White Chocolate Oreo Cookies from The Recipe Critic

White Chocolate Oreo Cookies - made dough January 5, 2023 from The Recipe Critic

3/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

14 Oreo cookies, coarsely crushed

2 cups white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until well combined and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
4. Beat in the eggs and vanilla, mixing on low speed until combined.
5. Add dry ingredients in two additions, mixing on low speed, just combined combined. Fold in crushes Oreos and chocolate chips.
6. Portion into golf-ball-size dough balls and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 7-9 minutes until edges are set and middles no longer look raw.

I'm still working through my pinterest recipes as well as the Costco pack of Oreo sleeves so this was a logical choice of cookie recipe to try out.

I like the concept of cookies and cream cookies more than the actual cookie itself. You'd think being an Oreo fan that I would like cookies and cream more but it turns out that I like Oreos so much that I prefer them in their original form.

Still, these weren't about me, me, me so I tried them out for care packages and they were good. The cookie was crisp at the edges, chewy in the middle and the random placement of Oreo chunks also insured some crunch in almost every bite of the cookie while the white chocolate added some sweetness.

Snickerdoodles from 100 Cookies

Snickerdoodles - made dough January 9, 2023 from 100 Cookies by Sarah Kieffer

2 1/2 cups (355 grams) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks or 170 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 ounces shortening or refined coconut oil

1 3/4 cups (350 grams) granulated sugar 

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

For coating

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and shortening until creamy, about 1 minute. Add 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla and beat on medium speed to combine.
5. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.
6. Combine the remaining 1/3 cup granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Portion dough into golf-ball-size dough balls and roll each ball in the cinnamon-sugar. Evenly space on baking sheets. 
7. Bake one baking sheet at a time, rotating pan halfway through baking. Bake until the sides are set and the tops begin to crackle, 12 to 14 minutes. Let rest on baking sheet for 5 to 10 minutes then transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely. 

Hello and welcome back to the Flat Cookie Club! At first I thought we'd broken up because when I first took these out of the oven, they were beautifully puffy and thick. But as they cooled, they deflated faster than Cinderella's hopes to leave the ball with both shoes.

Yes, back to flat cookies. You can't convince me it isn't the butter although the flat cookie issue is inconsistent as I've had some cookies, notably chocolate chip and chocolate espresso cookies (forthcoming post), turn out just fine. But snickerdoodles seem particularly vulnerable to flat cookie syndrome and this is no exception.

However, just like Cinderella who got her shoe back and the guy to boot (get it? boot? *wipes tear*), this has a happy ending as the flavor on these cookies is fantastic. Just the right snickerdoodle-y taste with the balance of cinnamon and sugar. The texture was also on point, light, airy, crisp but also chewy. I enjoyed these so much, I might make them again and try them out with a different brand of butter and/or European butter to see if they can remain puffy or at least, less flat.

Crumbl Copycat Chocolate Chip Cookies from The Fresh Cooky

Crumbl copycat Chocolate Chip Cookies - made December 30, 2022 from The Fresh Cooky

1 cup butter, room temperature

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

2-3 cups milk chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add brown sugar and granulated sugar and beat until well combined, creamy and smooth, 3-5 minutes.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on medium speed until combined. Add vanilla and beat to combine. Scrape down bottom and sides of bowl to keep mixture even textured.
4. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cornstarch and salt, whisking to combine. Add flour mixture to butter mixture in two additions, mixing on low speed after each addition until just combined. Do not overbeat. Mix in chocolate chips.
5. Portion dough into 4-ounce measurements, roll into a tall ball, then flatten each ball slightly to thick discs. Evenly space 2-3 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. (If your dough is too soft, chill for 20-30 minutes and do not preheat oven until dough balls are chilled.)
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are barely set. Remove from oven and let rest on baking sheets for 10 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Another amazing chocolate chip cookie recipe. At this point, I'm not even trying to replicate Crumbl's milk chocolate chip. I just like a good chocolate chip cookie and of course, with milk chocolate. Sorry, semisweet lovers, I'm Team Milk Chocolate.

My favorite way to make chocolate chip cookies is to use Trader Joe's Pound Plus milk chocolate, chopped into chunks, the smaller pieces mixed into the cookie dough before baking and the larger chunks pressed gently into the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven. Let them cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet then eat. Or gobble. I won’t judge. 

By then, the edges will have crisped up slightly and the middle is still gooey and the chocolate chunks are melty.

These baked up nice and thick. I made the test cookie Crumbl-size but the rest of the dough as normal-size so I could get more cookies out of this recipe. 

