to a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut one of the logs into 34-inch-wide slices. (Note: for longer biscotti, cut at a deep diagonal; for shorter biscotti, cut log crosswise.) Repeat with second log. Place slices on the same cookie sheet (do not worry about the spacing).
Bake slices 5 minutes; remove from oven and turn over all of the slices. Return cookie sheet to oven and bake 5 minutes longer.
Remove sheet from oven and immediately transfer biscotti to a wire rack; cool completely If desired, dip one end of each biscotti in the Chocolate Dip; place on wax paper—lined cookie sheet and refrigerate until chocolate is firm.
Chocolate Drizzle or Dip
1 cup semi-sweet, milk chocolate, or white chocolate chips
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
In a small heavy saucepan over low heat melt the chips and shortening, stirring often to avoid scorching.
Chocolate Drizzle Place cookies on a wire rack over waxed paper. Dip a fork or knife into melted chocolate and let the first clumpy drip land back in the pan. Then drizzle the chocolate over the edge of the pan onto the cookies. Let the cookies stand until the chocolate is set.
Makes enough to dip or drizzle one batch of refrigerated cookie dough cookies.
Chocolate Dip Dip a cookie into the mixture. Remove the excess chocolate by pulling the cookie across the edge of the pan.
