Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I used to make a very similar cookie when my kids were growing up and I have bee trying to replicate them in a small batch recipe off and on for a couple of years. For whatever reason I had a lot of trouble getting this one to scale down to a dozen or less cookies and keep the both the texture and the taste I was after. I have finally arrived at what I believe is the closest to those I used to make (about 5 dozen per batch back then) in a small batch.

Because I use a dark cocoa my cookies are a very dark chocolate. You can use whatever cocoa you wish keeping in mind that the richness of the cookie will be determined by the cocoa. I typically use Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa because I love a dark slightly bitter chocolate. If you do also and haven’t tried this variety of cocoa I do recommend you give it a try. I can find it in almost every grocery store I have looked. One big advantage (besides the taste) is that it is usually the same price as the regular Hershey’s Cocoa but with so much more flavor.

Like a lot of cookie recipes we start by creaming the butter and sugar together. Make sure your butter is at room temperature before you start this process. In this recipe I am using equal amounts of white granulated sugar and dark brown sugar. This gives a chewy rich cookie with a with a slightly crisp exterior. You could use a light brown sugar but the baked cookie will not be as rich or as chewy as intended.

 

Once you have a well creamed mixture add the vanilla, salt and egg yolk. I typically use Kosher salt because I like the tiny slightly salty bits in the baked cookie. If you use a fine salt be very careful of adding too much. Beat the mixture to combine everything very well.

Now in a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and cocoa powder until well combined. When making larger batches of cookies this was step I often skipped but for the small batches like this one it is really important to have the dry ingredients combined before you add them to the butter mixture. If you skip this you run risk of over beating the cookie mixture, resulting in a tough cookie.

 

 

Gently combine the dry ingredients with the butter mixture just until well mixed.

 

 

Now gently stir in the chocolate chips and the chopped nuts. Again being careful to not over mix.

Once everything is combined move the dough the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. This is a must for this recipe otherwise the cookies will spread way too much.

 

Once well chilled use a cookie scoop to form equal size balls of the cookie dough. Roll them into balls, flatten slightly and bake at 350° F for about 9 minutes. Watch these carefully and pull them out when the outer edge of the cookies begins to set. They should be slightly puffed but not set in the middle.

 

Allow the cookies to remain on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before moving them to a wire cooling rack.

You should get around 1 dozen cookies.

You can find a downloadable/printable version of this recipe here.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

¼ cup butter, room temperature

¼ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup dark brown sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

¼ teaspoon Kosher salt

1 egg yolk

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup all purpose flour

2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

½ cup chocolate chips

¼ cup chopped nuts

In a medium mixing bowl beat the butter and sugars together until well combined and fluffy. Add the vanilla, salt and egg yolk and mix to combine well.

In a separate small bowl combine the baking soda, flour, and cocoa powder until well mixed.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix just until well combined.

Gently stir in the chocolate chips and chopped nuts.

Chi ill the dough for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F

Once the dough is chilled use a cookie scoop to scoop out the dough then using your hands roll each portion into a ball.

Place on an un-greased cookie sheet and bake at 350°F for 8 to 10 minutes. Mine usually take right about 9 minutes. Watch them carefully, because of the chocolate dough it is really easy to burn these. You want to remove when they are just starting to set around the edges.

Cool on pan for 10 minutes.

Move to a cooling rack to completely cool.

Yield 10-12 cookies.

 

Cook the Cookbook Project- week 5

 

 

This week’s menu for my Cook the Cookbook Project featured Spaghetti with meat sauce, a salad, and garlic bread. The dessert for the menu was a simple fruit and cheese plate.

So let me be totally honest here, as much as I love pasta I am not a huge fan of pasta with a red (tomato) sauce. Don’t get me wrong I love tomatoes, just not a huge amount of them cooked. For me the perfect pasta has a creamy sauce of some kind or a pesto or any number of other choices. Even a pasta where fresh tomatoes are featured not cooked down into a sauce so I was not looking forward to this menu as much as some of the others in the book.

