Orange Chocolate Crinkles

Remember when I told you about my friend Andrea? A few years ago, Andrea and I got together to bake and decorate cookies for Valentine's Day. We made heart shaped vanilla shortbread cookies that we dipped half in chocolate and then drizzled with contrasting chocolate and sprinkled with colorful sugars and sprinkles. They were beautiful, but flavor-wise, nothing special. We also made Chocolate Orange Shortbread Cookies from Simply Recipes. 

If there had been a contest, the chocolate orange shortbread definitely would have won "best flavor." They were a tad salty, but delicious. I was surprised that just a little bit of orange zest could impart so much flavor into the cookies. Also, I was surprised by how well orange paired with chocolate. As I was preparing my homemade orange extract and thinking of ways to use it, I immediately thought of orange chocolate crinkles. Since my favorite chocolate cookies are crinkles and not shortbread, I figured I'd give them a try.

Objective
Make Nan's Chocolate Crinkles into orange chocolate cookies by adding orange zest and orange extract.

Materials
4 tablespoons butter
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 cup sugar
zest of 1 orange
2 eggs
1 teaspoon orange extract
splash vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup powdered sugar

Methods
1. In a microwave safe container, melt the butter and chocolate. Set aside to cool slightly.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, rub the orange zest into the sugar. Stir in the melted chocolate and butter. With the mixer running, add eggs, one at a time. Add the orange extract and vanilla. 
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the wet mixture and mix until the flour is just incorporated. Chill overnight.  
4. Preheat the oven to 350º. Drop the dough by the teaspoon into the powdered sugar and shape into balls. Bake at 350º for 12 minutes on a greased baking sheet. *DO NOT OVER-BAKE*

Results
After tasting the dough, C said "I like this a lot because you can actually taste the orange without it being overpowered by the chocolate." The baked cookies lost a little bit of the orange flavor, but were still quite orangey. The cookies were gooey inside like a perfectly baked brownie.

Discussion and Future Directions
Though C liked the dough, he wasn't a huge fan of the cookie. I was a little shocked because he loves the version of this cookie that I make with Andes Mints in the center. He couldn't quite put into words what he didn't like, but I know he was overwhelmed by the amount of powdered sugar on the outsides! I'd intentionally left a lot on instead of brushing off the excess. Lesson learned for next time! The only improvement I would make would be to use higher quality chocolate. We're currently trying to eat through our cupboards and freezer so that we don't have to throw food away when we pack all of our belongings into storage (hmm, another hint). I had 4 oz. of unsweetened baking chocolate left in the cupboard and used it in the dough. High quality dark chocolate would have been a better choice. Again, lesson learned for next time! So far, I've probably made these cookies sound terrible, but they're not. They're quite good. So good that the first person who tried them asked for the recipe!

It's too bad C didn't like the cookies, because that was the extent of my Valentine's Day baking this year. Instead of eating them, he's taking them to the hospital this afternoon to give to his research mentors and one of the attending physicians we know who loves cookies! Luckily, I satisfied his sweet tooth the past few weeks with Blueberry Almond Galettes and Blueberry-Cherry Almond Galettes. He liked the second version so much that he requested another (either pie or galette) for Valentine's Day. We decided not to do anything for Valentine's Day this year--especially make a pie that we can't finish--because we're leaving for vacation the next day! Though we loved all of our trips to Buffalo and Madison this year, we're so excited to break routine and go on a real vacation that's about us, not about family or friends. Hopefully I'll have a delicious Mayan recipe to share with you when we get back!

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours!

Hatch Chile Ice Cream Sandwiches

It's hatch chile season. If you don't know what a hatch chile is, don't worry, you're not alone. I didn't know what a hatch chile was until last year when my boyfriend moved to Texas. One evening, he went to dinner at an upscale Mexican restaurant that had a seasonal "hatch chile menu." Early summer is "flor de calazaza" or squash blossom season; late summer is hatch chile season. This is the time of year when grocery stores dedicate space to hatch chile everything and chefs design special sauces and meals highlighting the chile in their own unique ways. These are important things to know if you ever move to Houston.

The hatch chile is essentially an anaheim chile, but grown in the Hatch Valley of New Mexico. Different varieties have been cultivated for different heat scores. The fame given to this specific variety is year-to-year consistency and many people think the flavor is superior to other varieties. I don't know that I've ever had a regular old anaheim chile, so I can't put my vote one way or the other. What I can tell you is that when we tried "mild" vs. "hot" side-by-side at the grocery store, the roasted "hot" hatch won ten-times over. The "mild" hatch was not good: it lacked heat and any sort of delicious flavor. The "hot" hatch definitely brought the heat, but it also had flavor. Maybe we just got a bad mild chile. I'll have to try again!

We bought 2 bags of roasted "hot" hatch chiles and I bought 2 fresh hatch chiles. We used them for chile con queso, tomatillo vegetable stew, tomato pork stew, corn and rice stuffed peppers, zucchini and tortilla chip fritatta, and chocolate chip cookies. The winners were chile con queso, tomato pork stew, and chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches. The vege stew was a little to acidic from the tomatillos without something basic to balance the flavor. The stuffed peppers and fritatta were lacking in flavor. You really can't go wrong with chile con queso as long as it includes chile and queso. We got the recipe for the tomato pork stew from a recipe card lying in the crate of hatch chiles. It was really delicious, though I might like some more textures in it (maybe some sort of grain). The idea to make hatch pepper cookies came from the hatch pepper chocolate chip cookies they were selling at the grocery store. They didn't have samples, so I knew I needed to try baking a batch myself.

