Pecan Chews

Pecan Chews - made dough October 14, 2018 from A Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke

I’m rereading Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swensen mysteries again and tried out this recipe from the first in the series, The ChocolateChip Cookie Murder. Mostly because I still had the pecans from my cousin and wanted to put them to good use. 

This once again breaks my no-nuts-in-my-cookies rule because, like the Pecan Sandies, it’s virtually impossible to make “Pecan Chews” without pecans. But, unlike the sandies, this had a more typical cookie texture in that it was on the chewy end of the cookie spectrum, not the shortbread-texture end of the cookie continuum.

A cautionary note: the dough is really soft on this one when it's first mixed. I advise chilling it in the fridge for 30 minutes or so, at least until it's first enough to scoop into dough balls. Otherwise your cookies might spread too thin.

One thing surprised me about this cookie. The taste and texture were actually quite good and were even good enough for me not to mind nuts in this cookie. However, I happened to use a spicy pecan mix from the stash my cousin gave me and it turns out I don’t like spicy pecans. So that was somewhat of a drawback.

But apparently I’m in the minority on this one. This recipe made several dozen cookies so I ended up bringing two platefuls to work and they disappeared faster than most desserts I bring in. One of my coworkers even asked me for the recipe, the most sincere compliment someone can pay. So there you go; we’ve all got different taste buds and this one suited more people than I expected.

1 cup butter
3 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups finely chopped pecans
4 cups flour

1. Melt butter and add brown sugar. Mix well and let cool. Add eggs and beat to combine. Add salt, baking soda, vanilla and pecans; mix well. Add flour and mix until just combined.
2. Portion dough into golf-ball-size dough balls (chill first if too soft to make into balls), flatten slightly into thick discs, cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight.
3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Evenly space dough discs on baking sheets and bake 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheets for several minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Brown Butter Toffee Cookies

Brown Butter Toffee Cookies - made September 15, 2018 from Sugar Spun Run

I made these awhile back and unfortunately didn't do a write up immediately after so I can't remember very much about these. Which doesn't mean they're bad, just that they were probably good but didn't stick in my mind for any particular reason.

Bear in mind I bake a lot though and I have pretty jaded taste buds so it takes a lot for something to stick. In general, I'd say these were good. Mine look a little more baked than the ones from the original blog. I didn't underbake them as much as the original blog as in my oven. If I had, that might've made them stand out more to me. These weren't dry as I baked them though; just more like a standard chocolate chip cookie but with toffee bits added.

1 cup unsalted butter, melted, browned and cooled
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk chocolate toffee pieces
1 cup chocolate chips
sea salt for sprinkling, optional

1. Combine brown sugar and granulated sugar with browned butter, mix well. Stir in eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla extract and stir to combine.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gradually add to butter-sugar mixture, stirring until ingredients are just combined. Stir in milk chocolate toffee pieces and chocolate chips.
3. Portion dough into golf-ball-size dough balls and pat into thick discs. Cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space frozen dough discs. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are just beginning to turn golden brown and middles are just barely past looking raw. Remove from oven and sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies - made dough September 9, 2018 from Created by Diane

Around the time I made the Oatmeal Chocolate ChipCookies, I also made these Chocolate Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. I made these pretty hefty-sized as well since you know, cookies. I think I only got 7 or 8 cookies out of one batch, I made each cookie so big. These didn’t spread that much so how big you make the cookie dough balls is going to be close to how they come out when baked.

When it comes to chocolate cookies, you know I always advocate underbaking them since chocolate sets once it cools and you want that magical fudgy interior. This was no exception. I also like the contrast of the lighter-colored peanut butter chips against the dark chocolate cookie even if I’m pretty indifferent to peanut butter and peanut butter chips.

I gave these away to some long-time friends when we met for dinner and they liked everything about the cookies so I guess they were a hit.

3/4 cup butter, slightly softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups chocolate chips and peanut butter chips, combined

1. In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and peanut butter together until smooth and creamy. Add in granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla.
2. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined.
3. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add to wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
4. Portion into golf-ball size dough balls and flatten slightly into thick discs. Cover and chill or freeze for several hours of overnight.
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space dough discs. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until set. Do not overbake.

Nutella Swirl Brownies

Nutella Swirl Brownies - made October 7, 2018 from Rock Recipes

Hmm, so, normally I would be in raptures with even the concept of a Nuella swirl brownie. Because it would be as the name implied, right? Brownies made with Nutella mixed into the batter itself and with even more Nutella swirled into the batter so that when the brownie baked, you would get large swaths of Nutella intermingled with dense, fudgy brownies.

Yeah, that was the vision. My execution, however, left something to be desired. For one thing, as you all know by now, I always use Pernigotti cocoa which has a dark chocolate flavor that pretty much overpowers the Nutella flavor and the Nutella didn’t stand a chance being mixed into the brownie batter. That would’ve been okay because you still had the swirl-in Nutella element going on. Except I don’t think I dolloped enough because I didn’t have swaths of Nutella. More like a sprinkle here and there.

But my main sin with this brownie is it seems like I overbaked it. I didn’t think I had because the toothpick test kept yielding raw batter but it was in there for so long that some of the Nutella “swirl” looked like it burned. What the heck? They weren’t dry but you can tell from the pictures that they’re not as moist-fudgy-dense as I normally prefer my brownies. I suggest checking these at the 30-minute mark, if not sooner, then erring on the side of caution and taking them out before 40 minutes, depending on your oven. 

