Catching Up...

I can't seem to stop baking. It's really becoming an issue--although I am not complaining. I love being able to bake again every day...I had forgotten how much I need that daily time for meditation. I realize that chocolate chip cookies can't be a religion, but they're close enough.

On Monday, I made Better Than Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake Muffins. Now, Let me begin by saying how surprised I am that I haven't yet featured these little numbers on this blog before. the BTCCCC Muffins are my go to recipe when I'm lacking in time or just need a sure-fire crowd pleaser. In fact, I used to make these at least once a week when I was at UF.

Backstory:

These muffins were my second recipe. I had baked a Death By Triple Chocolate Orgasm cake for one of my best friend's birthday back in 12th grade, and, impressed with the fact that he now had a personal baker, said friend (let's call him "Matt," since that's his name), Matt, asked me to make him blueberry muffins. Matt has a thing for blueberry muffins. We used to go to the Whole Foods Market at night and buy muffins and then drive to the beach (this is what kids who don't drink in high school do...). Now, I don't know if you've ever been to the Whole Foods Market at about 9 pm and purchased a blueberry muffin, but you should try it. At any time of the day, really.

So I baked him these blueberry muffins...and they went over really well. So I got creative. I used the basic muffin recipe and then substituted chocolate chips for the blueberries and created a spice mixture (laced with a little bit of espresso) to be sprinkled over the tops of the muffins...and the BTCCCC Muffins were born!

I really love this recipe--there's no butter, which is a huge time saver, and the flavor of the muffins is to die for. I cranked out two batches in the time it would probably take to start a cookie recipe. Each batch, makes about 30 muffins, which is the only problem, since I have only one mini muffin pan, and that makes only 24 at a time.

When you bake mini muffins and only have 6 in a 24 muffin pan, the cooking spray and excess spices left from the first bake tend to continue cooking, even though there are no muffins in those spaces. So while the second batch of muffins reached its tail end, the cooking spray was turning to steam in my oven.

I had gone to put on makeup while the muffins baked, since I had to run out as soon as they were done...and when I went to open up the oven to check on the muffins, steam burst out and hit me in the face--which was not good, since my mascara was wet. Naturally, I closed my eyes...but then quickly realized that my eyelashes were stuck together! Fortunately, I managed to separate them and then remove the muffins from the oven...but I learned my lesson: don't lean over a 400 degree oven until your mascara has dried.

Better Than Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake Muffins
(I apologize for the quality of this picture. I forgot to take one at home, and the lighting in the theatre is very dark...)



Tuesday was Seth's birthday. (Seth is one of the actors in the Shakespeare Fest.) Last year, I baked a really sick extra chocolate cake, and I figured that I needed to try something new...so I made Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cheesecake Cookie Bars. My biggest problem with this recipe--because I've made it once before with much success--was that I lacked the right pan in which to bake this insane concoction.

Bar cookies are really just cookie dough baked into a cake or bread pan and then sliced up into bars. Picture a chocolate chip cookie cake, only much thicker (because there's more leavening in the recipe) and not round.

So I mixed the chocolate chip cookie dough (a slightly different recipe from my Better Than Chocolate Chip Cookies) and the chocolate cheesecake mix. Then in a 9" cake pan (which was definitely not big enough) went a large portion of the chocolate chip cookie dough. I baked it at 375 until the sides started to brown and then in went the cheesecake and the remaining cookie dough. By the time such occurred, the original cookie dough had already risen almost to the top of the cake pan. So these were MUCH thicker than I had intended. And now had cheesecake, which takes FOREVER to cook, on top. (General rule of thumb: the thicker/denser the batter or dough, the longer it's going to take to cook all the way to the center.)

I checked on the Cookie Bars about 1 million times that afternoon, and yet the center refused to cook all the way. I think it was more than an hour later (which included the first bake of the cookie foundation) that I was able to remove the Cookie Bars and then cool and slice them.

I worried that the bake time had perhaps ruined the batch, so while they chilled in the refrigerator, I whipped up a batch of Better Than Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake Muffins, just in case. Then my sister Allie came home from camp and bravely tried a Cookie Bar (because, y'know, I really had to force her...) and deemed them yummy.

