I'm not generally a fan of chocolate based cookies, but these are amazing! I added chopped caramel to the top to make them look a little prettier and for some extra chewiness. The easiest way to cut the caramel up is to use a pair of sharp scissors. I love the simplicity of this recipe because all the chocolate comes from cocoa powder. There's no need to melt chocolate. Sometimes I get so obsessed with thinking that real chocolate is the only way you can get good chocolate flavour, but this recipe proves me wrong.
The dough is very sticky so it's best to chill it for a while. As usual, I press my cookies down so they spread a little nicer.
If you're looking for a truely chewy cookie and not one that's cakey like most chocolate based cookies are, try this recipe!
Chocolate Caramel Cookies
Adapted form Ina Garten
Makes 40 to 48 cookies
Ingredients
1/2 pound (1 cup/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed (I used dark brown)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large eggs at room temperature (I used large eggs)
2/3 cup good unsweetened cocoa
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup chocolate chips
Chopped caramels
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (I baked at 335 F)
Cream the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Dissolve espresso powder in vanilla extract. Add dissolved mixture, then the eggs, 1 at a time, and mix well. Add the cocoa and mix again. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and add to the chocolate with the mixer on low speed until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, using a 1 3/4-inch ice cream scoop or a rounded tablespoon. Put chopped caramel pieces on top. Dampen your hands and flatten the dough slightly. Bake for exactly 15 (I baked for 12) minutes (the cookies will seem underdone). Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
It's been, oh, I don't know... 6 months since my last TWD post! I'm shocked if I'm still on the blogroll for being such a lazy member. Anyway, I thought I'd make my return with blondies.
I used to be a coconut hater, but ever since I made the samoas bars, I've been finding excuses to bake with coconut. Instead of adding the coconut into the batter, I toasted it and sprinkled it on top for a nice textural contrast. I don't like putting coconut into the dough because it makes them gritty. For the coconut haters, I sprinkled the nuts on the other half. I also don't like putting nuts in the dough because I find that they get soggy. I omitted the white sugar completely to cut down on the sweetness. These were good, but I wasn't crazy about them. I would rather have a chocolate chip cookie so I can enjoy the crispy edges rather than a uniformly soft and chewy square. I may try these again with white rather than butterscotch chips.
Thanks to Nicole of Cookies on Friday for choosing this week's recipe
What's not to love about oatmeal cookies sandwiched with a fudgey chocolate centre?! My expectations for these bars were pretty high, especially since they were very rich so it was a little bit of a disappointment when they weren't amazing. They were still good, but if I'm eating something this fattening, it better be crazy delicious.
I meant to blog about this for TWD when it was chosen by Lillian of Confectiona's Realm back in January!
Who wouldn't want to bite into a super chocolatey cookie, only to find a caramely surprise in the middle? Even though these cookies were a lot more time consuming and messy than usual drop cookies, it was totally worth the reactions I got once everyone bit into the centre. I had these bookmarked ever since I saw them over at Rebecca's blog, indecisive baker.
I opted for caramilk instead of rolos because I think they just taste better.
Cadbury >> Hershey's in my opinion.
The only thing I was worried about was the caramel hardening after the cookies cooled because that would kind of defeat the purpose of putting a chocolate covered caramel in the centre in the first place. To retain the gooeyness of the caramel, I broke chocolate into squares and then froze them before wrapping in dough. By the way, I'm not sure if I just totally made that up, but I figured that if the caramel stayed cooler longer, it would cook less and therefore, not harden as much later. The frozen chocolate also helped with shaping the cookie because the dough stayed cooler longer and was less sticky. I would definitely recommend chilling the dough first before shaping.
If only it wasn't that obvious that there was something in the middle...
Since I love Ina's chocolate white chocolate chunk cookie recipe, I used hers minus the white chocolate instead. You can also use Rebecca's recipe
Chocolate White Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ina Garten
Makes 40 to 48 cookies
Ingredients
1/2 pound (1 cup/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed (I used dark brown)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large eggs at room temperature (I used large eggs)
2/3 cup good unsweetened cocoa
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 pounds good white chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used white chocolate chips)
40-48 caramilk squares/rolos
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (I baked at 335 F)
Cream the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Dissolve espresso powder in vanilla extract. Add dissolved mixture, then the eggs, 1 at a time, and mix well. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt and add to the butter mixture with the mixer on low speed until just combined.
