Black Bittersweet Chocolate Chip Cookies

Round 1 - Black chocolate chip cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 c flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 c (2 sticks) of butter, softened
• 3/4 c sugar3/4 c brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 1 c Callebaut Bittersweet chocolate chips
• 2 tbsp black Cocoa powder from King Arthur
• 2 tbsp Double Dutch Processed Dark Cocoa powder from King Arthur

Put all dry ingredients in a sifter two or three times to mix the cocoa into the mix consistently. Yes, do this you lazy frog, it makes a difference. If you don't have a sifter, be creative and use something that has a metal mesh like a strainer basket, tea strainer or splash guard for frying to sift the ingredients.  It keeps out the dry lumps from the baking soda and you can better break those up with a spoon or fork. No one wants a taste of baking soda in their cookie love...

Whip the butter, mix in eggs and vanilla and when light and fluffy, add ib dry ingredients little by little. Once the batter is mixed well, add in chocolate chips. Now, here is the part that could create a problem for most of us... The secret to an AWESOME chocolate chip cookie is in the maturity of the dough. No, you don't have to wait for it to grow up. But you should wait for at least 24 hours before you use it.  Cover it, put it in the fridge and do your best to forget about it until the next day. Maybe take a nibble now and again to take the edge off the wait. :) But wait. And if you have the power of a Saint, then wait 48 hours and you will NOT BE DISAPPOINTED. I assure you, this step does indeed make a better cookie. Trust me. I have faith in you and I know you can do it if I can!

Now, before your cookies go off to college, prep them for the oven after this period of torture is over... Hopefully, 48 hours later but if not, oh well, you did your best, right?  If you have any dough left at all, I'm proud of you and you have shown true enlightenment.  Use a spoon to scoop out cookies trying to make it look more like an ice cream scoop. This top mound effect helps the cookie create a nice thickness instead of collapsing in the middle.

Bake at 325 F degrees for 11 minutes on silpat placed on a quarter sheet pan. No Silpat, that's ok. Butter your cookie sheet in that case.  I baked four and will put the remaining batter in a ziplock bag to continue to age and that way, we can bake fresh cookies when we want. They are warm and well, it keeps things from getting crazy if I am on a binge; let's face it, happens to everyone.

They look great so far. Oh. My. Goodness Gracious. These are just freaking perfect.  Tooooo good. Really, bake only what you WANT to eat, not what you KNOW you can eat. :)

Star-struck! English Cookies

This cookie recipe came from the Silver Spoon Italian cookbook that I have had for years.  It was such a hit the first time I made this recipe that it has become a sort of go-to for the times when you have an impromptu get together, as is often the case in my neighborhood around the holidays.

Tonight, my neighbors are hosting our annual neighborly get together where there is usually plenty of left overs from the daycare parties that get hosted during the day at one neighbor's house in particular. We then bring a few dishes to augment what is left over from the kids as we catch up on long overdue conversations started at the mailbox, through the open windows of our cars as we pass each other in our day-to-day activities.  It's a time of renewal and joy as we catch up, share and reminisce over the happenings of the past year. I appreciate my neighbors and always look for something special to share with them and let them know in a small, but meaningful way, how much I value them. They are like family.

This recipe is excellent right out of the freezer, at room temperature or if you just can't help it, right from the oven. Either way, portion it and put it away, out of site, immediately or you will find yourself coming up with all kinds of ways to convince yourself this is just ONE giant cookie, after all... What harm can be had from consuming ONE cookie? All by yourself?  Right? :)  I make a double batch, one to share with the neighbors and one, well, for sharing with hubby who would be ticked off if I forgot his cookie...

For the shortbread:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

• 1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 lb sweet butter, softened (2 sticks)
• 1/4 c. white sugar
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp heavy cream (original recipe uses milk, but I had cream)

Method:
Sift together the flower, baking powder and pinch of salt in a medium size bowl and set aside.  In a mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugar and vanilla on low speed, adding in the egg and cream until well combined and fluffy. Slowly add the flour mixture a little at a time to incorporate without making a humongous mess as I usually do. If you add it all at once, it will fly!  Go a bit slow until you get it all in.

