Chocolate Chip Smart Phone

This Monday I am going to go classic, Chocolate Chip. This Recipe is from America’s Test Kitchen, one of the greatest Cooking shows on TV. It is really about the science behind why thinks work and how to make them better. They took the Toll House Recipe and really just made it better. I find the Toll House Recipe produces a flat and crisp cookie, while the Test Kitchen recipe produces a chewy cookie with some height, something that you can sink your teeth into. I was made aware of this Recipe by the Cooks Illustrated Iphone App, a must have App for any home Cook or Baker. This is now the go to Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe, all others have been thrown out. Family and friends ask for these cookies all the time. Once you make these a couple times the technique becomes easy and the recipe becomes automatic.

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)
• 1teaspoon table salt
• 2teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1large egg
• 1large egg yolk
• 1 1/4cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
• 3/4cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional)

First step is to brown the butter, take 10 Tablespoons and and place it in a skillet and let it go about 2-3 minutes swirling it constantly. If you use the awesome iPhone app, there are timers built right in. I like to use the smell test for browning butter, just put your nose over the pan. If it smells rich and nutty it is ready.

Once you have a good brown on your butter, pour it in a heat proof bowl and add the remaining 4 Tablespoons of butter the bowl. Stir until melted.

Now that all the butter is melted, you want to add your Sugars, Salt and vanilla. Give this a good whisk. Next add the eggs.

Give these a nice whisk and get everything all incorporated and get rid of all the sugar lumps. Americas Test Kitchen says 30 seconds. Then walk away, let it sit for at least 3 minutes. You are going to do this a total of 3 times. Whisk for 30 seconds and let it rest for 3 minutes, you want the mixture to have about 10 minutes of resting time, with 3 30 second stirs mixed in.

FirstStir

 Second Stir
 

 
Final Stir
 
You can see how after each stir the color lightened up and the mixture took on a much glossier look. Then all that is left is to add the flour and chocolate chips, and nuts if you want them.

This cookie dough smells amazing and tastes even better, if you are a cookie dough fan it is going to be hard to get these in the oven.
Another important key to this recipe is to use the correct amount of dough in the cookie. Too little and you get a little crisp almost wafer hockey puck type thing. You really want to get a good amount of dough into each cookie to get them to rise nice. About 3 tablespoons, they then stay crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside. I use a small cookie scoop, a load it up twice.

One Scoop
 

 Two Scoops
 
Now pop them into a 375 degree oven for 10 mins. Check them at 9 mins, if the edges are browning they are done. Let them cool on the pan for a few minutes then transfer them to a cooling rack.

This is easily one of the best Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes out there. These are going to be a great dessert tonight after our Chili Rubbed Pork Loin and Sweet Potato Hash (Thats a later post). I would have never been made aware of these if it wasn’t for my handy iPhone. I get a lot of recipes and ideas from cooking and kitchen apps.

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A Simple, More Sinful Spin on Chocolate Croissants

The Jack Bomb

If you read the comments in response to “Cake – It’s What’s For Breakfast,” you may have noticed a mysterious reference to the “Jack Bomb” dropped by my sister, Jennifer. I asked her to explain her tantalyzing concoction and coerced her into sharing it.
 
From Jennifer: Breakfast Treats: The Jack Bomb
I love chocolate croissants except for the croissant part. I only like the croissant portions that come into direct contact with the chocolate. I tear and toss the non-chocolate portion of the croissant because I don’t enjoy that part and it’s extremely fattening. I’ve always lived by the notion that the key to not becoming a moose is to only eat fattening things that you really enjoy.
My son, Jack, also will only eat the chocolate part. He doesn’t care about calories, he just can’t be bothered. Over the years I’ve seen a decrease in how much chocolate is put in chocolate croissants. The only place near where I live that puts in enough chocolate is Starbucks and at $2.25+ for a croissant it’s not a feasible economic solution to our breakfast issue and desire. Thus, the Jack Bomb.
I played with the idea of learning how to make a real croissant but since I lack both the time and patience I went the all American way, a short cut.
So what exactly is a Jack Bomb? Named after my son Jack, the Jack bomb is basically a super shot of chocolate delivered in a thin puff pastry shell. You know you’ve made the Jack Bomb right when your first bite causes so much chocolate to ooze into your mouth it’s impossible not to end up with some on your face. A clean face after a Jack bomb is not a Jack bomb. If it doesn’t ooze try, try again.
The Jack Bomb

Pepperidge Farms puff pastry sheets. (You can find them in the freezer aisle at your supermarket)

1 bag semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips

1 egg

Pull out the puff pastry sheets and let sit on a counter for 40 minutes before you start. They need to defrost until you can unfold the sheet and the pastry feels pliable.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cut pastry into rectangles of desired size. I like to use a pizza cutter because it cuts smoothly.

