My favorite desserts to make as a pastry chef were cookies, and I still keep a freezer full of dough logs to bake off for friends and family. Here are my absolute tried and true favorites. Back to Nancy Gail Ring's Online Gallery Black and White Chocolate Chip Cookies adapted from the recipe "Big Fat and Chewy" on allrecipes.com 2 cups all purpose flour 1/2 t. baking soda 1/2 t. salt 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar 1 T. vanilla extract 1 egg 1 egg yolk 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 1 cup white chocolate chips 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. 2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. 3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the whisked dry ingredients until just blended. Do not over mix. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared baking sheets. Cookies should be about three inches apart. 4. Bake for ten to fifteen minutes or until lightly browned and just set in the center. Do not over bake. Cool on baking sheets for several minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Alternatively, do not bake off the dough but instead roll it into logs, wrap the logs in parchment paper or plastic wrap and freeze. To bake, slice off cookies from the frozen log and bake as directed above. Makes about 2 dozen. Ginger Cookies These are the soft, chewy kind, not crispy ginger snaps. It's a large batch, but do not halve the recipe or the cookies will not have the same wonderful texture. 3 cups unsalted butter, softened 4 cups white sugar 1/4 cup crystallized ginger, chopped. 1 cup molasses, blackstrap preferred 4 eggs 8 cups flour 2 T. plus 2 t. baking soda 1 t. salt 4 t. cinnamon 3 t. cloves 1. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add crystallized ginger. Beat eggs together, then add molasses and eggs, being careful to add the eggs one small bit at a time until incorporated. Add dry ingredients all at once and mix in gently by hand until just mixed. Do not over mix. 2. Refrigerate the dough if necessary until it can be formed into logs. Wrap logs in parchment paper or plastic wrap and freeze them several hours or overnight. 3. To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or line baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut thick slices (about 1 inch) from logs and dip each slice into large crystal amber sugar to coat. Place cookies 3 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until cookies are golden and just set in the middle. Do not over bake. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 4 dozen. Cream Cheese Walnut Cookies from Martha Stewart Magazine, December 2004 4 cups all purpose flour 1 1/4 t. salt 1 pound (four sticks) sweet, unsalted butter, softened 6 ounces cream cheese, not whipped, at room temperature 1 1/4 cups sugar 2 T. plus 1/2 t. vanilla extract 2 1/2 cups walnut halves, (1 1/2 cups toasted and chopped, 1 cup finely chopped) 1. Grease or line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside. 2. Whisk flour and salt together and set aside. Cream butter and cream cheese until smooth, no lumps, preferably in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium speed for two minutes. Mix in sugar and vanilla. Reduce speed to low, or mix gently by hand, to add flour mixture. Do not over mix. Mix in toasted walnuts. 3. Transfer dough to a clean work surface. Divide in half; shape each piece into an 8 1/2 inch long log (about 2 inches in diameter.) Wrap each log in parchment paper; freeze until firm, about 30 minutes or overnight. 4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove one log from freezer. Roll in 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, coating completely. Cut log into 1/4-inch slices. Transfer cookie slices to baking sheets. Bake 10 - 15 minutes, or until golden around edges. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Makes about 4 dozen. Mocha Cookies adapted from Martha Stewart Magazine, December 2005 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for work surface 3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder 1/4 t. salt 2 T. instant espresso powder, or 2 t. coffee extract 1/4 t. ground cinnamon 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened 1 cup sugar 1 large egg 1 t. vanilla extract 1/2 cup coffee flavored chips, or chocolate chips 1. Whisk together flour, cocoa, salt, espresso powder if using and cinnamon. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Mix in coffee extract if using, and add egg and vanilla. Ad flour mixture all at once and mix until just combined. Do not over mix. 2. Form dough into 2-inch diameter logs on a lightly floured surface and freeze wrapped in parchment paper or plastic wrap at least one hour or overnight. 3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Unwrap log and let soften slightly at room temperature if necessary. Brush with water and roll in large crystal amber sugar, or sanding sugar. Cut into 1/4-inch slices. Space cookies 1 inch apart and bake until centers are set, about 10 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Makes about 4 dozen. Rugelach adapted from Walking On Walnuts by Nancy Ring (Bantam, 1996) For the pastry: 1/2 pound unsalted sweet butter, softened. 