Recipes from The Cookie Bible

by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Lemon lumpies
(Courtesy of Harper Collins)

My dear friend Annie Baker sells wonderful “cookie dough cookies” — crunchy on the outside and chewy and doughy on the inside — at Napa farmers’ markets and online at anniethebaker.com. When I stopped in the Bay Area while promoting my book Rose’s Heavenly Cakes, she gifted me with a bag of her famous cookies for the road. Of course, her recipe is top secret, as her vast array of cookie dough cookies are her claim to fame. Here is my version. The candied lemon peel adds a sparkly counterpoint to the sweetness of the white chocolate. You can use this recipe as a base for any number of variations.

Makes 32 cookies.

Dough

Makes: about 1180 grams 

Instructions

1. Brown the butter: Have ready by the cooktop a 1 cup / 237 ml glass measure with a spout. In a small heavy saucepan, melt the butter over very low heat, stirring often with a light-colored silicone spatula. Raise the heat to low and boil, stirring constantly, until the milk solids on the spatula become little brown specks. An instant-read thermometer should read 285° to 290°F / 140° to 143°C. Immediately pour the butter into the glass measure, scraping in the browned solids as well. You should have about 140 grams / ¾ cup / 177 ml. Allow the browned butter to cool to 80°F / 27°C.
2. Chop the candied lemon peel into ¼ inch pieces. You should have ½ cup.
3. Chop the white chocolate into ¼ inch pieces. You should have ⅔ cup.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
5. Make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, mix the browned butter, brown sugar, golden syrup, and vanilla extract on low speed for 1 minute, or until blended. Gradually beat in the milk. The batter will look curdled. Add the flour mixture. Beat on the lowest speed just until the flour is moistened. Then beat on low speed for 30 seconds.
6. Add the white chocolate and candied lemon peel and beat just until evenly incorporated.
7. In a small custard cup, place the granulated sugar for coating.
8. Divide the dough into 32 walnut-size pieces (37 grams each). If the dough is too soft to roll easily, refrigerate it briefly until it is firmer. One at a time, roll each piece of dough in the palms of your hands to form a 1½ inch ball, then roll the ball in the sugar, while it is still soft enough to coat evenly.
9. Set the balls on a small sheet pan. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for a minimum of 1 hour, up to 3 months. (If planning to store these for longer than 1 hour, it is best to transfer the frozen balls to an airtight container or freezer bag.)
10. Preheat the oven thirty minutes or longer before baking, set an oven rack at the middle level. Set the oven at 400°F / 200°C.
11. Place half of the balls 1½ inches apart on a prepared cookie sheet.
12. Bake for 5 minutes. Rotate the cookie sheet halfway around. Continue baking for 5 to 6 minutes, or until the cookies are just beginning to brown on the top; when gently pressed with thumb and index finger on the sides, they should yield to pressure. An instant-read thermometer inserted into a cookie should read 145° to 165°F / 63° to 74°C.
13. Set the cookie sheet on a wire rack and use a thin pancake turner to transfer the cookies to another wire rack. Cool completely.
14. Repeat with the second batch.