Christmas cookies

This blog could not have a Christmas series without cookies, right? ;)

These were absolutely delicious and made me feel bad for not liking hazelnuts – the nuts were wonderful combined with the chocolate, the candied orange peel and the spices.

Christmas cookies
from Australian Gourmet Traveller

½ cup (1 stick/113g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (175g) brown sugar, packed
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups (175g) all purpose flour, sifted
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of ground cloves
1 egg, lightly whisked
90g roasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup (180g) dark chocolate chips
80g candied orange peel, coarsely chopped – recipe here

Beat butter in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle until creamy, add sugar and salt, then add flour and spices and mix until combined. Add the egg, beat in low speed to combine, then stir through de hazelnuts, chocolate chips and orange peel. Divide mixture in two, spoon onto a large piece of baking paper, roll away from you to form a cylinder – like Martha does here – twist ends to seal and refrigerate until firm (1 hour).
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Remove baking paper from cookie mixture, slice mixture into 1cm-thick slices* and place on prepared sheets, 5cm (2in) apart. Bake, swapping sheets halfway through cooking time, until golden (10-12 minutes). Cool in baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Cookies will keep stored in an airtight container for 5 days.

* the logs were impossible to slice even after 3 hours in the fridge, so I made balls with the dough – 1 leveled tablespoon per cookie – placed onto prepared baking sheets and pressed lightly before baking

Makes about 50 if using 1 leveled tablespoon of dough per cookie

Chock-full of chocolate chip cookies

Yes, people, chocolate chips again – the person behind this blog has serious problems trying to control herself sometimes, and that can result in the purchase of a 2.5kg (over 5oz) bag of chocolate chips. So get ready to see loads of chips around here (luckily the chocolate is excellent and I can melt it to make brownies and such). :)

Speaking of control – or the lack of it – buying a huge bag of chocolate chips is nothing compared to watching 36 episodes of my newest favorite show in 2 weeks – hadn’t things like WORK gotten in the way I could have done that in 3 days. :D

Chock-full of chocolate chip cookies
from The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook

1 ¼ cups (175g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup (88g) packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons (72g) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups (24 oz/672g) semisweet chocolate chips – I used chips with 70% cocoa solids

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Sift the flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until smoothly blended, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until blended, about 1 minute – the mixture may look curdled, but that’s OK. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just until just incorporated. Mix in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
Use a tablespoon to drop heaping spoonfuls of dough ( about 3 level tablespoons each) onto prepared sheets, spacing the cookies 7.5cm (3in) apart (I rolled into balls and pressed slightly before baking).
Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the edges are lightly browned and the centers are golden, about 15 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack with a wide metal spatula (cookies will flatten slightly as they cool).
Cookies can be stored in an airtight container, at room temperature, for up to 3 days.

Makes 27 cookies - I halved the recipe, used 2 leveled tablespoons of dough per cookie and got 17

Brown sugar and chocolate chip pound cake with maple glaze

Every once in a while I go through my recipe stash – Joao kindly calls it my “mess” – and find ripped pages/prints I did not remember existed – like this recipe from when I was a Bon Appétit subscriber, ages ago.

It’s a good cake – I expected it to be a bit more tender, but one of my official Guinea pigs said it was great; however, it was the icing that won me over: I left the espresso out and the maple flavor was all over the place. Yum!

Brown sugar and chocolate chip pound cake with maple glaze
from Bon Appetit

Cake:
1 12-ounce (336g) package semisweet chocolate chips – I used 70% cocoa solids
3 cups (420g) all purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups (262g) light brown sugar, packed
2 ½ tablespoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 cup (240ml) buttermilk

Glaze:
1 cup (140g) powdered sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons (or more) whipping cream

Preheat oven to 160°C/325°F. Butter a 12-cup Bundt pan. Spray pan generously with nonstick spray. Dust pan lightly with flour*. Mix chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons of the flour in a medium bowl. Sift remaining flour with baking soda, baking powder, and salt into another medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla extract. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fold in chocolate chip mixture. Transfer batter to prepared pan, spreading evenly.
Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean and cake begins to pull away from sides of pan, about 1 hour. Cool cake in pan on rack 30 minutes. Invert cake onto rack and cool completely.

