Chocolate Chip Cookies: My favorite recipe.

It took a lot of recipes before I could dub a clear cut winner in this category. I've made Martha's, Mrs. Fields, Alton Browns, and a couple others, but this one... this one takes the cake (err... the cookie, I guess). This cookie is officially my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. I've blogged about it a few times, but just made another batch for my friend Jeff, who is recovering from surgery. I can easily say that this is the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside.

Previous posts about this recipe:
The first time I made them
The second time I made them

Inferior (but still tasty) chocolate chip cookie posts:
Mrs. Field's
Martha's

Birthday Cakes

So, Friday was my birthday. 28 this year. Crazy. It's going to be a good year, though. I can feel it! I always like even number years.

So, anyway, for my birthday this year, I toyed with the idea of my cake being something kind of extravagant. Like a hummingbird cake or a red velvet cake. But, in the end, I choose my old favorite... Chocolate cake with cream cheese icing. From the box and the tub. How can something so simple taste so good? You'd think that slaving away on making a cake from scratch would produce a way more superior cake, but in my experience, it doesn't. Those boxed cakes are so moist. Yum. Thanks Mom, as always you make delicious and beautifully (avant garde-ish, I might go so far as saying) decorated cakes.

Well, anyway... it got me thinking about my first birthday cake (which I obviously don't remember, just seen pictures of it). It was a Raggedy Ann cake that my Aunt Loretta made. My cousin Steve was born on the exact same day, so he had a Raggedy Andy cake.

I wish you could see the detail on these cakes. Amazing. Check out the matching tablecloth, too.

Notice my brother and dad hamming it up for the camera, on my day. Hmph.

Somethings never change. Once a messy eater, always a messy eater.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

Warning: This post is likely to contain lots of exclamation points. So many in fact, that your retinas might just burn right off, or if they don’t, you’ll be so annoyed with the overusage of the exclamation points, that you’ll totally blow my excitement off as me being “crazy.”

I’m an excitable person. Let’s just get that out of the way upfront. But, let me clarify. I’m not the type of person who jumps up and down, screams and shouts, and generally overreacts to things. (Well, okay, I do generally overreact to things, but dude… it doesn’t seem like I’m OVERreacting at the time, it just seems like I’m reacting, ya know?). But, Wednesday night, after making these cookies, I found myself precisely in that mode. Jumping up and down, squealing in sheer delight and pleasure over these cookies.

Seriously. Squealing like a 7 year old at a Hannah Montana concert. (As a side note, let me just take a moment here and say that I have no shame in admitting that a cookie can make me as happy as a 7 year old at a Hannah Montana concert. Nope, no shame whatsoever).

Ok, so let’s talk about this for a minute… Name some totally awesome things:

Brownies. Unicorns. Cookies. Cream Cheese Icing. Balloons. Daniel Craig.

End of list. I mean, those are the most awesome things in the world, no?

So, think about how happy you’d be if two of those things magically combined. Take for instance… Daniel Craig and Cream Cheese Icing! Holy crap! I think I need a moment to think about that for a second.

...

Okay, sorry. Now, What about Balloons and Unicorns? I mean. That’s some cool stuff, especially if the balloons were tied to the unicorn's horn. Pretty! Sadly, these two combos aren’t likely to happen to me (well, at least not this week), but…. I found a recipe that magically combined Cookies and Brownies into one beautiful concoction.

I found the recipe in that 500 cookies book that my mom bought me. The picture made the cookies look light and fudgy and crispy but chewy. But they actually came out thick and chewy and exactly like a brownie. These cookies are delicious!!!!!!!!!

Seriously. These cookies made me very, very happy. If you want to be happy and squeal and jump up and down in your kitchen. Make these cookies.

(I left the book at home today, so I'll post the recipe this weekend).

Coconut Macaroons

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the most polarizing sweet out there is coconut. Think about it, is anyone ever lukewarm about coconut? They usually either love it or they hate it. In my family, everyone loves it except my oldest brother, Mike. Whenever my mom made magic cookie bars, she had to leave one section of the pan a "coconut free zone" so that he'd get to enjoy them, too.

I love coconut. I love coconut cake, german chocolate cake, coconut candies, almond joys, mounds, etc... It's all good as far as I'm concerned.

About a month ago, I was invited to a friends Bunco party. One of the other ladies brought a delicious raspberry chocolate cheesecake. Sounds good, right? Well, it was! But, the best part was the crust! It was made from coconut macaroons!

Now, I'd never had coconut macaroons before, but hey... it's got coconut, it must be good, right? So, that piqued my interest in coconut macaroons and I found this recipe and decided to whip up a batch. They came together very easily, but... I have to say... I'm not a big fan. I mean, sure its coconutty and crispy and chewy both at the same time, but it's also pretty bland. I was very disappointed, even more so because I actually made a whole batch instead of trying to halve the recipe like I usually do (its too much of a nightmare to try to halve 3 egg whites). So, I threw about 5 of these away before I remembered the cheesecake crust and decided to save the rest and put in the freezer for the next time I'm making a cheesecake. Hopefully they'll keep in the freezer.