Objective
Make chocolate chip cookies with hatch chiles and whole grains (since I'm still on a quest for the perfect whole grain chocolate chip cookie). Recipe based on the original Toll-House recipe, but with reduced sugar and whole grains.

Materials
1/2 cup butter, partially softened, partially melted
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. toasted wheat germ
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup hot hatch chile, roasted, de-stemmed/skinned/seeded, patted dry, and chopped
1/2-3/4 cup dark chocolate, chopped
Vanilla ice cream (~1/4 cup per sandwich)

Methods
To make the cookies:
1. Cream the butter, dark brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, wheat germ, baking soda, salt, and chopped hatch chile. Stir into the creamed mixture until just combined. Stir in the chopped chocolate.
3. Chill the dough for 30 minutes to 1 hour (this is important or you'll get puffy, cake like cookies that take over your entire pan). Shortly before the dough is done chilling, preheat the oven to 375º.
4. Use a teaspoon to form dough balls and place about 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet or seasoned baking stone. Bake for 12 minutes, or until the edges are brown and the middles are still a little wiggly. Cool on the pan for 3-5 minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the ice cream sandwiches:
1. Set the ice cream on the counter to soften for a few minutes then scoop the ice cream and smash it between two cookies. Alternatively, let the ice cream soften quite a bit (stirring it helps a lot). When smooth, spread it over the bottom of a baking dish to a depth of 1/2". Return it to the freezer to firm-up. Use a biscuit cutter or circular cookie cutter to cut out circles of ice cream. Use a spoon to lift the ice cream out of the pan and place it between two cookies.
2. Return the ice cream sandwiches to the freezer until ready to eat. Makes 1 dozen ice cream sandwiches (with a few extra cookies).

Results
The cookies are very soft and chewy. They spread out a lot while baking, but that made them ideal for ice cream sandwiches. The heat is fairly subtle and you can't taste it in every bite. With ice cream, the cookies are even better. The dairy helps with the heat and gives the cookies a way to shine, since as straight up cookies, they're a little thin (but not crispy).

Discussion and future directions
I've been trying different recipes for whole grain chocolate chip cookies. So far, my biggest complaint has been that people reduce the butter to make them healthier and that kind of ruins the texture. I tried 100% whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour with oat flour, neither of which was quite right. I decided to try a 50:50 whole wheat pastry flour to all-purpose flour ratio here, but with the additional moisture from the chiles (and dark brown sugar), I needed to add more flour to get the dough to the right texture. I chose to increase the all-purpose flour, though you could swap amounts. Did you know that you can use wheat germ in cookies? There are  a few recipes floating around for chocolate chip cookies with wheat germ, like this one from King Arthur Flour. I started out with just a couple of tablespoons to try it. I didn't even know it was there, so I'd happily try it again with more.

I think this recipe would also be great as cookie bars or modified into hatch chile blondies. These are fun because they are different. No one expects to heat when they bite into a cookie. Making them into ice cream sandwiches is optional, but recommended. Ice cream sandwiches hit just the right spot on a hot August afternoon in Texas, hatch chiles optional.

Supplementary Materials

Cherry Almond Oatmeal Cookies [Ice Cream]

Yesterday, I packed a measly lunch. I packed a handful of grapes and a bowl of Roasted Carrot Soup that our roommate made as part of a 5-course meal for losing our household March Madness tournament. The soup was delicious, but unfortunately not filling. By 1:00, I was craving cookies. By 2:00, my brain was shutting down because it needed fuel. By 3:30, my head was pounding and I was lightheaded, probably from my hunger combined with "Feels Like" 106º heat. When I got home, I told C that I wanted to make cookies. He said that I shouldn't (perhaps related to the 1/2 blueberry pie in the fridge and fresh batch of Snickerdoodles from our 5-course meal) and instead, he made me a bagel sandwich. There's a good chance I ate a Snickerdoodle (or two) while waiting for my personal Sandwich Artist to create something scrumptious.

A few hours (and 5 paintings) later, I was still craving cookies, oatmeal cookies. When C left to go get more canvases, I booked it to the kitchen to whip up a batch of cookie dough before he returned. Now, he can't get mad at me for my baking problem because he has an ice cream problem. About a week ago, he came back from the grocery store with 3 half-gallon cartons of ice cream. Shortly thereafter, our roommate came back with 2 pints of Ben & Jerry's and alerted C of a sale. It wasn't long before I noted a new pint of Cherry Garcia in the freezer. When I asked him about his flavor choice (I thought he knew I was planning to make cherry chocolate chunk ice cream), he said "I panicked. There was a lady behind me and I couldn't find Oatmeal Cookie, so I grabbed that one. But I really wanted Oatmeal Cookie." So that's why I was craving oatmeal cookies! I decided that I would stir crumbled homemade oatmeal cookies into vanilla ice cream so that C could get his Oatmeal Cookie ice cream fix and I could satisfy my oatmeal cookie craving a la vez. I figured this had to be close to the Ben & Jerry's flavor, though I'd never actually had it.

Earlier in the day, I'd decided to make Thin Oat Ginger Crisps from Green Kitchen Stories. What excited me about the recipe was the list of ingredients, specifically pure maple syrup instead of refined sugar and buckwheat flour instead of wheat flour. What I didn't like about the recipe was the thickness of the cookies. I prefer soft, chewy cookies, not thin, crispy cookies. I decided to try them anyway, but with different flavors, and the addition of steel-cut oats. I got the idea to add steel cut oats from Adventures in Cooking. I decide on cherry and almond additions because I've been craving cherries since they first hit the market in June.

