Milk & Cookies

Whats black and white and red all over?

Baking ritual part II. Scotch. As I mentioned before, nothing is as good as turning up the music and tuning out the world. As a part of that goal, I love to have a glass of scotch while I make cookies. Somehow music, a smooth scotch, and baking unite to form a trifecta of awesome that turns my kitchen into a temporary sanctuary from the world. I suggest that you try it, at least once.

These cookies come (yet again) from Joy the Baker. The results of this week’s baking experiment are below:

INGREDIENTS (makes 10 huge cookies)

For Cookies:

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbls cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 5 Tbls butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbls red food coloring
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

For Vanilla Glaze: (OR VANILLA FROSTING)

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp light corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbls hot water

For Chocolate Glaze:

• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
• 3 Tbls butter
• 1 Tbls light corn syrup

DIRECTIONS

Preheat your oven to 350°F and prepare a couple of baking trays with parchment paper.

Now, I needed to make cookies for more than 10 people so I doubled this recipe. I don’t recommend this. These cookies are HUGE, and you can get away with just making more smaller cookies if you so desire. Anyways, lets get started. Stir together the flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Set it aside for now.

In another medium bowl, beat together the sugar and softened butter until fluffy (~3 min).  Then add in the egg, vanilla, and food coloring and beat until well mixed.  Next, slowly incorporate the buttermilk and the flour mixture beating them in until the whole thing is smooth.  Nice red dough huh?

Now start spooning 1/4 cup scoops of dough onto the baking trays.  Spread them around a bit with a spatula so that they are nice and round.  The dough tends to want to puddle anyways, so it shouldnt be to hard.  Leave 2″ gaps between cookies, as these suckers will expand.  These cookies will be very large.  I was only able to get 6 per cookie tray without them merging during the baking process.

Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes or until they pass the toothpick test. Let the cookies cool and then set them aside until you are ready to glaze them.

The vanilla glaze is very easy to make…just combine the powdered sugar, vanilla, corn syrup, and water in a bowl and mix it together with a fork (or whisk). The glaze immediately begins hardening and crystallizing so make sure you are ready to put the glaze on right away. I made the mistake of letting mine sit on the counter for a while and when I went to use it, it was virtually un-spreadable. Alternatively, you could use vanilla frosting from a mix. I would like to try this recipe again later and try that, as I felt this glaze was way too sweet.

The chocolate glaze is made by melting the chocolate and butter together in the microwave. Then add the corn syrup and mix it a little bit more. Voila!

Spread the glazes onto the cookies 1/2 and 1/2 with a butter knife or a spatula. Then pop the cookies into the fridge for 20+ minutes to set the glaze. These cookies can be very beautiful, but its not actually that easy. Maybe a few more tries and I can get it right. Thanks for reading…

1.0 Title

Boston Cream Pie Cookies

2.0 Purpose

Boston Cream Pie Cookies are cookies that are designed to taste delicious and remind the eater of boston cream pie.

3.0 Scope

This document provides the procedure for making Boston Cream Pie Cookies.

4.0 Applicable Documents

4.1 Wikipedia

4.2 Dunkin Donuts, maker of Boston Cream donuts

4.3 Muffin Top recipe, on which the cookie portion of this recipe is based

4.4 The Boston Cream Donut Debate

5.0 Definitions & Process Terminology

5.1 Parchment Paper: oven-safe paper that protects baking sheets and saves dish washing.

6.0 Safety

6.1 Burn Hazard. Boston Cream Pie Cookies utilize an oven; baking sheets coming out of the oven can be very hot. Use hand protection. Proceed with caution.

6.2 Stomach Explosion Hazard. These cookies are very rich. I saw it in a movie once so it must be possible.

7.0 Statistical/Process Data

7.1 Bake time

Cookie staff has tested the cookie bake time and determined that a bake time of 8-10 minutes is acceptable. Cookie squishiness increases with decreasing bake time, therefore time your bakes according to your desired outcome.

7.2 Input ingredients

A variety of companies supply vanilla pudding and chocolate frosting, however cookie staff have shown a preference for Jell-O pudding and Duncan Hines chocolate frosting.