When I cook normally, meaning not when I am doing this project or trying to cook a dish for the blog or to share a recipe otherwise I don’t normally measure things like salt, pepper and other seasonings. I do a lot more by eye and taste. Even in a lot of the recipes on my blog I tell you to taste and adjust the seasonings to suit you. For this exercise I am trying to do my best to follow the recipes as they were written in this vintage cookbook. This was not a great idea this week because the predominant flavor of most of the menu was SALT, not salt, but SALT. Everything tasted way too salty and there was a lot more salt in most of it than I would have normally used.

So let’s look at each dish separately. The meat sauce took the longest to prepare and it was the “star” of the menu so we’ll start with it. The first thing I noticed when reading the recipe was that there was a lot of salt and not really much else in the way of seasoning. The ingredient list was onion, ground beef, tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. A very short list for a homemade sauce in my opinion. No herbs, no garlic so I would call it bland in a way. The sauce was also only cooked for about an hour total, which on the rare occasion I do make a red sauce I use a lot more seasonings and cook mine for a lot longer, like all afternoon. So we aren’t starting on the best foot here.

The instructions for the spaghetti called for cooking it way longer than I normally do and since I really didn’t want lump of mush in the end so I used the instructions on the box of pasta. So I think that was a fair change.

 

The salad was the same as the salads that have been in previous meals from the book and it was good as always. I do love a good simple oil and vinegar dressing on a salad and this one is really good. The funny thing is they do call for fresh garlic in the salad dressing so why not in the other dishes in the menu?

 

Now for the garlic bread I remember my mom making garlic bread this way when I was a kid. Normally when I make garlic bread I combine some softened butter with some grated garlic, really simple and tastes wonderful. On the rare occasions I am out of fresh garlic I use garlic powder. In the instructions for the menu they had the reader use butter mixed with garlic salt, again way more salt than I would have normally used.

For the dessert the fruit and cheese gave no guidelines as to what fruits and cheeses to use. I had planned to get some grapes but when I got the grocery store the grapes looked iffy at best so that idea went out the window. Frankly, I have been very disappointed in most the produce at my grocery store so I stuck with a safe apple and used some dried fruit that I already had on hand. As for cheese I used some of the sharp cheddar and some Swiss I had on hand and added some peanuts to round out the plate. It was really nice and probably along with the salad the highlights of this menu.

So my thoughts, it was a fun menu despite the downsides and I feel like I am seeing how differently we eat now than we did 65 years ago. We are definitely using a lot less salt and more other seasonings to make things taste good. Again the portions were a bit on the large side and after making 2 servings from the menu (as stated in the book) I had about a third of the sauce left over. I think I
will use that on a pizza/flatbread in the future so I put it in the freezer.

I am not sure what next week’s menu yet because I have been having problems finding the main part of the next menu in the book. So I might be shelving it for a while until I can pick up the needed items.

Super Simple Pasta Alfredo

 

Super Simple Pasta Alfredo

This is such a simple and quick pasta dish and on that I make variations of all the time. Only a few ingredients are needed and in the time it takes to cook the pasta the sauce is ready. The version I am giving here is for an Alfredo style sauce but it can be changed up to go with any meal.

This can also be either a side dish or even a main dish. Think of it as homemade version of the pasta mixes that are on the shelves at the grocery store except it tastes way better. It is also really good with some cooked meat and veggies added for a one dish dinner.

The basic sauce it simply butter, milk, cream cheese and shredded cheese. In this rendition of it I used Parmesan cheese to make it very much like a simple Alfredo, but can change out that cheese and the personality of the dish changes with it.

For example one of my favorites is to add a bit of chopped onion and chopped jalapeno (just cook them in the butter then add the milk) Then I use either a shredded Mexican blend cheese or just some shredded cheddar. Perfect side dish for a Southwest meal.

You could make the recipe with an Italian blend of cheeses (or sub in some Mozzarella for part of the cheese) and add some herbs and you have another side.

You could add some finely chopped broccoli and use cheddar cheese for another option.

The possibilities are almost endless depending on what is on hand.

