Abbracci

Directions

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   Procedure
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   1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, potato starch, baking powder, salt and nutmeg and set aside.
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   2. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and 1/2 cup of the sugar together on medium speed for 1 minute, until the butter is creamy and light. Beat in the orange zest, egg yolks and vanilla, scraping down the sides, until the mixture is smooth and fluffy, about another minute.
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   3. Beat in the flour mixture for 30 seconds, stopping once to scrape down the sides. Gather all the dough together in a mass in one corner of the bowl, and with a spatula, scoop out half of it onto a piece of plastic wrap.
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   4. Add the cocoa powder, the last tablespoon of sugar, and the milk to the remaining dough in the bowl and beat well, until it is completely uniform in color, about 45 seconds. Scrape the chocolate dough onto another piece of plastic wrap. Wrap both doughs and chill them until firm, about 2 hours.
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   5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare two baking sheets by greasing and lining them with parchment paper.
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   6. To form the abbracci, divide each piece of dough in half, rolling each piece on a lightly floured surface into a long snake about 14 inches long. Cut the snakes into 3/4-inch pieces and roll each piece into a ball; try to make the balls uniform in size.
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   7. Working with one ball of each flavor of dough at a time, form a slightly lopsided crescent, leaving one end round and plump and the other somewhat flat. Nestle the two pieces of dough in an embrace, wrapping the flatter ends around plumper ends.
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   8. Arrange the abbracci about an inch apart on the baking sheets and bake for 12 to 14 minutes, rotating the pans after 10 minutes. The cookies are done when they are firm and dry to the touch, and the vanilla dough is just turning golden at the edges.
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    9. Cool the cookies on the pans for about five minutes, then gently slide them onto a rack to cool completely. Store them up to a week in an airtight container.