De Baking Psychopath

It's been difficult to make any significant headway into the plethora of baked goods in my freezer during the shelter-at-home.  We're not natural bread-eaters; although we love it in all its forms, we just don't have that bread-eating habit that Americans of European descent have of eating sandwiches oftentimes as much as once or twice a day, or eating bread as a side dish to dinner, and therefore making short work of plowing through loaves of bread and other baked goods.   At some point, though, it became difficult to repress my usual stress-/procrasti-baking tendencies, and also baking projects provide fun activities to keep the kiddo occupied for a little while.  Furthermore, with all the sourdough love on the Internet these days, I felt like I need to keep Gus in peak condition to flex some sourdough muscles and show everyone he's still got his skillz.  (Spoiler: Yes, he still does!)  A nd so despite good intentions to preserve my flour reserves fo...

This summer, I had to drive out to a remote animal facility to do a special set of mouse experiments. This was a difficult task for me for a couple of reasons. One, I had not driven the car in over a year, and even when I had, I'd never had to drive by myself nor for the distance I would have to commute to reach this remote facility (about 12 miles each way). Two, because I'd never worked out at that facility before, I had to pack up all my materials (chemicals, tubes, solutions, etc) and have it shipped out there and back, so I had to be really careful I had EVERYTHING I needed, or else I was pretty screwed.  Luckily I survived on both accounts: the experiment went as planned, and I now have a new-found confidence in driving! Hooray! At the end of the month, to thank the wonderful veterinary staff who helped me through the process and made sure I had everything I needed and checked up on my mice, I baked up a couple treats and left them there on my last day. These capp...

I am not quite sure why I made these, other than that I hadn't made any sort of cookies for awhile, and I needed to get rid of old Rolos. That and these popped up on no less than 3 different blogs in quick succession after the original recipe was posted on Two Peas and their Pod. These were intense! I liked the edge pieces the best because the texture of the cookie portion resembled more of a normal cookie, while the middle portions were more akin to eating solidified chocolate chip cookie dough. I probably could have let it bake a little bit longer to get the middle to cook better. I liked using the Rolos for this rather than normal caramels because of the added chocolate component. The salt is very important to balance out all the sweet in this! You can find the recipe here ; the only changes I made were that I used 10 ounces of Rolos instead of caramel candies, and also I ended up using a 9x9 inch square baking pan lined with parchment.

Alright, a break from yeast! First I wanted to highlight a new function on my blog, the Printer-Friendly button down at the bottom of each post. Thanks to the folks at printfriendly.com , you can pick and choose what to print from any website or blog, change the font size, and even save as a pdf. I hope this makes my blog even more user-friendly for my dear readers! Awhile back I made a couple different gluten-free chocolate chip cookies that were both pretty tasty. I got these recipes from some blog browsing a long time ago, but never got around to trying them until recently. So if you have a gluten-sensitive friend or just want to cut a bit of carbs out of your diet, here are a couple of recipes for consideration. Nutty Oatmeal Cookies (Adapted from Cookies for Breakfast by Michael H. Perlman ) Ingredients :  8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar 3/4 cup sugar 1 large egg 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanil...

I forgot what I bought the bag of almond flour from Trader Joe's for, but nut products shouldn't sit too long so I decided to find recipes to use it up quickly. As I haven't done enough field testing of macarons to really have the motivation to make those, I decided instead to make some gluten-free type of chocolate chip cookie recipes that feature nut and oat flours. This is the first of a couple I am planning to try. This one has the additional benefit of being egg-free, for those of you who need to worry about multiple allergies in a crowd of youngsters. I ended up having to throw in a few handfuls of all-purpose flour to tighten up the dough (it was too wet at first), but one could just as easily throw in more almond flour, or oat flour, or even rice flour if the same problem is encountered. This may have been due to the fact I used the coarser almond meal rather than the blanched almond flour the recipe directs. These were really well received! The texture...

These chocolate chip cookies, from the Metropolitan Bakery Cookbook, are very similar to the Christie's Cookies copycat I posted awhile back . I think I've finally decided that this type of cookie is my favorite type of chocolate chip cookie: hearty with ground oats, full of crunchy nuts, lots of dark chocolate chunks, and with a shiny, crunchy exterior and slightly chewy interior. When we were in Philly, we frequented the Metropolitan Bakery, but we did not get a chance to sample their chocolate chip cookies. Next time, I might need to get one just to see if this recipe is a good representation of the original. I love, love these cookies. I could eat one a day for the rest of my life. Warning--this recipe makes a lot of cookies!! They freeze and defrost beautifully, though. Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from the Metropolitan Bakery Cookbook ) Ingredients : 1 & 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats 3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted 1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 & ...

There's not much to be said about these cookies that hasn't already been said. If you Google "World Peace Cookies," you'll find that every baking blogger and his/her mother has made these cookies, loved them, and can't stop making them. And these are indeed so very good. Especially frozen . Chilled, there's a snappy crunch to them that then quickly gives way to the sandy, melt-in-your-mouth texture that everyone expects from a shortbread/sable cookie. Add the little melting moments that are the chopped dark chocolate that ripple through the cookie, and you have everything you need for a chocolate fix with an elegant flair that demands a cup of tea to accompany it. Since it's been published all over the Internet, I won't waste more virtual space with another rendition of the recipe, but instead will direct you here for a humorous commentary on the cookie's name and a printable recipe (link to print version is at end of the recipe). The dough i...

