Yes, I’ve been on a quest for The Holy Grail of chocolate chip cookie recipes. And I think I might have found it!

Published in Everyday Food magazine last fall, Martha Stewart and company dared to call these “Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies”. Ultimate is indeed a good word for these. They really weren’t falsely advertising the goodness of these cookies!

This is where I admit that I’ve wanted a chocolate chip cookie recipe that tastes like the cookies made from the stupid Pillsbury chocolate chip cookie dough that comes in a plastic tube. Despite my baking abilities and my good intentions to eat less processed food, I have to admit that I like the Pillsbury cookies as they are exactly and precisely how I want chocolate chip cookies to taste. I like them crisp around the edges yet soft, chewy and a touch under-baked. Sadly, Pillsbury always delivers on those qualities.

Fortunately this “Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies” recipe came along and I’ll never have to buy Pillsbury again. And neither should you.

The recipe make a lot of small cookies. When I saw how many cookies this recipe was going to produce, I wisely froze some of the scoops of dough for a future dessert emergency. I left them in the freezer for about 6 weeks and honestly the cookies tasted just as good then as they did when the dough was fresh.

You’ll notice that this calls for both milk and semi-sweet chocolate. I’m not a huge fan of milk chocolate but it works in this recipe. Use both kinds!

The recipe also mentions that you can add a couple of cups of walnuts or pecans to the recipe. I did add walnuts to part of the dough and they were a fantastic addition…if you’re the type to enjoy nuts in your cookies.

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe very slightly adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food magazine

Makes approximately 75 small cookies

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt (I used kosher salt)
• 1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 8 ounces milk chocolate, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
3. Using a stand mixer (or hand mixer if you don’t have a stand mixer), beat butter and sugars on medium-high until light and fluffy, 6 minutes.
4. Reduce speed to low and beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Mix in flour mixture just until incorporated.
5. Fold in chocolate chips and chocolate chunks.
6. Using a small cookie scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet with about 2 inches between each scoop of dough.
7. Bake until edges are light golden brown, about 10 minutes if you like your cookies slightly under-baked like I do, rotating sheets halfway through.
8. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.
9. Bake remaining dough in same manner as directed above. Or if you’ve got more dough than you need, unbaked cookies can be frozen on a baking sheet until firm; store in a resealable plastic bag in the freezer. Bake from frozen in oven preheated to 350 degrees.

Tweet This Post 

Like a child, I still get excited about the little things in life. Little things like one of my pictures being used in a segment on The Martha Stewart Show! Yes, The Martha Stewart Show!

They did a segment on Flickr earlier this week and showed a few pictures from a Martha Stewart group on Flickr. When my photo of turkey burgers was shown on the show, Martha made a comment about how I didn’t toasted my burger buns…which made the audience laugh. I’m perfectly content to have been scolded for not toasting my buns.

If you’re interested in seeing the clip, it’s available here. My photo’s 10 seconds of fame is at 5:23.

Tweet This Post 

As much as I love the fluffy buttercream frosting I’ve been making near constantly for almost 2 years, it was time to make a new friend in the frosting world. Maybe a wordly, sophisticated frosting that isn’t so reliant on powdered sugar? Swiss meringue buttercream frosting is that new friend and possibly a friend for life.

Swiss meringue buttercream is my new favorite frosting and it should be yours as well. The fluffy buttercream has been pushed aside for the not-too-sweet, super smooth and shiny Swiss meringue buttercream frosting. While the buttercream I’d been making called for about a million cups of powdered sugar, the new Swiss meringue buttercream calls for barely a cup. It’s a healthier option…if you can look past the copious quantities of actual butter in this frosting. I have. And so should you.

As my first venture into this new frosting world, I made the frosting to go with a batch of mini chocolate cupcakes. Both the cupcakes and the frosting recipes are from Martha Stewart‘s relatively recent Cupcakes cookbook. Just so you know, the One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes are pretty killer…and the recipe yields a LOT of mini cupcakes. 58 to be exact. It yielded so many cupcakes that we kept a bunch and both the boyfriend and I took lots of them to our respective offices…where they were met with high praise. Praise like “This is my favorite thing you’ve ever made!” and “It was so good, it made you want to slap your mother.” And it’s not like these people haven’t had lots of baked goodies from me in the past…the cupcakes were just that good.

