Be good to yourself

So, do any of you totally beat yourselves up after making a mistake?  I just can't seem to stop.  Logically, I know that I just need to learn from it and move on, since I can't change what's already happened.  But emotionally, I can't let it go.  I go over and over things in my head, finding all of the things that I think I should have noticed at the time.   Of course, hindsight is 20/20, and the more I think about it, the more stupid I feel. (And of course none of this is helped by the fact that I've been really, really tired due to my crazy work schedule the past couple of weeks.)

I really need to stop being such a perfectionist.  Yes, it's important to do a good job.  But the world won't end if things aren't totally perfect.  I'm that way about way too many things in my life, including baking.  I can't seem to help apologizing for everything, including things that other people wouldn't have any clue about if I didn't say anything.  I'm starting to realize that it keeps me from blogging more, too.  I worry that my pictures don't look good enough.  I worry that what I write about isn't interesting enough.

So how do you deal with this sort of stuff?  How do you get yourselves out of a funk and back to being more productive?

I debated whether to share these cookies.  After all, I've already blogged about the base recipe, the Cook's Illustrated Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Why would anyone be interested a relatively small change that I made?  But what the heck--I like the way they turned out, and maybe you wouldn't think to do it on your own, or wouldn't know how to go about it.  It may have seemed to me like an obvious thing to try, but not everyone thinks like me.  (Thank goodness, or we'd all be too busy worrying to ever get anything done!)

I've altered cookie doughs in the past by substituting cocoa powder for some of the flour in the recipe.  You don't want to just add cocoa, or you'll end up with dry cookies.  Cocoa has a starchy quality to it, so it can fill in for part of the flour.  I decided to swap out about half a cup.  I prefer the flavor of natural cocoa, so that's what I used.  I wanted to bring out as much of the chocolate flavor as possible, so I took a tip from some of the chocolate cake recipes I make--a number of them mix cocoa with boiling water so the flavor can "bloom."  I didn't have water in this recipe, so I whisked it into the warm browned butter before adding the sugars.  Other than that, I followed the recipe as written.  For the mix-ins, I wanted a couple different types, so I split the dough in half.  Both portions got chocolate chips, but one half also got peanut butter chips while the other got white chips.  I like chocolate and peanut butter, but Gillian recently informed me that she does NOT like the PB chips.  Plus I wanted to be able to pack some of the cookies in Brianna's school lunch (this was about a month ago), and she really shouldn't take things with peanut butter.

The verdict?  Well, happily, I'm doing a lot better than when I started writing this post this morning.  I got past the sick feeling in my stomach and got mad at the situation, instead of just at myself.  And the cookies?  They were much appreciated both at home and at work.  I'll definitely be making this chocolate version again.  If you'd like to give it a try for yourself, here's the ingredient list I used.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
(adapted from Cook's Illustrated)

200 grams all-purpose flour
45 grams natural cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
100 grams granulated sugar
150 grams dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
340 grams mix-ins of your choice

For the recipe instructions, head over to Cook's Illustrated.  The recipe is also in the new Cook's Illustrated Cookbook.

Until we meet again (soon!)

I posted at the end of last week that I've been blogging for four years now.  I wasn't entirely sure how to begin.  I started by just posting some of our favorites, and assorted things that I decided to make.  So not that much different from what I do now. =)  That got me through the first month or so.  Then I decided to be brave.  After reading this post from Peabody, I decided to join a fairly new baking group called Tuesdays with Dorie.  At the time I thought I was crazy, but it's one of the best things I ever did. I've learned to bake lots of amazing things, and made some fantastic friends.  

In the beginning, I participated almost every week.  Over time, other things (work & family being two of the biggest) claimed more of my time than they used to, though I still tried to keep up.  For the past couple months, I've still been baking a lot of the time, but haven't always had the time or felt the inspiration to write.  And now, after four years, we've come to the end of the book.  Don't worry, you'll continue to see Dorie recipes here on my blog, since there are some that I haven't posted that I want to.  Not to mention the fact that Dorie has written other books.  But more about that in a bit.  