The inside picture below looks slightly raw because I took the picture while the cookie was still warm but when it cooled, it cooled to the perfect texture of a thick, chewy chocolate chip cookie.

Weeknight Orzo Paella from The Kitchn

Weeknight Orzo Paella - made January 3, 2023, modified from The Kitchn

1 tablespoon olive oil

8 ounces cooked hot or sweet Italian chicken sausage, cut into 1/4"-thick rounds

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups (10 ounces) dried orzo pasta

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided

8 ounces uncooked peeled and deveined shrimp, thawed if frozen (I used chicken)

1/2 cup frozen peas (I left them out)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves (I used dried oregano)

1. Heat oil in a 9 or 10-inch straight-sided skilled over medium heat until shimmering. Add the sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until evenly browned on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes total. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds more.
2. Add the orzo and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly toasted, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the broth, tomatoes and their juices, paprika, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper. Stir to combine and bring to a boil.
3. Cover, reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook, undisturbed, until the orzo is almost al dente, the liquid has reduced by about half and there is tight, rapid bubbling, 7 to 9 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, pat the shrimp dry with paper towels and season with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
5. Scatter the shrimp and peas (if using) over the orzo, cover and cook until the shrimp are pink and opaque, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest, covered, for 5 minutes. Top with parsley and serve warm.

Orzo is fast becoming my go-to carb for quick and easy meals. They're much easier to cook than rice, they look like rice and they taste like a great combination of rice and pasta. I gave away my rice cooker when I moved so when I have rice or something rice-like, it's either instant rice (my Filipino ancestors are rolling in their graves and doing backflips while scolding me with their eyes and pursed lips - I'm not kidding) or orzo.

This is a super easy recipe to make, albeit you can tell I took liberties as I omitted the peas (I despise peas) and didn't have parsley so I used dried thyme instead. I had also run out of shrimp because I used them for another dish so I subbed chunks of chicken breast instead.

I enjoy making these easy (and tasty) recipes, partly because they're so easy but also because it helps me use the spices in my spice drawer. And it makes me feel like I can cook, ha.

Creamy Pesto Gnocchi (with Shrimp) from Salt & Lavender

Creamy Pesto Gnocchi - made January 5, 2023 from Salt & Lavender

1/4 cup pesto

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup dry white wine or chicken broth

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound uncooked potato gnocchi

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

1. In a deep skillet over medium heat, combine pesto, whipping cream, wine and garlic, stirring to a boil.
2. Once the sauce starts to gently bubble, stir in the gnocchi. Cover pan and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Uncover the pan and stir. Continue to cook for 2 more minutes, constantly stirring, until sauce has thickened to preference. Stir in parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

I love pesto. It's the only reason I used to grow my own basil. I'm not currently growing basil (too cold) but thanks to Trader Joe's, I can snag fresh basil in quantities that allow me to make pesto. I like to make my own because the storebought stuff comes as more of a sauce whereas I like to food-processor-process the basil while it's still small bits and not a paste. I don't use a recipe anymore but just throw the basil (sans stems), olive oil, garlic, pine nuts, pepper and parmesan cheese into the food processor and pulse until it's the texture I like.

For this recipe, I used a generous amount of pesto (more than 1/4 cup) but followed the rest of the recipe exactly. This is rich and makes a lot of sauce, even after it thickened. It's not for the faint of heart (all that cream) or a dieter (cream and gnocchi) but it's good in moderate portions. You can add any protein of your choice. I went with shrimp and it added a nice touch.

Tomato Basil Chicken (and Shrimp) Orzo from The Flavors of Kitchen

Tomato Basil Chicken (and Shrimp) Orzo - made January 1, 2023 from The Flavors of Kitchen

1 1/2 cups orzo

500 grams boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed

2 tablespoons oil 

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

4 tablespoons tomato paste

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes

4 cups chicken stock, warm

1 cup fresh basil

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

1. Heat oil in skillet. Add chopped onion and minced garlic. Saute until onion is soft and transparent. Add cubed chicken breast and saute for 2 minutes on medium high heat.
2. Add tomato paste, chili flakes, salt and pepper; stirring to mix well. 
3. Add orzo and warm 3 1/2 cups chicken stock. Hold back 1/2 cup of chicken stock to mix in later if needed. Stir well. 
4. Once mixture begins to boil, lower heat and let cook slowly, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
5. Cook until orzo is done, adding reserved chicken stock if mixture dries or as needed. Once orzo is cooked, remove from heat and stir in fresh basil. Serve warm.

