So I’ll admit to a wee bit of food snobbery. Blessed with mad baking skills myself and a husband who cooks like a Michelin chef, I can eat “five-star”-style at home almost anytime I like. And the truth is that Chocolate Crinkle Cookies- or simply “Crinkles”- is one of the things I used to turn my nose up at.

Here’s the thing, though- Crinkles are simply brownies that have been rolled into balls, rolled in powdered sugar, and baked like cookies- til their tops crack and they gain that distinctive “crinkly” appearance. There are bad versions, yes- made from metallic tasting box mixes, or the cheapest ingredients possible, but when made right, they are just awesome. Slightly crunchy and sugary on the outside, moist and fudgy on the inside- properly made Crinkles can be even better than “five-star”.

Chocolate Crinkles
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
4 ounces good bittersweet chocolate, callets or chopped small
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped small
**Note: You could very well substitute 6 ounces of semisweet chocolate for the 2 chocolates here. It’ll be just as good, I promise.
3/4 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered (icing) sugar, sifted

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a cookie sheet by lining it with parchment paper.

Combine butter and chocolate in a medium sized saucepan. Over very low heat, stir until melted and smooth, and remove from heat immediately, Add sugar, then slowly whisk in eggs, one at a time (so as not to cook them!) Add vanilla and salt, and gently stir in flour just until it disappears… do NOT overmix.

Chill this batter in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Scoop out into balls, and roll each ball in powdered sugar. Place on cookie sheet.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, but no more- you know those “bad Crinkles” I was talking about? Most of them were overbaked. Better to underbake slightly than to overbake.

Serve with coffee, tea, or a jug of chilled milk.

In my last post, I sang the praises of my favorite Crocs shoes for baking, which never fail to ensure that my legs and feet are taken care of during particularly grueling baking marathons. What I didn’t pay enough attention to, apparently, was what all the kneading was doing to my back and shoulders.

Until last night. I awoke at 3:30 a.m. in agony. My left shoulder burning, I could barely move my arm. Pain, pain, pain. I remember thinking, groggily, that “pain” meant “bread” in French- and how appropriate it was. Yes, I ordinarily think this way.

It was my fault, of course. I hadn’t done upper-arm exercises in weeks months, so what was I thinking jumping right into half an hour of kneading extremely heavy dough?

I’m much better today, thanks to visualization techniques (and a good dose of painkillers), and I’m chalking it up as another lesson learned.

Tips for Painless Breadmaking

• Be smart about kneading. If I had more upper-body strength (and, I’m sure, less butter-fat), I would have breezed through the hardcore kneading session yesterday. I should have waited until my heavy-duty mixer got back from the shop (tomorrow!) before attempting a breadmaking spree.
• Make changes carefully. Despite having made that bread recipe nearly a hundred times perfectly, I decided yesterday to replace more than half of the usual all-purpose flour with some nice, gluten-rich bread flour. It made the dough extra heavy, and a little too dense.
• Timing is everything. Because I wanted to serve at least one of the loaves of bread for lunch, I didn’t let the dough rise enough on its first rise (it’s a double-rise recipe). This, too, probably contributed to its heaviness.
• Get help. When I was nearly done kneading the dough, my husband walked into the kitchen and asked if I needed any help kneading. He took over for the last few minutes, but I should have had him take over much earlier. He does, after all, have all those “guy muscles”.

Do you bake bread regularly? What are your tips for easy homemade breadmaking?

These are the crocs Women’s Tully Clog (in “Mushroom/Dahlia” style) and they’re all I ever wear nowadays on baking days. No laces to tie, no clasps to do or undo, they slip on so easily I’m hardly aware of them- and, most importantly, soft, soft, soft.

I used to favor open-toed shoes, until I spilled one too many hot liquids on my feet. These are close-toed, but with little holes to ensure your feet stay cool in them. Plus, they’re much prettier, imho, than the regular “clown-y” looking Crocs. I’ll even admit that I’ve worn these out of the house a few times- to run to the grocery, or to grab an after-dinner Haagen-Dazs with the husband. The subdued color of this style means they don’t draw too much attention to themselves.

Do you wear special shoes for baking or cooking?