  

I was looking through some of my earliest blog posts and was amazed to see how much my girls have grown.  When I started all this, Brianna was about the age that Gillian is now.  Wow.  After getting a new baking book for Christmas, Brianna made us breakfast (mini corn muffins) on Monday pretty much all by herself.  I have to say, it's quite a change to be just a coach when you're used to being the baker.  I promised Gillian that she could help me with the TWD recipe, fittingly the Kids' Thumbprints.  She helped me measure things on the scale and add them to the mixing bowl.  When the dough was done, she helped me shape it into balls and did most of the thumbprints.  Her only complaint was that she doesn't really like peanut butter. =)

We mostly followed the recipe as written.  I did chill the dough for a bit after it was made, since it seemed kind of soft.  To make sure the dough balls were all the same size, I used my #70 disher to portion the dough, which we then rolled between our hands to form smooth balls.  We filled most of the cookies with a couple big chocolate chips, but left a few empty to be filled with raspberry jam after baking.  A handful of cookies ended up with both when I discovered that I had a little jam left over.  The size of cookies we made took 14 minutes to bake.  We did skip the chopped nuts on the outside of the cookies; I knew there was no way the girls would even consider eating them that way.

The verdict?  Well like I said, G doesn't like peanut butter, so she isn't a huge fan of the cookies.  B thought that they were okay, but nothing great.  Fortunately, Jamie liked them a lot.  And I'm sure I'll be able to find a home for any extra cookies.  I was surprised to find that I preferred the jam ones.  I think it's because the chips didn't melt to fill the thumbprints (which makes sense, in retrospect).  If I make these again, I'll used chopped chocolate instead of chips, or just fill the holes with ganache after baking.

If you'd like to try the recipe, you can find it in Baking From My Home to Yours, of course.  For this final week of this incarnation of TWD, Dorie herself is our host and will have the recipe up as well.  If you're not currently a member of Tuesdays with Dorie, membership in the group will be opening up again very soon.  The next book will be Baking with Julia.  I've had a copy of the book for a long time, but haven't really baked from it.  I'm hoping that this will be the push I need to pull it off the shelf.  

I'm sure there will be lots of participants this week, so be sure to check out all the Links!

Have your cake and ice cream, too

Well, it's back to work for me tomorrow.  On Friday, I stopped by work briefly, and several people asked me what I'd been doing with my time off.  The answer?  Absolutely nothing. =)  Or at least, pretty darn closed to that.  I did get to spend a couple days with Gillian (while Brianna was at school), which was nice.  At her request, we did a little shopping on Thursday.  Ah, to be 4-going-on-5 again--the days when all it takes to make you happy is some new socks and leggings and a 99¢ plastic pencil box.  Maybe it was the youthful company, but I did a little shopping for myself, and walked out of Office Depot with over a dozen colorful Sharpies.  I try to stay out of there, since I lack willpower when it comes to office supplies... =)

I also did lots of baking over the past week.  The most involved creation for the week was also one that would easily win the heart of any 4-year-old, not to mention most big kids.  I've mentioned before that I'm a DBCB.  The reason I went into work on my vacation is that Friday was the birthday of one of my employees, and another has a birthday tomorrow.  Fortunately, they're both old enough not too complain too much about having to share.  But just in case, I found a good solution--I made everyone a cake of his or her own.  My employee A has been nagging me incessantly about making peanut butter ice cream for her ever since I brought some to work for another event.  She even suggested that I make ice cream cake.  Normally that would be too hard too pull off, but since I was off, I could bring the dessert in at lunch time so it wouldn't have time to melt.  So I made a bunch of mini ice cream cakes!

The first thing to decide on was the cake.  I knew I wanted chocolate, and a cake that would be good cold.  One of the first recipes to come to mind was one from Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours.  If you're familiar with the book, you'll remember the fabulous cake on the cover.  In the headnote for the recipe, Dorie says, "Freshly made or at room temperature, they [the layers] are moist and a little fluffy; chilled, they're still moist, but denser and firmer, very much like a super-fudgy brownie."  That sounded like just what I wanted.  Since I wanted thin layers, I used my quarter-sheet pans in place of the 8" rounds called for in the recipe.  (The bake time was 20 minutes, and I lined the pans with parchment to make it easy to remove the layers once cooled.)  For the ice cream layer, I used one of the same pans, and right after churning the ice cream, I spread it in the parchment lined pan and froze it until it was very firm.  

For the assembly, I used a 2 1/2" biscuit cutter (from this set) to cut out rounds.  I got 14 from each layer.  I stacked the layers--cake, then ice cream, then cake--and stuck the cakes into the freezer overnight to make sure they were completely frozen before I covered them in chocolate.  I debated what to use for a coating, but decided to go with the Chocolate Bombe Shell from my copy of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home.  (The peanut butter ice cream was also from that book.)  I put the cakes on a rack placed over a sheet pan lined with non-stick foil and spooned the chocolate mixture over them.  I did three at a time, keeping the rest in the freezer until I was ready for them.  Also, if you work fast, you can put sprinkles on top before the shell completely hardens so they stick well.  The nice thing about the chocolate shell mixture is that you can stick the sheet pan in the freezer for a few minutes and the chocolate will harden so that you can easily peel it off the foil.  Then you can just break it up and remelt it.  

