Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I usually use shortening in my cookie recipes but felt the need to give butter another shot since it has been so long since I actually used just butter in a recipe.   I still stand by my original thoughts and I just like shortening better in my cookies.  I mean butter is good but it just doesn't give me the big, fluffy, chewy, awesome that shortening gives to cookies.  Though I will say using half butter and have shortening seems to give it the best of both worlds.  I love these cookies.  These are my standard "go to" when I want to whip up a batch of cookies any day of the week.


Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2 sticks room temperature butter (or 1 c. shortening)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 bag dark chocolate chunks
1/2 bag semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine sugar and butter and beat until well combined.  Add in eggs one at a time.  Add in vanilla.  In a separate bowl combine flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and whisk to combine.  Add flour mixture into creamed butter mixture.  Pour in chocolate.  Drop by heaping tablespoons onto parchment paper and bake 9-12 minutes or until edges are just brown.  Allow to cool a bit before serving. 

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ok so you here bacon and chocolate and it is like WHAT?  But it seems the world is ready for this kind of thing.  You hear about chocolate dipped bacon and bacon cookies and all sorts of desserts that now have the most amazing piece of meat that exists thrown into it.  Of course, I was skeptical.  I mean bacon in a dessert? This month's Crazy Cooking Challenge was the find the ultimate chocolate chip cookie.  I wanted something really unique.  Not just your ordinary cookie.  I found this cookie at Craving Chronicles and knew it was something I had to try.  Now the rest of my family wasn't so sure about this idea.  My husband couldn't believe what I was doing and felt it was just wrong.  My 4 year old daughter thought it was by far the greatest thing she had ever heard of.  I actually just laughed as I ate these.  I wouldn't say they were the best cookie I've ever eaten but I really had fun making it and trying something new.  My daughter on the other hand has found her favorite cookie for life. 

Also this is a great blog that I really enjoyed reading.  Theresa loves baking and photography.  I really enjoyed not only looking through her recipes but loved seeing the pictures she has taken as well.  Her photographs truly are amazing, her food pictures are just so vibrant and really make you want to run into the kitchen to recreate the things you are seeing. 

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Craving Chronicles


2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) All-Purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
6 slices crisp cooked thick cut bacon, chopped
1/8 c. maple syrup

In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Using a mixer with paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, incorporating completely after each addition. Add vanilla. Reduce mixer to lowest speed and carefully add flour mixture. Mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips by hand.  Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate 24 – 36 hours, up to 72 hours.

Pull dough out and allow to come to room temperature.  Meanwhile dice bacon and come until golden brown and crispy.  Add in maple syrup and stir allowing the syrup to reduce.  Allow candied bacon to cool.  Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  When dough has warmed enough to be pliable but not too soft, fold in chopped bacon. Using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop, measure 8 cookies out on a baking sheet. Bake one sheet at a time, 10-14 minutes or until edges are starting to brown. Cool 2-3 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Whisking Wednesdays #20

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Welcome to Whisking Wednesdays! 


I love the fall.  I love walking into the stores and seeing pumpkins and all the fall vegetables coming out, like acorn and butternut squash.  I love watching the leaves turn and the weather get cooler.  This is my favorite time of year.  I'm already thinking of all the stews and pies that need to be made as the weather gets cooler.  I love making pies, especially pumpkin! 



Thank you all who participated in this week's Whisking Wednesdays and hope to see you back again this week!

These are so awesome!  I love this and think I could even do this myself. It looks so fun and creative and of course it is almost Halloween!

#1
Mrs. Fox's Sweets
Ghost & Monsters Halloween Brownies

My absolute favorite frosting in peanut butter frosting.  So peanut butter frosting on brownies with peanut butter cups, YUM!


#2 
Lady Behind the Curtain 
Brownies with Peanut Butter Frosting 

I always love seeing homemade versions of candy bars.  I love butterfingers and had no idea you made them with candy corn.  Definitely gotta try these!


#3
Brandy's Crafts 
Homemade Butterfingers 

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1. Please link up to the URL of your post, not the URL of your main blog. When it asks for "Name", type in the name of your recipe.
2. Please leave a link back to this post in your post or Grab My Button.
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This weeks theme is going to be just your favorite recipe you've made from the week.  Whether it is a dessert, breakfast, dinner or snack.  

Spiced Pumpkin Cake

I love, love, love pumpkin.  Anything and everything you can make with it, I'll eat it.  I love the pies, cakes, pancakes, puddings, donuts, all of it.  This is one of my favorites that I like to make.  This cake is so moist and delicious.  I love the smell of the pumpkin and cinnamon throughout my house while it bakes.  These work great as muffins too, though I usually just use a bundt pan because it is pretty.  A few years ago I found a recipe in a magazine for a spiced cake and I changed it around and added what I liked, took out what I didn't and just made it more into my own.  I love using orange juice in the glaze, it just really gives it this extra tangy flavor that works so well with the cake.  

Spiced Pumpkin Cake

1 ¾ c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
½ tsp. baking powder
1 ½ c. sugar
½ stick melted butter
1 can of pumpkin puree
2 eggs
2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
2 tsp. grated orange peel

Glaze:
1 c. powdered sugar
2 tbsp. half and half
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. orange juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and baking powder in a bowl and whisk to remove all lumps and combine.  In a seperate bowl combine the pumpkin puree, eggs, ginger, orange peel and sugar.  Whisk in the melted butter.  Pour the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture and whisk until just combined.  Pour into a sprayed prepared dish like a bundt pan and bake 45-55 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

While cake is cooling whisk together the powdered sugar, half and half, vanilla and orange juice until combined.  If it is too thick add a splash more of orange juice or too thin add a bit more powdered sugar.

