Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

I find the best combination when it comes to cookie making is white sugar and brown sugar. Half of each, normally, will allow a crisp outside and a gooey interior. If you need to make cookies and can't find this blog - remember that...

Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 c. white sugar

3/4 c. packed light brown sugar

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 (8 oz.) block dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350º F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

Place the butter, sugar and brown sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer; cream together on medium speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in the vanilla and eggs.

Gradually ad the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and contine to mix until a smooth batter forms.

Turn off the mixer and fold in the chocolate chunks using the spatula.

To form the cookies, scoop about 1/4 c. of the cookie dough into your hands and roll it into a ball; place them about 3 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets - you should get about 4 cookies on each pan. Press down the tops of the dough slightly and bake until the cookies are light brown, 12 minutes for chewy cookies or about 15 minutes for crispy cookies.

Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough/cookie sheets.

Mexican Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mexican Double Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon (I used Vietnamese cinnamon because it is one of the most potent in flavor)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
1/8 tsp. finely ground black pepper
1/4 pound coarsley chopped good quality dark chocolate (I used the last of my Valrhona bittersweet chocolate)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 325ºF

Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and black pepper. Set aside.
In a small heatproof bowl set over a small saucepan of simmering water, melt the coarsely chopped chocolate with the butter. Let cool slightly.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the melted chocolate mixture with the sugar, eggs and vanilla. Mix on medium speed until combined. Reduce speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Line a 17-by-12-inch cookie sheet with parchment. Using a 1 1/2 inch ice cream scoop, drop the cookie dough onto the paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes, until they look flat and the surfaces crack (cookies should still be soft in texture). Let the cookies cool on the parchment on wire cooling racks. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days. (As if they'll last that long)

Haagen Dazs Mayan Chocolate ice cream in the middle of two cookies... Death...

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I lost my best-ever-ever-ever-ever recipie for cookies (was stupid enough to put it in the Uni kitchen) but these are also... amazing... if not a bit more work ;) Chewy in the middle, gently crispy on the outside. If an orgasm could be baked on a tray, this would be it!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

In actuality everyone’s definition of the perfect chocolate chip cookie is different. Asking 20 people what qualities define their perfect cookie and I am sure you are going to get as many different responses.

The exterior rim, the color of golden brown sugar, is perfectly crisp. Beyond the crunch there lies varying levels of chewy gooey-ness. I remove the cookies from the oven just when the edges start to brown. People think I’m crazy and question my timing as the cookies appear under baked. But I assure them that I am a professional I have done this thousands of times. The cookies continue to bake on the tray and as they cool the gooey center transforms to a perfectly chewy interior. Cookie eaters question no longer.

The dough, although perfectly flavored with salt and a high proportion of brown sugar, exists to hold the chunks of chocolate in place. That’s right I said chunks and not chips. The funny, (more sad than funny) thing about chocolate chips is that they are filled with substance similar to wax. I don’t know about you but I don’t really enjoy eating wax. The reason for the wax in the chips is so that they do not melt - they hold their shape, which is quite cute but I’ll take taste over cuteness any day. Using couverture (fancy name for quality chocolate that is used for coating truffles and such) allows the chocolate to melt and pool. If you were to break these cookies in half you would see layers of chocolate and dough - similar to the layers in puff pastry, and you all know how crazy I am about those layers.

I use large chunks of bittersweet chocolate, lots of brown sugar, a touch of Turbinado sugar, and sprinkle of pink salt on top - making these this the last chocolate chip cookie recipe you will ever need.

THE Chocolate Chip Cookie

8 oz. 2 sticks butter

2 oz 1/4 cup white sugar

2 oz 1/4 cup Turbinado sugar

12 oz 1 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

1/4 oz 2 tsp vanilla

1 lb. 3 1/2 cup All Purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp Baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 lb. chocolate (use the best quality chocolate you can afford. With a serrated knife cut chocolate chunks roughly 1/2 inch)

Cream the butter and the sugars until light. Scrape down the side of the bowl. Continue mixing while adding the eggs one at time. Make sure each egg is incorporated before adding the next. Add the vanilla. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula. Combine the flour, soda and salt in another bowl. With a whisk, stir to combine. With the machine on low, slowly add the flour. Mix until just combined, taking care not to over mix. With a spatula fold in the chocolate.

If you so choose, and I do recommend that you do, sprinkle a very fine dusting of good quality sea salt. Fleur de Sel or Murray River Pink Salt are my recommendations.

Bake at 360* for 12 minutes. They should be lightly golden on the outside but still look gooey on the inside.

