Peanut butter and chocolate chip bars

Lately I have been using peanut butter as a way of increasing my protein intake: I buy the natural type made with roasted peanuts only and add a spoonful to smoothies and such.

That reminded me of these bars I made ages ago, when I bought natural peanut butter for the first time. The jar seemed to last too long and I wanted to make something delicious with it. These bars are easy to put together and peanut and chocolate are a match made in heaven.

Peanut butter and chocolate chip bars
own recipe, inspired by several others

1 cup (300g) natural peanut butter
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
1 ¼ cups (175g) icing sugar, sifted
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup (125g) dark chocolate chips
½ cup (70g) toasted peanuts, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan with foil and lightly butter it.

In a food processor, process the peanut butter, sugars, butter, baking soda, salt, egg and vanilla until creamy. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the chocolate chips and peanuts. Press dough into the prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges (the center will still be soft).

Cool completely over a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Makes 24

Rye chocolate chip financiers

Financiers are one of my downfalls: petite, delicate, but full of flavor, they are a great way of using leftover egg whites. I have been trying to make them using olive oil instead of butter, but the texture was a bit off, so more tests are necessary.

The recipe I bring you today is from ages ago (when I could still eat butter) and it is delicious: the rye flour makes the financiers a little bit heavier on texture, yet flavorsome, and the flavor of the rye flour goes really well with chocolate.

Rye chocolate chip financiers
own recipe

85g almond meal
¾ xícara (105g) icing sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons (30g) all purpose flour, sifted
3 tablespoons (30g) fine rye flour, sifted
pinch of salt
5 large egg whites
85g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup (85g) dark chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond meal, icing sugar, all purpose flour, rye flour and salt. Whisk in the egg whites. Whisk in the butter and vanilla until smooth, then fold in the chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Butter ten 100ml-capacity molds or mini muffin pans.
Divide the batter among the prepared pans and smooth the top. Divide the berries among the pans, placing them on top of the batter and pushing them slightly into the batter. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden and risen – a skewer in the center should come out clean.
Cool in the pans over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then carefully unmold and transfer to the rack, cooling completely.

Financiers are tastier on the day they are made, however they can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days

Makes 10

Chocolate chip, crystallized peel and cranberry cookies + a hug as a gift

As the year started and I got back from my week off, I started working on things around the house, maybe trying to clear my mind as I cleared the cupboards and the closet, I don’t know. :)

As I checked the ingredients in my cupboard, I found a bit of crystallized orange peel left from my holiday baking and right next to it I saw a jar of dried cranberries – I immediately thought of putting them together in cookies, and added a bit of dark chocolate for balance. The cookies tasted great and I turned them into a gift for a colleague who is going through hard times now – I hope she felt a bit better with the cookies and the big hug I gave her then.

Chocolate chip, crystallized peel and cranberry cookies
slightly adapted from BBC Good Food

225g all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
150g unsalted butter, room temperature
80g light brown sugar
80g demerara sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
120g dark chocolate chip or chunks
50g crystallized orange peel, chopped
100g dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars together until creamy and light. Beat in the vanilla extract and egg. On slow speed, beat in the dry ingredients and mix only until incorporate. Stir in the chocolate, crystallized orange peel and cranberries.

Drop 2 leveled tablespoons of dough per cookie onto the prepared pans, 5cm (2in) apart. Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes, or until they’re golden-brown around the edges. Cool in the pans over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then slide the papers with the cookies onto the rack and cool completely.
Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Makes about 25

Oatmeal dulce de leche choc chip cookies and some teary days

I don’t know why, but I have felt very sensitive in the past few days – I even thought it was PMS, but no.

I saw a photo of a father playing with his two little girls in a destroyed bathtub – someone posted it on Facebook – and cried my eyes out. I was not having a very good day, and when I saw those kids playing in a place completely destroyed by war I felt so insignificant… My problems were nothing compared to that.

Then I watched Michelle Obama’s amazing speech last night and the tears came down hard – wow, that woman touched my heart in so many ways! My husband was in the kitchen making dinner and he was like “what happened? Are you OK?”, and I was just watching Michelle being fantastic.