Objective
Make oatmeal cookies to crumble over ice cream as a substitute for Ben & Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie ice cream.

Materials
4 tbsp. butter, softened
3 tbsp. pure maple syrup
2 tbsp. milk
2 tbsp. buckwheat flour
2/3 cup rolled oats
~1/4 cup steel-cut oats
pinch cinnamon
pinch salt
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. almond extract, to taste
2 tbsp. to 1/4 cup  blanched almonds, chopped
2 tbsp. to 1/4 cup dried cherries (or dried cranberries flavored with cherry juice)

Methods
1. Preheat the oven to 350º. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter, maple syrup, milk, buckwheat flour, rolled oats, cinnamon, salt, almond extract, blanched almonds and cherries. With the almonds and cherries, stir in as many as you want for the amount of chunkiness you desire. Stir in steel-cut oats, starting with 2 tbsp. until the dough stops looking "wet." (You want it to look like normal cookie dough for chocolate chip cookies.)
3. Drop dough onto the parchment by the tablespoon, and gather the dough into balls to make the dough a little cohesive. If needed, redistribute the dough for 12 even dough balls. Flatten the tops slightly.
4. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and cool on the cookie sheet.

Results
These cookies are delicious and I don't feel guilty about eating them. They are very crumbly, which makes them perfect for crumbling over ice cream, though difficult to eat. The texture is soft and a bit chewy. I would describe the flavor as 50:50 oatmeal to almond, though easily mutable based on how much you decide to add. Stirred into ice cream? Delicious and you'd never even know these are "healthier" oatmeal cookies.

Discussion
The cookie itself? Very good. I'm pleased with the cherry/almond combination as well as the addition of steel-cut oats. I have to admit, I was going to make the cookies as written, as flat, crispy cookies. However, when I saw how moist the dough was, I decided I wanted to make it thicker like my normal oatmeal cookie dough. I kept adding steel cut oats until I got there (~1/4 cup). I knew this would increase the amount of dough and consequently decrease the amount of butter per cookie. I totally forgot that the recipe called for flattening the cookies as flat as you can make them, so I only flattened them slightly. The end result was exactly what I was looking for: thick, soft, and chewy. A happy mistake!

Now, cookie + ice cream? Since I've never had the ice cream flavor, we'll turn to C. "Better than the real stuff." Whew! That makes up for the brownies I made last week with spelt flour (that part was fine) and beet puree (not fine). I wondered what Ben & Jerry's flavor actually does taste like. Apparently its real name is Oatmeal Cookie Crunch and it's described as "sweet cream cinnamon ice cream with chucks of oatmeal and fudge." Mine didn't have chocolate, but I'm glad I added cinnamon to the cookies. I generally omit cinnamon from all cookies and quick breads, but I added it because I figured B&J's oatmeal cookies were bound to be cinnamony. They also add raisins. Gross. Anyway, next time C's craving oatmeal cookie ice cream, I think I'll whip him up another batch.

Supplementary Materials

To make Oatmeal Cookie Ice Cream:
Bake and cool Cherry Almond Oatmeal Cookies. Get out vanilla ice cream and let it sit out to soften. Crumble the cookies over the ice cream and stir to combine. Return to freezer until you're ready to eat it. Cookie recipe makes enough cookie crumbles for about 1/2 quart of ice cream.

A-Cookie-A-Day

I haven't posted much this month, but that doesn't mean I haven't been in the kitchen. In fact, I have been "procrastibaking" like a professional (after all, that is how this blog came about)! On Friday, coincidentally the Mayan predicted apocalypse, the written portion of the qualifying exam (QE) for my graduate program is due. Just in case the world ends on Friday, I didn't want to spend my last days on alive workin' to the bone.  So, during the afternoons, I've been baking! Oh, and going on vacation!

During my last trip to Houston, Texas, I got my bake-on. While the boys were at work, I was busy trying really hard to focus on my QE. I ended up procrastibaking. In my effort to use up the ridiculous cache of baking supplies in my apartment, I flew to Texas with little baggies containing pre-measured ingredients for a cookie recipe I have in my recipe box, know I've made, but don't remember how they taste. The recipe is for German Chocolate Cookies from BHG. They are dark, they are kind of healthy (fruit, nuts, flaxseeds, oatmeal, dark chocolate, eggs) and they are very addicting!

The next day, I decided on pie. A certain boyfriend I know loves puns and liquor. That sounds bad. He's got an impressive liquor collection and loves making mixed drinks for other people. That's not to say there isn't a video of him floating around the internet where he chugs a 40. [rolls eyes] Undergrads, so irresponsible. Oh yeah, he also loves pie. We celebrated his birthday a little early with Drunken Raspberry and Portly Pear Pie from Food 52. I won't pretend that his roommate and I didn't pick it simply for the punny name. It was an interesting pie. The flavor was great but the pears gave it a gritty texture. I probably won't be using pears in baking any time soon. Also, I made the crust with lard. It was immensely flaky, but I don't really understand the hype.

I arrived back in St. Louis to an empty fridge. I was cranky and  unmotivated. With the minutes ticking away toward QE submission time, I went into A-Cookie-A-Day mode (like any rational, under-pressure graduate student would do)!

