chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

My first post for the new year! I ventured away from my usual chocolate chip cookies, which I’ve been making non-stop throughout the holidays due to special requests for them. I’m not an oatmeal raisin fan, and my parents aren’t big normal chocolate chip cookie fans, so we compromised this time around and opted for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I based this recipe off the coconut oatmeal cookies from my More From Magnolia cookbook. I don’t like coconut, so I replaced them with semi sweet chocolate chips. It definitely left the cookies chewy yet crispy.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter (softened)
• 1 c. packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 c. rolled oats (these are the old fashioned oats, NOT the quick cooking ones)
• 1 c. semi sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

In a larger bowl, cream the butter with both sugars until you have a smooth texture (roughly about 2 minutes). Add the egg and the vanilla and beat well. Add your dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Add in the rolled oats and then the chocolate chips. Mix well.

Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving several inches between them for expansion. Bake for 10 minutes. The original recipe said 12-14 minutes, but they were too crispy, almost burnt, by 12 minutes.  I used a tablespoon scooper that looks like an ice cream scoop. Baked the cookies at 10 minutes, and was able to yield 40 cookies.

The good batches came out thin, soft & chewy but had a crispy texture at the same time. I loved them, and so did everyone else at the office. Apparently, the bad batches weren’t so bad either. They were all gone in 15 minutes. 🙂

Till next time!

– chelle

Japanese Kit Kats

Japanese Kit Kats come in a number of flavors and change seasonally. All I manage to find at my local Japanese market were Royal Milk Tea and Milk Coffee. I don’t usually like coffee flavored things but this was still pleasant enough. Far as I can tell they are both coated with the same white chocolate and the filling in the wafers are different (but from photos I’ve seen online, the chocolate coating varies from flavor to flavor). I really liked the milk tea, it’s not a common flavor in American candies.

http://www.jbox.com/SEARCHES/japan_kit_kat/ carries some different flavors.

The servings are small, the packaging, and price are a bit much for so little, but it is tasty and nicely designed.

There are two bags in each box.

-Lina

peanut butter brownies

I saw a few commercials for Reese’s peanut butter cups and it got me craving chocolate and peanut butter.

I kind of eyeballed it with a few things; the chocolate was leftover from 2 open bags I had; the can of condensed milk was also opened and partially used and I just added the peanut butter to my taste in the melting mixture. I always disagree about with people who say baking is an exact science. While certain things like flour and leavening ratios should always be kept in mind, once you made something enough times you should be able to play with it to see what happens. Baking is not so precise that you would be always in danger of messing up.

Peanut butter brownies

• 10oz chocolate chips
• 12oz condensed milk
• 1/3 cup coconut oil (or butter/shortening)
• 2/3 cup smooth peanut butter (add more for a stronger taste)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 335°F. Melt chocolate, coconut oil(or butter or shortening), condensed milk, and peanut butter thoroughly in (a heatproof)mixing bowl over slow simmering pot of water. Take off heat, mix in eggs and sugar, then dry ingredients. Grease and fill square(8×8″ or 9″x9″?) baking pan, bake for 30-35mins (I was using a heaving glass baking pan) till center just sets.

-Lina

lovely fudgy brownies

This is my new favorite brownie recipe, I came up with it while trying to use up some cans of condensed milk. It has a shiny crispy skin on top and dark moist center, and can be thrown together rather fast. Melting and mixing can be done in one bowl; so there’s less to clean up.

Fudgy Brownies

• 12oz chocolate chips
• 14oz can condensed milk
• 1/2 cup coconut oil (or butter or shortening)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• pinch salt
• oil for pan

Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt chocolate, coconut oil(or butter or shortening) thoroughly in (a heatproof)mixing bowl over slow simmering pot of water. Take off heat, mix in condensed milk first, then eggs, and vanilla. Add rest of ingredients, mix till smooth (use an electric mixer or do it in a stand mixer bowl to begin with). Pour batter into an oiled 12x16in baking dish, spread evenly. Bake for 20-25mins depending on the material of the baking dish. The top should be dry and shiny, the center dark and moist.

-Lina

littlejohn’s toffees

It’s been almost a year since I went to L.A. for a cousin’s wedding. We had a few hours to kill before heading to the airport, so we went to the famed Farmer’s Market at The Grove that we had heard about so much. I loved the place as there were all these food stands with vendors selling fresh fruits, meats, etc. I also had some of the best Korean BBQ ever there.

