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Giant Chocolate Cookies with Symphony Bars and Pecans

What started out as another giant cookie recipe, took on an ingredient accident and ended with an amazing product!

I was making cookies for a function at work and needed giant cookies. Giant because that is my theme heading into the holidays, I've got about 5 giant cookie recipes on my list so far (go to Giant Cookies in the recipe section). I found this recipe at Epicurious and they were called Giant Chocolate-Toffee Cookies.

I started off, not reading the entire recipe and jumped the gun with some ingredients. Instead of a full storyline, I'll bullet what I did...

1. I chose to use bittersweet chocolate VS semi-sweet chocolate. I really love the bittersweet taste when a cookie has quite a bit of sugar.

2. I started out with too much butter, but I played around with the dry ingredients and adjusted the flour.

3. I used some dark brown sugar in place of all light brown sugar because you get a bit of chewiness with the crunchy edges of the cookie.

4. I use kosher salt when baking cookies, it gives that sweet-salty flavor which enhances the cookie.

5. I added Symphony Bars and Pecans - because they seemed like a perfect complement for the cookies. 

So, I give you Giant Chocolate Cookies with Symphony Bars and Pecans and they are AWESOME! I love to watch people as they break the cookie in half (because it's too big) and then dive back in for the second half because they were SO GOOD! These cookies are chewy and crunchy, rich and chocolaty yet not too sweet. People have been asking for this recipe...quicker than most.

Try this recipe before the holidays set in and start looking at great treats you can give as gifts. I always say, the best way to a person's heart is through their stomach. Enough said!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
2 (10 ounce) bags of Ghiradelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chips (16 ounces is about 1 2/3 bags)
1/2 cup of butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup of dark brown sugar
1 1/4 cups (packed) light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 (4.25 ounce) milk chocolate Symphony Bar with Toffee Bits and Almonds, chopped
1 cup of chopped pecans

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients (flour, salt and baking power) in a medium sized bowl and put aside.

Place Ghiradelli chocolate and butter in a double boiler over simmering water and stir until melted. Allow to cool to luke warm.

In a large bowl, add eggs and sugars and beat on medium speed for 5 minutes, until slightly thick and gooey.

Add melted chocolate to the mixture and beat until uniform, add vanilla. Mix together until incorporated.

Stir in dry ingredients, once mixed thoroughly, add chopped milk chocolate and pecans.

Place on cookie sheets lined with parchment. Use an ice cream scoop to place dough on the tray. Flatten slightly. Press the cookie to a 1 inch disk. Bake 3 to a tray.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until the center is slightly puffed and the cookie is crackly.

Move to cookie rack and allow to cool. Makes 14-16 cookies.

 

Maple Honey Granola with Pecans, Pumpkin and Sunflower Seeds

Over the past 6-8 months, I have become a granola freak. I've tried everything from commercially boxed to 100% natural. I've had crunchy and sweet to chewy and nutty. As I have eaten through many bags and boxes, I realized I like my granola slightly sweet, really crunchy with nuts and fruits.

I started investigating different recipes and found some with sugar, others with honey, some with maple syrup. After combining a few different recipes, I came up with my first homemade - Maple Honey Granola with Pecans, Pumpkin and Sunflower Seeds.

Let's start with some of my usual (or unusual) ingredients...

1. Maple Syrup - I used pure Maple Syrup (straight from Maine). If you use commercially packaged maple syrup, you might want to eliminate the brown sugar.

2. Honey - I used Orange Blossom Honey (straight from Maine...again).  I am lucky, we visited Maine last month and I was able to by these products fresh. They definitely have a richer flavor than the store bought versions.

3. Pumpkin and sunflower seeds - You can use raw or salted seeds. Mine were salted so I didn't add any salt to the mixture. If you use raw products, add 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the recipe.

My granola mixing started last week with a few trials and the results were great. As much as my family walked around saying they weren't hungry enough to try the granola, I found numerous people taste-testing the batch. After delivering a few samples to friends and co-workers, we finished 4+ cups of granola in two days, with the request to make more. Batch # 2 is upon us.

The maple honey granola is crunchy and slightly sweet. It has hints of maple, cinnamon and orange with tanginess from the dried cranberries. The variety of nuts ties the flavor together. We have been eating it as a snack, and sprinkling it on ice cream and hot oatmeal. I haven't add it to milk but I have a bowl set for breakfast tomorrow morning.