Minutes ago, as I reached for this recipe and started writing down the post, I thought of my nephew and how much he enjoyed these cookies: it was a matter of remembering him eating them and bam, there came the waterworks. Lately, actually, everything related to him makes me cry: as I spend time with him, watching him discover the world, I think of my mom and of how much she would enjoy sharing these moments with us. My nephew is a very smart kid – he has long conversations with us, even though we don’t understand everything he says – and he is very tender and sweet – I get kisses and hugs all the time, plus he sometimes calls me “mom”. I get emotional every time I think of her and of how much she would love her grandson if she was around. I have cried often lately, sometimes they are tears of joy and sometimes they are tears of sorrow. I guess that is life, right?

These are Martha’s oatmeal raisin cookies that got turned into something a bit different: as I grabbed the ingredients to bake them, I saw the dulce de leche left from making the molten cakes I posted days ago. So I added a very generous dollop to the batter – cutting back a bit of the sugar – and replaced the raisins for chocolate chips, since dulce de leche and chocolate go so well together.

The cookies turned out fabulous and if you don’t believe me take my nephew’s word for it. ;)

Oatmeal dulce de leche choc chip cookies
slightly adapted from the goddess Martha S.

2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon table salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks/226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup (130g) packed light-brown sugar
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
½ cup (150g) dulce de leche
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3 cups (240g) rolled oats
1 cup (165g) chocolate chips – I used ones with 53% cocoa solids

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter with both sugars, and beat until light and creamy. Beat in the dulce de leche and vanilla. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Add flour mixture, and mix on low speed just until just combined. On low speed, mix in the oats and chocolate chips.

Drop 2 leveled tablespoons of dough per cookie onto the prepared pans, 5cm (2in) apart. Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes, or until they’re golden-brown around the edges. Cool completely in the pans.
Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Makes about 28

Chocolate gingerbread bites

The Internet can be a great source of inspiration, I am sure you all agree with me – not only for food, obviously, but let’s focus on that now: there are so many great recipes out there it is hard to choose which one to make, but depending on what we see it gets easier to take our pick.

I saw these bars on Rebecca’s blog and immediately felt like baking them: chocolate, spices, and molasses beautifully combined. Very Christmassy, exactly what I wanted at the moment. When I wrote to her about it, she told me she’d gotten the recipe on another blog, and that person had gotten the recipe from Martha. I then remembered I’d seen the recipe on Martha’s website more than once and thought “well, Martha did not inspire me to make these, Rebecca did”. So these delicious bars, a sort of cake perfumed with spices and moist with the addition of sour cream, have become part of my repertoire of great recipes thanks to a search online – a beautiful blog inspired me to make them, and I hope my blog can inspire some of you to make them, too.

Chocolate gingerbread bites
from Rebecca's blog

¼ cup (56g/½ stick) unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup (22g) unsweetened cocoa powder + about ½ tablespoon for dusting the pan
¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup (88g) light brown sugar (packed)
¼ cup (60ml) unsulphured molasses
1 large egg
¼ cup (60ml) sour cream*
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup (85g) dark chocolate chips
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20cm (8in) square pan, line it with foil and butter it as well. Dust it all with cocoa and tap out the excess.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, flour, spices, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together the brown sugar, butter, egg, molasses, sour cream and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour into the prepared pan. Smooth out the top and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack.
Dust with icing sugar and cut into squares to serve.

* homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Makes 16

Chunky peanut, chocolate, and cinnamon cookies and laughs galore

I’m a silly, silly person and laughing is definitely not a problem to me – sometimes I laugh so hard my eyes get all teary and I have trouble finishing reading/watching whatever caused the laughs in the first place. :D

Last week this link made me laugh for more than 10 minutes nonstop – my husband thought I was reading something else but no, it was still the kids (and now that I’ve searched for the link to post here I’m laughing like an idiot again).

Yesterday it was Jimmy Kimmel’s hilarious “Celebrities Read Mean Tweets About Themselves”, with Sofia Vergara and my beloved Gary Oldman having the best reactions to the tweets, and the reason why I got to that link was two friends thinking of me when they say Gary was among the stars. <3

I love it when people think of me when they see something cool, and another thing I love is getting food as a gift – a friend gave me a jar of peanut butter a couple of weeks ago and I turned it into these delicious cookies; it’s a recipe by Martha Stewart, and we all know that when it comes to food Martha can do no wrong.