Make the glaze: combine powdered sugar, maple syrup and 2 tablespoons cream in a medium bowl. Whisk until smooth, adding more cream by ½ teaspoonfuls if glaze is too thick to drizzle. Spoon glaze decoratively over top of cake; let stand at room temperature until glaze is firm, about 1 hour (can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome and let stand at room temperature).

* I halved the recipe above and used a regular 6 cup-capacity ring pan, buttered and floured (I did not use cooking spray)

Serves 12

Chocolate chip coconut cookies

I once told you how much I love hopping from one link to another, then another, and another... I still do that a lot – old habits do die hard, I guess. :D

I needed to finish up a bag of shredded coconut – impulsive purchasing, anyone? – and my much beloved Food Blog Search got me here, then Memoria got me here... And Sheena’s recipe ended up in my oven.

These cookies are delicious and were a hit at Joao’s work – I hope you give them a try!

Chocolate chip coconut cookies

½ cup (113g/1 stick) of unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
¾ cup (131g) light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups (150g) shredded sweetened coconut
225g (½ lb) dark chocolate chips/chunks

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Cream the butter and the sugars until light and creamy, but not fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Continue mixing while adding the egg - make sure it is incorporated. Add the vanilla. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula again. Combine the flour, soda and salt in another bowl. With a whisk, stir to combine. With the machine on low, slowly add the flour. Mix until just combined, taking care not to over mix. With a spatula fold in the chocolate and coconut.
Roll 1 slightly rounded tablespoon of dough into a ball, place onto prepared sheets 5cm (2in) apart, then slightly press each dough ball down with your hand.
Bake for 11-13 minutes or until lightly golden on the outside but still look gooey on the inside.

Makes about 45

Choc chip marshmallows

Not only my readers are the sweetest people ever, they also give me wonderful ideas – Barbara left me a comment once about homemade marshmallows she used to order and told me that her favorites were the chocolate chip ones. Hey, that is one marshmallow flavor I hadn’t tried yet! :)

So I made choc chip marshmallows, inspired by the lovely Barbara. And for the record, they became my sister’s favorites, too. :)

Choc chip marshmallows
adapted from here

2 tablespoons powdered gelatin
½ cup (120ml) warm water
330g caster sugar
½ cup + 1 ½ tablespoons glucose syrup
1/3 cup (80ml) water, extra
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
100g dark chocolate, chopped into chunks

For rolling the marshmallows:
¾ cup (105g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon corn starch, sifted

Lightly oil a 20cm (8in) square cake pan and dust with icing sugar.

Place the gelatin and warm water in the bowl of an electric mixer, stir well to combine and set aside. Place the sugar, glucose and extra water in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil and cook without stirring for 5-6 minutes or until soft ball stage (115°C/240°F) on a sugar thermometer.

With the mixer running at high speed, gradually add the hot syrup to the gelatin mixture. Add the vanilla and beat for 10 minutes or until thick and fluffy. Fold in the chocolate chunks – some of them will melt lightly, causing the marbled effect. Pour into prepared pan, cover with foil or baking paper but do not let it touch the marshmallow. Set aside overnight in room temperature.

Place the icing sugar and corn starch in a bowl and stir to combine. Turn the marshmallow onto a surface lightly dusted with a little of the icing sugar mixture and carefully remove the pan. Cut into squares with a lightly oiled knife.

Dust with remaining icing sugar mixture and store in an airtight container.

Makes 36

Choc chip madeleines

Thank you all for your thoughts on the size of the photos here – I was surprised by the amount of comments! :)

Some of you liked the larger photos better – including me – but the majority preferred smaller ones (and yes, I counted the votes). :)

I’ll try to make us all happy with this size – not too big or too small – and hope you like it too.

Choc chip madeleines
adapted from Dorie’s traditional madeleines

2/3 cup (94g) all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
½ cup (100g) caster sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 tablespoons (84g/¾ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
75g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), chopped

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Working with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the sugar and eggs together on medium-high speed until pale, thick and light, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. With a rubber spatula, very gently fold in the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter and chocolate chunks. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the batter and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours, or for up to 2 days. This long chill period will help the batter form the hump that is characteristic of madeleines. (For convenience, you can spoon the batter into the madeleine molds, cover and refrigerate, then bake the cookies directly from the fridge)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Butter 12 full-size madeleine molds, or up to 36 mini madeleine molds, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Or, if you have a nonstick pan (or pans), give it a light coating of vegetable cooking spray. If you have a silicone pan, no prep is needed. Place the pan(s) on a baking sheet.