The verdict?  Well, this is now the newest "best thing that you have -ever- made!" according to my co-workers.  It was a big hit here at home, too.  I'm already thinking of different flavors that I can put together, especially since Gillian wasn't a huge fan of the peanut butter ice cream.  I have lots of cake scraps left, too, so they may end up in some sort of trifle, unless I manage to just eat them all.    

If you'd like to try these little cakes for yourself, here's where you can find recipes for the components I used.  Or you can just have fun experimenting for yourself.  Enjoy!

Dorie's Devil's Food Cake

Jeni's The Buckeye State ice cream (I left out the chocolate bits & used Golden Syrup instead of honey)

Chocolate Bombe Shell (I doubled the amounts listed in this post)

Moody blues

I know I'm really in a grumpy mood when not even chocolate helps.  Unfortunately, I've been in this grumpy mood for the past couple of weeks.  I really need to do something to shake it.  I almost wanted to skip this post, but I haven't written about the last couple of Tuesdays with Dorie recipes (though I did bake one of them).  Yes, it's guilt that's really getting me going here, but at least something is moving me in the right direction.  You know things are really bad when not even this lovely Valentine's gift from my husband really broke through my bad mood:

That means it's time to bring out the big guns--chocolate with peanut butter.  I'm not ashamed to admit, I have a bit of a Reese's addiction. =)  (We're even coming up on my favorite time of year, when the Reese's Eggs are out!)  And I found a way to work it into my TWD assignment.  This week's recipe?  Chocolate Oatmeal Drops, picked by Caroline and Claire of Bake with Us.  That's right, no peanut butter in the original recipe.  But several of my Twitter buddies commented that they weren't that excited by these cookies.  I figured, what the heck, it can't hurt to throw in some peanut butter chips along with the oatmeal to liven things up!  

The cookie batter is pretty easy to mix up.  I just made half the recipe, since we already had lots of chocolate treats around here.  First you melt together butter, brown sugar, bittersweet chocolate and a bit of water.  (I used the microwave.)  Once all of that is melted and mixed together, you whisk in a egg.  I also added a bit of vanilla, in place of the cinnamon called for in the recipe.  (I don't care for cinnamon with chocolate.)  Next, you stir in the dry ingredients--flour, cocoa powder (I used natural), baking soda, and salt.  (I kept the full amount of salt even though I halved the recipe.)  Finally, you mix in rolled oats, and in my case, the peanut butter chips.  (85 grams, which is about half a cup.)  The batter isn't very stiff; it's more like brownie batter than most cookie batter.  I used my #40 disher to scoop it onto parchment lined baking sheets, and baked the cookies for 11 minutes.  I got 21 cookies from my half-batch.

The verdict?  I really liked these with the peanut butter chips.  The cookies are very chocolatey, and the oatmeal adds some nice chew.  They were a big hit at work.  One of my bankers said they were (the latest) best thing I've ever brought.  I think he was exaggerating because it was almost lunchtime, though. =)  Still, the compliment definitely improved my mood a bit. 

If you'd like to give these a try, you can find the recipe on Caroline's and Claire's blog.  To see what everyone else thought of these cookies, check out this week's Links.  

No trick to these treats

Well, Halloween is over, so hopefully my girls will settle down a little bit before they start getting all worked up about Christmas.  I can hope, right?  Even after 12 years in Texas, I'm still not really used to the fact that it's not really cold for Halloween.  I can remember, as a kid, trying to fit sweaters under my Halloween costume so I wouldn't freeze to death.  I think there's only been one year since Brianna started trick-or-treating that it was actually chilly enough that she needed a sweater or jacket.  We certainly didn't this year--it was probably about 75ºF out when we headed out just after dark.  We didn't stay out long, though, since I was still getting over the cold I've had for the past week.  Even so, both girls came home with quite a bit of candy.  J said it was a somewhat slow night for handing out candy, too, so we actually had some left over.  I picked all the Almond Joys out of the bag and took them to work (no need for coconut in this house!), but still have some good stuff to eat, without having to swipe candy from my children. =)  They're getting old enough where they might actually notice if all the peanut butter cups disappear without them eating any...

