Basic, Great Chocolate Chip Cookies

There has been so many great new cookbook releases this spring, I can barely keep up! What's wonderful about these titles are the quality of material coming from Canadian authors: Sara Britton of My New Roots, Rosie Alyea of Sweetapolita, and Tara O'Brady of Seven Spoons. I meant to do a post for each book as they released, but the weekends just seem to fly by (why aren't weekends three days instead of two?).

But I had three beautiful bars of chocolate, the cookbook, and Tara's post to get me off my butt to make something. Plus, who can resist basic, great chocolate chip cookies?

Look how beautiful the tasting bars are! I've never used Valrhona chocolates before, but I've heard about their excellent reputation. Plus, they're always getting mentions in cookbooks where chefs repeat: use quality products. Really, I felt like Charlie from the Chocolate Factory when I ripped off the gold foil and saw the gorgeous design on these bars.

I felt like I was destroying art chopping up the chocolate bars. But at least they had a guideline of grids on it. You can chop them up a bit smaller, but I wanted to be able to taste each different chocolate piece in the cookie.

Do you like the sweet and salty combination? I found that the little sprinkle of sea salt on top was strong, so don't go overboard! Just put less than a pinch on top of the batter.

Basic, Great Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe adapted from Seven Spoons by Tara O'Brady
(Makes about 24 cookies)

1 cup of unsalted butter
3 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
210 grams of chopped chocolate (Tara calls for 340 grams of semisweet or bittersweet chocolate)
Flaky sea salt (optional)

1. Preheat your oven to 360°F (180°C) - don't forget to check with an oven thermometer. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Place the butter in a saucepan and melt on the lowest setting. You want the butter to melt, but not sizzle and lose moisture.
3. Take a chef knife and chop up your chocolate. I used three 70 gram bars of 32% cacao, 46% cacao, and 72% cacao. I combined all three together so that the cookies would get a mix of blond, milk, and dark chocolate bits in it.
4. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
5. Using a stand mixer, pour in both sugars and the melted butter. Whisk until combined. Add in the eggs one at a time. Pour in the vanilla extract. Once it's blended, switch the whisk attachment to the paddle or use a spatula.
6. Carefully add in the dry ingredients and mix a little bit (doesn't have to be well blended at this point).
7. Add in the chopped chocolate and fold into the batter until well combined. The less mixing you do when the dry ingredients are added, the better. You don't want the batter to become too doughy and smooth.
8. At this stage, you can refrigerate the batter. I did for 5 minutes because the batter was looking a bit shiny and it is mentioned in Tara's notes - thanks for troubleshooting!
9. Scoop out about 3 tablespoons of batter and form it into a ball. Place on parchment paper and space each one 3 inches apart. Optional, sprinkle the top with flaky sea salt. I did for 12 and left the other 12 as is.
10. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. When you take them out, let them rest for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

I love how quickly the cookie batter came together, there's no need to chill the dough for hours or overnight. All about the immediate gratification here.

Unbelievable. Just because I'm standing on a chair taking cookie photos, it doesn't mean someone should swoop in and grab one. Luckily, I caught the thief red-handed in the photo and was able to confront them later.

Oh these cookies are good. They're soft and chewy on the inside. And yes, they're cookies worth dreaming about and craving for. They would make a great base for nutty cookies too (walnuts or pecans anyone?).

Happy publication day Tara!

Peppermint Bark

Oh it's so nice to have time off during the holidays! My friend Julia finished her exams and today, we spent the afternoon making edible treats for her to take home to her family. This was the first time that we've ever made bark, so we had our fingers crossed. And actually, the recipe we were following wasn't adequate for us, so we did our own alterations. I'm glad we did!

Peppermint Bark

(Makes about one tray, serves 6 or more)

16 ounces of semisweet chocolate

1 teaspoon of mint extract 

16 ounces of white chocolate

½ cup crushed candy canes

1. In a double boiler or bowl set over boiling water, melt the semisweet chocolate. Stir it occasionally to prevent burning. Remove from the heat and add the mint extract.
2. Line a small sheet pan with aluminum foil. Pour in the melted semisweet chocolate mixture and spread it evenly with an offset spatula. Refrigerate until firm, about 30-45 minutes.
3. In a double boiler or bowl set over boiling water, melt the white chocolate. Meanwhile, crush the candy canes in a bag to keep it contained (use a mallet and place a cloth over the bag). 
4. When the chocolate is smooth, spread it evenly over the semisweet chocolate layer. Sprinkle the crushed candy canes on top. 
5. Refrigerate until firm. Break into pieces (or cut it with a knife - we used our hands, grrr!). Store in refrigerator. 

Above: Spread the white chocolate layer over the semisweet chocolate layer. The best part of the semisweet chocolate is that it doesn't have to be too neat because it'll be covered.

Above: Carefully use a small mallet to crush the candy canes. It's up to you how big or small you want the candy cane bits to look on top of the bark.

Above: Quickly sprinkle the candy cane over the white chocolate. You want to do this before it starts to set and solidify.

