6. russia: russian tea cakes [and a conversation]

A few months ago when I was interning with a university Spanish professor, I remember a particular conversation I had with one of my students at the camp. I'm not so sure why I still remember it, but the memory has stuck with me since then, quite vividly. We were practicing Spanish by ourselves, by which I mean I was having her repeat "how old are you?" and "I am but a little munchkin" over and over until she would, somehow, remember the phrases.

Well, I wasn't quite as successful as I would have hoped. But nevertheless, with some helpful hints in English, she was able to figure out what was going on. The conversation was going pretty smoothly...

"How old are you?"
"I'm six years old. And you?"
"I'm 19."

...until I told her how old I was. I remember her eyes going wide as saucers as she gaped at me as though I were something rather unpleasant on the bottom of her shoe.

"You're 19?!" she asked me in English, leaving the Spanish behind in favor of a language through which she could more easily chastise me.

"Err...yes." I responded. Admittedly, it came out more like a question, with an oddly placed inflection on the 'yes', but I was a bit taken aback at this point.

"Oh, but that's so old!"

At this I had to stop - "now wait a minute" - though I'm not so sure why I was getting so defensive about my age. I mean, I was 19. A little girl's astonishment at my seeming-decrepitude shouldn't have thrown me as much as it did, seeing as how she herself was only six. But the amount of horror that clouded her vision as she stared at me was unnerving, to say the least.

"But the other girls are 20 and 21! And senora is way older than we are! Besides, I'm only 13 years older than you."

"Yes, but it took you so long to get there!"


You know how people say that children are the best sources of truth? Well, I understand the sentiment. Having volunteered with kids for years and years now, I have to say, some of the most profound things I've ever heard have come from people much younger than me. Ironic, I think, since it's the adults who are supposed to be giving me valuable life lessons.

[I've realized that when a 13-year-old girl asks you why you want to be a doctor "because I don't think you'd be very happy as a doctor," you're probably not making the right life choice.]

But in a way, that little girl was right. Nineteen really isn't that old, at all. But at the same time, that's 19 years of growing up, experiencing new things, meeting new people, and becoming yourself. 19 years of traveling to Pakistan, Canada, Spain, Italy. 19 years of going to school and stressing about grades and classes. 19 years of worrying about the future, and reminiscing about the past.

And suddenly, 19 seems like the oldest thing in the world.

Russian Tea Cakes
Adapted from Allrecipes
Yields about 36 cookies

You'll need:

• 1 cup [2 sticks] butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup confectioner's sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup finely chopped nuts [I prefer pecans, but walnuts and pistachios work just as wonderfully]
• 1/3 cup confectioner's sugar, for coating

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, cream butter and vanilla until smooth, 3 minutes. Stir flour and sugar into the butter mixture until just blended. Mix in the nuts.

Roll balls of dough, about 1-inch in diameter, and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Press the tops of the cookies down very lightly with the back of a spoon to flatten a bit. Bake for 12 minutes and allow cookies to cool completely.

Once cookies are cooled, coat them in confectioner's sugar before serving.

I'm 20 now, but 19 feels so far away. In a way, it's because it is. I've only been 20 for three and a half months, but I've done so much since then that it feels much longer. Nothing hugely significant or worldly, but that's three and a half months of getting to know myself that I didn't have when I was 19.

As old as I am, though, I revel in the fact that I'm almost a year younger than most of my peers. [The beauty of starting school young.] My darling friend Kevin, for example, celebrates his 21st birthday today.

For the occasion, I shipped him a box of goodies, some of which were these little things. Russian tea cakes. They did originate in Russia, I've learned, though also go by the name of "Mexican wedding cookies" here in the States. These cookies appeared in the 18th century as a confection in tea ceremonies, but since the 20th century have been commonly eaten around Christmastime. I love them because they're rather mild in sweetness and have a wonderful melt-in-your mouth quality about them. And as the name suggests, they pair wonderfully with black tea (and a hint of cream) or coffee.