A-Cookie-A-Day, "Abby's Kitchen" Style:

Day 12: Maple Cookies from Simply Recipes
These are one of my favorite Fall cookies. While it's not technically Fall, it kinda feels like it is and I love denying that it's ever Winter. This was my first time baking with Grade B maple syrup. I have to say, I prefer these cookies with Grade A, which is good, because Grade B is really hard to find. My Grade B was from the Dane County Farmer's Market which was exciting because I bought it locally! If I'm going to pay a lot for maple syrup, I like knowing that the people who went out, tapped the trees, boiled and bottled the stuff get to see the profit.

Day 13: Triple-Ginger Cookies from Bon Appetit
My friend Kelly came over to procrastibake with me! She was craving ginger cookies. I normally follow Homesick Texan's recipe, but since I had fresh ginger leftover from Naturally Ella's delicious Spicy Peanut Sauce, we tried this recipe from Bon Appetit. We didn't have crystallized ginger, or dark brown sugar, or light molasses, but we made due. We even did a science experiment and reviewed the recipe! Check out our review!

Day 14: Almond Crunch Cookies from Bon Appetit
Because sometimes you're planning on moving and want to get rid of your liquor and decide to use it in cookies so as not to become a lush (kidding, it's really because you're a lightweight and can't possibly drink it all in time). These are super buttery, which makes me think the recipe might not have the right flour-sugar-butter ratio, but they are also kind of delicious.

Day 15: Salted Mudslide Cookies from How Sweet Eats
Not only is there a 3/4 full bottle of Amaretto, there's also a half-full bottle of Kahlua that needs drinking and a few packets of Foldger's instant coffee in the cupboard. Enter Salted Mudslide Cookies. Now, here's a funny secret, I don't like coffee (though boyfriend may have gotten me hooked on Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes [please don't get me started on how I feel about Starbucks' business practices, because falling for these lattes has really caused a moral dilemma]). Yum. I expected that I would hate these, but I really really like them.

Day 16: Andes Mint Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Mommy loves cookies. Years ago, she asked me to make Andes Mint Chocolate Cookies for her Christmas gift (the kind where you spread the mint over the cooling cookie to make the mint into frosting). Since then, I've been doing regular holiday/birthday baking. She loves my chocolate chip cookies with walnuts and her favorite cookies are snickerdoodles. This year, I decided to mix it up. I stuffed half of an Andes Mint into my great-grandma's chocolate crinkles (I got the idea from A Finn in the Kitchen). Best straight out of the oven when the Andes Mint is still gooey. Yum!

Day 17: Cereal Killer Cookies from I Adore Food (Oatmeal, Chocolate and Coconut)
Today I worked on my QE all day. I mean it. I woke up, got out of bed, went to my computer and wrote. And wrote, and wrote, and wrote. I'm nearing a full draft. What remains is to write one more section in the topical review and add a few (very important, as in, if I don't address these issues I will probably fail) things to the research proposal. After nearly 10 1/2 straight hours of writing (minus breakfast and lunch breaks), I decided that it was cookie time. What was really important to me was that my Cookie-A-Day binge include oatmeal cookies. Oatmeal cookies were the first cookies I made by myself. Home alone one summer day, I found the recipe in my brother's Boy Scout Handbook. The section was on experimenting in the kitchen and cooking. The cookies were delicious. That was my baking debut! My mom is sure lucky that I found the ingredients and supplies (after probably a dozen phone calls). I'm the official family baker (and her personal cookie-maker). This isn't my usual oatmeal cookie recipe, but it is pretty tasty! Strangely, my cookies are far more oatmealy compared to last time I made these. They also look way more oaty than the picture, though I followed the recipe (but added chopped almonds). Hmm.. ??

Day 18: Candy Cane Crinkles from The Slow Roasted Italian
Ok woah! I worked on my QE for 15 hours yesterday! At 3 o'clock this morning, I took a few papers to bed to look over. I read for a little bit then realized how exhausted I was. My alarm was set for 8:15 to get to lab meeting by 9:15. When I woke up and looked in the mirror, I saw a ghost peering back. I was so pale that I almost put on some rouge to look sanguine. I can't lie, it felt kind of good to actually get dressed. After lab meeting, I stayed at work for more QE writing. Seven hours later I needed a break (and a cookie). I stopped at the grocery store to pick up candy canes, ended up with candy canes, pickles, hummus and a Chocolove peppermint candy bar. I would be lying if I pretended I didn't eat the chocolate bar and hummus for dinner (give me a break, I'd only eaten 2 oatmeal cookies and an apple during lab meeting and half of a sandwich for lunch. Oh that, and I'm a grad student. Anything above free food from seminars puts me above my peers). Anyhow, I made these candy cane crinkles. They are the perfect sugar cookies, with a hint of peppermint. If you love sugar cookies, try these.

After submitting my qualifying exam, I went into holiday mode. Turned on Billy Gilman Classic Christmas, made a homemade New Year's card and baked cookies to take back to Wisconsin. With the crazy unhealthy lifestyle I've had the past week while finishing my qual, I couldn't be more excited to head back home.

Nan's Chocolate Crinkles

I always called my great-grandma "Nan." It wasn't until about 5th or 6th grade that I realized her name was actually Marjorie. She was a feisty, young-at-heart, Italian red-head from the east coast (Jersey, maybe?). As long as I knew her, she had white hair and deep wrinkles. She wore a bright coral-pink lipstick, always the same shade. She smelled of baby powder. I loved writing and receiving mail, and so she became my pen-pal. Everyday after school, I stopped at the mailbox to see if she'd written. Her letters were usually about the weather or her cats, Koko and Kellie. She always sent me a one dollar bill with her card. I always addressed my letters to "Nan," and the ladies in my great-grandma's apartment complex thought it was the cutest thing. One time, I accidentally put the stamp and the return address label on the wrong sides. The mail carrier still delivered it. Again, the ladies at my great grandam's apartment complex thought it was the cutest thing. I, on the other hand, was mortified!