Spoon the batter into the molds, filling each one almost to the top. Don't worry about spreading the batter evenly, the oven's heat will take care of that. Bake large madeleines for 11 to 13 minutes, and minis for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are golden and the tops spring back when touched. Remove the pan(s) from the oven and release the madeleines from the molds. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool to just warm or to room temperature.

If you are making minis and have more batter, bake the next batch(es), making certain that you cool, then properly prepare the pan(s) before baking.

Makes 12 large or 36 mini cookies – I got 20 regular madeleines (like the ones on the photos, 1 tablespoon-capacity pans) + 9 using a scallop-shaped pan (2 tablespoon-capacity pans)

Chocolate chip pound cakes

Before today’s recipe, I should warn you about something: I’m completely in love with these mini bundt pans, so get ready to see them around here quite a lot. Even a simple recipe like a butter cake gets a whole new dimension baked in such pretty pans. :D

The original recipe called for just a sprinkling of cocoa powder over the cakes, but I thought they deserved more: the chocolate glaze my mom used to pour over her delicious carrot cake. :)

Chocolate chip pound cakes
from Donna Hay magazine

250g unsalted butter, softened
250g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
250g all purpose flour, sifted
¼ cup (60ml) milk
¾ cup (116g) chopped dark chocolate

Chocolate glaze:
2 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 160ºC/320ºF; lightly grease a 20cm (8in) round cake pan and line the base and sides with non-stick baking paper.*

Place the butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 10-12 minutes or until light and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour and beat well to combine. Fold through the milk and chocolate.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 50-55 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Allow to cool in the pan, then unmold into a serving plate.

For the glaze: mix all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over high medium until it boils and cocoa and sugar are dissolved.
Remove from heat and pour over the cake.

* I halved the recipe, used 1-cup (240ml) capacity mini bundt pans and got 4 cakes; I generously buttered the pans and unmolded the cakes right after taking them out of the oven

Serves 8

Cocoa-chocolate chip pillows

Last night was a nightmare – there was a huge storm here in Sao Paulo and several places in the city were flooded. I left work at 6pm and got home at 11... It usually takes me 1 hour to do the same thing everyday. I was so tired that after a shower I fell asleep in less than 5 minutes.

Being inside of a practically parked car for 5 hours is no fun, let me tell you, but at least I had some music to keep me company. I definitely wanted something cheerful – I love Smiths and Silverchair, but that is not the kind of music one needs in times of desperation; those are times for the Australian pint-sized diva.

Besides good music, there’s something else I crave in moments of tension: sweets. Can’t tell you how many times these cookies crossed my mind last night. :D

Cocoa-chocolate chip pillows
slightly adapted from Baking by Flavor

Cookie dough:
2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon (30g) unsweetened Dutch processed (alkalized) cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
½ cup (70g) unsifted confectioners’ sugar
2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon ground almonds
2/3 cup (115g) semisweet chocolate chips

Cocoa rolling mixture*:
1 ¾ cups (245g) confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon unsweetened Dutch processed (alkalized) cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 175ºC/350ºF; line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. (Cookie sheets need to be heavy to prevent bottoms of cookies from scorching. Use one sheet on top of another, if necessary.)

Make the dough: sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

Place melted butter in a large mixing bowl. Sift over the confectioners’’ sugar and mix it in with a wooden spoon; the mixture will have small lumps of sugar. Blend in vanilla extract and almonds. Stir in half of sifted flour mixture and all the chocolate chips. Stir in half of the remaining flour mixture, then the rest. Dough will be malleable and workable.

Spoon up scant-tablespoon quantities of dough and roll into chubby balls. Place balls about 5cm (2in) apart on prepared sheets.

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until set; tops will crack slightly here and there. Let cookies stand on sheets 1 minute, then carefully remove them to cooling racks, using an offset metal spatula. Cool 5 to 8 minutes.

Rolling mixture: sift together confectioners' sugar and cocoa into large bowl. While cookies are still warm, carefully dredge them, a few at a time, in sugar-cocoa mixture to coat, then transfer to a sheet of waxed paper to cool. Dredge them lightly again, if you wish – the cookies will look prettier.
Store airtight at room temperature up to 5 days.

