Cookies Baking In A Closed Oven

I don't know about everyone, but for a lot of people Christmas is inherently linked to baking.  Maybe it’s the fruit cake.  Wait, is the cake they sell at the store even count as baking?  I mean, I know it’s baked, but it’s more like a paste by the time you unwrap it and everything.  I have respect for the dish as an acquired taste that some really dig.  I, on the other hand, am not interested in acquiring this taste.

But I digress.  I have been doing me some baking and figured that I would share.  I usually try new things during Christmas.  Sure, I bake the favorites (we shared Chocolate Chip cookies and I'm certain we discussed the snickerdoodles) but I like to try other stuff too.  Pivotal to this is the internet; a mighty tool of information-sharing and (on more than an occasional basis) a source of information.

So, with my meager baking utensils in hand and a tiny kitchen, I set off to bake up a minor storm to fulfill some vague suggestions that they might be received as gifts.  As part of this effort, I present to you some cookie brittle and coconut-lime biscotti.  If you've scrolled through already, you will probably have noticed that I only attached one recipe; I attached the recipe for the brittle.  Why no biscotti recipe? 

Its not a family secret or anything, I can assure you of that much.  I didn't include the recipe because I believe I used a little too much coconut and not enough lime.  The result?  The coconut totally took over the cookie and the only point where I started to detect the lime was during the second baking; I could smell the lime, however, still no taste.  Because of this, I'm not going to share quite yet.  This requires a re-bake with some adjustment.  When I get it all Goldilocks'd, I'll post it up, okay?



Almond Cranberry Crispy Brittle

The infamous biscotti, so harmless in loaf-form but so dreaded for double baking (left).  Before you get all hesitant and such, you should know that the double-bake is well worth the effort you put into it.  Mmm... Double baked crunchiness!  However, if you don't like baking twice for crunch, consider the cookie brittle instead (right).  You bake once, pressed out really thin and, boom, you have crunchy, yummy treats!

What You'll Need:

• 1 cup "I Can't Believe Its Not Butter" margarine
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1 cup toasted almond chunks (see below)
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• white chocolate chips for decorative purposes

How It's Done:

1. Preheat your oven to about 350F. (The rack should be around the middle position of your oven for proper cooking.)
2. Toast the almond bits.  (In a dry, non-greased fry pan over medium heat, toast the almond pieces until they turn from the light off-white color that they are in the package/bin.)
3. Soften the margarine however you like and set aside for a short while.  (I just let it hang out in a dish and leave the dish on my oven while that ramps up as well.  Two birds, one stone.  All right.)
4. While butter cools, sift together the salt and the flour and set aside.  (I also chose to measure out everything else at this point too because I'm picky like that.  Thumbs up for streamlining!)
5. Transfer the butter to your mixing bowl and add the sugar and cream for a short span.
6. Add in the vanilla extract and mix until dispersed out.
7. Add the flour and mix to combine.  (My dough was a lot like really thick cookie dough at this point.  It was probably the margarine because I find that baking with margarine makes things a little bit stickier than butter.)
8. Add in the toasted nuts first, making sure they're combined.
9. Add in the cranberries, turning the mixture over until the berries are also pretty much throughout.
10. Using a spatula, put half of the dough onto a tin-foiled baking sheet and then squish down until really thin and more-or-less even.
11. Bake for 24 minutes in the oven; let the other half of the dough chill out in the fridge while you're baking it up.  (And then you can either set a timer and check back OR you can be like me and sit there watching it.  However, it should be noted that I only watched the first batch.  I was worried this was going to be an epic fail and then I'd be scraping it off of everything.  I realized after the fact that I had used tin foil.  Silly me.)
12. Remove when the edges are dark brown and the middle is a lighter brown and let it cool down on the pan for a bit then transfer to a rack.  (I tried to lift the first batch out of the pan with very little success because it started to sag in the middle.  By letting it hang out on the pan for a bit and then moving it away, it was pretty firm and the transfer was super easy.)
13. Bake up the second batch the same way.  (Same story, other half of the dough.)
14. Let the almondy-cran-awesomeness cool entirely then break it into bits and hook it up with a home in an airtight container.  (I spread melted white chocolate chips and then spread it over one half.  If you do this, the brittle should then chill in the fridge for an hour or so to get everything all solid.)