1/2 pound cream cheese, softened 2 cups flour pinch salt 1 egg white, beaten for brushing dough before baking 2 egg whites, beaten with 2 T. sugar to soft peak meringue consistency, for spreading on dough before adding filling For the filling: 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed 1/2 T. cinnamon 2 1/2 cups raisins grated zest of one lemon 2 1/2 T. lemon juice pinch salt 1 1/2 cups walnuts, toasted and chopped 1. Prepare the pastry: Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add flour and salt, mix gently. Do not over mix. Divide dough into four pieces and refrigerate until firm. 2. Prepare the filling: Cook all filling ingredients, except walnuts, until the sugar has dissolved. Cool 3. Assemble the rugelach: Grease or lIne baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll dough in equal parts of sugar and flour. Roll dough out to a circle about 8 inches in diameter. Spread meringue onto circle of dough, leaving some space around the edge. Sprinkle dough circle with filling, then gently press filling into meringue. Cut the circle into quarters, then cut the quarters into three triangles. Roll each rugelach up from the large end of the triangle to the small pointed end. Place rugelach with the points tucked under on the prepared cookie sheets. Continue rolling all the cookies and placing them on the pans. Refrigerate rugelach until firm. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 4. Bake the rugelach: Brush each cookie with egg white and sprinkle with large crystal amber sugar like turbinado sugar. Bake until the cookies are are golden, 10 - 20 minutes. Yields 60 cookies. Biscotti This is a large recipe but worth the effort. Makes great gifts! This recipe can be doubled and doubled again! 3 pounds 1 1/2 ounces all purpose flour 5 1/4 cups sugar 1/4 cup plus 2 T. anise seed 1/2 cup cornmeal 1 oz. baking powder 2 t. salt 1 pound (four sticks) butter, room temperature 8 eggs 1/2 cup annisette liqueur 3 cups roasted blanched almonds; four cups whole almonds, 2 cups chopped 1 cups pistachios, whole, raw 1. Measure all dry ingredients except nuts into bowl of electric mixer fitted with a paddle. On low speed, feed in butter bit by bit (do not pause between additions, but do not add butter all at once.) Feed in eggs one at a time, then drizzle in annisette. As soon as the dough begins to hold together, add nuts, being careful not to add them too quickly. Do not over mix. 2. Refrigerate dough several hours or overnight. 3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove dough from refrigerator and allow it to stand at room temperature until it can be formed into logs, kneadable but not too soft. Logs should be about 2 to 3 inches in diameter. Place logs, a few inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake approximately 30 minutes or until dough is set and top is golden brown. Top of dough should be medium golden brown, not light. Cool on a rack completely before the next step. 4. When logs are cool, slice with a serrated knife and a sawing motion as thinly as possible without breakage. Place biscotti on parchment lined sheet pans again, lying flat and end to end. Bake again until cookies are light golden brown and feel dry and firm to the touch, about 15 minutes. Cool on wire racks. About 4 dozen. Chocolate Chip Mandelbrot My Grandma Selma's recipe, another family favorite. From Walking On Walnuts. Yields approx. 3 dozen cookies. 2 cups flour 2 t. baking powder 1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted sweet butter, softened not greasy 1 cup sugar 3 eggs 3 ounces sliced almonds 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips 1. Prepare the dough: Combine flour and baking powder and set aside. Cream butter and sugar until light. Beat eggs, and add them slowly, incorporating each addition before adding the rest. Add flour and baking powder to egg mixture, mixing gently. Do not overmix. Add almonds and chocolate chips. Divide dough in half. Refrigerate the dough for several hours or overnight. 2. Bake the mandelbrot: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove dough from refrigerator and wet hands slightly. Roll each piece of dough into a 2-inch wide log. Place logs several inches apart on a parchment paper covered, greased, or nonstick cookie sheet. To prevent overbaking of the underside of the logs, place a second sheet pan under the first. Bake logs until medium golden and firm, 25 - 35 minutes, turning tray once during baking to ensure even browning. Place the sheet pan on a wire rack and cool until the logs can be handled, about 10 minutes. 3. Rebake the mandelbrot: When the logs are still very warm but not so hot that they crumble, carefully cut the logs into slices about 3/4 inch thick using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion. Bake the sliced mandelbrot again, cut side down, at 375 degrees on doubled sheet pans. After five minutes of baking, turn the slices over and bake another five to ten minutes, until the slices are light golden and feel firm to the touch. Cool slices completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container for up to ten days.