Apparently my fellow actors agreed! (Once again, sorry for the quality of the photo!)

Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cheesecake Cookie Bars



I took Wednesday off from baking, but received that night from Pierre, another actor in our merry band, a request for homemade caramel. "Oh dear," thought I...caramel is probably one of the most temperamental of all of the recipes I've ever tried. It ranks up there with meringue on the "probability I'm going to mess this one up" scale.

But if caramel Pierre wanted, it would be caramel he would get. I made my Mocha Caramel Macchiato cookies, hold the macchiato. (I didn't feel like making icing, and they really didn't need it anyway.) I creamed the butter and sugars before I started the caramel, since the caramel needs to be added to that mixture before it has time to harden...and then I started cooking the sugar. To my surprise, I didn't burn anything and I didn't have to start over. It came out perfectly! I quickly poured 1/2 a cup into the butter/sugar mixture...and then ALL of the sugar caramelized. I had to spend several minutes chopping up the pieces of caramel with my spoon. I waited for everything to cool before I even thought about adding the eggs...no one wants scrambled egg cookies. Then I finished making the recipe as normal. When I put the cookies in the oven, the caramel chunks cooked and slowly melted, giving the cookies more spread than usual. As they cooled, the caramel hardened, and the chocolate chips assumed a permanently melty composition.

The end result was a soft, chewy, utterly evil (thanks, Lisa) cookie. I am very proud of how they came out. There was nothing left by the end of rehearsal--and here's why:






And now I have a rather big project (which I have set out for myself) to accomplish this week...stay tuned.

Kay

Going nuts...Coconuts, that is.

I love making whipped cream. It's always an adventure, because, when you don't own an electric mixer and you're making it by hand with nothing but heavy cream, powdered sugar, and a whisk, it takes FOREVER and you don't know if it's going to work until the moment when, suddenly, the cream begins to stiffen and little peaks begin to form. (Yes, that was a run-on sentence. I'm not a teacher any more, so sue me.)

No matter how many times I make whipped cream, I'm always surprised when it works. Don't ask me why.

Anyway.

On Monday, as promised, I decided to make Strawberry Shortcake Cookies. Of course, the batch turned out without a hitch...there is something that is just SO perfect about those cookies. I can't put my finger on it, but they are an instant winner and a definite Kay's Cookies classic. My biggest problem in making them, however, is that there is ALWAYS too much whipped cream left over when I'm done. Now, usually, I mash up an entire pint of strawberries and empty them and the ensuing strawberry juice into the pint of whipped cream (which, because I do not use gelatin to stiffen the mixture, usually melts it a little and makes the whipped cream a little too runny to use for anything but cookies). Instead, I separated the whipped cream into two containers--one for the strawberry cookies and one for--get this--Coconut Cream Cookies.

I've never made Coconut Cream Cookies, but I figured that I might as well do something with the whipped cream and the shredded coconut that I had waiting around my fridge for just the right occasion. (In case you couldn't tell, the right occasion was now.)

So I used my basic sugar cookie template and changed the amounts of sugar (half white and half dark brown) as well as dumped in a couple of tablespoons of cocoa powder. Why? Not sure, but I was feeling it. I made the rest of the cookie in the normal way and then flattened teaspoon sized balls of dough, added a dollop of the coconut whipped cream to the center, and then re-rolled the dough around the center. (This is the same way I make the Strawberry Shortcake Cookies.)

The result was pretty, well, awesome. I asked Andy his opinion (since he's now my official taste-tester), and he said that they were really tasty, but they definitely need...something. I do agree. Perhaps chocolate chips? I think this is one with which I'm going to keep experimenting.