In the midst of all the Halloween excitement and sugar, I almost forgot about this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.  Which would have been a shame, since it has the wonderful combination of chocolate and peanut butter.  Nicole of Bakeologie picked the Peanuttiest Blondies for us to make this week.  I actually didn't make a lot of changes for a change.  I did leave out the cinnamon, since I don't like it with chocolate.  And my girls don't like nuts in things, so I substituted peanut butter chips for the chopped peanuts.  I lowered my oven temp to 325ºF since I was using a dark pan, and ended up baking my blondies for 45 minutes.

The verdict?  Well, I took a bunch of these to work, and they were devoured in no time, so I think they were a hit. =)  I really like them, too, and so does J.  I just realized that B&G haven't tried them, since they've been so preoccupied with all the candy.  So I guess I'll just have to make them again. 

Nicole has the recipe on her blog.  And to see what everyone else thought of this week's recipe, check out the Links.  I leave you with a picture of my trick-or-treaters.  I'm convinced that Brianna still wants to dress up as a princess, but doesn't want to admit it because it's not cool for a second-grader to dress up as a princess...

Belle and her sister, the Bride of Darkness

Choosy kids

I wasn't much older than Brianna (who is now 7 1/2) when I started making my own lunch for school.  When I started complaining about what was in my lunch, my mom basically said that if I didn't like what she made, I could make it myself.  =)  The main point of contention?  I don't like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Never have.  On the occasions that I ended up with one, I'd take the sandwich apart and put the peanut butter with peanut butter and jelly with jelly (the sandwiches were cut in halves or quarters).  To this day, while I will eat peanut butter, I don't usually go out of my way to make stuff with it.  So Brianna and Gillian haven't had much exposure to it, especially since it's not allowed at daycare (in case of peanut allergies).  

For some strange reason, though, I've been on a real peanut butter kick lately.  Especially peanut butter with chocolate.  I bought a pint of Ben & Jerry's peanut butter cup ice cream.  I made these chocolate peanut butter no bake cookies.  I made milk chocolate peanut butter ganache for B & G to use as fondue (which I had to sample of course--quality control!).   I bought a bag of peanut butter m&ms.  And I made this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, Peanut Butter Crisscrosses.  The recipe was picked by Jasmine of Jasmine Cuisine.  I love simple cookies like these--easy to make, and they work great for stuff like lunches.  

I almost never get out my mixer when I'm making cookies, especially drop ones like these.  For some reason, I just love mixing them by hand.  I also don't like cakey cookies, and mixing by hand keeps me from adding too much air.  I was going to make the full batch, but when I looked at the quantity of ingredients, I realized I would end up with a whole lot of cookies, so I went with half.  First you cream together butter and peanut butter, then add granulated and light brown sugars.  Next comes an egg, then dry ingredients--all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and a bit of nutmeg.  The recipe calls for chopped peanuts to be added at the end.  I don't usually have peanuts on hand, and I know the girls don't like nuts in their cookies.  So I substituted peanut butter chips--how can you go wrong with more peanut butter?  I used my #40 disher to scoop the dough onto parchment-lined sheet pans.  I wasn't sure how easy it would be to make the crisscrosses with the chips in there, so on the first pan I experimented--I did half with crisscrosses and half without.  For the ones I did mark, I dipped the fork in sugar first to help the crisscrosses hold their shape.  Leslie gave me a tip to shorten the baking time slightly for chewier cookies, so I baked mine for 11 minutes.  I ended up with 26 cookies from my half-batch.

The verdict?  These cookies were a big hit with all who tried them.  I kind of wish I'd made the full batch.  The texture was great, thanks to the brown sugar in the dough and the shorter baking time.  Brianna seemed to enjoy them in her lunch last week.  So far she hasn't complained too much about what I've put in there, so I haven't told her to make her own lunch yet. =)  As for the crisscrosses, they only sort of held their shape.  I liked the unmarked ones just as much, so I may go the lazy route in the future and skip the fork.  I'll definitely be making these again.

If you'd like to try these for yourself, you can find the recipe on Jasmine's blog.  And be sure to check out this week's Links to see what everyone else thought of these.  While you're there, also take a look at the new group forming to cook & bake through Dorie's new book!  