Mmm… pie. Is there anything a slice of pie won’t fix? I’ve always felt that pie- good pie- is one of the best man-made inventions ever. I’m particularly fond of cold pie- taken straight from the chiller, often sans plate, eaten directly from the pie pan with a fork or spoon.

I know, I know. I can’t help it, though- pie does this to me. Especially great pie, like this dream of a Lemon Meringue Pie.

Have you ever had homemade Lemon Meringue Pie? It’s life-changing. But only if you really, really like lemons. And I do.

And here’s the thing: Lemon Meringue Pie seems like it’s a difficult thing to make from scratch. Its beautiful billowy gorgeousness can make it look like it’s made by a pro, but I promise you, this is one of the easiest pies there is. Especially if you start with store-bought frozen pie-crust.

Gorgeous Lemon Meringue Pie

For Lemon Layer:
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

For Meringue Layer:
4 egg whites
1 pinch cream of tartar
2 tablespoons sugar

1 (9-inch) pre-baked pie shell

Preheat your oven to 375F. You want to preheat for at least 15 minutes.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk egg yolks. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine cornstarch, water, sugar, and salt, whisking to combine. Put over medium heat, and- while stirring frequently with a wooden spoon- bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and SLOWLY whisk this hot mixture into your bowl of egg yolks. You’re tempering here, so do it slowly. You don’t want scrambled eggs.

*At this point, you want to make your meringue, so you can put it over the filling while the latter is still hot. In your mixer bowl, combine egg whites and cream of tartar. Beat until soft peaks form, then gradually add sugar, and continue beating to stiff, glossy, beautiful peaks.

Return the lemon filling mixture to the saucepan, put over LOW heat, and stir constantly for about a minute. Remove, and stir in butter, lemon juice and zest. Pour into pie shell, and top with meringue. Make sure you spread the meringue well to the edges of the crust (no holes!)

Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden.

Those of you who love the divine combination of salty and sweet can rejoice: this frosting, which is rich yet light and sweet yet not cloyingly so, is what you’ve been looking for. It’s Swiss Meringue Buttercream, delicious all on its own, but made amazing with some salted caramel.

The latter adds a new dimension to the frosting, and for that reason I suggest pairing the buttercream with a cake of a simple flavor. Our favorite Vanilla Cupcake recipe, for example- or, if you’re feeling particularly decadent, a dark and dense Chocolate Cake. It works well on cupcakes, but is just as lovely to fill and frost a regular 2-layer cake (which is about how much this recipe makes).

Salty-Sweet Salted Caramel Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Think the name is a mouthful? Wait until you try this buttercream.
First, you want to make the salted caramel, which might be daunting if you’ve never made caramel sauce before. But don’t fear. Check out my past post on making perfect caramel, and apply the same technique.

Salted Caramel
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup heavy cream
generous pinch of sea salt

Combine water and sugar in a small saucepan. Over low heat, swirl the pan gently (don’t mix, don’t touch with a spoon or implement of any kind). You just want the sugar dissolved. Once its dissolved, bring the heat up to about medium, and continue swirling every once in a while until it reaches a dark amber. Remove from heat, and slowly pour in the cream, stirring with a whisk. The mixture will spatter, but just be careful and all will come together beautifully. Add sea salt. Set aside until cooled and gorgeous… while you make the

Swiss Meringue Buttercream
3 large egg whites
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 sticks salted butter

In the bowl of your electric mixer (stand or hand, but stand is infinitely easier), combine sugar, egg whites and cream of tartar. Set over a large saucepan of simmering water, and constantly whisk (unless you want scrambled eggs. Sweet scrambled eggs.) until sugar is dissolved, and mixture is nice and frothy and white. I use a candy thermometer, because I’m O.C., and bring it to about 160F.

Remove from heat, give the bottom of the bowl a good wipe, attach your stand/hand mixer, and beat on high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the mixture is glossy and holds stiff but NOT dry peaks.

Add butter in tablespoons. Note how your mixture looks curdled (if the butter was cold), and sally forth. It will come together, and give you the most glorious, billowy buttercream.

If the room is warm, it’s a hot day, or your butter wasn’t cold, the mixture may look melted and gloopy even after a few minutes of mixing. If so, take your bowl and stick it in the fridge for about ten minutes. Then re-whip.