Blueberries and Cream Cookie and Ponderings

Ok, so it's been awhile since I've posted....I am really taking my summer off seriously. A vacation from everything? Including my lil blog?....apparently so. Don't worry, back to work on Monday and School after labor day and back to blogging.

So I get the new Bon Appetit magazine this month. I see that some of the most popular recipes from Momofuku Milk Bar are being included. I can't rip through the mag fast enough....is it in here?...really?....drat no. I was looking for the coveted Compost Cookies everyone tries to copycat but what I did find is Christina Tosi's of Milk Bar popular Blueberry and Cream Cookies. I am open to a fruit cookie now and then...it helps balance out all the chocolate ones I seem to make most often.

I'd also seen this recipe from on my 'cookie of the day' email from Martha Stewart and had contemplated it (K-man loves blueberries!). But here is the pondering...

Are you like me and when you see a recipe that has a lot of steps... OR seems too complicated OR takes too long (overnight) - you lose interest in it? I am not the total 'easy breezy' cook here now. "Gimme a can of soup and cook five minutes....Bang -I am there".....NO, not quite. I like the happy medium recipes. But if it doesn't have a final picture to suck my interest in....and a long list of ingredients, too many steps I find that I put it off 'for some day' and I never come back to it. Does that ring any bells for you too?

So, it's my last hurrah for the summer. My time will be tight again. The lady of leisure's last laborious recipe for the summer. Yes, I know baking cookies in the summer does not seem appealing but we've been blessed with my last week of leisure with days in the 80's so I jumped on the opportunity...(next week will be back in the 90's when I am in an overly a/c'ed school all day)

The low down here is; the creator Christina Tosi was an odd duck growing up. She ate lima beans with ranch dressing. Doritos with miracle whip. Kraft's Mac and Cheese mixed with spaghetti-O's. Yes, the very one who created the compost cookie with pretzels, potato chips, coffee grounds and a other wacky things. Although her taste as a child was somewhat gross she developed into an risk taking/avant garde type of baker, that clearly WORKS.

I've included the original recipe as supplied by Bon Appetit, followed by Martha's recipe although it is 'tweaked' it is HALF of the recipe shown here. After the recipes is my review and more pix.

Blueberry and Cream Cookies
from Bon Appetit Magazine by Christina Tosi/Momofuku Milk Bar/NYC

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 large eggs
5 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1 1/2 cups Milk Crumbs (see below)
1 1/2 cups dried blueberries

Preparation

Combine butter, both sugars, and corn syrup in large bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until fluffy and pale, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, about 3 minutes. Add eggs; beat on medium-high speed until mixture is very pale and sugar is completely dissolved, about 10 minutes. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; beat on low speed just until blended, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Add Milk Crumbs; mix on low speed just until incorporated. Remove bowl from mixer. Stir in blueberries just until evenly distributed (dough will be very sticky).

Using 1/4-cup ice cream scoop for each cookie, drop dough onto 2 large rimmed baking sheets. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 24 hours. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled until baking time.

Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 375°F. Line 2 large (18x12-inch) rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Transfer 6 chilled dough scoops to each sheet, spacing at least 4 inches apart (cookies will spread). Bake cookies, 2 sheets at a time, until golden, reversing sheets halfway through baking, 20 to 22 minutes total. Repeat with remaining chilled dough, cooling and relining sheets between batches. Transfer cookies to racks; cool completely. DO AHEAD Can be made 3 days ahead. Store in airtight containers at room temperature.

Milk Crumbs

3/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Preparation of Crumbs

Preheat oven to 275°F. Line large rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Combine milk powder, flour, sugar, cornstarch, and coarse salt in medium bowl; toss to mix evenly. Add butter; stir with fork until clusters form. Spread mixture evenly on prepared sheet. Bake until crumbs are dry and crumbly but still pale, about 10 minutes. Cool Milk Crumbs completely on sheet. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 week ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.