As much as that little, 6-year old girl was astonished by my age, I can't imagine being 21 already - eight and a half months of things I haven't experienced yet and the possibilities are endless. But during these next eight and a half months, I hope you, Kevin, fill yours with amazing experiences to look back on when you turn 22. Time flies, after all. Happy birthday, my dear friend.

fish custard [and a wibbly-wobbly halloween]

Friday morning began with a much-needed lie-in until 10am, and still I didn't feel like getting up. Buried under comforters on a bed of pillows on an overcast, autumn morning... all I really wanted was a steaming mug of tea and a cookbook to read.

But, you know, on the day of a wibbly-wobbly Halloween get-together, you force yourself out of bed, do a bit of cleaning and laundering, turn some Madeleine Peyroux on the stereo, and simmer up some salted caramel.

Chelsea and Liz have had a few dinner parties already this semester, so Noosh and I decided it was our turn to host...something.

[Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.]

But really, Halloween weekend called for one thing and one thing only: a Doctor-Who themed party.

Not that, you know, all of my friends are fans. In fact, the vast majority haven't watched. So really, it was more of an excuse for me to wear a bow-tie and cook up some fish custard.

"Fish Fingers" and Custard
Adapted from The Comfort of Cooking and Bakingdom
Yields 4-6 servings custard, about 2 dozen fish fingers

For the salted caramel custard, you'll need:

• 4 cups whole milk
• 6 tbsp cornstarch 
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 tsp salt

For the fish fingers, you'll need:

• 1 1/3 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup [1 stick] butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp confectioner's sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 5 graham cracker sheets
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 tbsp sugar

To prepare the custard:
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk 1/2 cup of the milk, the cornstarch, and vanilla until blended. In a large saucepan, heat water and sugar on medium-high heat until boiling. Don't stir, but swirl the pan around to mix. Once boiling, lower the heat so that the syrup is at  a simmer. Simmer until the caramel turns an amber color, add in salt, and swirl until incorporated, 8-10 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and slowly pour in the remaining 3 1/2 cups milk, whisking constantly, until combined. The sugar may clump up spectacularly, but that is okay. Return the pan to the flame and heat on medium-high heat until just boiling, and then reduce heat to a simmer. Whisk the mixture until the caramel dissolves and the mixture thickens a bit, about 10 minutes. Add in the cornstarch mixture and whisk on medium flame until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Pour the custard into a large glass dish or other heat proof dish. Allow the custard to cool, at least 30 minutes, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-3 hours, until the custard has thickened fully and set.


To prepare the fish fingers: 
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on low speed, then increase to medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add in egg and vanilla and mix, scraping down the sides of the bowl when necessary. Lower the speed and gradually add in flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Cover the top of the bowl in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a food processor, pulse the graham crackers, butter, and sugar until the mixture is crumbly and sticks together. Once cookie dough is chilled, roll into "fish fingers," about 2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. The smaller the better, as they will expand quite a bit while baking. Roll the "fish finger" in the graham cracker mixture to "coat" and place on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, allowing about an inch space between cookies on the sheet. Bake for 14-16 minutes until golden brown. Allow cookies to cool on the sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Serve "fish fingers" with custard. They taste splendid when eaten together, or either can be enjoyed separately. Allons-y!

Noosh and I first stumbled upon this recipe a few months ago, and immediately I fell in love. The graham cracker "coating" is absolutely brilliant, and give the cookies the appearance of honest-to-God fish fingers. Words cannot describe how enamored I am with these things. They taste fantastic as well, which is only a plus, really.

So after about 9 hours of cooking custard, baking fish fingers and jammie dodgers, listening to everything from Louis Armstrong to Don Omar with Noosh preparing the TARDIS door, our apartment was full of the sounds of laughter, chatter, music, The Green Lantern, Hello Kitty, and Freida Kalho, a rather disturbing-looking cockroach, unnamed doctors and Sabeen's-apartment-occupiers, hilarious and somewhat horrifying Bollywood dancing, and happy mouths munching on good food. A success in all senses of the word, over all.

And by the time we were done cleaning up by around 1:30, I promptly passed out and slept for about 9 hours straight.

