Chewy Chocolate Cookies

Does anyone else bake when they get bored? Oh, it’s just me? Okay, I can live with that. I seem to always have the supplies on hand to make something, so happy dance for not being bored. Ignore the fact that I buy at least a pound of butter each time I go to the grocery store...

So, as you might have guessed, last night I was bored. I could have been doing homework, or reading, or watching something on Netflix or Hulu or even, gasp, get off the couch and put in a dvd, but instead, I baked Chewy Chocolate Cookies (note, none of my friends really seemed to be in the mood to get together last night, so a quiet night at home it was).

I got this recipe from my Cookie and Biscuit Bible and, ignoring the issues I had concerning a sifter that wanted to clog and not, you know, sift, it was a very easy recipe.

Yield: 15-20 cookies

4 egg whites
2 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp instant coffee powder
1 tsp water
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350* and line two or three baking sheets with waxed paper, and then grease the paper well (I used regular cooking spray here). Whisk the egg whites until frothy and then add sifted sugar, cocoa, flour and coffee into the egg whites, stirring gently. Add the water and beat on low speed to blend, then on high until the mixture thickens. Fold in the walnuts.

Place spoonfuls of the mixture 1 inch apart on the baking sheets. Bake in batches for 12-15 minutes, until firm and cracked on top, but soft inside. 

Let the cookies sit on the baking sheets for a few minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

The recipe yield is a range because the bigger the spoonful, the bigger the cookie, and the fewer cookies. Duh.

Enjoy the cookies and have a good weekend.

Scones should not double as weapons

Yesterday I made scones, sort of. I added the correct amount of ingredients and did the steps in order. However, once baked, I’m fairly positive I could have thrown one at someone and it would have injured them. They were like hockey pucks and didn’t have any flavor (I did, in fact, try one). The recipe itself was for feta and chive scones. I substituted basil for chive, but otherwise followed the ingredients exactly.

I think it all went wrong when I rolled out the dough. The recipe called for the dough to be rolled to a thickness of ¾ inches and I rolled it too thin. To counteract this, I just folded the dough on top of itself to get the thickness and then cut out the scones. Who knows, I may have over-mixed the dough as well.

Either way, they were supposed to bake up nice and fluffy and be golden brown. They never fluffed up and I had to leave them in the oven for about 5 extra minutes and they still didn’t reach the ‘golden brown’ stage. I set them on a cooling rack for a few minutes and then tried one.

Like I said. Hockey pucks. I know eventually I will try to make scones again (most likely in my bread making class in school), but for now, I’m going to leave the scone making to someone else.

Sincker-chip-doodle cookies

I like snicker-doodle cookies. I also like chocolate chip cookies. And when, in the past, I’ve combined chocolate and butterscotch, I’ve liked that as well. So, it stands to reason I would like a combination of all of those: a snicker-doodle cookie with chocolate and butterscotch chips folded in.

That reasoning would be correct. I love these cookies. I got the idea from the blog How Sweet It Is, although in their recipe toffee chips were used instead of butterscotch. Those were what I had on hand, so those are what were used.


1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons milk
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup toffee (or butterscotch) chips
1/4 cup sugar + 1 tablespoon cinnamon for dipping

Like most of your classic cookies, the recipe was very simple. Cream butter and sugar, add in an egg and vanilla, add the dry ingredients, a bit of milk to soften is all up, then fold in the chips. The dough was refrigerated for 30 minutes to allow for easier forming (into small balls), and they were then tossed into a bag with a cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Finally, the cookies were baked for about 9 minutes in a 375F oven. As I said, very simple. You all should give these a shot sometime, you won’t regret it.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Family lunch and my new favorite scent

Yesterday I had lunch with the extended family here in TX. While a free meal is always appreciated, anymore it seems I am physically incapable of going to a person's house for food without bringing something, usually in the form of baked goods.


When I found out there would be seven of us present for lunch, I figured a dozen cupcakes would be perfect. I've made these cupcakes before and didn't vary all that much from the recipe. I know I used a lot more orange zest in the cupcakes this time and for the topping, I uses most of the baking spices I had in my pantry: cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, brown sugar. Those went into both the dry nut topping and the liquid, along with freshly squeezed orange juice and honey. 


If you all want to make your own homemade, guaranteed to make your home smell wonderful air freshener thingy (I use technical terms here), combine orange juice, brown sugar, honey, and those spices over low heat. Heaven. Seriously. Try it, I dare you.


I hope you all had a great weekend.