If you like granola and want to try homemade, this is a fairly easy recipe to put together. Now that I have started, I don't want to stop. I'm off to mix another batch of granola...maybe it will be with a combination of vanilla, walnuts and apples.

So, what's you favorite granola flavor?

Ingredients:

3 cups of old-fashioned oats (not instant)

2/3 cup of chopped pecans

1/3 cup of salted pumpkin seeds

1/3 cup of salted sunflower seeds

1 tablespoon of wheat germ

1-1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon

2 tablespoons of canola oil

1 tablespoon of  brown sugar 

1/2 cup of pure maple syrup 

Rind from 1/2 an orange

3/4 cup of dried cranberries

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Line a cookies sheet with aluminum foil.

3. In a large bowl, mix oatmeal, pecans, wheat germ, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds together.

4. In a small bowl, mix cinnamon, oil, brown sugar, maple syrup and orange rind together.

5. Pour liquid mixture into dry mixture, once blended, pour onto cookie sheet. Spread oat mixture across the sheet.

6. Bake for 15 minutes, stir the granola and then bake for another 1o minutes. Once it is slightly golden, shut off the oven and let sit for 10 minutes. Add the dried cranberries and let it sit in the cooling oven for another 10 minutes.

7. Take out of oven, cool and enjoy!

 

Giant Peanut Butter Cookies with Dark and Milk Chocolate Chips

I have been on a giant cookie kick. It started with the Giant Ginger Cookies I made last week.

It was fun making large cookies since they have a different texture which brings a bit of a different flavor. They are more crunchy and chewy together. Tough to describe, but eat individual cookies and then eat a giant cookie...more cookie...more flavor.

I took out my peanut butter cookie recipe from Peanut Butter Blossoms and didn't think it had the power for a giant cookie. I searched the web and came up with two recommendations for the Magnolia Bakery Peanut Butter Cookies. I decided to mix it up with dark brown and light brown sugar, as well as a few Reese's mini dark chocolate peanut butter cups and milk chocolate chips. Add an ice cream scoop and demerara sugar and you have Giant Peanut Butter Cookies with Dark and Milk Chocolate Chips.

These cookies were amazingly delicious. Loaded with peanut butter and chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! The demerara sugar made them sweet and extra crunchy yet the cookie was thick enough to be chewy. As much as I froze a few for later this week, they are walking out of here much faster than I thought. They were in everyone's lunch today and I've seen them disappear into lunch bags for tomorrow.

Over the next few weeks I will be making a few more giant cookies because I'd like to offer something fun and different for the 12 Cookies of Christmas and I have a funny feeling they will be GIANT!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
1 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 cup of butter, softened
2 cups of chunky style peanut butter
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup of firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoon of milk
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 12 ounce package of Ghiradelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chips
15 mini dark chocolate peanut butter cups (chopped into sixths)
1 cup of milk chocolate chips

Bowl of demerara sugar (raw sugar) for dipping cookies (about 1 cup)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. See aside.

3. Cream butter and sugars, when completely blended add the chunky peanut butter.

4. Once the peanut butter is incorporated, add the eggs and vanilla.

5. Mix half the flour mixture into the batter. Add the milk, mix until well blended and then add the rest of the flour mixture.

6. Stir in the peanut butter cups with the dark and milk chocolate chips.

7. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop the dough and release scoop into a bowl of sugar. I use the demerara sugar because of the large granules.

8. Roll the ball until completely covered with sugar. Place on the cookie sheet and flatten to a 1/2 inch thickness.

9. Place up to three cookies on one cookie sheet.

10. Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden with cracks on the top. bang cookie sheet on counter to allow the cookie to flatten. Cool for 5 minutes, then remove from tray to cookie rack. Makes 24 giant peanut butter cookies.

This recipe was adapted from Smitten Kitchen and The Singleton in the Kitchen.

Cappuccino Chocolate Chip Muffins with a Streusel Top

 

This is the ultimate breakfast of champions for all my coffee and chocolate fans! I'm enjoying them with a cup of coffee.

Yesterday morning was fairly disastrous as I tried to make pumpkin scones. I had taken two recipes and tried to combine them throwing off the balance of liquids to dry ingredients. The batter became very mushy and I wasn't able to mold it into scones. As I added more and more flour, the based seemed doughy and (low and behold) the scones tasted like cardboard. They were extremely dense and I could gag thinking about eating them. Kind of wish I took pictures, both of the scones and me eating them!

