This Week's Concoctions Ending 1/27

Here are some highlights of items that I made this week other than the "Weekly Cookie"

Gluten Free Cranberry Banana Bars

Paula Deen's Triple Chocolate Cookies

Creamy Pasta and Veggie Soup

 
I know I just finishing making this week's cookie but I feel like making another...

January 27: Chocolate Whoopie Pies

Chocolate Whoopie Pies

Ingredients:

Cookies
1 3/4 cups (7.9 oz) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
4 tablespoons (2 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup (1.7 oz) shortening
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

Filling
1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 (7.5 oz) jar marshmallow creme (Fluff)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 400 and place one rack in the center and another in the lower third. Have ready 2 unlined, ungreased baking sheets. This is critical so the cookies don't spread so much.
2. Make the cookies: Mix the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa powder together in a medium size bowl; set aside.
3. Combine the butter and shortening in a large mixing bowl and beat with a handheld electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. Add the brown sugar, increase mixer speed to high and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Using a heavy-duty scraper or large mixing spoon, add the buttermilk and flour mixture alternately, stirring until mixed. You should have a thick batter rather than a dough.
4. Drop heaping tablespoons of batter, spacing about 2 1/2 inches apart, onto the ungreased baking sheets, twelve equal size mounds per sheet. Bake on the center and lower racks for 11 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through the baking process. Let cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Make the filling: Beat the butter with an electric mixer until smooth. Stir in the confectioners sugar until incorporated. Beat until smooth. Beat in the marshmallow creme and vanilla until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Drop generously rounded tablespoonfuls of filling onto twelve of the cookies. Cap with the remaining cookies.

Dry ingredients

Introduction of egg into the butter/shortening/sugar mix

Cookie Batter

Lots of leftovers!

Thoughts: These were annoying for several reasons. I decided to be true to the recipe and use ungreased baking sheets on the first batches instead of the usual parchment paper.  That was dumb because the cookies stuck to the pan and I had to scrap off the remnants.  So I used parchment paper for the rest of the dough and guess what...it came out fine.  The outer cookies came out really large and a little awkward to eat.  I used a rounded tablespoon and I should've flattened each one before baking (I forgot the last time too!).  I had way too much filling leftover and it was evident in the cookies because the taste was mostly cookie; however, when I was inserting the filling I thought I was using way too much.  The recipe said it would make 24 cookies...I made 21.  You can never trust those estimates.  The whoopie pie as a whole was ok; I was not crazy about the filling of the whoopie pie.  I have a hard time making things with confectioner's sugar that doesn't taste artificial and bleh.  Patrick thought it was pretty gross. 

January 21: Caramel Nut Bars

Caramel Nut Bars

Ingredients:

Crust:
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup old fashioned oats

Topping:
1 (14 oz) package caramel bits (or unwrapped caramels)
1/3 cup half and half
1 1/4 cups lightly salted mixed nuts, roughly chopped
1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line a 9x13 inch metal pan with nonstick foil, or line it with regular foil and spray the foil with flour-added baking spray.
2. Make the crust: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl, using a hand held mixer, beat the butter, salt, and brown sugar on medium speed until creamy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium low and beat in the egg. Stir in the flour and oats. With wet fingers, press the mixture into the baking pan and bake for 16 to 18 minutes, or until the crust appears fully set and is golden brown around the edges.
3. Make the topping: Combine the caramels and half-and-half in a small saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the caramels are melted. Pour over the crust. Sprinkle the nuts over the caramel. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the nuts. Let cool in the pan for about 20 minutes, then chill until cold. Lift from the pan, set on a cutting board, and cut into 32 bars.

You will need more nuts than that little package: see thoughts

If I was going to take them out of the pan, I would've used the parchment paper deal

I didn't use "wet fingers", I just used a spatula to spread it out

It took longer than 16-18 minutes to get this golden brown color...about 22-23 minutes

It takes forever to melt caramels!

As you can see by that one clump in the upper right corner, I ran out of patience

Thoughts: Still wishing for an actual cookie instead of a bar (although bars are quicker and easier).  I used a blend of peanuts and cashews (just what we had in the house).  Because I knew that I was only going to make 1/2 with nuts, I took out a 3/4 cup measuring cup and just eyeballed how much I would need. After tasting, they were better than last week's cookie.  The crust was buttery and how can you go wrong with caramel and chocolate chips??

This Week's Concoctions ending 1/20

Here are some highlights of items that I made this week other than the "Weekly Cookie"

Raw Oxtails

Cooked Oxtails for Soup..it was gross

Brownie-Cookie Cake for Co-Workers Birthday

From the cover of Paula Deen's magazine this month. It had enough cheese to choke a horse.

Salmon Dog Biscuits

Tomorrow I will make another cookie for the week.

January 13: Sweet and Salty Corn Chip Candy

I used Butter Snaps because they are Patrick's favorite

Yay my first cookie recipe.

