My Baking Adventures

In my continuing efforts to drive David round the bend, I recently tried another chocolate chip cookie recipe.

If you’re not familiar with the scenario, allow me to give you the condensed, Reader’s Digest version: he doesn’t always understand why I have to continuously try new recipes when we already have a favorite.

Because it’s fun? There could be a version out there that we like even more? And did I mention it’s fun to watch his face as he takes a bite – not sure which version he’s eating?

This latest batch, from Martha Stewart’s book “Cookies”, caught my eye because the title clearly states, “Soft and Chewy”.

Perfect.

Just the way I like them. And they do not disappoint, either – they really are soft and chewy – providing, of course, that you don’t overbake them. There is a fine line between underdone and perfectly done.

I’ll let you know when I find that line.

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies - adapted from Martha Stewart

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 ½ cups chocolate chips

Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Using an electric mixer, blend together butter and both sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, then add vanilla. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop dough by tablespoons (or a #30 dough scoop) onto parchment lined baking sheets. Chill dough for an hour (or longer, if necessary). When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake cookies until the edges are lightly browned but the centers are still soft, about 10-12 minutes.

Remove from oven and transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in a covered container.

Yield – about 3 dozen

Wow! It’s Week 8 of the 12 weeks of Christmas Cookies ~

I’d better step up my game if I want to accomplish everything I’d set out to make during the 12 week time frame. So let’s jump right into this weeks choice, shall we?

Bull’s Eye cookies are a form of “slice and bake” cookies that I have wanted to try for a long time. They seem complicated, but in reality, it’s one dough that you split up and leave half plain, then flavor the other half with cocoa powder. Simple stuff, right?

Well…….

While I wasn’t as successful as I had hoped, these are a really neat way to make two tone cookies.  I think the biggest mistake I made was not chilling the dough long enough before forming it. Yeah, and the air bubbles in the chocolate dough. What’s up with that?

I think they look like chocolate deviled eggs. But that’s just my opinion. Bottom line? They taste great, even if they are a bit oddly shaped.

Better luck next time.

Bull’s Eye Cookies - adapted from Martha Stewart

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, plus an extra egg white for “glue”
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
5 cups flour, plus more for work surface
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Using the electric mixer, mix the butter and the sugar until creamy. Add the eggs and the salt, and mix well. Beat in milk and vanilla. Add flour a little at a time, mixing it in until all of it has been incorporated. Remove half of the dough, and add cocoa powder to the  half still in the mixer to make the chocolate dough.

Roll one half of the chocolate dough into a rod 12 inches long and about ¾ inch thick. Place in refrigerator for 20 minutes. Roll half of the vanilla dough on a piece of parchment paper into a 12” x 4 inch rectangle about ½” thick. Brush with egg white, then place the chocolate rod along the length of the vanilla dough. Roll vanilla dough with your hands to enclose the chocolate rod. Gently pinch dough to seal, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut log of dough into ¼” thick rounds, and place on parchment lined baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 1 inch apart.

Bake until firm but not browned, about 12-15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container or freeze for longer storage.

Well, here we are at Week 7 of the Twelve Weeks of Christmas Cookies.

I have good news………………. and bad news.

Which do you want first?

Being somewhat of an optimist, I’ll give you the good news first:

Anginetti Cookies – otherwise known as COOKIES YOU SHOULD MAKE NOW! Lemony rings of goodness, these are a Southern Italian specialty that I wish I had been formally introduced to before. They are light and tender – with the perfect amount of fresh lemon icing. Just a superb, little sweet cookie that deserves to be more well known.

You know what’s even better? They freeze well, even with the icing. Just ask David – he eats them straight from the freezer!

And now………….. the bad news. Well, it’s not bad news, but I have never harbored such ill-will and animosity toward cookie dough before.

I tried to make Cinnamon Bun Crunch cookies several years ago, but chalked up the wreckage to my inexperience with rolling dough. However, this was doomed from the get-go. I couldn’t get the dough to come together, but I persevered, smushed it into a circle, wrapped it up and prayed to the magical dough gods asking for it to please work this time.

Apparently, someone was off duty that day, because my calls for help went unanswered.

Frustrating doesn’t begin to describe how difficult it was to get the dough to cooperate. I tried putting it in a time out, threatened to take away TV privileges, cursed – you know, mature stuff -  but my efforts were for naught. It cracked while rolling, stuck to the plastic, misbehaved – and worse, I caught it giving me the side eye.

After a few bashes with the rolling pin, I was finally able to beat that dough into submission. I sliced off as many cookies as I could, trashed the rest, and called it a day.

And what, you might be asking, did I learn from all this? Besides the fact that I might need psychiatric counseling for threatening cookie dough, the end result was delicious – it tasted just like a cinnamon roll, but in a smaller, more manageable form.

However, the road to cinnamon bun goodness is long and perilous.

Make them if you feel like punishing yourself.

On a happier note, here are two really good recipes from last year:

Chewy Chocolate Chip Gingerbread and Chocolate Mint Cookies

Anginetti - adapted from epicurious.com
1/2 cup sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
3 large eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
ICING
1 tablespoon butter
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons (or more) water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with foil. Using electric mixer, beat sugar, unsalted butter, vanilla extract and grated lemon peel in large bowl until blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition (mixture may appear curdled). Continue beating 1 minute. Combine flour and baking powder in small bowl. Add to butter mixture and stir to form soft sticky dough.
Spoon dough into pastry bag fitted with 3/8-inch-wide round tip. Pipe 2-inch-diameter rings onto prepared sheets, spacing apart. Using fingertips dipped into water, press ends of each ring together into smooth ring. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare icing.

Icing:
Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over low heat. Add sugar, 2 tablespoons water, lemon juice and vanilla extract and whisk until sugar melts and mixture is heated through. Thin with more water if icing is too thick to brush.
Remove cookies from oven. Immediately brush warm icing over hot cookies. Cool iced cookies on sheets 2 minutes. Transfer on rack and cool completely. Store in airtight container, or freeze for longer storage.

Cinnamon Bun Crunch Cookies - adapted from One Smart Cookie

Dough:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg white
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:
2 tablespoons liquid honey
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

In a medium bowl, beat butter, sugar and brown sugar with an electric mixer for 1 minute, until well combined. Beat in egg white and vanilla until smooth.
In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the sugar mixture and stir by hand just until you have a soft dough.
Roll the dough between two sheets of waxed paper into a 12-inch square. Place on a cookie sheet in the fridge for about 30 minutes or in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
Remove dough from the fridge and peel off the top layer of waxed paper.
Drizzle honey evenly over the dough, then sprinkle with brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts, going almost to the edges. Gently roll into a log, peeling back the bottom paper as you go. Wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap and freeze for 3 hours, or up to 3 months.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Slice the log into 1/4-inch slices and place 1-inch apart on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until pale golden. Let cool on the sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.