The Apartment Kitchen » cookies

Mailing Baked Goods

theapartmentkitchen — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:44:14 +0000

I had a very busy week last week – a photo shoot for a new book. I was exhausted and didn’t have time to post…but I was still cooking! I promise! Now that I’m back in the swing of things, I can get back to normal time (though I’ve been a bit shaken by the time change). To start off with, my new favorite idea. Ok, so it’s not my original idea, but it’s changed the way I send edible gifts to my family (which I do a lot). This week, it’s birthday cookies for my nephew (turning 4!) and my grandma. I wash and lightly grease these tins I buy at my craft supply store, and bake the cookies right inside! Let them cool, put the top on, and send them on their way!

Just be careful not to overfill the tins (remember the cookies/brownies/etc. will rise). I tried to be generous and my brother’s girlfriend ended up with a cookie tin explosion! (Yes, I still sent it – it was triple chocolate!)

Mudslide Cookies

theapartmentkitchen — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:27:58 +0000

Sometimes I forget about the goodies available at the CIA. But when Shelly’s parents came to visit this weekend, I was reminded about one of the best treats to be found in those hallowed halls. The CIA has long been known for their Mudslide Cookie – a super chocolatey, oooey gooey cookie that people love, love, love. So when there was only one cookie left at the cafe, I promised them I could whip up some more at home.

It could be that it’s slightly crisp on the outside, and soft on the inside. It could be the crunchy nuts and melted chocolate chunks. It could be that it has 10 times as much chocolate as it has flour. Yea…that’s probably it.

Mudslide Cookies

Made 1 dozen medium cookies

Adapted from The Culinary Institute of America’s Baking and Pastry

1 1/4 oz cake flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

2 1/4 oz unsweetened chocolate

8 oz bittersweet chocolate

1 1/2 oz butter

6 oz eggs

8 oz sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 oz walnuts, chopped

9 oz chocolate chips

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl.

2. Melt the chocolates and butter together over a double boiler. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

3. In a large bowl, whip the eggs, sugar, and vanilla together until light and thick, about 4-6 minutes.

4. Add the chocolate mixture, and mix to combine. Add the dry ingredients and mix just to combine. Stir in the walnuts and chocolate chips.

5. Scoop the cookie dough onto a lightly greased baking sheet, press the dough down slightly. Bake the cookies in a 350 degree oven until set around the edges (they will still appear very soft in the middle), about 10-12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Brown Sugar Snickerdoodles with Brown Butter

theapartmentkitchen — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:08:58 +0000

My friend Rachel came to visit this weekend. I was excited. Very excited. I had been counting down for weeks. The night before she got here I was too pumped to relax (even though I was suffering not-so-nobly from a bad cold). So I got up, and baked these cookies. They were amazing. I am not tooting my own horn, here…because I had little to nothing to do with how awesome these cookies were. (Yes, I said were. These lasted about 2.5 seconds). Brown butter changes the flavor of an ordinary cookie. Plus I added some cinnamon and nutmeg to make it a warm, spicey, snickerdoodley cookie. (Another favorite thing is that you don’t need a mixer to make these cookies.)

Plus, it made the house smell amazing. So my guests decided to stay.

Brown Sugar Snickerdoodles with Brown Butter

Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

Made 2 dozen

7 oz butter (14 Tbsp)

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1. Heat all but 2 oz (4 Tbsp) of the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook the butter until is golden in color (the solids will have browned) and smells nutty. This will take 5-6 minutes.

2. Place the remaining 2 oz of butter into a medium bowl, and pour the brown butter over it. Mix to combine. Let the brown butter cool.

3. In a bowl, combine the sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

4. Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl until combined.

5. Add the sugars to the cooled butter and mix until there are no lumps. Add the egg, yolk, and vanilla and mix well.

6. Pour the sugar/egg/butter mixture into the flour and mix just to combine. Roll the cookies into small balls (about 1″). Roll the cookies in the sugar/cinnamon mixture to coat.

7. Transfer the cookies to a baking sheet, and press down slightly. Bake in a 350 degree oven until the cookies are cooked through but still tender, about 12-14 minutes. Let cool, or eat warm!

Banana Walnut Chocolate Cookies

theapartmentkitchen — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:40:34 +0000

Matt has recently started working at a small bed and breakfast. It’s a good deal – he works three or four days a week in exchange for free rent in one of the inn’s rooms. It’s a good fit – Mr. Hospitality can continue doing what he loves outside of the fancy Escoffier dining room. And it’s a good fit for me too, as when Matt’s on duty he’s responsible for making a fresh baked item each day as well as breakfast for the guests.

We took over this weekend for our trial run – the owner was on vacation with his family and the current student doing the gig was going out of town for a wedding. She left me a few very ripe bananas, suggesting I make banana bread. I love banana bread – but I’m never interested in people’s suggestions. Instead, I choose this banana cookie recipe, which utilizes all of the favorite banana bread ingredients but results in a delicious and entirely portable finished product that bakes in 15 minutes instead of up to an hour as a loaf would. The guests gobbled them up in no time.

Banana Walnut Chocolate Cookies

Makes about 2 dozen medium cookies

Leftover Potential: These cookies will last for 3-4 days (though in humid weather, they get continuously softer). You can also refrigerate or freeze the finished cookie dough in case you ever need cookies in a flash.

Recipe adapted from www.marthastewart.com

1 cup flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup very ripe banana, mashed

1 cup semisweet chocolate

1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

1. Sift the dry ingredients together. In a mixer, cream the butter and sugars together. Add the egg, and scrape well. Add the vanilla and the banana, mixing to combine.

2. Slowly begin adding the flour mixture, mixing just to combine. When all the flour has been added, fold in the chocolate and walnuts.