In the eye of the beholder

As I was eating one of the granola bars I made last weekend, the combination of chocolate (thanks to B&G insisting on adding chocolate chips) and oatmeal reminded me of something.  It took me a minute to figure out what it was.  The taste was reminiscent of some cookies that I used to make with a junior high friend of mine.  Her family called them ugly cookies, because, well, they were not very attractive to look at.  But the taste?  Fabulous.  Chocolate and peanut butter, with some oatmeal to hold everything together.  I made them at her house a bunch of times, but for some reason never wrote down the recipe for myself.  It wasn't until I was in college that I encountered them again.  My first husband Nate (then just my boyfriend) had a bunch of recipes from his mom.  One of them was for something called no-bake peanut butter cookies.  It wasn't until I actually made the recipe with him that I realized that these no-bake cookies were my old favorite ugly cookies!

These aren't traditional cookies, as you might guess from the title.  They're more like peanut butter fudge, with some oatmeal mixed in.  Not that that's a bad thing.  You boil together sugar, cocoa powder, milk and butter, then mix in peanut butter and oatmeal.  I did tweak the recipe slightly from the original that Nate had.  I added more cocoa (more chocolate is generally good) and a little salt.  I've tried making these with rolled oats instead of quick oats, too.  It works, but I find that I have to add more oats, since the quick oats seem to bind the mixture better.  I used to spoon the finished mixture onto foil, but now I use parchment paper since I have it around all the time.

The verdict?  Brianna and Gillian seemed to like these, although they both complained about the oatmeal a bit.  It does tend to give the cookies a very chewy texture at first.  The oatmeal softens a bit by the second day, though.  As always, I loved these, and Jamie agreed that it had been way too long since I'd made them.  The only question now is whether to take some to work.  I might have to, to remove the temptation of eating them all myself. =)

Ugly Cookies (aka No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookies)
(adapted from Laverne Morrison)

400g (2 cups) granulated sugar
20g (1/4 cup) natural cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
110g (1/2 cup) milk
110g (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into several pieces
130g (1/2 cup) smooth peanut butter
225g (about 2 1/2 cups) quick oats

Line two sheet pans with parchment paper or foil and set aside.  In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, and salt until no lumps of cocoa remain.  Whisk in the milk, then add the butter.  Heat the mixture over medium heat until it comes to a boil, then boil it for one minute.  Remove the pan from the heat.  Whisk in the peanut butter, then stir in the oats.  Drop the mixture by tablespoonfuls (I used my #40 disher) onto the parchment lined pans.  Cool until fully set, 1-2 hours.  Makes about 2 dozen.

There's no wrong way to eat a blondie

If I had to pick a favorite dessert, it would be brownies.  Just the fudgy or chewy kinds, not the cakey ones.  I have a favorite recipe, but I'm more than willing to try new ones, because you never know when you might find something else that's great.  There are times, though, when I want something not as chocolatey.  Lemon bars are another favorite bar cookie, but they're a little more fussy and time consuming (it always seems to take me forever to juice the lemons; my favorite recipe uses a lot of juice).    Things with brown sugar are something else I like, so sometimes I just make blondies.

My favorite recipe (which I really need to blog one of these days) uses melted butter, lots of brown sugar, and no chemical leavening.  So the texture ends up being rather dense and fudgy, a lot like the brownies I prefer.  This weekend, though, I got to try a new version, thanks to Tuesdays with Dorie.  Our hostess this week is Nicole of Cookies on Friday, and she picked Chewy Chunky Blondies for us to make.  Dorie's version of blondies reads a lot like a chocolate chip cookie recipe (it uses the creaming method), but as usual, she adds all sorts of interesting things, to the point where there's almost more stuff than batter. =)

I decided to halve the recipe--in case we didn't like them that much, or we liked them too much. =)  For the additions, I immediately eighty-sixed the coconut (if you've read my blog for any length of time you'll know why).  I also decided to skip the nuts, since I wanted Brianna and Gillian to actually eat these.  They don't seem to like any nuts but cashews and pistachios, and prefer to eat those out of hand, not in things.  That left me with the chocolate chips and butterscotch chips.  For the chocolate chips, I went with bittersweet (Guittard 63%) since I knew the batter would be sweet.  That made me worry about the butterscotch chips, which tend to be incredibly sweet.  I wasn't up for that, but still wanted to add something besides the chocolate chips.  I recently reorganized my chips collection (yes, I think it qualifies as a collection--I can think of about ten different kinds in my pantry right now) and I remembered that I had a bunch of peanut butter chips.  Perfect!  I used 100g each of chocolate and PB chips for my half recipe.