1 cup butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
2/3 cup Nutella
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup Nutella, for swirling

1. Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar to dissolve. Cool slightly before adding the Nutella, whisking until smooth and combined. Add eggs, one at a time, then vanilla, mixing until just combined.
3. Sift together the cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Add to the butter-egg mixture and mix until smooth. Fold in the flour and chocolate chips.
4. Spread batter evenly into the pan and swirl in the remaining 1/3 cup Nutella. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely before cutting and serving.

Oatmeal Cookies - Levain Bakery copycat

Oatmeal Cookies - Levain Bakery copycat - made dough September 8, 2018 from Fran's Favs

My friend Rick reminded me that I haven’t mailed him oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in awhile. He was right. So I broke out this recipe that I’ve been meaning to try for some time.

I don’t have a standby oatmeal cookie recipe and I don’t try new recipes for them that often. Unlike Rick, I’m not a huge fan of oatmeal cookies. They tend to be pretty filling, maybe a little too filling because I like my cookies to be chubby and have some heft. Add oatmeal and I get hefty all right. Me and the cookie.

These cookies didn’t spread very much and they were supposed to be Levain Bakery-esque so I made them big. Each cookie was a behemoth. Like a scone version of a cookie. I ended up eating two halves on two separate days because they were a little filling and . They were pretty good but, not being a big oatmeal cookie fan, I don’t know if I’ll remember them a month from now and I’ll probably keep searching for more oatmeal cookie recipes to try.

Oh and don’t tell Rick but I never was able to get to the post office so I didn’t mail him these. I gave them away at work instead. Whoops.

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter
4 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon, optional
1 3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted, optional
1 cup raisins or chocolate chips

1. In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter, cream cheese, granulated sugar and brown sugar just until creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla; beat until just incorporated.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, if using. Add in the oats and mix. Add the dry ingredients to the wet batter, mixing until just combined. Fold in walnuts and raisins or chocolate chips.
3. Divide dough into 12 portions, each weighing 4 ounces. Form into large balls and cover and chill for several hours or overnight. 
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space dough balls. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes then reduce heat to 325 degrees F and bake for another 12-14 minutes or until edges are golden and middles no longer look shiny or raw. 

Pecan Sandies

Pecan Sandies - made dough October 7, 2018 from She Wears Many Hats

My cousin gave me bags of pecans last month and I was happy to incorporate them into my baking. As a general rule, I don’t like nuts in my cookies (or cakes or brownies) but they’re acceptable in some cookies. I mean, how do you make pecan sandies without pecans? You don’t.

Pecan Sandies aren’t quite like a chewy cookie like chocolate chip cookies. They tend more towards the shortbread end of the spectrum. Like a Mexican Wedding Cake on steroids. Which you can interpret to mean that I made these a bit bigger than the Buttery Tea Balls.

These turned out pretty well. Two tricks to making this cookie: first, make the dough discs fairly thick. These don’t spread very much and you don’t want these to be too thin or they’ll crumble more easily due to their texture. The other tip is to underbake them. I know, I know, I always say that but if you bake these fully, they have a tendency to have a drier mouthfeel rather than a melt-y one because the composition is more like shortbread and not like a moist, chewy cookie. Oh, and third trick – toast the pecans first to bring out their flavor. 

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter, slightly softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon ice water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups plain flour (I used all-purpose)
1 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted

1. Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together until smooth.
2. Add ice water, salt, cinnamon and vanilla. Beat until combined. Add flour in two additions, beating until just combined. Add in pecans and beat until just mixed; do not overmix.
3. Portion into golf-ball-size dough balls and pat slightly into thick discs. Cover and chill for several hours or overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until edges are light golden brown and middles are no longer shiny or raw.

Nutella Snickerdoodle Sandwich Cookies

Nutella Snickerdoodle Sandwich Cookies  - made dough September 9, 2018, modified from Real House Moms

I’m way, way behind on updating my blog. But I couldn’t go on much longer without posting this one. Probably one of the best cookies I’ve made in the last few months. It’s a snickerdoodle. It’s Nutella. It’s a sandwich cookie. It’s a Nutella Snickerdoodle sandwich cookie. All the OMG goodness that name implies and then some.

As if all that wasn’t enough, they’re really easy to make too. The dough is just your standard mix-in-your-mixing-bowl cookie dough, you scoop out small dough balls (since it’ll be a sandwich cookie, you don’t want to go too big or you’ll eat yourself sick), chill them, roll them in cinnamon sugar, bake them, then sandwich them with Nutella once they’re cool.

Of course you never, never overbake them and you can be as generous with the Nutella filling as you want. I like to make them small so they look more dainty. And so I can kid myself that having two or five isn’t that bad.

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup Nutella
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
Nutella for filling

1. In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, Nutella, sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in eggs and vanilla then add dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Portion dough into small balls of uniform size then flatten slightly into thick small discs. Cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight.
3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. In a small bowl, mix together the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Roll chilled or frozen dough discs in mixture, coating completely. Evenly space on prepared baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges are set and middles are no longer raw. Do not overbake.
5. Cool cookies completely on wire racks then sandwich with Nutella.