Twenty Chewy Cocoa Cookies with Chocolate Chips

In so many ways, it would be easier to make a gargantuan batch of cookies. If a girl is going to sift one cup of flour, she might as well sift five. Then she’d have lots and lots of delicious cookies to dole out to friends and family, or to freeze for busy nights ahead.

The only thing is, I prefer baking my cookies in small, secret batches. They feel more special that way, more exclusive. In my kitchen as I sift and stir and bake, I think of those one or two special people who will receive them this time. How I might nestle them into a small box, or wrap them up in a cellophane bag. How they might smile when they receive them, or maybe, if they’re hungry, eat one right away.

Tonight I baked exactly  twenty chocolate cookies. Some for my sister, some for Michael, and yes, some for me. Just twenty cookies, crisp on the outside, dark and dense with cocoa and chocolate chips on the inside.  Just enough to savour, and just enough to selectively share.

If you had just twenty chewy cocoa cookies chock full of chocolate chips, who would you share them with with?

{RECIPE} CHEWY COCOA CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

{MAKES} 20 cookies

{INGREDIENTS}

1 C unbleached all-purpose flour

¼ tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

4 TB (½ stick) unsalted butter

1/3 C granulated sugar (or use 2/3 C for a sweeter, chewier cookie)

1/3 cup light brown sugar

7 TB unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 cup plain yogurt, not low- or nonfat

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ C chocolate chips, semisweet or bittersweet

{DIRECTIONS}

one. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a baking sheet, or line with parchment paper or a silicone liner.

two. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

three. Place the butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and microwave briefly, until just melted (approx. 30 seconds). Add the sugars, and sift in the cocoa. Stir to blend well.

four. Add the yogurt and vanilla and stir to mix thoroughly. Add the dry flour mixture, and stir to just combine. Add the chocolate chips and stir to incorporate.

five. Using a tablespoon-size measuring spoon, scoop and shape the dough into little domes onto the baking sheet. You will get precisely 20 cookies.

six. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, in batches if necessary, until the tops of the cookies have crackled slightly and look set. Avoid the urge to overbake… the cookies should be just done.

seven. Remove from the oven, then press lightly on each cookie with the back of a spoon or fork to flatten slightly.

eight. Transfer cookies to a wire rack, and cool completely. …that is if you can resist the urge from eating the warm gooey cookies right away!

These cookies are delicious warm, straight out of the oven, and store for several days in an airtight container or plastic bag.

{ADAPTED FROM}

Molly’s recipe for Chewy Cocoa Cookies with Chocolate Chips from Orangette, less 1/2 a cup of white sugar, as well as her unique reflections on cooking and life.

Smitten Kitchen's Cheesecake Marbled Brownies, Unmarbled

Dear Deb,

I am so sorry I panicked. It wasn’t your fault. It was all mine.

You see, I’m just not that good at this baking stuff. I’ve had some pretty bad experiences in the past. Shortbread that blackened just five minutes into our relationship. An angel food cake with so much promise in the beginning that couldn’t commit to rising in the end. So you have to understand that when the cheesecake batter in your Cheesecake Marbled Brownies recipe remained lumpy no matter how hard I whisked, and when no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t swirl my brownie and  cheesecake batters into a beautiful pattern like yours…I lost my marbles and panicked.

You have to understand that I didn’t plan on grabbing my electric mixer and whipping everything together into a frenzied mess. And I didn’t plan on cheating my unmarbled brownies under a coating of melted chocolate. It simply happened. You know how it is.

Can you pardon my indiscretion if the brownies turned out beautifully? Because they did.  Moist, dense and delicious straight from the oven and just as moist, dense and delicious the next day. Or would that make it even worse?

For what it’s worth, I am guilt-ridden by my bad behaviour and am sorry that my panic has brought your recipe to this point. I am still smitten with you and only hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me.

xo
A Humble Chef in Her Messy Kitchen

P.S. Would it offend you if I shared my unmarbled version of your recipe?

