The quest ends: Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Right. If you know me or follow me on facebook, you know I can't make a chocolate chip cookie to save my life. It's kind of humiliating and more than a little humbling. BUT I DID IT. After literally hundreds of tasty (but abysmal failures) chocolate chip cookie flops, I finally found a winner. These are the things I'm attributing to my success.

1. New baking soda. My boss replaces her baking soda every 2-3 months. I found a box of baking soda in my fridge with a "best if used by date" of 2002 (which I have no idea where it came from because I was in college at that point and I don't think I would have willingly moved a box of baking soda 5+ times). Lance asked me if baking soda evaporated into the air .... like water? (My husband is smart, but common sense sometimes flees his brain). Please know that I store my cooking baking soda in an airtight container and don't use the same one that we use to freshen our fridge or do laundry.
2. These powerhouse baking sheets. Combined with silpat mats.
3. Name brand butter aka: Land o' Lakes. My boss doesn't necessarily believe this makes a difference but I had read on King Arthur Flour's blog that generic butter can have a higher water count. I don't know if that's true or not.
4. I barely softened our butter. It was probably out on the counter for 5 minutes and I threw it in the microwave for 8 seconds.
5. I used my KitchenAid stand mixer. My mom always mixes hers by hand but I don't have those kind of arm muscles :)
6. I used two kinds of sugar - white and brown.
7. No more nestle tollhouse recipe - I used the one listed below which calls for baking soda and baking powder.
8. I didn't refrigerate the dough after mixing. Yes, I am a rebel. But I didn't notice that the ones that were baked on the cold baking sheet did look nicer. Sometimes there isn't time like that.
9. This is a 100% butter recipe. I had been advised by several people to do a butter/margarine/crisco combo but this worked!
10. I erred on the side of too much flour. I think previously I had been stingy with my flour and very exacting about my "scoop and level" method but I tried to be more generous this time around.

Below is the recipe I used from "Love Taza"

Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

 

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 1/4 cups flour (give or take a little flour)

1 bag of chocolate chips

 

Cream butter. add in sugars, mix.
Add eggs and vanilla.

Mix the dry ingredients separately in a large bowl. Gradually add into butter/sugar mixture. Add chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen.

 

I told Lucan gleefully that I had made him chocolate chip cookies. He ate 2 for breakfast (because I'm a rockstar mom) and then proceeded to ask me if I had also made cinnamon rolls. Ungrateful brat.)

Summer fruit galette (aka: rustic tart)

Telling someone that you made a galette will usually result in a blank stare. Sometimes by telling them you made a rustic tart it will clear up confusion, but most of the time, not. Basically that was the conversation I had with dear hubs when I told him what I was planning on making for cooking club.

L: Whatcha making for cooking club?
K: A summer fruit galette.
L: A what?
K: You know, a rustic tart with peaches, strawberries and blueberries.
L: A what?
K: Oh never mind. It's pastry with fruit. You'll like it and there will be extra for you to try.
L: Okay, well you know I'm always on board with taste testing!

The theme was "Easy as 1-2-3" and this dessert certainly fit the bill. By using frozen pie crusts, it greatly cuts down the preparation time. I love that this dessert showcases summer produce at it's peak. If you have access to fresh farmer's market strawberries and peaches - delish! Another great feature is how EASY it is to assemble. Really, the most time consuming part is peeling the peaches and slicing the strawberries. The only thing that I would change about this recipe is to add a teaspoon of vanilla flavoring to really bring out the fruit flavors add a little depth. Oh and one thing I learned - a scoop of vanilla ice cream is never a bad thing :)

• 2 (9 inch) refrigerated pie crusts 
• 3 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced
• 1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
• 1/2 pint fresh blueberries

• 4 tablespoons white sugar, divided
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
• 6 tablespoons turbinado sugar, divided 
• One egg white

