A New Way to Make Cookies

Great idea, right? Baking cookies in a waffle iron! I have already decided that this is going to be my new favorite thing... I'll be trying to cook everything in the waffle iron. But I'm definitely going to need some practice, because in a whole batch of cookie dough only four of my cookies looked like the ones in that picture. The rest totally spread out in the waffle iron and got all crunchy. Maybe it was too hot or I left them in too long. Not sure, but I'm definitely willing to try again, because hey... even if they were crunchy and shaped funny they still tasted delicious!

Cupcakes!

Step 1: make chocolate chip cookie dough.
Step 2: roll dough into balls and place on wax paper lined cookie sheet.
Step 3: freeze.
Step 4: prepare and pour a box of chocolate cake mix into cupcake liners.
Step 5: place a frozen ball of cookie dough into each cupcake.
Step 6: bake.
Step 7: cool.
Step 8: frost.
Step 9: share and enjoy.

Granola

Wow... It's been a while since I've been over here to share the happenings of my kitchen. But, in all honesty, I haven't been making too much. I've been pretty busy working and studying... My cooking has been slacking a bit and the blogging even more so.

But since yesterday I didn't have to work and had "nothing" to do (I mean, I'm sure I could have found something that I needed to do...) it was a good day for cooking. Unfortunately, only one of my little adventures is really worth recording here: my granola. (I also tried to bake a lemon-raspberry coffee cake in tin cans... My result was mostly mush. I'll work on that again another time. And dinner was Omaha steaks and salad -- pretty straight-forward, I guess. *Note: Ken's Italian dressing makes the best steak marinade in the world.)

What You'll Need:

• Oats (I just use generic brand "Old Fashioned Oats")
• Flax seeds
• Coarsely chopped almonds
• Sunflower seeds, salted
• Honey and/or Agave Nectar
• Cinnamon
• Cloves
• Ginger
• Natural chunky peanut butter
• Dried Fruits: cranberries (Craisins, if you will...), chopped candied ginger, chopped figs

Put it All Together:

• Mix everything but the dried fruits together. If you've ever had granola before, you'll be able to eyeball the ratio of oats to seeds and nuts. The honey/nectar just depends on how sweet you want it. I used about 2 hefty tablespoons of peanut butter. (In the end, my granola filled a quart-sized container up to the brim -- you know, the ones your wonton soup come in.)
• Spread out evenly onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake at about 200... for a while. Probably about 2-3 hours. Mix it every 20 minutes or so to allow it to cook evenly. If you crank the heat up towards the end to speed up your goldening process, just be sure to check it more frequently so it won't burn.
• Mix your dried fruits in. Don't seal it into a container until it's completely cool.

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Pears & Gruyere from The Piemaker

One of my favorite shows is Pushing Daisies.
It only made it to two seasons, of course. (That always happens with favorites, right?) This show had a personal, hidden danger though: It made me want to bake. Pies. All the time. For a while I was convinced that I could even open a pie shop (like the Pie Hole, as in shut your) and bake pies and delicious treats all the time. Maybe some day...

One of my favorite pies I've baked was inspired by this show: a pear & apple pie with Gruyere baked into the crust. (Apple pie with cheddar in the crust is also great.) And yesterday that particular mood struck again, but I wasn't really into the idea of a buttery crust, so I created something new...

The Facts Were These:

• 6 Anjou Pears (peeled & thinly sliced)
• Flour (as usual, I used white whole wheat)
• cinnamon
• ginger
• cloves
• oats
• brown sugar
• chopped & toasted almonds
• butter (only about 2 tablespoons & cubed)
• applesauce (au naturale)
• salt (a pinch)
• honey
• Gruyere cheese, shredded

1. Mix the pears with flour, cinnamon, cloves & ginger and a little brown sugar. (And some chopped candied ginger if you have it!) I really didn't measure at all... I was in a creative/experimental mood and was just kind of throwing stuff in. But if you've ever made a pie before, you'll have a good feeling for typical ratios. (And if not, just look a pie recipe or two and make your best judgement.)
2. In a separate bowl, prepare the crumbly topping: flour (about 3/4 of a cup?), oats (maybe closer to 1 cup?), brown sugar*, butter, applesauce (maybe about 1/2 cup, if not more), cloves, ginger & salt. It will get a mold-able (malleable?) kind of consistency.
3. In a greased baking dish or a pie dish, spread pear mixture over bottom. Sprinkle cheese over pears and drizzle with honey. Add almonds (however much you want) and top with oat crumble. 
4. Bake at 325 for about a half hour. 

