From The Archives

Was reorganizing my photos this weekend and found a few items that I baked and photographed but never shared here for some reason.  Enjoy!

Brookies with nuts made from one of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes and my go to brownie recipe.

Chocolate chip cookies (possibly) from All Recipes that are big, fat, and chewy.

Cornbread made from scratch from Cook's Illustrated.

Chocolate almond toffee from David Lebovitz which was delicious alone and even better in ice cream.

Holiday Sweet Treats

Who else has been baking nonstop in preparation for the holidays?  Here's what I've been up to the last few weeks.

One of my favorite chocolate chip cookies with both milk chocolate chips and dark chocolate M&Ms were definitely a winner at work.

Peanut butter cup cookies are a never fail crowd pleaser.  I have been making these cookies for as long as I can remember to gift friends, families, and coworkers.

Toffee is a favorite gift to give around here because one batch sure makes a lot!  I tried a new recipe this year from Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery cookbook.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
from Hershey's Kitchens
Makes about 3 dozen cookies

About 36 mini peanut butter cups, unwrapped, chilled
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 white sugar
1/2 brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375F.  

Whisk together flour baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

Beat together the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, peanut butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy.  Add egg; mix until blended.  Add vanilla; mix until incorporated.  Add in the dry mixture, mixing until there are no longer any white streaks.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls and place into each ungreased mini muffin cup.  Do not flatten.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes until puffy and lightly browned; remove form oven.  Immediately press peanut butter cups into the center of each cookie.  Cool completely in muffin pan.

Keeps for 3-5 days in an air tight container at room temperature.

Wishing you and yours the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of holidays!

Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

After trying the NY Times chocolate chip cookies I made last week, my sister commented that her favorite was still the copycat Levain Bakery chocolate chip walnut cookies I made awhile ago (but never blogged about for some reason until today).  I was fortunate to have tried the original cookie right from the source while in New York a few years ago and it was as amazing as you could possibly imagine.  However, I couldn't remember how this copycat recipe stacked up against all the cookies I have been making lately; so, in the kitchen I went again.

Unfortunately, these cookies baked up very flat; nothing like the original - thick and chewy, chock full of chocolate and nuts.  However, I blame it on over mixing the dough and using room temperature butter and not chilled butter.  They tasted good nonetheless.

Copycat Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

from Beantown Baker
Makes 20-24 cookies

Ingredients: 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled butter, cut into 1" pieces
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs 2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp corn starch 1 cup 60% bittersweet chocolate chips
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions: In a medium sized bowl, combine the flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and corn starch. Whisk all the dry ingredients together.

Put the white and brown sugars in a stand mixer bowl or large mixing bowl and mix until well combined and almost all lumps have disappeared.

Add the chilled cubed butter and continue to mix at medium speed.

Add the eggs, one at a time, continuing mixing until well incorporated.

Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture in increments until fully incorporated.

Mix in chocolate chips and walnuts by hand.

Refrigerate the cookie dough overnight.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, distribute the dough onto baking trays lined with parchment paper or baking mat. Fill trays with 6 cookie dough balls, bake about 14-15 minutes.

The cookies should be removed from the oven when they look slightly underdone. They will continue to cook as they cool on the tray.

Remove from the tray after and onto a wire wrack to completely cool.

Stores in an airtight container for up to 2-3 days.

The NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

A friend and I hosted a bake sale at work to raise funds for the March of Dimes walk we'd be participating in this month.  It was the perfect opportunity to try another chocolate chip cookie recipe from my to bake list.  The reason it took me so long to get to this recipe is that you are required to refrigerate the dough for 24 hours; definitely a lot of patience on my part.  These cookies came out thick and chewy in the middle but nice and crisp on the edges.  Just the way I love my cookie chip cookies.  It's difficult to pick a favorite or the best one anymore. Each of the chocolate chip cookies I have made yielded great results.  What would you argue is the best homemade chocolate chip cookie?

The NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
from The NY Times
Makes about 24 cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8.5 oz) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8.5oz) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8oz) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
2 cups of bittersweet chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli's 60% Cocoa Bittersweet Chocolate Chips)

Directions:
Whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugars until light, about 5 minutes.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Add the vanilla extract.  Reduce the mixer to low and add the dry ingredients and mix well until just combined.  Using a rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate chips.

Press plastic wrap against the dough and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, up to 72 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.

Scoop out 2 tablespoons of cookie dough, roll into a rough ball and place on the baking sheet.  Repeat until you have 6 mounds of cookie dough on the baking sheet.  Sprinkle with sea salt and bake until lightly golden brown, about 18 to 20 minutes.  Transfer the parchment sheet or the nonstick baking mat off the tray to cool for about 10 minutes and then transfer the cookies to a rack to cool.  Repeat with the remaining dough.

Cookies keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Week

One thing about being a food blogger is finding out about all the fun food holidays.  If you're looking for something to bake in celebration, look no further than the following tried and true:

Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Alton Brown's The Chewy

Thick and Chewy: A Personal Favorite

Bonus: Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

Option 1: Brownies over Cookies

Option 2: Cookies over Brownies

Valentine's Day Round Up

Whether you love or hate Valentine's Day, it's the perfect excuse to indulge in something sweet.  Here's a round up of tried and true recipes for your sweetie or sweet tooth!

Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Strawberry Pound Cake

Sweet and Salty Brownies

Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes

Cocoa Caramel Cake

Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

As seen on my Instagram account, I decided to stuff chocolate chip cookies with nutella last night after my success with nutella muddy buddies.  Results were delicious!

I used a brand new chocolate chip cookie recipe from Thomas Keller's Ad Home At Home.  I don't know why I haven't tried more dessert recipes from this book as the pie crust is still my go to for numerous occasions.  This cookie may have bumped my "best" chocolate chip cookie for the last 6 months to second place.

