I like baking, but I've realized lately that I only like to bake 2 things, brownies and chocolate chip cookies. So this was my attempt at stepping outside my comfort zone and doing something new and different. I figured I could do no wrong with a highly rated recipe from Giada De Laurentiis.
The dough is a pretty standard combination of sugar, flour, butter, etc
I don't know what inspired me to suddenly try this recipe. I'd been in a chocolate chip cookie mode, but I just got the inspiration to finally see what all the hype was behind the "donut muffin." I guess it's muffin that tastes like a cake donut. How is that possible?!?!
It seems like a pretty basic cake/muffin recipe with all your basics: flour, leavening agents, sugar, eggs, milk, etc.
I'm wondering if I should invest in a nice stand mixer, but my handy dandy hand mixer, which I've had since college and is probably the only kitchen item I've kept since that period of time, has yet to fail me. That's gotta count for something. Maybe I'll put it on the registry and hope someone gets it for me? I mean, Dumpling Man and me...
So I've always thought about which direction to take the blog. Do I want to be focus on high end dining like kevinEats, cooking and recipes like Ravenous Couple, or have a blend of dining, cooking, foodie events like Gastronomy? Lately, I've fallen into the genre of a dining out blog, but eventually I would like to incorporate more cooking. I'm slowly learning that documenting my adventures in the kitchen is a whole different beast with a different set of challenges. In restaurants, proper lighting is the biggest enemy. At home, dressing up the food to make it look beautiful is a struggle for me. I've always cooked to eat. I don't use garnishes. I don't have havc fancy dinner/cook/serving ware. Everything in my ktichen is a mish mosh of cheap junk. Anyways, I plan to jazz my kitchen up someday when the finances permit. In the meantime, stick with me as I manage with what I got.
My sister's old roommate had these cookies sent to her by her mom. I loved them the minute I tried them. They are really quite light in sweetness, but still rich in flavor from the plentiful helping of pecans. They would go great with a cup of hot tea. They would also make a great holiday cookie, because they're like a softer shortbread cookie, and much more interesting than your regular sugar cookies. You can still eat them year round like I do though.
I will most certainly be investing in a tripod to help take pics while I cook. For now, you have these sad pictures.
My oven is EVIL. I hadn't used it in a while and forgot that I needed to adjust the temp and cooking times for any given recipe. As a result, the first batch of cookies burned!
So a year ago I visited my sister in SF. A night out for sushi was followed by dessert at Citizen Cake.
Citizen Cake's familiarity to me was due to Chef Elizabeth Faulkner, who I had seen on an episode or two of Top Chef. I think shes a pastry chef, but the place is also a restaurant with full bar. But definitely ppl come here for the cakes.
I tried the retro tropical shag and the after midnight chocolate cake. Both weren't that memorable. Not something I'd go back for. What was memorable was getting free cookies cuz we stayed until closing so they started giving away the pre-packaged cookies. One of the cookies was delicious! There was something different about it, and after sufficient googling, I came across this:
"Elizabeth Falkner's Demolition Desserts" by Elizabeth Falkner (Ten Speed Press, 230 pp., $35)
She talks a lot about using organic ingredients and this particular recipe uses different types of sugars to create new flavors. This was totally a new concept to me. I never knew there were different types of brown sugars, or sugars other than brown and white. Anyways, the cookies came out somewhat similar to the ones I had from Citizen Cake. Whether they are the same ones, I'm not sure. The only thing I'm sure of is that the cookie from the store had something different about its texture, and this recipe contains old-fashioned rolled oats which I figured must be the secret.
Chocolate chip cookies version XS
1 1/4 cups (4 ounces) old-fashioned rolled oats
Serves 48
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 cup (about 8 1/2 ounces) firmly packed dark muscovado sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) Demerara sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped the size of chocolate chips, or bittersweet chocolate chips (about 1 1/2 cups)
The special sugars were hard to find. The regular supermarkets and Trader Joe's did not sell them. But Whole Foods had them as expected. They were kinda pricey, $4-5 for 1lb, but I figured I'd test out the recipe and see if it was worth the cost.
"In food processor, pulse oats 15 to 20 seconds. Most of the oats will look like coarse sawdust, but you should still have some recognizable flakes."
"In saute pan, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat, let cook about 3 minutes, or until it browns slightly. Add oats and cook, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes, or until you can smell a toasty fragrance. Take the pan off the heat as soon as you detect a hint of toast. Spoon oats onto baking sheet or sheet of parchment paper, spread them out with the spoon, and let cool."
"In large bowl, using a wooden spoon, cream together remaining 12 tablespoons butter and muscovado sugar until smooth but not overmixed. Add Demerara sugar and vanilla and stir briefly, just to mix. Add egg and stir just until combined."
"Transfer cooled oats to medium bowl. Sift together flour and baking soda onto oats. Add salt and stir to combine. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture and stir just until combined. Add chocolate and stir just until evenly distributed. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Position racks in upper and lower thirds of oven. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Scoop up 1-inch balls of dough with spoon or mini-scoop and set them 2 inches apart on pans. Bake, rotating pans after 4 minutes, for 7 to 9 minutes, or until cookies are puffed but still soft. I like a medium-crisp cookie, so I bake these for 10 minutes, but experiment until you find the optimal baking time to suit your own tastes."
This is what happens when you don't follow the instructions of "set them 2 inches apart on pans"