So, this morning I wanted to make muffins. let's see...no pumpkin puree, no oatmeal, no frozen blueberries or strawberries, not much for a healthy breakfast. But then, I found coffee and chocolate and decided, "There must be a breakfast muffin that can use these ingredients."

I found two recipes from the New England Bed and Breakfast that I combined for one delicious treat. I wasn't sure how a coffee muffin would taste with coffee, but with the subtle chocolate tones and the walnut sweetness, these really are wonderful. The combination of flavors might remind you of that Mexican flavor of chocolate, coffee and cinnamon.

This morning, I was also in the mood for muffin tops, so I made both muffins and tops. I love the sugary toppings but I know a few of the others in my house actually like to finish the bottom portion of the muffin, so two styles for two tastes.

Looking forward to one more muffin top with my second cup of coffee...these really are addicting!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks of butter (3/4 cup), softened
1 1/3 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
3 1/4 cup of unsifted all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 large egg
1/4 cup of instant coffee granules
1/4 cup of Godiva liquor or Kahlua (if not, an a 1/4 cup of brewed coffee)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup of mini chocolate chips

Streusel Topping
1/2 cup of dark or light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons of better, melted
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 tablespoons of flour

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl to a crumb consistency.

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Place coffee granules, vanilla and liquor (or brewed coffee) in a bowl and stir until the granules are dissolved. Put aside.

2. Mix flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder together in a medium sized bowl. Put aside.

3. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar (with beater on medium speed) until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and coffee mixture until blended.

4. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with milk, beating just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Divide batter among muffin pan tins. Mix streusel according to directions. Gently press the streusel into the top of each muffin.

5.   Bake 15-20 minutes or until centers spring back when lightly pressed. This will make between 18-24 muffins.

6. Enjoy warm with a delicious cup of coffee or hot chocolate.

Adapted from New England Bed and Breakfast Cookbook.

Giant Ginger Cookies

 

(Beware: Objects appear smaller than they are.)

It seems like I haven't made some new desserts in a while. The truth is I have, I just haven't posted my articles as often as I would like. It's time to start enjoying the desserts AND sharing the recipes with my wonderful friends and followers.

I have been looking at quite a few cookie recipes lately with the holidays creeping up on us. I will be having a new list of the 12 Cookies for Christmas and I know that they will never replace the original list from 2009 The 12 Cookies of Christmas. I like to offer new cookie recipes each season so that you can find your family's favorites. I'm also thinking of doing a cookie swap which could get me some great family favorites from my friends.

When I started, I was looking for a good hermit cookie recipe. The results weren't great so I think I need to go digging into some old recipe books. I was looking for a hermit recipe with coffee as one of the ingredients. I came across a few, but not exactly what I was looking for.

I did come across this ginger cookie recipe on Martha Stewart's website and thought this could be fun since these cookies were about 5 inches in diameter when they were finished baking. I don't normally make large cookies like these but truthfully, this is where you get a different flavor and texture. I also liked that there was pepper in the recipe. I love ginger, but the thought of additional heat to the cookie using pepper was interesting.

I adapted Martha's Giant Ginger Cookies by adding a bit more ginger and molasses and changed up the salt and sugar. I like the saltiness of kosher salt (vs. table salt) because when you bite into something sweet, you get that salty-sweet flavor. I love to use demerara sugar for rolling cookies. It is raw sugar which has larger, light brown crystals. It looks great and gives the cookies an extra crunchiness.

I mixed the batter and placed the dough in the freezer. It gave me enough time to make a batch of my favorite cookies, Andria's Chocolate Chip Cookie. I cut the dough into 16ths and they were rolled and in the oven with four cookies per cookie sheet.

Some friends and family tried them and absolutely loved them. They were chewy and crispy. The best was after they ate the cookie and said, "I can still taste the spiciness of the ginger", which was probably helped by the pepper. We enjoyed them as a mid-morning snack with pumpkin spiced coffee. What better way to enjoy a giant cookie that was just DELICIOUS!

