Holiday Moderation 101

I am an "everything in moderation type" of person when it comes to the joy of eating, especially during the holidays. I am sort of notorious for following a lovely balanced meal of grilled fish, brown rice and a green salad with a sizable piece of frosted cake. And I think that's just fine. I prefer healthy, nourishing foods for my main meals and my desserts from scratch so I know exactly what's in them. When I'm keeping this kind of balance in my diet, I don't have to reach for fat-free plastic pudding or go all wacky health food nut and muck up classic dessert recipes with whole wheat flour or somesuch to guiltlessly satisfy my sweet tooth. Viva le white flour and sugar--in moderation!, I say. So although intrigued by the Nibby Buckwheat Butter Cookies in Alice Medrich's Pure Dessert (an entire book beautifully dedicated to "mucked up" dessert recipes with wacky health nut ingredients, by the way), I was skeptical. Then I saw a post about them on the ever-inspiring Orangette, and onto the baking to-do list these cookies went.


I wanted to instantly love these, I really did. They seemed so awesomely sophisticated. Cacao nibs are the new black. I pretty much covet everything Alice Medrich has ever done, and then there was that endorsement from one of my favorite food bloggers. I so wanted to be in the Nibby Buckwheat Butter Cookie Lovers' sorority. Well, it didn't happen right away. In fact, I didn't think it would happen at all. It didn't even happen after Molly's recommended day of waiting to let the flavors develop and the buckwheat-y punch to dissipate. I was afraid this was too much moderation for me. I wanted to ice them with a vanilla glaze or dip them in melted Valrhona or something. I don't want to feel like I need to wear something made of hemp in order to enjoy a cookie, okay?

But then a few more days went by. I had stashed the leftover cookies in the freezer because I hate throwing out food, even food I am on the fence about. After lunch one day, I wanted a little something extra, but not too sweet. I had been surrounded by glittering, sugary, buttery discs the entire day before, and although I hadn't had too many (just enough to ensure they had turned out suitably, of course--baker's obligation, you know), I just needed to back up from that a bit. I remembered the nibby buckwheat buggers in the freezer. And wouldn't you know it, the flavors had definitely transformed into something quite different! Even the husband said so. In the end, these radical little hippie cookies had charmed us. Who knew? This of course, wasn't the first time I was proven wrong by a recipe. And I apologized by including these in my holiday cookie tins as the "exotic" selection. Crunchy, buttery, just sweet enough and the cacao nibs are one of nature's most powerful antioxidants. Now how's that for moderation?



Nibby Buckwheat Butter Cookies
From Alice Medrich's Pure Dessert

Makes 4 dozen

Medrich's original recipe says these cookies are delicious fresh or the day following baking, but I found them to be at their best three days later. They store well in an airtight container for up to one month and are great candidates for shipping.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup buckwheat flour
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cacao nibs
1 1/2 teaspoons good vanilla extract

Whisk the flours together in a medium bowl and set aside. In the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy, but not fluffy. Stir in the cacao nibs and vanilla, then mix in the flours just until incorporated. Scrape the dough out onto a work surface and knead a few times if necessary until the dough is smooth. Form the dough into a 12-inch long log, about two inches in diameter. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least two hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and position the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Slice the dough into 1/4 inch thick slices and place on prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back about halfway through baking until the cookies just begin to brown at their edges. Cool completely on a wire rack.