The Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's a beautiful, sunny, yet cold day here in Arlington.  The minimal snowfall we got last night dusted the trees and rooftops enough to look make my neighborhood look like a peaceful and quaint winter village.  That scene calls for something a sweet treat that is classic and all-American -- chocolate chip cookies.  And not just any chocolate chip cookies.  I found a recipe on the Brown Eyed Baker blog about a year ago for chocolate chip cookies that has made me fall in love with these cookies all over again (which I didn't think was possible!).  So while I enjoy this winter scene outside my window today and while Claire is sleeping, I'm going to be baking these lovely treats.



Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Courtesy of Baking Illustrated/Brown Eyed Baker)
http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2008/06/21/thick-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookie


Ingredients:
2 cups plus 2 T. (10 5/8 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
12 T. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup packed (7 ounces) light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Method:
Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

Either by hand or with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in the chips to taste.

Roll a scant 1/4 cup of the dough into a ball. Hold the dough ball with the fingertips of both hands and pull into 2 equal halves. Rotate the halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, join the halves together at their base, again forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth the dough’s uneven surface. Place the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, jagged surface up, spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart.

Bake until the cookies are light golden grown and the outer edges start to harden yet the centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets with a side metal spatula.

Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Chris and I spent the week after Christmas with colds so by the time New Year's Day came around, I was craving something other than chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches -- both easy things to make when you're feeling under the weather and a parent of a six-month-old (gotta save what little energy you have for the baby, not cooking).  And since we didn't get to ring in the New Year with a champagne toast (yeah, we didn't even make it to midnight), I decided to celebrate with a bottle of beer (Shiner Bock, to be exact) by adding it to some homemade bread.  Yum!  If you have any leftover beer from your celebrations, this is a great way to use it (especially if you're on cold medication) other than drinking it, of course.  I paired it with some homemade beef vegetable noodle soup, a perfect complement.  I think it's best fresh out out of the oven when it's warm but it does reheat well in the microwave if you have any left the next day.

Beer Bread
(Courtesy of The Good Housekeeping Step-By-Step Cookbook)

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 T. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 can or bottle (12 oz.) beer
4 T. margarine or butter, melted

Method:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Grease 9" by 5" loaf pan (you can use cooking spray).  In large bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt until evenly combined.  Stir in beer and melted margarine just until moistened (batter will be lumpy).

Spoon batter into loaf pan and bake 40 minutes, or until golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool in pan on wire rack 5 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely on rack.

Your house will be filled with the wonderful aroma of freshly baked bread!

Cookie Season: Chocolate Chipotle Cookies

In honor of Claire's first Christmas, I tried a new cookie recipe that combined delicious dark chocolate with a spicy kick -- a concoction called Chocolate Chipotle Cookies that will now make it into my cookie rotation each holiday season.  I love chocolate bars with surprising spices like chili powder or ginger -- which my husband likes to add to my Christmas stocking every year -- and these cookies were a perfect fix.  I only got to make one batch of these with all the shopping and wrapping gifts I had to do last week so I'll need to make another for New Year's, or maybe just to eat during the week.  After all, we have another whole week until New Year's resolutions kick in!  Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

Chocolate Chipotle Cookies
(Courtesy of Alison Lewis)
http://www.ingredientsinc.net/2009/12/talk-of-the-town-nashville-chocolate-chipotle-cookies/ 

Ingredients:
8 ounces dark chocolate morsels (1 1/3 cups)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground chipotle seasoning
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Method:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Microwave chocolate on high heat for 45 seconds; stir. Reheat in 15 second intervals, stirring until melted or heat chocolate over a double-boiler, stirring until melted.

Combine, flour, cinnamon and chipotle in a medium bowl; Set aside.

Beat butter at medium speed of an electric mixer until creamy. Add brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in melted chocolate. Stir in flour mixture until blended. Stir in pecans.

Shape dough into 1-inch ball; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten the top of each cookie with a glass dipped in sugar.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are set. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire
racks to cool completely.

Yield: 3 dozen

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Clarendon Cook and her family

!

Cookie Season: Faux Baklava

Love the taste of baklava but don't want to spend hours making it?  I do!  This recipe is the perfect substitute.  I love baklava for its buttery, nutty, honey-sweetened goodness, but the thought of having to lay each phyllo-dough layer doesn't make it worthwhile to me.  I'd rather buy it (or eat the baklava my friend Megan likes to make).  Call me lazy, but long hours of baking doesn't suit me especially when I need a sugar fix!  This recipe is only a few steps and pretty foolproof.  These cookies have been a family favorite for a few years now, especially during the holidays.  Enjoy!

