Chocolate Chip Cookies

A chocolate chip cookie is... a chocolate chip cookie. There's not much you can do to change the basic recipe of a chocolate chip cookie, but do a Google search for a chocolate chip cookie recipe and you'll get hundreds of different recipes, each claiming to be the best. I guess everybody has their own likes and dislikes, no matter how subtle the differences in various recipes. Me, I like to use butter and not shortening, and I use all brown sugar for a deeper flavor compared to a combination of white and brown sugar. I do like walnuts in mine, but my son is allergic to walnuts so I leave them out.
This is supposedly a copycat recipe of the giant chocolate chip cookies at Levain Bakery in New York. Never having tasted one of their cookies -or heard of the bakery before- I have no idea how close they are, but these are pretty darn tasty.

chocolate chip cookies (adapted from My Baking Addiction)

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

2 C brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 3/4 C flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 C chocolate chips

1 C chopped walnuts, optional

1. Preheat oven to 375 and line baking sheets with parchment paper

2. In bowl of electric mixer fitted with the paddle attatchment, cream together butter and sugar, at least 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla, beating until well combined.

3. Add flour, salt, baking soda and powder and mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts.

4. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets (I used a medium cookie scoop, you can make them whatever size you want, including big giant sized, just adjust baking time accordingly.)

5. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden. Cool for a few minutes on the pan before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

After mixing the dough I almost added another egg, it was a little dry. The cookies are fine, just not as soft and chewey as I like. Next time I'll reduce the flour by a 1/4 C or so. I have read that adding a Tbsp of corn starch to the dough keeps the cookies tender, although I haven't tried it yet. You can replace the butter with shortening or do a mix of the two, but I like using all butter. It tastes better, and although shortening is lower in fat and calories, I think that since butter is a natural product with only one ingredient, it is overall healthier for your body than the long list of oils and artificial flavors and colors in shortening. Just remember moderation. :)

Cinnamon Rolls

Who doesn't love a warm, ooey-gooey cinnamon roll?

These are melt-in-your-mouth, buttery and soft in the middle, and a little crispy and flaky on the outside, almost like puff pastry. Even for a yeast dough, these take a good long while to rise. If you're planning on these for breakfast, either get up really early, and I mean really early, or assemble them the day before and either refrigerate or freeze them. Simply set them out about an hour before you want to bake and Bob's your uncle.

This is the sticky bun dough from the book Confections of a Closet Master Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado, adapted to make cinnamon rolls instead of maple rolls.

for the starter:

1 tsp sugar

1/4 C warm milk or water, about 105 degrees F

1 packet (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast

1/2 C sifted all-purpose flour

for the dough

1/4 tsp salt

3 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp warm milk or water

2 large eggs

1 1/2 C sifted all-purpose flour

12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

for the filling

1/4-1/2 C softened or melted butter

1/4-1/2 C sugar

1-3 Tbsp cinnamon, or to taste

Chopped nuts, optional

for the starter

1. Combine the sugar and milk in the bowl of an electric mixer. Sprinkle the yeast over the mixture and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.

2. Stir in the flour, forming a soft dough. Let the starter rise, covered with plastic wrap, at room temperature until doubled. This took me about 15 minutes.

For the dough

1. Combine the salt, sugar and milk in a small bowl and stir until the salt and sugar are dissolved.

2. Fit the mixer with the dough hook; add the eggs, sugar mixture, and flour to the starter and mix on low until a soft dough forms. Slowly add 1 stick of the butter and mix until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes. Add the remaining butter and beat 1 minute, or until the butter is incorporated. The dough is very soft and sticky.

3. Lightly grease a large bowl and scrape the dough into the bowl with a rubber spatula. Lightly dust the dough with flour to prevent a crust from forming.

4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until more than doubled in bulk, about 2-3 hours.

To assemble

1. Punch down the dough and turn onto a well-floured surface. Gently roll the dough into a 12x18 inche rectangle of uniform thickness, preferably about 1/4" thick.

2. Spread the butter over the entire surface of the dough except for the top 1/2 inch along one long side of the dough. Mix the cinnamon and sugar, and sprinkle evenly over the butter. Sprinkle chopped nuts over cinnamon mixture.

3. Starting at the long side opposite the unbuttered 1/2", roll the dough into a log. Pinch the dough along the seam to seal. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the dough into 12 even pieces.

4. Grease a baking sheet well and place the rolls cut-side down about 1-2 inches apart. Allow the rolls to rest for a half-hour.

5. Preheat oven to 375. Bake until the tops are golden, about 15 minutes. The recipe said to bake them for 30 minutes, but that was way, WAY too long!

6. Remove immediately to a wire rack to cool. Top with a powdered sugar glaze, if desired.

Devil's Food Cupcakes with Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting

This was going to be a layer cake for our Valentine's Day treat, but it didn't quite turn out as planned... Click here if you want to see what happened. So I tried again a couple days later and did cupcakes instead; they're harder to mess up. Cupcakes are fun, but for some reason I like doing layer cakes better. Maybe I just like the challenge of getting a cake to look purty.

