Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Cherry, cashew and white chocolate chunk cookies

Cherry, cashew and white chocolate chunk cookies / Cookies de chocolate branco, castanha de caju e cerejas secas

“I’m not sure this is gonna work, but I’ll try it anyway” – my thoughts exactly when I came across this recipe. The ingredients were very appealing to me, but would they go well mixed up in a cookie? There was only one way to find out. :D

Even though I wasn’t completely happy about the texture – the cookies turned out really thin and delicate, difficult to carry around without breaking – the flavor was spot on. Another mixture I had doubts about at first but proved me wrong later on.

Cherry, cashew and white chocolate chunk cookies / Cookies de chocolate branco, castanha de caju e cerejas secas

Cherry, cashew and white chocolate chunk cookies
from Big Fat Cookies

1 ¼ cups (175g) unbleached all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks/170g) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
½ cup (88g) packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup (4oz/112g) dried cherries, coarsely chopped
1 cup (5oz/140g) salted roasted cashew halves, coarsely chopped
4oz (112g) white chocolate, chopped into 0.6cm/1.25cm (¼-½-in) pieces

Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF; line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until smoothly blended, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Mix in the egg, lemon juice and vanilla until blended, about 1 minute. The mixture may look curdled. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just until it is incorporated and the dough looks smooth. Mix in the cherries, cashews and white chocolate.

Using an ice cream scoop of measuring cup with a ¼-cup capacity, scoop mounds of the dough onto the prepared sheets, spacing the cookies 3 inches apart. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the edges are light brown, but the centers are light golden, about 14 minutes. Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheets then use a wide metal spatula do transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

The cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Makes 16 – I halved the recipe and started baking it using 1 round tablespoon of dough per cookie; I got 8 cookies but they turned out too large and too thin. I then went on using 1 rounded teaspoon of dough per cookie and got 23 (dough mounds 5cm apart, 11 minutes in the oven)

22 comments:

Parita said...

Nice cookies..loved your creme bruleé ice cream..looked heavenly..will give it a try, thanks for sharing :)

Jamie said...

Cashews in a cookie? I have never seen that before, but it sounds delicious. My mom would love these.

Manggy said...

Oh, I was *absolutely* sure it would work when I saw the title! (And the picture-- wow!) I can't believe cashews in dessert is uncommon to some-- must be a cultural thing :) Maybe you can use the old white choc/macadamia recipe and just sub out the components :)

mycookinghut said...

I have not tried making cookies before. This recipe sounds good to me.. with all my fav ingredients!

anna said...

You can't possibly go wrong with that combination! Yum!

Snooky doodle said...

nice flavours. I d like to try this recipe. These look amazing

Abby said...

Cashew cookies are new to me, too, but I love the idea of pairing them with white chocolate. Yum.

Risa said...

I love the flavor combination in this cookie. I will definitely have to come up with some variation.

Kitchen 37B said...

the cookies look so delicate in the little cups! cute! :)

gine said...

cashew cookies ^^ ... yummy! XOXO

Dutch girl bakes said...

Mmmmm lovely cookies!

eatme_delicious said...

I don't know if I've ever baked with cashews! These cookies look delicious though.

Kelly said...

Your flavor combos always leave me hungry! Those cookies look so tasty and would be a nice change from the norm. Adore the idea.

Heather said...

A lovely cookie for me to try! I rather like the delicate texture.

Kana said...

I love the combo Patricia!

Patricia Scarpin said...

Parita, thank you for visiting!

Jamie, it works really well, hope your mom like them!

Mark, they are common here in desserts, but not in cookies - actually, cookies are not very common here, it's growing little by little on Brazilians. :)
I'm glad you like it, tks, my friend!

Hi, Leemei! I'm sure you'll be making really pretty ones once you start. :)
Tks!

Anna, thank you, sweetie!

Natalie, hope you like it!

Abby, I'm a nut addict. :)
Tks!

Risa, I hope you do!

Pia, thank you, darling!

Gine, xoxo!

Dutch girl, thank you for stopping by!

Ashley, I love cashew nuts and am eager to bake with them again!
Thank you!

Kelly, I'm glad you like them, thank you!

Heather, just have to be extra careful when moving them around. :D

Maya, thank you, dear!

Cookie baker Lynn said...

That sounds like a perfect flavor combination and they look delicious!

Deborah said...

This flavor combination sounds wonderful to me!

Mansi said...

Wow Pat! these look absolutely delicious! and you can add one more "C" to the title - "Chewy":) they look yummy:)

btw, I'm hosting the SHF-Fruit & Nut event on my blog and these babies would be a great fit if you'd like to send them in!!:)

Vanessa said...

I love the flavor combination in this cookie. This recipe sounds good. I will try to make it.

Unknown said...

This looks so delicious! :)
All the ingredients in it look great-- and good idea to make this with cashew!
You don't by any chance know a good place to find dried cherries or cashew, do you?
I've been looking around online for these so I can make Cherry, cashew and white chocolate chunk cookies also. :)

Really like your blog

thanks!!

Patricia Scarpin said...

Hi, Tina!
Thank you for commenting!
Where do you live? I live in Brazil.

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