Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been searching a long time for the best bakery style chocolate chip cookie recipe.  I think I have finally found it.  Even hubby (who is more of a oatmeal cookie kind of guy) said these were "really good cookies".

I found the recipe here at Sugar and Soul Co.  These cookies come out soft and chewy.  They had great flavor with tons of chocolate chips in each bite.  The recipe was easy to make, had no "secret ingredient" (that you have to order from Amazon cuz your Krogers doesn't carry weird stuff) and made 12 really huge cookies.  Only 12 cookies!  I am sure you are saying that will not last long at your house!  But take my word for it, these cookies are ginormous.  I couldn't even fit them all in my large cookie jar.  12 cookies will be enough.  Seriously, I refuse to believe you will be able eat more than one. 

Recipe

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted *Do not use soften butter!!!!  You must melt it!!!
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 additional egg yolk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Cream together melted butter and sugars in a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. 
2. Add in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk and beat until light and creamy. 
3. In a separate, medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients a little at a time, mixing between each addition. 
4. Fold in chocolate chips with a wooden spoon. 
5. Cover and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

   
   
6. Preheat oven to 325­­°F and measure dough into 1/4 cup-sized balls (I used an ice cream scoop), place balls on an ungreased cookie sheet at least 3 inches apart  (I lined my pan with parchment paper). Bake for 15 to 17 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Let the cookies cool on the pan.

Here are some Recipe Notes that Sugar and Soul Co. shared on her site.

It is crucial that the cookie dough is chilled for at least 1 hour so that the cookies will be thick and chewy.

It's also very important that the cookies are allowed to cool on the pan for at least 15 minutes after coming out of the oven. 

***I followed the recipe very carefully.  Well almost.  I didn't have unsalted butter so I just reduced the additional salt from 1/2 to 1/4 teaspoon.  Seemed to be about right.  Cookies tasted great!!!!

Diana

First Ever Fondant Cake

I love to try new crafts, recipes and techniques!  Lately I have been wanting to make a cake with both edible lace and fondant, neither of which I have ever tried to do before.  With a winter storm on it's way and an afternoon with no pressing activities, today seemed perfect for a little kitchen crafting!

 I made a tiny 6 inch cake from Dessert For Two that was as cute as can be.  It is actually a 2 layer lemon cake with a lemon curd filling.  The cake has a coarse crumb and the curd is nice and tart.  I gave it a skim coat of buttercream and then attempted the fondant.  Because  the fondant was store bought, I warmed it up a little to make it easier to work with.  Despite all the horror stories I had heard about fondant, it went really easy!  Next I made  a bunch of edible lace that I tinted yellow.  This stuff is wonderful.  I did an earlier post on the lace here.  The linked post shows how you can use it for pretty lace dollies to use in cocoa!

 You can see the seam where I didn't quite match up the edges.  To get the lace to stick to the fondant I used a little corn syrup.

Wouldn't this be a dainty little cake to serve for an English Tea?  Or maybe a special treat for your spouse on a wintry night......

Diana

Troyer Home Favorites

Just thought I would let you all know about my new favorite cookbook!  I just got it and already have tried several recipes that have turn out great.  Here is a little background on the author.  Laura Troyer has been a baker since she was a child, growing up in an Amish family that ran a bakery.  As an adult she also ran a very popular bakery not too far from where I live here in Ohio.  Sadly the bakery closed a while ago but she shares many of her recipes in this cookbook!  Love, love, love her thumb print cookies with cream cheese frosting!
 
The cookbook has main dishes, breads, soups, salads and desserts along with some healthy versions of some of her recipes.  You can order it on Amazon HERE.

Mint Cupcakes For St Patrick's Day

Look what I am serving for St Patrick's Day dinner........Mint Cupcakes.

These beauties are an adaptation of this recipe from The Crafting Foodie.

 So what did I do differently?  No cookie on the bottom of the cupcake or as decoration.