This recipe was adapted based on the recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle that I found on Shauna's site called 'Piece of Cake' (click here!).  It was a total 'stumbled upon' moment, whilst I was wandering aimlessly around on the internet.  The recipe totally worked out well (even given the fact that I didn't use chocolate chips and used almonds/cranberries instead).  I'd really like to try this with another flavor combination.  Not sure what yet.  I'm thinking something like... well, there's... oatmeal raisin?  Maybe that's a little plain Jane.  I'll keep thinking on it.  We'll talk again in the future!

Merry, Happy Holiday Season!

Hey there! It's Christmas time again (as most sites on the internet have probably already reminded you).  However, and just the same, I want to wish you and yours all the best of the holiday season no matter what holiday it is during this time of year that you are celebrating.  I wish you and yours all the best from me and mine. May all the best come your way as you exchange gifts.  May all meetings with friends both near and far bring you happiness.  Should you be traveling, may you travel safely from your home to your destination. Great tidings for all and, if you can spare some time from all the festivities (or perhaps in contribution to them), bake yourself up the perfect storm! Sincerely, KitchKem*

The Oven, The Bowl, and "The Chewy"

When I talk to other people about their family trips as kids, Disneyland or amusement parks almost always come up.  It is a reasonable trend; these places have candy, lots of bright colors and over-sized characters with whom to take pictures. 

I can't say that I didn't have these experiences as a kid.  I can, however, say that they aren't the most prominent ones.  Apparently, we went to Disneyland a whole bunch of times when I was 'too young to remember'. (Side note:  Does anyone else thing that parents say stuff like that when they don't want questions about things?  I mean, you can't really make an argument because they tell you why you can't remember!  In conclusion, quite infuriating.)

But I digress.  Anyway, as I was growing up, a lot of our trips became educational:  Disneyland (or Magic Kingdom) was replaced by Epcot; we went for more hikes; and car rides weren't direct to the beach but scenic routes with a historical sites (like old train stations) included.

Another thing I really remember is watching Bill Nye the Science Guy.  How popular is he throughout the world?  I'm wondering because I'm pretty sure that was a pretty awesome show.  It was so awesome, in fact, that they still used the videos to teach us a lesson in grade school.  Well, in retrospect,  I guess it could also have been a successful method of keeping us quiet and compliant.  Oh well!

So, just why are we talking about Bill Nye the Science Guy?  It is related, I promise you that much!  After a long while of being separated through time (and opportunity) from Bill Nye, I found Alton Brown while keeping the Food Network on the tv in the next room.  'Good Eats' is pretty neat because, instead of just telling you how to do things (mix ingredients, put in oven, consume) you also get tidbits *why* things work or historical facts.  Its sort of neat that way.

And also because it taught me how to make pretty awesome chocolate chip cookies.  Mine spread a little much for my liking, however, the fault is entirely mine; I was on a bit of a deadline and I didn't let the dough chill for as long as it probably should have.  The lesson I'm taking away from this is as follows: "If the recipe says chill the dough, make sure it is cold to the touch before proceeding."

"The Chewy" Chocolate Chip Cookies

Is there anything that smells as fantastic as melting butter?  I used a bowl over some simmering water to melt the butter slowly while I dealt with the other steps in preparation (top left).  Taking that melted butter and adding sugars, you get this awesome dark brown mixture that, when mixed vigorously until smooth, gives something that is tempting to spread on toast (top right).  Yes, I know it sounds gross, but it looks nearly like caramel!  Then, after the batter is completely mixed, the result looks pretty sweet on my oven mittens in natural light (bottom).  I may or may not have, shortly after, eaten about half of those.  ^__^;;;