And I've spent the vast majority of the hour and a half I've been up uploading photographs and listening to Cabin Pressure on Youtube [quite the brilliant radio show, sent to me by a sweet friend who knows of my utter obsession with Benedict Cumberbatch's brilliant theatrical timing and jaguar-hiding-in-a-cello voice], not really wanting to get out of my comfortable bed.

Having discarded the suit-jacket, the bow-tie, and the formal button-down, though, I must say it's nice not to have a career that requires me to dress up like a flamboyant British gentleman on a daily basis. Fun as it was, I'll leave it to the professionals.

I much prefer watching them from the comfort of my living room sofa.


Preferably with a bowl of fish custard in hand.

alfajores

Me encanta hornear.


Pues, en este momento, supongo que es más o menos obvio, ¿no?

Mañana Zach y yo darémos una presentación sobre El laberinto del fauno para nuestra clase de literatura española. Entonces, para que la haga la pelota a nuestra maestra, horeneamos alfajores, galletas tradicionalmente árabes que originaron en España, pareciéndose a gli canoli de Italia.

Hoy día, hay variedades a través de latinoamérica; las retratadas arriba se parecen a las de Argentina. Sin embargo, todas son absolutamente deliciosas.

Because what better way to get brownie points in Spanish 341 than by baking alfajores?

Yes, pun absolutely intended.

Alfajores are an Arabic confection that originated in southern Spain as early as the 12th century, back when the Moors inhabited the area. The original treat resembled a cylinder filled with creamy, sweet caramel, and over the years has been adapted into countless variations, though the original recipe remains pretty much the same: flour, honey, almonds, and spices.

Without all of the innovative new ingredients brought by the Arabs, though, alfajores took on a totally different form in Latin America, where they are more or less two layers of cake with filling in between. The most common Latin American variation, the Argentinian alfajor, consists of two biscuits joined together with jam or dulce de leche and covered in a dusting of powdered sugar.

Alfajores
Adapted from Taste and Tell
Recipe makes about 4 dozen

You'll need:

• 4 cups flour
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp confectioner's sugar
• 3 sticks butter, chilled and cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp vanilla

• 2 14-oz cans dulce de leche

Sift flour and confectioner's sugar. Add to a food processor or electric mixer along with the butter, and pulse until dough resembles coarse meals, 20-30 seconds. While mixing on low speed, slowly pour in water and vanilla and mix until dough comes together. Divide dough in half, roll into two discs, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Roll out one of the chilled discs of dough to about 1/4 inch thickness. Using a cookie cutter of about 1.5-inches in diameter, cut out cookies and arrange on the baking sheet. Bake until lightly golden, 15 minutes. Transfer baked cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

To assemble cookies, spread a layer of dulce de leche on the flat side of a cooled cookie. Use another cookie to layer on top. Serve immediately.

Note: do not frost the cookies until serving. If you need to store them, keep the unfrosted cookies in an airtight container and the dulce de leche in the refrigerator. Both stay good for up to 3 days.

I'm not totally sure what alfajores have to do with Pan's Labyrinth, but then again, I'm not sure what Pan's Labyrinth has to do with modern Spanish literature. So they make a rudimentary pair, I'd say.

And besides, it was about time Zach was introduced to the magic that is dulce de leche.

And I've always wanted to make alfajores.

And they are one of the most delicious cookies I have ever eaten.

And that is not an exaggeration.

I think it'll be a pretty successful presentation.

homemade oreos with peanut butter filling {revisited}

I love driving. Especially near the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I don't know what it is, but it's cathartic.


Just me, the stereo, gorgeous scenery, and the long road ahead.

I could literally drive for hours by myself.

I remember one occasion last summer, I was particularly unhappy about something. Feeling suffocated at home and needing to clear my head, I jumped in the car, and drove. Didn't have any idea where I was going, I just picked a road and drove. Took a few turns here and there, through the woods, across wide country roads, parked the car, stepped out, and sat on a patch of grass under the sun.

And it was wonderful.

I would still be doing frivolous things like that now if paying to fill up my tank to go to the grocery store didn't cost an arm and a leg. But the memory still brings a small smile to my face.