 Instead I used what chocolate curls to decorate.  So what I ended up with was chocolate cupcakes filled with mint flavored chocolate ganache, topped with more ganache, mini chocolate chips, mint flavored buttercream frosting and more ganache drizzled and white chocolate curls on top,  Boy was that a mouthful!

Some of the cupcakes will be traveling so I put them in cups to protect them.  Love that idea.  You can still see the yumminess but they stay intact.

Diana

Neuhaus Copy Cat Chocolate

One good thing (or bad, depending on on how much self control you have) about having a husband that travels is the assortment of chocolates he would bring home from around the world.  My favorite was Neuhaus from Belgium.  And.....my favorite piece was a whipped truffle in a foil cone called the Cornet Dore.  BEST CHOCOLATE EVER!  Light and fluffy with a lovely crust of sugar.....yummmmm

My husband has since retired and that means no more Neuhaus.......but I have started making my own truffles and other goodies as my skill level improves.  Today I decided to try and duplicate the Cornet Dore, at least in texture and taste, by making a whipped truffle.  

Start by melting 8 ounces of milk chocolate in ,gasp, the microwave.....do it gently so as not to burn the chocolate.  Now scald 1/2 cup of heavy cream.  Bring the temperature down to about 160 and mix into the chocolate, stirring until fully incorporated.  Now set the bowl of chocolate at room temperature for about 3 hours.  Using an electric mixer, beat the chocolate until light and fluffy AND until the mixture can hold it shape.  Spoon chocolate into a pastry tube with a large star tip and pipe stars onto wax paper.  Decorate with sugar crystals and let set until solid.  That's all there is to it!

The chocolate could be piped into foil cups or cones if desired.

These taste wonderful!  Just like my beloved Neuhaus!

Diana

Dakota Bread

While visiting my sister in law Milly this last month, she introduce me to Dakota bread.  My favorite bread ever!  We got it at Great American Harvest.  After I got home I located one one hour away from my home and rushed over, only to find they were out of Dakota bread.  Bummer.  So then I became obsessed with getting that bread.  Thank goodness I found a recipe that makes a pretty good facsimile of that bread.  I have made two batches so far and thought it isn't as good, it still satisfies my cravings.

I found the recipe here.

The second time I made it I used loaf pans.  Didn't like that shape as much.

Diana

Raspberry Truffles

I wanted to try out my new tempering machine and make some raspberry truffles.  These truffles were very flavorful because they use real raspberry puree instead of artificial flavoring.  So yummy. 

There is no cream in the recipe either.  I got it from  Couldn't Be Parve but I adapted it to a bit.

 Here is my tempering machine!  I selected the dark chocolate setting and melted about 1 pound of untempered chocolate.  More than enough for covering the truffle centers.  I only needed tempered chocolate for dipping, not for the centers themselves.  Those I could use untempered chocolate in. 

 On the left you can see the unmelted chocolate and on the right of the baffle you can see the melted chocolate.

 It can take a bit of time to melt the chocolate so while it did it's job I made the centers.

 First I made the puree, heated it and added it to the chocolate.  Using a small ice cream scoop I shaped the centers. (adapted recipe is at the bottom of this post)

Once they chilled a bit I formed them into spheres.

 Back to the tempering.  After the machine melted the chocolate I added the seed chocolate.  In this photo the clear lid is on.

 Here is a photo with the lid off.  Use large pieces of seed chocolate so it will be easier to remove any unmelted pieces after the tempering cycle is completed.  Once that beep sounds you remove any of the seed chocolate chunks.  Now all your chocolate is tempered and ready to use.  It will have a beautiful shine, snap and will harden quickly.

 Scooping a few tablespoons of tempered chocolate into the palm of my plastic gloved hand,  I rolled the truffle centers until fully covered.  I let them solid up on wax paper.  Once set I smeared a little melted chocolate on the top of each one and sprinkled jimmies on top.

 Because the chocolate was tempered and kept in temper, I was able to save the leftover for seed chocolate for my next batch!