Chunky peanut, chocolate, and cinnamon cookies
slightly adapted from the wonderful Martha Stewart's Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and to Share

2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon table salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks/170g) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup (175g) packed light-brown sugar
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (250g) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup roasted, salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Put butter and peanut butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until combined, about 2 minutes. Add sugars; mix 2 minutes. Mix in eggs, then vanilla – scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. On low speed, gradually add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips and peanuts. Refrigerate dough for 20 minutes – in the meantime, preheat oven to 180°C/350°F and line two large baking sheets with baking paper.

Place 2 leveled tablespoons of dough per cookie onto the prepared sheets, 5cm (2in) apart. Flatten slightly. Bake until just golden, about 13 minutes (while you bake the cookies, keep the remaining dough in the fridge). Slide the paper with the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.

Makes about 40

Double chocolate peanut butter cookies and being short

Back in my school days, I hated being short – I had all sorts of nicknames, and not many were cute as Smurfette (I believe that was the only one I liked). At 34 I no longer care and funnily enough I have developed a taste for mini food – humans are strange beings, I know. :D

A jar of peanut butter in the cupboard and a Donna Hay magazine with several pb recipes (which had already produced these lovely cupcakes) were the reason behind these cookies. I decided to make them fairly small using only 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie, and since they did not spread while in the oven – partially because I added more flour to my dough and partially because I did not flatten them before baking – the result was a tiny, delicate cookie that reminded of petit fours served with tea - the difference is that these are much better served with a glass of cold milk.

Double chocolate peanut butter cookies
slightly adapted from the always amazing Donna Hay Magazine

185g all purpose flour – my dough was much too soft, I ended using 200g flour total
¼ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
100g unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (130g) crunchy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
175g light brown sugar*
1 egg
75g dark chocolate chips
75g white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with baking paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, peanut butter, sugar and vanilla on medium speed until creamy and well combined. Beat in the egg until evenly incorporated. On low speed, add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Using 1 leveled tablespoon of dough per cookie, roll into balls and place 5cm (2in) apart onto prepared sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown, especially around the edges. Cool on the sheets over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer to rack and cool completely.

* I used less sugar than the amount called for in the recipe, but still thought the cookies were a tad too sweet – if I were to make these again I would use 150g sugar

Makes 45

Stracciatella snickerdoodles

Last weekend, as I was baking these cookies and their wonderful smell took over my apartment, I thought that they deserved a fun name – I wasn’t a fan of the original (car-co-doodles), plus it would mean nothing to my Brazilian readers. The freckled dough in the bowl looked like the milk chocolate stracciatella ice cream I made a while ago and that was when I decided to call the cookies stracciatella snickerdoodles. “That name will surely make my readers curious about these cookies”, I thought, and that would maybe convince you to bake them. However, when I took a bite out of a cookie still warm from the oven I knew the convincing would be a lot easier: I would just have to tell you about the delicious, gooey melted chocolate bits dispersed in a cinnamon scented cookie. ;)

Stracciatella snickerdoodles
slightly adapted from the beautiful and delicious More from Macrina: New Favorites from Seattle's Popular Neighborhood Bakery

1 1/3 cups (175g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon table salt
85g (3oz) dark chocolate, chopped – I used chips and roughly chopped them before using
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (175g) packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg, room temperature
1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk in the chocolate pieces and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter and brown sugar until light and creamy. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and then the egg, mixing on low speed until fully incorporated. Scrape the bowl and add the dry ingredients, mixing until they are just incorporated.
Transfer the dough to a bowl, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 165°C/325°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with baking paper.
In a small bowl mix together the sugar and cinnamon.
Let the cookie dough warm at room temperature for 20 minutes. Roll 1 leveled tablespoon of dough into balls and roll them in the cinnamon-sugar. Place 5cm (2in) apart onto prepared sheets. Slightly flatten the cookies and then bake for about 15 minutes until light golden brown. Cool on the sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Makes about 45 cookies

Black forest cookies

Years ago, when I started using American recipes in my kitchen, one thing I really wanted to try making was chocolate chip cookies: they're not part of our food culture and there were two store-bought versions - one was nice, but very expensive, and the more affordable one was on the dry side. Now that I have made my share of chocolate chip cookies with great success - they're infinitely better than the store-bought ones - I love trying variatons like this, with the addition of dried cherries: they add a chewy tang to the classic cookies. Really, really good.

