Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've made chocolate chip cookies countless times and am always interested in new versions of this classic.  I haven't really had a go-to recipe until I came across this one from Bite Me by sisters Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat.

For starters, these cookies are larger than most cookies and do not flatten out to become thin discs.  They are solid, dunkable and chewy - just how I like my cookies.  I've made them a lot and they've never disappointed.  Impress your family and friends and whip up a batch today!









Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 1/2 milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 F.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.

In an electric mixer, cream together butter, brown sugar and sugar on medium speed until well blended.  Beat in vanilla, egg and egg yolk until light and fluffy.  On low speed, add flour mixture and chocolate chips, mixing just until flour disappears.

Drop dough by 1/4 cup at a time, 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.  Remove from oven and allow to cool a few minutes before transferring cookies to a wire rack.

Yield: 20-24 large cookies.

Recipe Source: Bite Me, 2009 by Julie Albert & Lisa Gnat

Naughty Biscotti

I've been a fan of the Podleski sisters ever since they released Looneyspoons in 1996. I have all four of their cookbooks and their latest, The Looneyspoons Collection, was given to me a few weeks ago as a gift. It contains their greatest recipe hits updated and some brand new ones. It's a beautiful book to go through and I do think there is something for everyone in it.

If you're familiar with Janet and Greta then you know they give their recipes quirky and humorous names. Naughty Biscotti is their version of a lemon, cranberry and pistachio biscotti that does not disappoint. They are chock full of bright flavour and colour. They're a breeze to put together and, as they say in the recipe, the longer you bake them the crisipier they get. I followed the recipe as is and was very happy with the end result. The are delicious and nutritious. Can't argue with a cookie that has oat bran in it. :)

Naughty Biscotti

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oat bran
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup lightly packed brown sugar
2 tbsp butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1 egg white
1 1/2 tbsp grated lemon zest
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped pistachios

Preheeat oven to 350F. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and set aside.

Combine flour, oat bran, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together both sugars and butter on medium speed of electric mixer for 1 minute. Add eggs, egg white, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla. Beat again until well blended. Using a wooden spoon, add flour mixture to sugar mixture and stir just until blended. Dough will be thick. Add cranberries and pistachios and mix well.

Divide dough in half. Using lightly floured or greased hands, shape each half into an 8 x 3 x 1/4-inch loaf and place on prepared cookie sheet, about 3 inches apart. Add a bit more flour if dough is too sticky.

Bake on middle oven rack for 20 minutes. Remove loaves from cookie sheet and cool on wire rack for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 275F. Transfer loaves to a cutting board. Using a very sharp knife cut each loaf crosswise on a diagonal into 9 slices. (You'll have some scraps from the end pieces, so go ahead and eat them. Everyone knows scraps have zero calories.) Place slices, cut-side down, on same cookie sheet. Return to oven and bake for 8 minutes. Turn biscotti over and bake for 8 more minutes. Cool completely on wire rack. Biscotti will harden as they cool.

Note: If you prefer super-hard biscotti, increase baking time from 8 minutes to 10 minutes per side.

Recipe Source: The Looneyspoons Collection, Janet & Greta Podleski, 2011

Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

I made cupcakes yesterday after a very long time. They were for a birthday and I decided to jazz them up by using origami paper for the liners which worked perfectly. The little bit of extra flair upped the oomph factor and made for a seriously pretty platter.

The cupcakes were moist and tasty on their own and the buttercream was deliciously creamy. The recipes are easy to follow and make. The cupcake recipe is actually for chocolate cake but I made 21 cupcakes with the batter and baked them for 20-22 minutes.

Good Old Chocolate Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare two greased and parchment-lined 9-inch round cake pans or one 9 x 13-inch rectangular pan. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda. Add the milk, vegetable oil and vanilla and beat with an electric mixer for about 2 minutes until smooth, scraping down the sides several times. Add the eggs and beat for another 2 minutes.

Pour batter into prepared pans, them slam the pans on the counter once or twice to eliminate bubbles. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then invert onto a rack, peel off the paper, and let cool completely before doing something delicious with it.

Makes two 9-inch round layers or one 9 x 13-inch rectangular cake.

