Category: Uncategorized

I’ve got your vacation RX

First things first, my camera died halfway through this cake.  So, this post and most likely several posts to come will be brought to you by iPhone.

Second, I’m continuing my love affairs with Dorie.

Between renovations, summer teaching and TD’s general “hey I run a production company out of our house,” we somehow forgot to plan a summer vacation.  I definitely don’t recommend this.  In fact I am a strong advocate for maxing-out vacation time on an annual basis.

Alas, aspirations and reality sometimes don’t meet up.

But I’ve got a cure in the form of coconut and lime.  I’m a sucker for  coconut and the acid in the lime is just what the doctor ordered to cut through the richness of the cake.

While you can’t really replace summer vacation with a cake, it’s not a bad way to suffer.

Coconut Tea Cake

Ingredients
  • 2 C all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 C canned unsweetened coconut milk (I used light…it worked great, just give it a good shake before opening and measuring)
  • 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
  • 4 large eggs at room temperature
  • 2 C sugar
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp dark rum (I used cachaca because neither TD or I drink rum and don’t have it in the house)
  • 1 C desiccated coconut
Directions
  1. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat.  Add coconut and, using a rubber spatula stir constantly until coconut is toasted (this will only take a couple of minutes so don’t walk away).  Remove from heat and set aside.
  2. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-to10-inch (10-12 cup) Kugelhopf or Bundt pan, or use an unbuttered silicone pan.
  3. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.
  4. Pour the coconut milk into a small saucepan, add the butter and heat until the milk is hot and the butter melted. Remove from the heat, but keep warm.
  5. Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar at medium-high speed until pale, thick and almost doubled in volume, about 3 minutes.
  6. Beat in the vanilla and the rum.
  7. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed and stopping just when the flour disappears.
  8. Keeping the mixer on low, add the coconut, mixing only until it is blended, then steadily add the hot milk and butter. When the mixture is smooth, stop mixing and give the batter a couple of turns with a rubber spatula, just to make certain that any ingredients that might have fallen to the bottom of the bowl are incorporated.
  9. Pour the batter into the pan and give the pan a few back-and-forth shakes to even the batter.
  10. Bake for 60-65 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a thin knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding onto the rack to cool to room temperature.

For Icing

Ingredients

  • 2 C confectioner’s sugar
  • Juice from 1-2 limes

Directions

  1. Add sugar to medium bowl.
  2. Drizzle-in juice from the first lime.
  3. Whisk until smooth adding additional juice until you get desired consistency.
  4. Drizzle over cooled cake.

Citrus and jasmine madeleines

My madeleine pan had been calling to me for months claiming it was lonely stacked up against the muffin tins.  So, on an early morning stroll through Dorrie Greenspan’s Baking from My Home to Yours I found some inspiration in her Earl Grey version.

As much as I love earl grey, its had a lot of air time on this blog and I thought it might be nice to give another tea the spotlight.  Years ago when people in the U.S. started drinking green tea, I did too.  There was just one problem–no matter how many mugfuls I downed, I couldn’t seem to acquire a taste for it.  It was too, well, green for my Western palate.  That is until I discovered Trader Joes jasmine green tea.   Who doesn’t love a tea that smells pretty?

This was a fun recipe to experiment with because Dorrie has you steep the tea in melted butter.  It also directs the baker to strain the tea out of the butter with cheesecloth before incorporating the other ingredients.  However, I liked the texture the tea added and so used a mesh strainer so that some of the leaves were left behind.

Much of the loveliness of jasmine tea lies in its fragrance.  So, I was uncertain that the fragrance would translate into flavor when baked.

I shouldn’t have worried.  The jasmine and citrus zest played together really well to create a subtle and unique flavor to the little cakes.

The only problem is that I that I couldn’t figure out a good compliment to serve these with…what kind of tea does one pair with tea flavored cookies?  Coffee?

Fun with the beast of yeast

Last week’s peanut butter and chocolate treats were so easy I felt the need to make up for it.  While my experience with yeasted doughs lies in the advanced beginner range, I find making bread deeply satisfying.