{RECIPE} SMITTEN KITCHEN’S CHEESECAKE MARBLED BROWNIES, UNMARBLED

{MAKES} a 9″ square pan of brownies

{SMITTEN KITCHEN’S INGREDIENTS}

Brownie Batter:

1/2 C unsalted butter, cut into pieces

3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 C  sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 pinch salt

2/3 C all-purpose flour

Cheesecake Batter:

8 oz cream cheese, well softened

1/3 C sugar

1 large egg yolk

1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Messy Kitchen’s Chocolate Coating for Unmarbled Brownies:

1 C semisweet chocolate chips

{DIRECTIONS, ADAPTED IN A PANIC IN THE MESSY KITCHEN}

one. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

two. Simmer a pot of water over medium-low heat. Place a large metal bowl over the pot.

three. Make brownie batter: Heat butter and chocolate whisking occasionally until melted. Remove bowl from heat and whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla and a pinch of salt until well combined. Whisk in 2/3 C flour until smooth.

four. Make cheesecake batter: In a separate smaller bowl, whisk cheesecake batter ingredients together until smooth. PANIC when mixture looks unbeleievably lumpy.

Cream cheesecake batter ingredients together until smooth using an electric mixture.

five. Dollop cream cheese batter over brownie batter and try to swirl. PANIC again when mixture looks an utter and complete mess. Completely lose marbles and… Add cheesecake batter to brownie batter and cream together with an electric mixer on medium-low speed until smooth.

six. Spread batter into prepared pan and bake about 35 minutes or until the center is just set.

seven. Make messy chocolate topping: In a large metal bowl set over a simmering pot of water, melt 1 C of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Spread melted chocolate over brownies. Wait at least 15 minutes for chocolate to set.

eight. Cut into squares and serve warm or at room temperature.

{INSPIRED BY}

A delicious recipe for Cheesecake Marbled Brownies from Deb at Smitten Kitchen, messily and apologetically unmarbled  in the Messy Kitchen.

Blackberry Buttermilk Cake

You can tell a lot about a person by the way they pick berries.

Some show up fully prepared with sunscreen, sun hat, gardening gloves and Tupperware containers with smartly, matching lids.  These are the people you can count on in the event of a black-out, natural calamity or when you accidentally lock your keys in your car.

Others show up chic and cool in pale summer pants and pretty dresses,  and are sincerely shocked  to learn that a) blackberries grow on prickly bushes, b) there is d*i@r!t*$! in the fields and c) bees and bugs are part of the experience. These are the people you might trust to solve your hair and mascara crises…. but little else, I’m afraid.

Some lament the lack of berries and their small size without noticing the juicy ones hanging from branches just a few steps away. These are the people who will miss the smallest, most significant moments of joy, simply because they are too preoccupied to notice.

Some eat a fistful of berries for every one they pick, determined to maximize the juiciness out of their experience, while others place each and every berry carefully into the bottom of a shiny pail, saving them for a feast later. (Question my friends: Who would you prefer to manage your finances? And who would you prefer to manage your life?)

And then there are some who wander on their own to the farthest corner of the berry field, picking quietly but steadily, dreaming about this telling Blackberry Buttermilk Cake…

{RECIPE} BLACKBERRY BUTTERMILK CAKE

{MAKES} one thin, fluffy, buttery, 9 inch cake

{INGREDIENTS}

1 C unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
2/3 C white sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest (optional)
1 large egg
1/2 C buttermilk
1 C freshly picked blackberries (or raspberries or blueberries or strawberries)

{DIRECTIONS}

one. Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a 9 inch round pie plate or cake pan.

two. In small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

three. In a separate, larger bowl, beat the butter and sugar together into pale fluffiness, using an electric mixer at medium-high speed. Scrape the beaters as necessary.

four. At medium-high speed, beat the vanilla, lemon zest and egg  into the butter/sugar mixture.

five. Using a spatula, gradually fold in the flour mixture and buttermilk. Start by adding a third of the flour mixture, then a third of the buttermilk, then another third of the flour, and so on. Mix until just combined.

six. Spread the batter into the pie plate or cake pan, smoothing the top.

seven. Arrange the blackberries on top of the batter. Take the time to arrange them one by one…

…or simply scatter them randomly. They’ll taste the same regardless.

eight. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Check back  regularly, as the cake is sooooo thin that it bakes quickly!

nine. Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then carefully turn out onto a rack and cool 10 to 15 minutes more before  inverting onto a serving plate.

ten. Serve on its lonesome, or with a dollop of whipped cream or ice cream.