I did have the chance to drive for a bit today, though, through the mountains, stereo blaring The Shins, peering through fog as thick as clouds. Drove to visit one of my dearest friends, Nora, who celebrates her twentieth birthday next week. Unfortunately, I can't up and skip all of my Monday classes and visit the day of, so I figured I'd take a small roadtrip tonight to see her.

Nora was one of my best friends in high school, and still is, though I don't get to see her quite as much as I'd like.


And yet, some things never change.

Like Nora's love for chocolate and peanut butter. Which, I've noticed, is a love that quite a lot of my friends share. And a love that's great for me, because it gives me an excuse to bake with peanut butter.

This isn't a new recipe, though I suppose since the last time I made it for Zach back in November, I've gotten a new lens. And learned a thing or two about the beauty of natural sunlight. The recipe can be found here, and is definitely one worth checking out.

I'm actually obsessed with these. They're amazingly delicious, ridiculously easy, and impossible to resist. It's a winner-winner situation all around, really.

And Nora loved 'em.

And I was happy.

And she was happy.

And I got to drive home through the mountains.

So I'd say it was a success.

Happy early birthday, Nora!!! Love, love, love, always. 


Edit: The very sweet hostess of Sweet as Sugar Cookies, Lisa, has invited me to participate in her Sweets for a Saturday with this recipe post. Thanks so much, Lisa! I'm truly honored. :)

homemade samoas

I'm a judgmental person.

Not in a particularly pretentious way; I just form highly scrutinized opinions about people based on their often poorly executed life choices.

It's not like I can help it, either. It just...happens. Instinctual. Out of my control.

Not that you have anything to worry about, I assure you.

Unless you happen to fall into the above category.

In which case I'll metaphorically shake my head in disappointment and pity. Or literally. Either one.

Just this sort of thing happens whenever I enter or observe any sort of competition. Whether it be an essay submission for publication in a journal, a graphic design contest,  American Idol, fighting against a good friend in Super Smash Bros Brawl, what have you. This weekend, it happened to be a bake-off.

I'm not a very competitive person by nature, particularly when it comes to academics [to each his own; read: I don't care how well or poorly you do as long as I have access to caffeine and a comfortable sofa in which to study my butt off], but I can't say the same holds true if you hand me a video game controller or a spatula.

I feel the need to prove myself.

And when that happens, things get ugly.

To my dismay, this weekend's competition was not in my favor. The bake-off was held earlier today, and I must say some of my competitors were very skilled. Noosh was by my side the entire time, as only the best of best friends would, so the blow wasn't too hard-hit when I didn't hear my name called to the podium.

But now I'm just being melodramatic.

I actually wasn't too bummed about it, mainly because I felt as though some of the more skilled competitors (particularly one girl who baked an almond torte layered with a balsamic raspberry reduction and topped with a white chocolate mousse, a cake which I regret not having begged a recipe for) were overlooked completely by some less...well...

*ahem*

Let's just say, my cynical judging of others came in full force today when I witnessed nothing but cupcake pops, Oreo truffles, 7-layer-bars, and other desserts even your middle-school-aged younger brother could recreate if he had access to some butter, flour, sugar, and the most popular recipe submissions on Tastespotting.

But I suppose it was worth the four hours of my life that I will never get back, since Noosh and I are now able to cross one more dessert off of our list.

Homemade Samoas
Adapted from Once Upon a Plate

For the shortbread cookie, you'll need:

• 1 cup [2 sticks] butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• up to 2 tbsp of whole milk

For the topping, you'll need:

• 3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
• 12 ounces good quality chewy caramels
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp milk
• 8 oz chocolate (semisweet if using sweetened coconut, milk if using unsweetened)

To prepare cookies, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Cream butter and sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in flour, baking soda, and salt on low speed. Add in vanilla, and add in small quantities of milk until dough comes together without being sticky (you may not need all 2 tbsp of milk). Add in a bit of extra flour if the dough seems too sticky. Gather dough together into a ball, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Roll dough out onto a floured surface until it is just about 1/4 inch thick. Using a 1.5 to 2-inch cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough. Make a smaller hole in the center (I use the end of a small, round piping tip). Lay cookies evenly on lined cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly golden brown around the edges. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.