Cover and place bowl into the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours. (you need to chill or else it's too sticky)
Use a small cookie scoop (I use the Oxo brand, 2 tsp capacity) and unscoop it onto your hand. Flatten into a circle and place chocolate in the middle. Add another 1/2 a scoop to cover the top and seal the cracks.
Bake for 12 minutes (the cookies will seem underdone). Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Have you ever had a samoas? I haven't, until now because the only girl guide cookies in Canada are vanilla, chocolate and thin mints. This is something that everyone must try, even coconut haters because they are that good! To make it easier, I made the bar version from Baking Bites. I was seriously addicted to these and they even contain coconut and shortbread, both of which I'm not a fan of.
Unwrap
Melt
Enjoy
I'm posting the recipe showing the proportions of ingredients I used for an 8 x 8 square. For my bars, I made the crust thinner and topping thicker than it would have been had I followed the recipe for a 9 x 13 inch pan.
Homemade Samoas Bars from Baking Bites
Cookie Base:
1/4 cup sugar
6 tbsps unsalted butter, softened
1/2 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
First, make the crust.
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 8x8-inch baking pan, or line with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly, like wet sand. The dough does not need to come together. Pour crumbly dough into prepapred pan and press into an even layer.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.
Topping
1.5 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened) I used unsweetened
8-oz good-quality chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
1.5 tbsp milk
1 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok) - I only drizzled
Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula. (I melted caramels over a double boiler)
Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Let topping set until cooled.
When cooled, cut into 30 bars with a large knife or a pizza cutter (it’s easy to get it through the topping).
Once bars are cut, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each bar into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment or wax paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish.
Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.
Makes 30 bar cookies.
Note: You can simply drizzle chocolate on top of the bars before slicing them up if you’re looking for yet an easier way to finish these off. You won’t need quite as much chocolate as noted above, and you won’t quite get the Samoas look, but the results will still be tasty.
Best cookies ever! Seriously, make these now. Thanks to Kim at Lovin' From the Oven for sharing these because they are out of this world. These had the perfect cookie texture, being crunchy on the outside with a chewy interior. They also spread out really nicely, although mine were a little thinner than I would have like.
This had to be one of the yummiest tasting cookie doughs. I had to bake this before I ate it all
Chop the chocolate beforehand so that you can place the chocolate and marshmallows as quickly as possible partway into baking. It doesn't show here, but I cut them into thirds
Too yummy to share!
Smores Cookies
From Lovin From the Oven
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups miniature chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
2 Hershey bars, chopped
1. In a stand mixer, combine the butter and sugars until fluffy.
2. Mix in egg and vanilla until combined. Add the flour, graham crackers, salt, and baking soda, mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips.
3. Refrigerate dough for about an hour.
4. Preheat oven to 375ºF (I baked at 335 F).
5. Drop by rounded tablespoon (I used a medium cookie scoop ~ 1.5 tbsp) onto cookie sheets. Bake for 8 minutes, and remove from the oven. Push 3 to 4 marshmallows and a few pieces of a hershey's bar into each cookie. Return to the oven and bake an additional 2-3 minutes until fully cooked. Cool cookies on a wire rack.
6. Makes 3 dozen cookies.
Simple and unadorned, that's how I like to enjoy my cakes. I made this recipe from before, but had to try it again. You see, I have this problem accepting that something as simple to make Hershey's chocolate cake always comes out so perfectly. Shouldn't the cake that requires 10 different steps and a bunch of messy bowls come out better, not the one where you throw everything into the mixing bowl and whip for 2 minutes?
Whip the eggs and sugar until they become thickened and pale. I'm lazy and hate cleaning the whisk so I just use the paddle.
Add melted chocolate mixture. Isn't the marbelled effect pretty?
This is going to sound really stupid considering I've been baking for so long, but I finally understand the importance of greasing now that I stopped using nonstick pans. I used to think people went crazy with PAM only because it was fun to use the spray can. It was not easy prying this cake out even though I lined with parchment.
Was this cake really worth all the extra effort of whipping, melting, more whipping and an extra dirty bowl? Probably not. Although the crumb was slightly more velvety compared to Hershey's perfectly chocolate chocolate cake, the difference is pretty small. When you take into account that this uses butter, chocolate and all the extra steps, I would rather have something lower in fat and easy to make if the cakes are fairly comparable. Don't get me wrong, this was still really delicious and I would never sacrifice taste for ease, ie. microwave cake in a mug... no thanks!
Here is the whole recipe. I only made the cake portion.