Shape by folding ends together and making a pocket

Making the Pocket

Stuff with chocolate chips. It’s ready to be sealed if there is no way you can fit another chocolate chip in.

Bring on the Chocolate Chips!

Seal and lay on baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Repeat until you’ve used all the pastry sheets. You can make different sizes. I make larger ones for my husband and Jack and smaller ones for myself.

Crack 1 egg in a small bowl and beat. Dip a pastry brush or your fingers into the egg and rub a light coating of egg on the tops of the Jack Bombs.

Cook for 15-20 until tops are light brown.

Let cool for 5 minutes. They will smell good, and look good and you will want to eat them immediately but if you eat a Jack Bomb too soon you’ll burn your mouth.

Serve with a big glass of milk

Additional tips and thoughts:
1) If you’ll be eating these the next day or after the Jack Bombs have completely cooled microwave for 20 seconds on high before serving. Cold chocolate doesn’t ooze.
2) You can add a layer of cream cheese to the pastry pocket before adding the chocolate chips to make this taste more like a coffee cake.
3) Instead of chocolate you can fill your pastry pockets with pie filling.
4) For a grown up dessert you could use dark chocolate with blackberry preserves and then serve topped with drizzled melted chocolate and blackberries. Nutritional thoughts: Numerous studies have said that children/adults who eat breakfast perform better in school/work. It doesn’t matter what they eat for breakfast as long as they eat it. Chocolate has been studied and proven to contain antioxidants, lower blood pressure and protect heart health. Paired with a glass of milk you have a breakfast that is rich in protein and antioxidants. Keep in mind a person who starts his day happy usually ends his day happy.
Diet Tip: Give yourself permission to enjoy your food, you’ll find that you eat less because you are satisfied. This isn’t license to eat an entire pan of these but you’ll find that one paired with a glass of nonfat milk will leave you happy and full.


Sumber Disini

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Hazelnut Shortbread dipped in Dark Chocolate

Welcome to a recipe about shortbread cookies that are buttery and full of toasted hazelnuts, then dipped in dark chocolate.  But there’s a problem; something went wrong when I made these.

I’m really not sure what what wrong but here are the symptoms: they melted & spread out as they baked, they don’t really look like shortbread, and they weren’t as dense as I would have expected.  These were more on the side of tender, light, flaky shortbread.  And as you probably know, that’s basically the opposite of shortbread! Argh!

I did some research and consultation of other recipes and blogs before deciding on my recipe.  The bizarre hybrid approach I ended up going with may have been the source of my problems.

Ina Garten’s Shortbread

Pretty much everything Ina makes is delicious, so that was one of the appealing things of this shortbread recipe.  I also liked how she rolled out her dough to 1/2″ thick, then used a cookie cutter to cut out the individual shortbreads.  Most other recipes had you bake the shortbread in a 9 inch tart pan with removable bottom, then cut it up after it had baked.  I don’t own such a tart pan, and this also sounded needlessly fussy to me, so I modeled myself after Ina and her cookie cutter ways.  This may have been the start of my downfall…

Epicurious Italian Hazelnut Shortbread Recipe

This is the actual combination of ingredients I used in my shortbread, less the espresso.  I found this recipe because I wanted to make hazelnut shortbread, and I’ve had good luck with epicurious recipes in the past.  I compared this recipe to Ina’s and it had less sugar which sounded good to me. I also really liked their directions, which made use of a food processor rather than a mixer.  I am too cheap to own a mixer so the fact that this recipe was completely made with a food processor was what finally sold me.  Oh, and as mentioned, I didn’t want to mess with their “9 inch tart pan” instructions, which is where the hybridization began.