Pour over cake and allow glaze to set before serving. 


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Crumbs and Chaos

Nutella Cookies

Ahhh, more cookies!  These cookies were soooo good.  Granted when you add in chocolate and Nutella you really can't go wrong.  Now this recipe doesn't require eggs.  No seriously, cookies with no eggs.  I actually had to reread the recipe because I thought I missed a step when I was making it.  But I decided to stick with it and see how it turned out.  I was really surprised that it was chewy and chocolatey and worked just fine with no eggs.  Of course they were a bit on the flatter side but I enjoyed them and would make them again.  I wish I could have tasted just a bit more of the nutella though.  Maybe using hazelnut extract next time instead of vanilla extract might give it more umph.  I got this recipe from Our Best Bites. 

Chocolate Nutella Cookies

1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2/3 c. Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, room temp.

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. dark brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract)

1/3 c. Nutella

1/3 c. milk

Preheat oven to 325°  In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Set the mixture aside. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes or until smooth. Add the extracts and beat for another 30 seconds or so. Add the Nutella and beat until smooth.  With the mixer running, add half of the flour mixture and mix until combined. Add the milk, mixing until combined completely, then add the remaining flour mixture and mix completely. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 15 minutes (and as long as 2-3 days).  When you’re ready to bake the cookies, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls and place them on the lined cookie sheet, allowing about 2″ between the dough balls.

For fluffier cookies leave in balls.  For flatter cookies lightly press the dough balls with the bottom of a drinking glass (or palm of your hand) and then bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are crackly on top and soft, but starting to set. Remove from the oven and allow them to stand for about 5 minutes and then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely. 

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Sweet As Sugar Cookies
Debbie Debbie Doos 

Taco Pizza

The other night was pizza night.  I find it very difficult to find good quality ingredients that I apparently took for granted back in the States.  You can't find a good fresh mozzarella cheese and Parmigiana Regiano doesn't seem to exist here, so I decided we just need to expand our pizza night into new kinds of pizzas.  I've made this once before but it was quite some time ago.  Everyone in my house loves tacos and loves pizza so the two together was certainly a hit!

Pizza Dough (recipe below)

1 lb. ground beef

1 package taco seasoning

Lettuce

Tomato

2 c. Mexican cheese

1 c. salsa

First start with your pizza dough.  Of course, you can save yourself a step and do a premade pizza dough if you wanted.  

Basic Pizza Dough:

1 package active dry yeast (2 ¼ tsp.)

1 tsp. sugar

1 c. warm water

2 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. Extra-virgin olive oil

3 c. flour, plus more for dusting

Add yeast and sugar to warm water and let stand 5 minutes.  Add flour and salt to food processor. Add oil to yeast mixture, stir and then slowly pour into flour mixture in food processor.  Use plastic blade on food processor.  Once dough ball forms, knead a few times onto lightly floured surface.  Place in well oiled bowl and let rise 1 hour.   Divide in half and cover the half you aren't working with.  Place flour on your work surface and roll out the dough into a large circle.  I like to tuck my edges under to form the crust.  I then poke holes with a fork to prevent bubbles and I always bake on a preheated baking stone at 500 degrees.  (Makes 2 large pizzas) 

 

While your dough is rising go ahead and brown your ground beef just like you do for tacos.  Add in your taco seasoning and water if the seasoning packet requires it.   After your roll out your dough, prick it with a fork spread your salsa over the dough just like you would a regular tomato sauce.  Use as much or as little as you like.  Then add your meat and cheese.  Bake 500 degrees for about 10-12 minutes or until edges are nice and golden brown.  Top with lettuce, tomato and any other taco topping you like such as guacamole or sour cream.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Truffle Cookies

I've never made cookies before quite like this.  You whip together the eggs and sugar until tripled in volume.  These cookies were very light but still tasty.  They were a little too thin for my liking but I'm always willing to try something new, especially when it comes to chocolate and cookies.

 

Double Chocolate Cherry Truffle Cookies

From The Sweet Life: Desserts from Chanterelle

1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
5 oz bittersweet chocolate
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
8 tbsp (1 stick) butter
4 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 oz semisweet chocolate chips

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar and set aside.

Melt the bittersweet chocolate, unsweetened chocolate, and butter in a metal bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Stir frequently and remove from heat. Allow chocolate to cool for about 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on medium speed. Add the sugar and beat until the eggs triple in volume and hold the lines of the whisk, about ten minutes.  Add the melted and cooled chocolate to the eggs on low speed. Beat until incorporated, then add the dry ingredients, chocolate chips, and dried cherries. Beat until just combined – do not overmix. Finish mixing by hand with a rubber spatula. The batter will be very runny. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least two hours.  Preheat the oven to 350 F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. For large cookies, use two tablespoons to scoop the batter into large mounds. Place 2″ apart on sheet and bake 12-15 minutes. For small cookies, scoop the batter with two teaspoons and bake 8-10 minutes. The cookies puff in the oven and fall a bit once removed.