*I ended up using a lot more sugar than I initially intended. But I think in order to get the right consistency for that crumble topping it needs it. I probably ended up using at least a half a cup. I'll measure next time -- this one is definitely a recipe to come back to and work on!

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Carrot - Apple Muffins

 
As I perused various cooking sites in the world of the Internets on Tuesday I had my eye out for a healthy muffin recipe. Many called for ingredients that I didn't have... raisins, cake flour, sour cream. So I got out a notebook and a pen and wrote my own. I actually wrote down amounts and measurements, combining aspects of other recipes I liked and making substitutions for the basic components of a muffin:

1. Flour (I used white whole wheat flour)
2. Sugar (I used honey)
3. Baking powder/soda (I used both)
4. Eggs (I used... well... eggs)
5. Fat (I used applesauce -- in place of oil)
6. Milk (I used yogurt)

With my basic ingredients decided I set out to create a new muffin. To relative success, no less.

What You'll Need:

• 1 1/2 c. white whole wheat flour
• 3/4 c. oats
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1/2 c. honey
• 1 egg
• 3/4 c. yogurt (I used plain with a dash of vanilla)
• 1/3 c. applesauce 
• 1 c. shredded carrots
• 1 c. shredded apples
• flax seeds (sunflower seeds would be good too)
• chopped candied ginger

Put it All Together

• Combine flour, oats, baking soda & powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and ginger in a large bowl.
• Whisk together honey, egg, yogurt and applesauce.
• Fold in carrots, apples, ginger and flax seeds.
• Lightly stir wet mixture into dry. Don't over-stir or the muffins will come out dense. (And don't make my mistake: be sure to actually mix all the flour into the batter. I left a bunch of the flour mixture at the bottom of my bowl after I poured half the batter into the muffin pan, so half my muffins came out a bit... err... soggy.)
• Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

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Oatmeal - Sunflower - Flax Seed Bread

...Yeah. I know, right?

You know I've been working at the bakery in Eataly so you know it's inevitable that I continue trying out breads. We all knew it would happen. Unfortunately, this time, I didn't have any better yeast to use or different flour or anything. Some day I'll be able to go buy the fancy, expensive stuff... hopefully. But, for now, I'm still using Fleischman's and Trader Joe's flour (which I like).

Now for this bread I looked online at a few different recipes and ended up combining a couple recipes and keeping in mind Eataly's bakery habits and actually wrote my own recipe. Eataly doesn't use any dairy in their breads -- no butter, but olive oil instead. They also don't use any sugar, but I used some honey because it's needed. (Something about using levito madre for a basic sourdough and no need for sugar... I'm not really sure how it works at all.)

The biggest problem I had with this bread was how flat it came out. I think that after it rose the second time I let it sit for too long while I was cooking, so with all the heat on and near the stove, it just kind of deflated and spread out. I should also invest in some kind of a bread loaf pan so I can get a good shape and then I can use the bread for sandwiches.

What You'll Need:

• 1 package of yeast + 3/4 cup of warm water
• 3 tbsp honey
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup boiling water
• 3 cups flour (about that, maybe more or less depending on the stickiness of your dough)

Put it All Together:

• Combine oats, oil, salt and honey.
• Add boiling water and let stand. (At least 20-30 minutes. You want the oats to get soft. I sped this up a little by giving the mixture a couple quick stirs with my immersion blender after about 15 minutes. Not to completely blend it, but to make it less thick.)
• Dissolve yeast in the warm water.
• Add yeast to oat mixture.
• Add flour about 1/2 cup at a time.
• Turn out and knead on a floured surface. Knead flax seeds and sunflower seeds into the dough at this point. Whatever works is fine -- sprinkle them on your surface and just knead as normal or make a little pocket, filling with seeds and continue to knead.
• Put dough in a greased bowl, cover with a damp towel and let it rise somewhere warm for about an hour. 
• Once it's gotten to about twice its size, punch it down and form the dough into whatever shape you want. Place in a loaf pan or on a cookie sheet (or a pizza stone is better, which I learned from the head baker at Eataly), cover again and let it rise for about 40 minutes. 
• Bake at 375... basically until it looks done. At least 20 minutes. 
• Out of the oven, drizzle with honey and sprinkle with oats. (And more seeds too, if you want.)

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A Beast of a Cookie

When I saw the recipe for Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies a while back, I knew I'd be making them... I just needed an excuse. And I think a birthday care package for a best friend is the perfect one.