 Next time I think I will double dip the chocolates.....some of my truffles had weeping issues.  But they were delicious.  The first day the centers were a little grainy but the second day they were much creamier.

Raspberry truffles

6.5 oz chocolate
1/2 cup raspberry puree (see below for recipe)
1 oz (2 tbs) vegetable oil

Mix raspberry puree with vegetable oil.  Heat it microwave until almost boiling.  Pour over chopped chocolate and stir until chocolate is melted.  Mixture will begin to thicken.  Chill until firm enough to scoop.

Raspberry puree

12 oz raspberries, fresh or frozen (defrosted if frozen)

Blend raspberries in a food processor or blender until pureed. Strain through a fine mesh sieve, using a spoon to press as much of the puree through as possible. Discard solids.  This will make more than you will need in this recipe.  Store any extra in the freezer.

Diana

Copycat Panera Chocolate Cookies

Pinterest Recipe Test Alert

ThePinningMama Copycat Panera Chocolate Chip Cookies sounded so good I had to give them a try.   They looked big, soft and thick with loads of chocolate.  What's not to love?   

 So I got my ingredients together and baked up a batch, well actually four cookies cuz I'm on a diet and the last thing I need in the house is a cookie jar full of giant cookies.....The rest are frozen in my freezer. 

 They are frozen as individual cookies so you can pop one (or more) in the oven ANYTIME YOU NEED ONE.  

 I thought they would spread a bit more though.  Hmmmm.  So the one little tip I would offer is to let them thaw just a little before you bake them so you can flatten them down a bit.  Looks prettier and not so biscuit like.  Oh, and I added a bit more chocolate chips, both regular and chunks.  Since I have never had a Panera CC cookie I can't speak as to how close these come to the original.  But as far as I am concerned these cookies are delicious. 

Diana   

Chocolate Covered Cherries

Every year at Christmas time I can't wait for the Cordial Cherries to appear on the store shelves.  LOVE THEM

I think they taste so good because they are only available a few short months out of the year.  I have tried to make them before but I could never get the centers to liquefy.  Even after a couple of weeks thay sill were solid inside.  Delicious but solid.  I didn't give up and I finally learned the secret---invertase!

 But before we go there, what do you think of the cute little birdcage I packaged the chocolates in?

Adorable, right?

 OK back to the candy.....I found a great recipe here.   It listed invertase as an ingredient.  Wow, never heard of that before.  I googled it and found out it was what made the centers turn to liquid, was available on line and best of all was cheap.

 So a few clicks and two days later I had the invertase enzyme in my hot little hands and was ready to go.

The recipe was easy, and a lot of fun to make.  I have checked the candy every day and by the second day I had significant liquid.  Did I mention how I tested them.  You better believe I ate them!  I mean, I had to, right?  So now I can have these yummy treat all year long.  Yippee!

Diana

Chocolate Covered Jelly Sticks

Third attempt the charm!  At least when it comes to this yummy candy.

While these aren't exactly like the delicious candy you can buy at the store. they come pretty close.

I tried two other recipes. neither of which worked very well.  One came out two runny and the other was so chewy it was inedible.  Both were a lot of work too.  Big disappointment.  Finally I went with the easiest recipe that appeared here on Utube.  It worked and took no time at all.  I used raspberry jello cuz that's my favorite.  I poured the liquid into a silicone mold for water bottle ice cubes.

 Well. the gummy part took no time at all but dipping them in chocolate. not so easy.  Those little buggers were slippery and floppy.  What a mess.  But once they were covered in chocolate I drizzled a little more chocolate on top to make it look deliberate.  Ta-da!  Fancy looking candies! 

What would I do differently......add a little raspberry flavoring to increase the intensity of the raspberry jello!!!!  I had also made some gummies in a heart mold and I wouldn't do that again.  Too difficult to hold on to for dipping in chocolate.  Kept falling off the dipping fork and back into the chocolate.  Over and over again til I just gave up and grabbed them out with my hands.  Chocolate everywhere.  EVERYWHERE!  And the finished product?  Not pretty enough to appear on the blog so you got to take my work for it.  Stick with the sticks.