I dont know, maybe you're supposed to eat these with tea or coffee or something? Also, how adorable is my teacup and saucer???? They were a housewarming gift from my friend April!

Caramel Oatmeal Chewies

I've had this recipe for a long time. But it called for an ingredient that I never have and never remember to buy: Caramel ice cream topping. Fortunately, I had some leftover from the caramel cake caramel cake I made the weekend before, so I was in business.

Now, you read this recipe and you think... what's not to love? Caramel, Oatmeal, Chocolate Chips? I mean, that's like the holy trinity of baking goodness, right? (Actually, I could probably think of about 15 other triple combinations that could vy for the holy trinity, but we won't get into that now). They came together pretty easily and I was excited to taste them. But, honestly, they weren't that spectacular. I didn't really think that they had much of a flavor at all. Bland and almost generic. They kind of taste like a cookie you'd get from the bakery of a big chain grocery store. You know what I'm talking about?

I have a feeling that maybe I used the wrong caramel. I used the squirtable caramel, not the kind that comes in a jar. Maybe there is a difference there. I'm sure that real caramel would have worked better, but, I honestly probably won't try this again to find out.

On a side note, my mom really liked them. So, I don't know... maybe I'm just too picky.

Beacon Hill Cookies

I like to think of myself as fairly creative. Which is one of the reasons I started this blog. I wanted an outlet to bake and take cool pictures and have cool posts like all the other food/baking blogs that I read. I was inspired and I thought... yeah, i can do that.

The problem is. I can't. I mean, yes, I physically can. But, my pictures suck. I've tried everything. I've tried the lightbox, I've tried the no flash, I've tried the natural light, nothing seems to work. And it's not just the lighting, it's the presentation as well. I know it's a work in progress, but sometimes I get discouraged by the lengthy amount of time that it takes to make any progress. Uggh. Sometimes I wonder if I need a new camera, but i like my camera and it takes good pictures. Except of baked goods.

Alright, well anyway, enough whining. I was just basically wanting to apologize to the few of you who actually read my blog. I'm sorry my pictures suck. But I appreciate you sticking with me. At some point, maybe it will just click and the pictures will magically become amazing!

Until then...

I am obsessed with Meringues. Like, literally obsessed. How can a cookie without flour or egg yolks be so incredibly chewy and tasty? I have no idea, but I love it! And not only are they delicious, they are so easy to make, too!

My mom brought me the book, 500 Cookies this weekend as a hostess gift. It's a cool book with a lot of pictures. I love cookbooks with pictures. Immediately, one cookie stuck out to me as I flipped through it. The Beacon Hill Cookie. It looked chocolatey and homey and bumpy. It looked awesome.

So, last night I decided to see what the ingredients were and see if I had them. Turns out, it's a meringue cookie! Which meant that I had to bake them right there on the spot. They came with a variation to put white chocolate chips in them, which I happened to have, so I did that.

Yum. Have I mentioned I'm in love with meringues? Okay, overkill... I know. I made a half a batch and came out with about 10 cookies.

Beacon Hill Cookies
from 500 Cookies by Phillippa Vanstone and Susannah Blake


5 oz bittersweet chocolate (I used semi-sweet)
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 superfine sugar
3/4 cup chopped pecans (I used walnuts)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the chocolate, set aside to cool. Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add one third of the sugar, beat for a further minute, then add one third more of the sugar. Beat until the whites are stiff, and fold in the remaining sugar.

Fold in the nuts, chocolate, vanilla, and white chocolate chips into the mixture.

Drop level teaspoonfuls of the mixture onto parchment lined baking sheets 1 1/2 inch apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the cookies are cracked and firm to the touch. Life the parchment sheets onto wire racks and allow cookies to cool.

Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Yield: 2 1/2 dozen.

White Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Sandwiches

White Chocolate and Peanut Butter aren't two flavors I'd ever think of putting together. I happen to love white chocolate and I love peanut butter, but sometimes love for two separate things doesn't translate to love for combining them into one thing. Take for example... Chocolate and Blueberries. I love chocolate. I love blueberries. Chocolate covered blueberries?? Yuck. That sounds disgusting.

My aunt Loretta brought a mess load of these little suckers to our family christmas dinner. I think it was her, it was either her or her daughter Susan, either way... it came from their family. I picked one up and bit into it, expecting it to be a white chocolate covered oreo.

Much to my delight, it wasn't. It was actually two crackers with peanut butter on the inside. Brilliant! I ate wayyy too many of these at Christmas, but decided to give them a whirl at home.

Super easy. I actually only made 3 last night. I melted just one square of the White Almond Bark and it was enough to cover 3 really well (with just a little left over). A nice mini snack. Delicious.

White Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Sandwiches

White Almond Bark

Peanut Butter

Ritz Crackers

Assemble Peanut Butter Sandwiches with the crackers. Microwave the almond bark as directed on package. Dip and coat the sandwiches with the white chocolate. Lay out on a piece of parchment paper or wax paper to dry.