Back to the frosting. For the mini chocolate cupcakes, I made a coffee version of the frosting following Martha’s careful instructions. Since then I’ve also made a batch of white cupcakes with a chocolate version of the frosting. Both versions are super-duper-amazingly delicious. Next I’ll try a plain version.

Let it be known that I made the frosting despite some old fears of screwing up what looks to be a fussy recipe. In fact, it was not a fussy recipe. It’s a little time consuming only because the mixer has to whip the meringue for a long time. Other than that, it couldn’t have been easier. I should probably note that in order to really make this frosting successfully, you should use a stand mixer. A hand mixer might work but you’ll be awfully tired of using it by the end. With the stand mixer, you can walk away and do other things while it’s whipping. If you’re like me, the other things you’ll do will probably be the dishes.

For the number of mini cupcakes I made, I prepared just a half batch of the frosting recipe shown below. Everything divided in half well other than the egg whites…so I used three of those. If you’re planning to use this frosting for a regular cake, make the full recipe. Or if you like your normal sized cupcakes heavily frosted with a bowl of extra frosting just to eat, make the full recipe.

One more comment: If you (or your office mates) love coffee, definitely try the coffee variation. My office mates actually ate their cupcakes in the morning…with their coffee.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Recipe from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes

Makes about 5 cups

Ingredients

• 5 large egg whites
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Combine egg whites, sugar, and salt in the heatproof bowl of a standing mixer set over a pan of simmering water.
2. Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved (the mixture should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips).
3. Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, whisk until stiff (but not dry) peaks form.
4. Continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy, and completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl), about 10 minutes.
5. With mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition.
6. Once all butter has been added, whisk in vanilla.
7. Switch to the paddle attachment, and continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a flexible spatula, and continue beating until the frosting is completely smooth.
8. Keep buttercream at room temperature if using the same day, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month.
9. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.

Coffee Variation: Mix 2 tablespoons good quality instant espresso powder (do not use instant coffee) with the vanilla extract. Stir until espresso powder is mostly dissolved and add to frosting in step 6.

Tweet This Post 

Time for another list of random things I’m thinking about. I liked the last one enough to try it again.

Just out of the oven and cooling on the counter: A raspberry rhubarb tart. We went to the store intending to get peaches or apples for pie…but they had the rhubarb pictured above. I’m still not sure if I like it or not…but it tastes awfully good baked with raspberries.

Will be cooking for dinner tonight: Pork medallions with an apple & golden raisin sauce, roasted potatoes and asparagus.

Currently drinking: Water from my stainless steel Nalgene bottle.

Playing on the iPod right now: Fidelity by Regina Spektor.

Currently checked out from the library: Weeds Season 3 DVD (which is getting a little ridiculous), 30 Rock Season 1 DVD (believe it or not, I haven’t seen any of these episodes), Martha Stewart’s Cooking School and Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell.

Currently reading: Atonement (I’m still pretending that I’m actively reading it), Martha Stewart Living magazine, the last half of Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson and a food related memoir that I can’t remember the name of at this moment.

Would like to buy: a new couch. Preferably a sectional. Possibly brown leather.

Laughing about: Typos. My sister Tasha & I had a rather juvenile email exchange this morning about typos in emails that had me in hysterics. Think about how funny an email might be if you leave the “i” out of “doing”.

Currently knitting: A second pair of  Saartje booties for a friend’s newborn baby. I’m knitting them from Socks That Rock yarn leftover from the Chevron Scarf I made last year.

Anxiously awaiting: Eating the tart cooling on the counter. Also, I really want my daffodils to bloom. I think some of them might actually do so in the next week.

Needs: I still need shoes of all sorts. And some short sleeve shirts for work…that I’ll need if it ever gets warm for more than two days in a row.

Crazy Future Aspirations: To be a domestic diva with an empire. Kind of like Martha Stewart. But without people hating me and definitely without a jail sentence.

Playing on the iPod now: Catch My Disease by Ben Lee.

