Chocolate Chip Cookies

These last few months have been quite a transition period.  They included finishing vet school rotations, a few trips to the US, planning a conference, studying for finals, planning a move back to the states, and taking final exams...  I have actually fit in quite a bit of baking into that period (its possible I'm a stress baker, oops!), but I only recently realized that I've let the blog fall behind!  My most recent baking has alternated between french macaron's (as usual) and recipes chosen purely to use up ingredients left in our cupboards - which didn't always lead to the most delicious, blog-worthy things.   I do have a few newer recipes to share at some point in the future, but I decided that as I'm moving back to the US, and started this blog about baking American in the UK, maybe an old fashioned classic would be a great transition recipe.  So here I present you with my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.  (My apologies if posts continue to be sparse over the next year, I'm not sure how many hours I will get to spend outside of the hospital walls!)

This recipe, if baked right, will give you a thick-ish cookie, soft in the middle, a little crunchy on the edges, and oh so delicious.  In fact is so good I've often had people ask for the recipe, which is impressive for something as simple as a chocolate chip cookie!  I'm sure anyone who bakes in the US already has their standard go-to recipe for the chocolate chip cookie, but if you ever have any disappointment in the outcome, then I recommend you try out this new variation, it has a few things going for it!  Here are some of the aspects to the recipe that I think makes the difference:

Melting Chocolate Meringue Cookies

Passover is just around the corner, so I thought I would share a pesach-friendly recipe to get everyone excited.  The holiday often is often known for having mediocre desserts, as people try to adapt their favorite every day recipe to not include leaveners, replacing flour with matzah meal etc.  But personally, I prefer to instead choose recipes that are meant to not rise or have flour in them to begin with.  There are a lot of delicious recipes out there that I make all year, that just so happen to be kosher for passover.  I just realized last year that this cookie recipe is one of those... And it is also gluten free!  So this is a great recipe to have in your book, and its fast to whip up.

These melting chocolate cookies are made from meringue, so they are light as air when you pick them up, and melt in your mouth, filling it with a rich chocolatey taste.  Even though they are light, and small, they are full of flavor and decadent, so just one or two little cookies will fill your your chocolate cravings.  These are delicious all year round!

Gruyere and Carmelized Onion Flower Brioche

Lets just start by saying I am so glad this recipe finally made it into my life.  Apparently the brioche flower (usually Nutella filled) has been floating around the internet and gracing peoples tables for a while, however it only just came onto my browser a few weeks ago.  Upon seeing a picture of it, I instantly had to try making it, and have made it a few times since.  As you can probably tell, I usually go for flavor over looks in my baked goods, but this is one of those few special recipes that is simple to make (unlike the macaron), amazing to look at, AND delicious to eat.  Either sweet or savory, this recipe is a winner.  People are so impressed its home made when you bring it in, and its so easy to share, as everyone just tears off "petals."

My discovery of this recipe on the interwebs also happened to coincide with being given a gopro as a present.  This seemed like a perfect excuse to try out time-lapse baking... thus leading to my new obsession (expect to see more here soon!) Here is my first baking time-lapse, of the brioche making process (nutella filled):

Almond Cookies

During our many travels the last few months we ended up spending a quick weekend visiting family in Minnesota.  It just so happened our visit coincided with a tasting event for their local Star Tribune's annual holiday cookie competition.  We spent a great afternoon sampling delicious cookies, and got to leave with new recipes in hand, and it was great seeing some new variations on old holiday classics.  The winner this year were these tasty Italian almond cookies - little soft balls of almondy, lemony deliciousness rolled in powdered sugar.

A few things drew me to this recipe... I find that without outside guidance my baking sometimes gets repetitive, alternating between chocolate, peanut butter, and chocolate and peanut butter, sometimes mixing it up with some caramel... Not that any of my taste testers (friends), complain, but its still nice to mix it up.  This recipe provided a nice alternative to the classic chocolate chip cookie.  I also liked that this recipe is a similar base to the macarons I'm obsessed with making, but much easier to make. I had just brought back some fresh cinnamon from a vacation to Zanzibar last week, so I rolled some of the cookies in a cinnamon/sugar mixture instead of the powdered sugar called for in the original recipe.

Candy Cane Holiday Crunch Cookies

The holidays are one of my favorite times of year, because this whole season one does not need an excuse to bake.  Of course, I bake frequently all year long, but suddenly it becomes ok, or even expected, to bring desserts for every occasion. And there are so many fun holiday flavors and decorations!  These candy cane cookies are one of my favorite easy festive recipes. They are pretty fast to whip up, and they look so cute!  The crunchy minty candy canes complements the softer chocolates fudgey cookie below, held together with a touch of white chocolate.  This year I was excited to stumble upon already crushed bags of candy cane in our local grocery store in the US, making these even easier to make.

And if you are looking for quick homemade holiday presents, these cookies in a jar are a great option! Every time I bake these, they get lots of complements.... Something about the m&ms, oatmeal AND chocolate chips, combined with the great chewy texture make them a favorite for any occasion.

Caramel sauce

I really don't know why I didn't start making caramel dipping sauce earlier in my life.  It is delicious, rich, flavorful and very addictive.  This is delicious to dip apples (and dark chocolate!) into, and of course is great to pour over ice cream.  I've also started mixing it into my favorite vanilla buttercream recipe for one of the ultimate adult frostings - especially with a sprinkle of sea salt on top.  People take their first bite of this like a typical dessert, then as the rich caramel flavor develops and melts across the tongue, I've noticed faces light up, as they instantly reach for more.

As far as caramel sauce goes, this recipe is even easy to make - it doesn't require a candy thermometer, and you don't have to worry about the sugar crystallizing.  And it keeps in the fridge for a few months! I'm pretty much in love, and will probably always have a jar of caramel in the fridge from now on.  It would also make  great holiday gifts, packaged in cute little glass jars.  So I think you all should probably go make some caramel right now.  You won't regret it.

Millionaire's shortbread

I've been trying to branch out a little in the world of British baking, and I settled on millionaire's shortbread as my first target.  It is one of those classics, sold near the check out line of almost every grocery store in the UK, and something I had never really thought to try in the states.  I chose a Mary Berry recipe for my first attempt at it (she is as British as it gets right?), and while I found her shortbread lovely, I really struggled with the caramel.  Most of the recipes I found used condensed milk for the caramel base, and I tried it at least 3 times and could not get it right.  It seems to take longer to cook then expected, and then burns very easily.  I'm not the biggest fan of the flavor of condensed milk anyways, so I went back to one of my classic caramel recipes, and got a great result.  For both the shortbread and caramel I replaced some of the white sugar with brown sugar, and was very happy with the resulting taste.

Millionaire's shortbread is all about the textures and flavors - a crumbly crunchy short bread, topped with a chewy caramel, and a thin layer of crisp chocolate on top to fill it out.  While its hard to go wrong with chewy caramel and chocolate, I have to say, this is pretty delicious.  And the simple shortbread base, with just 3 ingredients is great on its own too!

This caramel does require a candy thermometer to make from scratch.  However, a few times I made it and cooked it a little too long, and while the it came out firmer than ideal, it was still devoured and heavily complemented (and delicious).  So I'd say don't be scared of candy making!  Give it a go, and if you are nervous, keep the temperature lower so it comes to temperature slower.  As in my previous caramel recipes, if you are in the US you could melt down kraft caramels with heavy cream for this layer, follow this link for those instructions.