3. Scoop the finished dough onto a cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees until firm and lightly browned around the edges. Let cool – this is a deliciously soft, chewy cookie.

Super Quick Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

theapartmentkitchen — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:31:05 +0000

These cookies are an apartment dream – needs no mixer, is made in 15 minutes, and has less than 10 ingredients. Just mix up the ingredients, scoop onto a cookie sheet, and bake. The only difficult step is letting them cool long enough – they crumble easily while still warm.

Super-Quick Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

Makes about 20 cookies

1 cup flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup hazelnuts, finely chopped or ground

chocolate discs, as needed (1 per cookie)

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour and cocoa powder. Add the sugar and spices, and mix to combine.

2. Add the oil and mix just until combined. Roll the dough into small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Press each ball down lightly, sprinkle with ground hazelnuts, and top with a piece of chocolate.

3. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven until set and lightly browned around the edges. Let cool completely (15 minutes) before servings.

Triple Chocolate Cookies (Gluten Free)

theapartmentkitchen — Mon, 18 May 2009 00:29:35 +0000

My little cousin recently turned 15. I wanted to make her a birthday treat, but she has an allergy to wheat. So I turned to the best book I know on the subject (by the best expert I know): Gluten Free Baking by Chef Coppedge (one of my former teachers at the CIA). His book is amazing, namely due to his four special alternative flour blends that perfectly replicate all types of flours that are normally made with wheat. This recipe uses rice and almond flours, as well as three kinds of chocolate that will keep all chocolate lovers from noticing that it’s made with anything other than plain jane ingredients. And it makes an awesome gift for any chocolate lover – gluten free or not!

Triple Chocolate Cookies (Gluten Free)

Makes 1 dozen large cookies.

From Gluten Free Baking by Richard J Coppedge

1 cup white rice flour

1 cup almond flour

2 1/2 Tbsp cocoa powder

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

5 Tbsp butter, room temperature

2/3 cu brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups bittersweet chocolate, melted

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

2. Sift together the rice flour, almond flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.

3. Beat eggs and vanilla extract together and set aside.

4. Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.

5. Add the melted chocolated all at once to the creamed butter and sugar mixture and mix until just combined.

6. Blend in the egg mixture, scraping down the side of the bowl as necessary.

7. Add dry ingredients and blend just until fully incorporated.

8. Fold in the chocolate chips.

9. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Scoop out the cookies onto the pan.

10. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes; rotate the pan 180 degrees half way through baking.

11. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

theapartmentkitchen — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 03:11:36 +0000

I love oats. A friend of mine used to tease me about this because of my constant attempt to incorporate them into dessert menus at work and school. I would make oat cakes, oat cookies, oat bars, and so on and so on. There’s something wonderful about oats: so familiar and comforting, rustic but easy to work with. You can make oats go with anything: fruits, nuts, or chocolate. It is a wonderful ingredient that I come back to over and over again.

So when I asked my friend Susie what her favorite cookie was and she said oatmeal chocolate chip I was elated. I’m not sure if she knew of my love affair with oats, but nevertheless it was lovely to be reunited with the box I inevitably keep in my pantry. And since I’m not a fan of raisins in my cookies, I leapt with joy into my kitchen to make these: deliciously moist, tender oatmeal cookies dotted with melty chocolate chips.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 2 dozen large cookies.

Leftover Potential: These cookies are actually better the next day.

2 sticks room temperature butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

2 large room temperature eggs

1 Tbsp heavy cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups oats

1 bag chocolate chips (12 oz)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping well with a spatula after each addition.

3. Add the cream and the vanilla and mix to combine. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

4. On low speed, add the flour mixture and mix only to combine. Gently mix in or fold in the oats and chocolate chips.

5. Scoop the cookie dough onto baking sheets, spacing the cookies far enough apart that they won’t bake together (about 8 cookies on a tray). Bake until golden brown around the edges. Remove from the sheet and allow to cool completely. Store in airtight containers.

Christmas Cookies – Apartment Style

theapartmentkitchen — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:38:00 +0000

Christmas is a time of year when everyone is expecting (or needing) some baked goods in their lives. Company is always stopping over, and there are parties galore – at work, kids’ schools, and for family and friends. But for someone who lives in an apartment – this can be a scary time. My current baking equipment consists of a cookie sheet and a muffin pan…but that isn’t even the main enemy to my Christmas baking plans…it’s time.

My mother makes these delightful morsels of chocolatey goodness every year at Christmas because they done in the blink of an eye…making it the perfect last minute hostess gift or cookie contribution. I made them this year for some friends stopping by because I didn’t have much time to think creatively about how to use my limited supplies.

These cookies are a perfect holiday standby. Especially because everyone loves them. The combination might sound strange at first, but trust me – you can’t have just one.

Haystacks

Makes about 15 haystacks
Leftover Potential: last well for up to a week when kept in an airtight container.

1 bag chocolate chips
1 bag butterscotch chips
1 bag chow mein noodles

1. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate and butterscotch chips in the microwave. Depending on your microwave, this could take anywhere between 2-4 minutes, but be careful not to burn the chocolate. You can also do this over a hot water bath on the stove top.
2. When the chocolate mixture is mostly melted, remove from heat source and stir to combine and complete melting.
3. Add the chow mein noodles and fold slowly to combine. Make sure all the noodles are entirely coated with the chocolate mixture.
4. When the mixture is completely combined, scoop cookie-sized portions onto a sheet of wax paper or plastic wrap using two spoons. The cookies will be free form but roughly in circular shapes.
5. Let sit at room temperature until they’re completely set up.
6. Serve or store in an airtight container.