8.0 Available Processes, Gases, Process Notes

8.1 Vanilla Pudding

Ingredients:

• 1 package Jell-O vanilla pudding mix
• 2 cups cold milk

8.2 Chocolate Frosting

8.3 Cookie – Similar to the muffin tops described here.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 tsp vanilla

9.0 Operating Procedure

9.1 Preheat oven to 325 F

9.2 Assemble Ingredients

9.3 Make vanilla pudding by mixing pudding mix with 2 cups of cold milk. Let chill in refrigerator

9.4 Make cookie batter:

9.4.1 Mix dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

9.4.2 Mix sugar and eggs with electric mixer until well blended.

9.4.3 Add milk, canola oil, and vanilla and mix again.

9.4.4 Add dry ingredients from step 9.3.1 and mix again.

9.4.5 Spoon batter onto parchment-paper-lined cookie sheet. The batter is not very viscous and should expand to 2-3 diameter circles.

9.4.6 Bake batter for 8-10 minutes (see section 7.0)

9.4.7 Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

9.4.8 Apply a layer of vanilla pudding to half of the cookies. Coat the other half of the cookies with chocolate frosting. Match each pudding-covered cookie with a chocolate-covered cookie to create a cookie/pudding/cookie/frosting multilayer.

9.4.9 Serve with cold milk, if available.

10.0 Troubleshooting Guidelines

10.1 Have you tried turning it off and on again? Is it plugged in?

11.0 Figures & Schematics

Figure 1: Batter expands to 2-3 inch diameter circles

Figure 2: Finished product

Cookies made with love.... and chocolate

I am going to let you in on a little secret. I have a Wednesday night ritual that has completely changed the way I approach my week. Wednesday…. humpday…. the worst day of the week (many will say). I used to hate Wednesdays. Now I look forward to them.

Every Wednesday I come home from work and plug in my Ipod. I find an album that suits my mood (unless I am grumpy) and turn it up… way up. This week it was Radiohead – In Rainbows. I pour myself a glass of scotch… Then I bake.

I think that setting your mind to look forward to something can really change your overall attitude for the better. It turns out that I feel happier, not just on Wednesday, but every day.

The results of this week’s baking experience are below. These cookies were the most recent post on Joy the Baker. Instead of using fruity jam (PB&J cookies), I decided to fill the thumbprints with chocolate. Here is my recipe:

INGREDIENTS (makes ~3 dozen cookies)

• 1 3/4 cups finely ground honey roasted peanuts
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tspn. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar (optional)
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (or 1 cup jam if you want to make them fruity instead)

DIRECTIONS

First thing to do with these cookies is to crush up the peanuts. Just put them in a food processor and chop chop until they are finely ground. Then mix them up with the flour in a medium bowl. Set this mixture aside.

These cookies are really easy and quick, so you might want to get your oven pre-heating early this time around. Set it to 350°F.

In a large mixing bowl beat together the softened butter and the sugar on medium speed until it is fluffy and smooth. Then add in the vanilla extract and mix it a bit more until it is evenly blended. Then set the mixer speed to low and slowly add in the peanut and flour mixture. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides if needed. Try not to over mix, its ok for the batter to be a little uneven.

Prepare a couple of baking trays with parchment paper. Start making little ~1 Tblsn. sized balls of dough. Just roll the dough around a little bit in your hand and then plop it down on the parchment paper. Then using your pinky (not your thumb) press a narrow hole down the center of the dough. Don’t go all the way through the cookie though, you want a little well for the filling. I did my first batch with my thumb (I mean, they are thumbprint cookies), but this dough spreads more than I expected during baking, so my wells were really shallow. Using your pinkie and going pretty deep will make it work better.

Once your tray is covered in little dough bowls, go ahead and bake them on the top rack for 15 minutes. They won’t look completely cooked at the end, but its ok, they will stiffen up as they cool. Once removed from the oven, let the cookies sit for a couple of minutes and then move them to a cooling rack if you have one. After all of the batches of cookies are complete, dust them with the powdered sugar. (This was my favorite part since I finally got to use our sifter.)

Time to prepare the filling. If chocolate, melt the chocolate chips down in either the microwave using the 15 second – stir – repeat method, or on a double boil on the stove. If you are using Jam, bring it to a boil on the stove or in the microwave. Take your filling and either pipe it into the cookies, or just spoon it in to fill the wells up with delicious. Be careful of lurking spouses during this process… they will often strike when your back is turned and try to eat up all the filling!