Black forest cookies
slightly adapted from the absolutely gorgeous Annie Bell's Baking Bible (I bought mine here)

1 cup + 1 tablespoon (150g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (75g) granulated sugar
¼ cup (44g) light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
50g dried cherries
150g dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until light and creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Scrape the sides of the bowl. At low speed, beat in the dry ingredients just until combined. Stir in the cherries and the chocolate.
Roll 2 leveled tablespoons of dough per cookie into balls and place 5cm (2in) apart onto prepared sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until pale gold all over, but slightly darker around the edges.
Loosen the cookies straight away, then leave to cool completely on the sheets.

Makes 25-30

Chocolate chip brownie double-deckers

Being someone who always has trouble choosing what to prepare, these double deckers were the perfect solution to my baking conundrum: two different layers, two delicious baked goods in one. To make things even better, the recipe is easy to put together and yields a lot, being great for sharing – they disappeared from the office quite fast the other day... :)

The recipe comes from a cookbook I bought on a day I was feeling bored to my bones and needed a little retail therapy – since I’m not into shoes and bags as apparently all the other girls are (or feel obligated to be as to feel they belong to a certain group of people), I bought a couple of books and Abigail Johnson Dodge’s "The Weekend Baker" turned out to be a very pleasant surprise: I have baked a handful of recipes from it and everything turned out delicious.

Chocolate chip brownie double-deckers
from the delicious The Weekend Baker

Chocolate chip layer:
¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter
1 ¼ cups (218g) firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/3 cups (187g) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (180g) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Brownie layer:
¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, chopped
¾ cup (68g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted if lumpy
1 ½ cups + 3 tablespoons (336g) granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup (105g) all-purpose flour

Position the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F*.
Line a 32x22cm (9x13in) baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang in two opposite sides. Butter the foil.
Chocolate chip layer: in a medium saucepan over medium heat melt the butter. Slide the pan from the heat and add the brown sugar. Whisk until no lumps remain. Set the butter mix aside to cool while making the brownie layer.

Brownie layer: in a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Slide the pan from the heat and add the cocoa powder. Whisk until the mixture is smooth. Add the sugar and salt and whisk until blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition just until blended. Whisk in the vanilla with the second egg. Sprinkle the flour over the chocolate mixture and stir with a rubber spatula just until the ingredients are blended. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking dish and spread it evenly with an offset or rubber spatula. Set it aside while you finish the chocolate chip layer.

To finish the chocolate chip layer: in a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Whisk until it's well-blended. Once the butter mixture has cooled, add the egg and vanilla to it and whisk until blended. Pour in the flour mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until the ingredients are blended. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Drop the dough over the brownie batter in large scoops and spread it evenly with an offset or rubber spatula. Bake until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out with small, gooey clumps of brownie sticking to it, about 40 minutes. Don't over-bake or the brownies won't be fudgy. Transfer the baking pan to a rack to cool completely.

Cut the brownies into small squares measuring about 5cm (2in) each.

* Out of distraction I baked the bars at 180°C/350°F (and they worked out fine)

Makes 24 – I made the exact recipe above using a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan; I found the bars really rich, therefore I cut each square in half to make smaller bars

Really good one-bowl chocolate chip pecan cookies - dead easy to make

I’ve been searching for inspiration for Christmas recipes – my plans are to make a series of recipes like last year’s – and a good place to start is Martha’s website; there are so many wonderful ideas there, everything’s so beautiful that the difficult part of it is choosing what to bake.

Going through some of her cookie recipes for the holidays I remembered that I hadn’t posted these chocolate chip pecan cookies yet – suggested by my friend Ana Elisa I baked them back in July (if I’m not mistaken) and they were fantastic: delicious, easy to make (no special equipment necessary) and you won’t have to remember to take the butter out of the fridge in advance.

Really good one-bowl chocolate chip pecan cookies
from the adorable Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth

2 cups (220g) pecan halves, lightly toasted and cooled
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter
¾ cup (131g) dark brown sugar, packed
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 ¼ cups (315g) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
2 cups (360g) semisweet chocolate chips

Place the butter in a large heavy saucepan. Cook it over low heat, stirring, until completely melted. Remove from the heat and add both sugars, stirring to combine. Add the salt, vanilla and eggs. Stir until just smooth. Stir in the flour, baking soda and baking powder just until incorporated and a soft dough forms. Carefully fold in the chocolate chips and the pecans.
Use an ice-cream scoop or a ¼ cup (60ml) measuring cup to measure out the cookie dough. Place the cookie dough balls on a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, 45-60 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Place the chilled dough balls onto prepared sheets, 5cm (2in) apart. Bake until the cookies are crisp and golden around the edges but still a little soft in the centers without being gooey, 15-18 minutes. Let cookies cool slightly on the sheets over a wire rack, then carefully transfer the cookies to the rack and cool completely.
Cookies can be kept for up to 2 days in an airtight container, at room temperature.