Process was a bit cumbersome as you have to do twice the work for one cookie.  I started with 1 tablespoon of cookie dough which I flattened out to fit the teaspoon of nutella.  Then, I added another semi-flat tablespoon of cookie dough on top.  I sealed the edges together and slightly rolled it into a ball shape. The amount of chocolate chips in this recipe did almost make the amount of nutella nonexistent.  I would recommend cutting back on the chips if you want the nutella to come through.

DIY Wedding Favors

Remember, how I made madeleines for my bridal shower favors a few months ago?  Well, I had the crazy idea to make my own wedding favors too! 5 batches of chocolate chip cookies and 3 double batches of brownies later, I had 150 wedding favors for my wedding this past weekend.  Couldn't have done it without the generous help of my sister, her boyfriend, and my now husband!

Brownie Meets Cookie Bars

Do these look familiar?  The last time I made these, the brownies were on the bottom and the cookies were on the top.  I decided to switch it up this time around. It made much more sense to have the crunchy cookie to hold the bars together.

I used my go to brownies recipe and my go to chocolate chip cookies.  I recommend not using a dark pan as it will make the cookies bake up faster than the brownies.  There's no need to bake the cookies first either as it will get hard and crunchy.  I think next time I would not double the brownie recipe to fit a 9x13 pan as it did take a lot longer to bake up.  In the picture you can definitely tell that it is still on the fudgy side.

Alton Brown's The Chewy Recipe

I have seen this cookie on other blogs as the "best" chocolate chip cookie, so I had to see how it would hold up against the Cook Illustrated's Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie which I recently discovered.  It was chewy but was missing that wow factor for me.

Alton Brown's The Chewy Recipe
from The Food Network
Makes About 2 Dozen Cookies


Ingredients
8 ounces unsalted butter
12 ounces bread flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 ounces granulated sugar
8 ounces light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 ounce whole milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup of walnuts


Directions
Melt the butter in a 2-quart saucepan over low heat. Set aside to cool slightly.


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

Pour the butter into your stand mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar and beat with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together the whole egg, the egg yolk, milk and vanilla extract in a measuring cup. Reduce the mixer speed and slowly add the egg mixture. Mix until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds.

Gradually integrate the dry ingredients, stopping a couple of times to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Once the flour is worked in, drop the speed to "stir" and add the chocolate chips and nuts.

Chill the dough for 1 hour. 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and place racks in the top third and bottom third of the oven. Scoop the dough into 1 1/2-ounce portions (size of a golf ball) onto parchment-lined half sheet pans, 6 cookies per sheet.

Bake 2 sheets at a time for 15 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. Remove from the oven, let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing the cookies to cool on a wire rack.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

The other day, a fellow Cake4Kids volunteer, brought in some chocolate chip cookies to share at our monthly meeting.  The second I bit into that cookie, my search of 10+ years for the elusive best chocolate chip cookie ever was over.  When she emailed her recipe over, I wanted to slap myself on the forehead as it was from none other than my Baking Illustrated book!

A great tip she gave me was to definitely weigh my flour and sugars which I did.  A quick test had me off by 1-2 ounces each time I scooped and measured instead of weighed!  The recipe also called for semi-sweet but what I did was just mix my 60% dark chocolate chips with milk chocolate chips.  Yum!

Black Bottom Cupcakes

I have been baking diligently over the last month; however, finding the time to blog about it has evaded me as I juggled a SOX audit at work, Cake4Kids' inaugural Cake-Off4Kids event, and my second half marathon!  So, here's my attempt at catching up.

I made brookies again because I couldn't decide for a friend's backyard BBQ, which also happened to be a mini celebration for Cake4Kids as it was our one year anniversary!  I made a double batch of  brownies in a 9x13 pan but there wasn't enough cookie dough to go around this time.  Next time, I would just stick to a full batch of cookie dough and a double batch of brownies to create two distinct layers of goodness.

I made some snickerdoodles out of my Baking Illustrated cookbook and it has blown away my previous go to recipe.  We ate them up so fast that I didn't get a chance to take any pictures!

I also made black bottom cupcakes for a work function and despite how unattractive they looked (as the cheesecake overflowed), everyone raved about them.  Then again,what's not to love about a cheesecake and cupcake combination.

Black-Bottom Cupcakes
slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Makes approximately 12 cupcakes


For the filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup of mini chocolate chips

For the cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup unflavored vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Make the filling:
Beat together the cream cheese, granulated sugar, extract, and egg until smooth. (Avoid over beating the mixture as it will get really runny and not sink to the bottom of the cupcake.) Stir in the mini chocolate chips. Set aside.

Make the cupcakes:
1. Adjust the rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F (175°C). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with with paper baking cups.
2. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl or a 2-cup measuring cup, mix together the water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla.
3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients; stirring until just smooth. DO NOT OVER MIX.
4. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Spoon a few tablespoons of the filling into the center of each cupcake, dividing the filling evenly.
5. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the cheesecake filling looks set and the cupcakes feel springy when gently pressed.
6. Serve cupcakes hot, room temperature, or cold.  Leftovers should be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

In honor of National Dessert Day, I wanted to bake something but I couldn't decide between cookies or brownies.  And then, I remembered reading somewhere that there are these hybrid chocolate chip cookie dough brownies that exist.

I doubled the Hershey's Best Brownies recipe and halved the Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe.  Out of habit, I used a 8x8 pan for the brownies.  It wasn't until I had to drop the spoonfuls of cookie dough on to the brownie batter that I realized this pan was too small.  So, I just ended up spreading all of the cookie dough across the top.  It took twice as long to bake but it was sooo worth it.