Category Archives: Cookies/Bars

I have to say, when I woke up this morning my mood ring was a filthy brown. I was tired, anxious, and uninspired. It was one of those rare mornings where baking was the last thing that I wanted to be doing. But, being a baker, I sucked it up, strapped on my apron and went about measuring my ingredients. I did something yesterday to strain my right shoulder, so I was sore and achy on top of being a horrible crab. It was the kind of morning that makes you just want to draw the curtains, climb back into bed and pull the covers over your head (hey, look, that rhymes!). On the agenda this afternoon I was testing out a recipe for blondies, after it came to my attention the other day that blondies were actually not apart of my kitchen repertoire. So much so, in fact, that, when asked, I couldn’t actually recollect ever even having eaten a blondie. How could this be possible? I mean, I like brownies. I like chocolate chip cookies. Why not cross breed the two? It’s genius. As I always do when testing a new recipe, over the next couple of weeks I will likely make numerous different blondie recipes (searching for the one which has the most flavor, and tweaking them along the way), before adding it to my menu. Today I decided to make this blondie recipe from the fine people at Everyday Food. And, in a shocking twist, I did something that I very rarely do, and prepared them (gasp!) exactly as written. Well, minus the walnuts, since we all know by now that I am allergic to them (and bitter about it!). In the end, these blondies are quite good. They have a nice chewy consistency, and a good balance of flavors. The brown sugar gives them an almost caramely taste, and the chocolate chunks (which I added in place of chocolate chips), add a nice richness. They are actually very much like eating a big, thick, chewy chocolate chip cookie. Who knew? The good thing about this recipe, too, is that it mixes together all in one bowl, and takes only about five minutes from measuring your ingredients to popping them into the oven.  And the best part is that when they are baking the house fills with an absolutely intoxicating aroma (note to self: create baking blondie flavored air freshener!).  I am not sure that I ever really got over my moody Tuesday morning blues, but who can possibly be cranky when staring down a big plate of these blonde beauties? Happy eating everyone! Don’t forget to enter for your chance to win my first giveaway- a $50 Williams-Sonoma gift card!!! Time is running out!

Chocolate and peanut butter are a natural flavor combination, and I make a lot of things that incorporate both. Somehow, in some inexplicable, egregious oversight I have never thought of adding chocolate to my peanut butter cookies. Um, hello, where exactly have I been? Such a simple idea. I was watching little mini episodes of Martha Stewart on the in demand portion of my cable last night, and saw her making peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies and nearly fell out of my chair. It is a mystery to me why no one out there in the world has come up to me on the street and slapped me across the face for not making these delicious cookies?! Luckily, because I have a strong belief that fortune favors the prepared, I already had some homemade peanut butter cookie dough in my freezer, so I immediately pulled it out to defrost over night in the fridge knowing that today I would finally resolve this cookie travesty. I always have numerous bags of Nestles chocolate chunk morsels in my pantry, because I like that they, like chocolate chips, retain their shape during baking, and don’t simply melt into the dough. I think that they just make for a more beautiful presentation (and, let’s face it, they are much less expensive than the hand chopped Valrhona chocolate that Martha chose to use). And being a foodie, but not a food snob, I find them to be perfectly delicious. I started with my peanut butter cookie dough and gently kneaded in about a cup and a half of chocolate chunks. The delicious, chewy, nutty cookies, are only enhanced by the sweet, rich, creamy chocolate. In fact, as I type this, I am imagining these cookies used to sandwich together a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. I mean, hot damn! It’s like a whole new world has been opened up before my eyes. It is amazing to me what that one extra, special ingredient can do in a recipe. It can so easily turn the whole thing on its head and ignite the senses. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a plate of cookies calling out my name. Happy Wednesday everyone!