We spent a couple of weeks on breads in the course I took last summer and, with the exception of the supremely sticky brioche, the instructor insisted we hand kneed everything.  She wasn’t masochistic or even particularly old-school.  From a technique perspective, she thought being able to “feel” the dough was important.

So for this recipe, I left my Kitchenad and dough hook in the pantry and went hands on.  It didn’t hurt that with new quartz countertops I could actually work directly on the surface.

After 10 minutes or so, my arms were burning and I admit, I was sweating.  But I had dough.

Studded with raisins and walnuts, the dough nearly doubled during its first proof.

It then was divided, rolled into rectangles, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, rolled and left to proof again.

Proofing….proofing…

Because you can never have too much spiced sugar, a hearty layer went on top right out of the oven to create a crackly crust.

I found this cinnamon, crunchy, raisin, walnutty treat a challenge to have around the house and was grateful I had the good sense to freeze the second loaf as soon as it cooled.

Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Walnut  Bread

from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice, Peter Reinhart

Ingredients

  • 3 1/2 C, 16 ounces unbleached bread flour
  • 4 tsp, .66 ounce granulated sugar
  • 1 1/4 tsp, .30 ounces salt
  • 2 tsp, .22 ounces instant yeast
  • 1 1/4 tsp, .16 ounces ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/4 tsp, .16 ounces ground cinnamon
  • 1 large egg, beaten slightly
  • 2 TBs, 1 ounce butter, melted
  • 1/2 C, 4 ounces buttermilk or whole milk at room temp (I used buttermilk)
  • 3/4 C, 6 ounces water at room temp
  • 1 1/2 C, 9 ounces raisins
  • 1 C, 4 ounces chopped walnuts
  • 1 large egg, beaten slightly
  • 2 TBs, 1 ounce butter, melted
  • 1/2 C, 4 ounces buttermilk or whole milk at room temp (I used buttermilk)
  • 3/4 C, 6 ounces water at room temp
  • 1 1/2 C, 9 ounces raisins
  • 1 C, 4 ounces chopped walnuts

If doing cinnamon swirl

  • 1/2 C granulated sugar
  • 2 TBs ground cinnamon
  • 2 TBS butter (keep it in stick form for easier spreading)

Directions

  1. Stir together flour, sugar, salt, yeast and cinnamon in a mixing bowl.
  2. Add the egg, butter, buttermilk and water.  Stir together with a large spoon until the ingredients come together and form a ball.  Adjust with flour or water if the dough seems too sticky or too dry and stiff.
  3. Sprinkle flour on a work surface and transfer the dough to the counter.  Begin kneading.  The dough should be soft but pliable and tacky but not sticky.  Add flour as you knead if necessary to achieve this texture.  Knead by hand for approximately 10 minutes.
  4. Sprinkle with walnuts and raisins for the last two minutes.  To know if the dough is ready, apply the windowpane test.  To do this, flour your fingers and pinch off about a 1/8 C of dough.  Using both hands, stretch the dough.  If you can stretch it enough to see through the dough without it breaking, you are good to go. If not, keep kneading.
  5. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to it, rolling it to coat entire ball of dough in oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it proof for about 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.
  6. For swirl, mix together sugar an cinnamon.
  7. Divide the dough into two equal pieces.  Roll each dough half into a 8X5 inch rectangle, about 1/3 inch thick.
  8. Sprinkle each half with 1/4 of the sugar mixture.
  9. Starting with the long edge, roll dough up into a tight roll, pinch the ends closed.
  10. Place each loaf into a lightly oiled 8.5X4.5 inch pan.  Mist the tops with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap.
  11. Proof at room temp for 60-90 minutes or until the dough crests the lip of the pan and is nearly double in size.
  12. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place oven rack in the middle of the oven.
  13. Place loaf pans on a sheet pans making sure they are not touching each other.
  14. Bake for 20 minutes, rotate pans 180 degrees for even baking and the bake for another 20-30 minutes.  The finished bread should register 190 degrees in the center and be golden brown on the top and lightly golden on sides and bottom.  The loaves should make a hollow sounds when thumped on the bottom.
  15. Immediately remove the breads from their pans.
  16. Rub 1 TBS butter over the top of each loaf and then sprinkle with remaining sugar and cinnamon.  As the bread cools this will become a crust.
  17. Allow to cool for at least one hour before cutting and serving.