Diana

Old Fashion Ice Cube Chocolates' Recipe

Do you remember Ice Cubes?  They were delicious!  So creamy.....and they melted in your mouth as soon as you put them on your tongue (and on your fingers if you handled them too much!).  I recently found them at a candy store in California while visiting my son's family and I have been obsessing about them ever since.  So I did some Internet research to find out what to add to the chocolate to get it to that wonderful "melt in your mouth" condition.

I found out that the secret ingredient was probably coconut oil.  It has a low melting point, 97–104 °F, which allows it to melt very quickly when it is put in your mouth.  But what ratio of chocolate to coconut oil?  I then found this recipe for homemade Hard Shell.  You know that cool chocolate stuff that goes on the ice cream in liquid form and then magically becomes a hard lovely shell.  Could this work in reverse?  Maybe if I tweaked it a little.

 So this is what you need......2 parts good chocolate to one part coconut oil.  (I used 2 ounces chocolate and 1 ounce coconut oil).  

  Melt the chocolate and coconut oil over a pot of steaming (not boiling) hot water.....remember not to get any steam or water in the chocolate or disaster will follow!  Stir constantly and remove from heat when chocolate is almost melted.  Continue stirring until chocolate is completely melted.

 I poured the liquid chocolate into this cute tiny pitcher!  The chocolate will seem very thin but don't worry, that is how you want it.

 Carefully pour chocolate into molds that are about one inch in diameter.  Let set in freezer until very firm.

 Pop chocolates out of molds onto wax paper.  They should come out easily.  If they don't, put them back into the freezer and try again.

This mold makes the classic shape of the candy....well. almost. 

 Handling as little as possible, (the warmth from your hands will quickly melt the candies) wrap them in some pretty foil

 Soooo, the big question is how these homemade ice cubes measure up to the real thing.  

1. They melt beautifully once you put one on your tongue..yippee!

2. The flavor is delicious using the dark chocolate but I think milk chocolate would be closer to the original.  But can you imagine if you added a little mint oil to the dark chocolate version?  Kill me now cuz I'm in heaven!

So my verdict is that these are so close to the store bought ones I don't notice a difference, except these have a more intense chocolate flavor.  Next time I'll give milk chocolate a try.....

Diana

Homemade Truffles....and Chocolate Covered Strawberries!!!

 Little Miss Abby and I spent the day together on Saturday making some delicious chocolates.

 We decided to make REAL truffles for the first time ever and we think they came out pretty lovely.

 We even made the boxes we packaged them in!  Love my Silhouette!

 The recipe we used can be found at Chocoley and it is also where I buy all my supplies.  Their chocolate is so easy to work with and they have great sales and offers regularly.  Plus they have free online classes and tons of recipes for wonderful candies.  We made one batch of the basic truffle recipe and divided it into four bowls so we could have four different flavors.  The truffles with the white chocolate stripe are flavored with peppermint oil,  The truffles with pink sprinkles are raspberry, and then we also made both lemon and hot chili truffles (yellow and red sprinkles!)  Important note: you must use special flavored oils made for chocolate.  Regular candy flavors will cause the chocolate to seize up and ruin your truffles.  the same goes for coloring chocolate---special coloring oils only!

So how did we like the recipe?

Not only did we enjoy making these truffles but we also learned a few tricks along the way.  First of all, the recipe stated that the truffle mixture had to set up in the fridge for 3 hours or in the freezer for 1 1/2 hour to firm up before you could shape it into small balls.  Way too long.  We choose the freezer method and it was sooo hard we had to leave the bowls on the counter for about 1/2 an hour to soften so we could scoop it out.  Another thing, each flavoring oil has different intensity so be careful not to add too much.  The mint and the chili were very strong!  But the lemon and raspberry were much less intense.  Go figure...... 

 Here is Abby putting finishing touches on her boxes.