Cook's Illustrated Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake
Cake
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), very soft, plus extra for greasing pans
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (8 3/4 ounces), plus extra for dusting pans
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate , coarsely chopped
1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa (3/4 ounce)
1/2 cup hot water
1 3/4 cups sugar (12 1/4 ounces) ; 1/2 cup, 1 1/4 cup
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
Frosting
16 ounces semisweet chocolate , finely chopped
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream (cold)
1. FOR THE CAKE: Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch-round by 2-inch-high cake pans with softened butter; dust pans with flour and knock out excess. Combine chocolate, cocoa powder, and hot water in medium heatproof bowl; set bowl over saucepan containing 1 inch of simmering water and stir with rubber spatula until chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup sugar to chocolate mixture and stir until thick and glossy, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and set aside to cool.
2. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Combine buttermilk and vanilla in small bowl. In bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whisk eggs and yolks on medium-low speed until combined, about 10 seconds. Add remaining 1 1/4 cups sugar, increase speed to high, and whisk until fluffy and lightened in color, 2 to 3 minutes. Replace whisk with paddle attachment. Add cooled chocolate mixture to egg/sugar mixture and mix on medium speed until thoroughly incorporated, 30 to 45 seconds, pausing to scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add softened butter one tablespoon at a time, mixing about 10 seconds after each addition. Add about one-third of flour mixture followed by half of buttermilk mixture, mixing until incorporated after each addition (about 15 seconds). Repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining buttermilk mixture (batter may appear separated). Scrape down sides of bowl and add remaining flour mixture; mix at medium-low speed until batter is thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds. Remove bowl from mixer and fold batter once or twice with rubber spatula to incorporate any remaining flour. Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans; smooth batter to edges of pan with spatula.
3. Bake cakes until toothpick inserted into center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool cakes in pans 15 minutes, then invert onto wire rack. Cool cakes to room temperature before frosting, 45 to 60 minutes.
4. TO MAKE FROSTING: Melt chocolate in heatproof bowl set over saucepan containing 1 inch of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside. Meanwhile, heat butter in small saucepan over medium-low heat until melted. Increase heat to medium; add sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt and stir with heatproof rubber spatula until sugar is dissolved, 4 to 5 minutes. Add melted chocolate, butter mixture, and cream to clean bowl of standing mixer and stir to thoroughly combine.
5. Place mixer bowl over ice bath and stir mixture constantly with rubber spatula until frosting is thick and just beginning to harden against sides of bowl, 1 to 2 minutes (frosting should be 70 degrees). Place bowl on standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed until frosting is light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir with rubber spatula until completely smooth.
6. TO FROST CAKE: Place one cake layer on serving platter or cardboard round. Spread 1 1/2 cups frosting evenly across top of cake with spatula. Place second cake layer on top, then spread remaining frosting evenly over top and sides of cake. Cut into slices and serve.
I still had half a carton of heavy cream sitting in the fridge leftover from the ganache for my chocolate cupcakes. It kills me to waste cream, butter or chocolate even when the stuff I make sometimes ends up in the trash anyway. I just can't throw out straight cream, butter or chocolate. Since I wasn't up for the caloric overkill of whipping cream pound cake I made these cream biscuits from ATK. I threw in some cheddar and dill for some savoury goodness.
The dry.
Pour in the heavy cream
Stir until it comes together with a spatula, but don't over do it.
Knead lightly until it comes together into a ball. I like to do this over saran wrap so clean up is easy.
Squish down and cut into squares. I like squares because there are no scraps to deal with. Plus, I don't have biscuit cutters :(
I can never help picking at something warm. So the rise wasn't so great, but the texture was really nice and soft, something I would have expected considering it was made with heavy cream.
Cream Biscuits
America's Test Kitchen's Revised Cookbook Chock Full Of Recipes
These are very simple, made with flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and heavy cream — NO butter or Crisco.
2 cups (10 oz) all purpose flour, plus extra for the counter
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1. Adjust an oven rack to the upper middle position and heat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in the cream with a wooden spoon until the dough forms, about 30 seconds. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and gather into a ball. Knead the dough briefly until smooth, about 30 seconds.
2. Pat the dough into a ¾-inch thick circle. Cut the biscuits into rounds using a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter or 8 wedges using a knife. Place the biscuits on the parchment lined baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
Lately, I've been feeling a little lazy. I bake, eat, but never photograph and so I never end up blogging. Ever since I bought a new camera, I can't stop taking pictures... of walls, random things on the table and of course, food. I don't usually do progress pics, but I couldn't help it.