 

 

So easy I should be ashamed

It’s always disappointing when an anticipated cookbook doesn’t have that one recipe you were hoping for.  Objectively I understand the hook–leaving it out leaves room for a next cookbook in.

This was the case when the people at Lemonade left out the recipe for their nostalgic peanut butter and chocolate crispy rice treats.

Luckily, this fine country of ours is way too wedded to sweetened cereal treats for there not to be a couple dozen similar recipes floating around in the ether.

As the title of this post confesses, this recipe is really easy.

And, if you can believe it, I found a way to make it even easier.

Instead of dirtying another couple of dishes and melting the chocolate in a double boiler or even the microwave, just scatter the chips over your crunchies and pop the whole thing into a preheated oven for five minutes.

I feel like I should be ashamed of myself.  But I’m not.

These are a great summer picnic food.  Easy to throw together in the morning and by the time you’re ready to go, all you have to do is cut them up.

Peanut butter and dark chocolate crispy rice treats

Ingredients

  • 1 C light corn syrup
  • 1 C granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 C peanut butter (smooth or crunchy, your choice)
  • 6 C crispy rice cereal
  • 12-20 ounces dark chocolate chips (in the pictures I used 20 ounces…just depends on how thick you want your chocolate layer)

Directions

  1. Cut parchment to fit a 9X13 inch baking pan.  Oil the pan and parchment lightly.
  2. In a large bowl, measure out cereal.  Set aside.
  3. In a small sauce pan, whisk together sugar and corn syrup until sugar is mixed-in (it will not dissolve).  Let simmer over medium heat until mixture boils.
  4. Remove from heat and add-in peanut butter.  Stir mixture until completely incorporated.
  5. Pour peanut butter mixture into rice cereal. Gently fold until all ingredients are incorporated.
  6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  7. Turn mixture into prepared pan and evenly distribute until cereal meets the corners.  I find it useful to pack the cereal by rolling a coffee mug on its side across the surface.
  8. Sprinkle chocolate over entire surface of rice mixture.  Place pan in oven.  Set timer for 5 minutes.
  9. Using a knife or off-set spatula, smooth chocolate evenly over the surface.
  10. Allow chocolate to cool and harden completely.
  11. Cut and serve as desired.  These keep well–up to a week if covered in plastic.

 

When Pinterest gets ya

 

I’ll admit it, this is a Pinterest find.

It’s funny, for all the baking I do, I don’t spend very much time pursuing Pinterest for baking recipes.   Nope.  The vast majority of my Pinterest time is spent searching house blueprints.  And shoes.  And Vitamix recipes.  Even though I make the exact same protein smoothie every day.

But these I could not resist.  Oatmeal?  Butterscotch?  Yes please!

Now for a confession: I generally haven’t had much luck making oatmeal cookies.  It’s like I’m missing the oatmeal cookie gene.  Quick oats…regular oats…Irish oats…groats…doesn’t matter.  Instead of thick chewy wholesome treats, mine always spread.

So, using the skills I learned in baking class last summer I refrigerated the portioned-out dough over night.  My hope was that this would allow the oats to absorb some of the moisture while also chilling the butter to keep it from causing the dough to spread.

It worked pretty well.  I think there is still room from improvement (maybe smaller, thicker pucks of dough), but this is a delightful recipe with which to practice.

