Half Chocolate Chip and Half Chocolate With White Chip Cookies
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The incredibly kind people over at The Harvard Common Press must have known I was on a self imposed cookbook purchasing hiatus because they offered to send me four cookbooks, all part of the “Baker’s Field Guide” series. They even have a pull quote from David Lebovitz on the covers. I was sold.
Side note: I’ll be giving away a set of these cookbooks soon, so stay tuned for a chance to win!
One of the books was all chocolate chip cookie recipes, and my eyes immediately went to the “half and half cookies,” perfect for those of us who have trouble making up our minds when it comes to cookie flavors! The cookie is half chocolate chip, half rich chocolate with white chocolate chips and is chewy and absolutely delicious. My coworkers ate them up in no time, and everyone keep saying how good they are. They’re definitely worth the extra time it took to roll all the dough balls.
Ingredients
2 cups plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
3 tablespoons Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 cup white chocolate morsels
Photos of the process here.
Preparation
Whisk 2 cups of the flour, the baking soda, and salt together in a medium-size bowl.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar gradually, beating until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, and scraping down bowl once or twice. Beat in vanilla, then eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl. Add about one-third of flour mixture and mix on low speed. Gradually add remaining flour mixture, mixing just until blended.
Divide mixture in half. To one half, beat in remaining 3 tablespoons flour and the semisweet chocolate morsels. To the other half, beat in sifted cocoa and white chocolate morsels. Cover with plastic wrap and chill doughs separately at least 2 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 375 F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Take rounded teaspoons of each type of chilled dough and roll it into a ball. (My dough was a little sticky so I measured out the first dough one teaspoon at a time, made balls from it, put the dough balls back in the fridge, then measured out the second dough the same way.)
Press the balls together, side by side, so you can see both colored doughs. Gently form this cookie into a ball. Place on prepared cookie sheets 2 inches apart so that doughs remain side by side. Bake until edges and tops just begin to turn light golden brown, about 12 minutes. Place sheets on racks to cool for 5 minutes, then remove cookies from sheets and place directly on racks to cool completely.
Yields 52 cookies. (Or more, if you make them smaller like I did.)
Recipe from A Baker’s Field Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies by Dede Wilson.
Buttermilk Pancakes
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Saturday morning I woke up at 11:00 a.m., exactly 12 hours after I fell asleep. Yes, I slept 12 hours straight. And it was amazing. All that sleep put me in a wonderful mood, and I decided rather than have boring toast, that I would make pancakes for breakfast.
Problem was, I didn’t have any Bisquick. Determined to make still make pancakes, I searched the Internet and found a plethora of recipes. I chose this one, because really, how could a recipe with five stars and more than 2,500 reviews be bad? And it wasn’t. It was delicious! These pancakes are light, fluffy, and oh so yum! Plus, they didn’t take much more time than pancakes from a box. The only change I made was the addition of vanilla, because my mom taught me to add vanilla to everything I bake.
Please ignore my oblong and funky shaped pancakes. I think the last one I poured ended up somewhat circular.
Photos of the process here.
Ingredients
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons butter, melted
cooking spray
Directions
Pour buttermilk into large bowl.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk egg and butter into buttermilk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.
Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com.
S’mores Pie
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Note to self: Make sure you have your pie pans before making a pie. Also, the next time you and mom comment on how many pie pans your mom has, maybe think about how she has YOUR pie pans. So uh, yeah, once again, I made a pie in a cake pan. That’s apparently just how I roll.
But look at those toasted marshmallows. I mean, who really cares what kind of pan it’s in, right? My coworkers didn’t care, that’s for sure! This pie in a cake pan was devoured quickly (dare I say, for breakfast by many), and when people went back for seconds it was long gone. Side note: It’s a well known fact that the only way to guarantee sweets at the office is to hoard some at your desk. This is true of every office, isn’t it?
Photos of the process.
Crust Ingredients
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 1/4 sticks butter, melted
Crust Preparation
Preheat oven to 325.
Add melted butter and graham cracker crumbs together until a crust forms. Press in to a 9 inch pie pan (or cake pan, whatever).
Filling Ingredients
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
10 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 bag of large marshmallows
Filling Preparation
Combine milk and heavy cream in a saucepan and heat over low heat. Watch carefully and once it begins to simmer, remove from heat and add in chocolate. Stir with a spatula until chocolate is melted, then whisk in sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the 2 eggs. Slowly add eggs to chocolate mixture while whisking.
Pour chocolate filling in to graham crust. Bake until the chocolate is no longer liquid, about 30-35, checking after 20 minutes. Remove the pan and top with as many large marshmallows as you can fit. Heat pie under broiler until the tops of marshmallows are golden. (This happens quickly, don’t leave the room.)
Let cool then refrigerate for 1-2 hours before cutting. Spray a knife with non-stick spray before slicing. It’s impossible to get a neat slice, I promise.
Recipe adapted from how sweet it is.
Giveaway: Trudeau Baking Products
Last month, I was asked by the folks at Trudeau if I was interested in reviewing some of their baking products. They sent me a huge box filled with lots of fun stuff, and I was anxious to try it all out!
The package included:
- egg separater
- pot clip
- silicone spatula
- silicone whisk
- silicone cupcake cups
- silicone pinch grips (for lifting hot plates)
- silicone brush
- silicone pinch bowls
- mixing bowls
Initially, I thought my favorite product was the flexible pinch bowls because the pinchable material makes it easy to get everything out of the bowl without creating a mess, but then I fell in love with the set of mixing bowls too. Not only do the mixing bowls have a grip on the bottom so they don’t slide across the counter, they are microwave AND dishwasher safe. And they have a pouring spout. I know, how more perfect can they be?
And because I loved the products so much, I asked Trudeau if they would give away a prize pack on my blog, so here’s your chance to win all of the products mentioned above. Just leave a comment telling me which product you are most excited to use and why, and you will be entered to win.
Giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, August 21, 2011. One winner will be selected at random shortly thereafter and contacted by email. Please note this contest is only open to residents of the U.S. and Canada.
***Giveaway is now closed.***
Trudeau sent me these products in exchange for this review.
Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Cookies
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One of the first food blogs I ever read was Culinary in the Desert (now called Culinary in the Country) who regularly shares amazing recipes and photos. This recipe is no exception. Fans of chocolate and peanut butter, pay attention!
Imagine: A soft, rich, chocolate cookie filled with a peanut butter filling similar to that of a Reese’s peanut butter cup. Plus, tiny specks of sugar on top. Chocolate and peanut butter–the perfect combination. Go make these now.
Photos of the process here.
p.s. Giveaway coming soon: The super nice folks at Trudeau sent me a huge box of amazing baking supplies. (My favorite are the silicone pinch prep bowls.) Stay tuned for your chance to win!
Dough Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 large egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Filling Ingredients
3/4 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
pinch salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Dough Preparation
Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, sugars and peanut butter until smooth and creamy. Mix in egg, milk and vanilla, beating until well combined. Add dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Form the dough into 32 balls.
Filling Preparation
In a medium bowl, mix together confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter and salt until smooth. Form into 32 balls.
Working on a silpat or piece of parchment, gently flatten each chocolate ball. Top each round with a peanut butter ball, then carefully fold chocolate dough over the peanut butter ball and seal the edges. Roll dough into a ball.
Place balls on a parchment or silpat-lined baking sheet. Lightly flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in the remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar.
Place pans into the oven and bake until the surface of the cookies begins to slightly crack, about 8 minutes. Remove and allow cookies to cool for 1 minute on the baking sheet. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
Makes 32 cookies.
Recipe from Culinary in the Country.