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Blueberry and Cream Cookies
inspired by Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk bar but recreated by MarthaStewart.com

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup (8 ounces) Plugra European-style unsalted butter (please! regular will work here....sheesh)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons light-brown sugar
1/4 cup glucose (duh-corn syrup, why does MS gotta be all extra fancy?)
1 large egg
3/4 cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup Milk Crumbs

Directions

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix together butter, sugars, and glucose until well combined. Add egg and mix until well combined.
3. Add flour mixture and mix until well combined. Add blueberries and milk crumbs and mix until well combined. Using an ice cream scoop about 2 1/8 inches in diameter, scoop dough into balls and place about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Transfer baking sheets to refrigerator until dough is chilled, about 15 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to oven and bake, rotating pans halfway through baking, until cookies are golden brown and tops begin to crackle, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Milk Crumbs

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon nonfat milk powder
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup white chocolate, melted

Crummy (lol) Directions

1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons milk powder, flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt. Stir in melted butter until well combined. Spread mixture on prepared baking sheet and transfer to oven. Bake until dried and crumbly, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove milk crumble from oven and let cool completely.
3. Transfer milk crumble to a large bowl and fold in remaining 2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons milk powder and white chocolate. Use immediately or transfer to an airtight container and keep refrigerated until ready to use.


Cook's Notes:
1. Very surprised and happy with the results. I am glad I exerted the effort.
2. Crunchy edge....soft and chewy center. Those dried berries were working hard in that fridge by soaking up some of the moisture and were plumper and juicier than the ones I was snacking on while making the dough!
3. Recipe says makes 35...I got 37. I am sure it's because I added more blueberries near the end when I noticed less blueberries in the dough.

4. Really watch when you are baking the crumbs...keep them light...keep mixing them to brown evenly. Stay by that OVEN!
5. If you don't have a oven thermometer, get one, you really need to make sure your oven is 375 degrees, no more, no less. Just two minutes extra (by accident) and I felt the cookies were overly brown.

6. As you can see, don't squeeze any more than six. The recipe says 1/4 cup ice cream scoop (your standard one probably in your drawer).
7. Bon Appetit says from Christina to sit in fridge for 24 hours yet Martha's says 15 minutes chilled. I made some later that evening and this morning. It rendered the same result. I am not sure if 15 minutes would be enough. But one trial cookie being baked wouldn't hurt.

8. I included Martha's recipe only because I thought her 'tweak' using white chocolate in the crumbs was worth trying the recipe again. Good that her recipe is HALF the amount. I baked half of these cookies and put the other half in the freezer. These are THICK, chewy and hearty cookies. One will suffice unless you are REALLY starving. I like cookies that satisfy with eating ONE.
9. Very milky, creamy, buttery really. With two sticks in the recipe of course it's buttery. A nice change from what we normally have for cookies here. I felt it was worth the effort and time. Yummy cookie, give it a try for yourself.

Enjoy!

Zebra Cake

I bet you are dying to see what lurks under this yummy chocolate ganache. What does a Zebra Cake look like? Before I give you the recipe I wanted to ask you something. Have you tried any baking using the WEIGHT method versus VOLUME (using measuring cups)? Baking is definitely a science that can be unforgiving if your measuring is off. Get a little heavy handed with the flour or scoop it wrong and it won't rise alot or it's too dry/dense. I will tell you get a little scale from Bed Bath and Beyond (about 20-30 bucks) and use it. I've done it a few times and wished all my recipes were in weight form....so much easier. Give it a try?

Zebra Cake
from King Arthur Flour/Baker's Banter

1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup milk (whole, 2% or 1%)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons Double Dutch Dark Cocoa

or if you'd like to weigh it out.....

7 ounces granulated sugar
4 large eggs
8 ounces milk (whole, 2% or 1%)
7 ounces vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 1/2 ounces King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons Double Dutch Dark Cocoa

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 9" x 2" round baking pan with cooking spray. Line the bottom of the pan with a circle of parchment, and spritz again. Set the pan aside.

2) In the bowl of your mixer, blend the sugar and eggs until lightened, about 2 minutes. On low speed blend in the oil, milk and vanilla until well combined and smooth.

