Another type of chocolate chip cookie

I can't say that I have a favorite kind of chocolate chip cookie. I mean really I don't think I'll ever turn down a chocolate chip cookie. Usually I make smaller, more cakey cookies, just a personal preference but like I said I'll try pretty much any type of chocolate chip cookie. I saw this recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies on someone else's blog and was intrigued. These are not pretty cookies by any means but they are delicious and addictive. They are super buttery and crisp but not hard-crisp. They might be my new favorite cookie recipe! (sorry for the crappy iPhone pics)

Cookies & pie for fall

I made these Fall-ish cookies a few weeks ago to help me get in the 'spirit'. First up was Pumpkin Gingersnaps from Two Peas and Their Pod. Doug loves gingersnaps and I love pumpkin so I hoped we'd both like these. I made them mainly for Doug's game night on Thursday but kept some for us too. They seemed to be a success, I liked how cakey they were but I might have kicked up the spice a tiny bit.

Second, was Iced Oatmeal-Applesauce cookies, which I do not have a picture of. Sorrys! This recipe was from the Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: the New Classics but I found it online here. As silly as this sounds, I don't pick up this cookbook too often because there are almost no pictures. I know, I'm ridiculous. Anyway, I felt like it was rather neglected so I scanned through the pages, found the recipe and found that I had all the ingredients for them. I did make mine bigger than the recipe called for but I really love the flavor of these.

Now the pie is a magnificent creation, found at Ezra Pound Cake. I made it for Sunday night dinner dessert and it was a little involved, but completely and utterly worth the effort. Graham cracker crust with a layer of caramel and pecans, a layer apple slices cooked with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, cream cheese layer and topped with homemade whipped cream and more caramel and pecans. It was too dark to take a photo that night so these are from the next day so it's a little less impressive but it still tasted very, very good, even the next day.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Sour Cream Chocolate Cake Cookies

Even though it felt too hot to turn on the oven, I cranked up the AC and baked on. I fiddled with the recipe slightly, I omitted the cinnamon and nutmeg and used dried cherries instead of currants or raisins. I made mine a little bigger and somewhat lumpy too (less batches). I liked these, very cake-y. I think if I had made them a little smaller/flatter they might be a good ice-cream sandwich base. (which is what this week's recipe selector did!)

Thanks to Spike of spikebakes for the week's selection!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones, Strawberry Rhubarb Double Crisp & Basic Marbled Loaf Cake

Playing major catch-up here....

Strawberry Rhubarb Double Crisp - Excellent, would have probably been better with fresh rhubarb but not really available around these parts. Delicious though! Thanks to Sarah of Teapots & Cakestands (also a knitter!) for this selection. I'm planning on making it again soon with farm fresh strawberries now that the season is on.

Basic Marbled Loaf Cake - For this I did the chocolate/orange variation. It was easy to mix and the orange smelled sooo good. The cake was really good right out of the oven but by the next day I felt like it had really dried out. Maybe a glaze on top would have helped? Thanks to Carol of The Bake More for that selection!

 

And yesterday's recipe - Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones, chosen by Patricia of Life with a Whisk. Super simple to mix up and serve for brunch/breakfast or anytime. I made 1/2 of the batch and froze the other half for future use. Especially good with homemade strawberry jam! 

Shiny

Let's talk about this:

This is my new kick-ass, awesome range with a convection oven. Hell yes. After a lot of back and forth between myself, Maytag and the Home Depot, it arrived Saturday afternoon and was installed within minutes. It is glorious and beautiful. The matching range hood was out of stock but should be delivered this weekend and hopefully installed sometime next week. After I ooohed and awwed over it for awhile, I got to baking.

 

First I made Nutella sandwich cookies. The recipe is from the (newish) Barefoot Contessa "How Easy is That?". The cookies are super buttery shortbread with ground up hazelnuts in the dough. The dough is really sticky and I added flour to make it easier to work with. I could have made the dough thinner (I think the recipe says 1/4 of an inch). I liked these so much. I took some to my aunt and my grandmother and they both really liked them.

The jam muffins are a recipe from Serious Eats and I used a jar of Bonne Maman Four Fruits preserves. Very yummy, especially warm.

I think New Oven and I are going to be very happy together.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Peanut Butter Crisscrosses

This week's selection was chosen by Jasmine of Jasmine Cuisine. I had made Dorie's peanut butter cookies a few months ago and really enjoyed them. However, this time around I decided to use Dorie's 'Playing Around' suggestion on the side and use cocoa and semi-sweet chocolate pieces to make a peanut butter-chocolate cookie.

I'm really glad I did because they turned out so well, particularly when they were still warm and the chocolate bits were still melting. I took these to dinner at the home of friends and everyone liked them - another cookie winner.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Coffee and chocolate, two of my favorite things. Combined in a buttery shortbread concoction they're even better.

This week's selection was chosen by Donna of Life's too short not to eat dessert first. I really like making these and eating them, especially with coffee. Thanks again Donna!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Gingered Carrot Cookies

Guess who drove nine hours with the Baking book? Me! Even though we're on vacation I brought my whisk and spices and Kitchen Aid (handmixer not the stand) and baked this week's selection from Natalia of gatti fili e farina. While carrots don't usually make you think of something delicious and sweet these were spot on. The carrots weren't detectable taste wise, even though you could see them. The raisins and coconut and pecans worked so well together. I would make these again, thanks for the selection Natalia!