Smitten Kitchen’s Twice Baked Shortbread

I looove Smitten Kitchen, so of course I had to look up what she had to say on the topic of shortbread.  I found this recipe on her site and she seemed to like it well enough.  Her recipe does call for baking the shortbreads first in a tart type pan, then cutting them, then transferring them to a baking sheet and baking them again – thus the Twice Baked moniker.   I started to feel a little nervous about my decision to forgo the tart pan at this point, but I was already mentally committed!  I should have listened to Deb, but alas, I made melty, light and flaky “shortbreads”.

They did taste good, though, so at least there’s that.  My husband pretended like he didn’t really like them, but when I woke up the next day they were all gone.  Somebody’s a binge eater!

So without further ado, here’s the recipe.  As though you’re dying to try it – right??

Light & Flaky Shortbread Cookies

…that DO taste good!

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup (packed) brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted, husked, coarsely chopped

Blend flour, brown sugar, cornstarch and salt in processor. Add butter and vanilla. Using on/off turns, process until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add nuts; blend until finely chopped. Transfer dough to floured work surface. Knead just until dough comes together.  Roll to 1/2″ thick, then cut into rectangle shaped shortbread cookies.
Transfer to baking sheet, bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes.

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Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

Let me tell you something: adding a few big crunchy crystals of salt to something sweet brings it to a whole new level of deliciousness.  This has been abundantly proven with salted caramels, and I’ve just discovered that it works wonders with chocolate chip cookies, too.

I’m of the mind that if you’re going to eat junk food it must fulfill two requirements:

• Make it yourself.  That way you know exactly what’s in it, you can tweak it so it is exactly as you like it, and you can eat it at its utmost freshest.  In this case, that’s straight out of the oven.  Check!
• Taste really good and be totally worth it.  Which is pretty much taken care of by the above step.  Warm chewy chocolate chip cookie flecked with salt crystals.  Check!

I got the idea for these from the famous NY Times chocolate chip cookie recipe.  If you have seen the recipe in the past you’ll know that it’s uber fussy.  I mean – 2 cups minus 2 Tablespoons of flour?  Two types of specialty flour?  I can get on board with luxury chocolate chips but beyond that point…um, I’m skeptical of the payoff.

I’m kind of lazy that way.

But don’t worry – my laziness involves a major payoff!  I’ve simplified the recipe and retained the secret ingredient that makes these cookies so incredibly addictive: the large crystals of salt.  That’s really the main thing going on here, and it is even more fun if you’ve recently received, as a gift, a jar full of pink Himalayan salt crystals!

Please don’t forget to eat these for breakfast with a cup of black coffee.  Or as dessert with a glass of cold milk.  Tell your friends you’re making these so they demand a sample to prevent yourself from eating the entire (large) batch.

Cooking tips:

1. Use coarse grain salt, not regular.  That is the key to this recipe.
2. Add the salt to the dry ingredients, not the wet.  You don’t want to give the salt lots of time in with the wet stuff or it will start to dissolve.
3. Flatten the tops of the cookies before baking so that you have a platform to sprinkle a few additional grains of large crystal salt upon.
4. Take the cookies out when just their edges are turning golden brown. You do not want the cookies to be golden brown throughout or they will be overdone and very crispy.  The key is to leave the middle just a little bit undercooked looking so that upon cooling it is nice and chewy.

Enjoy!

Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 3 2/3 cup unbleached white baking flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse grain salt  (very important, don’t use regular salt!)
• 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 to 1 bag of good chocolate chips (I prefer a half a bag of 60% dark chocolate Ghirardelli, but please customize this according to your preference)

Preheat oven to 350, line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Sift dry ingredients together, including salt, ensure there are no lumps.
Cream butter and sugars together, then add eggs one at a time, then vanilla extract.  Beat until mixture is well incorporated and fluffy.
With beaters on low (to prevent a POOF of flour in your face), gradually add dry ingredients to butter-sugar-egg mixture.  Mix until just incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips by hand to avoid breaking them into bits with the mixer.
Scoop golf-ball sized mounds of dough with a spoon and arrange 3 inches apart on cookie sheets lined with parchment.  The cookies will spread during cooking.
Gently flatten the top of each cookie so that you can sprinkle 4-5 large salt crystals on top of each one.
Bake for 12 minutes or until just turning golden brown around the edges.  You do not want the cookies to be golden brown throughout or they will be overdone and very crispy.  The key is to leave the middle just a little bit undercooked looking so that upon cooling it is nice and chewy.