{INSPIRED BY}

Smitten Kitchen’s Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

Double Chocolate Rice Krispie Squares for Inexplicably Blue Days

Once in a while, even the most cheerful girl is entitled to feeling inexplicably blue. And on such days, when life calls for chicken soup but there is no time to make it, sunflowers but your favourite florist is closed, a new sparkly bauble but your pocketbook vetoes the purchase… a girl can always whip up rice krispie squares.

There’s just something about Snap, Crackle and Pop that bring even the most reluctant smiles to my face. Maybe it’s the fact that a girl can always count on those three little guys to show up,  cheery little kitchen soldiers, at your service in your local grocery store aisle. Maybe it’s because they pair so perfectly with melted marshmallows and a topping of white and dark chocolate.

But mostly it’s because rice krispie squares are portable and so easily shared with a favourite sister who lives just down the street, even at 9:30 at night on an inexplicably blue day.

Because rice krispies with a favourite sister turn inexplicably blue days into inexplicably blessed days in no time.

{RECIPE} DOUBLE CHOCOLATE RICE KRISPIE SQUARES

{MAKES} one 9 x 13” pan- more than enough to share with a favourite sister

{INGREDIENTS}

3 TB butter or margarine

4 C miniature, fresh, fluffy marshmallows (OR 1 package (10 oz., about 40)  regular marshmallows)

6 C Rice Krispies

2C white chocolate chips

1C mini chocolate chips

1+ sister or friend with whom to share

{DIRECTIONS}

{For Rice Krispie Squares}

one. In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

two. Add Rice Krispies cereal. Stir until well coated.

three. Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with butter.

{For Double Chocolate Topping}

four. In a metal bowl set over a boiling pot of water, melt 2C of white chocolate chips. Remove from heat. Using spatula, and spread  over rice krispies.

five.Immediately sprinkle with 1C of mini chocolate chips. Use spatula to spread over white chocolate chips, making tantalizingly messy topping.

six. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Best if served the same day.

store. No more than two days at room temperature in airtight container. To freeze, place in layers separated by wax paper in airtight container. Freeze for up to 6 weeks. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

{DELICIOUS LINKS TO SIMILAR RECIPES}

Rice Krispies Official Website

Accidental Cherry Chocolate Almond Cake

I absolutely love accidental recipes. The sort that come about, for example, when you want to impress your boyfriend’s mom with your reliable Cranberry Chocolate Bread but realize that plump August cherries are more appropriate for the season than frozen cranberries. And that as a result, almonds would be more complementary than the originally-called-for walnuts.

And when, for a change, you actually have buttermilk in the house, so you don’t have to create that vinegar-in- milk-to-replace-buttermilk- concoction that the recipe calls for.Then, at the end of all that, when you can’t be bothered to grate orange rind, or for the life of you find your loaf pan, the result is a gooey, chocolate-y concotion like this:

{RECIPE} CHERRY CHOCOLATE ALMOND CAKE

{MAKES} one gooey 8 x8″ cake

{INGREDIENTS}

2C all-purpose flour

½ C sugar

1 ½ tsp baking powder½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

¾ C buttermilk

1/3 C vegetable oil

1 free-range egg

1 tsp vanilla

1C dark chocolate chips (a few more if you have a tendency to sneak eat your chocolate chips while baking)

½ C toasted, sliced almonds (just toss for 5 minutes in a frying pan over medium on the stove-top until lightly toasted)

2 C fresh cherries, pitted

{DIRECTIONS}

one. Don apron. Wash cherries and grimly de-stem each one. Cut a slit into each cherry (from stem to bottom) and yank out the pit. You will make a mess.

two. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Generously oil a 8 x 8-inch baking pan.

three. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in medium bowl. Stir in almonds and chocolate chips.

four.In second bowl, vigorously whisk together the buttermilk, vegetable oil, egg, and vanilla.

five.Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour/chocolate chip/almond mixture into the wet ingredients until moistened.

six. Gently fold in cherries.

seven. Using spatula, spread batter into the pan and smooth out the top.

eight. Bake 30-35 minutes until the top is a tempting golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out without streaks of cake batter. Melted chocolate chips on the toothpick is acceptable.

nine.Cool for 15 minutes, remove from pan and cut into squares to serve.

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