The best caption to the original recipe for these cookies I saw was, "Because sometimes you just need a cookie inside your cookie." And it's true. I tweaked the recipe a bit to make it my own and, of course, didn't really measure out the differences... But since it's baking I'll try my best to record my steps. (Oh and the original maker of these cookies said she got 2 dozen cookies... I only managed to get about 14. Sized for giants.)

What You'll Need*:

• 1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips. I prefer Nestle, but really any will do.
• The recipe for chocolate chip cookies on the back of said package and all ingredients listed there. With the addition of cocoa powder.
• A bunch of Oreos. I used reduced fat, but... come on... like it matters.

 *Note: I originally wanted to use peanut butter chips instead of chocolate chips because I looovvve peanut butter and Oreos, but they didn't have any at my grocery store. Sad.

Put it All Together:

• Follow directions on the back of the chocolate chip bag making the following amendments:
• Use 1 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of white sugar
• Add about 1/4 cup of cocoa powder to dry ingredients

• Put batter in the fridge for about 10 minutes and preheat the oven to 350.  

• Take a bunch of Oreos out of their package (You don't want to be reaching in there with batter all over your hands.)

• Now basically what you're going to do is wrap an Oreo cookie with your cookie batter.
• It works best if you cover the bottom first, then the top, sealing the sides up. As you do this you will realize just how beastly huge these cookies are going to be. 

• Bake for about 20 minutes... or until they look done. 

I think sending these cookies out as a birthday present will more than make up for the fact that the package will be over a week late! You're welcome, Melanie. ;D

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Sage & Basil Bread

Since working at the bakery at Eataly I've been wanting to embark on all kinds of bread adventures. This is the first, pretty basic, step. This bread recipe would work just as well turned into rolls (or whatever shape you like) or with a sweet, cinnamony center. 

 What You'll Need:

• 1 package yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• few tablespoons of butter
• basil, sage, salt

Put it All Together:

• Dissolve yeast in warm water, about 10 minutes.
• Mix dissolved yeast, sugar, salt, oil and 1 cup of flour together. (I used my Kitchen Aid with the bread hook attachment.)
• *Note: When you add flour, sift it in instead of just dumping it. It helps to aerate it and be less dense.
• Add the rest of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time making sure it's mixed well after each addition.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 5-10 minutes. 
• Put the dough into a greased bowl, turning it to coat. (I just used cooking spray.) Cover with damp cloth and put in a warm place to rise for about an hour.
• Make herbed butter by mixing a few tablespoons of butter (room temperature) with sage, fresh basil and a little salt. 
• After the dough has risen to about twice its size, remove from the bowl and smoosh it down into a relatively flat shape. Slather the herbed butter in the middle and then fold the dough over. I ended up making it into a circular, wheel shape because it was easier and just sort of happened.
• Put the dough onto a greased cookie sheet, cover and let it rise for about another 40 minutes.
• Bake at 325 for about 20-30 minutes. (Some butter will leak out, but don't worry.)

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Healthy Brownies Turned Naughty

My following brownie recipe (yes, it includes measurements!) is adapted from this clone recipe of No Pudge brownies (which I've actually never tried). I originally wanted to make s'mores brownies, but I had a strange adventure with graham cracker products and somehow ended up leaving the store with a box of crackers I mistook for grahams. So the grahams got substituted for peanuts and the rocky road brownie was born in my kitchen:

What You'll Need:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup low fat vanilla yogurt
• 2-3 tablespoons fat free half & half (this I didn't measure -- just splashed it in because the batter was wwaayyy too thick)
• 1 block of unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped/shaved
• Fluff (about half a jar)
• Peanuts (I dipped into the cocktail peanuts jar, but toasted or dry roasted would be great)
• 1 bar of chocolate of your choice -- this was my choice

Put it All Together:

• Mix dry ingredients.
• Stir in yogurt, half & half and baking chocolate.
• Spread half the batter into small greased baking dish.
• Spread Fluff over batter and sprinkle peanuts over it.
• Spread the last of the batter on top. (It's okay if Fluff and peanuts show through!! Better, actually.)
• Break up your chocolate bar and place sporadically on top.
• Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes. 
• Try to let them cool for at least 10 minutes before you dig in. 

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Not a Lonely Heart in the Bunch

You'll never find yourself like Miss Lonely-Heart on Valentine's Day with these treats -- no one can resist them. And they're so easy, they make do for a perfect last minute Valentine... or... since it's past Valentine's Day, they serve just as well as an impressive any time treat.