This is one seriously tasty chocolate cake. It's not really difficult, but definitely takes a few more steps than dumping the ingredients into a bowl and mixing. The frosting has a lovely raspberry flavor, but the cream cheese flavor gets a little lost, so I think next time I will use a little more cream cheese and a little less butter. I'm not sure how I feel about having raspberry seeds in frosting, but it does look really nice. It was also very sweet, partly because I had my hubby pick up frozen raspberries for me and he got sweetened ones, and partly because I measured them by volume instead of weight, so it was too many raspberries and I had to use about 6 cups of powdered sugar. Now that I think about it, that's probably also why I couldn't taste the cream cheese.

For the Devi's Food Cake: (from the book A Passion For Baking by Marcy Goldman)

• 4oz unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
• 1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 boiling water
• 1 C unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 C firmly packed brown sugar
• 2/3 C white sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 C sour cream
• 1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease and line two 9"round cake pans with parchment paper (grease the parchment too), or line 2 muffin tins with papers.

2. Place chopped chocolate and cocoa in a medium bowl and cover with boiling water. Stir to melt chocolate and then cool.

3. In a mixer bowl, cream butter and both sugars until fluffy and well combined- at least 2 minutes. Blend in eggs, vanilla, and then sour cream. Blend in cooled chocolate and then fold in flour, baking soda and salt.

4. Spoon batter into prepared pans. Bake until cake springs back when gently pressed with finger tips; 30-35 minutes for cake, 15-20 minutes for cupcakes. Cool in pans for a few minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely before frosting.

For the Raspberry Cream Cream Cheese frosting: (from goodLife eats)

• 3/4 C (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 C (40z) cream cheese, room temperature
• 3-4 1/2 C powdered sugar
• 6 oz (by weight, not volume) fresh or frozen raspberries, thawed and divided
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds only, or 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Cream butter and cream cheese in electric mixer for 1-2 minutes until fluffy. Add 1 C sugar and beat until smooth. Add half the raspberries and mix until combined. Add remaining powdered sugar, 1/2 C at a time and beat until well incorporated.

2. Add vanilla and remaining raspberries and mix at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, (2-3 minutes) adding more powdered sugar if necessary to reach desired consistency.

3. Pipe or spread onto cooled cakes or cupcakes.

Parchment Paper

For a long time I did't really know what parchment paper was for. Then I just thought it was too expensive, I would be fine with just greasing and flouring my pans really well. Then I bought some, and I do really like it, but for some reason I still insist on greasing and flouring most of the time. I think I've finally learned my lesson. This was supposed to be a lovely devil's food layer cake with raspberry cream cheese frosting for our Valentine's Day treat....

So if you learn only one thing from me, let it be USE PARCHMENT PAPER!

Oreo Truffles

This is a very simple and easy way to make a lovely, yummy little treat. Topped with a few sprinkles, they make a perfect Valentine! This is also a fun activity to do with your kids, and adaptable to any holiday. Have fun!

Oreo Truffles

• 1 pkg Oreos (I like mint), finely crushed
• 1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened
• 16 oz chocolate, melted
• sprinkles

1. Stir together Oreo crumbs and cream cheese. Roll into balls, using about 1 Tbsp of mixture. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment or waxed paper. Chill until firm in the fridge or freezer.
2. When firm, drop into melted chocolate and roll around using a couple forks, then place back on paper-lined baking sheet. Top with sprinkles. Chill again until chocolate has set. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Homemade Oreos

Are you a twister, or a dunker?






Homemade Oreos
for the chocolate wafers:

• 1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
• 1/2 C Dutch process cocoa
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 to 1 1/2 C sugar
• 1/2 C plus 2 Tbsp (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 large egg

for the filling:

• 1/4 C (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 C all vegetable shortening (the white kind, not butter flavored)
• 2 C sifted powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

1. In a food processor or bowl of electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. While pulsing or on low speed, add the butter and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until the dough comes together in a mass.
2. Preheat oven to 375. Take rounded teaspoons of batter, roll into a ball and place on a parchment lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart, and flatten each ball slightly. Bake for 9 minutes. Either place baking sheets on a wire rack to cool, or slide the parchment off the baking sheet and onto the rack to cool, being careful not to disturb the cookies until they have cooled.
3. To make the filling, place the butter and shortening in a mixing bowl. Cream together. At low speed, gradually add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Turn mixer on high and beat for 2-3 minutes or until filling is light and fluffy.
4. To assemble the cookies, fit a pastry bag with a 1/2 round tip and pipe a teaspoon-sized blob of cream onto half of the cookies (flip over so the flat bottom is facing up). Place another cookie relatively equal in size on top and press lightly to work the filling to the edges. Enjoy with a tall glass of milk!