It's not exactly a tradition or even a New Year's resolution or intention but around every new year's, before I prepare for the new year of work, I try to do some cooking for the days ahead. As in do some batch cooking, portion into individual-size meals for the freezer and buy myself a few weeks' grace of prepared meals and no takeout. 

While home-cooked meals are instinctively more healthy than restaurant or takeout meals (at least where I go and based on what I order to go), I don't do it as often as I should. Except for the new year.

Since orzo has become my new favorite go-to pasta, this is also when I clear out my pinterest board of "real food" recipes to try. This has all the earmarks of what I look for in a recipe: easy to make, not to many ingredients, nothing too spicy and very do-able for me.

It also helps that I shopped at Costco for the big pack of shrimp and a multi-pack of chicken tenderloins. Then Trader Joe's for the win with fresh basil, orzo and the tomato paste in the tube. This only calls for 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and I didn't want a half-full can of tomato paste I had to worry about using fairly soon. Tube tomato paste to the rescue - who knew that was a thing? I do now.

I liked this recipe as it turned out pretty well. It does dry up a bit once it's cooled so don't let it boil for too long and it's better to err with a bit more sauce left before the orzo absorbs it all. Next time I would probably use more basil than I did, simply because I like basil. I'm glad I added extra protein so it felt more like eating a casserole than simply a plain pasta dish.

Instant Pot Chicken Adobo from Savory Tooth

Instant Pot Chicken Adobo - made December 31, 2022 from Savory Tooth 

2 - 2.5 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, patted dry and trimmed

1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1/3 cup white vinegar

1 onion, sliced

5 gloves garlic, minced

3 bay leaves

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

salt and black pepper

2 green onions, tops sliced into small pieces, for garnish (I didn't have any so I left out)

1. Sear chicken: heat instant pot on saute mode. Sprinkle chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Add olive oil to instant pot when hot. Sear chicken pieces in hot oil, cooking for several minutes on each side. Remove from instant pot and transfer to plate. 
2. Turn off saute mode. Add soy sauce, vinegar, onion and garlic, stirring well and scraping up the browned bits on the bottom. Add chicken. Top with bay leaves.
3. Secure and seal lid. Cook at high pressure for 10 minutes then do a quick release. Remove lid and set instant pot on saute mode. Bring mixture to boil and let boil for 15 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Remove bay leaves and serve chicken over rice, garnished with chopped green onions.

Are you sick of sugar yet? Never fear, I'm going to switch to "real food" for the next few posts. I need to catch up on the savory dishes I've been making and not just the baked goods I've been mailing out.

Chicken Adobo is probably one of the easiest dishes to make. There are multiple variations of it but essentially, all you need is vinegar, soy sauce, bay leaves and peppercorns. You can add ginger if your taste buds prefer and you can play with the proportions of each to get the taste to your liking but that's essentially it. For extra flavoring, it's best to marinade the chicken overnight in the soy sauce-vinegar combination of your choice and cook it over low heat until the chicken is tender. I went the Instant Pot route for quick gratification and my taste buds aren't picky enough about it to care. This was a standard recipe and did quite nicely for a quick weeknight meal.

Toffee Bars from Alice Medrich

Toffee Bars - made January 5, 2023 from Cookies and Brownies by Alice Medrich 

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

Topping

6 ounces or 1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped almonds, lightly toasted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a heavy saucepan, melt butter. Add brown sugar and whisk until combined. Stir in vanilla and salt then flour until combined.
3. Spread in an even layer in prepared pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes until well browned at the edges and middle is golden brown.
4. Sprinkle even layer of chocolate chips and return to oven for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from oven and spread softened chocolate into an even layer of topping. Sprinkle toasted almonds evenly over melted chocolate. Cool completely before cutting and serving.

When I made these bars, I thought the "toffee" just referred to the combination of a brown sugar shortbread base supporting a chocolate layer topped with chopped nuts but not actual toffee.

I was pleasantly if unexpectedly surprised to be wrong. This really is like toffee down to the crunch of the base. It's almost like an Almond Roca in bar form. 

The reason I didn't expect that is because of the flour in the shortbread base so I expected, well, shortbread. It's not even shortbread texture really but actually like toffee buttercrunch.

No complaints here as I love toffee but rarely make real toffee as I don't want to hassle with boiling sugar and water, getting to the right temp, letting it boil long enough and so on. If you don't boil (real) toffee long enough, it's more sticky and tacky with no snap. Boil it too long, it's hard to eat without breaking a tooth.

So here's a cheat version. You still don't want to overbake this or underbake it either. I baked it exactly 25 minutes in my oven and got the toffee-esque crunch.