Deluxe Buttercream Icing

1 cup unsalted butter

4 cups icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup whipping cream

In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Add the icing sugar and beat until well blended. Add the vanilla and whipping cream and continue to beat on high speed until frosting is fluffy and creamy - about 5 minutes. (You can add up to 2 tbsp of additional whipping cream if you feel that the frosting is too stiff.)

Makes more than enough ultra-creamy frosting to generously fill and frost a two-layer, 8 or 9-inch round cake. Or more than enough to thickly frost the top of a 9 x 13-inch cake.

Recipe Source: The Clueless Baker, 2001

Baklava

I love baklava and have eaten a lot of it. I've tried it with all different types and nuts, shapes and flavours. They ones I have enjoyed the most have been made by friends - crispy and moist but certainly not dry.

Since this was my first attempt, I used the easiest recipe I could find. I didn't want to get fancy, I just wanted to get a feel for the technique and how it all came together.

I've concluded that putting baklava together is not hard. Once I had everything ready it came together without mishap but it did take a while to assemble. Covering the phyllo is essential because if the sheets get dry and break you'll have a hard time brushing with butter. Scoring the phyllo turned out to be fairly easy, though I did make one incorrect cut. A sharp knife = success. Once you're done, congratulate yourself. All you have to do now is bake it and pour hot honey all over the top. Easy.

Overall, a great recipe for all bakers. It turned out crispy on top and chewy-moist throughout. You can mix it up with different nut and flavourings but if you're looking for a 'classic'-tasting baklava, this is for you.

Recipe: Baklava

Baklava

4 cups finely chopped walnuts

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 lb phyllo pastry leaves (1 package), thawed

1 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cups honey

1 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 300 F (150 C)

In a large bowl, toss together the walnuts, sugar, and cinnamon. Set aside.

Unroll the package of phyllo pastry onto a sheet of waxed paper. Cover with a second sheet of waxed paper and a clean dish towel. (The waxed paper will keep the phyllo from drying out and the towel will keep the whole thing weighted down and covered.)

Brush a 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33 cm) rectangular baking dish with some of the melted butter. Now, remove one full sheet of phyllo pastry from the stack and place in the baking dish, allowing it to extend up the sides of the dish. Brush with melted butter. Repeat until you have 6 layers of phyllo pastry in the baking dish, brushing each one with melted butter. Sprinkle with 1 cup (250 mL) of the walnut mixture.

Now, cut the remaining sheets of phyllo pastry crosswise in half. (A half sheet of phyllo should fit the baking dish almost exactly.) Place one of these half-sheets over the layer of walnuts in the baking dish. Brush with butter. Repeat until you have 6 layers of phyllo, each brushed with butter. Sprinkle with 1 cup of the walnut mixture.

OK, so far we've used half of the walnut mixture. Right? Repeat this procedure - 6 sheets of phyllo, 1 cup walnuts, 6 more sheets of phyllo, another cup of walnuts, blah, blah, blah - until all the walnuts are gone. The top layer should be 6 sheets of phyllo pastry.

Trim away the excess phyllo pastry (the stuff that's sticking up from the bottom layer overhang) and brush the top with melted butter. with a very sharp knife, cut through the top few layers of pastry in a diamond pattern (4 long rows, then diagonally across) and bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until the top is golden and crisp.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat the honey with the lemon juice until hot but not boiling. Spoon the hot honey evenly over the baklava as soon as it comes out of the oven. Let cool completely before cutting into diamonds (along the pre-cut lines) and serving. Makes at least 24 pieces.

Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

I've made Whoopie pies in the past and don't remember them striking me as a super-duper-I-have-to-make-these-again kind of treat. Recently, a friend sent me this recipe on two separate occasions so I gave them a go since she was visiting today.

From the picture you can see the cookies are of the dark and cakey variety. The rich-looking batter was simple to put together. Now what makes these cookies make you want to say "Whoopie" is the cream cheese filling. It adds a nice sweetened tang to the chocolate of the cookie. Be warned, it is a rich treat but they are big-ish so sharing isn't a problem. I guess you could fill it with icing or some other filler-type substance but the cream cheese is, to quote from Rachael Ray, yum-o!

Overall, a thumbs up treat. Everyone who tried one liked it so it's a keeper.