Nan passed away when I was in 7th grade. I remember hearing my name called over the announcements between classes asking me to report to the main office, and I just knew. We made it to the hospital in time to say goodbye. A few days later, I received my last pen-pal letter from her. It contained a dollar bill as always. She wrote to tell me she loved me, that she would be watching me from heaven with my great-grandpa Bobby, and most importantly, she asked me to take good care of my mommy for her. That was nearly 13 years ago. Every year at Christmas, I get a little teary and remember her. She had her designated chair at Christmas Eve and usually wore a red or black sweater with a string of pearls around her neck. We always gave her a bottle of strawberry bubble bath from Shopko. My grandma always gave her a pastel sweatshirt with flowers or birds on it. I can almost hear her disapproving voice scolding my brother for picking on me. Holidays just aren't the same without her.

When I think of Nan's cooking, I think of spaghetti and crab cakes. I think of potato salad with sliced hard-boiled eggs on top, sprinkled with paprika. I think of coming back from the pool to eat turkey sandwiches with iceberg lettuce, Kraft Singles and Miracle Whip on white bread. I think of eating macaroni and cheese with hotdogs and ketchup, while fighting with my brother under her huge dining room table. I think of the way my great-grandpa "Bobby" used shake powdered Kraft cheddar cheese on everything, particularly mashed potatoes. I think of fridge full of Diet Coke, a full stick of butter in crystal on the countertop and a candy dish full of mini Milky Way candy bars. I think of her Flour, Sugar, Coffee and Tea canisters that were the basis of many of my first "experiments" in the kitchen. I think of her wooden spice rack hanging on the kitchen wall across from her plastic dried chiles.

Before I left for graduate school, I transcribed all of my favorite family recipes. There were surprisingly few of Nan's. One of the recipes, in her handwriting, on the back of a check register, was for chocolate crinkles. Who knows where she got the recipe, or, if she ever even made them.  Nonetheless, the recipe is written in her later-in-life hard-to-read handwriting which is enough to make it special. When I finally got around to making cookies, I was pleasantly surprised by how good they were. I made them for a Pampered Chef party and they were the first to go! If you decide to try them, keep in mind that the dough has to be chilled overnight, and be sure to heed the *DO NOT OVER-BAKE* warning! Mint-Chocolate lovers: take note of the variation at the very bottom!

Chocolate Crinkles 
1/2 cup oil
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup powdered sugar

Mix oil, melted chocolate and sugar. Continue mixing and add the eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla.  Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the oil mixture and mix until the flour is just incorporated. Chill overnight.  Drop the dough by the teaspoon into the powdered sugar and shape into balls. Bake at 350º for 12 minutes on a greased baking sheet. *DO NOT OVER-BAKE*

**Variation: Chocolate Mint Crinkles** to take these to the next level, stick half of an Andes Mint in the center before baking! Absolutely best warm from the oven, but great afterward too. I got this fabulous idea from A Finn in the Kitchen.

Fall Funtivities: Pumpkin Pie Roll-Out Butter Cookies

It's officially my favorite season! I love Fall because it has the best activities! Apple-picking, bonfires, carving pumpkins, eating pumpkin flavored everything and caramel apples, decorating cut-out Halloween cookies, hiking underneath the leaves that are changing color, costume parties, the list goes on. I spent the past week looking for fall funtivities for my trip to Houston. Apple picking? Nope. Apparently it's too hot in Houston for apple orchards. Pumpkin patch? Nearest one is 50 minutes away (with limited time and a resident's work schedule, that's a little too far). Hikes underneath the changing leaves? Well, we can hike, but I don't think the palm trees will be changing color anytime soon. So, maybe we couldn't fill an entire day with fall funtivities. I knew we needed pumpkins and I knew we needed to bake.

I brought a pie pumpkin to Houston from St. Louis because I got it for $1.50 at the Soulard Farmer's Market. That's only half true. I mostly brought it because I wondered if TSA would actually let me carry-on a pumpkin. They didn't even ask me about it! Thursday night, we picked up more pumpkins from the grocery store and carved 2 of them. The one requirement for pumpkin carving was that we bake the pumpkin seeds. I had the apartment to myself on Friday because the boys had to work. I decided to bake the pumpkin seeds, and since the oven was going to be on anyway, make cookies. While the doctors were away, Abby raided their kitchen to play!

Objective

Make fun fall-cookies with my jack-o-lantern cookie cutter! Scouring the internet for pumpkin roll-out cookies lead me to many recipes with terrible reviews. I decided to make my own version of Pumpkin Spice Roll-out Sugar Cookies from Life's a Batch.

Materials

1 cup unsalted butter, sort of soft (get the chill off)

1 1/4 cup light brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon each of ground cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger

1/8 teaspoon each of ground allspice and cloves

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon half-and-half (whatever dairy product you have on hand)

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

Methods

2. Cream butter and sugar until light (in color) and fluffy. It will be tricky to know when the butter is light because of the brown sugar. However, if you look closely, you'll be able to see that the butter changes from a light yellow to a creamy white. 