I mixed the dough by hand, like I do with chocolate chip cookies and my usual blondie recipe.  The process was pretty straightforward.  Cream together the butter and sugars (white and brown), then mix in the egg and vanilla.  Next up, dry ingredients (AP flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt).  I kept the original amount of salt even though I cut everything else in half, to help combat the sweetness a bit more.  Finally, I stirred in the chips.  The batter was very stiff, and was a bit of a challenge to spread evenly in the pan.  I used an 8" square Pyrex pan (I really need to get a metal 8" pan one of these days), but left the  oven temp at 325F.  To make sure I'd be able to get the blondies out of the pan without a problem, I lined it with non-stick foil (I love that stuff!).  I ended up baking them for 30 minutes or so (might have been a minute or two longer--I was upstairs and didn't hear the timer right away).

The verdict? I was prepared not too like these that much.  After all, I messed with the add-ins, guessed at the baking time, and was worried about the texture, since they seemed to have puffed around the edges.  I was thinking they'd be cakey, or dry.  Well, I shouldn't have worried.  Gillian pronounced them one of the best things I've made.  Brianna inhaled hers as well.  Jamie enjoyed them, too (especially the peanut butter chips).  I liked the texture quite a bit--the top was crunchy and the inside chewy without being overly gooey.

If you'd like to try these for yourself (and have fun deciding what to mix in), you can find the recipe over at Nicole's blog.  And be sure to check out this week's links to the other TWD bakers.

A la peanut butter sandwiches!

The first time I tried dulce de leche was when we made the Snickery Squares for TWD.  And to be honest, I really didn't like it all that much.  While I do like caramel flavors, it was just too sweet for my tastes.  Maybe it was just the kind I bought, but I wasn't excited to try it again any time soon.  So I wasn't quite sure what to think when I saw that Jodie had picked Dulce de Leche Duos for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.  They are sandwich cookies that have dulce de leche used both in the dough and for the filling.  Hmm.

I decided to give them a try despite my misgivings.  First thing was to come up with some dulce de leche (which I'm going to abbreviate DDL from now on =)  ).  Since I had a hard time finding it the last time, I was quite happy to see Julie's Tricks for Treats post with some ideas on how to make your own.  While the idea of making it in my crockpot was appealing, I decided to go with David Lebovitz's oven method.  Part of what swayed me was the fact that he says to add a bit of sea salt to the sweetened condensed milk before putting it in the oven.  I love salt added to caramel, so I figured it might be a good addition to the DDL.  That idea was further reinforced by the fact that I recently watched this Good Eats episode about adding salt to desserts.

The verdict?  Oh. My. Goodness.  I may not have liked DDL before, but I certainly do now!!  With the added salt, the stuff is fantastic.  It was all I could do not to just sit there and eat it with a spoon.  But I made it for the cookies, so into the cookies it would go.  =)  So next up, cookie dough.

The cookie dough is pretty straightforward to make.  You cream butter with granulated sugar, brown sugar, and the DDL.  Then you beat in eggs.  (And maybe vanilla? I can't remember right now.)  Then you mix in flour, baking soda and salt.  I did add a bit more salt than the recipe called for.  The cookies are simple drop cookies (no chilling or rolling or anything like that).  I used my #100 disher and was quite happy with the size of the cookies that I got.  However, I probably should have cut the recipe in a half, since I got a few more cookies than the recipe was supposed to yield.  It said 30 sandwiches, but I got enough individual cookies to make 45 sandwiches.  Oh, well, more to give away. =)  Next up, the filling.

Dorie recommends filling the cookies with more of the DDL.  Only problem with that was that I'd used up almost all of my DDL in the dough.  I should have done more than one can, I guess.  Actually, at the time I made it, I only had the one can.  But I picked up another one when I was grocery shopping, and decided to go ahead make more DDL.  I figured it wouldn't go to waste.  Once I was done making more, I used it to make a couple sandwich cookies.  Hmm.  I thought at first the DDL was thick enough, but after the cookies sat for a few minutes, it started to drip out the sides.  And while the taste was nice, the combination of cookie and filling was a bit sweet for my taste.  Then I was inspired--peanut butter!  By itself, it might be a bit much, but what if I mixed it with some of the DDL?  I played around with the amounts of peanut butter and DDL to see what I liked best.  You can certainly try your own mixture, but I found that I liked mixing 100g of peanut butter with 125g of dulce de leche, which gave me enough filling for about 20 cookies.

The final verdict?  Wow.  These cookies were awesome!  I took a bunch to work on Monday and got the most enthusiastic response I've had in a while.  They absolutely loved them.  I was told that I could give the Girl Scouts a run for their money.  And when I offered to take the leftovers home when I left for the day (to remove temptation), I was informed that I should just put the cookies down and move away. =P  They were a big hit at my house, as well, so I think it's safe to say that I'll be making them again.

