Friday, October 7, 2011

Pebbly Beach Fruit Squares

A first flip through a cookbook always ends with those several pages that get marked because of great-looking things that I intend to make right away. Then, reality happens, and I might not get back to those marked pages for weeks or maybe months. These cookies were on one of those marked pages in Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich. I’ve baked a few other things from the book, but I only recently made my way back to this page. I was looking for a birthday cookie for my sister, and I remembered these fruit-filled squares. This is the first cookie of the Chewy category, but they’re a little bit crispy too. It’s an interesting cookie technique and one I hadn’t tried before. Basically, they’re made from two layers of pastry with dried fruit in the middle and a coarse sugar topping. As they bake, the top layer of pastry settles around the bits of fruit and makes a pebbly-looking surface. Once cool, they’re crisp and firm enough to pack and ship without fear of them crumbling. Another great thing about these cookies is the possibility of infinite flavor variations. I went with lemon zest in the dough and a filling of dried cranberries, but other suggestions include cinnamon or anise in the dough and dried fruit like golden or dark raisins, apricots, dates, cherries, candied ginger, or any combination of those.

Starting the dough is the standard cookie procedure of creaming butter and sugar and adding an egg and vanilla. Next, you add the flavor component of choice which was lemon zest for me, but it’s noted in the recipe that anise smells lovely in the dough as it bakes. Then, the dry ingredients of flour, baking powder, and salt were added and mixed to combine. The dough was divided in half, each half was pressed into a round, and the rounds were wrapped in plastic and chilled for a few hours. Once chilled, one piece of dough at a time was rolled in between sheets of parchment paper into a big rectangle. The dough does become a little sticky as it comes up in temperature, so the parchment makes it much easier to roll without excess flour. To fill, the top piece of parchment was removed, dried cranberries were strewn about on the bottom half of the rectangle of dough, and the top half of dough was folded over the bottom. The top was then sprinkled with turbinado sugar, the edges were trimmed, and squares were cut. The process was repeated with the second piece of dough, and the squares baked for about 15 minutes.

For a brief moment, it seemed like rolling the dough and folding and cutting was going to be complicated, but it was actually pretty simple. The squares were cut and ready to bake in no time. I’m already thinking about flavors to try next time. It might be cinnamon in the dough and dried apricots and candied ginger for the filling. With crunchy pastry layers and a chewy fruit filling, these are worth trying in every flavor combination you can imagine.



25 comments:

  1. I have never tried either this technique when making cookies but your squares sound pretty darn good! Love the lemon cranberry combo!

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  2. Yum! How fresh and vibrant. Love those cranberries any time of year!

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  3. I've seen that book, its a good one!
    Interesting technique for putting in the cranberries. The finished squares look fantastic.
    *kisses* HH

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  4. Then... reality happens!

    gosh, you said it all... I am smiling here, feeling a little better because you go through the same mental games I do ;-)

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  5. I love these, Lisa. Sort of a cracker-cookie! :)
    Fun to make too. With the cranberries, definitely a fall treat.

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  6. I'm so glad I'm not the only one who does this with cookbooks..I really do have such good intentions! I'm fairly certain I bookmarked these in Medrich's book also...thanks for reminding me that they exist!

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  7. These look great! I just found your blog and love it. I am a cookbook addict too.

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  8. Your photos are absolutely stunning!! And I love the naming of this one too - it totally has a beautiful pebbly look to it. Great fall dessert!

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  9. What unique cookies - the folding over technique is pretty cool! I'm the same way with cookbooks.

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  10. The other day, I unpacked a box of cookbooks and there were about 10 copies of this book. I immediately put it on my "Dana Wants" list. For reasons like this one! What a perfect cookie. Pretty and tasty.

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  11. This is one that is in my library of cookbooks that I have yet to make. I am always interested in cookies that ship and travel well due to my monthly donations, so this has inspired. Great timing also with the cranberries.

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  12. Look so good!!!, This is something I want to bite.

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  13. Ooh these guys are cute. I haven't tried anything like this before. They look like they're fun to make too. I want to say I am going to try these asap but I have that same issue with page folding and bookmarking recipes. I think my list is somewhere in the 1000s.

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  14. Don't laugh... but when I first read the title, I thought this had something to do with Fruity Pebbles. This is far better ;)

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  15. these are without a doubt some of the most unique bars i've ever seen. i love the heaps of cranberries!

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  16. I recently attended a cooking class with Alice Medrich. What a great baker! The Chocolate Cream Pie she prepared was intoxicating! Can't wait to try this cookie recipe as a welcome to fall baking with seasonal cranberries.

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  17. That is an interesting way to make cookie! That photo of butter cut in chunks ... loved it :)

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  18. Yet another book I need to pull off the shelf again. These cookies look gorgeous! Knowing Alice, I'm sure they taste as good as they look. Your sister is a lucky gal!

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  19. Love those cookies! Never made or had anything like this. They are so adorable.

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  20. These are a new one on me. Would love the recipe.

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  21. Lisa, what an interesting way for cookies, and they sure look great...love the the pictures! Love the idea of "sandwiching" the dry fruits.
    Hope you are having a great week and thanks for this fantastic recipe :-)

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  22. I would love that one! the combo of chewy and crispy I find irresistible, and the tanginess of the cranberries is manna from heaven as far as I am concerned

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  23. I made these, too, awhile back. They are awesome. Yes, a little tricky to work with the dough at first. But highly worth the effort. ;)

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  24. this is a great idea, it almost looks like you're making ravioli, pretty pics.

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