Tag Archives: baking

Chocolate Chip Puffs

08 Monday May 2017

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Chocolate chip cookies have played many roles in my life.  I grew up on a golf course, and for years every summer there would be a PGA tournament in August.  I am not sure where the idea came from, but one summer the neighbor down the street and I decided to sell lemonade and cookies.  I was 11 and my neighbor friend was 8.  We charged $1 for a giant chocolate chip cookie and $1 for a lemonade.  My grandmother baked 100’s of these giant chocolate chip cookies,  they were at least 5 inches in diameter, and the mother of my friend made gallons of country time lemonade. We worked our stand for 7 days and made about $1000.  It was pure profit for us, our families did not ask to be reimbursed for the supplies.  I think that they thought it was good for us to get out of the house and have a project.  For a kid, I thought I was rich, immediately I asked my dad to drive me to the mall to spend my fortune. In fact,  I still have the Coach purse I bought with part of my proceeds from that first cookie stand. We did this for two more summers and then the tournament banned anyone from selling along the golf course.

Personally,  I started making chocolate chip cookies in my teens to get the attention of the boy down the street.  I would call him up to tell him I was making cookies and he would show up at the door minutes later.  He would eat more of the raw dough than the baked cookies.

For years I hadn’t baked a cookie but when I married Brian, I would occasionally bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies, he likes them soft and almost underbaked.   I had found that they were just the consistency he likes when they were hot out of the oven but as they cooled they hardened and he was no longer interested in them.

I set out to find an alternative to a soft chocolate chip cookie and after doing some research I came up with the following recipe.  They look like a puffy, toasted ball and they stay soft long after they have cooled.  They have not lasted for more than a day in my home so I can’t say what kind of shelf life they have.  They also have a third less fat than a regular chocolate chip cookie.

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Chocolate Chip Puffs

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 8- oz. package cream cheese

3/4 cups brown sugar

3/4 cups granulated sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 1/2  cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a small bowl, mix together dry ingredients and set to the side.  In large mixing bowl, add the cream cheese and sugars, mix until creamy.  Add in eggs, one at a time until thoroughly mixed.  Add in vanilla.  In small increments add dry mixture until well combined and then fold in chocolate chips. Place spoonfuls of dough, about 1 1/2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.  I like to line mine with parchment paper for an easier cleanup.   Bake for 9 minutes.  Cookies will look toasted but not a deep color like you would normally see with chocolate chip cookies.  Makes about 3 dozen.

(Recipe originally found on Delish.com)

 

Sour Cream Pound Cake with Lemon Glaze

18 Tuesday Apr 2017

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Today is my birthday and I am thinking about birthday cakes.  My friends sent sweet messages wishing me a happy birthday, more than one person said they hoped I didn’t have to bake my own birthday cake.  As great as my mother and grandmother were in the kitchen I can’t remember one homemade birthday cake ever.  There is a picture of my first birthday and my grandmother placing a cake in front of me, it looks homemade, but of course, I don’t remember any of it.  The only birthday cakes I remember are those from my late 20’s on, my mother used to call my favorite bakery in Chicago and have them deliver some decadent creations to work.  It made me very popular for a few years, as there was cake to feed dozens.  There was a great deal of disappointment amoung my co-workers when I told my mom I really didn’t need a giant cake for my birthday.  The two cakes that stand out most are the last two cakes I ate on birthday’s past.  For my 2013 birthday, Brian and I met my parents for a birthday lunch at the halfway point between Chicago and their home in Michigan. My dad got out of the car with a giant cake box, it was one of those super sweet sugary frosting cakes you get at the grocery store.  There were four of us and that cake could have fed the entire restaurant.  The second cake that stands out in my mind is my birthday in 2014. Again it was a sugary frosted cake in a large box.  We were in Michigan for the Easter holiday, my dad had passed on the summer before, thankfully my sister and her husband were visiting from Texas, but my dad’s presence was missed. I have not eaten birthday cake since then. 

If I were to make a cake for myself today it would be my grandmother’s Sour Cream Pound Cake.  Growing up she baked this cake on a regular basis. This cake was the first cake I started making when I moved out on my own.  It is my go-to cake and the easiest cake to make, in fact, it is the easiest thing I bake overall.  You just toss everything into one bowl, mix and pour into a bundt pan.  Over the years I have made a few changes to my grandmother’s recipe, adding a lemon glaze.   I have been sharing my baked goods with friends and family, this cake is the one that is requested on a regular basis. One friend told me he could eat it more than once a week. 

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Sour Cream Pound Cake with Lemon Glaze 

Preheat oven to 325

Makes one 10-inch ring cake

Batter:

2 1/4 cups All-purpose flour

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1 Cup Butter softened

3 Eggs

2 Cups Sugar

1/2 tsp Salt

1 Cup Sour Cream

1 tsp Vanilla

Glaze:

2 Cups Confectioners sugar

1/2 Cup Lemon juice

2 tbsp Butter

Note:  you can make this cake without the glaze and it will still be delicious

Cake: Generously grease a 12 cup fluted bundt cake pan, I like to use the Pam baking spray, but you can also use 1 tbsp of solid shortening and a little flour

In a large bowl, blend all the ingredients until moistened.  Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Cool to lukewarm; invert onto serving plate.

Glaze: Using a double boiler,  mix confectioners sugar, lemon juice and butter.  Heat until sugar dissolves and the mixture is smooth.  You can also heat in microwave at 30-second intervals stirring between each 30-second interval.  Spoon evenly over the cake. Let sit for a few minutes before serving

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Day Eleven-Suzanne’s Table Twelve Days of Cookies: Chocolate Crinkles

21 Wednesday Dec 2016

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There are so many favorite recipes in both Suzanne’s Table and my grandmother’s cookie book that I am sure I could keep posting about cookies for weeks, but as every good cook knows you have to taste along the way and keep tasting to make sure whatever you are making tastes delicious. I swear I have gained 5 pounds since this started.  This past week and a half I have enjoyed recreating and sharing my family memories but once the holidays are over I want to start talking about all the other wonderful recipes that mean something to me, but baking will always be a part of this project, just not cookies for awhile.

I am sure at some point some of you have come across a chocolate crinkle recipe.  They are quite popular, I have seen variations of this cookie with red velvet, mint, and lemon just to name a few.  Kelly told me they remind her of a snowflake.  To quote her, “Kristi they remind me of delicious chocolate snowflake if there were such a thing as delicious chocolate snowflakes.”  Of course, these cookies always made an appearance on the holiday cookie platters my grandmother put together, but I remember them for another reason.  While I was away at college, I would receive a package in the mail every few months from my grandma. These boxes would be filled with cookies, and sometimes with other hidden surprises ($$$), knowing how much I loved chocolate crinkle cookies, they were always inside. There would always be a sweet note from my grandma telling me how much she missed me and there would be enough cookies to feed my entire dorm. It is because of these memories that this recipe made the list of twelve.

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Chocolate Crinkles

Preheat oven to 360 degrees

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

4 oz melted unsweetened chocolate

2 cups granulated sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup confectioners sugar

* Chill mixture several hours or overnight before baking (I only waited 3 hours)

Mix oil, melted chocolate and granulated sugar in large bowl, blend in eggs, 1 at a time until well mixed.  Add vanilla.  Stir in flour, baking powder and salt into wet mixture. Cover and chill.  Roll dough into balls, about a teaspoon full, and roll in confectioners sugar. Place balls on greased or parchment covered baking sheet.  Bake 10-12 minutes. Makes six dozen.