To prepare the topping, preheat oven to 300 degrees and line a 12-inch tray with aluminum foil. Toast shredded coconut for 15-20 minutes, until lightly golden brown, to release its flavor. Cool on a baking sheet, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, begin melting the caramels with the milk and salt. Stir continuously until the mixture is smooth. Remove pan from heat and stir in the cooled coconut.

Using a spatula or knife, spread the coconut-caramel mixture on top of the cooled cookies. If caramel begins to firm up, reheat until it is soft and spreadable once again.

While the topping sets up, melt the chocolate in a small bowl, either in the microwave or over the stove using the double-broiler method. Dip the base of each cookie into the melted chocolate and place on a sheet of parchment paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate to a piping bag or ziplock bag with a corner snipped off, and drizzle the finished cookies with chocolate.

Store cookies in an airtight container. Cookies stay fresh for up to 3 days.

We made three batches and ended up with...hundreds of cookies. Literally. We still have so many left over, which I suppose is good news for all of our friends. Nevertheless, despite taking hours to make [6, to be precise], Noosh and I had a blast blowing off work to bake these.

And even though the competition didn't exactly end in my favor, I had an amazing time with Noosh, raising money for a good cause, tasting and critiquing other girls' desserts (because if you can't let your prissy, elitist, competitive side shine through during a bake-off, when can you?), and chatting with supportive friends who came by to visit and omnom.

And even though these weren't an "official" winner, these cookies are gold.

[Could be why I saved quite a few of the leftovers for myself, but you didn't hear that from me.]

oreo-stuffed chocolate chip cookies

The scene is set; you can picture it in your head the second you try. You're six years old, it's a lazy snow day, bundled up in front of the television watching classic Nick cartoons, reveling in the beauty of the weekend, and suddenly you can smell it.

Immediately, you know what it is.

[It's a no brainer, really.]

Warm, fresh-baked, chocolate chip cookies.

And you don't think you've ever loved your mother more than you do the moment she appears by your side with a plate of hot treats and a tall glass of cold milk in hand.

There are few things in life more comforting than homemade cookies and milk. A source of joy, a reminder of your youth, a cozy memory that brings a smile to your face and a nostalgic ache to your heart.

Today was one of those days where it just felt right to relive that memory.

[Plus, when there's snow still clinging to car windows in the middle of the afternoon in March, it's basically fate.]

We may have been lacking in the milk department, but we made up for it by baking a cookie inside a cookie.

Yeah, I caved. I normally am not big on baking fads *coughcupcakes*, but these were just too intriguing to pass up. That being said, I still think stuffing cake inside of a cookie is nothing short of, ahem, silly, to say the least, and you'll never ever see me baking such a thing.

But Oreos inside chocolate chip cookies? Tantalizing, with just the right amount of bizarre on the side.

Plus, Chelsea and Roods have been dying to make these for ages, so I figured it was now or never. And so, Chelsea, Roods, and Matt came over this afternoon for a baking date, fresh package of Oreo cookies in tow.

Oreo-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Very Culinary

You'll need:

• 1 cup [2 sticks] butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 package Oreo cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until fluffy. Add in eggs, one at a time, and then vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Slowly sift the flour mixture into the sugar mixture on low speed until just mixed. Stir in chocolate chips.

With a cookie scoop or spoon, form small balls of dough. To assemble cookies, place one ball on top of an Oreo cookie, and another ball on the bottom. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo cookie is fully enclosed with dough.

Place cookies about one and a half-inch width apart on the baking sheet. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until tops are golden brown. Let cool in tray for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

To be honest, these look more like miniature chocolate chip scones than actual cookies. And I love it.

I didn't actually eat any [still not eating sugar!], but the look of pure bliss on Chelsea's face, after weeks of sheer anticipation to take a bite, was worth it alone. Matt and Roods also loved em, so I was happy to have provided my KitchenAid to make it happen.

And now I can tuck away yet another baking fad under my belt.

And likely won't be picking up the spatula for another one any time soon.

...but I guess it wasn't too awful.

{DBC} florentine cookies

Part 2 of the Daring Baker's February Challenge: Florentine cookies! Part 1 was a panna cotta with a balsamic strawberry compote, the recipe for which can be found by clicking the link.