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Almond Biscotti dipped in Chocolate

Are you ready for a good cookie to eat in the new year?  I am, and I vote for the almond biscotti.  Dipped in dark chocolate.
Let’s pretend I’m a lawyer for a second and I will make my case.  The biscotti is “authentic”, which means it does not contain butter or oil to make it super crispy crunchy and hard. This means two things:  it must must be dipped in coffee or wine before it is eaten (otherwise teeth may be lost).  Eating a crunchy cookie dipped in coffee, wine, or even hot chocolate is exactly what you are supposed to be doing when it is snowing and in the single digits outside.

Next, the lack of butter and oil means it is almost a healthy cookie.  OK just kidding, not really a healthy cookie, but it’s not like the worst thing you could possibly put in your mouth.  That award, incidentally, goes to this.
To make biscotti, you form the stiff dough into a long rectangular log, like this:

You bake the dough once in its log shape, then cut it on the diagonal to form the individual biscotti.  You lay these on their sides on the baking sheet and put them back in the oven at a lower temperature for 10 minutes on each side so they’re light golden and crunchy.

Then, if you like chocolate, you can dip the bottom halves of the biscotti into melted dark chocolate.  I like this, because then when you dip the biscotti into your coffee the chocolate melts just a little bit and is so delicious when you bite into each warm coffee-dipped bite.

Chocolate dipped biscotti start to line up on my parchment drying grounds…

And then they have to hang out for almost an hour to harden back up. It’s pretty torturous.

When they’re done you pretty much have to brew some strong black coffee with cream to dip them in, even if it is late in the afternoon.  And then you stay up way past your bedtime because the stupid coffee won’t let you fall asleep.  But that’s OK because it is winter-time so you can climb in your bed under your new goose down comforter and read a good book while looking out the window at the darkness and sparkling snow.

OK I don’t really have my goose-down comforter yet but I plan on returning some Christmas loot to get one in the near future.  Everything else is true, though, I swear!

Tips for making biscotti:

• The biscotti dough will be really dry and stiff – this is normal.
• The recipe I followed calls for you to form the dough into a flattened rectangular log of about 12 inches.  Note that you can make the log longer and skinnier, or shorter and fatter based on your preference.   A longer log will create smaller biscotti (but more of them) and the fatter log will make longer biscotti (but fewer of them).  I think 12 inches is a nice middle ground…you want to make sure the biscotti are long enough to dip into your coffee!
• Use good chocolate – you can really taste it when it’s coating the outside of the cookie (vs in chip form inside the cookie)
• No need to use a double-boiler to melt the chocolate.  Just pour it into a shallow dish and microwave in 30 second increments, stirring well between each stint, until smooth and molten.

Traditional Almond Biscotti

• 1 cup whole almonds, toasted and chopped coarsely
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 bag high quality dark chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli.  Make sure you like the taste of the chocolate chips you use, because they feature very prominently in the final product)

Heat oven to 350.  Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Toast almonds in oven @ 350 for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown and delicious smelling.  Chop coarsely.
Beat sugar and eggs until they form thick ribbons when you life the beaters (about 5 minutes), then add almond extract.
Sift dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, then slowly add to egg mixture until combined.
Fold in chopped almonds with a spoon to avoid completely crunching them up with the mixer.
Dough will be quite stiff.  Remove it from the bowl with your hands and form it into a long rectangular flattened log (as pictured above), about 12 inches long.
Bake dough log in oven at 350 for 25 minutes.  Bottom will be golden brown, but the top won’t look golden.
Cut the log on the diagonal, in approximately 1 inch segments, to form the individual biscotti.  Lay biscotti on their sides, lower oven temp to 325, and bake for 10 additional minutes on each side.
Let cool, then dip bottoms of biscotti in melted dark chocolate.  Set carefully on parchment paper and let sit for 30 – 60 minutes or until chocolate has firmed up.  Done!

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Kacang Butter Cookies Chocolate Chip Oat

* 1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
* 3/4 c. peanut butter
* 1/2 c. sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
* 3/4 c. old fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cook)
* 4-6 oz. chocolate chips, to taste. Milk chocolate for a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup taste, or dark chocolate if you want to be sophisticated

Preheat oven to 375.
Cream butter, sugar, and peanut butter together.
Add egg and vanilla, beat until creamy and well incorporated.
Mix in whole wheat flour until well incorporated, then stir in oats and chocolate chips by hand.
Bake at 375 for 11 minutes or until bottoms are just turning golden brown.

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