Faux Baklava (a.k.a. Pie Crust Cookies)
(Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens)
http://www.bhg.com/recipe/cookies/nut-wedges/

Ingredients:
1 pie crust (I use a pre-made Pillsbury pie crust, although you could make your own for this recipe.)
1 cup finely chopped nuts
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 T. honey
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. lemon juice

Method:
On a lightly floured surface, spread the pie crust out and roll the dough into a 9-inch circle.  Transfer to an ungreased cookie sheet or a pizza stone.

For the filling, combine the nuts, sugar, honey, cinnamon, and lemon juice.  Spread over half of the dough circle on the cookie sheet, and then fold the other half over so that it forms a half moon shape.  Use tines of fork to seal edges and prick dough.  Brush the edges with milk.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until pastry starts to brown.  Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack.  While warm, cut into 16 to 20 wedges using a pizza cutter.  Cool completely.

Cookie Season Begins: Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chunks

Happy December 1st!  Thanksgiving has come and gone.  Christmas is on its way.  And it is also now the official start of Cookie Season!  (At least in my home!)

Love peanut butter cookies?  My all-time favorite cookies are chocolate chip, but every once in a while I get a craving for ones made with peanut butter.  That was the case this week and I found a peanut butter cookie recipe that will take you straight to cookie heaven.  Seriously.  These are that good.  And addicting.  Perhaps one of the best reasons to like these cookies is the fact that they were still fresh and chewy the next day, and I don't think you can say that about many cookies.  (They didn't last past day two, so I don't know how long they would stay fresh.)  I daresay that if you make these for any Christmas cookie exchange this month, that you will make at least 20 new friends.  Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chunks
(Courtesy of Bon Appetit, March 1997)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup old-fashioned chunky peanut butter (about 9 oz.)
1 cup firmly packed golden brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup honey
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
5 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used a combination of milk chocolate and peanut butter chips.)

Method:
Mix flour, oats, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.  In a separate bowl using an electric mixer, beat peanut butter, brown sugar, butter, honey, egg and vanilla in a large bowl until well blended.  Stir dry ingredients into peanut butter mixture in 2 additions.  Stir in chopped chocolate.  Cover and refrigerate until dough is firm and no longer sticky, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter 2 or 3 large baking sheets.  With your hands, roll 1 heaping tablespoonful of dough for each cookie into 1 3/4-inch-diameter ball.  Arrange cookies on prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 1/2 inches apart.  Bake cookies until puffed, beginning to brown on top and still very soft to touch, about 12 minutes.  Cool cookies on baking sheet 5 minutes.  Using a metal spatula, transfer cookies to rack and cool completely.  (Can be made 2 days ahead.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature.)

Coffee Cake: It's What for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner...

This is coffee cake that you can eat all day.  My husband Chris proved that to be true when I made it yesterday, even though I originally made it for breakfast.  But, the cold weather has arrived, bringing with it a need for sweets as he recently proclaimed with great enthusiasm, "Wintertime is upon us...let the excessive eating and weight gain begin!"  I guess I'm just trying to do my best to satiate his sweet tooth (and mine too).

Everyone needs a good coffee cake recipe, and this is about as good, and traditional, as they come.  Admittedly, I wished I could have just opened a coffee cake mix from a box yesterday morning since it would have been a bit quicker, but the result was definitely worth the effort!  (I mean, who has time to let butter soften before breakfast???  I ended up putting the stick of butter in the microwave for a few seconds to speed up the process.)  And yes, Chris ended up eating this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, along with some "regular" food here and there.  Hope you enjoy this as much as he did!

Very Best Coffee Cake
(Courtesy of Cheryl Bartel, as found in "Favorite Recipes from Quilters")

Ingredients:

Cake
3/4 cup sugar
8 T. margarine or butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup sour cream

Streusel Filling
1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 tsp. cinnamon
3 T. margarine or butter, melted

Method:
Cream together the sugar and margarine in a mixer.  Add vanilla and eggs.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add this flour mixture to the creamed mixture, alternating with the sour cream.  Begin and end with the flour mixture.

In a small bowl, combine all filling ingredients and mix well.

Spread half of the batter into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan (I used an 11"x7"x1.5" pan - see adjusted baking time below if you go this route).  Sprinkle with half of the filling and repeat layers.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  (I baked mine for 50 minutes using the different sized pan than the recipe called for.)

Eat your veggies!

Claire says to eat your veggies!