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies





Coconut Cream Cookies






Either way, I brought both batches of cookies to rehearsal on Monday night, and they were DEMOLISHED. I'm talking empty tupperware by the end of the first run. This is the first time I haven't had to send Andy home from rehearsal with a container of cookies. (He's probably happy about that fact, because--and I know this from personal experience--it's impossible to let those cookies sit on the counter for more than a day and a half. They keep making those adorable puppy-dog eyes at you, and you can't help but pick them up and eat them, just so they won't feel so lonely, all by themselves on the counter like that...)*

Today I used up the last of the strawberry whipped cream (because there was STILL some left over, even after splitting it up between two batches of cookies--and I would have used up the coconut whipped cream, but it looked like someone's spoon had mysteriously attacked it in the middle of the night, and so that container ended up in the sink). I also made a batch of Better Than Chocolate Chip Cookies. The problem with the BTCCCs is that I forgot to halve the amount of butter, and so I had to make a full batch...which yields 50-75 cookies, depending on the size of each individual cookie.

So, Shakespeareans, be prepared for sugar overload tonight.

Kay



*Yes, I am probably insane. Why do you ask?

Tasty, Healthy AND Kosher for Passover!?

Somehow, April is almost over, and Passover is just about here. I figured that, since I have some friends who like to keep kosher for Passover, I should try to find a way to make Kay's Cookies kosher so they can continue to enjoy them this weekend. In that same vein, my mother has been nudging me to make a healthy cookie, especially if it's one that my brother, who has an oat allergy, can eat.

So.

The other day, I saw that Heidi of 101 Cookbooks had posted a recipe for Black Bean Brownies. I did a double take. Black beans in a brownie? Believe it or not, yes. I used her recipe (but, as usual, with a few artful tweaks by yours truly) and they were amazing. The most fabulous part about these brownies is that they're made without flour OR sugar. Sure, there's a sugar substitute, but it's actually quite quirky: Agave nectar. I found some at Mother Earth, and I'm kind of excited to see what else I can do with it in the future.

As for the un-oatmeal oatmeal cookie, I think I hit the jackpot on my first try. While searching for the agave nectar at Mother Earth, I stumbled upon a box of Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) flakes. Quinoa is not only gluten-free, but it's also kosher for passover. I made a basic oatmeal cookie, but substituted quinoa meal for all-purpose flour and quinoa flakes for the oatmeal. ...And then I added melted semi-sweet chocolate...AND cocoa powder.

I'm so happy the way they turned out:

Black Bean Brownies and Double Chocolate Quinoa Cookies


I'm still hoping that there will be time to try making some coconut macaroons before Passover, but starting tomorrow at 3 pm, I will be setting up camp in the Black Box theatre. Speaking of which, if you're in Gainesville (or its surrounding environs) and want to come and see my play, "Where the Bee Sucks, or Christopher Marlowe is Dead," then you should probably head on over to the Florida Players website and reserve your *FREE* tickets. My show is on Wednesday, April 23rd at 8 pm and Saturday, April 26th at 12 pm.

I'm so excited!

Kay

Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes

Have you ever watched another human being actually melt? I did, this past Tuesday.

I don't know how the gods managed to align the stars the way they did, but on Monday, I decided that I wanted to make molten chocolate lava cakes and on Tuesday, the Tuesdays with Dorie group decided to make Dorie Greenspan's version. So I had a recipe sitting in front of me, taunting me not to try it.

Of course I did try the recipe, although, me being me, I had to tweak it. And, oh boy, what a tweak. I ended up with these absolutely incredibly gooey mounds of death by chocolate.

So I brought them over to my friend's house, along with a batch of freshly baked Brownie Batter Cookies. The night before, he and I had discussed the possibility of death by chocolate, and how that would be the best way to go. So we decided to test the hypothesis. He ate about 8 cookies and chased them with a glass of chocolate milk. And then the cake. His reaction after the first bite was incredible. I was tempted to call the paramedics.

So, basically what I'm saying is: I'm definitely making these cakes again.
And I'm keeping Shands on standby when I do.


Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes





Kay

(PS a direct quote after the first bite of the cake: "Oh my god. It's almost better than sex!" And that, my friends, is that.)

Cookies and Amazing-ness

First and foremost, before I do or say anything else, I need to send a HUGE thank you to Tartlette for being so absolutely wonderful. I opened up my mail this afternoon and sitting there was a cake decorating book, which I am SO excited to use. Have I mentioned lately how amazing this foodie blogger community is? Because I am meeting so many lovely, wonderful, supportive people. Thank you thank you thank you!