* there was a lot of mixture left – I believe that half of it would be enough to coat all the cookies

Makes 3 dozen cookies – I halved the recipe and got 19

Banana-oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

I started listening to Smiths at the age of 9 and even though I understood nothing Morrissey said those songs made a strange kind of sense to me – I ended up learning why later on in life. Music became a huge part of my days and brought me comfort in several bad moments.

Besides listening to the songs, I loved checking out the LP covers – some were absolutely fantastic. I became obsessed about one in particular – Whitesnake’s “Slide it in” – which is really funny, since I’ve always hated snakes. The 13 year-old me could not resist David Coverdale singing – to this day I think he has the most beautiful male voice ever.

Another one of my obsessions is baking cookies, but that you already know. These are from Liz’s gorgeous blog.

Banana-oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

1 ¾ cup (200g) quick-cooking rolled oats – I used thin rolled oats
1 ½ cups (210g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (175g) firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup (170g/6 ounces) semisweet chocolate morsels
1 medium-sized ripe but firm banana, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 cup coarsely chopped whole almonds

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF; Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.

In a medium bowl, combine the oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars at medium speed until combined, about 1 minute. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until blended. At low speed, add the flour mixture one-third at a time, mixing just until blended. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the semisweet morsels, banana, and almonds (it’s all right if the banana pieces get a little mashed) – I incorporated everything in the mixer in the lowest speed.

Drop the dough by rounded tablespoonsfuls* onto the prepared sheets, spacing the cookies 5cm (2 inches) apart. Moisten your palm to prevent sticking and flatten the mounds of dough slightly. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 11 to 13 minutes, until the cookies are golden brown on the bottom – mine needed 15 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.

Makes about 52 cookies

* I used 1 ½ heaping tablespoons of dough per cookie and got 34.

Chocolate chip and almond cookies

An episode of “Law & Order – Criminal Intent” made me think of substitutions – to be more precise, of how some work while others, don’t.

As much as I adore Mr. Big, what the heck is he doing in Robert Goren’s place?? The character is the soul of that show and Vincent D’Onofrio is absurdly fantastic (yes, I’m a huge fan). Imho, a very bad substitution – Chris Noth should go back to the other L&O.

These cookies, on the other hand, surprised me in a good way. I have always seen pecans or walnuts in choc chip cookies, but never almonds. That’s why I wanted to give this a try. The recipe makes a ton of cookies – which was good, since I intended to share them with a large group of people – and the combo chocolate/almonds really works.

Chocolate chip and almond cookies
from here

2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (175g) packed dark brown sugar
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
2 ¾ cups (385g) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
12 ounces (335g) semisweet chocolate (chopped or chips)
1 cup (4oz/112g) chopped toasted almonds – I used sliced almonds

Heat oven to 190ºC/375ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

With an electric mixer on medium-high, beat the butter, brown and granulated sugars, corn syrup, and vanilla for 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat until combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture to the egg mixture. Add the chocolate and almonds. Using 1 leveled tablespoons of dough, make balls and place on prepared pans, 2 inches apart.

Bake until lightly browned at the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer the cookies to wire racks. Cool completely.

Makes 60

Ranger cookies

According to Allen, I am a cookie monster. I think he’s right – I absolutely love baking cookies!

Not only they taste delicious and are great for those times when the urge for something sweet hits us, they’re also easy to share. Pop a few into a plastic bag, close with a beautiful ribbon and you’ll make someone’s day extra special.

I have hundreds of cookie recipes just waiting to be baked, but these had been on my mind since Lisa posted them. Walnuts, coconut, chocolate and oats combined in wonderfully golden little packages – just what I needed to make my Sunday even better.

She has some amazing baked goods on her blog, so check them out and get inspired, too.

Ranger cookies

8 tablespoons (112g/4oz) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt – I used sea salt
¼ cup unsweetened coconut
½ cup (56g/2oz) unsalted roasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
½ cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 175ºC/350ºF. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and the granulated and brown sugars until smooth and creamy. Stir in the vanilla extract and the egg. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Add the salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Stir in the coconut, walnuts, oats, and chocolate chips.

