Good Morning! What did you do this weekend? I was flying solo so I gave my kids 11 baths (to kill time... they've never been so clean) and we made Christmas cookies! I can't wait to share them with you this week. What are your favorites to make? I love to stick to my usuals as well as try out new recipes. Believe it or not, I don't make these classic Peanut Butter Blossoms every year but I knew my kids would love to unwrap (and eat) the kisses (also killed a lot of time). I followed
this recipe with one variation: I browned the butter on the stove and let it cool in the fridge for a bit before mixing it in with everything. If you're wondering why I did that, well, I happen to think browning butter makes everything better. Especially when there's peanut butter involved!
So tell me... what else should I make this year?
Hello Internet People. I'm sorry I've been a little absent, but this has been a busy and emotional week. Therefore, I present to you this scatterbrained post of odds and ends...
Many of you have been curious about the infamous "cookie stacking"
Instagram post (infamous, really Siri?). The origin of this layered dough can be found in this recipe for
Peanut Butter Honey Cookies. I was instantly intrigued to see if by stacking two blobs of dough on top of each other, the result would be a cookie that spread less, as suggested. Well, perhaps I did something wrong, but my cookies just ended up looking like butts, so... delicious recipe, however. Honey? Peanut Butter? Yes.
Last Thursday I was all set to appear on the Today Show, and you may have caught a glimpse of me even, however, breaking news about the Pope's whereabouts interrupted my segment. Of course, I didn't mind in the slightest, and it was actually very exciting to witness... yet another reminder of how surreal it is to be a small part of a news institution like Today. If you're interested in the recipes I was planning on preparing, you may click here:
Buffalo Chicken Dip and Ultimate Queso Dip.
Last night, I was very honored to be a part of the launch of
Keurig Kold, a revolutionary new drinkmaker that brews perfectly chilled beverages like Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite and so, SO much more. It is available for purchase today
on their website... check it out!
And finally, I wanted to repost
this recipe in honor of a great woman, Lucy. If you've been following my blog for awhile then you probably know this sandwich, but to have known the woman behind it was something else. The heavens above gained a beautiful soul. Team Lucy forever!
BREAKING NEWS!!!
I baked another chocolate chip cookie.
You've heard me go on and on about chocolate chip cookies on this blog... about how many recipes I've tried and will continue to try if the slightest variation in technique or ingredients exist. You could be like, O-M-G Siri, you've got to try this new cookie... the secret is after you cream the butter and sugar together you take off your clothes and dance naked around your kitchen... no for real, it makes the cookies SO MUCH BETTER. And I would test that out, oh yes, I would.
So when I came across
this recipe which has one very small and unusual step, I decided to experiment. What is that step? Browning butter - which I've done plenty of times, not unusual - and whisking in an ice cube at the very end. Wha?!? An ice cube?? Had to try it!! You also add the brown sugar at a separate time than the granulated sugar... HOW DIFFERENT! Do you see why I had to bake a batch? The results were delicious. I don't know if the ice cube did anything other than immediately cool down the butter, but the nutty, toffy-like flavor that browning butter offers was very strong. They also tasted less sugary than a lot of cookies I've tried, which I kind of enjoyed.
Ok, off to dance naked around my kitchen.
Hello there! Remember how last week I said I'd be traveling for a bit, but I'd check in and blog once in awhile? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. That was before my almost-one-year-old decided to wake up at 4am every morning. She'd be like, what, woman??! My body is telling me it's 7am, so wake up, and make yourself that hot smelly drink with all of the fatty cream, and play with me!! And so my days started in the wee hours of the morning, and by early afternoon my brain felt like mush. Hence, no blogging. However, that didn't stop me from making cookie dough. Because when you're out of town for a week and your brain is mush, you need to buy basic groceries like bread and milk and brown sugar and chocolate chips. I'm not normal.
One morning last week, at like 5:17am, I decided to make cookies. Did I want to make a large batch? No. Did I want to make a small batch? Not really. Instead, I wanted to make one GIANT treat, for me to eat for breakfast (mushy brains are dangerous). But for reals, what's more fun than a huge cookie... shared amongst friends or eaten alone in the dark before the sun comes up.
Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup of chocolate chips, or desired amount
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a mixer, cream together the butter and both sugars in a medium sized bowl until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the egg, and mix until combined. Add the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Place onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and flatten into a circle (should be about 1-inch thick). Place cookie sheet in the fridge for about 30 minutes, and then bake for 15-20, until cookie has browned slightly.
I have had "get haircut" and "GO TO DENTIST" on my to-do list for months, and yes, the latter has been in all caps. Finally, due to an issue with a tooth that I don't want to talk about (because Google has led me to believe it's DEAD), I decided that making a dentist appointment was more crucial than getting that long bob, or lob. So today, I am going to see my new NY dentist and I'm terrified. Maybe that is because late last night, I sat and ate a giant piece of this RIDICULOUS cake and drank a glass of red wine. BUT THEN I FLOSSED (for the first time in forever) SO EVERYTHING IS OKAY.
Our beloved nanny turned 27 this week, and since she is an Oreo-lover I wanted to find a cake that truly highlighted the famous cookie. I came across
this recipe and after realizing actual Oreos are layered below the cake batter, I knew it was the one. Because I ran out of cookies (and because I was trying to make the cake SLIGHTLY less rich) I only layered them in one of the cakes. This, cake, is, SO INTENSE... and so Oreoy, which should be a legit word in the Scrabble dictionary I think. The Oreo creme filling and the chocolate buttercream are unreal. I think my dentist will approve.
To close out my week of sweets, this morning I woke up at the butt crack of dawn to put these
Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies in the oven. I didn't shower like I had planned on, or start addressing our holiday cards, but I baked cookies. My priorities are all sorts of weird! However, I think my morning was productive because these, are, DELICIOUS. I highly recommend them. I added one egg yolk to the wet ingredients for richness and to add to the chewiness and super crackly crust. I recommend that as well, because I think the dough would have been crumbly without it.
More bad (but so good) stuff to come next week! 'Tis the season!
As a kid, I had a somewhat sophisticated taste when it came to sweets. I liked Haagen Dazs bars (my mom's fault), preferred dark chocolate to milk and even enjoyed Mounds candy bars. I mean, what kid likes Mounds?? The kid who loved Billy Joel and not New Kids On The Block, that's who (weirdo). And one of my favorite ice cream flavors was
Ben and Jerry's Coffee Toffee Bar Crunch. I didn't like coffee, but to me it tasted buttery and caramely, and I loved it.
The other day I bought a bag of broken up
Heath Bar bits, and decided to recreate the flavors in that ice cream in cookie form. These have that buttery toffee crunch, creamy milk chocolate chips reminiscent of the candy bar, and instant espresso + brewed coffee for that rich, morning flavor. These cookies are good! They remind me exactly of the ice cream. Very sophisticated, only suitable for Billy Joel lovers. Because we're sophisticated? I don't know.
Coffee Toffee Bar Crunch Cookies
(Makes 12 large cookies)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp (1 stick)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, plus 1 yolk
3/4 tsp vanilla
1 tsp brewed coffee, cooled
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 heaping tsp instant espresso
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup toffee bits
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl fitted with a standing mixer, cream together butter and both sugars until light and fluffy, a few minutes. Add egg and egg yolk, and mix. Add vanilla and brewed coffee and mix until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Slowly add to wet, and mix until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips and toffee. Using an ice cream scooper or a large spoon, place rounded balls on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges.
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