Recipe: Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

Cinnamon Swirl Breakfast Bread

I bought Bite Me ages ago at Indigo. I didn't set out to do this but as I flipped through it I was hooked by the recipes, humour and, most importantly, the bold graphics. If you own this book, you know what I mean. :)

I have made many a dinner from it (the Fiesta Bowl Salad is always a hit) so I made this bread one lazy Sunday. All I can say is that you won't be disappointed with the result.

This bread bakes at a lower temperature so the cinnamon sugar topping did not burn like others can. The loaf itself was moist and tangy - very eatable. The only modification I made was to put two layers of cinnamon swirl within the loaf. I always find that I don't put enough in one layer and end up dumping way too much on top. (Perhaps this is why it burns?? Hmmm)

This lovely loaf was a snap to throw together and quite satisfying. If you're looking to check out a new book, Bite Me is worth a peek.

Recipe: Cinnamon Swirl Breakfast Bread

Cranberry Upside-Downer

I thought that making a cranberry upside-down cake in October would be fitting since Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving during this month and its cranberry season pretty much from now until Christmas. I like making these cakes - always hoping while holding the hot pan that it will flip out nicely.

This cake is a snap to put together. The recipe is straightforward and you end up with a sweet cake topped with tangy berries and walnuts. Yummy all on its own but divine with vanilla ice cream. I made this in a 9-inch round pan and had no problems.

This cake was used as a 'Tuesdays with Dorie' recipe some time ago so you'll find bloggers from all over the singing its praises just like me.

Recipe: Cranberry Upside-Downer

Chocolate Gingerbread Pretzels

Recently I have been asked when I'll start baking or blogging again. I haven't really stopped baking but blogging did take a backseat to life. I did miss it but, when posting became more of a chore than a fun pastime, it was time for a break.

However, I hope to start posting with some regularity and maybe treat myself to a new camera. I was in Indigo the other day and saw the new Holiday issue from Canadian Living. I was pumped because it was an all-cookie publication and I love cookies.

My son chose this as the first cookie to make. Be warned that they do take some to make, chill, shape, bake and glaze. Though the process is long, the cookies are yummy - sort of cakey, yet firm. They offer up all the traditional holiday flavours such as gingerbread, cinnamon and molasses and the glaze adds a nice sweetness to the spiciness of the cookie.

Sort of Pfeffernusse-esque. I hope to try out more recipes to share with you. Enjoy!

Recipe: Chocolate Gingerbread Pretzels

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

It is cold and dreary here today. The leaves have almost all but fallen off because of the wind and rain but at least its Friday.

I made these muffins a while ago and wish I actually had one right now so I could eat it. Today is the perfect day for a spicy pumpkin muffin and a hot drink to warm up with. As I typed the recipe, I realized the cream cheese concoction is actually a spread not an icing as I've demonstrated in the picture. I was wondering why it made so little and was not very sweet. Just goes to show - read the recipe!

Have a great weekend!

Recipe: Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Spiced Pecan Tart

Fall is in the air and that means Thanksgiving is around the corner for us Canadians. I usually make pumpkin pie for dessert and most likely will again this year but if you're looking for something new try this Spiced Pecan Tart. It's easy, delicious and gives you a great reason to use your tart pan.

The tart consists of a pat-in pastry (no rolling required) and a spicy pecan filling that can be made with or without the addition of bourbon. What I like about making tarts is that they're generally smaller than pies thus requiring less ingredients and they're simpler to pull together. If you feel daunted by pies and crusts, tarts may be for you and they do look very impressive when served. This tart filling is just the right combination of gooey and firm with lots of crunch pecans to balance it out.

Overall, a super tart! Now all I have to work on is taking a decent picture of a slice!
Recipe: Spiced Pecan Tart

Chocolate Espresso Sandwich Cookies

Making cookies is a special thing. Making the cookies into sandwiches is even more special. Who wouldn't be happy to see a plate of homemade coffee flavoured chocolate cookies with a creamy ganache filling ready to be devoured?

These cookies are very easy to pull together and have a solid chewy texture. They also have the perfect density to be sandwiched - they don't crumble or break apart and hold the ganache in place.

If you don't want to use ganache I think a coffee flavoured buttercream would work but would make the overall cookie a bit sweeter. Regardless, anyone you make these cookies for will definitely be impressed.