Initially, it made sense to me. Panna cotta, classic Piemonte dish, Florentine cookies, presumably from Florence, Italian theme. Not so. These cookies allegedly come from Paris, France. Though, I've also heard that they come from Tuscany, so everyone could just be confused.

Which is fine, because they are deeeeeelicious. They're crispy, light, and actually work well alongside the denser panna cotta. I sandwiched mine with melted chocolate, but I like them pre-chocolate very much as well. Perhaps in future I'll just do a lattice drizzle, or leave them chocolate free.

Florentine Cookies
Adapted from The Daring Kitchen

You'll need:

• 2/3 cup [about 10 tbsp] butter
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup flour
• 1/4 cup dark corn syrup
• 1/4 cup milk
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate

Preheat the oven 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. [note: do NOT substitute with aluminum foil - you need the parchment paper.]

In a medium saucepan over medium flame, melt the butter. Remove pan from heat and stir in oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, salt, and vanilla. Drop small balls of dough, about a tsp, onto baking sheet 3/4 inch apart, and flatten slightly with the back of a spoon. Bake for 6-8 minutes until edges are golden brown. The cookies will spread out during baking, so be mindful. Let cool at least 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Meanwhile, melt chocolate. Once cookies are cool, spread a thin amount of chocolate on the flat side of one cookie and sandwich it with another. Or, pipe chocolate artfully over the tops of the cookies without sandwiching them. It's really your prerogative here.

In other news, I've eaten so much this weekend I could explode. I haven't experienced food coma in quite some time now, and let me just say, I haven't missed it. Not that it wasn't all delicious, of course. Just...

Let's just say it hasn't been one of my smarter food weekends.

Hopefully it'll wear off when I go to bed.

That is, if the oh-so considerate folk on the bottom floor decide not to turn the base up to absurd levels at bizarre hours of the morning and give me an unappreciated wake-up call.

classic chocolate chip cookies

Okay, okay; I know I said I'd put the baking on hold after Thanksgiving. But these weren't for fun! Promise!

Besides, I won't be baking for a while after this. [Until Saturday. And then next Saturday. But that's besides the point.]

I baked these yesterday for the two kids that Chelsea and I have been tutoring this semester. Elizabeth and Andres. They are two of the sweetest children I've ever met. I actually tutored Elizabeth last fall as well, and was really excited to get to see her again this year. I also remember baking these for her last year, so it was only appropriate that I do the same now. And she seemed to enjoy them, so I was pleased.

Now, I'm not a huge cookie person. I'm more of a brownie/pie/cake type. But I love a good, homemade cookie [store-bought cookies are the worst]. And this happens to be a recipe that I swear by. And I'm sure you guys all have it at home, too, and just never realized it.

Or, at least you would if you had a 7-pound bag of Nestle semisweet chocolate chips stored in your pantry like I do. -cough-

Yes, folks. Nestle Toll House's original, classic chocolate chip cookie. Easy as peas [is this the right expression?] and tastes delicious.

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

You'll need:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup [2 sticks] butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped nuts [walnuts are best for cookies], optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine flour, baking powder, in salt in a medium bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer [fitted with the paddle attachment] until creamy.  Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary. Slowly add in flour mixture and mix until just combined. Add in chocolate chips and nuts, if using, and mix until dough is uniform.

Drop dough by the tablespoon onto the parchment paper, about 1.5-inches apart. Bake for 9-12 minutes [less time for gooier cookies and more time for crisper cookies], until tops are golden brown. Cool cookies on a wire rack. Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container at room temperature. Cookies store well for up to 4 days.

Oh man. Cookies and milk. What a stellar combination. I want to meet whomever it was that came up with it and give them a big ol' hug. Furrulz.

Also, I love this recipe because it's so adaptable. For this particular batch, I only used chocolate chips [nuts are a bit sophisticated for kids, I think], but in the past I've used walnuts, peanut butter morsels, toffee bits, white chocolate chips, what have you, alongside the traditional semisweet chocolate.