This was my edition of "Nutella Pop-Tarts." Last weekend Rachael made some s'mores pastry desserts that were just puff pastry wrapped around a graham cracker and a piece of chocolate with Fluff on top. (Genius, right?) I kind of combined the two ideas; instead of going through making my own dough and all that, like the pop-tart recipe called for, I decided to go with ready-to-go dough as well and added a few extra flavor touches. :D

What You'll Need:

• 1 package of pie crusts
• Nutella
• Raspberry jam or preserves 
• Egg
• Fluff
• Heart-shaped cookie cutter

Put it All Together:

• Spread out one of the pie crusts and cut out lots of hearts. Repeat with second sheet. (You can roll out the extras and get some more hearts out of it if you need to... They just might be a little thicker.)
• Place hearts on parchment paper lined cookie sheet. 

• Blob some Nutella on a heart and then a blob of Raspberry. Take another heart and put it on top, pinch sides down with a fork. Repeat until all your hearts are full.

• Brush the tops of the hearts with an egg wash.
• Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until their browned nicely on top.

They might leak a little bit if you leave them in a smidgen too long, but don't worry about it. The time between looking perfect and looking delicious is minuscule, but there's no taste difference. They'll be just as delicious. Top them with some Fluff for a super quick frosting. (I thought about doing a nice raspberry glaze, but was feel pretty lazy.)

Go make them! They're fantastic!

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I'm Not Jewish, But I Love Challah...

(Note: This recipe DOES require you to measure, making this blog's title a slight misnomer. But it's baking, come on! You've got to measure sometimes I suppose.)

     The past few months I've been playing the role of substitute teacher -- at a private Jewish school on the Upper West Side (...upper west side?). Recently, with the kindergarteners and first-graders I've been around while they have Chabbat. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what Chabbat is, but I know it means they share Challah (delicious bread) together at the end. I was raised Christian (see: "Born Again Christians") and since going to church was something that was not voluntary (early Sunday mornings for 3 hours) like any other adolescent (my sister included) I tended to revolt. Since the days of "I don't want to go to church anymore, Dad. I'm not going," religion has been kind of on the back burner.

     So being in this school populated with students and teachers "devoted" (some more than others, I'm averaging here) to the Jewish religion and speaking fluent Hebrew has introduced me to something new -- No, not the religion itself, but their food. (Firstly in their amazing catered "cafeteria food" at lunchtime. Restaurant quality stuff.) Their challah is no unleavened cardboard bread... Here's my first attempt. (Note: this recipe is not kosher... I don't think. I'm not sure.)

What You'll Need:

• 3 cups flour (and most likely an extra 1/2 cup)
• 1 packet of yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs, plus 1 egg separated (saving the white for egg wash)
• 1/2 stick unsalted, softened butter 
• 1/4 cup boiling water & 1/4 cup room temp. water

Put it all Together:

• Whisk 1 egg white in a small bowl with a little splash of water. (Cover & refrigerate.) Add the yolk to the other 2 eggs in a separate bowl. 
• Pour your boiling water into a measuring cup and add the butter. Mix until butter is melted, then add room temp. water and the 2 whole eggs & 1 yolk. Whisk.
• Get your mixer set up with the dough hook and to the bowl add 3 cups of flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.With the mixer on low, slowly add the butter mixture and mix until the dough comes together. Increase mixer speed to medium low and continue kneading for five to eight minutes, or until you have a cohesive, slightly tacky dough that just sticks to the sides of the bowl (if necessary, add up to an extra half cup of flour, one tablespoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached).

• Spray a bowl with cooking spray and transfer the dough to it, cover and let it rise. (Set it some place warm.) This should take about an hour and a half or 2 hours. Then push it down to deflate it and let it rise about another hour. 
• Now transfer your dough to a lightly (you really don't need much) floured surface. Separate the dough into six even parts. 
• Instead of explaining in lengthy detail how to get that lovely challah braid, just watch this video. (She rolls the dough out flat first -- don't.) And I'll be honest... I found this to be confusing. I had to replay her directions over and over. So don't feel bad if you get a little lost.

• Once you're all braided up, put the challah on a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet, cover with a dish towel and allow it to rise yet again. Another hour or so. Then get your egg wash out, brush it over the top and bake your bread at 375 for about 30 minutes (or until it gets golden). 

 

Now, I'm sure this seems like a million steps and you're thinking, "I don't have time for this!" It really doesn't take long at all. You make the dough, put it aside to rise, clean up the kitchen, go about your day. Come back to roll it out and braid it (probably the longest part, if you've never done it before) then back to your business. Then stick it in the oven... only don't go too far away for this step! :) And voila! Lovely, slightly sweet, fresh challah bread! 

[Find the original recipe here. And where I found the recipe and video here.]

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