What You'll Need:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 2 1/4 cups bread flour (To the bulk foods store!  I know, a little silly, but I don't make bread often so I do not commonly have this stuff just lying around.  Also, I don't make these often enough to justify buying a whole bag.)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup sugar (Sweet.  Literally!)
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar (I finally found a brown sugar puck!  I tried to find a clay pot, but there aren't any plant stores nearby.  I was very sad, but the puck works just the same I think.)
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tbsp milk (I told you before that I don't drink a lot of milk so I had to use the soy milk.  I didn't find a large difference so I'd say the switch was an overall win.)
• 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract (Mmm... Vanilla....)
• 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips (I only used about 1 cup.  I like my cookies with some chocolate, not the other way around.  I will say that I have indeed done it with two cups and, I don't know what chips other people use, but it is just way too much chocolate for me!)

How It's Done:

1. Preheat the cookie baker to 375F.
2. Put the butter in a dish over a bowl of hot water and let it melt away.  (Alternatively, you can do it in the microwave, but I like the control that you get with the double burner set-up rather than having to camp out the microwave to prevent nuclear hot butter from going just about everywhere.  Its a cleaning time reduction quirk of mine.)
3. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda then set aside.  (I added the salt straight then sifted the rest.  I also used a whisk.  Just for good measure.)
4. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed with a mixer.  (I didn't have a mixer and so I attacked the butter and sugars with a whisk.  I would highly suggest using the mixer though.  These babies were much easier to make when I had one!)
5. Add the egg, yolk, milk and vanilla to the butter/sugars and mix until smooth and homogeneous.
6. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients from before and make sure there are no lumps.
7. Dump in the chocolate chips of awesome-ness!
8. Shove the dough in the fridge and chill for a while.
9. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto a parchment covered baking sheet, 6 cookies per batch.  (The cookies do spread out so by only making six at a time, you can get some good space and prevent one large cookie catastrophe.  Unless you like eating these as much as I do.  In that case, maybe test how many you can fit on a sheet at one time for the first batch! ^__^)
10. Bake for 12-14 minutes until golden (and a little bit darker around the edges).
11. Remove and let cool on the sheet for a bit then move to a rack.  (I only let them cool for a few seconds before moving them because... I've dropped a few batches in the past and they have crumbled and it gets everywhere and... well, I had mentioned about my aversion to drawn out cooking, yes?  Anyway, by letting them cool for a short while, they get a bit firm around the edges before I move 'em! ^__^  In short, crisis averted!)
12. Store them in an airtight container and enjoy!

This recipe is brought to you by Alton Brown via 'Good Eats'.  However, because its hard to watch an episode and remember everything exactly as you saw it, Food Network is pretty cool about hosting all the recipes.  That being said, the original recipe (without all of the short-cuts I had to take due to a lack of mixer and, well, a couple of other kitchen-related devices) can be found on the Food Network website.  Oh and, while you're there, you may also want to check out his recipe for coconut cake done with a real coconut.  There's something to be said about fresh ingredients, you know!

Buttery, Nutty, Goodness Me!

Okay, don't take it personally, but I baked since we last spoke. It was entirely on a whim and late at night (so you know that the picture isn't going to be as swell as it was when I baked on Sunday afternoon). I had mentioned before but, darn, do I sound like an addict don't I! Okay, this doesn't really count as "true baking" because I cheated. A lot.

While surfing on the internet, I was interested in the concept of using cake batter to make cookies. So many variations, so many different flavors, but how to pick one? Well, I was going to make pumpkin spice but, as luck would have it, Walmart was out of Spice Cake Mix. I like chocolate as much as the next person, but I like it in limited quantities. This recipe makes a little bit more than a limited quantity. Thusly, chocolate was also out. Yellow Cake and French Vanilla are a little plain but have very admirable traits; they can be wielded and turned into flavorful things. So, Vanilla Cake Mix in hand, I started to hike off down the eisle. And that's when the Butter Pecan Cake Mix caught my eye. How intriguing!