Since I use all the ingredients that are in this dish a lot they are almost always in my fridge. i almost always have variety of cheeses on hand so I can create a side dish to go with just about any meal with this simple formula.

As for the pasta I used linguine this time, I had wanted to use some fettuccine but my grocery store was completely out the day I shopped. But you could use any pasta shape you have on hand. This is also really good with stuffed pastas like tortellini or ravioli so again use what is on hand.

So let’s talk about the steps to make this.

Start a pan of water to boil for the pasta and cook it according to the instructions on the package. Most of the dry pasta I buy the cook time is right around 10 minutes.

While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter with the milk in a bowl in the microwave. You just need to get it warm enough to melt the butter. If you are adding chopped onion or other add-ins that need to cook go ahead and just melt the butter and cook them in the melted butter about a minute, then add the milk and heat them together.

 

 

 

 

Now stir in the cubed cream cheese and microwave 30 seconds at a time stirring each time until the cream cheese is melted.

 

 

 

 

Now add the shredded cheese and again microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring each time until the cheese melts.

 

 

 

 Add the drained, cooked pasta to the sauce and stir to combine.

 

 

 

You can find a downloadable/printable version of this recipe here.

Super Simple Pasta Alfredo

4 oz dry pasta

¼ cup milk

¼ cup butter

3 oz cream cheese, cubed

1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

 

Cook the pasta according to the package directions.

Pu the milk and butter in a medium size microwave safe bowl and heat until the butter melts.

Add the cubed cream cheese and microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring between each, until the cream cheese melts.

Add the shredded cheese and again microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring between each until cheese is mostly melted.

Add the drained, cooked pasta and stir to combine.

Makes 2 generous servings.

Cook the Cookbook Project- week 4

 

 

This week the menu was a braised pork chop, candied sweet potatoes, Waldorf salad, rye bread, and baked custard.

For the braised pork chop I had been keeping my eyes open at the grocery store for any chops on sale for a couple of weeks. I had come across a package of 2 thick cut chops (labeled as “princess cut”) and had stashed them in my freezer for this meal. They were very thick but wonderfully tender and they tasted really nice. I don’t often braise my pork chops but these were very nice. I did the recipe as written, which is the whole idea of this journey. So I only used the salt and pepper called for so that was a bit limiting. Normally I would have seasoned them a little differently. Also the recipe did not have me do anything with the liquid left in the pan which I think was a true loss. I could have made a wonderful pan sauce with just a few additions but that would have been straying from the project.

The candied sweet potatoes were very nice but very filling. The recipe called for 2 or 3 sweet potatoes so I only used 2 and picked the smallest ones available at the store. It was still way more that 2 servings I could have gotten away with just using 1 sweet potato and would have had enough to make two servings in my opinion. The recipe called for cooking the sweet potatoes then cutting them into slices and coating them with a syrup before baking. Normally when I cook sweet potatoes I stick to a more savory angle so this was a departure for me in that regard.

The Waldorf salad was the other side dish which to me really didn’t fit the menu all that well. I can think of dozens of other things that would have been better. The main problem for me was this was sweet on top of the sweet potatoes being extremely sweet and it was just too much sweet. I mean I do like a Waldorf salad from time to time but I usually wouldn’t serve it with another sweet side dish.

The rye bread was a nice counterpoint to all the heavy sweet parts of the meal. I always forget how much I enjoy rye bread. I did take the easy way out and bought a loaf of pumpernickel which is so nicely bitter and goes so well with so many other foods.

For dessert the menu had me make a baked custard. This is the exact same baked custard I have been making all my life. It is also the same recipe my mom made on a regular basis and I know from what my mom told me growing up it was a recipe my grandmother made a lot also. The book wanted me to un-mold the custard onto a plate, but mine would not budge from it’s dish so I just ate it in the dish like I always do. The book also said to top it with either thawed frozen raspberries or grape juice. I went with the raspberries since I already had some on hand. It was okay but I think I will stick with just a sprinkle of nutmeg in the future.

So my thoughts on the menu, most of which I’ve already stated today. It just had way too much sweet and not enough savory for me this time. Again the portions were much bigger than I would normally make but I am getting to the point where that is my expectation.