Think warm, think GIANT ginger cookies!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 rounded tablespoon of ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon of ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon of ground white pepper
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) of butter, room temperature
1/2 cup of packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup of granulated white sugar, plus 1/3 cup of demerara sugar for coating
1/3 cup of molasses
1 large egg

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
 
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, allspice, and pepper.
2. With an electric mixer, cream butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses and egg. With mixer on low, gradually beat in flour mixture until just combined. Flatten into a round disk, wrap in plastic, and freeze for 20 minutes.
3. Cut disc to create quarters, cut quarters in half, cut eighths in half (you will have a perfectly cut pie shape with 16 pieces.). Roll into 16 balls.
4. Place remaining 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a bowl. Roll balls in sugar to coat; place at least 4 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Flatten into 3-inch rounds. Sprinkle with sugar remaining in bowl.
5. Bake until brown, rotating sheets halfway through, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool cookies on a wire rack. Makes 16 large cookies.

Harvest Corn Soup with Lobster, Bacon and Scallions

Summer is officially over when you buy the last fresh ears of corn. As we drove to Flint Farm, we were told that this was the last day for corn. We arrived just in time. I kept telling Jeff that I wanted to make some type of corn soup or chowder since it would be perfect for a cool autumn evening.

While we were in Maine, last month taking cooking lessons, we made a delicious corn soup with lobster. It was a completely blended soup and I was looking for something that had more corn left in the broth. The only true test of corn chowder I have is my mother adding a can of milk to a can of creamed corn and calling that corn chowder. Not a great reference point.

I found this recipe from Epicurious called Summer Corn Soup and it was written by Dorie Greenspan. When I went into her "Around My French Table" Cookbook, I realized it was one of her recipes. Just a quick plug, if you want to buy a great gift for your favorite cook, definitely consider this cookbook. Jeff and I love the book and it has amazing recipes. We took the original version and adapted it.

As we were putting the recipe together we realized that we would need to double the recipe. At our house, a recipe serving 4 will not cut it. As we shucked the corn, there definitely wasn't enough corn (for my liking) so we added more. Once we got all the vegetables cooked and added the herbs, we found the herbs fell off the sprigs as the mixture came to a boil. The flavor was great but I didn't enjoy fishing all the rosemary out of the soup. Our recommendation is to place it in cheese cloth. Easier and less messy to remove.

Lastly, when it called for you to blend and strain the soup, we decided to only blend 1/2 of the soup and not strain any portion of it. It allowed the base to thicken and left a filling in the soup. We steamed two lobster ahead of time and had lobster meat ready to go. Lobster first, soup second, bacon and scallions to garnish. Grab spoon and and say Ahhhhh.

The soup a.k.a. corn chowder was amazing. It was so fresh and the flavor was distinct with every bite. The lobster was moist and the bacon give a slight smokiness to the dish. It was perfect for a cool night in October.

As we enjoyed the corn soup for lunch, I was disappointed that I might not be able to make this soup again until next year. You need the freshness of the corn kernels and the cobs to add that additional flavor. I did say to Jeff that I will attempt this soup again with some frozen ingredient. Not sure I will get the same freshness, but I might be able to re-create the memory in the winter. It might be a faint memory but I will try!

Ingredients:

3 cups whole milk
4 ears of fresh corn, kernels cut from cobs, cobs broken in half and reserved
3 tablespoons of butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled, thinly sliced
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 cups water
2 large fresh thyme sprigs
2 fresh rosemary sprigs
1 bay leaf
Salt and white pepper to taste

Optional:
cooked lobster meat from 1 1/2 pound lobster, coarsely chopped

Garnish:
2 thick bacon slices, diced
1 green onion, thinly sliced

Preparation:

1. Bring milk and corncob halves (not kernels) just to boil in heavy medium pot. Remove from heat, cover, and let steep while sautéing vegetables.
 
2. Melt butter in dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion; sprinkle with salt (about 1/4 teaspoon) and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add corn kernels, carrot, celery, and garlic; cook until vegetables are soft, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes. Place herbs and bay leaf in cheese cloth or herb bag. Add 2 cups water, herbs, and milk with corncobs.

3. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, partially cover with lid and simmer 20 minutes to blend flavors.

4. Remove corncobs, herb sprigs, and bay leaf. Cool soup slightly. Working in batches, puree 1/2 of the soup mixture in a blender or food processor. This will give a thicker consistency while leaving filling within the broth. Add salt and white pepper to taste.

5. If using lobster, add 1/4 to 1/3 cup of chopped lobster to the bottom of each serving bowl, spoon the soup over the lobster, garnish with chopped bacon and scallions. Enjoy!

Makes 4-6 servings.