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2. Lay out one pie crust on a baking sheet lined with parchment or on a baking stone, leaving room for the second pie crust next to it.
3. Mix together the sliced peaches with half the blueberries, 2 tablespoons of the flour and 2 tablespoons of the sugar in a bowl. Pour over one pie crust leaving a 1-inch border. Fold up the uncovered border over the edge of the fruit and pinch into pleats. (Here I brushed egg white on the outer crust before the sugar sprinkling) Sprinkle the crust and fruit filling with 3 tablespoons of turbinado (or raw) sugar.
4. Lay out the second pie crust on the baking sheet. Mix together the sliced strawberries, the rest of the blueberries, 2 tablespoons of flour and 2 tablespoons of sugar in the bowl. Pour over the second pie crust and form the galette the same as the first. Add egg wash. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of turbinado sugar.
5. Bake in preheated oven until crust is lightly browned, 12 to 14 minutes. Sprinkle with more sugar if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature (with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!)

A Tale of Cookies

I was in the bedroom changing clothes and I heard a clatter in the kitchen. I knew Lucan was in the kitchen and was probably up to no good. I was right. Someone decided that he needed a snack and that cookies would hit the spot.

I came out to find this mess on the floor.

And this little boy munching happily along. Originally the cookies were in the red container on the right but Lu decided to hide the evidence by putting the cookies into the silver pans.

And then after clean-up, he "sampled" a few cookies.

Meaning he took a single bite out of more than a dozen cookies.

"What momma? I'm a hungry boy."

"Oh, you don't like it when I eat bites out of everything and then put it back? Whoops. I promise it won't happen again until I forget. Again."

Oh, was there football at the Superbowl? I thought there was just food ...

Until a team that I actually have a vested interest makes the Superbowl, I probably will continue to care about the food more than the game. Last year I think that we watched part of the Puppybowl instead. :) I don't actually know that I'll ever care too much as I'm not really a NFL person.

This year Lance and I both made a dessert. Lance got stuck making his own dessert because when I tried to talk to him about what else we should made, he shushed me so he could listen better to the Iowa State basketball game. How rude. I decided then he could do his own baking.

I made super yummy salted peanut chew bars aka salted nut roll bars. They got rave reviews from my consumer test panel. Lance made O' Henry bars. They were a little undercooked. There are no pictures to bear witness to the under-doneness.

 O'Henry Bars
4 cups rolled oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup white corn syrup
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup peanut butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix the oats, brown sugar, butter or margarine, and white corn syrup. Pat into a 10 x 15 inch pan. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Do not over bake. But at the same time, don't underbake either. This is where we had problems.
3. Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter. Spread over baked crust while hot. Cut into bars right away.

Salted Peanut Chews

Base:
1 Yellow Cake mix
1/3 cup margarine, softened
1 egg

3 cups miniature marshmallows
Topping:
2/3 cup white corn syrup
1/4 cup margarine
2 tsp. vanilla
12 oz. bag peanut butter chips
2 cups rice krispies
2 cups salted peanuts (no skins)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, combine all base ingredients until crumbly. Press in bottom of ungreased 9 x 13 pan. Bake 12-18 min.
2. Remove from oven, sprinkle on marshmallows and bake 2-3 min., until marshmallows start to puff. Remove from oven.
3. In large saucepan, heat corn syrup, marg., vanilla, and chips until melted and smooth.
4. Remove from heat and stir in cereal and peanuts.
5. Spread over marshmallows. Cool. Store covered. Enjoy yumminess guaranteed to follow :)

Rhubarb-Lemon Coffee Cake Recipe

I'm not keen on rhubarb. In fact I think that rhubarb is weird. It's a fruit, yet there's no physical "fruit"

that is produced. You eat the stalk. It's really bitter. It's kind of stringy. Yes, I can safely say that rhubarb is weird. This is the first rhubarb item I've ever made. I knew so little about this plant, that I had to call my mom to ask her how to harvest the darn stuff or even to know what to pick. (side note: I robbed this from our neighbor's yard at 9 pm with a flashlight in hand. Lance called me a creeper.) Now my mom thinks that I've turned over a new leaf (pun intended!) and has offered me her rhubarb cobbler recipe. I'm not sure that I'm ready for that- baby steps mom!