And with milk, while the cookies are hot off the cooling rack? Oh dear, heaven.

homemade oreos with peanut butter filling

I woke up earlier than I needed to this morning. Of course, I tried going back to sleep, but it didn't work. It rarely does for me anyway. So then I figured there were two things I could do:

1) Get on Facebook and waste the extra 40 minutes of morning time I had stalking/creeping on people I don't really care about at all [nor vice-versa].
2) Bake.

I decided to go with the latter. Also as a kind of test to see if I could actually successfully bake something and not miss the bus to grounds.

Bam. AND I DIDN'T MISS THE BUS.
It was quite the successful morning.

Homemade Oreos with peanut butter filling. I baked these for my dear friend Zach, who celebrated his 20th birthday this past Tuesday. Earlier tonight one of his good friends threw him a surprise party, and since he'll be out of town all weekend on some silly XC shenanigans, I figured I'd whip these together to give him today. Though Noosh did sandwich them for me while I was in class, which was a tremendous help.

Since he's a big fan of the chocolate and peanut butter combination [and I mean, come on, who isn't?], I decided to go with the Oreo. [I also recall many a late-night calc II study session in which we devoured (read: emotional eating) packs of Oreos, so it had to be done.]

Homemade Oreos with Peanut Butter Filling

For the Oreos, you'll need:

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 egg

For the filling, you'll need:

• 1 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1 cup smooth peanut butter
• 5 tbsp butter, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, use the paddle attachment on low speed to combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Still on low speed, add in butter and eggs. Continue mixing until dough comes together in a mass.

Using your hands, roll up small balls of dough, about 1-inch in diameter, and place them about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. With the palm of your hand, evenly press down on the dough to form discs. Bake for 11 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on a wire rack.

To make the filling, combine powdered sugar, peanut butter, salt, vanilla, and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer using the paddle attachment. Mix at low speed until creamy. Slowly pour in milk. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until mixture is smooth.

Once cookies have cooled completely, frost the flat side [underside] of one cookie with a generous amount of filling and gently sandwich it with a cookie of roughly the same size. Cookies stay fresh at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Man. These were good. Like, surprisingly good. Especially the filling.

It's good that I had to give them all away.

All but the two that I ate.

But nevertheless. Things would be much worse if I still had the plate sitting in front of me.

Omnomnom.

In other news, ONLY ONE WEEK UNTIL HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART ONE.

It's going to be hard to contain my excitement in the next seven days. 

pumpkin spice macarons

Yes, I've jumped on the bandwagon. Macarons. They seem to be the new baking "thing."

I like this fad much better than the whole cupcake dealio from a while back. Macarons [not to be confused with macaroons] are a French, meringue-based sweet of some sort of filling sandwiched in between two airy, crunchy "cookies," made out of almond flour, egg whites, and sugar.

Got together with my good buddy, Tommy, to make these. He and Angie came by the apartment last night because Noosh and I hadn't seem them in a while. Tommy and I had been planning a bake-date for a while now, and finally settled on macarons.

Plus, being the pro bakers that we are, we have to maintain our street cred and keep up with trends. Word.

The recipe we used actually comes from make and bake, and is incidentally the Daring Baker's challenge recipe for this month [which I myself am not a part of yet, but hope to be soon!].

Pumpkin Spice Macarons

For the macarons, you'll need:

• 2 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar
• 2 cups almond flour
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 5 egg whites
• 1 tsp vanilla

For the pumpkin filling, you'll need:

• 4 oz pumpkin [canned or fresh]
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 4 tbsps confectioner's sugar
• pinch of nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine confectioner's sugar and almond flour in a bowl until well-blended. In a clean, dry bowl attached to a stand mixer, whisk egg whites on medium until they form soft peaks. Slowly add granulated sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Add 1/3 of almond mixture to egg whites and gently fold. Add in vanilla. Fold in remainder of almond mixture in two batches, being careful not to deflate the egg whites.

Gently pour batter into a piping bag fitted with a plain, half-inch tip. If there isn't one on hand, a ziplock bag with a small portion of the corner cut off will suffice. Pipe small disks, about 1-inch in diameter, on the baking sheet. Bake for 12-13 minutes, until top is slightly golden. Wait for them to cool slightly, 3-4 minutes, before removing disks and letting them cool on a wire cooling rack.