Chewy Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies

adapted from Baker by Nature

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 C all-purpose flour (measured properly/not packed)
  • 1/2 C *quick cooking oats (not instant)
  • 1/2 tsp cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/8 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/2 C butter (4 ounces), at room temp
  • 3/4 C packed light brown sugar
  • 2 TBS granulated sugar
  • 2 TBSs (not blackstrap)
  • 3 large egg yolks at room temp
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 C butterscotch chips

Directions

  1. In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, oats, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; set aside.
  2. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment, whip the butter, sugars, and molasses on medium-high speed until light and fluffy; about 2 minutes.
  3. Add in egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  4. Mix in vanilla.
  5. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, beat on low until just combined; about 25 seconds.
  6. Fold in butterscotch chips.
  7. Using spoons or a scoop, portion out the dough into individual balls or half domes.  Arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.
  8. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats.
  9. Using the flat bottom of a cup or mug, gently flatten each ball to between 1/4 and 1/8 inch disks (you may need to dip the glass or mug in sugar to keep the dough from sticking.
  10. Bake in preheated oven for 9 minutes, or until set at the edges but still slightly jiggly in the center.
  11. Allow cookies to cool 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

Deep dark chocolate bread

It took me a couple of tries to get this one right.

The first time I tried was last fall when I spent a weekend binge-baking recipes from Christina Tosi’s recently published Huckleberry cookbook.

The original recipes says it makes one loaf.  And even though I thought that single loaf pan was really, really, REALLY full, I went with it.  Luckily my spider sense told me to put a half sheet pan on the lower rack because there was a serious chocolate explosion in my oven.

I made a note to try two loaves the next time I played with the recipe.

Then several months passed and it wasn’t until recently that I was brave enough to risk having to scrub the inside of my oven.

Sure enough, this recipe was meant to make two loaves.  Total success!  My nickname for this cake is “bribe bread.”  If you need a favor from someone who likes chocolate, this will do the trick.

Chocolate Chocolate Teacake

slightly adapted from Zoe Nathan’s Huckleberry, Stories, Secrets and recipes from our Kitchen

Ingredients

  • 3/4 C/100 g pastry flour (can sub all purpose in a pinch)
  • 6 TBS/45 g all purpose flour
  • 6 TBS/30g unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 C strong brewed coffee, cooled (I used espresso)
  • 1/2 C buttermilk at room temp
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 3/4 C/ 300g coarsely chopped dark chocolate, 60-70% cacao
  • 1/2 C + 2 TBS/ 140 g unsalted butter, cubed at room temp
  • 1 C + 2 TBS/ 225 g sugar
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 3 eggs at room temp

Directions

  1. Position a rack in the middle of oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
  2. Grease 2 9X5 inch loaf pans and line bottoms with parchment paper.
  3. Sift together the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda.  Set aside.
  4. Combine the coffee, buttermilk and vanilla.  Set aside.
  5. Melt 3/4 C (130 g) of the chocolate.
  6. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar and salt on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
  7. Incorporate the eggs one a a time, beating in between each.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl well.
  8. Pause mixer, add flour mixer and mix on low until just combined.
  9. Pour in the coffee mixture and mix on low until just combined.
  10. Fold in the melted chocolate.  Then fold in the remaining chopped chocolate.
  11. Pour batter into the prepared pans and bake for 55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
  12. Allow to cool completely before removing from pans.
  13. Dust with confectioner’s sugar if desired.

 

 

Rye and whiskey chocolate chip cookies

When I discovered that the secret ingredient in Sycamore Kitchen’s chocolate chip cookies was rye flour, my interest was piqued.  Rye is a sort of earthy grain, toothsome and rich.

It’s Don McLean who brought the whiskey to the rye party.

Don McLean has scored the soundtrack to my life at a couple different points.  As  kid, his American Pie album was the background music to many a summer road trip.  I can remember listening to Vincent as our green van trundled through the flat yellow fields of central California as we sought the cooler, greener destination of the redwoods in the North.

Then later, Don Mclean returned to my life when I was college student with his fraternity party anthem American Pie.  Though I’m sure this wasn’t Mr. McLean’s intention, American Pie was always played late in the night when it seemed everyone was lubricated enough to sing the song in its nearly 10 minute entirety.

I know you know where I’m going with this: “with the good ole boys drinking whiskey and rye singing this will be the day that I die.  This will be the day that I die.”

And so when I learned about using rye flour in baked goods, I could not divorce the notion from also using whiskey.  Luckily, someone else had the same idea and I didn’t have to experiment very much in my search for a whiskey and rye chocolate chip cookie recipe.  All I did was replace the chocolate chunks with chocolate disks (not “chocolate flavored” melting disks…but real, organic, bittersweet discs).  I also browned the butter.

