Dessert

Moonstruck. That’s the restaurant in New Jersey where I first had this. My mother went out of her way to support the owners when they first opened, telling everyone to go there, but Howard and Luke always seemed unhappy to see her. We would end up there because it was better than anything else in Ocean Grove. I wasn’t sure if I liked this at first because it was so, so tart, but cool and creamy. I didn’t know it was a southern specialty or anything about the key lime destruction story. I didn’t know anything about key limes until I bought something called Key West Lime Juice and yuck. Now I spend $24 bucks a year for a bottle of real key lime juice—Florribean. I’ve seen key limes a few times now, they’re the size of golf balls. I can’t see myself squeezing them.

Oven 375º with rack in middle
Butter and parchment line bottom and sides of 10” springform
1 1/2 packets graham crackers crushed
Stir in 4 tablespoons of melted butter and 1/4 cup sugar
Press mixture gently into bottom of pan
Bake 8 minutes
Let cool
Reduce oven to 350º
Beat 6 egg yolks and add one can of sweetened condensed milk
Save whites for pavlova
Mix in thoroughly 3/4 cup Florribean Key Lime Juice
Pour mixture through sieve over crust and tap to release bubbles
Bake 15 minutes
Let cool, cover pan with foil and refrigerate

Common name: White chocolate chip mint chocolate cookies.

This was my younger daughter’s idea for a holiday cookie, based on her love of peppermint bark, that we cobbled together from various cookie recipes.

6.5 ounce bag of starlight mints or box of candy canes
8 ounces of butter (two sticks), I used regular salted butter this time because that was all I had
1/4 teaspoon salt if using unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
2 cups of flour (I used Gold Medal)
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa (I used Guittard Cocoa Rouge)
1 teaspoon baking powder
12 ounces of white chocolate chips (I used Guittard Choc-Au-Lait)

Get the butter and eggs out to soften and get up to room temperature (this usually takes a half hour or so).

Get the oven going at 350˚.

Line cookie sheets with parchment or silicone mats (such as Silpat) if needed.

Bash the candy into something around the size of Red Hots or M&M Minis. Careful here. The first time I used a rolling pin and now it is covered in pock marks. I had better success placing the candy between two layers of heavy duty zip lock bags and using the flat side of a meat mallet on a plastic cutting board. I have also used a food processor, but that just turns it to mostly dust (it also gets the machine really hot and etches the bowl).

Combine 2 cups of flour, 2/3 cup cocoa, and 1 teaspoon baking powder. Set aside. I don’t usually sift the dry ingredients together unless it’s a cake or cupcake.

With a stand or hand mixer, cream together 8 ounces of butter, 1 cup sugar, and 2/3 cup brown sugar. Scrape down as needed. Add the eggs. Mix until all mixed together.

Scrape down the bowl and begin adding the dry ingredients in three additions. Scraping down between each addition. This is to help incorporate the dry ingredients and also to keep you from having a flour bomb go off.

Once everything is thoroughly mixed, fold in the crushed candy and white chocolate chips. Don’t worry if the batter seems ridiculously thick.

Now you can decide what size you want the cookie. I used a large ice cream scoop that holds a ⅓ of a cup. I baked 5 cookies at a time on a large baking sheet. This made a ‘monster’ size cookie between 4 and 5 inches across. I baked these for 14 minutes (17 in new convection spaceship range). I did one sheet at a time, although if I would have turned the convection on, I could have done three sheets at a time.

Makes 17 cookies.

Let cool slightly and eat.

Category: Dessert

Spring Key