Makes 18 - I halved the recipe above, used 2 leveled tablespoons of dough per cookie and got 13

Chocolate chip cookie cake + classics, destroyed or revamped

One of my all time favorite songs is New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle”; my reaction to Frente!’s version for the song was sort of like “Stop! Stop! You’re ruining a classic!” – as much as I hate to admit it I can be pretty conservative sometimes. If you’re going to revamp with a classic, do it right, ok? Go ask Fine Young Cannibals for advice or something. :)

Unlike Frente!, Flo Braker has taken a classic to a whole new – and wonderful – level: chocolate chip cookies in cake form. Delicious, easy and very fast to put together and it yields a lot: great for sharing.

Chocolate chip cookie cake
from the beautiful and delicious Baking for All Occasions

2 cups + 2 tablespoons (300g) all purpose flour
2/3 cup (133g) granulated sugar
¾ cup (131g) packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (340g) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup (115g) pecans, chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 32x22cm (13x9in)* baking pan, line it with foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides; butter the foil as well.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flour, sugars, salt, cinnamon and baking soda and, using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Add the butter and continue to mix on low just until small, moist crumbs form – they will look similar to streusel – about 1 minute. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on low speed until the mixture begins to form a cohesive dough. Increase the speed to medium just as you add the chocolate chips and nuts and beat just until they are incorporated into the dough, 20-30 seconds.
Spoon dollops of the thick dough onto the prepared pan, then spread with a rubber spatula. Place a large piece of plastic wrap over the dough and, using your hands, distribute it evenly onto the pan.
Bake until the cake is golden brown and feels more solid than soft when pressed in the center, 37-40 minutes – be careful not to overbake; it will firm as it cools.
Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack.
Very gently, using the foil overhangs as an aid, loosen up the cake from the sides of the pan. Invert it onto the wire rack, peel off the foil, then invert in again onto a cutting board. Cut into slices or squares to serve.

*I made the exact recipe above using a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan

Makes 18 to 42 servings, depending on the size – I got 32 sticks

Pecan-coconut bread pudding - new things can be really good

I usually choose the movies I watch by director: some I love, others I avoid like the plague. If I know nothing about the director I try to find other good reasons to watch the movie (yes, I am sort of neurotic about my movie choices, bear with me). :)
Take Marc Webb, for instance: I had never heard of him until I saw the trailer for "500 Days Of Summer"; then I thought: the trailer was beautiful, the cast was great and the soundtrack amazing - I ended up loving the movie (one of the best I watched in 2009).

Now, take this dessert: I’d never heard of a pecan coconut bread pudding in my life – I did not even recall seeing this recipe when I bought the book, years ago. But then I thought: I am a bread pudding convert (thanks to Nigella and Donna Hay), love both pecans and coconut and do not mind a little chocolate on the side. So I gave it a try. And ended up eating the two bowls you see on the photo while watching TV. ;)

Pecan-coconut bread pudding
from a great book I should use more often: The All-American Dessert Book

2 cups cubed French or Italian bread, including crust, lightly toasted in the oven – I used brioche
½ cup (50g) shredded sweetened coconut
1/3 cup (37g) coarsely chopped pecans
2 large eggs
scant 1/3 cup (55g) packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup (160ml) whole milk
½ cup (120ml) heavy cream
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (45g) dark chocolate chips
heavy cream, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter four 1 cup (240ml) capacity ovenproof ramekins. Divide the bread cubes equally among them.
Spread the coconut and pecans in a large baking sheet and toast in the oven, stirring every 3 minutes, until the pecans are fragrant and the coconut is golden, 5-6 minutes. Set aside. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C/325°F.
In a medium bowl, using a fork, beat the eggs until frothy and smooth. Add the brown sugar, stirring until it dissolves. Stir in the milk, cream and vanilla until well blended. Sprinkle half of the pecans and coconut, with the chocolate chips, over the bread. Pour the egg mixture on top. Lay a sheet of baking paper over the top of the ramekins and press down to keep the bread submerged. Let stand for 10 minutes. Peel off the paper. Evenly sprinkle the remaining pecans and coconut over each ramekin.
Place the ramekins in a large roasting pan and place it on the oven rack. Add enough boiling water to the pan to come halfway the sides of the ramekins. Bake just until the pudding feels set in the center when lightly tapped and is nicely browned on top, about 15 minutes. Carefully remove from the oven and transfer the ramekins to a wire rack. Let cool for 5 minutes then serve with cream, if desired.