I will be honest and admit that sometimes I still have issues trying something that I think that I don't like. Such is the case with this coffee cake. My friend Noelle made this coffee cake one time for Sunday school. Lance had offered to get me some and I tried it without knowing there was rhubarb in it. It's a good thing that I made this mistake because I now know that not all rhubarb should be abhorred :) This coffee cake is especially tasty. It has a slight zing to it, which can be attributed to both the lemon and the rhubarb. But the zippyness is tempered by the crumb topping and glaze. My general rule of thumb is that coffee cake shouldn't have both a crumb topping and a glaze. Too much sugar and too many extra steps in my opinion. But since I had already had it with both, I knew that both items were inherent to the success of the cake.

So, if you have reservations about rhubarb, this is a good place to start. And if you already like rhubarb, you should try this recipe!

Rhubarb-Lemon Coffee Cake Recipe

Ingredients

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup vanilla yogurt
2 eggs
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 cup chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

STREUSEL:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons cold butter

GLAZE:
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, whisk the butter, yogurt, eggs, lemon juice and lemon peel. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

Coat a 9-in. springform pan with cooking spray and sprinkle with flour. Spread half the batter into prepared pan. Add rhubarb to within 1/2 in. of the edges. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg. Top with remaining batter.

For streusel, combine the flour, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350° for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes.

For glaze, in a small bowl combine confectioners' sugar and lemon juice. Drizzle over warm cake. Cool for 1 hour.

Homemade lemon bars

Do you know that I've never made lemon bars not out of a box mix before? I know, a little shameful. Not as shameful as ... being a bandwagon Iowa fan or something else equally ridiculous :)



I knew I needed to make these lemon bars after a stunning write-up in the USA Weekend a few Sundays ago. I knew they would be a fun spring addition to our Swap Party munchies. They were everything a lemon bar should be - sweet, tart, a little tangy with a rich buttery shortbread crust. I've previously enjoyed Krusteaz Lemon Bars Mixes, but of course the homemade version far surpasses the box mix. If you are feeling the itch for lemon bars - this is your recipe. It wasn't too hard either, Lance and I assembled these at 9:30 pm with little difficulty. However, I did have a moment of panic when I didn't think the lemon filling was setting up properly because I failed to measure out the lemon juice when I was juicing the lemons. But all's well that ends well and the bars were perfection! One thing to keep in mind - this does not make a huge recipe.

Recipe by Three Many Cooks

For crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
½ cup confectioner's sugar
1 stick (8 Tbs.) butter, melted but not hot

For filling:
2 large eggs
¾ cup sugar
1½ Tbs. all-purpose flour
6 Tbs. juice from 2 lemons
2 tsps. finely grated lemon zest

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Spray an 8- by 8-inch baking pan with vegetable cooking spray. Fit an 8-inch by 16-inch piece of heavy-duty foil across pan bottom and up the 2 sides as foil overhangs to pull bars from the pan. Spray foil with vegetable cooking spray.
Mix flour, salt, confectioner's sugar in a medium bowl; stir in butter to form dough. Press dough into pan bottom (the bottom of a measuring cup dipped in flour helps). Bake until pale golden, about 20 minutes.
While pastry bakes, whisk eggs, sugar, flour, lemon juice and zest in a medium bowl.
Remove pan from oven. Add lemon mixture and continue to bake until just set, about 20 minutes longer; let cool in pan for a few minutes and then using foil handles, pull bars from pan and set on a wire rack. Cool until room temperature. Cut into squares and serve.

I make the best oatmeal raisin cookies on the face of the earth.