3) In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk to remove any lumps. Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients. Combine on medium speed 1-2 minutes or until the batter is smooth and lump free. Be sure to scrape down the bowl halfway through mixing.

4) Remove 2 cups of the vanilla batter and place it in the measure you used for the liquid ingredients. Sift the cocoa over this batter, and stir well to combine. Be sure to use a sifter to avoid cocoa lumps in the batter.

5) Now for the stripes. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of vanilla batter into the center of the cake pan. Next, spoon 3 tablespoons of the chocolate batter into the center of the vanilla batter. This causes the vanilla batter to spread out. Continue to alternate batters, in bulls-eye fashion until all batter is used. You will now have thin rings of each batter on the outer edges of the pan, thicker rings towards the center.

6) Bake the cake in the center of the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until the cake is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, and then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Frost as desired.

Chocolate Ganache
from allrecipes.com

• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1. In a heavy saucepan, melt chocolate chips with cream over low heat. Remove from the heat. Refrigerate, stirring occasionally.
2. For a pourable ganache, cool until mixture reaches 85 degrees F-90 degrees F and is slightly thickened, about 40 minutes. Pour over cake, allowing some to flow down the edges to completely coat. Spread ganache with a spatula if necessary to evenly coat, working quickly before it thickens. Chill until set.
3. For spreadable ganache, chill until mixture reaches a spreadable consistency. Spread over cake. Chill until set.
   
   
   

Keep the amounts of each chocolate and vanilla mixture as exact as you can. For you can see that I had more chocolate mixture left and it upset the 'balance' of the stripes. I guess I could have just stopped and didn't put the extra in. But I figured K-man will be so wowed over the stripes (so would your cake eating guests) that it probably wouldn't be noticed. Very fun....easy to do in one pan....Yummy too! The ganache was perfect!

Enjoy!

Almond Joy Scones

I don't know about you but every so often I really like the coconut, almond and chocolate combination. Just like some people like the chocolate/peanut combo....Or my favorite the sweet/salty pairing as in chocolate covered pretzels. I saw a recipe for a coconut scone and I tweaked it up like one of my favorite candy bars. You can certainly leave out the almond paste or the coconut to restyle it your own way too.

Almond Joy Scones

JennyMac Lipsmack creation

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
1/2 cup toasted coconut
1/2 package chocolate chips
1/4 cup almond paste
1/2 tsp. coconut extract
1/2 cup milk or cream
1 large egg
1/2 package chocolate chips, melted

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Grate butter and almond paste into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; or use your fingers to work in butter (mixture should resemble coarse meal), then stir in chocolate chips and coconut.
3. In a small bowl, whisk milk/cream, coconut extract and egg until smooth.
4. Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. (The dough will be sticky in places, and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.)
5. Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper), about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool on cooling rack.
6. Melt remaining 1/2 package of chocolate chips and stir in oil until smooth. Drizzle chocolate on cooled scones. Serve when chocolate is set.

Yummy! I think these would have been better with the mini chocolate chips....but the regular is what I had on hand.

Although the first picture appearing on this post looks luscious with the chocolate drizzle. It took longer to cool and was not so easy to store. I think they are good with or without the drizzle buy easier to store and tote around for a snack without the drizzle. Regards....delish!

Enjoy!

Baked Zucchini Chips

We had mini chicken salad sammies for lunch today. Instead of having chips the side (whether they were the evil or BAKED ones) I decided to make a different kinda chip. Here's a fun treat I made. Take advantage of zucchini while it is the summer bounty and make something to eat that you don't have to feel guilty about. Here is the solution. Crunchy outside, soft inside and you can dip it in anything you want! I've included some shortcuts to make it easier.

Baked Zucchini Chips

One large zucchini or two smaller ones
large ziploc bag
approx. 1/3 c. flour
2 eggs
dash hot sauce
seasoned salt (I used Paula Deen's House Seasoning)
pepper to taste
about 2 cups Panko
few shakes of canola or olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare breading station:
1. Put flour in ziploc flour and add a "fingersful" of salt and pepper. Seal and shake.
2. Beat 2 eggs in bowl and mix in few dashes hot sauce.
3. Place panko in something like a pie pan and also season with salt and pepper. Mix
4. Line cookie sheet with nonstick foil.
5. Arrange each in a line in the order as prepared with the cookie sheet last.