One of the places I saw as I was randomly walking around was this candy shop called Littlejohn’s Candies (http://www.littlejohnscandies.com/) and it had chocolate covered toffees in its window. So, I bought 8 pieces of their toffee sticks. I honestly came back home and wished I had bought more. They were fantastic. The toffee had that perfect crunch. Not too hard and not too soft. Just right. It melted in my mouth and it was absolutely delicious.

I told one of my good friends about the place and for Xmas last year, she had ordered a box and had it delivered to me. Now, this year, for my big 30th birthday on Friday, she ordered me another box. This time, she got 3 lbs. of toffees for me. One pound for every decade. Ha. Thanks Jan! No worries. I won’t eat all that by myself. As much as I wish I could, this chubby girl doesn’t need to be eating 3 lbs. of toffees.

Seriously, I could have picked any chocolate shop in the world, but I love these chocolate/nut covered toffees. So if you’re in the L.A. area and you’ve never been to the Farmer’s Market, you really should. You just might discover a few new things. And, rather than an hour or two there, try setting aside most of your day for it. The whole “Grove” area looked like it had tons of stuff and I was sad I didn’t get to see it all.

–chelle

choco hazelnut puff pancakes

I’ve had an ebelskiver pan from Williams-Sonoma for a while now, but haven’t used it at all. Shame on me, because this was a brilliant idea for an after dinner treat.  Angela dropped by and we decided on the chocolate hazelnut puff pancakes (aka use some nutella).

You can also find the recipe on the Williams-Sonoma site, but I altered mine due to the fact that I didn’t have some ingredients handy at home.

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4th c. all purpose flour
• 3/4th tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 eggs separated
• 1 3/4 c. milk (original recipe calls for buttermilk, but it worked just fine with milk)
• 4 tbsp. butter melted

First, in one bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt. Mix around with a fork until ingredients are incorporated with each other. In another bowl, lightly beat the 3 egg yolks and the milk. Slowly pour the eggs & milk into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Combine and mix the ingredients until lumpy.

In another bowl, using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff but not dry peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter in two additions.

Put 1/2 tsp. butter in each well of a filled-pancake pan. Place over medium heat and heat until the butter begins to bubble. Pour 1 tbsp. batter into each well and cook until the bottoms are golden brown and crispy, 3 to 5 minutes. Put 1 tsp. of nutella in the center of each pancake and top with 1 tbsp. batter. Using 2 wooden skewers (or chopsticks…hehe), flip the pancakes over and cook until golden and crispy, about 3 minutes more.

I thought they would be hard to flip over, but the chopsticks worked real well. heh. Once finished, remove from pan and plate, adding a mini dollop of nutella and dusting with confectioner’s sugar. You can basically put anything in the middle of the puff pancake, which makes it very versatile. I think I’ll be making this alot more in the future. It didn’t take long at all. Great for breakfast!

–Chelle

Chocolate madeleines

I had bought some dark chocolate bars that I didn’t like very much. They were too strong at 75% cocoa without any vanilla and scant sugar in it. So I melted them down with some almond milk, sugar, and vanilla into a ganache-like consistency. I was keeping it in the fridge for a while (wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it). Then I got my mini-madeleine pan just when I ran out of eggs. But I went ahead and made madeleines anyway. So they are vegan now. 🙂

Vegan Chocolate (mini) Madeleines

• 11 oz dark chocolate (approximately)
• 1/2 cup almond milk or soy milk
• 1/3-1/2 cup sugar (depending on the sweetness of the chocolate and liquid)
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup flour

Heat liquid and dissolve sugar. Break chocolate into small chucks and melt in liquid over very low heat. Add vanilla, once incorporated, let cool till lukewarm or room temp before stirring in flour.

Preheat oven to 350º. Spray madeleine pan with oil, optional but they will probably come out easier (I didn’t spray my pans and there was minimal sticking). I tried not to over fill the molds. Bake for 15-17 minutes. This made exactly four batches with my mini madeleine pan (I only have one pan that makes 24 at a time).

I found out that I didn’t have to clean out the pan after each batch. Let it cool for 5min, and pop them out. Just refill pan when it’s cooled to the touch even if there’s a crumb layer stuck on. It pops out about the same each time. They have a fudgy brownie texture. After 15min of baking they are very moist, another minute or two will dry them more and give them a crispier edge.