As you read this, I am somewhere on the globe, traveling from my current location of habitation to the place of my birth. While I did not go cat adopting during the 4th of July weekend, I did take some time out to go grilling with some friends in the park. We attempted to get a view of the fireworks that evening too but the skyscrapers downtown were blocking our view so it was pretty lame and we made a run for it before it ended so we didn't get stuck in traffic getting out of the park (quite a large crowd had come out to see the fireworks). And of course I couldn't help myself and baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies--a new recipe no less. Urban legend has it that a lady had some awesome chocolate chip cookies at a Neiman-Marcus department store cafe and asked for the recipe, which she was promptly given but was then charged $250 for it (instead of the $2.50 that she thought she'd be charged). She got so pissed (because apparently she couldn't get the cha...

I've seen baking bloggers get dissed/blasted for having too many chocolate chip cookie recipes (no joke, I couldn't believe someone would be so spiteful), and some bloggers themselves post new chocolate chip cookie recipes with a sheepish and remorseful tone, as if to say "Sorry to subject you readers to more chocolate chip cookies, but I can't help myself!" But I'm here to say that there are good reasons for trying different chocolate chip recipes: 1) the same recipe can turn out slightly different from person to person due to differences in climate, equipment, source of ingredients, etc., and 2) even the slightest variations in the ratios of ingredients amongst different recipes can make for a very different end product. Case in point: these chocolate chip cookies. Just a tiny bit more butter and sugar to flour than most recipes. One less yolk. Brown sugar only; no white sugar. These small changes made for a cookie that spread like no other basic chocola...

It was one of those days that I was craving a cookie, but I didn't want to end up with dozens of chocolate chip cookies that would tempt me continuously and nullify my running with one bite. So I thought I'd make some "healthy cookies." And really, if you had to award that title to a cookie, it might as well be this one. There's only 1/2 cup of oil in the whole recipe, none of it saturated. There's only natural, unrefined sweeteners (agave nectar and honey). The grains are also unrefined (whole wheat pastry flour, oats, wheat germ). You can add whatever dried "superfoods" you want, like dried berries or raisins, or nuts. I am not sure what I was expecting on texture, but they came out quite cakey. They're moist, and there's some natural chew from the oats, but Michael's description of them is probably the best way for me to convey how they taste: "They're like mini-scones--more fluffy and crumbly than normal cookies." ...

This cookie is an Ultimate cookie: loads of chocolate, ground oats, toasted nuts, even toffee bits. The result is a chocolate chip cookie that is heartier, nuttier, and more complex in flavor than your average chocolate chip cookie. When just a tad underbaked and still warm from the oven, it has that dark, chewy, ooey-gooey texture that would pair wonderfully with some ice cream or a glass of milk They are supposed to be a copycat of cookies made by The Christie Cookie Company , the sole supplier of the Doubletree hotel cookies (although apparently the Doubletree CCC and the signature Christie CCC are not one and the same). I have never stayed at a Doubletree nor tried a Christie's cookie, but that doesn't stop me from trying or enjoying their copycat recipes! This recipe has earned the unique distinction of being the first CCC recipe I made solely to freeze the dough for easy access later. I found these satisfying enough after the first try to make the full recipe (which ...

The big birthday bash has come and gone. It was a very busy weekend: shopping on Friday, baking all day Saturday, and then the festivities on Saturday evening. Here was our menu, with links to recipes used, if available: Savory An assortment of crackers, baked flour tortilla chips, and toasted baguette slices Crudite and Hummus (store-bought) Smoked Salmon Dip Warm Spinach and Artichoke Dip Pasta Salad (brought by friend) Homemade Roasted Sweet Potato Fries Assorted Puff Pastry Hor's Doeuvres (bought; Costco) Sweet Kid's Thumbprints with Orange Marmalade or Blackberry Jam ( Baking: From My home to yours, pg. 163) Chocolate Toffee Cookies Tate's Bake Shop Thin and Crispy Cookies Tiramisu (made by friend) Black and White Chocolate Cake ( Baking: From My home to yours, pgs. 258-260) Party Favors One big fat chocolate chip cookie ( the famed NYTimes recipe ) So I actually have a pitiful number of pictures of the party, and even more pitiful is that I forgot to take my usu...

You know, one of those days. Where even though you have "more important" things to do (i.e. an application for research funding due by midnight the next day), baking seems infinitely more urgent, and important to your mental health. And you realize you have some pantry cleaning to do. On Sunday, I really wanted a chocolate chip cookie. And while flipping through a few cookie books and finding more chocolate chip cookie variations of interest, I was reminded that 1) I haven't in recent memory given either AB's CCC or the NYTimes CCC a try, and 2) I have some bread flour I really need to start getting rid of. Alton Brown's The Chewy: up close and personal The premise of Alton Brown's The Chewy cookie (and the NYTimes-featured cookie, although I didn't make that recipe this time) is that since bread flour has a higher percentage of protein (gluten) in the flour, the moisture you give it (in the form of water from melted butter) and the time you let it rest t...

Penzey's is a chain store that sells fine spices and extracts. There's one in every major city, but pretty much that's it. We're lucky enough to have one here, and it's a really great place to find 4 types of cinnamon and buy it in bulk, or vanilla so strong you actually taste it when you put it in baked goods. They put out a catalog every season, and there are several recipes strewn throughout the listings of spices, including the cookie I bring to you today. The funny thing about this cookie recipe is that without the secret ingredient, it's basically the Toll-House chocolate chip cookie recipe, verbatim. But just adding this one thing takes it to a whole different level. And the secret ingredient is: a box of vanilla pudding mix! It makes these cookies have that catering/store-bought, soft, chewy cookie texture that you just don't usually get at home. Guilty pleasures...... Wynonia Moss's Chocolate Chip Cookies (from Penzey's Spices Harvest ...