I've seen recipes for homemade Oreos several times, and all the recipes are pretty much the same, but I used the one from My Baking Addiction.

In case your not familiar with it, Dutch process, or alkalized cocoa has been treated to soften the cocoa flavor a little bit, which can sometimes come across tasting a little bitter. My unrefined palate had never noticed that before, so you'll probably be fine using regular cocoa powder. I used Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa, which is a combination of Dutch process and regular cocoa. I think the Dutch process portion must be black cocoa, which is cocoa that has been very alkalized, producing a very dark, nearly black color. I chose My Baking Addiction's recipe because she used the Hershey's Special Dark cocoa, which produces a much nicer looking chocolate wafer. They are very dark, nearly black and look more like a real Oreo. All the other recipes I've seen were definitely brown. While I'm sure they still tasted good, they just didn't look as good.

As far as the sugar goes for the wafer, you can use anywhere from 1 to 1 1/2 C. Because the cream filling is quite sweet, I used 1 C of sugar in the cookie. The cookie part of an Oreo really isn't very sweet. If you really have a sweet tooth or are using the wafer for another use, go ahead and add that half cup of sugar back in.

This chocolate wafer recipe is a good one to keep around. Get creative with them. Make ice cream sandwiches, keep some on hand to crush and use as a crust for cheesecake, crumble them for an ice cream topping. And think of the things you can do with the filling. Mint Oreos, anyone? You could easily use a little gel food coloring to dye the centers pink for Valentine's day, or pastel colors for Easter, green for St. Patrick's day... You get the idea. I used clear vanilla extract to keep the filling a nice pure white, but regular vanilla extract would be fine.

Honey Yogurt Wheat Bread

Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts! ~James Beard

I grew up on homemade whole wheat bread. Still to this day one of my favorite things to eat is fresh bread, still warm from the oven, with butter and honey. Mmmmm. But then, the bread cooled and it became dry and crumbly. Not so mmmm. Store bought bread was a treat that I relished. Now that I'm a grown up... well, of an adult age at least... I don't like store bought bread so much anymore. Even the supposed 100% natural stuff still has stabilizers and preservatives to extend the shelf life. I don't want to eat that. So I've been searching for a while for a great 100% whole wheat bread recipe.
Almost all recipes I came across were at best only half wheat. I know that I could use all wheat flour, but then it wouldn't be soft. I also wanted a good, moist bread that didn't have a ton of added oil, butter or eggs. Those do make a nice, soft, moist bread, but it adds a lot of fat and calories that I don't want. I'm not necessarily dieting, but I am striving to make healthier choices in an effort to lose some weight and really just become healthier overall. I had nearly given my quest for the perfect whole wheat bread up as impossible, when I found this wonderful gem of a recipe:
Honey Yogurt Whole Wheat Bread

• 3 1/2-4 C whole wheat flour
• 1 packet (2 1/4 tsp) instant or quick-rise yeast
• 3 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp vital wheat gluten
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 C warm water (about 110-115 degrees)
• 3/4 C plain yogurt; regular, non-fat, or Greek

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients. Using the paddle attachment on your stand mixer, or by hand with a large wooden spoon, stir until all ingredients are combined. Cover loosely with plastic wrap for about 5-10 minutes to let rest and allow the gluten to develop.
2. Using the dough hook, knead for 5-10 minutes, adding additional flour or water, 1 Tbsp at a time, to form a soft and moist dough. (not sticky, though)
3. Transfer dough to a large lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place, about 1 hour, til dough has doubled.
4. Shape dough into a loaf. Place in an greased loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise again til dough crests about 1" over the pan.
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 40-50 minutes. Bread is done if it sounds hollow when thumped, or when internal temperature reads 190 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from pan immediately and cool on a wire rack.

Sorry I don't have a picture for you of this beautiful bread; it hasn't stayed around long enough for me to snap one!
I've made this twice. The first time I actually thought that I had undercooked it, it is that soft and moist. It's a nice and dense bread with a very tender crumb.
If you don't have instant yeast, don't feel like you have to go out and buy some. I used regular active dry yeast and it came out fine. It definitely didn't rise as high as I think it could have, but it was fine. The first time I followed the recipe exactly, mixing all the ingredients together. The second time I proofed the yeast first by dissolving it in the warm water for about 5 minutes before adding the remaining ingredients. It did rise a little bit higher this way, but not much. I don't know how much of a difference using instant yeast might make. Instant yeast doesn't have as much oomph as active dry, so if you use it, be careful not to punch the dough down much when you put it in the pan or it might not rise enough.
I used non-fat plain Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt is thicker and creamier than regular plain yogurt. I would imagine that using regular plain yogurt with fat would impart even more moisture to this bread, but I have no complaints with how it turns out using non-fat.
Vital wheat gluten is easily found at any grocery store. It will probably be right next to the yeast. Adding it to your bread dough helps give your bread a higher rise and gives it a bit of togetherness, preventing it from being crumbly.

By the way, this makes amazing French toast.