I'm not much of a dessert person, but I made cookies the other night for dinner and while the batter (rolled in plastic, in the fridge) isn't lasting very long, the cookies were quite tasty - if I do say so my damn self...
Big Daddy's Chocolate Chip Cookies
Preheat oven to 350°
Cover cookie sheet with Silpat
Dry Ingredients:
2 1/4 Cups Flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
Sift flour, salt and baking soda and set aside
Wet Ingredients:
1/2 lb. butter (2 sticks)
3/4 Cup sugar
3/4 Cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
In a stand mixer (KitchenAid) cream together butter, sugar and vanilla then add eggs one at a time and cream until soft.
With the mixer on low, combine Dry ingredients with Wet, a little at a time until completely mixed.
Mix in with a wooden spoon:
1 1/2 Cups Semi-Sweet Morsels or chopped chocolate bar
1 Cup Quick Oats
Let batter sit in fridge for about an hour until it firms up a little and balls up easily to the size of a ping pong ball. Dough can be rolled in a 2 in. roll and stored in the freezer wrapped in wax paper and/or plastic wrap. To serve, just slice off pieces about 1/2 in. thick and bake.
Place balls of dough on the Silpat covered cookie sheet and bake for 12 min. until edges brown. Remove from oven and let sit for about 3 min. then serve or put on a cooling rack until completely cool. Personally I prefer to eat them while still warm with a glass of milk...Indeed!
An hors d'oeuvre recipe a good friend just shared with me...
Cranberry Chutney
5 Cups fresh cranberries (about 1¼ bags) or
(Recipe
calls for 4 cups cranberries (1 bag) and 1 cup raisins – I use extra cranberries
and no raisins)
2 Cups packed brown sugar
1 Cup water
¼ Cup lemon juice
½
teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground clove
1
teaspoon finely diced onion
¼
Cup slivered almonds (toasted in oven at 400 for about 2-3 minutes)
Put
all ingredients in large sauce pan, bring to boil, reduce heat simmer for about
35 minutes.
Baked
Brie
Large
Brie wheel or 2-3 small ones
Pepperidge
Farm Puff Pastry Sheets
Egg, beaten
Wrap
Brie with pastry sheet. Cut excess
pastry and seal by pinching seams. (make sure to seal or the cheese will ooze
out)
Brush
with egg wash
Bake
in oven at 375° – 400° until golden brown and crusty (about 20 –30 minutes)
Let
baked brie stand for 30 minutes (minimum) prior to eating otherwise the cheese
will be too soft and will ooze out all over the plate.
Serve
with crackers or crostini and chutney.
Delicious!
Again, not a baker or dessert person per se, but I found a recipe for a "Salted Caramel Cheesecake Pie" that looks and sounds amazing, so I think I'll try it...
Salted Caramel Cheesecake Pie
Makes one 9-inch pie
Adapted from 'Joy the Baker'
Crust
2 Cups Gingersnap cookie crumbs
2 Tbsp brown sugar
Pinch of Salt
1/2 stick (4 T) unsalted butter, melted
Cheesecake
1 lb. (2 blocks) cream cheese, at room temp
1 1/3 Cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 lg. eggs, at room temp
1/2 Cup plus 2 Tbsp Heavy Cream
1 tsp lemon zest (optional)
Caramel
1/2 Cup sugar
2 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
1/3 Cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp salt
Place two racks in the upper and bottom third of the oven. Preheat oven to 350° F. You'll need a 9-in. pie plate and a 9x13in. pan for boiling water.
To make the crust:
Place cookies in the bowl of a food processor and grind to a fine crumb, add brown sugar, salt and butter. Toss together, moistening all of the gingersnap crumbs. Pour mixture into a 9-in. pie plate and press with fingers until sides and bottom are evenly coated with crust.
Bake for 10-15 min until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool while making the cheesecake filling. Reduce oven temperature to 325° F. Place a tea kettle of water on the stovetop to boil. Boiling water will be added to the 9x13in. pan and placed under the baking cheesecake.
To make the cheesecake filling:
In the bowl of a stand mixer (KitchenAid) fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together cream cheese and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy, about 3-5 min. Beat in salt and vanilla until well incorporated. Add eggs, beating one a time until creamy and smooth. Slowly beat in cream, beating on medium high until creamy. Add lemon zest if using.
Pour Cheesecake mixture into the prepared cheesecake crust.
Place 9x13 in. pan on the bottom rack of the hot oven. Carefully pour in hot water and fill to 1/2 full.
Place cheesecake on the upper rack. Bake for 50-60 min. until cheesecake is browned and puffed. When cheesecake is puffed and doesn't have loose jiggle in the center, turn oven off and use a towel to prop the oven open slightly. Let cheesecake rest for another 45 min. in the cooling oven. Remove from the oven and cool completely, for at least 4 hours, overnight is best.
While the cheesecake cools, make the caramel so it can cool as well.
To make the caramel:
Add sugar, water and corn syrup to a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring once or twice. Bring to a boil and allow to brown. Once sugar has browned to a medium amber color, remove from heat and immediately add heavy cream and butter. Mixture will boil and foam. Stir well. Add salt and stir well to incorporate. Caramel may seem thin...that's ok. Place in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and cool in the fridge for at least 4 hours, overnight is best.
Pour the cooled caramel over the cooled cheesecake, return to the refrigerator until ready to serve. Sprinkle with a dash of Kosher salt or specialized sea salt, then slice and serve.
Cheesecake will last for up to 4 days, well wrapped in the refrigerator.
Ok, I'm done with the recipes for a while. But who really knows how long. I need to try a couple of these first...
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