Above: Make sure you spread the chocolate layers as evenly as possible. The layers look great when broken into pieces.

Vote for Iron Cupcake: Earth!

Hello and happy holidays!
As you may already know, we submitted our "Chocolate Fondue Cupcakes" for a contest, the 5th Iron Cupcake: Earth challenge, CHOCOLATE with a Twist!

VOTING is now open for December's Iron Cupcake: click HERE!

The voting poll is on the right-side column of this website.

Voting begins now and ends on January 2nd at 12 noon.

Each time you vote for us, we get an entry for the grand prize package draw.

To view our "Chocolate Fondue Cupcakes" entry again, click HERE.

Thank you! We look forward to the results of our first Iron Cupcake: Earth challenge! The winner will receive the following prize package:

• Artwork from Etsy artist BETTY TURBO
  
• Cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES
• Artwork from Etsy artist CAKESPY by Jessie Oleson
• Cupcake pin cushions from SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY
• Head Chefs from FIESTA PRODUCTS
  
• HELLO, CUPCAKE, by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson
• Apron from JESSIE STEELE APRONS
• The CUPCAKE COURIER
• Cookbook from TASTE OF HOME

Iron Cupcake: Earth is sponsored by 1-800-Flowers.

You can also join in on the fun yourself! Click here to learn more about Iron Cupcake: Earth.

Iron Cupcake: Earth - Chocolate with a Twist!

Happy holidays everyone! This season is all about sharing and giving, so we give you...

We recently joined Iron Cupcake: Earth (similar to Iron Chef, but with cupcakes) and this month's ingredient challenge is Chocolate with a Twist! So we did some thinking... so many possibilities with chocolate! So what is our chocolate twist? Instead of the usual application of chocolate ganache, we are doing chocolate fondue! So what are some of the most common item for chocolate fondue? Fruits, candies, strawberries, and pound cake! So for our Iron Cupcake entry, we made white chocolate pound cupcakes frosted with strawberry buttercream dipped in chocolate fondue.

Above image: Baking powder, butter & sour cream, cream cheese & vanilla extract, salt, white chocolate, and sugar & eggs. This collage was featured on foodgawker!

Above image: White chocolate pound cupcake, batter in cupcake liner, empty egg shell, and stack of white chocolate.

White Chocolate Pound Cake

Recipe adapted from The Whimsical Bakehouse

(Makes 8 cups of batter)

2 sticks of unsalted butter

8 ounces of cream cheese

1 1/2 cups of sugar

2 tablespoons of sour cream

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs

2 1/4 cupcakes of cake flour

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of salt

8 ounces of melted white chocolate

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C (350F) and have all ingredients at room temperature.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until it is light and fluffy. Add the cream cheese and continue mixing at high speed. Add the sugar and mix until it is light and fluffy again.
3. Add the sour cream and the vanilla extract, mixing at medium speed.
4. Add the eggs one at a time ensuring that they are mixed well before the next addition.
5. In another bowl, mix the cake flour, baking powder, and salt togther. Then add the dry ingredients with the wet mixture. Mix on low until smooth.
6. Fold in the melted white chocolate. Pour into pan and bake the cupcakes for 25-30 minutes (I recommend baking them without the cupcake liners). Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 10 minutes before removing them.

Above image: Strawberries ready to be made into buttercream. The strawberry photo was featured on Photograzing!

Strawberry Buttercream

(Makes about 2 cups)

1 stick of unsalted butter

2 cups of confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

5-8 strawberries

1. Cream the butter on medium speed until light and fluffy.
2. Add the confectioner's sugar and vanilla extract and mix on low speed until well blended.
3. Dice up the strawberries and mix on high until the buttercream is smooth and light.

Above image: Heavy cream and chocolate, chocolate fondue, and fondue burner.

Chocolate Fondue

(Chocolate ganache)

1/2 cup of chopped milk chocolate

1/2 cup of heavy cream

1. Heat the cream over a double boiler until it bubbles.
2. Place chopped chocolate in fondue pot.
3. Pour heated cream over the chocolate.
4. Let the mixture sit for about a minute and then whisk until smooth.
5. Allow the mixture to cool and enjoy!
6. Light the fondue burner when the mixture becomes too thick for dipping.

You can vote for us HERE until January 2nd at 12 noon Central time.

The winner will receive these awesome prizes:

• Original artwork from Etsy artist BETTY TURBO
  
• A pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES
• Original artwork from Etsy artist CAKESPY by Jessie Oleson
• Cupcake pin cushions by Moda Home from SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY
• Head Chefs from FIESTA PRODUCTS
  
• HELLO, CUPCAKE, by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson
• Apron from JESSIE STEELE APRONS
• The CUPCAKE COURIER
• Cookbook from TASTE OF HOME

Iron Cupcake: Earth is sponsored by 1-800-Flowers.

You can also join in on the fun yourself! Click here to learn more about Iron Cupcake: Earth.