Vanilla lost this round, but it still remains our most favorite flavor. The Vanilla bean; from many origins and yet each one with a delicate, creamy, and (at times) earth aroma and taste. Need I say more?

Back to the cookies though. Most of the recipes call for oil of some kind. I, however, so not use a lot of vegetable oil so it is a bit of a loss if I get an entire container of it. You can, I have read, substitute oils for fruit purees with little flavor loss. But, just in case, what is the harm in picking a fruit puree that is more complementary?

Ingredient no. 2: Pear puree (because you know apple is a little cliche).

Last, but certainly not least, have to take an egg out and make sure that its at room temp.

Mix it all together and drop by the spoonful onto a baking sheet. Everything in my reading suggested that I should have been able to roll the dough. If you like dough-gloves, by all means, go for eet! I, however, like my hands in the useful conformation (getting dough on everything in the kitchen is a little cumbersome) so I dropped by spoonful and made imperfectly shaped cookies. There's just something about irregular cookies that I like. They're kind of like snowflakes; each one is different and unique in its own right.

My apartment smelled like buttery pecan goodness for a solid two hours. Baking, for the win!

Boxed Cake Mix Cookies

Mmm... Pecan buttery goodness.  Apologies for no natural lighting.  That's just what you get when you spontaneously feel like baking short-cut cookies at night after the sun has gone down.  The moon doesn't hit my side of the building until I'm nestled in bed.  I heart you guys, but all of my systems start to give up around 11:00 pm.

You will need:

• 1 pkg Betty Crocker Cake Mix (The possibilities is relatively limited so I can't state that they're endless per se, but rather that the choices are many)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil (Or vegetable oil substitute of your choosing. It sounds icky, but prune puree has always served me well if you feel like the choices are too great. Also, I use baby food to fill this purpose. Then I eat the rest because fruit is awesome. Though apples out-of-hand can't be beat. More on that earlier.)
• 1 large egg
• Handful of white chocolate chips (For some creative flare!)

How it's done:

1. Preheat the oven up to 350F. (Trust your knowledge of your oven on this one. However you usually set it for a recipe that needs it to be 350F; there's variation in oven sometimes.)
2. Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. Using a small spoon, drop spoonfuls onto a prepared parchment-covered cookie sheet.
4. Place a couple of chocolate chips on the top of the drops. (I used white chocolate chips, but I don't see why you couldn't use those round chocolate discs they have at the bulk food store or nuts of some kind.)
5. Place the cookie sheet in the middle of the oven and bake for 10 minutes. (8-10 minutes, depending. The cookies, if you're using a light mix, should get light brown around the edges and you will know they are done.)
6. Pull them out and let them cool 5 minutes on the cookie sheet then transfer to a rack (still on the paper) to cool completely. (When baking these, I noticed that trying to pull them off of the paper tore them to bits. I'm not saying I was complaining because I got to eat a whole batch of them, but I do learn from my mistakes. In the interest of sharing - and my waistline - I let them cool off completely then peeled them off the paper.)
7. Store in an air-tight container and then spread the wealth!

This recipe was loosely adapted from a handful of different recipes hosted on Allrecipes.com. They all seem to like using different proportions of egg and oil. So, I made a compromised adaptation and was pretty pleased with the results. I would fully encourage you to check out Allrecipes.com for the variety of Cake Mix Cookies (give it a click or search 'Cake Mix Cookies' with the search function). All that said, go forth and bake up a storm mightly crafters of yummy treats! ^_^

p.s. Hopefully, we will be able to have a great heart-to-heart about cookies of many different kinds. I have to bake up some Christmas presents after all!

Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice

That's what Chai Snickerdoodles are made of.  Well, in all honesty, there's some other stuff in there too.  Like butter (heck, yes!), flour and eggs.  Basically, some par-for-the-course cookie ingredients.  The cookies themselves, however, are not par.  They're more like birdies.  Or eagles.  But, let's break away from this entire golf metaphor and move on to something with which I am far more familiar.  (Random point of interest: I am certifiably horrible at golf, despite promising though sporadic performances during visits to the driving range.)