I used Bushmills because it was near St Patricks Day when I first made these guys.  Use what you have…even if it’s bourbon or scotch.   This cookie is sophisticated and would pair well with a finger or two of its namesake, one ice cube.

Whiskey and Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from The Bojon Gourmet

Ingredients

  • 8 TBS/4 ounces  unsalted butter, melted (browned if desired)
  • 1/2 C  dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 C granulated cane sugar
  • 1 egg + 1 egg yolk at room temp
  • 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 TBS whiskey
  • 3/4 C 2 TBS  rye flour
  • 1/2 C all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1 C bittersweet chocolate disks (chopped chocolate would work just as well)
  • 3/4 C toasted pecans (optional–I meant to use but forgot to pick up)
  • flaky salt for sprinkling
Directions
  1. In a medium bowl, sift or whisk together the rye and all-purpose flours, baking soda and sea salt.
  2. In a large bowl, stir together the warm, melted butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar.
  3. Let cool to warm, then stir in the egg. Stir in the vanilla and rye, and set aside.
  4.  Stir the flour mixture into the butter/sugar/egg mixture until just combined. Gently fold in the chopped chocolate and pecans.
  5. Cover the dough and refrigerate for up to 48 hours.
  6. Position two racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 325ºF.
  7. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper (or grease lightly with butter).
     Use two spoons or a 1/2 ounce scoop, scoop cookie dough, placing them 2 inches apart on the lined baking sheets. Top each ball with a tiny pinch of flaky salt.
  8. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven until the edges are set and just beginning to color, 8-12 minutes.  Rotate the pans halfway through to ensure even baking. The cookies will look under-done, but will continue to cook from residual heat.
  9. Remove the baking sheets to cooling racks and let the cookies cool on the baking sheets (unless they are in danger of over-baking – in that case, sweep the cookies, parchment and all, onto cooling racks).
  10. When the cookies have cooled completely, store them at room temperature in an airtight container for up to three days.

She did WHAT with a banana?

Has this ever happened to you?

It’s a Tuesday night and you are snuggled-in watching Mad Men (I realize Mad Men is on Sunday nights but we generally don’t watch it until Tuesday or Wednesday).  Suddenly, you are struck by a deep, yearning and insatiable craving for banana bread.  You make a hopeful trip to the kitchen only to find that your secret freezer stash is tapped-out and none of the bananas in your fruit basket are ripe enough to be up to the task.

So what do you do?

You roast your bananas.  That’s what you do.

Somewhere, at some point, I came across a recipe that roasted the bananas before using them in banana bread.  It must have been one of those casual skips through the internet because I failed to save, mark or pin the article.  But, the idea stuck.

So, I did some research of my own, mixed and matched some recipes, added some toasted coconut and peanut butter chips and here is where I landed.

Elivs would be proud.

I don’t know that I can claim roasting your bananas makes a better banana bread.  But, it does make a good banana bread and solves the banana problem.

Should it.  You know.  Arise.

Oh, one more thing.  That first picture is false advertising.  Do not peel your bananas before roasting.  Leave them in the skin.  I made that mistake so won’t don’t have to.

Roasted Banana Bread

Ingredients:

  • 3 medium bananas
  • 6 tbs coconut oil, melted and cooled (but still liquid)
  • 2 C all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 C light brown sugar
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  • 2 large eggs at room temp
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 C  yogurt (I didn’t have plain and so used honey)
  • 2/3 C toasted unsweetened coconut wide or narrow shredded plus a couple of tablespoons for topping
  • 2/3 C peanut butter chips (optional)

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place the three bananas, unpeeled, evenly spaced, on the baking sheet. Bake the bananas for 10-15 minutes, until dark brown to almost black in color. Remove from oven and let cool, until ready to use.
  2. Maintain oven temperature and grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan and set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
  4.  In a medium bowl, whisk together coconut oil, eggs, vanilla extract, and yogurt or buttermilk.
  5. Then add the roasted bananas by peeling them over the bowl, allowing both the banana and any juices to be combined with the egg mixture. Whisk well to combine.
  6.  Add the wet ingredients, all at once to the dry ingredients. Fold together until combined–do not over stir.
  7. Fold-in coconut and peanut butter chips.
  8. Pour batter into prepared pan.  Top with reserved coconut.
  9. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
  10. Remove from the oven and allow to rest in the pan for 15 minutes, before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.
  11. This freezes well when tightly wrapped.

