Page 20 - Classic Cookies with Modern Twists

or ground, store spices in airtight cont ainers in a cool, dark
cupboard.

With some ingredients, it makes sense to spend a little more.
PURE FL AVORINGS or EXTRACTS—vanilla extract especially—fall into
this categor y. They t aste better and last longer.

Like spices, NUTS have a limited shelf life; their high natural oil
content—hazelnuts especially—causes them to turn rancid
qu ickly. The best test for freshness is smelling or, if still in
doubt, t asting the nuts in question; you’ll know if they’re bad.
Buy nuts in small amounts from a source that goes through

bulk items qu ickly, and store them in the refrigerator or freezer.
If you toast them rst, they’ll last even longer.

C hocolate

BIT TERSWEET CHOCOL ATE is the best ty pe of chocolate for baking.
Dark and intensely avored with enough sweetness to make it

pleasing in a variety of applications and recipes, bittersweet
chocolate with around 70 percent cocoa solids is a good choice
for its pleasing acidity and oomph.

When making a recipe that includes COCOA POWDER, use the best
kind available to you—the difference is undeniable. Cocoa
powder comes from the pure chocolate liquor of the cocoa bean
with 75 percent of the cocoa butter removed. What remains is
pulverized to make cocoa powder. Because virtually all of the

cocoa butter has been removed from natural cocoa powder, it is
bitter, acidic, and generally unpalat able. For baked goods and
desserts, look for Dutch-processed cocoa, which is treated with a

mild alkaline for better avor and greater solubility, and is
usually of a higher qu ality.