Serves 4

Chocolate chip peanut cookies

When I was a kid my favorite chocolate bar was one studded with peanuts – my dad would bring one from work from time to time and mom would only let me eat it after dinner (of course), when I would sit on the couch and read comic books till bed time.

Biting into one of these cookies made me instantly think of those chocolate bars – the difference was that this time I was reading a graphic novel instead of comic books. :D

Chocolate chip peanut cookies
slightly adapted from The Commonsense Kitchen

2 1/3 cups (325g) all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup + 2 tablespoons (200g) light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ½ cups (437g) semisweet chocolate chips
1 ½ cups (225g) salted roasted peanuts

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar just until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and vanilla extract. Using a rubber spatula, mix in the dry ingredients followed by the chocolate chips and peanuts. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared sheets. Bake just until the tops are no longer shiny, 10-12 minutes. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheets for a moment, then carefully transfer to a rack to cool.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies – I halved the recipe above and still got 32

Double chocolate chip cookies - from skinny cooks to skinny cookies

A while ago I was talking to Fezoca (via Twitter) about Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook – I have to say I wasn’t (and still am not) all that excited about it. I think she’s a beautiful woman, can sing really well, but would never make it to my list of favorite actresses – I find her really limited as far as acting is concerned. Anyway, that has nothing to do with the cookbook thing – what doesn’t get me going for it is the fact that she does not look like she actually eats. I feel the same about Giada, for instance.

When it comes to cookies, my opinion is pretty much the same: I’m more inclined to the chubby kinds. That is why these do not rank so high on my best-ever-cookies list – they are delish, but too thin for my taste. :)

Double chocolate chip cookies
slightly adapted from Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy

2 cups + ½ tablespoon (285g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and still warm
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
¾ cup (132g) light brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup (170g) dark chocolate chips
1 cup (170g) white chocolate chips

Mix the flour and baking soda in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the butter with the sugars, vanilla and salt. Mix in the eggs. Stir in the flour mixture just until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours (or overnight).
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator (let is soften a bit if left in the refrigerator for more than 2 hours). Place 1 slightly rounded tablespoon of dough per cookie onto prepared pans, 7.5cm (3in) apart. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until cookies are golden brown at the edges and no longer look wet on top. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 1-2 minutes. Slide the paper off the sheets onto a wire rack and cool completely.
Cookies can be stored in an airtight container, at room temperature, for 4-6 days.

Makes about 60 cookies – I halved the recipe above and got 33 cookies

Flourless peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies

Flour – an ingredient always present in my pantry, essential for someone who loves baking like I do. But sometimes we can go on perfectly well without it and it’s not necessary at all – like Renée Zellweger in “Cold Mountain”. :)

My peanut butter cookie recipe hunt started with this amazing book, but I was really after a flourless version, which I found on Epicurious.
The cookies turned out delicious and tender and were a hit with my little sister, who apparently did not like peanut butter. :) Just be careful when transporting the cookies, because the lack of flour makes them a bit fragile.

Flourless peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies
from Epicurious

1 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup (175g) light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (170g/6oz) semisweet chocolate chips – I used 70% cocoa solids

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F; line two baking sheets with baking paper.
Mix first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Mix in chocolate chips. Using moistened hands, form generous 1 tablespoon dough for each cookie into ball. Place onto prepared sheets, 5cm (2in) apart.

Bake cookies until puffed, golden on bottom and still soft to touch in center, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets over a wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer to racks; cool completely.

Makes about 24 cookies – I made the exact recipe above, used 1 leveled tablespoon of dough per cookie and got 38

Cinnamon choc chip swirl bread

After cookies and cakes, Susan and I decided it was time to play around with yeast – we both wanted to bake from John Barricelli’s beautiful book and the cinnamon swirl bread caught our eyes (and our stomachs). :)

The bread is tender and delicious; the dough is easy to work with – not sticky! – but my idea of using chocolate chips instead of raisins turned out to be less than genius: I used dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) and in the end it was a bit too bitter for the bread. :(

So ignore my version and make the bread with raisins, or raisin-free as Susan did – her loaf looks fabulous!