Attempting to Learn: How to decorate a cake. I can do it…but not nearly as well as I need to do it for the wedding cakes I’ll be making this summer.

Must Resist: Butter. I’m trying to use less of it. This is not easy given my penchant for baking.

What’s Keeping Me Busy: Work. My (mostly) desk job makes me tired sometimes. This surprises me after standing for 9 years at my old job. Of course, part of the problem might be that I can’t force myself to go to bed early.

Hyped Up About: Our new used bed frame. The boyfriend found it on craigslist on Friday night and we had it set up by 4 pm on Saturday. A similar new bed would have cost a lot of money. This bed did not cost a lot of money.

Waiting For: Laundry. It’s in the dryer. Then I have to fold it. And iron it. It’s kind of a Sunday ritual now.

Craving: A milkshake. Maybe a Baskin-Robbins mint chocolate chip milkshake. I haven’t had one of those in years.

Playing on the iPod now: Two by Ryan Adams. Which reminds me…doesn’t it seem odd that he and Mandy Moore are now married?

If I had magical powers: I would make our yard beautiful. Lots of green grass and flowers and vegetables and herbs. And if I had money, I’d think about paying someone to help me with it.

Looking forward to: At least one camping trip in April with friends. We’re either going to the mountains or the beach. Depending on the weather.

Tweet This Post 

I went to Costco yesterday. I went for the sole purposes of buying vanilla extract and pricing grass seed. I got the vanilla, priced the grass seed and bought quite a few other things I didn’t intend to buy. It’s the Costco way. That’s the reason I try to make trips there are infrequently as I can. When I do go, I spend the entire time I’m there fighting the urge to buy industrial size boxes of cereal or enough dishwasher soap to last until the year 2020.

One of the unplanned purchases was Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food cookbook, Great Food Fast. I’ve had my eye on it for a while and I was unable to resist its low Costco price. I also hadn’t gotten a new cookbook since Christmas so it was time to treat myself.

I’m looking forward to using this book to expand my easy dinners repertoire. I’m still getting used to not working in a restaurant and actually being at home for dinner every night. The restaurant used to feed me dinner when I worked dinner shifts and I probably only cooked dinner 3 nights a week. As a result, I have a very limited regular rotation of entrees. I’ve taken to scouring cookbooks, magazine and the web for new ideas.

Flipping through the book last night, I came across the recipe for these lemon custard cakes and immediately wanted to make them. As is normally the case, I made a couple of changes to the recipe. I used Meyer lemons instead of regular lemons. And I added frozen raspberries…if for no reason other than lemons and raspberries go so well together.

Obviously you can use regular lemons. You could leave out the raspberries (but you’ll only have 6 cakes if you do). You could use some other fruit. Blueberries would probably be pretty fantastic. Or blackberries. Oh, the possibilities.

Meyer Lemon Raspberry Custard Cakes

Very slightly adapted from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast

Makes 8 individual cakes

Ingredients

• Unsalted butter, room temperature, for custard cups
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons grated Meyer lemon zest (I used 2 lemons)
• 1/4 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice (from the same 2 lemons)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• approximately 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Tweet This Post 

Come back in about 2 days for a post about homemade croissants. Making these croissants occupied a lot of my weekend so I don’t really feel like talking about them anymore today. Maybe tomorrow?

In case you were wondering: Yes, all 5 sticks of butter in the picture were used for the croissants. Yes, this is an obscene amount of butter. Yes, this is an unhealthy amount of butter. Yes, butter is probably going to kill me (if bacon doesn’t get me first). And yes, they are delicious.

Tweet This Post 

For Wordless Wednesday information and posts, go here.

Because you’re likely to ask, this cinnnamon-raisin bread is from a recipe in Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook.

Tweet This Post 

Quote from  American consultant, statistician and educator W. Edwards Deming

I believe that these pictures of my blueberry almond bread pudding officially mark the end of the blog posts about the goodies I made with all those fresh blueberries I picked earlier this summer. Took me long enough, eh?

The inspiration for this bread pudding came from a post at Food Gawker over the summer. I really like to use sites like Tastespotting and Food Gawker to find new food to make and bake. Anytime I’m bored by my own ideas and my own cookbooks, all I need to do is to turn to the food blogs for an endless set of options.