These cookies were inspired from someone at work. Normally, I wouldn't bake cinnamon oatmeal raisin cookies because I'm not the hugest fan of cinnamon or raisins, but these actually turned out really well. They had crispy edges with a chewy centre and crispy edges that actually stayed crispy for a good period of time. It drives me crazy when my cookies turn uniformly chewy because the best part for me are those crispy edges.
My favourite part, creaming the butter and sugar
The dry
I find that oatmeal cookies never spread no matter how much butter is added so I always press them down or else I end up with oatmeal mounds.
12 minutes later...
This recipe is really a merge of different recipes until I was happy with the amount of oatmeal, chew and crisp.
Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chocolate chips
10 tbsp butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 335 degrees.
In one bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, mix raisins, chocolate chips and oats.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer beat the butter on medium speed until fluffy. Add the brown sugar and continue beating. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until thoroughly mixed. On low speed, add the flour mixture until just combined. Then add the oats mixture and continue to beat on low until everything is evenly distributed.
Using a medium cookie scoop, divide the dough into 24 portions. Press the dough down about 1 inch thick. Bake for 12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool before transferring on a wired rack
Makes 24 cookies.
I made these cupcakes for a birthday party. As usual, I went with Hershey's perfectly chocolate chocolate cake and a ganache frosting. For the rose, I used a Wilton 2D tip and swirled from the inside to out. Lately, I've been really into playing around with fondant. They just make the cutest cakes, but I don't think I could ever wrap an entire cake with it until it can magically taste ok. I'm not even asking for good, just not gross. Until then, it's little fondant cutouts...
Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa (natural)
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.
VARIATIONS:
ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.
THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.
BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.
CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.
Chocolate Ganache
From Savoury, Sweet, Life (with an excellent tutorial)
8 ounces of chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1 cup heavy cream
*optional 3 tbl. of flavored liqueor
Place chocolate pieces in a large bowl. Heat heavy cream on medium high until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and immediately pour cream over chocolate and stir until completely mixed and glossy. Allow ganache to cool before pouring over cakes as a glaze. The longer you allow the ganache to cool, the thicker it will set. Typically I stick mine in the refrigerator so it is slightly cold before whipping. For piping or frosting, allow the ganache to completely cool and set up. When you are able to spoon the ganache and it can hold its texture, it is ready for piping
I had a feeling that when I picked the cocoa-nana bread that there would be some debate about the whole banana and chocolate combination. While most people love banana bread with chocolate chips, chocolate banana bread seems to be another story. There were a few substitutions that were mentioned, including apple sauce, pumpkin, pears, sweet potato so it might be an interesting week for variations. For those who were afraid of the whole chocolate-banana combination, I'd still give it a try because you never know! I was a little undecided when I first tasted this bread, but it really grew on me afterwards. The best part was the dense yet tender texture. I only wish the recipe gave the banana amount in cups because the variation in fruit size will affect the flavour and moisture of the final product. My bananas measured out to 1 cup and the bread tasted like Dorie describes, chocolate-chocolate and then you get hit with the banana.
Thanks to everyone who baked along with me! I hope I didn't ruin too many people's experiences with banana and chocolate.... the P&Q freaked me out a little.
Cocoa-nana Bread
Dorie Greenspan
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup semisweet cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter at room temp
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, or 1/2 cup store-bought chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and place it on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked on top of the other. (This extra insulation will keep the bottom of the bread from over baking.)
Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed for about a minute, until softened. Add the sugars and beat for 2 minutes more. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for a minute after each addition. At this point, the batter may look a little curdled -- it's okay. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the mashed bananas. Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing only until they disappear into the batter. Still on low speed, add the buttermilk, mixing until it is incorporated. Stir in the chopped chocolate. Scrape the batter into the pan.
Bake for 30 minutes. Cover the bread loosely with a foil tent to keep the top from getting too dark, and continue to bake for another 40 to 45 minutes (total baking time is between 70 to 75 minutes) or until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for at least 20 minutes before running a knife around the edges of the bread and unmolding. Invert and cool to room temp right side up.
This is my first Ina recipe and it was fabulous! I love her show, but between her and Paula, I don't know who uses more butter. I think the butter usage seems worse than it is though because Ina likes to use pound measurements for butter. 1/2 lb of butter sounds more than 1 cup of butter, well at least to me. I'm not a fan of chocolate based cookies because they're generally bland, chalky or too bitter. Almost every chocolate based cookie recipe I've found has melted chocolate in them so I was a little concerned that these wouldn't have enough flavour. Then I figured that if Dorie's world peace cookies (which are totally amazing and everyone should make them!) can do without melted chocolate, then so can these. I added 1 tsp of espresso powder to give it an extra boost in flavour just in case.