Roasted Strawberries and Cream Cookies

If you haven’t noticed, I kind of have a thing for roasted strawberries:  Exhibit A and  Exhibit B.

So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that my little baking brain wondered if replacing the dried blueberries with roasted strawberries in Christina Tosi’s blueberries and cream cookies recipe would make a good swap.  Why roasted instead of dried strawberries?  Because up until about five minutes ago when I checked out Amazon, I didn’t know dried strawberries existed.

Knowledge may be power, but necessity is the mother of invention.  And I needed to make these cookies.  I also needed to stop quoting cliches.

Many of Christina Tosi’s recipes pay homage to her middle-class upbringing.  Without realizing it, I stumbled into a nostalgic favorite of my own.  I’m pretty sure I ate the same thing for breakfast every morning during middle school: Quaker strawberries and cream oatmeal.  As I bit into one of these cookies I was suddenly back in the seventh grade wearing my favorite two-tone Guess jeans and shaker knit sweater from Express wondering if I could talk my mom into carpooling to the mall that weekend.

Oh the responsibilities of being 12 in suburbia.

Anyhow, as summer is right around the corner, it would be pretty fun to make a batch of the original and a batch of the strawberry version of this recipe for your Fourth of July celebrations.

Strawberries and Cream Cookies

adapted from Christina Tosi’s blueberries and cream cookies

for the  streusel

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 3/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
  • 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
  • 4 ounces chopped white chocolate

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 275°F. Line large rimmed baking sheet with parchment.
  2. Combine milk powder, flour, sugar, cornstarch, and coarse salt in medium bowl; toss to mix evenly.
  3. Add butter; stir with fork until clusters form. Spread mixture evenly on prepared sheet.
  4. Bake until crumbs are dry and crumbly but still pale, about 10 minutes.
  5. Cool Milk Crumbs completely on sheet.
  6. In a double boiler or microwave, melt white chocolate.  Pour over milk crumbs and toss with a fork until coated.
  7. Continue to toss with a fork every few minutes until the crumbs are dry.
  8. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 week ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.

for the roasted strawberries

Ingredients

  • 2 C fresh strawberries

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Gently wash and cut strawberries into quarters.
  2. Place berries on a cooling rack fitted into a baking sheet, seeds-side-down (note, you can skip the cooling rack and place directly on parchment but will need to turn the berries halfway through baking).
  3. Bake until strawberries are partially dried, about 45 minutes. Let cool.

for the cookies

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons glucose or light corn syrup
  • 2 large eggs
  • 5 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 cups struesel
  • Roasted strawberries

Directions

  1. Combine butter, both sugars, and corn syrup in large bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until fluffy and pale, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, about 3 minutes.
  2. Add eggs; beat on medium-high speed until mixture is very pale and sugar is completely dissolved, about 10 minutes.
  3. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; beat on low speed just until blended, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl.
  4. Add streusel; mix on low speed just until incorporated. Remove bowl from mixer. Stir in strawberries just until evenly distributed (dough will be very sticky).
  5. Using 1/4-cup ice cream scoop for each cookie (I actually used a smaller scoop–1/4 cup scoops make huge cookies), drop dough onto 2 large rimmed baking sheets.
  6. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 24 hours.
  7. While dough is cold, flatten the domes into disks using the flat-edged bottom of a cup or glass.  To prevent sticking, dip the glass in granulated sugar before flattening each dome.
  8. Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 375°F.
  9. Line 2 large (18×12-inch) rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Transfer 6 chilled dough scoops (more if you’ve used a smaller scoop) to each sheet, spacing at least 4 inches apart (cookies will spread).
  10. Bake cookies, 2 sheets at a time, until golden, reversing sheets halfway through baking, 20 to 22 minutes total (smaller cookies cook in about 12 minutes–start checking at 10).
  11. Repeat with remaining chilled dough, cooling and relining sheets between batches.
  12. Transfer cookies to racks; cool completely.