Using about 1 ½ tablespoonfuls for each cookie, place mounds of the cookie dough 3 inches apart on the prepared sheets. Bake until golden brown, about 12 minutes – mine needed 14. Let the cookies cool to room temperature before removing them from the pans with a spatula.

Makes 2-3 dozen cookies, depending on size – I got 26

Dorie’s best chocolate chip cookies

I hope this doesn’t sound like an Oscar acceptance speech or something, but I would like to thank you all for being so supportive! Thank you for the emails and comments – you are really fantastic!

My dear friend Lydia sent an email to King Arthur informing them about my situation and they found out that the person who shipped my box didn’t add my postal code to the address – the mail service returned the package to them. Now I think things will be OK – I promise to let you know as soon as the products arrive! I can’t wait to start baking with those.

In the meantime, I present you some of the best cookies I have ever tried: these are so delicious! I had already made choc chip cookies, but this was the first time I added nuts to the dough. I never knew pecans would go so well with chocolate.

The recipe yielded a lot and I shared these with many people – they all told me the cookies were wonderful. I'm sure Bri agrees with them. :)

Dorie’s best chocolate chip cookies
from Baking: From My Home to Yours

2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks (226g/8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (200g) sugar
2/3 cup (115g) packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
12 ounces (335g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or 2 cups (340g) store-bought chocolate chips or chunks
1 cup (100g) finely chopped pecans

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed for about 1 minute, until smooth. Add the sugars and beat for another 2 minutes or so, until well blended. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each egg goes in. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients in 3 portions, mixing only until each addition is incorporated. On low speed, or by hand with a rubber spatula, mix in the chocolate and nuts. The dough can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen. If you’d like, you can freeze rounded tablespoonfuls of dough, ready for baking. Freeze the mounds on a lined baking sheet, then bag them when they’re solid. There’s no need to defrost the dough before baking – just add another minute or two the baking time.
Spoon the dough by slightly rounded tablespoonfuls* onto the baking sheets, leaving about 5cm (2in) between spoonfuls.
Bake the cookies – one sheet at a time and rotating the sheets at the midway point – for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they are brown at the edges and golden in the center; they may be still a little soft in the middle, and that’s just fine. Pull the sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to rest for 1 minute, then carefully using a wide metal spatula, transfer them to racks to cool to room temperature.
Repeat with the remainder of the dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.

Makes 45

* I used leveled tablespoonfuls of dough and got 60 cookies

Chocolate chip-stuffed cookies

I have been meaning to post a new recipe since yesterday but could not decide between sweet and savory… I finally made up my mind about it after I read Mrs. Presley’s post about chocolate chip cookies – btw, if you don’t know her blog yet, take a look; the recipes are really good, I have some on my "to try" list already.

She’s wants to find the best chocolate chip cookie recipe and I’m here to make her search even more difficult. :)

These cookies are really good – you just need time and a little extra patience to put them together. I baked them on an absurdly hot day (what was I thinking??) and the dough was not as firm as the recipe claimed it to be – not to mention the cookies spread like crazy. Iago, my nephew, was such a brave sous chef: he stood in the kitchen with me, with all that heat, and helped me through all the mixing/shaping/stuffing/baking. Once we placed the first baking sheet in the oven, he said “can I have the first cookie?” - he did have the first cookie, and then 2 more. :)

Chocolate chip-stuffed cookies
from Big Fat Cookies

2 cups (280g) unbleached all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened for about 30 minutes
1 ½ cups (240g) packed light brown sugar
2 large cold eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups (505g/18 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 175ºC/350ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and brown sugar until smoothly blended, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until blended, about 1 minute. The mixture may look slightly curdled. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated. Mix in 2 cups (336g) of the chocolate chips.

Roll 2 tablespoons of dough between the palms of your hands into a ball, flatten it slightly to make a 2-inch (5cm) disk and place on one of the prepared baking sheets. Repeat to make a total of 16 disks, placing 8 on each baking sheet and spacing them 4 inches (10cm) apart. Leaving a ¼-inch (6mm) plain edge, lightly press 1 tablespoon* of the remaining chocolate chips onto each disk. Using the remaining dough, make 16 more disks, placing one on top of each chocolate-chip-topped disk. Press the dough disks gently to cover any of the chocolate chip filling that shows around the edges.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the edges are lightly browned but the centers are still pale golden, about 15 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm (the filling will be soft and melted) or at room temperature.

The cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

* I ended up using less than 1 tablespoon of chips – it was difficult placing all that amount of chocolate inside each disk of cookie dough.

Makes: 16 large cookies – Iago and I got 18

Double-chocolate peanut butter cookies

Chocolate is great paired with so many things: cherries, strawberries, raspberries, bananas, caramel… Not to mention the fantastic flavor one gets by combining white chocolate and citrus flavors. But I had never tried one of the most talked about pairings: chocolate and peanut butter.

I used to eat peanut butter spread on thick slices of bread as a kid but hadn’t tried it again in 20 years. Eating a spoonful of it took me back in time… It was a funny/good feeling.
I’d been meaning to try my hand at baking with peanut butter for a while (that’s why I did not eat the entire jar) and these cookies seemed the perfect way to start.

So, it’s true that chocolate and peanut butter belong together – like Aragorn and Arwen.

This recipe is a courtesy of the lovely and talented Lynn – I was out of milk chocolate chips and used white chocolate instead; even though I really liked the cookies, I think they would have been even better with milk chocolate, like Lynn’s.

Double-chocolate peanut butter cookies

168g (6oz) semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped – I used 60% cocoa
2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup (120g) packed dark brown sugar
¾ cup (165g) granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks/226g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (240g) creamy peanut butter
2 large eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (335g/12oz) white chocolate chips

Arrange racks in oven to divide it into thirds. Preheat oven to 150ºC/300ºF. In a double boiler, melt the semisweet chocolate over hot, not simmering, water. Set aside to cool to about room temperature.

In a small bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a mixing bowl cream the butter and the peanut butter*. Add the sugars and beat until creamy and smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat until just combined. Add the flour mixture and the milk chocolate chips, and beat until no streaks of flour are visible.

Pour the melted chocolate over the dough and drag a wooden spoon through. You want to just marbleize, not combine. Leave streaks of chocolate.

Drop the dough in 1 ½-tablespoon mounds 2 inches (5cm) apart onto ungreased baking sheets (I didn’t read this and lined my baking sheets with baking paper). Bake for 23 minutes, or until just set but still soft. Rotate the baking sheets, top to bottom, halfway through cooking. Cool on the baking sheet for 30 seconds then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

* this info was missing on the post so I added the peanut butter in the end, after the flour mixture and the chips. It worked fine.

Makes about 55 cookies – Lynn’s cookies were bigger, made with 3 tablespoons of dough

Chocolate chip (sort of) whoppers

I made chocottones again this year (gifts to my coworkers) and after baking them for an entire afternoon I had no eggs left in my pantry. Zero. Nada.
I wanted to bake cookies but was too lazy to go to the grocery store… Luckily I found a recipe for a crisp chocolate chip cookie that did not call for eggs.

The dough is super easy to put together and I baked the cookies in a heartbeat. I didn’t want giant cookies, so I used a tablespoon to measure the dough - and still got big cookies (the size of the palm of my hand, a bit less than 3 inches).

The recipe calls for 2 cups (12 ounces) of chocolate chips, but I thought that 9 ounces were enough.

Next time you feel like baking and there are no eggs in your pantry, try these – and feel free to add more chocolate chips if you want.

Chocolate chip (sort of) whoppers
from Big Fat Cookies

2 cups (280g) unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks/226g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup (220g) granulated sugar
½ cup (80g) packed dark brown sugar*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons water
250g (9 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips – I used mini chips

Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 175ºC/350ºF. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on low speed, mix the melted butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla until smooth, about 30 seconds. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Add the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated. The dough will look crumbly. Mix in the water. The dough will become soft and smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Using an ice-cream scoop or measuring cup with a ¼ cup capacity, scoop mounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies at least 3 inches (7.5cm) apart. Gently press the cookies to flatten them slightly, to about ¾ inch (1.9cm) thick (mine were a bit thinner)

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the tops are evenly lightly browned and have a few cracks, about 17 minutes. Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to cool thoroughly.

The cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

* the original recipe calls for ¾ cup light brown sugar and ¾ granulated sugar – since the brown sugar I had at home was dark, I changed the proportions a little bit.

Makes 15 cookies – I used 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie and got 33