I love coconut. Coconut anything, really.  Whether savory or sweet, coconut adds a deliciously sweet, nutty, exotic flavor to just about anything.  My family has always been big on the coconut macaroons. While no one in our family made particularly great ones, we often bought them on our expeditions to different little bakeries here and there. The best coconut macaroons I have ever had, hands down, are the preposterously enormous ones sold at the little bakery at Harris Ranch in Coalinga, California (on the drive up from LA). They are huge, but light, almost cakey, and packed with a punch of coconut flavor. I feel like I am forever in search of the perfect coconut macaroon recipe, having tried desperately to replicate the Harris Ranch cookies over the years, to no avail. What I definitely do know is that they add both almond and vanilla extracts, and the coconut they use is ground into little pieces, and not long shreds, which I think makes the texture especially good.  Now some people like to dip their macaroons in chocolate. And while I agree that it does make for a beautiful presentation, I find the addition of chocolate to be overwhelming. It is far too sweet, and in the end all it really does is mask all of the great coconut flavor that you have worked so hard to achieve.

These last couple of years I have been successfully using the America’s Test Kitchen recipe for their triple coconut macaroons, with a few of my own little twists.  The dessicated coconut that I buy is already in fine pieces, but I take the sweetened shredded coconut and grind it in the food processor until it, too, is in nice, small pieces. I then add a teaspoon of almond extract, which the recipe does not call for, and also as much pure coconut extract as I dare (usually about two teaspoons). I have made the recipe without these adjustments, and I have found that while they are perfectly delicious, they don’t really have that punch of coconut flavor that I am looking for (curse you Harris Ranch and your damn delicious cookies!!!).

I prefer the hockey puck shape (which I achieve by using a medium-small ice cream scoop and flattening the mounds out with the palm of my hand) to the little pyramids (which I just don’t have the patience for). I typically also bake my cookies for a couple of extra minutes (about 19 rather than 15) because  I like them to get as browned and toasted as possible, which forms a delicious crunchy exterior, enclosing a moist and chewy interior. And while these are not the Harris Ranch macaroons, they are certainly, by far, the best I have ever made myself. So for now, second best is as good as it gets.  Enjoy!

[UPDATE: I have been informed that Harris Ranch is under new management and that the coconut macaroons are now less than amazing… this, of course, will not prevent me from dreaming of the perfect macaroons of yore.  But I thought I would share this news  in case any of you happened to be traveling that way.  Have you tasted them recently? What were your thoughts??? – Jacob ]

Peanut butter cookies are quintessential American food. So charming, with their characteristic cross hatch top, soft, chewy texture, and delicious nutty flavor. I have tried many recipes over the years for peanut butter cookies, and still I find myself going back time and time again to the old recipe from the Betty Crocker Cookbook that my grandmother always used.  They are exactly what peanut butter cookies should be. Exactly what we all remember. In the recipe it calls for using half shortening and half butter. I use all butter, and I also add a generous teaspoon of vanilla extract, which the recipe doesn’t call for. They are perfectly delicious, and people really go crazy for them. To take them to the next level, I like to take two cookies and sandwich them together with either honey roasted peanut butter, or even better yet, a decadent peanut butter icing. I love the recipe Ina Garten uses for her chocolate cupcakes. It is creamy, rich, and not too sweet. Spread about a tablespoon or so of the icing onto the back of one cookie, and top it with another. It’s simple, quick, and over the top, which is right up my alley.  Enjoy!

I love a good spicy cookie. But too often the spiced cookies are relegated to the holidays. As far as I am concerned, however, they are equally good on any day of the year. These ginger cookies are hands down the best I have ever had. No lie. Crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside, the layers of spices in these cookies hit you in waves, none overpowering the others, with a distinct, almost smoky hit of molasses, and then it finishes off with the heat from the chunks of crystallized ginger. I am telling you, (to borrow a phrase from Paula Deen) they will make you sass yo’ mama! I love how they look, with that perfect, rustic crackled top, and the slight sparkle from their roll in granulated sugar before baking. These cookies are great with tea or cocoa, or, for an especially decadent summertime treat, sandwich two of these cookies together with vanilla, cinnamon, peach, or chai flavored ice cream. I mean, who wouldn’t love that? I use Ina Garten’s ultimate ginger cookie recipe with a few minor adjustments. I up the spices (adding an additional teaspoon of ground cinnamon and ground ginger, and an extra half teaspoon of both the cloves and nutmeg), I also add a healthy splash of vanilla extract in with the wet mixture, and I cut the baking time to 11 minutes (for 1.5 oz balls of dough). And as these cookies bake, the house fills with their intoxicating spicy aroma, which makes any day feel like a holiday. Enjoy!