3. Stir in the baking powder, salt and spices.

4. Beat in the egg, vanilla and half-and-half.

5. Add in the flour (slowly if you have a hand mixer because it will get thick) and mix until well combined.

6. Divide the dough into 2 or 3 chunks. Place it between 2 sheets of waxed paper and roll the dough to a thickness of 1/8-1/4 inch (depending on if you like them thin and crispy or soft and chewy). Cut out desired shapes with cookie cutters. If you can remove the edges without ruining the cookies, do it. Place the cut out shapes (still on waxed paper and on a hard surface) in the freezer for 5-10 minutes. 

7. Gently transfer the cut-out cookies to a parchment-lined baking sheet. If desired, sprinkle with decorating sugar.

8. Bake 8 minutes at 365°. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Results

Yum! These are buttery and not overly-sweet. Just enough spice to not be overpowering. The recipe yielded about 40 cookies. 

Discussion

I normally hate making roll-out cookies. It usually becomes one big fat mess and I get frustrated and don't want to finish rolling/cutting them out. These were pretty easy. The butter to flour ratio makes a good, cohesive, soft dough that isn't too tacky. But, be sure to work quickly so that the butter doesn't get too soft. 

If you love cinnamon, add more. If you want a spicy cookie, increase all of the spices by 1/8-1/4 teaspoon. If there's a spice you don't have or don't like, leave it out and add more of the others. I think this is a forgiving recipe when it comes to the spices. If you want to go into a sugar coma, add frosting or glaze. If you're trying to avoid insulin-resistance, don't. These are delicious without frosting!

We took the cookies to a retreat over the weekend and they were a hit. People were really excited when they realized the pumpkins had faces and even more excited when they realized the cookies tasted like pumpkin pie!

Supplementary Materials

Triple Nut Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

Objective
Make chocolate chip cookies with almonds. One of my favorite ways to get to know people is the either/or game. Pancakes or waffles? Chocolate or vanilla? Day or night? History museum or science museum? Ostrich or emu? Nuts or no nuts? Sunrise or sunset? Cake or cookies? Half windsor or bow tie? For important questions, I ask them to elaborate. That's how I learned that one of my college friend's favorite cookies were his mom's chocolate chip and almond cookies. You can put almonds in cookies? Yes! This has been on my to-do list since 2007.

So why am I finally getting around to making them? Blue Bell's Moo-llenium Crunch ice cream. On a recent trip to Houston, my traitorous self ate Texan ice cream (and I loved it). Their ice cream isn't as rich as many are, which is good. If ice cream is too rich, I feel sick after just a few bites. The flavor was roasted pecans, almonds and walnuts with chocolate and caramel in vanilla ice cream. Three kinds of nuts? We would have been nuts not to try it! Eventually, I'd like to try making my own ice cream mimic, but in the meantime, I can settle for ice cream sandwiches on a hot day!

Materials
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened or melted (I do a combination, mostly melted)
3/4 cup dark brown sugar (light brown sugar would work, but I wanted them more caramely)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1/2 cup whole almonds
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips, chopped into small chunks
1/2 cup chopped rolos (optional)
vanilla ice cream

Methods
1. Preheat the oven to 375°.
2. Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
3. Add vanilla and beat in eggs, one at a time.
4. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt then slowly beat into the batter.
5. Stir in the nuts and chocolate. *At this point, you can bake right away or chill the dough a little before rolling into balls and baking, which will help them be perfect circles. Your choice. But, if you're using Rolos, I recommend chilling the dough first.
6. Drop 1" (or smaller) balls  onto a parchment line baking sheet, greased baking sheet or pre-seasoned baking stone.
7. Bake 10-12 minutes until the edges begin to brown but the center is still doughy. Wait 3-5 minutes before transferring the cookies to a wire sheet to cool completely.
8. Dollop vanilla ice cream on a cookie, smush one on top and serve as ice cream sandwiches.

Results
Why haven't  I thought of this before? These are delicious! The cookies are soft, which is important when you're biting through two layers plus ice cream. The combination of nuts works well with the chocolate and the cookies are very chunky.

Discussion and Future Directions
I love chocolate chip cookies. I love chocolate chip cookies with walnuts. I love chocolate chip cookies without chocolate chips (when I was a kid, I didn't like chocolate and would make separate chocolate-free cookies). Turns out, I love chocolate chip cookies with pecans, almonds and walnuts even more. My mom came home, tried a cookie and decided they were the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever made. That could be because I don't live at home anymore and she doesn't get them often, but I think it's because they're really that good!

These are a soft, chewy cookie. If you like them crisp, overbake them and they will have a nice crunch. These are delicious alone, but better with ice cream. Toasting the nuts isn't required, but people with more sensitive palates than me say it's a must. Throw them in the oven at 250° and bake 5-8 minutes (stirring every few minutes) or until the nuts are fragrant. It doesn't add much time. The rolls were my way of adding caramel to the recipe, but using dark brown sugar helps add a caramely flavor. I would probably leave the Rolos out next time just because they are a little messy and force you to scrape the baking sheet clean. Parchment paper would be a great way to make cleanup easy if you do want to use Rolos. I made the first batch of cookies without them and they were equally delicious.

Few things remind me of summer break quite as much as ice cream treats (not to mention the ice cream truck). Ice cream sandwiches were always a favorite. These ice cream sandwiches are homemade and a little more adult. That doesn't mean they aren't as good. In fact, I think they're better!

Supplementary Materials

Mexican Cornmeal Cookies

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Today, I've been in the kitchen cooking food for a Cinco de Mayo party while reflecting on my study abroad experience in Guanajuato. Not trying to be cliche (but I'll do it anyway), the summer I spent in Mexico was one of the best summers of my life. As anyone who has studied abroad knows, it's hard to explain why. It was my first time moving away and doing my own thing. It was also something that my friends and family didn't think I was capable of doing. The night before I left, my best friend wouldn't say goodbye because she anticipated seeing me back in Wisconsin in no more than two weeks. I was determined to prove them all wrong and be independent, and that's exactly what I did!

