Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip-Oatmeal Cookies

I was visiting my sister-in-law and spied some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies on her stove and my jaw dropped. They were the most beautifully shaped cookie I have ever seen from a homemaker's kitchen. I thought it was the recipe, but in fact it was her technique. Ah-ha, so....I bought a new stone for cookie baking and I love it!

My cookies are baking up as beautiful as can be and now look as good as they taste. I couldn't be happier or more excited. So now I am taking all my old cookie recipes and re-making them to bake on the stone just for fun. I no longer have the spreading issue I had with baking cookies in the past. It seemed that no matter what I tried, whether I chilled the dough or even froze the dough in cute little balls, they would consistently spread and flatten. I tried measuring my flour from every measuring cup I own using both the scoop and sweep method vs. spooning my flour into my cup and sweeping. I switched to weighing flour thinking that might fix the problem since my measuring was in-consistent. I bought new baking powders and sodas thinking mine were just too old. I tried baking on every cookie sheet imaginable including a silpat to no avail. I was so discouraged with cookie baking I turned to other baking. How can somebody who manages to make some pretty fun things not be able to bake a cookie! To think my problem resolved around a baking stone and a lower temp. So far all the cookies on my new stone are baking up 25-30 minutes in a 300 degree oven using a #30 scoop. I get these plump little beauties that I can proudly call my own....not just a relief, but how fun is that!

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip-Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup (1/2 lb.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups chocolate chips (12 oz.)
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 cup unsalted roasted peanuts, chopped

Instructions

1. In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and peanut butter until well blended. Beat in eggs and vanilla until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
2. In another bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Stir or beat into butter mixture until well incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips, oats, and peanuts.
3. Drop dough in rounded 2-tablespoon portions, 3 inches apart, onto buttered or cooking parchment-lined 12- by 15-inch baking sheets. With a lightly floured fork, flatten slightly into 2 1/2-inch rounds about 1/2 inch thick.
4. Bake in a 350° oven until cookies are golden and tops feel set when lightly pressed, 12 to 14 minutes (they will feel underdone but will firm up as they cool); if baking more than one pan at a time, switch pan positions halfway through baking.
5. Let stand 5 minutes on sheets, then, with a wide spatula, transfer cookies to racks to cool. If hot cookies start to break, slide a thin spatula under them to release; let stand on pan to firm up, 2 to 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Marlene Sorosky Gray, Sunset NOVEMBER 2003

The Chocolate Chip Cookie

My sister started packing up yesterday. She is moving...not too far away thankfully; just a few hours drive. She ran across all kinds of photos from when we were younger. Marriages, kids, siblings....pictures of things long forgotten and all the memories started flooding back and you know what....they were all good! Not one bad memory, how many people can usually say that and mean it? Then the rain started, which turned into a hail storm. We actually got enough hail to cover the ground to make it look like snow....in May! Well, no one was gonna rain on my parade of old wonderful memories...what could save the mood better than warm chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven.

No matter how the recipe originated, there is nothing that transcends generations like the chocolate chip cookie. All the many variations still come down to the wonderful starting block of sugars and fats combined with flours and leaveners and topped off with chocolate. This is yet another variation with the addition of almond extract alongside traditional vanilla for a little twist. The recipe came from the old Maxi's Cafe in the Napa Valley.

The Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

 

Ingredients

   1      cup           sugar
   2 1/2  cups        brown sugar, packed
   1      lb              butter, softened
   1 1/2  tsp           salt
   1 1/2  tsp           baking soda
   6      cups          flour (part whole wheat)
   3      Tbs           vanilla extract
   1      Tbs           walnut or almond extract
   2      pkg           chocolate chips (12 oz.)
   3                       eggs
   2      cups          chopped walnut pieces (optional)

Instructions

1. Cream butter & sugars. Add eggs & extracts. Mix well.

2. Sift together salt, soda, & flour. Add chips & nuts.

3. Mix dry ingredients with butter & sugar mixture and combine all well.

4. Spoon by heaping tablespoonfuls on cookie sheets and bake 350 for 7-9

minutes.

(Kim's Note:  I make large 2" diameter balls and bake at 300 for 25-30 minutes on a baking stone.)

Recipe from the Welcome to Maxi's - Gourmet Recipes from the Napa Valley cookbook.