 We had leftover chocolate so we dipped some strawberries.  Waste not, want not!

 Abby did all the decorating!

I'd say this was a pretty wonderful way to spend an afternoon.

Diana

Light As Air Cookies---Only 10 Calories!

I have been trying to eat healthier, exercise daily and lose weight for the last three months (27 pounds lost so far!).  I am finally seeing some results which has me excited.  One of the downsides of this new lifestyle though is not being able to eat some of my favorite desserts.....so sad.  But I have found a cookie recipe that let's me have a little (or, on a bad day, a lot of) sweet during the day without any worries.  These delicious cookies have only 10 calories a piece so you can eat quite a few!

The recipe is from Taste of Home and is very easy.  There is some wait time so start these a few hours before you need them and you will be fine!

Vanilla Meringue Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 egg whites
• 1-1/2 teaspoons clear or regular vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• Dash salt
• 2/3 cup sugar

Directions

1. Place egg whites in a small bowl; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 250°. Add vanilla, cream of tartar and salt to egg whites; beat on medium speed until foamy. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high after each addition until sugar is dissolved. Continue beating until stiff glossy peaks form, about 7 minutes.
3. Cut a small hole in the tip of a pastry bag or in a corner of a food-safe plastic bag; insert a #32 star tip. Transfer meringue to bag. Pipe 1-1/4-in. diameter cookies 2 in. apart onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
4. Bake 40-45 minutes or until firm to the touch. Turn off oven (do not open oven door); leave meringues in oven 1 hour. Remove from oven; cool completely on baking sheets. Remove meringues from paper; store in an airtight container at room temperature. Yield: about 5 dozen.

Yum Yum

Diana

Magic Cake

You have probably seen Magic Cake on pinterest.  The magic?  A three layer cake that forms in the baking process!  Soft cake, creamy custard and another layer of cake, all from one batter.  Had to try it!  So I found a recipe here and got out all the ingredients, and about 90 minutes later, I had a three layer dessert that was really good!  Truth be told, the bottom layer wasn't really cake like.  It was more like the bottom of a cream puff, but the custard and top cake layer were nicely formed.  The cake didn't have a crumb texture.  More like a very soft angel food cake.  Real spongy.  It wasn't real sweet, which was kind of nice.  I ate my first piece warm which was delicious.....like warm pudding!  It was pretty impressive looking too, especially since the powdered sugar covered up any crust issues (it torn a bit when I cut it).   

Ingredients

• 4 eggs (separate yolks from whites) at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup sugar
• ½ cup butter, melted
•  ¾ cup of all purpose flour
• 2 cups lukewarm milk
• powdered sugar for dusting cake (I use the non-melting sugar available from King Arthur's)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 F degrees. Grease a 8 inch x 8 inch baking dish.
2. Separate eggs and add the egg whites to a mixer and mix until egg whites are stiff. Place egg whites in a bowl and set aside.
3. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until light. Add butter and vanilla extract and continue beating for another minute or two after which you can add the flour and mix it in until fully incorporated.
4. Slowly start adding the milk and beat until everything is well mixed together. (I think it looks pretty gross at this point but don't give up just yet) Add the egg whites, a third at a time and gently fold them in using a spatula, repeat until all egg whites are folded in. Another variation to folding in the egg whites would be to add a third of the egg whites and gently whisk them in to the cake batter, then reverse the process and add a bit of the cake mixture to the egg whites and gently whisk in, repeat until all cake batter has been whisked in. (I used the first method and ended up with tons of egg white clumps....might try second method next time)
5. Pour batter into baking dish and bake for 40 to 70  minutes (the cake should look "set" and not jiggle too much) or until the top is lightly golden (? mine was pretty brown.....) The baking time could vary greatly depending on the oven, so take a peek at around 40 minutes and see how it looks.
6. Sprinkle some powdered sugar after cake has cooled (or eat it warm like I did)

Jo Cooks has a chocolate and butterscotch version that look pretty darn good too!