I always loved Mexican food. However, until I went to Mexico, I had no idea what Mexican food was. I was shocked to learn that tacos aren't ground beef with a packet of seasoning stirred in on flour tortillas with cheddar cheese and chunky salsa out of a jar (kidding). Tacos were something you made yourself during every meal, from whatever meat and toppings were available, salsa and fresh corn tortillas. I also learned that freshly made corn tortillas are delicious. I came to love chipotle salsa (my host family's maid, Lupe, made the most incredible chipotle salsa, but regrettably, I do not have the recipe). I loved saturdays because we would get Pollo Feliz for lunch because our host mom was at church. Pollo Feliz consisted of a spicy rotisserie chicken with a large stack of corn tortillas and an assortment of salsas. Yum.  On Sunday, when our host dad would be home from where he worked as a mining engineer, we would have barbacoa. Whenever there was a reason to celebrate, we would go get ice cream. The best ice cream (second to the kind you would buy in a tub at the OXXO) was from Dunkin' Donuts, which we frequented regularly.

For two weeks at the end of July, our host family was in Michigan visiting their son. While they were gone, their former maid stayed with us and cooked for us. She was determined to feed us authentic Mexican food and was happy to teach us to make things whenever we were interested. I was on a gluten-free diet at the time, so I missed out on the Mexican pastries and many of the desserts. Our "substitute" host mom told me about a recipe she had for cookies, that didn't use flour. I didn't try them while I was in Mexico, but did when I returned. They aren't your average cookie, but they are tasty in their own right.

Galletas de Maíz Recipe

1 cup harina de maiz (finely ground corn flour)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 tablepsoons caramel sauce

2 eggs

pinch salt

Mix all ingredients together. The mixture will be thick but viscous. Pour by the teaspoon onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Leave at least an inch (if not two) between cookies. Bake at 375 degrees until golden. Move to a wire rack to cool

Kourabiedes (Greek Cookies with Brandy)

Objective
To make my grandma's recipe for Greek cookies. Many recipes for Kourabiedes use ground almonds. Another similar recipe adds cloves for flavor. I remember these cookies from Christmas Eve when I was a child, because my grandma wouldn't let me eat them. However, when I was old enough to dare to disobey, they quickly became a favorite!

Hypothesis: This recipe will make small, light, melt-in-your-mouth cookies.

Materials
1 pound unsalted butter (2 cups or 4 sticks)
2/3 cups powdered sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder, plus extra for rolling
1/2 cup orange juice
4 cups all-purpose flour
brandy

Methods
1. Preheat the oven to 300°.
2. Cream the butter and sugar for 15 minutes.
3. Add the eggs and vanilla. When fully incorporated, add powdered sugar and orange juice. Finally, add the flour and mix until fully incorporated.
4. Drop by teaspoon into powdered sugar, shape into a ball and flatten slightly.
5. Bake for 25 minutes. Immediately brush tops lightly with brandy, then move onto waxed paper coated with powdered sugar and sift with more powdered sugar.
6. Let cool and store in a plastic bag for 24 hours before serving.

Results
My cookies took over 25 minutes to bake (I wanted them to be firm when I pulled them out of the oven) because I made them too big. The cookies are light and fluffy and absolutely melt-in-your-mouth! The flavor was excellent. They were best from 24-48 hours, but were still good for the next week and a half.

Discussion and Future Directions
This recipe makes a lot of cookies. I cannot give a good estimate because I made mine too big. Even halving the recipe, I had at least two full cookie sheets (far over 2 dozen). However, they are delicious and there was no trouble making them disappear. Next time I make these, I may try adding a bit of ground cloves just to see what it does to the recipe. These were great as holiday cookies and would be a great cookie to gift (for adults only--although there is such a small amount of alcohol per cookie that anyone could really eat them)!

Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies

Objective
To make cookies with vanilla beans instead of vanilla extract. In an effort to use up the butter I'd gotten for winter break baking, I decided to make cookies before heading home. With a jar full of vanilla beans I'd purchased earlier in the trip, I knew I wanted to use them. Recipe adapted from Cafe Johnsonia: Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies.

Hypothesis: vanilla beans will give the cookies a delightful vanilla flavor and make for a beautifully speckled cookie.

Materials
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter (which would be 3/4 stick), softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 vanilla bean pod (consider adding up to 1/2 teaspoon vanilla for more flavor)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Sugar (vanilla sugar, sanding sugar, coarse sugar, colored sugar)

Methods
1. Cream the butter and sugar until light in color and texture.
2. Add the egg, beating until fully incorporated.
3. Scrape the vanilla bean seeds into the bowl and mix well. *Save the pod for flavoring liquor or sugar! To make vanilla sugar, stick the pod in 1/2-1 cup of sugar and sit for a week or so.
4. Mix together the dry ingredients and slowly add them to wet ingredients.
5. When the dough is well mixed, shape it into a ball, flatten it, wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator until it is firm (I waited 30 minutes. Could wait longer but I find that the dough is too firm to roll-out if I wait any longer).
6. Shortly before baking, preheat the oven to 400°.
7. Roll the chilled dough out to about 1/8" or 1/4" thick (I'm a terrible judge of distance, so I have no idea how thick or thin mine were) and cut with 1 1/2" to 2" cookie cutters.
8. Bake until the edges are starting to brown, probably around 6-8 minutes.
9. Remove from the oven. If you don't plan to frost them, sprinkle the warm tops with sugar (I used vanilla sugar). Move to a wire rack to cool completely. If you want to frost them, see Supplementary Materials for frosting recipe.