Slice zucchini into 'coins' about 1/4 inch thick. Place into flour bag and shake until all coated.

Remember to keep one hand sticky (from flour to the egg) and the other hand dry (panko to cookie sheet)

Take about 2 zucchini from the bag, place them in the egg and keep flipping them over until the egg soaks into the flour. Sticky hand puts zucchini slice on panko....Dry hand grabs more panko from pan and places it on the zucchini coin and press. Dry hand flips over coin and puts on more panko and PRESS. Turn 'coin' on its side so loose panko can fall back into pan. Place on cookie sheet. Season with salt and pepper again.

Repeat until all zucchini is coated and on cookie sheet. Drizzle a little of oil on zucchini and into between 'coins'. Bake until lightly brown (approx 10 min.). Turn over and drizzle a bit of oil again and bake another 10 minutes.

So delish. I dipped mine in a little bit of green goddess dressing. Great side dish, snack or appetizer. Much easier to eat than a half one baked. WE loved it. Give it a try!

Enjoy!

Spice Cake Mix Cookies

Sometimes other people in our lives move us to do something. I was wanting to make these spice cake mix cookies for two reasons.

1. K-man LOVES spice 'anything' especially with raisins. He also loves maple. I combined all these favorites of his in a cookie so he'd be very happy. However, summer time is not when we associate 'spicy' baked goods. We tend to think of fall or winter or the holidays for that kinda stuff. I didn't really care about that kinda like wearing white after labor day.

2. I have a friendship with a fellow food blogger. Ginger from Once Upon a Gourmet Gin, she is just a casual blogger just like me....nuthin' ferocious. One thing that we had in common was our love to create new cookies from cake mixes. I swear we both were chugging out like 1-2 a month for awhile there. I think we may have 20 creations between us. Anyhow, Gin has not been blogging lately but devoting more time with her family rather than blogging and I miss her. I made this cookie as a shout out to her. Miss ya Girl!

So if baking cookies NOW in the heat is not your thing....or the spice part of it is a turn off during the summer then perhaps print this out to use when you ARE in the mood for a soft spice cookie. Okay? Good. Let's commence the cookie goodness.

Spice Cake-Mix Cookies
JennyMac Lipsmack Creation

1/2 tsp. rum extract (substitute any extract you prefer)
1/2 cup raisins
very hot water
1 box spice cake mix
sprinkle of cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
few drops maple extract
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
variable milk (approx 1 Tbsp)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place raisins in a small bowl, cover with hot water; stir in rum extract. Let soak to 'plump' while you prepare the mix.

In a large bowl place the cake mix and sprinkle some extra cinnamon to your liking. Mix. In a short drinking glass, beat up the two eggs, extract then the oil. Pour into cake mix and combine.

Pour off hot water from raisins. Take your hand and squeeze the excess water and put the raisins into the cake mixture. Stir well.

Drop by Tablespoon (or small cookie scoop) onto parchment covered cookie sheet. Bake 12 minutes.

Prepare the frosting in a small bowl. Add powdered sugar, a few drops of maple extract and 1 Tbsp. maple syrup. Mix. Use milk to achieve the perfect consistency. Not too stiff not too soupy. Add drop by drop if need be. Set aside until cookies are cool or slightly warm.

Do not glaze cookies right out of oven or you will have more frosting on the counter than the cookie....

Frost cookies with approx 1 tsp of glaze. Swirling spoon around to form a small circle. Gravity will take care of the rest.

Moist, cakey, spicy, chewy....I tasted one for quality control. The rest go to K-man....I am a chocolate girl.

Gin, here's to ya! I've not forgotten about you my friend and cake-mix buddy!

Here is a link to my cake mix labeled cookie posts and Gin's Most Lemony Cookie of all time.

Enjoy!