Cinnamon choc chip swirl bread
slightly adapted from The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook

Dough:
¾ cup (180ml) warm whole milk
1 ¾ teaspoons active dried yeast
3 ¼ cups (455g) all purpose flour
½ cup + 1 ½ tablespoons (85g) whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons caster (superfine) sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
6 ½ tablespoons (91g) unsalted butter, cold, chopped
½ cup + 2 tablespoons water
2/3 cup dark chocolate chips (or use raisins as the original recipe called for)

Filling:
2/3 cup (133g) caster (superfine) sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 large egg, beaten, for egg wash
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Start by making the dough: in a small bowl, mix the warm milk and the yeast with a fork and set aside until foamy, about 5 minutes.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, salt and butter on low speed until butter dissolves into the dry ingredients. Add the yeast mixture and the water and beat on low speed until well combine – the dough should be tacky but not sticky when touched; if the dough is too dry, add water by the tablespoon.
Turn the dough onto an unfloured surface and knead until dough pulls together in a ball and becomes less tacky. Knead for 7-9 minutes or until dough is smooth and springy. Pat the dough into a 23cm (9in) round, sprinkle with the chocolate chips (or raisins), and knead briefly to incorporate. Form a ball with the dough, place into a lightly oiled large bowl, turn so both sides are coated, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place (at least 21°C/70°F) until increased in bulk by 1 ½ times and very soft, 1 to 1 ½ hours.
Deflate the dough: using a plastic pastry scraper, turn the top of the dough down and the bottom up. Turn the dough so that the smooth side faces in. cover with plastic wrap again and let rise in a warm place until increased in bulk by 1 ½ times, about 1 hour.
Make the filling: in a small bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon together. Measure out 1/3 cup of the mixture and reserve it separately.
Turn the dough onto an unfloured surface, gently stretch it to make a 15x35cm (6x14in) rectangle, then brush with the egg wash. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture, allowing 2.5cm (1in) borders at top and bottom. Rolling from the top, roll the loaf as tightly as you can into a log. Gently press the seams together. Place the loaf seam side down in a buttered 21x11cm (8 ½ x4 ½ in) loaf pan.
Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until increased in bulk by 1 ½ times, 30-45 minutes.
Set the oven rack in the middle position. Preheat the oven to 260°C/500°F.
Place the loaf on a baking sheet, put it in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 190°C/375°F. bake, rotating about two-thirds of the way through the baking time, until the crust is evenly brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom (using oven mitts, carefully lift the bread from the pan and gently tap on the bottom with your knuckles), 40-45 minutes. Remove from the oven, unmold onto a wire rack and let cool completely.
Brush the cooled loaf with the melted butter and sprinkle with the reserved cinnamon sugar mixture. Place the loaf back on the wire rack and let stand until sugar coating dries, about 30 minutes.

Makes one loaf – I made the exact recipe above and yet got 2 loaves, using 20x9cm and 19x8cm pans

Chocolate chip bread pudding

My sister made me watch the awful “Season of the Witch” – I have to say that putting up with Nicolas Cage for 1 ½ hours is huge proof of my love for her. :)
When the movie was over and Dominic Sena’s name appeared on the screen it all made sense to me – a bad director could not deliver a good movie. :)

On the other hand, I always expect great recipes from Nigella – and this bread pudding is no exception. I have a piece of advice, though: make it only when you have other people around the house. :)

Chocolate chip bread pudding
from Nigella Kitchen

250g (9oz) stale bread, cut into 2.5cm (1in) cubes (approx. 5 ½ cups of cubes)
½ cup (92g) dark chocolate chips
3 eggs
3 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons dark rum
½ cup (120ml) heavy cream
2 cups (480ml) whole milk
4 teaspoons demerara sugar

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Grease a 9x2 ½ in* round pie dish lightly with butter. Tip in the stale bread cubes. Toss in the chocolate chips evenly among the bread cubes.
Whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, rum, heavy cream and milk. Pour this mixture over the bread and press the cubes down to coat them in the liquid. Leave all this to soak for 20 minutes, then sprinkle with the demerara sugar. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until golden and firm.

* approx. 6 cups (1.5l) capacity

Serves 4-6