 

 

 

Milk and Cookies Cookies

Why yes, I have been playing with Christina Tosi’s recipes.  How did you know?  This is the first week of two  with riffs on my favorite blueberries and cream cookies.

This idea started with a “what if” while I was standing in the kitchen at about 5:00 AM one morning.  It’s amazing the number of ideas that have taken seed standing in my kitchen at 5:00 in the morning.

What if, I wondered, I replaced some of the dry milk powder in the cookie streusel with malted milk?  Then, what if I switched out the white chocolate for semi-sweet.

And used chocolate chunks in place of dried blueberries.

Sometimes it’s good to get caught up in the what-ifs.

What happened was some very tasty milk and cookies cookies.

As I’ve shared before, Christina’s Tosi’s cookies are as much about technique as they are ingredients.  If this is a turn-off for you, there is another way.  Target now carries packaged Milk Bar mixes.  Though I have mixed feelings about this, the packaging is cute and its hard to not like anything that comes from Target (as a West coaster the Lily Pulitzer debacle went right over my head).

Milk and Cookies Cookies

adapted from Christina Tosi’s Blueberries and Cream Cookie recipe

for streusel

Ingredients

  • 1/4 C nonfat dry milk powder
  • 1/2 C malted milk powder
  • 1/2 C all purpose flour
  • 3 TBS sugar
  • 2 TBS cornstarch
  • 3/4 TBS coarse kosher salt
  • 6 TBS (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
  • 4 ounces chopped semi-sweet or dark chocolate

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 275°F. Line large rimmed baking sheet with parchment.
  2. Combine milk powder, malted milk powder, flour, sugar, cornstarch, and coarse salt in medium bowl; toss to mix evenly.
  3. Add butter; stir with fork until clusters form (you may have to break up the dough–it will be wet and sticky).
  4. Spread mixture evenly on prepared sheet. Bake until crumbs are dry and crumbly but still pale.  Start checking at 10 minutes–will probably need 20 minutes. Cool milk crumbs completely on sheet.
  5. Using a double boiler or microwave, melt chopped semi-sweet chocolate.
  6. Pour over browned crumbles and toss with a fork until crumbs are coated (this is easiest if you do it on the same cookie sheet used to bake them).
  7. Toss every few minutes until streusel is completely cooled.
  8. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 week ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.

for cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 C (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 C sugar
  • 1 1/2 C plus 2 TBS (packed) golden brown sugar
  • 1/2 C plus 2 TBS glucose (corn syrup can be substituted)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 5 1/4 C all purpose flour
  • 2 TSP baking powder
  • 1 TSP baking soda
  • 1 TSP coarse kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 C Milk Crumbs (click for recipe)
  • 12 ounces chopped semi-sweet or dark chocolate

Directions

  1. Combine butter, both sugars, and glucose/corn syrup in large bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until fluffy and pale, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, about 3 minutes.
  2. Add eggs; beat on medium-high speed until mixture is very pale and sugar is completely dissolved, about 10 minutes.
  3. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; beat on low speed just until blended, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl.
  4. Add Milk Crumbs; mix on low speed just until incorporated. Remove bowl from mixer.
  5. Stir in chopped chocolate just until evenly distributed (dough will be very sticky).
  6. Using 1/4-cup ice cream scoop for each cookie, drop dough onto 2 large rimmed baking sheets. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 24 hours.
  7. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled until baking time.
  8. Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 375°F. Line 2 large (18×12-inch) rimmed baking sheets with parchment.
  9. Transfer 6 chilled dough scoops to each sheet, spacing at least 4 inches apart (cookies will spread). Bake cookies, 2 sheets at a time, until golden, reversing sheets halfway through baking, 20 to 22 minutes total.
  10. Repeat with remaining chilled dough, cooling and relining sheets between batches. Transfer cookies to racks; cool completely.
  11. DO AHEAD Can be made 3 days ahead. Store in airtight containers at room temperature.