If you'd like to try them for yourself, you can find the recipe at Jodie's blog.  And be sure to check out the TWD blogroll to see what everyone else thought of these!

Going, going, gone

I actually had to put peanut butter on my shopping list for next week.  I'm not really sure how long I've had the jar in my pantry.  I know I used some of it for the Peanut Butter Torte back in May, but the jar was open before that.  The only other things I know I use it for are chocolate-peanut butter no-bake cookies, and peanut butter swirl brownies.  I can't remember the last time I made either of those.  It's not that I really have anything against peanut butter, it's just not the first flavor I go for.  And when I do go for it, it's pretty much always in combination with chocolate.  Despite my love of all things dark chocolate, though, I prefer milk chocolate with my peanut butter.  Think Reese's--the cups, of course, but my favorite is actually the eggs they make at Easter time.  To my taste, they have the best ratio of filling to chocolate.  

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe is Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters (does that win for longest recipe title yet?), chosen by Stefany of Proceed with Caution.  I actually made these twice (a half-batch each time), with some variations.  For one, the only peanut butter I have is smooth, not crunchy, because I don't like crunchy.  In both batches I omitted the cinnamon, although I kept the nutmeg.  And I chopped up some milk chocolate (El Rey Caoba 41%, for the most part) for the chips.

Other than those changes, the first batch was made according to the recipe.  I mixed these up last weekend as something to take to our monthly dance.  Cookies always make good finger food.  =)  I didn't have a lot of time, so they didn't really get to chill in the fridge.  I scooped the dough out onto baking sheets, flattened the dough balls just slightly, and popped them in the oven.  The cookies came out very flat.  I underbaked them a bit, since I wanted them to stay a little chewy.  I had to let them cool on the baking sheet for a while before I could transfer them to a rack.  

The verdict?  Wow, were they a hit!  I liked them quite a bit myself, but I was still surprised to see how quickly they disappeared.  One person asked if I would email her the recipe as soon as I got home (which I did, or I probably would have forgotten, the way last week went).  Usually when I take something to a dance, there's at least a little left over for us.  Not this time!

So for the past week, I've been thinking about making more.  I finally had a good reason on Labor Day, since we were invited over for dinner with some friends (sort of surrogate grandparents to Brianna and Gillian).  One thing that stuck with me from the first batch was that the taste and texture reminded me of the no-bake cookies I mentioned above.  So for my second batch, I added in 1/4 cup cocoa powder (Scharffen Berger) with the flour.  I also had time to chill the dough for a few hours while I attempted to take a nap (not easy with children conspiring against me).  

Verdict #2?  I like these even better, and they were very popular with everyone after dinner.  I left some with our friends, but still have quite a few for us.  Brianna already asked if she can have one in her lunch tomorrow.  =)  These cookies weren't quite so flat, I think because the dough was chilled.  I can definitely see myself buying more peanut butter just to make more of these.

Want to try them for yourself?  You can find them in Dorie's book, of course, or head on over to Stefany's blog for the recipe.  

TWD: Peanut Butter Torte

When I was in grade school, my mom would pack my lunch.  That is, up until I started to complain about what was in it.  At that point, she told me to do it myself.  =)  My chief complaint?  I don't like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  I like jelly, and I don't mind peanut butter, but I absolutely do not like them together.  Weird, huh?  If I ended up with a PB&J somehow, I'd take it apart and put the jelly pieces together and do the same with the peanut butter sides.  

Honestly, I'm not that big a fan of peanut butter at all.  But as I got older, I discovered a different combination--peanut butter and chocolate.  Now if there's chocolate involved, how could it be bad?  My favorite "candy bar" is Reese's peanut butter cups.  And actually, what I like even better is the Reese's peanut butter eggs that you get around Easter.  They have a better ratio of peanut butter to chocolate.  In fact, I'm pretty sure I still have some stashed away where my kiddos won't find them.  It's not too big a worry--Brianna really doesn't like peanut butter that much.  With all the worries about peanut allergies these days, they don't allow it at daycare, so she really hasn't had it very often.  The few times I've tried to give her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, she's pushed it away.  Or maybe she's just like me and doesn't like the combination.  =)

Anyway, all this talk of peanut butter (and chocolate!) leads us to this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, Peanut Butter Torte, selected by Elizabeth of Ugg Smell Food.  This one looked truly decadent, with a filling of peanut butter, cream cheese and cream, so I knew I didn't want to make a full-size torte.  Naturally, I used that as an excuse to acquire another new piece of bakeware.  I headed down to Sur la Table (one of my favorite places to browse--I could go pretty crazy in there if I had more money to spend) and picked up a 7-inch springform pan.  It was actually pretty inexpensive.  Armed with my new pan, I planned to make half the recipe.

