Photo by Romulo Yanes
It’s cookie season! And what better way to launch into holiday baking then with our first of three exclusive recipes from The Gourmet Cookie Book, which features the single best cookie recipe for every year from 1941 through 2009.
Bake up a batch of this week’s featured cookie, Cranberry Turtle Bars (November 2001), then order your copy for the ultimate collection of holiday sweets.
Cranberry Turtle BarsCopyright 2010 by Condé Nast Publications, Photographs by Romulo Yanes. Buy it now.
Beautiful, tart cranberries contain a great deal of natural pectin. That quality means that when they are mixed with sugar and pecans and set onto a buttery crust, they turn into a wonderful candied topping. Add a few chocolate streaks, and it’s easy to understand why this cookie has gained such a passionate following. It’s an unexpected – and unexpectedly delicious – combination.
Makes 3 dozen barsActive time: 30 min
Total time: 2 hours
Ingredients:
For base:- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ sticks (¾ cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
- 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light corn syrup
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups fresh or frozen cranberries (not thawed; 6¾ ounces), coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups pecans (12 ounces), toasted and cooled, then coarsely chopped
- 2 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not sweetened), very finely chopped
- a candy thermometer
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Line a 15-by-10-inch shallow baking pan (1 inch deep) with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the 2 short sides. Butter all 4 sides (but not bottom.)
- Blend flour, brown sugar, and salt in a food processor, then add butter and pulse until mixture begins to form small roughly (pea-size) lumps. Sprinkle into baking pan, then press down firmly all over with a metal spatula to form an even layer. Make in middle of oven until golden and firm to the touch, 15 to 17 minutes, then cool in pan on a rack.
- Melt butter in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat and stir in sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Boil over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until caramel registers 245ºF on thermometer, about 8 minutes. Carefully stir in cranberries, then boil until caramel returns to 245ºF. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. then stir in pecans until well coated. Working quickly, spread caramel topping over base, using a fork to distribute nuts and berries evenly. Cool completely.
- Lift bars in foil from pan and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 6 crosswise strips, then 6 lengthwise strips to form 36 bars.
- Melt half of chocolate in top of a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove bowl from heat and add remaining chocolate, stirring until smooth. Transfer chocolate to a small heavy-duty sealable plastic bag. Seal bag and snip off a tiny piece of 1 corner to form a small hole, then pipe chocolate decoratively over bars. Let stand at room temperature until chocolate sets, about 1 hour.
- Use a small offset spatula to spread the cranberry mixture.
- Rather than cutting them first, decorate the bars and let the chocolate set before cutting.
- For larger bars, cut into 6 rows lengthwise and 4 crosswise.
- The bars keep in an airtight container (use wax paper between the layers) for up to 1 week.
I’ve made these many times since they were originally in the magazine. Delicious!