To prepare frosting, beat pumpkin, cream cheese, confectioner's sugar, and nutmeg in the bowl of an elecric mixer with the paddle attachment on medium-high until smooth and creamy. Once macarons have cooled, spread a layer of pumpkin on the flat side of one disc and use another disc of a similar size to sandwich the filling. Repeat until all macarons have been used up.

These actually tasted much better than I expected they would. I'm really iffy about meringue, because I feel like all I'm doing is eating fluffed up sugar. Which is not far from the truth, but also because purchasing supermarket meringue can just be one of the worst on-the-spot decisions you could make in a grocery store. But I think it's the pumpkin filling that is the star here; super creamy, not too sweet, and my first taste of pumpkin this Fall. Delicious.

Also delightful to serve because everyone loves how cute they are.

I'd say it was a total success. Excellent job, Tommy. We are definitely well on our way to pro status.



[I mean, I can always dream.]

cookie party in mickey's pants

Or should I say cookie party OF Mickey's pants?
</shot>

Yes! I actually baked! For the first time in about 2 weeks! And I have a recipe for you! 

Mickey's pants! I'm still working on the hand shake with the camera, and my lens' aperture isn't great for low-light, so they're a little blurry, but here they are!

Tommy showed me this recipe a few days ago and really wanted to make it, and of course I love any opportunity to bake.

Though minor disasters did ensue. As they always do when I bake.

First off, we were going to bake in Tommy's dorm building. And then we didn't have any ingredients, so we walked about half a mile down to Harris Teeter, got the stuff, and then walked back. About 45 minutes total.

Then, we didn't have anything to really bake with. So we called up Angie, she picked us up, and we went back to her apartment. She had some reliable bowls and whisks to use [read: her silverware hadn't been sitting in dorm kitchen drawers and cabinets for lord knows how many years], so we were psyched. We washed her dishes, picked out some bowls and cleared some counter space, and got to work. Good!

Oh, wait, no hand-held mixer. So we whisked the butter and sugar frantically to make them 'light and fluffy.' Which they weren't. Because we didn't have a hand-held mixer.

But it was alright, because who really needs to use a hand-held mixer? If anything they'll just be...denser. Right? Right. So we're good to go!

Oh, wait, I left the white chocolate in the dorm kitchen fridge. So Angie and Tommy drove back to get that while I dyed the dough red.

Great! Bright red, as Mickey's pants should be, sugary sweet dough [taste-testing unbaked cookie dough is one of life's greatest pleasures], white chocolate buttons on hand, ready to go.

Oh, wait, no rolling pin. So naturally we use a canister of sugar. It worked out pretty well, actually.

"not the gumdrop buttons!"

SO CUTE. Ack. I just about died from adorableness. They were a little rough around the edges because we had to cut them with a knife and paper template, but they turned out pretty well.

They did end up a little crispy because we weren't quite sure how powerful Angie's stove was, and overbaked them by about a minute or two. But after I left after the first batch, Angie and Tommy lowered the baking time some and I'm sure the rest turned out fantastic.

Mickey Mouse Sugar Cookies

For the sugar cookies, you'll need:

• 1 1/4 cups butter [2 1/2 sticks], softened
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• pinch of salt

For the 'decoration,' you'll need:

• red food coloring
• yogurt-covered raisins [we used white chocolate chips, because Tommy's not a huge fan of yogurt-covered raisins]
• Mickey Mouse pants template, found here.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly butter the surface of a cookie sheet. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla, and mix well. Add cream of tartar, salt, and flour and mix until dough starts to form. Use your hands to knead dough. Dye dough red with food coloring [we ended up using quite a lot of food coloring]. Once color is uniform, knead dough into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut cookie cutter template and sprinkle flour over a flat, dry surface to roll dough out on. Roll dough to a little more than 1/2-inch thick. Using a knife, cut around the cookie cutter and gently lift off the surface. Bake for 10-12 minutes; let cookies cool for at least 5 minutes before removing from pan. Finish cooling cookies on a wire rack.

Can we go to Disney World now?