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5 from 2 votes

Vanilla Dreams – The Experiment

I recently saw a recipe for Vanilla Dreams on the King Arthur Flour site. What intrigued me about the recipe was that it used Baker’s Ammonia, a.k.a. Ammonium Carbonate, in place of baking powder.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time45 minutes
Course: Cookies
Cuisine: American
Servings: 48 Cookies
Calories: 107kcal

Ingredients

Cookie:

  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon baker's ammonia or 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 ¼ cups (8.75-ounces, 248 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1 cup (8-ounces, 227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups (8.5-ounces, 241 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour

Chocolate Dip:

  • 1 cup (6-ounces, 170 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vegetable oil
  • 1 cup (4-ounces, 113 grams) roasted pecans, crushed

Instructions

Cookie

  • Preheat the oven to 300°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.
  • Combine the vanilla, baker's ammonia, and salt in a very small bowl. Stir to dissolve the ammonia; the salt won't fully dissolve. Combine the vanilla mixture with the butter and sugar, and beat until smooth. (If using baking powder in place of the baker's ammonia, add the vanilla extract, baking powder and salt to the butter and sugar, and beat until smooth.) Mix in the flour; the mixture will seem quite dry at first. Continue beating until the dough comes together.
  • Break off pieces of dough about the size of a shelled chestnut (about ½ ounce, 13 grams); a teaspoon cookie scoop works well here. Roll the pieces into balls. Space them on the prepared baking sheets, leaving 1-½ inches between them. Use the bottom of a glass, dipped in flour or sugar if necessary to prevent sticking, to flatten the balls to about ⅜-inch thick. If you have it, use the end of the food pusher from a food processor to flatten the cookies; many of these have a circular, ridged pattern on their end, which imprints the cookies with a nice design.
  • Bake the cookies at 300° F until they're a very light golden brown around the edges, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove cookies from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool. Yield: About 4 dozen cookies.

Chocolate Dip

  • Crush the pecans finely, either by putting them in a ziploc bag and pounding, or in a food processor. Combine the chocolate chips and vegetable oil in a microwave-safe cup. Microwave in 30 second intervals until the chocolate softens; then stir to completely melt.
  • Using an off-set spatula, spread the bottom of each cookie with chocolate. Dip in crushed nuts. Place cookies, chocolate-side up, on a piece of parchment or wire rack to set.

Nutrition

Calories: 107kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 39mg | Potassium: 15mg | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 130IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 0.3mg