Bready or Not

• Preheat oven at 400 degrees. Line a large baking pan with parchment. Use pencil to draw 3-inch lines spaced several inches apart in rows upon the paper, then flip over so the pencil lines still show through as guides.
• In a medium bowl, cream together butter and white sugar (1/2 cup and 2 Tablespoons) until smooth. Beat in egg whites one at a time until batter is light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla followed by flour. Dough might be stiff.
• Put about half of dough into a Ziploc bag (then cut off corner) or a piping bag with a medium star tip. Squeeze out dough onto the lines on parchment.
• Bake for 10 to 11 minutes, until edges are starting to brown. Move to cooling rack. Pipe and bake remaining dough, reusing parchment.
• Store in a sealed container. Good dipped into chocolate or spread with Nutella--or all by itself.

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• Place flour, sugar, espresso powder, and salt in mixing bowl; add butter, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix with fingers until dough holds together, then fold in the mini chocolate chips. Once chips are distributed, divide dough into two balls and press each ball into a pan. Flatten evenly with palms and prick surface all over with floured fork. Slash into wedges.
• Bake for 17 to 22 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Remove from oven. Immediately cut again following slash marks and carefully run the blade around the edge of the crust to loosen the shortbread.
• Let shortbread cool. Cut again along slash marks and the crust, then remove wedges to eat. Shortbread keeps in sealed container for several days.

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• Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 13x9-inch pan with foil and apply nonstick spray or butter.
• Place the 1/2 cup hazelnuts in a food processor. Process until finely ground.
• In a medium bowl, beat together the next two crust ingredients, the brown sugar and butter. Add the flour and ground hazelnuts. Press crust into pan; a piece of wax paper and a heavy glass makes it easy to form an evenly compressed layer. Bake for 10 minutes.
• In the meantime, put the remaining hazelnuts in the food processor and give them a quick pulse, just to coarsely chop them.
• As soon as the crust comes out, sprinkle the hazelnuts over the top. In a small saucepan, warm the butter and brown sugar to boiling at medium heat. Boil for a minute. Pour over hazelnuts.
• Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until edges are bubbling and center is set. Cool completely.
• In a small microwave-safe bowl, zap the chocolate in 25 second bursts, stirring well between each pass, until it can be stirred smooth. Use a fork to drizzle the chocolate over the bars.
• Chill in fridge for 30 minutes, or until chocolate is set. Use the foil to lift contents onto a cutting board and slice into bars.
• Store in a sealed container at room temperature or in the fridge with waxed paper or parchment between the layers.

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• Drain juice from cherries into another bowl; reserve 1/2 cup of juice. Remove stems from cherries and roughly chop up the fruit. Set aside.
• Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Grease and flour a large bundt pan.
• In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and baking soda. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time. Pour in the cherry juice, water, and almond extract. Start adding the flour mix and the sour cream in small amounts, going back and forth until everything is just incorporated. Fold the cherries into the batter.
• In a microwave safe dish, heat the chocolate chips in short bursts until they can be stirred smooth.
• Spoon some cherry batter into the base of the bundt pan. Add dollops of chocolate, then more batter. Keep going back and forth until all of the batter and chocolate is in the pan. Drag a butter knife through--without touching the metal--to swirl everything together a bit more, then smooth the top.
• Bake for about 1 hour, until an inserted knife comes out clean. Set on a rack to cool for 20 minutes, then invert the cake and remove the pan so it can completely cool.
• Store covered at room temperature. Slices can also be frozen for later enjoyment.
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• Preheat oven at 375-degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or use a silicone mat.
• Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add two egg yolks and vanilla extract. Add flour until just incorporated.
• Lightly flour work surface and hands. Using rolling pin or hands, press dough to about 1/4-inch thickness.
• Use a small round cookie cutter on dough. Transfer rounds to cookie sheet, spaced out a bit. Use a fork to scratch a crosshatch pattern in the top, like a hashtag with more lines.
• Beat remaining egg yolk in a small bowl. Brush tops of cookies with yolk.
• Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until cookies are a consistent golden color. Transfer to a rack to completely cool.
• Store in a sealed container.
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• On the stove top or in a microwave, melt 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, warming until smooth. Set aside to cool.
• In another bowl, stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
• In a big bowl, beat together the butter and two sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, scraping bowl to make sure everything is combined. Follow up with espresso powder and vanilla, then the melted chocolate. Stir in flour mixture. Fold in the remaining chocolate chips.
• Cover mixing bowl and let dough stand for about 30 minutes so that the chocolate can set.
• Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Use a teaspoon scoop to place dough spaced out on parchment-covered cookie sheet or seasoned stoneware.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let set on stove about 10 minutes before moving cookies to a rack to completely cool.
• Store in sealed containers at room temperature. Cookies may crisp up more after 1 day, but keep quite well.
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