I think the best part about these cookies is the texture. The edges are crispy and the centre is brownie-like. I especially liked how pretty they baked up with the cracked tops and just the right thickness because I can't stand chunky cookies. The next day, the cookie becomes uniformly chewy. Just make sure to bake them for 12 minutes instead of 15 if you're using the 1 3/4 inch cookie scoop (Oxo medium). Many reviewers on food network also complained about 15 minutes being too long of a baking time. I will definitely make these again, but Ina.. why must you use extra large eggs?! I used 2 large eggs and it was fine. If you're not into the fuss of melting chocolate like me and crave chocolate based cookies, you should definitely give these a try!
Chocolate White Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ina Garten
Makes 40 to 48 cookies (I got 36 because I used less chocolate)
Ingredients
1/2 pound (1 cup/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed (I used dark brown)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large eggs at room temperature (I used large eggs)
2/3 cup good unsweetened cocoa
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 pounds good white chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used white chocolate chips)
(I added 1 tsp of espresso powder)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (I baked at 335 F)
Cream the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Dissolve espresso powder in vanilla extract. Add dissolved mixture, then the eggs, 1 at a time, and mix well. Add the cocoa and mix again. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and add to the chocolate with the mixer on low speed until just combined. Fold in the chopped white chocolate.
Drop the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, using a 1 3/4-inch ice cream scoop or a rounded tablespoon. Dampen your hands and flatten the dough slightly. Bake for exactly 15 (I baked for 12) minutes (the cookies will seem underdone). Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
I haven't updated in ages, but I really don't want to get kicked out of MSC. It's just been so busy since the holidays that I kind of let everything slip. Maybe I just need a new camera for some inspiration... I used a ganache glaze instead of 7 minute frosting. I wasn't trying to be lazy or anything, but I had just enough leftover from cupcakes I made earlier for a birthday party and that little container of ganache in the fridge was just begging to be used.
These were the cupcakes I stole the ganache from. The ganache on this cupcake was actually whipped, but I heated it up again for the coconut cupcakes so it went back to glaze form. Sorry for the blurry picture, but I took this on my blackberry because I was in a rush to deliver them. The flower on top is made with royal icing and tinted with 'no taste' red gel colour. As usual, I went with the always reliable and crowd favourite Hershey's perfectly chocolate chocolate cake recipe. The leftovers were brought to work and I think it's safe to say that everyone enjoyed them!
The coconut cupcakes on the other hand weren't really a favourite of mine so I left them at home, but I'm starting to feel that as long as something is sweet or has chocolate in it, people will just eat it anyway. It's actually kind of sad because the standards for good tasting food seem to be getting lower as processed food becomes more available and easy. From the reactions I was getting when I brought in cookies to work, it's almost as if people have never had a cookie made with butter before!
Thanks to Jennifer of Cinema Cupcakes for choosing coconut cupcakes!
Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa (natural)
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.
VARIATIONS:
ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.
THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.
BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.
CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.
Royal Icing
Whimsical Bakehouse
You'll have no worries about pasteurization with this easy recipe. Royal icing is ideal as the glue to assemble your gingerbread house or for decorating cookies with the flood method or sanding sugar. Meringue powder can be found at baking supply stores and some grocery stores.
In a large bowl of a clean electric mixer fitted with a whip attachment, whip to stiff peaks:
1/4 cup meringue powder
1/2 cup cold water
Add and mix at low speed with a paddle attachment, until combined:
1 lb confectioner's sugar
Continue mixing at high speed for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the icing is stiff.
Add and mix on low speed until combined:
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
Cover the bowl with a damp cloth while you are working with or coloring the icing, or immediately place it in an airtight container or pastry cone; otherwise, a hard crust will quickly form as it dries.
Yield: 4 cups
Chocolate Ganache
From Savoury, Sweet, Life (with an excellent tutorial)
8 ounces of chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1 cup heavy cream
*optional 3 tbl. of flavored liqueor
Place chocolate pieces in a large bowl. Heat heavy cream on medium high until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and immediately pour cream over chocolate and stir until completely mixed and glossy. Allow ganache to cool before pouring over cakes as a glaze. The longer you allow the ganache to cool, the thicker it will set. Typically I stick mine in the refrigerator so it is slightly cold before whipping. For piping or frosting, allow the ganache to completely cool and set up. When you are able to spoon the ganache and it can hold its texture, it is ready for piping