Triple Chocolate Cookies

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Outrageous Triple Chocolate Cookies

Recipe as discovered on Laura Rebecca's Kitchen:

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped
4 TBS. unsalted butter, softened
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
3/4 c. packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
6 oz. dark chocolate chunks or chips (recommended Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate chips)
6 oz. white chocolate, chopped (recommended Green & Black's White Chocolate bars)

My changes - I added 1 tsp. of instant espresso powder because I just do that with most anything I make that has chocolate in it and I could not find Green & Black's White Chocolate bars, so I used Ghirardelli's white chocolate. Also, I am a dork and only bought 1 (3.5 oz.) white chocolate bar, so I subbed 3 oz. of Lindt semi-sweet chocolate for the missing white chocolate - because God forbid there is less chocolate than called for in ANY recipe I make.

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Heat chopped semi-sweet chocolate and butter in a microwave safe bowl in 20 second increments, stirring between each, until almost melted; do not overheat. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; beat in melted chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks. (Note: Don't worry if the batter seems thin. It should look more like a brownie batter than a cookie dough.)

Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in centers, 12 to 15 minutes. Do not bake the cookies to a crisp; they are meant to be soft and chewy.

Cool on sheets 10 minutes; with a thin metal spatula, transfer to racks to cool completely. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for two to three days.

Makes 2 dozen.

Pizza...

Pizzaaaaa TIME

You might think I've made a typo when you see that we use 3 packets of dry active yeast to 1 cup of water instead of the "normal" 1 packet to 1 cup of water, but I haven't. That extra yeast is what gives my Aunt's pizza it's distinctive flavor. Furthermore, you might be shocked to see that I don't put sugar in with the yeast nor do I put any salt or oil in the dough.

Auntie Ann's Pizzas

For the Dough:
3 (1/4 oz.) packets of dry, active yeast
1 c. lukewarm water

4 to 6 cups of all-purpose flour (6 c. will make 6 thin pizzas, 4 c. will make 3 thin pizzas)
additional water

Dissolve the yeast in the 1 cup of water, let sit for 5 minutes.
If you have a stand alone mixer, use the bread dough hook and mix the flour with the yeast mixture, adding tablespoons of water as needed if your dough looks dry. Continue to mix until dough forms a ball.

Place dough ball onto well floured flat surface and knead for 5 minutes. Form into tight ball and put in a large, oiled bowl covering with a just damp clean kitchen towel (just drape towel over bowl, don't form it around dough). Place bowl in a warm, dry area. Let the dough sit and double in size (roughly 1 hour), punch the dough down and allow it to rise once again.

For the Sauce:
1 (29 oz.) can of tomato sauce
The rest of the ingredients are to taste, but here's what I used my last batch:
1 TBS. parsley
1 TBS. onion powder
1 TBS. garlic powder
1 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. basil

Simmer for an hour or longer, stirring occasionally.

Toppings:
Whatever your lil heart desires =)

To prepare the pizzas:
Preheat oven to 400º F.

Grease your pizza pans with shortening. I'm talking the white lard Crisco type stuff. Oil can definitely be used, but I find spreading the dough goes much easier with something not so "slippery". Place a softball sized wad of dough in the middle of your pan and start spreading it out working it so that you are spreading from the middle to the edges. This causes less holes in such a thin crust. If you do encounter holes, either pinch them shut if you've got enough dough or add a little "dough patch" - but make sure you have no holes before you add your sauce.

Once you have the dough spread, place pizza sauce on top and spread it to about 1/2 inch from the edge (or you can be like me and "slip" every once in a while so that you get a lil burnt sauce on your crust :D ) then add your toppings. Always keep in mind, try not to overload your pizza, the thin crust won't get crispy if you do.

Place in preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Check your pies and if they look all golden brown and bubbly, they are done. Another step I take to see if they are done is I carefully slide a wide metal spatula underneath and lift the crust a bit to see if it's brown underneath near the middle. If it is, done - done - done =)

Maple Toffee Crunch Cheesecake Pops

Maple Toffee Crunch Cheesecake Pops

if you use maple syrup as I did, the cheesecake will be slightly more dense than if you use white granulated sugar. Enjoy! : )

Innards!

Cheesecake Pops

Makes 30 – 40 Pops

5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature

2 cups sugar

¼ cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

5 large eggs

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

¼ cup heavy cream

Boiling water as needed

Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks

1 pound chocolate, finely chopped – you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white (Alternately, you can use 1 pound of flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionary coating or wafer chocolate – candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.)

2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

(Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible)

Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees) - ... Pistachio for the white chocolate... cranberry/ginger for the dark chocolate and toffee for the milk...

Method

1.Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.

2.In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.

3.Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.

4.Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

5.When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.

6.When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety. Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.

7.Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.

8.Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

The beginning

I remember quite clearly the day when Jen sat me down and showed me her family's recipies. It was a massive tome of a book, groaning under the strain of all the secrets, tips, cutouts and tricks which had been saved. Flicking through it I was aware I had probably 30 mins to write out as much as I could and then maybe never see the book again. I wrote fast.

So I had all these recipies. But I've always been bad at keeping things in one place, so I decided to use the INTERNET!

Welcome to my cookbook.