cure for the weekday blues

If you've experienced half of the whining and crying I have this week, you may be in need of some chocolate therapy.

Enter the Cornflake-Chocolate Chip-Marshmallow cookie.

They are chewy, chocolatey, have a bit of crunch from the cornflakes -- and, they are huge.

Win. win. win. And, win.

Cornflake-Chocolate Chip- Marshmallow Cookies
from Christina Tosi's "Momofuku Milk Bar" Cookbook

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 cups of Cornflakes
• 2/3 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1 1/4 cups mini marshmallows

1. Cream together butter and both sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium-high, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl and add egg and vanilla; beat for 7 to 8 minutes.
2. Reduce speed to low and add flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix just until dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl with a spatula.
3. With the mixer on low, add cornflake crunch and chocolate chips; mix until just combined, 30 to 45 seconds. Add mini marshmallows and mix until just incorporated.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a 2 3/4-ounce ice-cream scoop or 1/3-cup measuring cup, portion dough out onto prepared baking sheet. Pat tops of cookie domes flat. Wrap baking sheet tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 1 week. Do not bake cookies from room temperature or they will not hold their shape.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line additional baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats.
6. Arrange chilled dough at least 4 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Transfer to oven and bake until puffed, cracked, spread, and browned on the edges, about 18 minutes. Let cool completely on baking sheets.

$250 goodness

So, the story goes... a lady was finishing her lunch at Neiman Marcus with some chocolate chip cookies. She asked the waiter if she could get the recipe. He said yes and that they charge "two-fifty" for it. Later should found she was charged $250.00 not the $2.50 she expected.

The story then goes that she vowed in vengence "to give everyone she possibly could the recipe."

Whether the story is true or not, I don't know. However, I can vouch that the cookies are truly delish.

There are two key ingredients in the cookie, 1) ground oatmeal and 2) chocolate shavings

Mo really liked using the food processor to grind the oatmeal (and the chocolate as I was too lazy to shave chocolate with a grater).

Like her big sister, she is getting really good at handling the mixer on her own -- and, is quite proud of the ability to do so.

Mo also loved using the scooper to make the cookies, though they were a lot less exact and uniform with her at the dough-distributing helm.

I also caught her more than once eating cookie dough. I myself don't eat it, as the mere thought of raw eggs grosses me out. But alas, I could not convince her this was yucky.

And finally, the "can I have one more puh-lease" face.

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 C. softened butter

1 C. sugar

1 C. brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 C. flour

2-1/2 C. blended oatmeal

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 bag chocolate chips (12 oz)

1 (8 oz.) Hershey bar grated (I used 1 C. of chocolate chips and food processed them)

Blend oatmeal to a fine powder. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate large bowl cream butter and sugars together. Add egg and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients. Bake 12 minutes at 375 degrees turning once half way through.

more muffin madness

There has been a bag of frozen cranberries in my freezer for some time now (I would disclose the actual amount of time, but it's just embarrassing).

Rather than throw it away which is probably what Federal Food Safety Regulations would dictate, I decided to make some muffins out of them.

The girls didn't like the tartness of the cranberries, but me and the hubs liked them.

Cranberry Orange Muffins

1-1/2 C. chopped fresh or frozen cranberries

1-1/4 C. sugar, divided

3 C. flour

1-1/2 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 C. butter

2 eggs beaten

1 C. buttermilk (I used lemon juice and milk)

2 eggs slightly beaten

1 C. toasted and chopped pecans or walnuts

Grated orange peel from one large orange

Toss cranberries with 1/4 C. of sugar in a bowl; set aside. Grease muffin pan.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and remaining sugar. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine eggs with milk; stir into flour mixture until just moistened. Gently fold in nuts, orange peel and cranberries. Fill muffin tins. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 min.

mini banana nut muffins

Two reasons to make them mini.

1) They only take 13 minutes to bake so you can whip them up quickly for breakfast or a snack.

2) They are perfect for mini hands.

