Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Thursday 1 december 2016

A new way and improved way to eat peppermint bark

ELIZABETH KARMEL
Associated Press
I have always loved pep-
permint and chocolate
together and peppermint
bark is my favorite way to
eat it. Or it was — until I cre-
ated this peppermint bark
variation of my favorite
childhood Christmas cook-
ie. My mother made Spritz
cookies every Christmas for
as long as I can remember.
She always made the sim-
ple butter cookies in both
chocolate and vanilla and
we decorated them with
colored sugar sprinkles.
My favorite shape was the
poinsettia, because you
could eat the cookie, one
petal at a time.
The hardest thing about
making this recipe is us-
ing the cookie press. There
is no way around it — you
need a cookie press. My
mother used her mother’s
cookie press until it stopped
working and since then,
we have both purchased In this Oct. 11, 2016 photo at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York, Peppermint Bark Spritz Cookies are shown, from a
many cookie presses trying recipe by Elizabeth Karmel. Associated Press
to find one that was smooth
and easy to work. mint Bark Spritz Cookie. combine. Add vanilla and for your design. Press the cookies, snip a small cor-
A cookie press looks like the PEPPERMINT BARK SPRITZ mix thoroughly. cookies out one at a time ner at one end of the bag
culinary version of a caulk- COOKIES Using your hands or a onto an ungreased cookie for the chocolate to flow
ing gun and deposits only Cookie presses like the OXO blending fork, work in the sheet. through. When the cookies
enough dough to make Good Grips with stainless- flour, a little at a time, until Bake 7 to 10 minutes or until are cool, carefully drizzle
one cookie. I tried quite a steel discs work better than smooth. set but not brown. Remove melted semi-sweet choc-
few presses, and the best presses with plastic plates. Divide dough into 2-3 piec- from cookie sheet after 1 olate on the top of the
one that I have found so Start to finish: 30 minutes, cookie. While the choco-
far is the OXO cookie press. not including cooling and late is still warm, sprinkle
I also love that it comes decorating with crushed peppermint
with all the traditional pat- Servings: 30 (Makes about 5 candies so the candy will
terns like the Christmas tree, dozen cookies) stick to the chocolate, then
wreath and several flowers, 1 cup unsalted butter, room drizzle with melted white
but also has an elegant temperature chocolate.
fleur de lis and a heart. You 2 squares (2 ounces) un- Place in the refrigerator to
can also buy extra seasonal sweetened chocolate, set the chocolate for at
discs and make spritz year melted least 1 hour before serving.
round. The extra Christmas 2/3 cup granulated white Store in an airtight contain-
discs also have a great sugar er in a cool place.
bow design that would be 3 egg yolks Nutrition information per
perfect for baby and bridal 1 teaspoon vanilla serving: 146 calories; 73 cal-
shower parties. 2 ½ cups sifted all-purpose ories from fat; 8 g fat (5 g
Once you have a good flour In this Oct. 11, 2016 photo at the Institute of Culinary Education saturated; 0 g trans fats); 35
press, all you need to make Topping: in New York, pastry bags with white and dark chocolate and mg cholesterol; 3 mg sodi-
crushed candy are used to frost Peppermint Bark Spritz Cookies,
the cookie dough is a bowl 4 ounces semi-sweet choc- from a recipe by Elizabeth Karmel. um; 17 g carbohydrate; 1 g
and a blending fork, or your olate, melted Associated Press fiber; 7 g sugar; 2 g protein.
hands. I’ve taken the ba- 2 ounces white chocolate, ___
sic chocolate spritz cookie melted EDITOR’S NOTE: Elizabeth
recipe and instead of dec- 1 cup crushed peppermint es and roll them into a tube minute, and gently place Karmel is a barbecue and
orating with sugar, I deco- candies shape and cover with wax on a cooling rack. Let Southern foods expert. She
rate with melted choco- Preheat oven to 400 F paper. Chill dough for 30 cookies cool completely. is the chef and pit master at
late, sprinkling with crushed Mix butter, unsweetened minutes. When the dough Melt chocolate and place online retailer CarolinaCue-
peppermint candies and chocolate and sugar to- is chilled, place the roll in a decorating bag or a ToGo.com and the author
drizzling with white choco- gether until creamy. Add in the cookie press tube re-closeable plastic bag. of three books, including
late to create my Pepper- egg yolks one at a time to and choose cookie plate When ready to decorate “Taming the Flame.”q