I was so excited to see that the Los Angeles Times recently published its Holiday Edition California Cookbook, an electronic compilation of 638 recipes that is accessible for free! I of course immediately went to the dessert section and picked out some recipes to try. Embarrassingly enough, the first one I chose happens to be from a cookbook I own, so I have no excuse for not having tried it before now -- Alice Medrich's recipe for Nibby Whole-Wheat Sablés from Pure Dessert.
These cookies are very easy to make, although they require some advance planning because you need to chill the dough before baking. You beat softened butter with sugar, salt and vanilla; add cacao nibs; and mix in all-purpose flour and whole-wheat flour. You shape the dough into a log and chill it overnight. I hate it when a log of cookie dough flattens out in the fridge, so I kept several cake rings around the log (an idea I came up with recently when making Joanne Chang's Homemade Oreos) to help maintain its shape.
The next day, my log of chilled cookie dough was nice and round. It was quite firm, but easy to slice neatly without crumbling or any fuss. I liked the way that the chocolate nibs looked like small bits of chocolate; at first glance, you would think these were chocolate chip cookies.
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These cookies were delightful. They tasted like buttery, flavorful shortbread, and you couldn't tell at all that half of the flour was whole wheat. The cookie had a very tender texture, but the nibs were wonderfully crunchy, and they added an interesting earthy chocolate flavor as well. I was happily surprised that this incredibly easy recipe yielded such a sophisticated and delicious result.
Recipe: "Nibby Whole-Wheat Sablés" (variation of "Whole Wheat Sablés") from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich, available here in the Los Angeles Times Holiday Edition California Cookbook.
These cookies are very easy to make, although they require some advance planning because you need to chill the dough before baking. You beat softened butter with sugar, salt and vanilla; add cacao nibs; and mix in all-purpose flour and whole-wheat flour. You shape the dough into a log and chill it overnight. I hate it when a log of cookie dough flattens out in the fridge, so I kept several cake rings around the log (an idea I came up with recently when making Joanne Chang's Homemade Oreos) to help maintain its shape.
The next day, my log of chilled cookie dough was nice and round. It was quite firm, but easy to slice neatly without crumbling or any fuss. I liked the way that the chocolate nibs looked like small bits of chocolate; at first glance, you would think these were chocolate chip cookies.
.JPG)
Recipe: "Nibby Whole-Wheat Sablés" (variation of "Whole Wheat Sablés") from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich, available here in the Los Angeles Times Holiday Edition California Cookbook.
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