This particular recipe was adapted from a recipe at Cook (Almost) Anything At Least Once.

As usual, I did make a few alterations to the original recipe. I used fresh blueberries instead of frozen as I had plenty of fresh ones available. I baked the brioche from scratch from a recipe in Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook. I did take a few shortcuts in baking it (as I really didn’t want to wait 24 hours to bake the brioche) and it probably would have tasted better if I hadn’t taken them.

The original recipe used a Meyer lemon marmalade in the filling. I skipped that entirely as I had no Meyer lemon marmalade and no way of obtaining or making any since Meyer lemons weren’t in season. Instead of the marmalade, I used copious amounts of amaretto and slivered almonds to add a little more flavor to the pudding.

I also used a lot more cream and eggs than the recipe called for as it seemed too dry otherwise…but maybe I made my bread pudding in a larger quantity than the original recipe?

This was the first bread pudding I’ve ever made but it certainly won’t be the last. Next time I may or may not go to the trouble of baking the brioche from scratch…baking the brioche wasn’t difficult but it takes a long time to prepare…and then I had to wait another day to assemble and bake the bread pudding. The anticipation of the eventual dessert killed me…enough so that the next time I make bread pudding, I might start with stale French bread from the grocery store to save myself a day.

Tweet This Post 

I should use Seinfeld quotes more often (this one is from “The Muffin Tops” episode from 1997). Between Seinfeld and The Simpsons quotes, I could have endless title material.

These blueberry muffins, like all of the other blueberry baked goods I’ve showcased this summer, are from the plethora of blueberries I picked in July.

Even when I didn’t particularly care for blueberries as a fruit, I liked blueberry muffins. This might stem from my general love of muffins. My favorite blueberry muffins have a crunchy top…as a child, teenager and young adult, I was a sucker for the Duncan Hines muffin mix with the can of wild blueberries and the crumb topping. Nowadays I’d never consider using a mix…so I made these from scratch from a Martha Stewart recipe found in Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook. Are you tired of me praising the recipes in this book yet?

These were very good. Way better than average. For the topping, I simply sprinkled turbinado sugar over the batter. The turbinado sugar provided a nice crunch that regular granulated sugar wouldn’t have.

I loved the advice in this recipe to toss the blueberries with a little bit of the dry ingredients in order to prevent the blueberries from sinking to the bottom as the muffins baked.

Blueberry Muffins

Recipe from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook

Makes 1 dozen muffins

Ingredients

• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups fresh blueberries (I used fresh this time but I’ll probably use frozen next time I make these!)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1-2 tablespoons turbinado sugar (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper muffin cups.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl, toss the blueberries with about 1 tablespoon of the flour mixture.

Set aside both the flour mixture and the blueberries.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until combined after the addition of each egg. Mix in the vanilla extract.

With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture. Beat just until combined. Add the milk and beat just until combined. Do not overbeat. Lightly fold in the blueberries using a rubber spatule. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. If you’d like a little crunch on the top of the muffins, sprinkle a small amount of turbinado sugar over the batter in each muffin cup.

Bake until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the muffins comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Remove muffins from pan and let cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Tweet This Post 

Quote from Saturday Night Live’s old “Coffee Talk with Linda Richman” skit…

I’ve got a lot of blogging and picture posting to catch up on…the move to the new house and lack of internet for most of August made it difficult for me to keep up with all of the food pictures I’ve taken.

But I’m back…and hopefully not going anywhere for a while. I should probably set a goal of at least a few posts a week for a while.

These peanut butter sandwich cookies are from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook (which I now own thanks to my thoughtful boyfriend). The cookie itself is made with chunky peanut butter. The cookies alone tasted a little boring…but when you added the creamy peanut butter filling, they became pretty darn good.

They do need to be stored in the refrigerator as the filling is essentially peanut buttercream frosting. Delicious but not really meant to sit at room temperature for a couple of days.

I’ll definitely make these again…even if the dough was a bit difficult to roll and cut. I chilled the dough for the prescribed length of time but in the future, I’d chill it for a bit longer.

Tweet This Post