Banana Nut Bread

my adaptation of James Beard's recipe

1-1/2 C. flour

1/2 C. whole wheat flour

1 C. mashed very ripe banana

1/3 C. milk

1 tsp. lemon juice (or vinegar)

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 C. softened unsalted butter

1 C. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 C. walnuts

1/2 C. mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease pan(s). Mix flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl cream butter. Add sugar and mix thoroughly. Add eggs & banana. Combine milk and lemon juice in a small bowl. Slowly alternate mixing in flour mixture and milk mixture. Mix until completely incorporated. Add nuts and chocolate chips last. Sprinkle a little sugar on the top before they go in the oven for a sweet extra crunch on top.

Bake until toothpick comes out clean.

Loaf pan ~60 min.

Muffins ~20 min.

Mini muffins ~13 min.

jammin' on the one

This year I combined the blueberries we picked with the strawberries from the farm behind our house to make a mixed berry jam.

I've been jamming for a couple of years now, and if you're going to do it, I would recommend investing minimally in these three instruments:

1) Ladle; 2) Jar Lifter; and 3) Funnel.

You can buy canning sets for under $15 which include a variety of tools, but I found these three the most important.

The recipe I adapted makes a small batch, but can be doubled or tripled if needed.

Strawberry Blueberry Jam

3 cups of strawberries (I slightly smoosh them as I like chunky jam)

1 cup of blueberries

1-1/2 cups of sugar

juice and zest of 1 lemon

1/2 package of pectin (plus a little more if you like yours extra thick)

1. Mix pectin with 1/2 C. of sugar in a small bowl.

2. Mix berries with pectin/sugar combination in a medium saucepan. Cook to a full boil.

3. Add rest of sugar and bring back to a boil. Boil hard for 1 minute.

4. Test thickness.

5. Let stand for 5 minutes. Stir.

5. Can and process* your jam.

Tips:

- Wash jars and lids in the dishwasher the day before.

- Start boiling your processing water first as this will take awhile.

- Microwave some water in a shallow bowl and heat lids in the bowl while making the jam.

- Put a small bowl in the freezer before you begin. Use it to test your jam's thickness. The jam should thicken quickly in the cold bowl so you know it's ready.

*How To Process Your Jam

1. Fill jars leaving 1/4 inch from the top. Tighten lid.

2. Place jars in boiling water (jars should be covered by at least 2 inches of water). Boil 10 minutes.

3. Cool overnight without touching or bumping.

folding madness

Fact: Katie is getting good at origami.

Fact: Katie loves to mass produce things once she figures them out.

Mama's solution: Put this skill set and passion together and transfer it to something more beneficial for the culinary needs of our family.

Wontons.

Mo was not happy watching us, and ended up joining in.

Her start was commendable, painting water on the edges very carefully.

Then she would just scrunch the whole thing up. And "fold" it over a bit.

"Ta da!" she would proclaim.

The meat tended to slip out of the Maddie creations a bit too easily after being boiled, but they were all edible.

Usually wontons are made with shrimp and ground pork, but I often make them with turkey because it's easily available at my grocery store and is a tad healthier.

Turkey Won Ton

1 lb. ground turkey

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. oyster sauce

1 Tbsp. minced onion

1/4 tsp. sesame oil

2 tsp. sherry

8 water chestnuts diced

4 large Chinese mushrooms diced

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 green onion stalk chopped

1 egg

2 packages of wonton skins

Mix ingredients well. Make wontons using 1 tsp. of filling per wonton.

You can check out YouTube for some tutorials on folding wontons.

oh my oh pie

We've had an uncut pumpkin sitting on our front porch for awhile now so I thought I'd try to make something from it.

I went online to read that jack o' lantern type pumpkins are not ideal for baking, and that you should use 3-4 lb. pumpkins for pie, muffins, etc.

Well, I didn't have a 3-4 lb. pumpkin on my porch I had a big, fat 10+ lb. pumpkin.

I went ahead and baked it and made my very first pumpkin pie yesterday.

Turned out pretty good, and it was fairly simple to make. I sort of tweaked a bunch of different recipes to make my pie (basically using the ingredients I had in my fridge/pantry).

Today, I've been combing through Dana's post to find some more recipes because I have an additional 4 cups of pumpkin puree.

Hit me up with a good recipe if you've got one...