 -L

also check out red bean and green tea madeleines 

Double Choc Cookies

Donna Hay’s Double Choc Cookies

250g (8oz) butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 1/4 cups plain flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup cocoa powder

140g (4.5oz) dark chocolate, broken into chunks

140g (4.5oz) white chocolate, broken into chunks

Preheat oven to 325 °. Place the butter and sugars in a bowl and beat until light and creamy. Add the eggs gradually and beat well. Add the flour, baking powder, cocoa and chocolate and mix well. Shape 2 tablespoons of the mixture into rounds. Place on baking trays lined with non-stick baking paper, allowing room for the cookies to spread, and flatten slightly. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until dark brown on the bottom. Cool on wire racks. Makes 28.

I halved the recipe, used organic shortening and only 1 egg. And I used mostly white chocolate with very little dark. I liked the contrast and the taste of the white chocolate more in this cookie.

I love all Donna Hay books. There are more of her magazines strewn about the kitchen.

La Maison du Chocolat

In the city there are plenty of places to pay top dollar for chocolate but I refuse to drop the big bucks for anything other than La Maison du Chocolat. They have two stores in Manhattan and more in France, London, and Tokyo. When I went to Paris a few years ago, I didn’t go looking for them; instead I was totally infatuated with Fauchon, which had wonderful pastries but their chocolate wasn’t quite up to par.

The first time I had tasted their chocolates I was in college. My wise and most tasteful friend Tamaki bought and shared a Coffret Maison box and some cake from La Maison (I say cake but it was mostly ganache) with me and some classmates. At first my taste buds were out of tune from copious amounts of the much sweeter Lindt truffles earlier that day (it was college, chocolate was often a meal replacement).  I was in a bit of a taste shock, unable to take in the flavors at first, but the texture was undeniable. It was the smoothest airy creamy chocolate I’ve ever had, and I was soon an addict for life before the day was over. The chocolate flavors were so rich but not bitter and did not have the cloying sweetness that I was accustomed to. I couldn’t go back to the way things were, every chocolate confection I taste would be compared to them.

My personal favorites are their macarons, fruit infused ganaches like the Salvador (raspberry) and Valencia (orange), and their truffles are the gold standard for me. After one Christmas when I treated myself to a large coffret and gaining 8lbs, I learned to enjoy in moderation more (and only a few times a year). So I stay away from boxes, except for the boxes of mini macarons (which are a bargain compared to the chocolates). The shells are perfectly delicate, crisp and chewy, and are filled with their amazing ganache. Flavors include dark chocolate, milk chocolate, raspberry, vanilla, caramel and coffee; a flavor I normally dislike but they made it great.

I don’t klnow what it’s called. It’s a 2 inch wide ball, with a hazelnut filling, rolled in hazelnuts and praline and coated in dark (milk?) chocolate.

Chocolate memories

I won’t be receiving my Valentine’s chocolate till this weekend, so I decided to make a little something to hold me over. This is the first time I’ve made this since I was a Girl Scout, oh the memories. My Girl Scout leader would buy solid chocolate bunnies during the post-Easter sale. Then we would melt them and pour over mini marshmallows, nuts, and coconut; rolled in plastic wrap, cool till solid then sliced up to share. I basically followed the same principles but with dark chocolate and vegan marshmallows.

Marshmallow Chocolate Bar

• 7oz of chocolate (dark or milk)
• 3/4 cup of mini marshmallows or cut up larger marshmallows
• 1/3 cup of toasted slivered almonds (or any nuts you have, chopped)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)

Melt your chocolate, either by stove or microwave. To toast up your nuts (if they aren’t toasted), heat up a dry pan on medium high for a minute or two, add in nuts, gently stir for a 2mins or when they start to turn brown. Pour out the nuts and then toast your coconut in hot pan for a minute, stirring, till you start to smell it (doesn’t have to turn colors). Mix everything together, and then add chocolate. Place piece of plastic wrap in a bowl (or large butter dish, would work better) you may need to divide into two logs, spread out mixture along the length of the wrap. Carefully pinch the ends of the plastic wrap, folding over itself and forming a log (might not really be log shaped), twisting the end close, leave in bowl or container and cool in fridge or freezer till solid.