Rocky Road? ... nope thats the cookie dough!

I keep running into recipes for “Dark Chocolate”, “Double Chocolate”, “Super Chocolatey”, even “Triple Chocolate” cookies. Well eat this one all you wannabee’s! These are QUADRUPLE chocolate cookies! “Ridiculous!” you say…
yes, ridiculously good!

This recipe is based on a couple of different recipes from the Food Network, America’s Test Kitchen, and AllRecipes.com. It is far enough from them that I will not link to them since this recipe is truly my own.

If you don’t like these cookies… you must be dead already. Go see a doctor immediately.

INGREDIENTS (makes ~3 dozen cookies)

• 16 ounces semisweet chocolate (chopped, chips, or morsels)
• 10 Tbls. (1-1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tspn. baking powder
• 1/2 tspn. salt
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tspn. vanilla extract
• 6 oz. white chocolate chunks (or chips) (recommended improvement – 8 to10 oz. instead)
• 6 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips (60-70% cocoa)

DIRECTIONS

Start by (slowly) melting your semi-sweet chocolate in either the microwave or on a double boil on the stove.

In a large mixing bowl beat together the softened butter with the two types of sugar for about 1 minute.

Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for another 45 seconds or so.

Now pour in the melted chocolate and beat again until combined.

Now stir in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Do not over mix these ingredients, its ok if it isnt completely smooth.

Finally stir in the two types of chocolate chips / chunks. This recipe reflects the actual quantities that I used, and I would recommend adding more white chocolate since it seems to get lost in these cookies. Maybe use 8-10 oz. instead.

Now your dough is complete, you can either start making the cookies now, or refrigerate the dough for a while to let it stiffen up.

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a couple trays with parchment paper. Start placing tablespoon sized scoops onto the trays with a least an inch of clearance around the dough. Cook each tray for 13-15 min. Let each tray cool for a few minutes before moving the cookies to a cooling rack or tupperware container or (best of all) your mouth.

Super ultra secret guest COOKiE blog!

I had promised to bring these into work when Zoe first started gracing us with her and Jason’s cookies…oops.  Yes, I am a procrastinator. lazy. You can make the dough way in advance and then slice them as you want them (which’ll probably be ASAP if you read a cookie blog, in which case it’s after ~8hrs. in the fridge). And they look pretty, which is why I wanted to make them in the first place.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pinwheels (Courtesty of Recipezaar)
Ingredients:
2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter or chunky peanut butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For Filling:
1 (6 ounce) package semisweet chocolate morsels
1 teaspoon butter

Directions:
1. Sift flour with soda and salt.
2. Set aside.
3. Beat butter until fluffy.
4. Beat in sugar.
5. Beat in peanut butter, egg, and vanilla.
6. At low speed, add half flour mixture.
7. Mix in the rest by hand to form a stiff dough.
8. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, make the filling by melting the chocolate and butter.
10. Cool.
11. Divide dough in half.
12. Roll each half into a 8×10 inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. between two pieces of plastic wrap.  In the future, I would use two pans to flatten so that it’s more even. (Mine was fatter in the middle because I suck at rolling.)
13. Spread each with half the filling.
14. From the long side, roll each rectangle tightly like a jelly roll.
15. Gently press edge to seal.
16. Wrap separately, seam side down, in saran wrap or foil.
17. Refrigerate until firm, about 8 hours or overnight before slicing and baking.
18. (They will keep in the fridge for a little over a week.) Preheat oven to 375, and place 1/2 inch slices 1 1/2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet.  Warning: slicing these cookies may be tricky because the chocolate filling will likely be solid.
19. Bake 6-8 minutes or until lightly browned.
20. Let cool for a few minutes on sheet, then cool on wire rack.
21. Makes 40 cookies all together.

So, I had forgotten that these had to chill overnight…luckily, they bake super fast in the oven (6-7 minutes was plenty, and I still burned a bunch of ‘em). Slicing through the chocolate filling after a night’s hardening was tough, so I might add a bit more butter in the future. The PB cookie part of the swirls was the softest, chewiest PB cookie I’ve ever made. And it’s probably one of few cookies that was actually better fully cooled than straight out of the oven.  Work loved them, and I enjoyed them enough that I’ll probably make them again…although maybe somehow both add more chocolate and yet make it easier to cut through.