Secondly, my chocolate graham cracker strawberry cream pie cupcakes were featured in this week's cupcake collection at All Things Cupcake, which was a really pleasant surprise.

Now, onto the cookies:

Two days ago, I realized that I had a bag of Ghirardelli white chocolate chips in my refrigerator. I didn't just want to do any old thing with them, so I went to Publix in search of something special. I ended up with a bunch of blueberries and a box of Lipton's Blueberry and Pomegranate White Tea. Thus were born the Blue and White Tea Cookies. For some reason, the blueberry ended up making them incredibly moist, and I also ended up using a little too much baking soda (a fact to be remedied in the next batch), so they're a little chewy. But the reception for them has still been quite good. One of my friends got his hands on them after rehearsal and couldn't stop eating them. "They're like muffin cookies!" he exclaimed.

Blue and White Tea Cookies




I have to admit something: I think I'm obsessed with baking with chocolate. I love it. I don't know why. But yesterday's experiment was an experiment in chocolate madness. I'm actually dedicating these to Shannon, who is playing the lead role in my play (which opens in 22 days!!!). We were having a conversation the other day about our favorite desserts (because, when I'm not baking, I'm talking about baking), and she mentioned that she had a terrible weakness for brownie batter. I agreed, but confessed a fear that eating any sort of eggy batter might be grounds for salmonella.

So I decided to fix the problem.

I decided on Brownie Batter Cookies. This cookie is a variation of my basic sugar cookie, saturated in cocoa powder. Where's the brownie batter, you ask? I decided to make an eggless brownie batter, minus the baking soda and salt. I filled my cupcake decorator with the batter and fitted it with a Bismarck tip so I could fill the warn cookies with the gooey brownie mix. Heaven in a cookie? You bet your rear end it's heaven.

Brownie Batter Cookies


So that's that. I'm gonna go bury my nose in my new cake decorating book! I can't wait to give it a try!

Kay

Mmmm Peanut Butter

The other night, a friend of mine mentioned that he loves cookies with peanut butter cups inside of them. All it took was that one offhand mention, and suddenly my mind was whirring with the possibilities. Peanut Butter Cup Cookies. Mmmmmm.

But, of course, since I'm insane (and bored out of my mind...and avoiding my thesis), I made my own peanut butter cups. I have a candy mold from Wilton, that amazing, wonderful company that has pretty much corned the market on baking supplies, and I had a jar of peanut butter, chocolate chips, and graham cracker crumbs.

Once I'd frozen my peanut butter cups, the only logical next step was to decide what kind of cookie to stuff them inside. The only logical answer, of course, was peanut butter cookies. I made the dough, formed them into balls and then made a small depression in the center with my thumb. I sprinkled a little bit of that graham cracker into the depression, and then pushed a peanut butter cup into the cookie--and then sprinkled with a tiny bit more graham cracker. I tested them out on my friend last night and I think we have an A+ plus cookie here.

Enjoy:

Peanut Butter Peanut Butter Cup Cookies







I have SO many new cookies I want to try. I wish spring break were over so I had more people to feed!

Kay

Check, Mate!

I officially hate Spring Break.
It's been exactly one day, and I'm already bored to tears. All three of my roommates have gone home, and most of my friends are off on exciting trips to New York, Europe, or various beach-y locales. I'm stuck here--although, fortunately, I will be visited by two of my best friends from high school at various points this week.

I began working on my thesis yesterday, but I was so thoroughly uninterested in it that I took a break to bake. I ended up making a very neat little confection, known as the checkerboard cookie. The cookie is made up of chocolate and vanilla dough, enhanced by a splash of lemon juice and some ground walnuts. I mean, that's not what the original recipe calls for, but I thought I'd take some (very important) liberties with it. I also played with some spices to make the basic sugar-cookie-type recipe a little more exciting.

The best part about this cookie is that the dough is meant to be frozen and kept for future use, so I baked a small batch, but I'll still have enough dough left in reserve for when my friends come home. And they just look so damn cool:









Yum.