I will probably make braised pork chops more often since I have been reminded of them but believe me I will be making a delightful pan sauce to pour over them.

For next week I am looking forward to Spaghetti with a meat sauce.

Breakfast Quesadillas Two Ways

 

 

A quesadilla might just be the perfect hand held food. It is like a sandwich without being weighed down with too much bread. They are fun to eat, easy to make and can be eaten on the go.

I have two versions of Breakfast Quesadillas for you today and in my opinion they are kind of the extremes in each direction. I have a small very plain one and a larger loaded one. You can make either, both or more likely something that is in between and perfectly suited to whoever has the pleasure of eating it.

For the small plain one we will only need a 6” flour tortilla, an egg and some shredded cheese.

For the loaded version I step up to an 8” flour tortilla, 2 eggs., and the cheese along with the fillings that sound good on the day I am making it.

Today those items were: bacon, a couple of green onions, and salsa.

In addition we need some cooking spray (like Pam) to coat the tortilla. You will also need some butter to cook the eggs in if you don’t use something like bacon or sausage.

Of course these are just suggestions, you could add other veggies, peppers are wonderful as are sliced avocado. Use you imagination and look through the fridge to see what’s there.

No matter which size you are making it is important to use a skillet that is close to the size of your tortilla. This will make the process of cooking and assembly so much easier.

To make the small simple quesadilla pre-heat your skillet over medium heat, add some butter to melt.

 

 

Meanwhile beat the egg with salt and pepper to taste. Once the butter melts add the egg to the pan. Swirl the pan a bit to cover the bottom evenly.

 

 

 

 

Allow the egg to cook on the bottom then add some shredded cheese. You want the egg to still be runny on the top.

 

 

 

Add the tortilla over the cheese and press it lightly into the cheese/egg. Immediately spray the top of the tortilla with some cooking spray.

 

 

 

 

Flip the entire tortilla, egg, cheese stack over so the tortilla is on the bottom. This will be fairly easy once the egg cooks and releases from the pan.

Now add a bit more cheese.

 

 

Fold the quesadilla in half and cook, flipping occasionally until the outside of the tortilla is crispy.

 

 

 

 

 

Remove from the skillet to a cutting board and cut in half.

Enjoy!

 

 

For the loaded version heat your skillet and if you are using bacon or sausage add that to the pan to cook. Be sure to cut up the bacon first.

 

 

 

 

Once the meat is cooked through and crispy in the case of the bacon. Remove to a paper towel lined plate and add any cut up veggies to the grease left in the pan. Cook until tender.

 

Add the meat back into the pan and spread the fillings around the pan evenly.

 

Beat the eggs with seasonings of your choice and pour over the meat and/or veggies in the pan. Swirl to cover most of the bottom of the pan and cook until the bottom surface of the eggs are beginning to set. 

 

 

 

 

 

Add a layer of shredded cheese.

 

 

 

 

Immediately add the tortilla to the top and gently press it down onto the cheese and egg base in the pan.

Spray the top of the tortilla with pan spray.

When the eggs have cooked enough to loosen from the pan flip the quesadilla over so the tortilla is on the bottom.

Add a bit more cheese and salsa.

 

 

Fold in half.

Cook, flipping occasionally until the tortilla is crispy.

Remove to a cutting board and cut in half.

 

 

Serve and enjoy.

 

 

 

Either of these are great on their own or with salsa or sour cream to dip them into.

You can find a downloadable/printable version of this recipe here.

Breakfast Quesadillas

Small quesadilla:

Butter

1 egg

salt and pepper to taste

shredded cheese

6” tortilla

pan spray (like Pam)

Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat.

Beat the egg with some salt and pepper to taste and add to the pan with the melted butter.

Swirl the pan to spread the egg over the bottom of the pan.

As soon as the egg starts to set on the bottom add a layer of shredded cheese.

Top with the tortilla, press the tortilla down into the cheese and egg. Spray the top of the tortilla with the cooking spray.