Bake:
Scrape the batter into a non-greased, non-stick spring-form or cake pan and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees F. I use a 5 inch non-stick pan where the bottom lifts out like a tart pan. It is like a spring-form without the spring as the bottom slides up with the cake on it, leaving the sides to come cleanly away from the bottom. I usually flip this out onto a pie plate so that you can cut it without damaging the non-stick bottom. But do leave the "cookie" in the pan until it has cooled completely, either at room temperature or in the fridge. I find that refrigerating it creates a much better, denser cookie, but who can always wait it out, right? 

I use a pizza cutter to slice it into mini slices but you could just as easily cut it however you prefer. Or, if you are really feeling festive, roll out a sheet about an inch thick and cut out stars or any shape using a cookie cutter as in the picture. I am a bit lazy for that, so I use a form of some kind.  A mini muffin tin would be easy, too, if you wanted to make little bite size cookies without having to cut pieces, although I haven't tried it yet with this recipe. If you do, let me know how it works for you! Regardless of which method you choose, this recipe is a given for quick, easy butter cookies that are guaranteed to be the highlight of any holiday get together.

Happy Holidays!

Pumpkin Drop Muffin Tops

2 c. blueberry pecan cereal, bran or any other favorite cereal

1 c raisins or dried fruit such as cherries, blueberries, etc.

1/2 c sugar

3 c flour

3 c unsweetened pumpkin puree (go ahead, make your own; it's easy!)

3 tbsp milk or cream

1 tbsp + 1/8 tsp baking powder

3/8 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

2 sticks of butter, softened at room temperature

Bake 22 minutes @ 350 degrees for cookies. 70 minutes for small loaf pans.

This recipe is posted for my sis who is doing some Olympic style marathon training. I won't go into all the gory details of the awesome training regimen she is pursuing, but suffice it to say that this girl needs some fuel for the trail! She needn't worry about her caloric intake at this point, except to ensure she is taking in enough calories for her training. Those of us that don't train as hard may be tempted to use only one stick of butter for this recipe, but I warn you that they will not be the same if you do. The extra stick of butter was an accidental butter overdose one baking day but to my credit, it actually made a huge impact on the flavor and texture of these muffin tops which are in reality, just very large drop cookies. Ever since then, I don't stray from the recipe or attempt to alter the fat or calorie content of this recipe. It makes that big of a difference.

Also worth noting, my original recipe called for 3 tbsp of baking powder. One baking day, I was running low on baking powder and decided to google baking powder and came across either a wikipedia entry or some other post that talked about the leavening power of both baking powder, yeast and baking soda. It turns out that if you combine baking powder and baking soda, you can actually use less baking powder and it significantly reduces the amount you need. So I tested it and it worked beautifully.  So here is how it works:

2 tbsp of baking powder is the equivalent to:

2 1/4 tsp baking powder PLUS

3/4 tsp of baking soda

For our recipe above, I needed 3 tbsp of baking powder as noted above and the math, if I actually did it correctly, is this:

1 tbsp plus 1/8 tsp of baking powder PLUS

3/8ths tsp of baking soda

How cool is that? Even if my math isn't what it used to be, those measurements work for me. :) Glad I paid attention in school after all. Cooking is pretty math intensive sometimes. At any rate, maybe it is helpful to you and if not, go ahead and use the 3 tbsp of baking powder. Just thought you might like an alternative if you are running low as everyone usually has a little baking soda in the fridge or cabinet, but not everyone has a steady supply of baking powder, which I seem to use in abundance during the baking season.

Also, experiment with different cereals. I use something bran-y, granola-like as anything that doesn't have texture and substance doesn't seem to come through in the recipe. We are looking for some texture and of course, something that will make an excellent breakfast substitute. It's a cookie, it's a muffin top, it's a bowl of love when you don't have time for milk and cereal. :)

And making your own pumpkin puree couldn't be easier... Just cut the pumpkin into large wedges or chunks and place on a large un-greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for about 40-45 minutes and let cool. Remove the rind, add the pulp to a food processor or blender and pulse or puree until smooth. Take what you need and freeze the rest in quart size freezer bags, which as I know from experience, will perfectly hold 3 cups of puree which is the perfect amount for this recipe. Don't forget to save the seeds! You can roast the seeds with a little seasoned salt sprinkled on top after the pumpkin comes out of the oven which may take 12-15 minutes or so for the seeds to roast and brown up a bit. Keep an eye on them as your oven may be different. Just try to save some for later... impossible!

Happy Fall, sis! Let me know how they turn out!