Sorry for the choppy post - I'm feeling rusty today!

Recipe: Chocolate Espresso Sandwich Cookies

Oatmeal Coconut Cookie Ice-Cream Sandwiches

I love ice cream sandwiches and have spent many years eating the typical rectangular chocolate ones with vanilla ice cream. (Who doesn't love those?) If you're looking to up the ante by trying to make your own, these oatmeal coconut cookies are perfect.

What you end up with is a very large, thin and chewy cookie that is perfect for filling with ice cream. After they have completely chilled, the cookies do not break or crumble and hold the ice cream perfectly. They are easy to bite through and the finished product is quite substantial - 2 whole cookies and a half cup of ice cream can really fill you up! If they're too big for you, just make smaller cookies and adjust the baking time accordingly. Let the ice cream soften a bit before filling. This process may get a bit messy, but its worth it.

The recipe calls for rum raisin ice cream but I substituted Breyers Dark Chocolate Velvet instead. The deep chocolately flavour went wonderfully with the coconut for a truly decadent treat. After trying all three of the new Breyers flavours, I think my favorite is the Banana Cream Pie with the Chocolate Cheesecake in second place and the Chocolate Velvet not far behind. Really though, I just love ice cream and these three did not disappoint. Try them out and see which one you like the best and if you're a resident of Canada you can enter to win some neat prizes if you create your own Breyers Moment. Check out the prizes here and the rules here.

Recipe: Oatmeal Coconut Cookie Ice-Cream Sandwiches

Chipster Topped Brownies

The summer is passing me by at a surprisingly fast clip. After spending some relaxing family time in White Rock, I've come home to find I only have 3 weeks of fun left!

I made these chipster brownies some time ago. They consists of a very moist and chewy brownie topped with chocolate chip cookie dough. If you like these two treats then you'll love these. I enjoyed the brownie a lot. They were solid, dense and satisfying. I did have some trouble spreading the cookie dough over the brownie layer so there were some gaps where the brownie batter poked through. I also think the cookie batter baked a tad too much and got crispier than I would have liked. Certainly, you can make these brownies sans cookie dough and still have sweet satisfaction.

I topped the brownies with Breyers Chocolate Cheesecake ice cream to make it extra special. This rich ice cream blends chocolate and cheesecake to produce a decadent, creamy and tangy treat. The cheesecake part is very subtle and there are no actual cheesecake chunks in the mix. I would say it runs a very close second to the Banana Cream Pie!

Recipe: Chipster Topped Brownies

Daring Bakers July Challenge - Milan Cookies

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

This month participants were given the option of making one or two types of cookies. I only made the Milans and not the marshmallow ones.

I don't do a lot of piped cookies so I was happy to give these a try. The batter was easy to put together but there was a lot of it so I was piping for a long time. I also found the the instructions to pipe 1-inch lengths a little crazy. The cookies were very tiny so I ended up completing the rest by piping about 4-inch lengths and putting two side by side so they'd be a little wider. This worked and eventually I finished.

Overall, I think the cookies tasted okay. They were crispy at the edges and chewy in the middle. Piping the batter was unpredictable - some cookies spread into wacky shapes. The ganache was perfect as ganache usually is. Even though they weren't my favourite, they all got eaten. What did help redeem them was pairing them with luscious Breyers Banana Cream Pie ice cream. I had added some coconut extract to the cookies so they were 'tropical' which went perfectly with the banana, vanilla, and graham cracker flavours.

To see how the other Daring Bakers fared with their cookies, check out the Daring Kitchen. Thanks to Harbinger for providing the ice cream.

Blondie Cupcakes

Cupcakes are all the rage these days. It's no wonder that Martha Stewart has come out with a cookbook with 175 recipes dedicated to them. Up until now, I have never owned one of her cookbooks but Cupcakes seems to be a great fit for me.

The first thing that I noticed is that there is a beautiful colour picture for every single cupcake in the book. This is awesome. The recipes themselves seem straightforward and of course, they can be dressed up with a multitude of frostings, fillings and other visually interesting embellishments.

