Wordless Wednesday

Happy National S’Mores Day!

 

Stop the Search….I found it.

I have always talked about the search for the best Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.  And I have no idea why I haven’t tried this recipe sooner.  I have heard about it often from friends.

Cook’s Illustrated did some serious work testing for this recipe.  And I think they NAILED it.  They are just what they claim. “A chocolate chip cookie that’s moist and chewy on the inside and crisp at the edges, with deep notes of toffee and butterscotch”  These cookies TOTALLY live up to the hype.

Cook’s Illustrated is kind enough to have their recipe on their website without having to be a member to their site.  (Thank you very much!)  Also instead of chocolate chips, I used Trader Joe’s Mini Peanut Butter Cups….couldn’t resist.  I put them in the freezer for a bit so that they wouldn’t entirely melt while the cookies baked. FYI.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies (Source: Cook’s Illustrated)

Ingredients

• 1 3/4cups unbleached all-purpose flour (8 3/4 ounces)
• 1/2teaspoon baking soda
• 14tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)
• 1/2cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
• 3/4cups packed dark brown sugar (5 1/4 ounces) (see note)
• 1teaspoon table salt
• 2teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 1/4cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks (see note)
• 3/4cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional)

Instructions

1. 1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large (18- by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

2. 2. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.

3. 3. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.

4. 4. Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet. (Smaller baking sheets can be used, but will require 3 batches.)

5. 5. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.

I had to take a picture of the perfect scoop before I baked them!

I also think that this is a great cookie base and look forward to trying it with chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and any other goodies I can think of.

My First Taste And Create

So this is my first time participating in Taste and Create. It is basically a blog event where you are matched up with another blogger and you each bake/make something from each other's blog. Simple, right? Not so simple. I was matched up with Laura and her blog "The Spiced Life", and let me tell you choosing just one recipe to make wasn't easy. There are so many recipes on her blog that tempted me....Thai food, pasta dishes, bread, cookies....etc.... But I finally saw this one and knew that I had to make them with the boys! Aiden didn't really want to participate and Jakob was really only interested in the M&M's...but these are awesome. I, too, was a little skeptical of a recipe that came from a Sesame Street Cookbook....my boys love these...and so did all the gals and their kiddos at the playgroup where the pan of them was devoured!

I managed to get a couple of photos before everyone snatched them up, and I was able to bring a couple home to Jason to try, and he liked them too!

I give you.....Sesame Street M&M Oat Bars....

Sesame Street M&M Oat Bars

Adapted from Sesame Street Yummy Cookies: Baking With Kids

1 cup (126 g) AP flour

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 large egg

1 T water

1 1/2 t vanilla

1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

1 1/4 cups total of chocolate chips, chunks and/or M&Ms (I used mini M&Ms and mini chocolate chips and topped with regular M&Ms)

Preheat the oven to 375 F with a rack placed in the center. Grease and then line with parchment paper a 9 inch square baking pan. The grease will help the parchment paper stay down.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.Beat the sugar and butter until creamy (it will not get fluffy). Add the egg, water and vanilla and then beat until well blended.Add the oats and the flour mixture and stir in. Add 3/4 cup of the chocolate chunks, chips or M&Ms into the batter and mix in. Do not over-mix.

Spread the batter--it will be stiff--into the prepared baking pan with a spatula. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate chunks, chips or M&Ms.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the center is set.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Try these - they are easy to make, fun to make with your kids, taste delicious, and they aren't terribly bad for your kiddos!

And I think I will participate in Taste and Create again....what better way to find new blogs, make new friends, and try new recipes?!? Be sure to stop by Taste and Create and see what everyone else has been making....

Take Care,
Tania

Love Big, Bake Often

A TWD failure!

I was very excited about this weeks recipe. Very excited. Chipster Topped Brownies - Chocolate Chip Cookie topped Brownies! I am thinking now (in hindsight, which is always 20/20) that I should have just followed the recipe as written and not try to "fun it up!" I thought that making them in a muffin tin and making individual portions for Jason to take to work would be a great way to make these! But alas....there were no great treats to be taken to work. I made one failing tin full, and then scrapped the chocolate chip topper and made mini brownies for the guys.

I was happy to see them baking up fine, they rose nicely and the cookie top browned nicely too, and then failure ensued...as soon as they started to cool they caved in like a fallen souffle! Ugly is a hard word to use when describing baked goods....but these are ugly!

I give you my failed attempt at Chipster Topped Brownies...

There are many TWD bakers out there who followed the recipe and did not have this kind of failure...be sure to check them out. You can find the list of them here.

I would probably make these again as the concept is great, but next time I will follow the recipe as it is written!!

Note: even though these look ugly - they taste great!

Take Care,

Tania

Love Big, Bake Often

Homemade Granola Bars

It was SO good to get back into the kitchen and do some bakng. I ws excited about this recipe and hopeful that it would be someting that the boys would enjoy eating. They are napping right now, but I have a feeling they will be snacking on them the moment they wake up, Jakob thinks they look "Delicious, Mama!". Thank you to Abby Sweets for posting the recipe and also to Marie at Make and Takes for the recipe too! They were so easy to make, and so yummy smelling as they baked. I think I didn't bake them long enough as they are a little crumbly. I have to remember that the first time you make a recipe you should really bake it as is and then the next time make changes. I baked it in a 9x13 instead of the 8x8, and so I thought I could bake it for a little less time. Maybe that is what happened, I didn't bake them long enough. Thoughts?

In case you don't want to go elsewhere looking for the recipe, here it is....

Chewy Granola Bars Recipe:

2 1/2 c. Oats - quick rolled oats
1/2 c. Rice Krispies
1/4 c. coconut (I did not add this)
1/2 c. M&M minis (I used butterscotch and chocolate chips here)
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/4 c. honey
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Add all of the ingredients and mix together until combined. Press into a square 8×8 pan. Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and score into bars. Let it set completely and then cut into bars. For thinner bars, press mix into a 9×13 pan. They seem to set a little better in the 9×13 pan.

Pictures of the process!

I creamed the butter and sugar together and then added in the other dry ingredients...

Then I mixed it all together, then mixed in the "chips"

I had butterscotch and chocolate chips on hand so I mixed those together. YUM

Then I pressed it into the 9x13 pan. I pressed it down with the back of my scrapper.

The finished project, they look pretty good eh?

I am really looking forward to making these again and changing up the ingredients. But first I am going to make the recipe as it is before I play around with it. Smart thinking, eh?

Hope everyone is looking forward to the new year. I have a feeling it is full of potential.

Love Big, Bake Often

Tania