Sweet and Salty Corn Chip Candy

 Ingredients:
2 cups miniature pretzels
1/2 cup corn chips, such as Fritos
1/2 cup lightly salted peanuts
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper or no stick foil.
2. Break the pretzels up (not crush). Break up corn chips. Mix the corn chips, pretzels and peanuts in the pan.
3. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When the butter is completely melted, stir in the brown sugar. Bring the mixture to a full boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring once or twice. Pour it over the pretzel mixture then bake for 7 minutes.
4. Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the hot mixture. Return the pan to the oven for 1 minute to soften the chocolate, then remove it from the oven and spread the softened chocolate over the mixture. Let cool in the pan for about a hour then chill until the chocolate is set and the candy holds together. When ready to serve, break the slab of candy into large chunks.

I hate lining pans with parchment! It keeps popping up!

I love this small pot. I got it for $3.97 at Bon-Ton Black Friday

I used more chocolate than called for because it didn't seem like enough

Thoughts: I wish my first cookie recipe had been more like a cookie instead of "candy".  I varied a bit from the recipe because I wanted to make a batch without nuts. So, I used 2 8x8 pans instead of a 9x13 and split the recipe in half.  I used more Fritos in the batch without nuts.  I ended up needing 2 snack size bags of Fritos.  I used more chocolate than called for (1 cup/batch instead of 3/4) and I think it could've had more chocolate because it was still difficult to spread.  Patrick and I both tried them and thought it was just ok.

Culinary Observations from Our Trip

We are back from our trip. We went to Florida to see Patrick's grandparents with a quick stop to Charleston, SC.  We had debated going to either Savannah or Charleston but decided on the latter after realizing it was a better halfway point to FL.  Charleston was a very "Southern" city and that is the best way I can describe it (this drove Patrick crazy when all I could say about the city was "it feels so Southern"). It reminded us very much of Key West (another city we won't be going back to anytime soon).  We were only going to spend the day in Charleston and with it being near the ocean, all I wanted was seafood. We checked out this place called Toast (www.toastofcharleston.com) because I had read their menu and wanted to check out their catfish and greens.  However, when we got there at lunchtime, we couldn't order from their dinner menu. So I ordered the meatloaf special with a side of greens, Patrick ordered the shrimp salad sandwich and we got the crab cakes appetizer.  The crab cakes were AMAZING!  We each liked our own entrees, but didn't like each others.

We spent the rest of the day walking around the city, however it was rainy so it kind of soured the experience for us. Maybe we would go back if someone invited us.  However, I do recommend the hotel we  stayed at: The Restoration on King(www.restorationonking.com). We might just go back for the hotel.  For dinner, we stopped at Chucktown Tavern just because it was close to our hotel and it would've cost us money to take the car back out again.  Patrick ordered a burger and I got the broiled seafood platter with a crab cake, scallops and shrimp. The crab cake was nothing like Toasts!!  It was blah and I bit into some crunchy parts. The next day before we left for Florida I stopped at River Street Sweets (www.riverstreetsweets.com/) with their "World Famous Pralines".  I discovered I don't like pralines. But I picked up some peanut brittle and pralines for my parents and mother in law. 

Florida was next and pretty uneventful as far as food goes. I asked Patrick's uncle if this particular area was known for anything (food wise) and he said "not really, seafood?".  We went to a place called Pincher's Crab Shack (www.pincherscrabshack.com), which was good. I think that was the only seafood we ate while we were in Florida. We discovered this sandwich place (which turned out to be a national chain) called Jason's Deli.  Patrick, who LOVES sandwiches, LOVED the California Club sandwich.  I think he had 3 or 4 sandwiches while we were visiting. I would describe it as a Corner Bakery with a salad bar and better food. 

Spending so much time in the car and trying to eat healthy is very hard when there are McDonalds and Burger Kings at every stop and it is time consuming to stop and sit down somewhere. However I had salads at Subway (I love the double chicken chopped salad) and found that I really like Chick-fil-a.  They offered grilled nuggets which are pretty pretty good.  Patrick liked their grilled chicken salad and some of their other more unhealthy offerings (waffle fries!).  They are very friendly (we have been to the one in Erie, PA 2x and went to one in Fort Myers).

Tomorrow I will make my first recipe from The Daily Cookie.  Some kind of corn chip/pretzel/chocolate chip cookie.

Intro

Hi, I'm Molly.  I live in the Buffalo area with my husband and dog.  My hobbies include reading, watching tv/movies and BAKING!  I didn't know how to cook anything other than extremely basic things until I got married 4 years ago.  Since then, I have improved my skills greatly and even went back to school for culinary arts (for a semester).  I like to cook, but I LOVE to bake even though I don't always eat what I make...  I decided to start this blog to chronicle the cookie making mission that I have set for myself this year.  At my wedding shower I had received Recipe of the Week: Cookies and made every cookie for a year and it was pretty cool but I didn't take pictures to record it. So when I received The Daily Cookie for Christmas, it was "Challenge Accepted"!  So I will write about that and other culinary (and probably nonculinary) adventures.  Stay Tuned!