Yes, it might be boisterious of me to say that I make the best oatmeal raisin cookies, but gosh golly, it's true. I really do make the best oatmeal raisin cookies on the face of the earth. I don't make them often because in the words of Phobe Buffay from the acclaimed comedy Friends "it's not fair to the other cookies." Please disregard the fact that according to this picture, it looks like there are zero raisins in the actual cookies ...

The thing that makes these particular cookies so special is their texture. An oatmeal cookie should not be overly crunchy, nor should be it overly soft and doughy. No pillow cookies here. An oatmeal cookie needs slightly crunchy, but not break your teeth crunchy. These cookies are perfect. They are the perfect Martha Stewart cookies (they really are Martha cookies - they are her recipe!) Like many Martha recipes, there is a fussy and long list of ingredients. No cheating, every single ingredient on this list is important. Lance and my dad adore these Oatmeal Raisin cookies. They will both attest to the lovliness of them.

Without further ado, here's the recipe to Martha Stewart's perfect Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup toasted wheat germ

1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups raisins

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together oats, flour, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Put butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add oat mixture; mix until just combined. Mix in raisins.

2.Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly.

3.Bake until golden and just set, about 14 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks using a spatula; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days

Pecan Bars

I made these ... awhile ago. Let's not talk about how long ago and how long they sat on my counter. I will say they do seem to keep indefinitely if you ask chubby-hubs. But then again, Lance has a very skewed sense of how long food should be kept for too. But these bars were a yummy twist on the traditional pecan pie. In fact, I think they were better than traditional pecan pie. I think that pecan pie gets a little ooey-gooey with all the filling. The bars have a nice pecan pie essence without all the goo. They are rich, so watch your waistline folks!



Pecan Pie Bars
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter or margarine, cut up
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup butter or margarine
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation
Combine flour, sugar, and salt in large bowl; cut in 3/4 cup butter thoroughly with a pastry blender until mixture resembles very fine crumbs. Press mixture evenly into a greased 13" x 9" pan, using a piece of plastic wrap to press crumb mixture firmly in pan. Bake at 350° for 17 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
Combine brown sugar, corn syrup, and 1/2 cup butter in a saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring gently. Remove from heat. Stir one-fourth of hot mixture into beaten eggs; add to remaining hot mixture. Stir in pecans and vanilla. Pour filling over crust. Bake at 350° for 34 to 35 minutes or until set. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Salted Nut Roll Bars

These are delicious. And an occasion where more marshmallow does not equal more gooey goodness. Who would have thought. I've always been under the assumption that more marshmallows is ALWAYS a good thing! But if you add, I don't know, 3x the amount you are supposed to, the marshmallow just gets everywhere and on everything. It's not good. So take my proven advice, and don't triple the marshmallows :)

Salted Peanut Chews

Base:
1 Yellow Cake mix
1/3 cup margarine
1 egg

3 cups miniature marshmallows

Topping:
2/3 cup white corn syrup
1/4 cup margarine
2 tsp. vanilla
12 oz. bag peanut butter chips
2 cups rice krispies
2 cups salted peanuts (no skins)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, combine all base ingredients until crumbly. Press in bottom of ungreased 9 x 13 pan. Bake 12-18 min.
Remove from oven, sprinkle on marshmallows and bake 2-3 min., until marshmallows start to puff. Remove from oven.
In large saucepan, heat corn syrup, marg., vanilla, and chips until melted and smooth.
Remove from heat and stir in cereal and peanuts.
Spread over marshmallows.
Chill. Store covered.

Signature Dish

Do you have a signature dish? No? Isn't it normal for every 27 year-old to have a signature dish? :) Anywho, my signature dish is a Pineapple Apricot Pie. I made this as a high schooler for 4-H and took it both as a project and for our county pie auction. According to my MIL this is a n0-no. Opps... I have made this pie for family occasions and I made this for Thanksgiving as an RA too. It's a winner, either as a double crust pie or as a single crust pie with a crumble topping. Usually I make the crumble topping when I've completely botched the second layer of pie crust. Like all pies, this pie is perfect warmed and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. YUM!