S'mores in cookie form

Lately, I have been so busy that I have not been sending baked goods with Doug for the Thursday night game group he goes to. Since they're always so appreciative I knew I had to make some time for them. So last week while blog-surfing I found a recipe for s'mores cookies, I repeat s'mores cookies! Perfect! I made a batch Wednesday night and they were deeelicious.

They have graham cracker crumbs and mini-chocolate chips in the batter. Halfway through the baking time you pull them out and top with mini-marshmallows and chopped up Hershey bars.

I love them so much and the guys seemed to like them a lot too. They were time-consuming since you have to pull them out and top them but it's well worth it. Make them! Recipe here.

The healthy & the not-so-healthy

First the healthy! A Very Berry Salad (eye-roll at the cutesy name) made with all manner of berries I could find and a 'dressing' of honey, lemon juice and Triple Sec. Recipe found here. Healthy because strawberries have vitamin C and so do blueberries! Raspberries have niacin (vitamin B3), blackberries have vitamin K and all of them have fiber and antioxidants. Plus they're all in season right now and it's a pretty looking salad.Next, the not-so-healthy, Flourless Peanut-Chocolate Cookies (recipe here). I didn't have actual peanuts on hand so I used just chunky peanut butter. Minimal effort for a soft, yummy cookie!

What I Made with It: Whole Wheat Flour

With the flour I bought from Funder Farm I made Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies. The recipe is from the new book Good to the Grain, found via Food in Jars. I used a combination of milk chocolate, bittersweet chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate ('cause that's what was lingering in my pantry) and I sprinkled just a little sea salt on top of the cookies before baking. They were buttery and crisp and not overly sweet, just right. Yum!

Orange Chocolate Macaroons

I doubt these could be more simple, egg whites + sugar + chopped bittersweet chocolate + orange zest + sweetened flaked coconut, that's it. Prep time - somewhere around ten minutes (chocolate chopping and orange zest-ing). Baking time - 26 minutes (at least in my oven). From bowl to belly in around 36 minutes. Recipe from the Sweet Melissa Baking Book.

Lemon Poppyseed Cake & Almond Macaroons

Here are two items I made a few weeks ago and forgot to post about. The first is a simple, one layer lemon-poppyseed cake with a recipe via Epicurious (click here for recipe). It's quick, sweet and spring-y.The second thing are these Almond Macaroons from Martha Stewart's Cookie book, recipe also found here. They aren't the sandwich cookie macarons and they aren't the coconut macaroons. They're just a little cookie made with almond paste, egg whites, confectioner's sugar and vanilla, a lot of almond flavor in little airy cookie. Word to the wise keep an eye on these, the first batch I put in the oven were a little overcooked.I'm going to be on a baking-vacation for the next few days, I'm headed out this morning to Colorado with my friend Kenan. We'll be visiting Colorado Springs, Denver, Estes Park and maybe Boulder and going to as many bakeries and yarn stores as we can. As always I'm excited to visit a state I've never been to and see mountains! However, I am not excited to fly. Flying with a friend makes it a little easier, at least I have someone's hand to hold!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Chockablock Cookies

You'll forgive me if my details on these are a little fuzzy, I made them a month ago and forgot to take notes! This week's selection was chosen by Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet. I baked these for a Kidney Foundation bake sale at Doug's company. I do remember snatching a few for myself before I sent them off. I know some people expressed concern over the combination of molasses, dried fruit and chocolate but I thought they were very, very good. Thanks Mary!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Dulce de Leche Cookies

Make.these.cookies.now.

I did not know I could love a non-chocolate cookie so much but holy hell these are good. I almost didn't make them because I went to three stores without finding any dulce de leche and I was too busy to try to make my own. As a last resort I sent my husband to a Kroger near his work and he found it. These are fabulous, cookies are soft and cakey and make a sweet little sandwich with a thick layer of dulce de leche in the middle. The only alterations I made were to use a teaspoon of sea salt instead of 1/4 teaspoon of regular salt. Thanks to Jodie of Beansy Loves Cake for such a good selection (recipe is on her blog). I'm going to start stockpiling dulce de leche so I can make these more often.

A cookie memory

Several summers ago Doug and I took a trip to Washington D.C. We were there for a week, staying in a cute little hotel in Foggy Bottom, walking to the White House just hours after our plane landed and taking the Metro everywhere. It was a nice trip except we went in early August and it was hot, hot, hot and there were families and children everywhere because they were all trying to fit in their last-minute summer vacations. I have nothing against families or children but it made visiting the Smithsonian museums a lot more crowded.

Besides going to the International Spy Museum, another highlight of our trip was going to Teasim, a little place we went for lunch twice. They sold packages of their house-made Salty Oats cookies, crumbly textured oatmeal cookies with a sprinkling of sea salt on top, I ate SO many. I've often thought about those cookies, especially now since salty/sweet things are so popular. Some Google-ing lead me to a recipe that claimed to be very similar to those cookies I loved. However the recipe had rice flour in it, which I didn't have in the pantry. So instead, I found a recipe that has similarities, but it's more chewy than crumbly, as well as being studded with dried cranberries. These were great and the recipe made plenty for me to share with others, but it still isn't quite the Teasim Salty Oat cookie, I'll have to get the rice flour for those.

Two cookies

Cookies made recently for the husband and his Thursday night group (and some for my knitting friends too).

Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies (recipe here) Made with vanilla bean sugar (sugar + vanilla bean pod in a jar for two weeks). Lovely little cookie.Peanut Butter cookies from Dorie's book. I'm normally not a huge fan of peanut butter cookie but these were delicious.