Kay

Dreaming in Black and White (Cookies)

I love New York City. I haven't been back (home) since early November, and I won't be going back most probably until July. But today the temperature dropped and I could almost remember the feeling of early spring in the city, so I decided to celebrate it with an icon of the good ol' Big Apple: Black and White Cookies.

Black and White cookies are amazing. When my sister and I were young(er), our parents used to take us to South Florida's version of a New York deli, Toojay's, where Ari and I would split a black and white cookie. There's something truly wonderful about the taste of a black and white, a cakey, spongy base with the sugary goodness of the icing, all with a just-barely-hidden bit of a lemony zest.

I've tried making these before, using an internet copycat recipe that claims to be the recipe used by Zabar's, but I've never had any luck with them. They always come out too dense and hard to be real black and white cookies, which, as the story goes, were originally made from leftover cake batter.

So I tried something new, and the batter came out amazingly cakey and spongy, just as I'd remembered. The icing's consistency required a little tweaking, but I think I got it right. And then I gave one to my roommate, who has never been to New York--she gave it a two thumbs up. Now I just need to find a true New Yorker to give it an authenticity test...

New York Black and White Cookies







I also made another loaf of rosemary focaccia bread last night to compliment the super veggie noodle soup I made for my sick roommates:



And now, I am off to ready myself for rehearsal number three, as well as for my second night of work at Domino's Pizza.

Kay

A Valentine's Day Sachertorte

So, I had my second order! A Sachertorte--which I had only heard of but never baked (let alone tasted.)

Let's just say that the smell that wafted off of my cake was to die for.

Apparently the torte originated at the Hotel Sacher in Austria. It's a chocolate torte with apricot preserves and rum, and it's utterly decadent. Unfortunately, the original recipe is a jealously guarded secret, and no one but the hotel can make it.

So I used an approximate recipe that I found while searching the internet, comparing various ingredients and measurements, until I found the best one. Even then I had a little difficulty with the glaze, so I made a ganache using my own recipe.

I wasn't so excited with the simple ganache, so I decided to do a little personalizing. I added flakes of semi-sweet chocolate on top of a chocolate butter cream icing. I am very happy with the result:



I also made a batch of banana walnut muffins because I had some very ripe bananas and a bulk bag of walnuts. And, of course, I miss baking them for my stepdad and watching him fight off the hordes of my siblings and their friends as they attempt to raid the muffin jar...




Anywho, I'm off to do some serious writing, rewriting, and reading...

Kay

CoffeHouse Cookies

Over Christmas break, I got bored. I was sitting in my kitchen (in the corner by the bread box, which I claimed as my perch for the entirety of my stay at home), clicking from food blog to food blog, when I stumbled upon a recipe for green tea cookies. I thought to myself, "What a neat idea! If only I had Matcha powder..."

I realized, however, that we did have a surplus of chai tea in the pantry, just waiting to be commandeered for a crazy cookie recipe. I found a recipe for chai syrup and tweaked a basic sugar cookie recipe, and was left with, arguably, the most awesome cookies ever: Vanilla Chai Tea Latte Cookies.

Of course, all that vanilla and tea needs to be offset by some chocolate and coffee, so I made up a Mocha Caramel Macchiato cookie...and promptly lost the recipe. When I woke up this morning and decided that I needed to bake, I realized how necessary it would be for me to make some new Mocha Caramel Macchiatos. So.

I took a double chocolate cookie recipe, added some brown sugar, caramelized some white sugar, threw in some espresso to taste, and topped it off with a dollop of cream cheese frosting. Voila! Much, much better than my first recipe, frankly. I think the brown sugar did it; rather than a crunchy, thin cookie, I was left with a chewy mound of tastiness.

God, I love baking. There is nothing more fun than playing with sugar. And getting absolutely covered in frosting.

I need to make some Peanut Butter & Jelly and Peanut Butter, Honey, and Banana Cookies for my dad's birthday. Looks like I'll be covered in sugar again tomorrow!

Kay