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I was Harry Potter for Halloween way before Harry Potter was cool. I remember that as we were trick or treating no one knew who I was. We were living in North Bend, Washington. You know Twin Peaks the show? That's where they filmed it. It's a dreamy little town tucked away in the evergreens 45 minutes outside of Seattle. My mom commuted to downtown Seattle every day for work.For my Harry Potter costume I wore jeans, tennis shoes, a striped shirt, a red cape, and glasses. I pulled my hair back and painted a lightning bolt on my forehead. Ever since I started reading Harry Potter I felt a special kinship with him (just like all the other kids in the world ; ) But I really thought our connection was special because I was born with a huge pink birthmark on my forehead. My parents called it an angel's kiss but it was a big large red dot just to the left of the center of my forehead. It faded over time and now you can just barely see it. It looks more like a faint scar than anything else. So as you can see, Harry and I are kindred spirits.Every new Harry Potter book was a special occasion in our family - just like I know it was for other people's families. One summer in high school, my mom took me and my two sisters plus my sister's friend on a road trip to California. The main purpose of the trip was to tour colleges for me. That was the summer the new Harry Potter book was coming out (I can't remember which one it was though). Somewhere in Northern California on the day that book came out, we all ran into a Costco. We each bought a copy and were silent the entire road trip. My sister Sahara and I read faster than our other sister and friend and it was really difficult to keep our mouths shut about what was happening. We were constantly yelling at each other not to spoil any surprises.Yesterday at the grocery store, we started talking to the lady employee at the cash register about Harry Potter. She said that if she could wish anything and have it come true it would be to read the Harry Potter books all over again without knowing anything about them. And boy oh boy do I agree with that.These witches hat cookies come from the Bouchon Bakery cookbook. I have made the speculoos cookie dough used as the base for the cookie many times. And if you've ever eaten speculoos or biscoff - maybe with your complimentary airplane drink, then you know how insanely good those cookies are. Homemade speculoos is really just a dream come true. You top these round and crisp cookies with homemade marshmallow fluff. Then you enrobe them in chocolate. I sprinkled some New Mexico red chile on for good measure.Sorting Hats - recipe adapted from Bouchon Bakery cookbookSpeculoos cookies - recipe from Bouchon Bakery cookbook3/4 cup all purpose flour1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon pastry flour1/2 teaspoon salt1/4 teaspoon baking soda1/2 teaspoon cinnamon2 teaspoons honey1/4 heaping cup white sugar1/3 cup brown sugar6 ounces butter at room temperatureInstructions:Cream butter, sugars and honey together. Add in all dry ingredients and mix slowly until just combined. Dump out onto a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a flat disc. Wrap in the plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.When ready to use, remove dough from fridge and let soften a bit. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/8 of an inch thick. Cut into circular shapes and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.Marshmallow - recipe adapted from Bakers Royale5 egg whites1 1/2 cups sugarpinch of saltpinch of cream of tartardrop of vanillaInstructions:In a bowl of a stand mixer combine egg whites and sugar.Over a pot of simmering water, whisk egg whites and sugar until the sugar has melted and the egg whites are warm to the touch.Remove from pot of water and begin to whisk using stand mixer. Add in salt and cream of tartar. Keep beating the egg whites for up to 15 minutes. They should hold stiff peaks and be very glossy and thick. Spoon into piping bag and use immediately.Chocolate shell - recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction10 ounces chopped chocolate1 tablespoon refined coconut oilInstructions:Using a double boiler, melt chocolate and coconut oil. Let cool for a few minutes.Assembly:Take each cooled cookie round and pipe a mound of marshmallow. Bake the cookies topped with marshmallow in a 300 degree oven for 15 minutes. Let cool.Spoon chocolate over the tops of the marshmallow and onto the sides of the cookie. Refrigerate for 10 minutes to help chocolate set and then remove from refrigerator.