Fig Newtons

Spring is here! That means that summer is right around the corner and that means pies! Ah yes, who doesn't love a fresh fruit pie. Apple is fantastic, but always a fall/winter obsession for me. Blackberry, now that's what I call summer treat. So in getting ready for dough season, what better way to start honing the pastry skills than to wrap some wonderful sweet dough around a beautiful concoction of figs.

I always loved fig newtons as a kid. Several years ago I ran across a recipe on the Food Network and gave it a go, sure enough, it was fantastic. A beautiful cookie that's wrapped around dried figs that have been reconstituted with an equal amount of orange and apple juice and a pinch of cinnamon. Just enough to enhance the flavor of the figs, not overpower. Any chance I get to use a pastry bag and a star tip, I'm in! How fun is that!

Fig Newton Recipe

Ingredients

Dough

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cool unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 4 eggs

Filling

• 1 cup dried figs, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Equipment

• A large cookie sheet, well greased, or lined with parchment paper or lined with nonstick baking mats, or a nonstick cookie sheet.
• A straight edge or ruler

Directions

Dough: Blend the dry ingredients in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer). Add the butter and mix at low speed until sandy. Whisk 3 of the eggs together until foamy and add to the bowl. Mix to combine. Form the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
Filling: Combine all ingredients in a saucepan, and cook over medium heat until all the liquid is absorbed by the figs and the mixture is thick. Let cool slightly, then puree in a food processor (or using a hand blender) until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to bake. (The recipe can be made up to this point and refrigerated up to 3 days.)
When you're ready to bake, heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Make an egg wash by whisking the remaining egg with 2 teaspoons of water. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a rough rectangle, about 1/8-inch thick. Cut the dough lengthwise into strips, at least 2 1/2 inches wide. Paint around the edges of 1 strip with egg wash. Pipe or spoon the fig filling down the center of the strip and then fold the dough over to enclose the filling, slightly overlapping the long edge, like a letter. Place the tube, seam side down, on the cookie sheet, then press down lightly to flatten somewhat. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Bake until light golden brown, about 15 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. Use a sharp knife to cut into 1-inch segments.

Recipe courtesy Gale Gand's Just A Bite by Gale Gand and Julia Moskin: Clarkson N. Potter Publishers, 2001

Kim's notes: I multiplied the filling by 1-1/2 to have enough for all the dough.

Shortbread Cookies

Butter, a culinary treasure. Butter has been reported to be the gateway to a host of health problems. But butter's negative reputation is undeserved, and that actually butter substitutes and man-made trans fats are the true culprits that pose the health threats. Good natural butter is made from fresh wholesome cow's milk......what I call dairy goodness.

We are not breakfast people. Never really have been, it's probably the early work hours we keep, but come mid morning you start to feel the empty stomach and need a little pick me up. I try and make sure my husband has something nice to fill his tummy to tide him over until lunch. I usually make some sort of dried fruit scones, granola bars, or tea type cookies. Nothing too sweet as it is....essentially....breakfast.

Shortbread cookies have such an incredible rich flavor, thanks to butter. Who knew added flour, sugar, vanilla, and a pinch of salt could be such a fantastic addition to butter. Such a few simple ingredients can make a delightful cookie that imparts that pure wonderfully rich, creamy yet crisp, heavenly taste.

Eat a cookie, thank a cow!

Shortbread Cookie Recipe

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 3/4 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 to 7 ounces very good semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough 1/2-inch thick and cut with a 3 by 1-inch finger-shaped cutter. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.

When the cookies are cool, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put 3 ounces of the chocolate in a glass bowl and microwave on high power for 30 seconds. (Don't trust your microwave timer; time it with your watch.) Stir with a wooden spoon. Continue to heat and stir in 30-second increments until the chocolate is just melted. Add the remaining chocolate and allow it to sit at room temperature, stirring often, until it's completely smooth. Stir vigorously until the chocolate is smooth and slightly cooled; stirring makes it glossier.

Drizzle 1/2 of each cookie with just enough chocolate to coat it.

Recipe by Ina Garten 

Kim's Notes: I just roll dough into a 1-1/2" log, chill, and slice into 1/2" thick rounds. I skip the chocolate. It's not that I don't adore chocolate, but there is a time and a place, these are just too good on their own!