Pumpkin Pie

1 unbaked pie shell (I did not make mine from scratch)
1 3/4 c. pumpkin purée
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 c. whole milk
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. pumpkin spice
1/4 tsp. salt

To roast your pumpkin split it half (or quarters if it's a big one). Scoop out seeds and hairy stuff. Bake in large pyrex/cookie sheet for about 60-90 minutes at 350 degrees. When you can insert a knife like butter through the pumpkin it's done. Cool, scoop out pumpkin from shell and puree.

Preheat the oven to 375˚. Line pie dish with the pastry. Combine the pumpkin with all remaining ingredient and mix thoroughly. Pour into the prepared crust and and bake for 50-60 minutes, until custard is set. A toothpick should come out clean halfway to the center of the pie. If the crust browns too quickly make a ring of aluminum foil to protect it during baking.

making lemonade

While I bake often for some reason I had never made a cake from scratch before. So, for Papa's birthday I made a first attempt and it was in word: Bad.

Katie (with a half-eaten cake in front of her): I think I'm all done Mama.

Papa: That was the litmus test you know.

No idea what I did wrong. It was so disappointing. I even made strawberry butter cream frosting, which we all tried to eat off the awful cake.

We had some leftover frosting, so we made sugar cookies today in order to salvage some of the labor that went into making that.

I will be making cakes over the next few weeks to try to ameliorate this situation.

In the meantime, here is my strawberry frosting recipe, which took me many batches to perfect.

Strawberry Butter Cream Frosting

1 C. unsalted butter (two cubes)

1 C. fresh or frozen strawberries, hulled

2 lbs. powdered sugar (two boxes)

1. Press strawberries through a sieve to get rid of as much liquid as possible. Result should yield approximately 1/2 C. strawberry pulp.

2. Puree pulp.

3. Cream butter with a hand mixer.

4. Add powdered sugar and pulp little by little while with hand mixer on low until you reach desired consistency.

it's raining cookies

Feeling a little under the weather + lots of time in the house with the Little Wickies = mad baking in our house this week.

It's also been an exceptionally cool summer making turning on the oven not a big deal.

It was like a perfect storm.

We made the perennial favorite cowgirl cookies.

AND sugar cookies.

We use Martha's cookie and royal icing recipes (haven't found a better or easier one yet).

I love our cowgirl cookie recipe which I've adapted somewhat through time. It has a lot of cinnamon and I use part whole wheat flour (you can't even tell).

Cowgirl Cookies (Oatmeal Chocolate Chip)

1 C. butter

1 C. brown sugar

1/2 C. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 C. all purpose flour

1/2 C. whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

3 C. oats

1-1/2 C. chocolate chips (we probably end up using 2 C. b/c that's how we roll when it comes to chocolate)

1 C. raisins (optional)

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Beat butter & sugars

3. Add eggs & vanilla; beat well

4. Mix flours, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a separate bowl

5. Add flour mixture to wet mixture

6. Stir in chocolate chips and raisins

7. Drop rounded tablespoons

8. Bake approximately 10 minutes

I hope I feel better soon so I can run some of these cookie calories off otherwise I'll be in trouble!

5th times a charm

Strawberry season is slipping away.

The stand by our house is about to close, and the strawberries you get right now go bad so fast, it's virtually impossible to eat them all before they get mushy.

We've been experimenting with making strawberry mini muffins. We made some with our friends last week and have since made them four additional times tweaking the recipe each time.

I love that mini muffins bake so fast and since I've prepped strawberries in one cup increments my start-to-finish time is under a half hour now.

I added whole wheat flour (which is probably pretty much nixed health-wise if you add chocolate chips like me).

Strawberry Mini Muffins

1/4 C. canola oil

1/2 C. milk

1 egg

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 C. sugar

1/4 C. brown sugar

1 C. all-purpose flour

3/4 C. whole wheat flour

1 C. chopped strawberries

1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp vanilla

cinnamon sugar

mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. Combine all dry ingredients except cinnamon sugar in a bowl.

3. Combine all wet ingredients except strawberries in a separate bowl.

4. Mix dry and wet contents. Fold in strawberries (and mini chocolate chips if you're using them)

5. Scoop batter into muffin pan, then sprinkle cinnamon sugar over batter.

6. Bake for 13 min.