Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies.  The most basic sweet treat.  And sometimes the most complex.  Milk chocolate or semi-sweet.  Or both, and call it double chocolate.  Add cocoa to the batter, and you've just upped your cookie game to triple chocolate.  Some swear by cornstarch to keep them soft.  Or ground oats for a subtle crunch.  Chocolate chunks instead of chips, for big pockets of melty chocolate.  Maybe a sprinkle of sea salt for a gourmet touch.

But sometimes you have to keep it simple.  They don't last long enough around here to justify anything complicated.  This recipe made 36 cookies and by the time they were finished cooling, there were 16 left.  I ate two.

Oh, and I used my super shiny, brand spanking new, grown-up mixer for these.  A Christmas present from my hubby.  I have never been so excited to cream together butter and sugar.

For real.

Crispy at the edges and chewy in the middle.  Chocolate chip cookie perfection.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Beat together butter and both sugars until fluffy.  Be sure to admire the paddle as it perfectly beats it's way around the bowl.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.  Stir into butter mixture until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Scoop (approx. 2 tbsp scoops) onto cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes, or until edges are golden brown and firm to the touch.  Allow to cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to cooling racks.

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Homemade Hot Cocoa

I love cookbooks.  

I have a lot of cookbooks, and recipe magazines, and recipes clipped from magazines.  And we won't even talk about the hundreds of recipes I've pinned on Pinterest.  If I made a new recipe every day for the rest of my life, I would never get through them all.  It's interesting how cookbooks have changed over the years.  The newest ones suck me in with their amazing photography, and the storytelling that accompanies the recipes.  I could sit and read one just for the enjoyment of it.  Older cookbooks were usually just another kitchen tool.  No stories, no photos, just recipes.  It was one of those older cookbooks that I turned to when I needed a good recipe for homemade hot cocoa after my kids spent over an hour outside shovelling snow.

We keep the instant hot cocoa packets in the cupboard, for the kids to make for themselves, but this time I wanted to make a large amount - and I always prefer real ingredients over processed convenience items.

Milk, cream, cocoa, salt, and vanilla.  That's it.

It was a little bit more work than putting on the kettle to boil, but oh so worth it.  This is a very rich and chocolately hot cocoa recipe.

Homemade Hot Cocoa

1 cup cocoa ( I used half regular cocoa and half dark cocoa)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 cups water

4 cups milk

2 cups half and half cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

Sift together cocoa, sugar, and salt over a large pot.  Add water and whisk until smooth, bringing to a boil over medium high heat.  Simmer for a few minutes until slightly thickened, whisking constantly.  Slowly stir in milk and cream and continue heating until scalded.  Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, and serve.

Serves 6-8 depending on how big your mugs are!

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Sticky Toffee Pudding

Best dessert ever.  We're talking not a crumb left, lick your plate delicious.  Sticky Toffee Pudding.

My oldest son and his girlfriend gave me a beautiful cookbook for my birthday, Dessert of the Day from Williams Sonoma.  I'm thinking it was a not-so-subtle attempt at suggesting that I make more desserts.  We don't typically do dessert after dinner, unless it's a special occasion, or we have company for dinner.  This is a beautiful book, and it didn't take long for post-it tags to appear on pages as we all found desserts that we wanted to try.

Sticky Toffee Pudding has always been a family favourite.  I actually shared another recipe for this decadent dessert a few years ago, it was one of the first recipes I posted.  

If they can find it on a restaurant menu, Sticky Toffee Pudding is something the kids almost always order for dessert.  It just made sense to try making it at home, and I was surprised to learn that it's not a complicated recipe at all.  The star of show here is dates.  They give the pudding (which is really just a dense, moist cake) it's distinctive sweet flavour and texture.  And toffee sauce, lots of it :)

Chopped dates soaked in boiling water with baking soda make up the a large part of the batter.

The home made toffee sauce pushes this dessert over the top.  

And the half hour spent stirring counts as time spent at the gym.  I think I may have miscalculated the amount of butter or cream I used because it took forever to thicken.  However long it takes, don't stop stirring.

The end result was well worth it.  This is a very sweet and incredibly tasty dessert, best served warm.  

Sticky Toffee Pudding

From Williams Sonoma Dessert of the Day Cookbook

Ingredients

1/2 cup pitted and finely chopped dates

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup boiling water

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Toffee Sauce

1/4 cup butter

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Butter and flour eight 1/2 cup custard cups or individual baking pans and place on baking sheet.

In small bowl, combine the dates and baking soda with the boiling water.  Let stand until cool, about 10 minutes.  Mash the dates to break them down further.  With a mixer, beat sugar and butter together on medium speed until light and creamy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.  Add the flour, baking soda, and salt, and stir to combine.  Add the date mixture and stir well.  The batter will be thin.  Fill the custard cups about 2/3 full.

Bake until the puddings are puffed and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the toffee sauce.  In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the brown sugar and cream.  Whisk until the sauce thickens, 5-10 minutes.  Stir in the vanilla and salt.

To serve, unmold each warm pudding onto a plate and top with the toffee sauce.

Serves 8.

 

  

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Oven Baked French Toast

I teased you with some beautiful French Toast a few weeks ago.  As promised, here is the recipe.

This French Toast is baked in the oven and can be prepared ahead of time, easily put together the night before for an effortless breakfast the next morning.

Breakfast is my favourite meal, and we take time to put together big breakfasts on the weekend.  Pancakes, bacon and eggs, waffles, French toast.  Usually with home made hash brown potatoes on the side.  And fruity smoothies to drink.  All this is in stark contrast to the rushed and disconnected breakfasts that happen through the week.  A quick bowl of cereal, find a missing textbook. Yogurt and a piece of fruit, pack lunches.  A slice of toast, sign a form. A granola bar, feed the dogs.  It's all rush, rush, rush.  Ten minutes left... did you brush your teeth?  What's going on with your hair? And where's the form I just signed?? 

I've made this French toast weekends and weekdays.  It's a Pampered Chef recipe, from their Stoneware Sensations cookbook, which has a few of my other favourite recipes in it.  It doesn't take long to put together.  Pop it in the fridge overnight and you'll only need half an hour in the oven the next morning.  Enough time to set the table and brew some fresh coffee.

The sliced strawberries are optional, but oh-so-good.  As is the icing sugar.  The maple syrup is a must.  French toast and maple syrup go together like, well, French toast and maple syrup.  Start with a loaf of French bread.  Preferably not a fresh one.  I love a fresh crusty loaf as much as the next person, but this is easier to work with if it's a day old.  If you're using a skinnier baguette, slice diagonally for larger slices.

Gather your ingredients.   The recipe calls for milk, but I had a some leftover cream so I used half cream and half milk.  I have a great shaker which I like to use to mix up the ingredients, but it works just as well whisked up in a bowl.  And yes, that's the milk...in a bag.  Does anyone outside of Canada buy their milk in bags?

Arrange your bread slices in a single layer and pour all that goodness over them.   I sprinkle it with cinnamon sugar before I put it in the oven.

It puffs up nicely in the oven.  Light and fluffy, with a slightly dense, almost custard like centre.  Just the way French toast should be.

Oven Baked French Toast

1 loaf (8 ounces) French bread

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

3 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

Cinnamon and sliced strawberries optional.

Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan.  Cut bread into 1 inch thick slices and arrange closely in a single layer in the prepared pan.  You may have to manipulate them to fit.  Whisk together eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Pour over bread.  Cover and refrigerate at least one hour or overnight.

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Sprinkle bread with cinnamon, if desired.  Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve with toppings of your choosing.

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