As soon as the egg is cooked enough to let go of the pan flip the quesadilla over and add a bit more cheese to the top.

Fold and cook until crispy on both sides.

Serves one.

Loaded Quesadilla

2 strips of bacon, cut up

2 green onions, sliced

2 eggs

salt and pepper to taste

shredded cheese

8” tortilla

pan spray (like Pam)

salsa

(these are just suggestions feel free to use what you have on hand to fill yours)

Start by heating a skillet over medium heat, add the bacon and cook until crispy. Remove to a paper towel lined plate.

Add the onion and any other veggies you wish to the pan and cook until tender.

Meanwhile beat the egg with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the cooked bacon back into the pan spread the mixture over the bottom of the pan. Add the eggs to the pan and swirl the pan to cover the bottom of the pan.

Cook just until the bottom side of the eggs start to set then add the shredded cheese.

Immediately add the tortilla on top of the cheese. Lightly press down onto the cheese/egg mixture. Then spray the top side of the tortilla with pan spray.

Once the eggs have cooked enough to loosen from the pan flip the quesadilla over so the tortilla is on the bottom.

Add a small layer of cheese and as much salsa as you wish.

Fold the quesadilla in half.

Cook, flipping occasionally until the tortilla is crispy.

Remove to a cutting board and cut in half.

Enjoy!

Cook the Cookbook Project- week 3

 

This week the menu was for one of my all time favorite dinners, fried chicken. And it was specifically oven fried chicken which is how my mom always made hers and how I normally make mine. Along with the chicken were some traditional mashed potatoes and gravy. To round out the meal there were “French-style” green beans, some cranberry-orange relish and strawberry shortcake for dessert.

A couple of observations I have about the menus and I assume the way Americans ate 60+ years ago. First off the portions are huge! I used slightly less of both the chicken and the green beans (weight wise) and the amount of potatoes called for and I was stuffed half way through the plate. I ended up covering the plate and re-heating it for lunch the next day. Secondly there is a much heavier emphasis on starch and protein in these menus than I think i see in more modern cookbooks.

So let’s talk about the items in today’s menu one by one.

The oven fried chicken, I love oven fried chicken and it is my go to for how I make mine. I did follow the recipe in the book so this batch was a little less seasoned than how I normally do mine. The book only called for adding salt, pepper and paprika to the flour. I normally add more herbs and spices than that and I normally add a bit of cornstarch to my flour to make the coating even more crispy. This really did remind me of the chicken my mom made though and it was wonderful. The only thing I did differently from the recipe was to dredge the chicken in a dish rather than shaking them in a bag with the flour.

Of course there were mashed potatoes with pan gravy along side the chicken. That was exactly what my mom would have served most of the year with it also. As much as I love mashed potatoes and gravy I don’t make it for myself very often and it was such a wonderful treat.

The book called for cutting the green beans “French-style” as in 4 thin strips from each green bean. That was a very tedious job so I ended up cutting mine a bit differently. The beans at my store were not in great shape this week (we lost our wonderful produce manager to another store and the department is not the same) so my beans were a bit limp and very curvy. I ended up cutting them all in half crosswise and then just once lengthwise. I don’t think I have ever cut my beans in this style although I have gotten them this way both frozen and canned. I think I’ll stick with not doing this in the future.

The cranberry-orange relish was a raw dish and I was not sure how it would turn out. I used some frozen cranberries that I had on hand and I think that is what saved the dish. I have made raw cranberry relishes in the past and not cared for them. I think because the berries had been frozen and then thawed they were softer and juicier which made for a very nice side dish.

For dessert the menu called for making strawberry shortcake. For the biscuit portion it just had me make a half batch of the shortcakes on the back of the Bisquick box.

We are well past the season for strawberries and the ones I got were not very good. I really wished I had skipped them and went to the frozen aisle. Again the fact we lost our wonderful produce guy is partly to blame along with the season.

So there we have it another menu under my belt and a bunch more to go. I am loving this journey and having a great time both with the cooking and eating of the foods but also with the memories they bring up.

I peeked ahead and next week the menu is for pork chops so I am really excited about that one also.