For my first cupcake, I made the Blondie Cupcakes which is a twist on the traditional blondie bar. After mixing up the batter the cupcakes are baked for 30 minutes. The thing to remember is that the batter is dense and not fluffy. There is a fine line to walk here between the cupcake being golden and chewy and burnt and hard. Half an hour is more than normal cupcakes are baked so check carefully and use paper liners. This will make removal extremely easy.

The cupcake itself is very nice. It is solid and substantial. They may have seemed hard on the outside but they were chewy on the inside. Store them in a container to keep them moist and enjoy. Thank you to Random House for providing me with this book.

Recipe: Blondie Cupcakes

Sweet Cherry Custard Tart

After finally using my tart pan for the Bakewell Tart, I looked for some recipes that would allow me to use it again. Since it is cherry season here in Ontario, I chose this custard tart to show off this juicy fruit rather than just eat them all from the bowl.

The first thing I needed was a cherry pitter which I finally found at Kitchen Stuff Plus. Pitting cherries is serious business...after I was done my hands were blood red! I'm guessing that the messier you get, the better the cherries.

I made this tart two times. The first was with cherries purchased from the grocery store. While the cherries were sweet, they were firm and not juicy but still made a good tart. The second tart, pictured to the left, was made with cherries from the local Farmer's Market. You can see how the cherry juice seeped into the custard making it more cohesive than the first tart. I also baked the second tart for five minutes less giving me a firm, yet moist vanilla custard.

Overall, this tart was a undisputed hit. The tart dough is forgiving if you tear it, and the preparation is not daunting at all. Pitting the cherries probably took longer than mixing up the filling. If you're looking for something to make with cherries, keep this tart in mind - it's toothsome and fresh!

Recipe: Sweet Cherry Custard Tart

Raspberry Streusel Muffins & Oatmeal Raisin Muffins

I've got a backlog of muffins waiting to posted about. Here's a quick write-up about two of them.

Raspberry Streusel Muffins are exactly what they sound like. Fresh raspberries incorporated into a cakey batter and topped with almond streusel. I did not have slivered almonds so I used ground almonds in the stresuel which was fine though the muffin ended up lacking visual interest. This muffin would be equally great with blueberries. The only issue I had was that the raspberries ended up mainly at the bottom of the muffin despite the higher oven temperature. If any of you have tips on how to keep fresh fruit distributed evenly throughout, I would appreciate them. Overall, a very nice muffin perfect for beginner bakers and sharing with others.

Oatmeal Raisin Muffins require a bit more prep work. A portion of the oats are ground for this muffin and combined with regular oats to make a hearty, spicy muffin. They're pretty healthy and if you don't like nuts or raisins, either can be omitted or increased to your liking. Remember to not overbake them or they'll be dry. They take a little bit more effort but can still be pulled together in about 15 minutes.



Recipes: Raspberry Streusel Muffins & Oatmeal Raisin Muffins

Whole Wheat Sunflower Seed Muffins

Now that summer is here, I finally feel like I have enough time to devote to baking and blogging. I made these muffins quite a while ago from my new book and wanted to share with you.

Sometimes when you bake, substitutions need to be made. I had all the ingredients I needed but had no sunflower seeds. My lovely neighbour graciously let me borrow some pumpkin seeds which I happily used.

These muffins are easy to prepare and full of flavour and texture. There is a hint of spiciness from the ginger, zing from the lemon and crunch from the pepitas, so much in fact that I wish I had added more to the batter. They're not your typical muffins but are delicious. I also like the fact that they're mostly made with whole wheat flour making them healthier than most. Give them a try with a seed of your choice!

Recipe: Whole Wheat Sunflower Seed Muffins

Daring Bakers June Challenge - Bakewell Tart..er..Pudding

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

Finally a challenge that allowed me to bring out my as-yet-unused tart pan. The Bakewell Tart consists of three parts - a sweet pastry, jam and frangipane, a lovely almond filling. I opted to do a classic flavour combination of almond paired with raspberry jam and ended up with, in my opinion, a very authentic tasting tart.

The crust was solid and held everything together. The jam was seedless store-bought and provided a splash of sweetness and the frangipane was light in texture and the star of the tart. It cut beautifully and tasted even better cold the next day.

I really enjoyed this challenge. The tart was easy to prepare, looks impressive and was extremely edible. I will make it a point to work with frangipane again - I loved it.