1½ cup Dried apricots
1½ cup Water
6 tablespoons Sugar
1 can Crushed pineapple (8 oz)
1½ tablespoon Cornstarch
Salt
3 tablespoons Butter

Pastry for 8" double pie crust

Put apricots in saucepan, add water, bring to boil, cover and cook over medium heat 10 minutes. Add sugar and cook 5 minutes more. Drain, reserving 3/4 cup juice. Set apricots aside. Drain crushed pineapple, reserving 1/4 cup juice. Set pineapple aside. In mixing bowl, dissolve cornstarch in reserved pineapple juice. Add reserved apricot juice. Put mixed juices in saucepan, add dash salt and cook over medium heat until mixture thickens, stirring continually. Mix drained apricots and pineapple thoroughly. Mix with thickened juices and pour into unbaked pie shell. Dot with butter. Cover with top crust, crimp edges and pierce with fork. Bake at 400'F. 25 minutes. Makes 6-8 servings

Peanut Butter Goodness

A little gooey and more than a little messy, but right out of the oven, these cookies cannot be beat. I suppose that's why they won a $1 million in the Pillsbury Bake-off ...
Here's the recipe and to eating my weight in Christmas cookies. It would be so much healthier for me if I couldn't bake or cook.

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup Dry Roasted Peanuts, finely chopped
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated peanut butter cookies, well chilled

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 375°F. In small bowl, mix chopped peanuts, granulated sugar and cinnamon; set aside.
2. In another small bowl, stir peanut butter and powdered sugar until completely blended. Shape mixture into 24 (1-inch) balls.
3. Cut roll of cookie dough into 12 slices. Cut each slice in half crosswise to make 24 pieces; flatten slightly. Shape 1 cookie dough piece around 1 peanut butter ball, covering completely. Repeat with remaining dough and balls.
4. Roll each covered ball in peanut mixture; gently pat mixture completely onto balls. (If you want you can flatten them with a glass. I apparently missed the memo on that part. Oh well, doesn't change the taste!) On large cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart on parchment paper. 5. Bake 7 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Store tightly covered.

Christmas Baking List

I might be off my rocker to think I'm going to get all of this made, but here's my list of Christmas baking. I made it today during my 401K/Retirement meeting at work. The way I look at it, I've 40 years before I can retire. I've only got 3 weeks to bake, thus trumping my need to pay attention during my retirement meeting. Besides I have my 401K setup for autopilot.
Sugar cookies (which my friend Bill refers to as "crack cookies." They really are that good!)

• Gingersnap cookies
• Peanut butter star cookies
• Swirled almond bark
• Peanut brittle
• Caramels
• Fudge
• Chocolate dipped pretzel rods

I think I can do it. The list is down from previous years.

Apple Oat Muffins

I made these for Sunday school last week. I'm responsible, Patty didn't even have to remind me that I was up. We had most everything on hand, with the exception of applesauce. We only had homemade and there was no way I was sharing that. Lance's aunt Ann had a bumper crop of apples, so we chopped those up and used those instead of my $1.49/lb honeycrisps. Lance was my sous chef and we got these done relatively easy.

1 and 1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1 and a 1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 and 1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
1 egg
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. oil
1/2 c. applesauce
3/4 c. quick oats
1 c. finely chopped apples
1/2 c. nuts (didn't tell Ryan Boone these were in there otherwise he wouldn't have eaten them!)

Topping
1/3 c. brown sugar
2 T flour
1/3 c. oats
2 T cold butter, cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin tins with liners.

In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

In a large bowl, beat egg, stir in milk, oil and applesauce. Add oats and mix well.

Add flour mixture, apples, and nuts, stir just to combine. Don't over stir, lumps are good.

Spoon evenly into the prepared muffin pan.

Combine all topping ingredients and spoon into each muffin liner.

Bake 20 min. Cool on a wire rack after just cooling in the pan. Enjoy!