Results
The cookies are quite lovely sprinkled with vanilla beans, but not overly flavorful. This recipe makes about 2 dozen cookies from 1-1/2" cookie cutters (keeping in mind some of the dough went straight to my belly without baking).

Discussion and Future Directions
I'm not a sugar cookie lover. That comes with a caveat: My favorite gluten-free cookies are the Iced Cut-out Cookies from Molly's Gluten Free Bakery in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. I was on a gluten free diet for 3 1/2 years and just over a year ago, went back to eating gluten (and as you can see from my blog--back to baking every glutenous goody I can find a recipe for). I haven't tried Molly's gluten-free cookies since returning to my glutenous lifestyle, but they have a great flavor and a wonderful light texture (which makes them a bit crumbly to eat). I would love to recreate their cookie (with or without gluten), they're that good!

This cookie is fairly dense. You can keep them soft by rolling thicker and baking lessor crisp them up by rolling them thinner and baking them a bit longer. I tried both and liked them both ways. Because I prefer a melt-in-your-mouth, light and airy sugar cookie, I might try this again using half granulated sugar, half powdered sugar, though that might require a bit of additional moisture which could be achieved by adding some oil.

A sugar cookie should be, well, sugary. Without frosting, they were not quite sweet enough for me, even with the sugar on top. If I were to make them again, I would add up to 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract in addition to the vanilla bean seeds. I think the vanilla bean flavor is most intense when the seeds are cooked in liquid, for example in custard or pastry cream. Baking didn't quite give the vanilla flavor I was looking for. I made the frosting to sweeten the cookie up a bit and give it some additional flavor. Because I ended up frosting them, I wish I'd put the vanilla bean seeds in the frosting instead of the dough for the beauty of the seeds. I'm glad I tried these and even if they weren't quite what I was hoping for, they're disappearing quickly!


Supplementary Materials

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 Tablespoon cream
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


In a small bowl, beat with a hand-mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in food coloring if desired. Spread onto cooled cookies.

The One and Only Chocolate Chip Cookie

People are incredibly particular about their chocolate chip cookies. They grow up with the cookies that one of their parents, grandparents, aunt, uncle, neighbor, or friend makes and it quickly becomes their favorite. Any deviation and they just aren't the same. The technique that leads to my idea of a chocolate chip cookie might make some baking purists gasp, but to me, the results are undeniably worth-it. My ideal chocolate chip cookie is relatively flat. It's flat enough the chocolate chips poke their way up through the cookie. This gives it a slight melt-in-your-mouth crunch when you bit into it, but leads to a soft, gooey center. My secret: melted butter. Why? Because I'm impatient.

As Hannah Hart from My Drunk Kitchen once said, "Warm butter 'til soft, not melted [...] Why would you say that: warm your butter up somehow, but don't melt it? Whose going to finish that sentence? Nobody." Exactly. In middle school and high school, I made chocolate chip cookies all of the time. Mine always turned out superior to my mom's. Why? Because I was impatient. I stuck my butter in the microwave to soften it, resulting in partially melted butter. She left her sticks of butter on top of the stove all day and waited to make her cookies until the butter was soft. In this case, impatience wins
After my 3 year gluten-free stint, I lost my ability to make delicious chocolate chip cookies. My trusty recipe failed me. I was devastated. Here I was, a life of gluteny goodness before me lacking the perfect chocolate chip cookie. It simply wouldn't do. After a bit of trial and error, I realized the butter was the problem. Somehow, college made me more patient. I left my sticks of butter on the stove and waited to bake cookies until they were soft. Never again friends, never again. Melting the butter leads to a more buttery cookie.

Objective
Recreate the soft, chewy, yet melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chip cookies I was once able to make. Technique adapted from the Nestlé TOLL HOUSE Recipe.

Materials
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 to 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 to 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Methods
1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Lightly grease a cookie sheet, line a baking sheet with parchment or (better yet) set aside a pre-seasoned baking stone.
2. Put the butter in a bowl and microwave it about 30 seconds or until it's mostly melted. Beat the butter and sugars until thoroughly mixed.
3. Add the eggs and vanilla. Beat until incorporated.
4. Add the baking soda, salt and flour. Beat until just mixed.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts.
6. Roll the dough into consistently shaped balls (use about one tablespoon dough for each cookie).
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Take the cookies out of the oven when the edges are just starting to brown and the centers are still doughy (see photo). Do not over-bake or you will end up with dry, crispy cookies (but if you're into that, go ahead over-bake them).
8. Cool on the cookie sheet 2 to 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.


Results
Perfection! The cookies are firm but they maintain the gooey center and slight melt-in-your mouth crunch.

Discussion and Future Directions
To give you a fair warning, these cookies will come out flat with chocolate chips poking out of the top. They will probably break apart in the middle when you take them off of the cookie sheet. But, don't worry. While they cool, they will firm up and the breakage won't matter. They probably won't be perfectly circular because they'll mush up a little bit when you transfer them. They might not be beautiful, but as long as they taste good, who is going to complain? I know that everyone has a different opinion of what makes a great chocolate chip cookie, but if you like them slightly under-baked with a melt-in-your mouth feel, I promise that this recipe won't let you down (unless you over-bake them). As an aside, make sure you have plenty of milk on hand!


Supporting Materials