I wanted to reference this recipe hardcore back when the oven was a carbon container and the Easy-Off was but a pipe dream at the end of a very long and dark tunnel.  However, because I bake these more often than just once, I held off and gave up another recipe in its place.

My friend, Hannah, first introduced me to this recipe in high school when we had a Christmas bake-off.  Nothing says holidays like spending precious moments with friends in the kitchen making something that tastes wonderful.  I mean to say that those are memories that you carry with you for a while.  Thusly, we are talking about it right now!

Before I give up and we get into the baking portion of this, I do have a random observation about this cookie recipe in particular.  I have made these a grand total of... six (?) times.  Each and every single time that I have made these cookies they come out differently.  For example, the first time, they were more rotund and puffy.  Subsequent times, they have been flat, crispy, chewy and probably combinations/variations thereof.  I have no doubt that they will turn out slightly different for you as well.  However, no matter what they look like or the firmness of them (crunchy vs. soft) they are still lovely little things.  Even with coffee.

So, without further delay, let us get down to the baking!

p.s.  You know what I miss most about baking at home?  Multiple baking sheets.  You wouldn't believe how much longer it takes to bake with only one cookie sheet.  Maybe Santa will leave one for me under the Christmas tree.  (Mom, if you're reading this, MASSIVE HINT!)(And much love, duh! ^_^)



Chai Snickerdoodles

Now don't those look yummy?  Spicy, sugary cookies that stand alone or walk in a friendly manner with a cup of coffee (or tea, I'm not biased).  On a completely unrelated note, I am totally cooking on Sunday afternoons and not evenings more often; just look at how well daylight and my camera get along! ^__^

You will need:

• 2 cups sugar (Granulated, ftw!)
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (I'm not brand-name dropping, but the one I used was the Club House one.  The original recipe, which is linked at the bottom, calls for cardamom but this works just as well)
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1 cup butter, soft (You can also use margarine; I've gone both ways.  No snickers, please!  I just realized that is sort of a pun.  No pun intended and no dirty-joke chuckling please!)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt (I totally 'pinch' this out; no measuring equipment required)
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp baking soda

How it's done:

1. Preheat your oven to 350F.
2. Combine the sugar and spices in a bowl then scoop out 1/2 cup of it and set it aside.  (You know that good things can only come from spiced sugar).
3. Whisk (or sift) together the flour, salt, cream of tartar and baking soda and set aside for subsequent use.
4. Cream the butter (or margarine) with the sugar mixture until light and fluffy.  (This step is really spicy so be careful not to sneeze into your cookies.  Or, if you do, don't mention it when handing out the results of your hard work.  Just saying.)
5. Add in the eggs one at a time.
6. Mix in the vanilla extract.
7. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the wet junk and stir until there is no streaking or dry clumps.
8. Grab walnut-sized chunks of dough, roll into nice round balls in your hands.
9. Roll the balls through the sugar that you set aside before and set them down (as balls) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  (This is especially easy if you spread the sugar over a plate with a lid or a super shallow bowl.  I like the plate method, but I'm not going to preach it to you.)
10. Bake for 11-13 minutes.  (Like we've seen before, this is going to depend on your oven and how you and your oven interact.  Mine is picky, so is my mum's, so the oven times vary a little.)
11. Take the cookies out of the oven and let them just hang out on the cookie sheet for a bit before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.
12. Store 'em up in an airtight container or appropriately decorated cookie tin. (It is December after all!)

The recipe that is listed above was retrieved from the internet a long while back (I will not detail when because that would place a date on my still ambiguous countenance).  I do know for sure that it was retrieved from Nicole over at Baking Bites.  Check out Chai Snickerdoodles on her site and, if you have some time, definitely check out the other neat stuff there too; she's a great blogger!  Plus, there are also reviews on baking stuff and products that are totally useful.  ^_^



KitchKem is currently rocking House MD season three on her DVD player.