I had to make another special purchase for this recipe.  Oreos.  I almost never buy cookies, because I prefer to make my own.  Plus Oreos are dangerous to have around.  After taking out enough of them for the crust (and eating two or three), I froze the rest to remove temptation.  After reading some of the comments on this week's P&Q, I figured I'd need more than 12 for a good crust, so I used 16, and about 3 tablespoons of melted butter.  That worked quite well. 

While the crust was cooling, I started prepping ingredients for the filling.  I mixed together the mini chips, chopped peanuts, epresso powder and cinnamon.  Somehow I totally missed the nutmeg in the ingredients list!  I didn't want too many nuts in my filling, so I only did the 1/4 cup for the "crunch."  All was going well until I started on the mousse.  I didn't feel like pulling out my stand mixer for only half the recipe, so I decided to mix the filling by hand.  I measured out my cup of cream and started whipping it.  But some interaction of my metal whisk and metal bowl (stainless steel, shouldn't have been a problem) caused weird gray bits to show up in my whipped cream.  I tried to figure out a way to strain them out, but finally gave up and started over.  At this point, I realized I only had 3/4 cup of cream left in the fridge, but I decided to wing it.  =)  I also only had 5 ounces of cream cheese, rather than 6.  Oops.  I went ahead and used the full 3/4 cup of peanut butter, so my filling just ended up extra peanut-buttery.  No problem!

I put about three-fourths of my mousse into the prepared crust.  Then to dress things up a bit, I piped the rest on top in stars (sort of).  I had actually decided to pass on the ganache topping, which was good since I was out of cream!  I prefer milk chocolate with peanut butter, and was going to make a milk chocolate ganache instead of a dark one, but forgot to buy more milk chocolate when I was shopping.  So I just topped my mousse with more mini chips.

After all was said and done, Jamie and I got to try the finished product Monday night.  It was extremely tasty, but not something I could eat a lot of in one sitting.  I'll have to wait until this evening to see if Brianna likes it better than PB&J.  =)

Peanut Butter Torte

(adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)

16 Oreo cookies, finely crumbed or ground in a food processor
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/4 cup finely chopped salted peanuts
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
Small pinch of salt

3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons + 1/2 cup (2 ounces) confectioners’ sugar
5 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup salted peanut butter (I used smooth Jif)
1 tablespoon whole milk

additional mini chocolate chips for garnish

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 7-inch springform pan and place it on a baking sheet. (I skipped buttering the pan and didn't have a problem.  I also wrapped the bottom of my spring-form pan in non-stick foil before putting the ring on.  It makes for a tighter seal between the bottom and sides and makes it easier to get pieces of the torte out.)

Put the Oreo crumbs, melted butter and salt in another small bowl and stir with a fork just until crumbs are moistened. (I just added the butter to the crumbs in my food processor bowl and pulsed it a few more times.)  Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the spring-form pan (they should go up about 2 inches on the sides). Freeze the crust for 10 minutes.

Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a rack and let it cool completely before filling.

Toss the chopped peanuts, the sugar, espresso powder, cinnamon, and chocolate chips together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl (I just used a bowl and a whisk), whip the cream until it holds medium peaks. Beat in 2 tablespoons of the confectioners’ sugar and whip until the cream holds medium-firm peaks. Scrape the cream into a bowl and refrigerate until needed.

Wipe out (do not wash) the bowl, fit the stand mixer with the paddle attachment if you have one, or continue with the hand mixer, and beat the cream cheese with the remaining 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until the cream cheese is satiny smooth. Beat in the peanut butter and the milk. (Again, I just did this by hand.)

Using a large rubber spatula, gently stir in about one quarter of the whipped cream, just to lighten the mousse. Still working with the spatula, stir in the crunchy peanut mixture, then gingerly fold in the remaining whipped cream.

Scrape the mousse into the crust, mounding and smoothing the top (I put about three-fourths of the mousse in the crust, and then piped the rest around the top).  Scatter mini chips on top of the mousse.  Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight; cover with plastic wrap as soon as the mousse firms.

When the ganache is firm, remove the sides of the Springform pan; it’s easiest to warm the pan with a hairdryer, and then remove the sides, but you can also wrap a kitchen towel damped with hot water around the pan and leave it there for 10 seconds. Refrigerate until ready to serve.