Quadruple Chocolate Fudgy Brownie Cookies

Quadruple Chocolate Fudgy Brownie Cookies - made dough September 14, 2013, recipe adapted from Averie Cooks

The original recipe name of these cookies was Quintuple Chocolate Fudgy Brownie Cookies because Averie uses 5 kinds of chocolate: bittersweet chocolate and cocoa powder in the dough itself and chocolate chips, truffles and chocolate-filled Oreos for the add-ins.  I didn't have truffles or chocolate-filled Oreos so I just went with milk chocolate chunks and semisweet chocolate chips as my add-ins, hence the quad designation instead.

When I first made the dough, I was a little concerned because it was more like a thick brownie batter than cookie dough and that soft of a dough usually means the cookies will spread, even if baked from frozen dough. I did chill the dough for about 10-15 minutes before portioning it out just for easier handling.  You don't want to chill it for too long, however, or it'll be tough to scoop out as the dough will harden to something more clay-like.  Alternatively, you can just let it sit at room temperature for a bit and the chocolate in the batter will set to make it more like a cookie dough.

My fears were groundless about these spreading too much. They spread a little but still stayed thick enough to be chewy bites of chocolate goodness. You never want to overbake chocolate cookies (or any cookies) because not only will they be dry and crumbly but you lose the chocolate flavor and it's almost fudge-like texture.  These are pretty rich so I recommend either making them a little small or, if normal-sized, getting your glass of milk ready and working out for an hour first.

Oh and since we're in Halloween candy season, this is a good cookie to incorporate with extra candy, depending on your tastes.  I wouldn't go with candies that melt like caramels (Rolos, Milky Way Caramels, Milky Ways, 3 Musketeers) or anything with nuts (Snickers, Paydays) unless you like nuts in a fudgy cookie but those mini Hershey bars can easily be chopped up into chunks.  Or peanut butter cups might work if you want less of a pure chocolate cookie and more of a chocolate and peanut butter combination.  This is the time of year I tend to go down the Halloween candy aisle looking for what can be incorporated into baked goods as well as serve as what I give out on Halloween.

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup bread flour

1/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder (as always, I use Pernigotti cocoa)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt, optional and to taste

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used Lindt 70% and 85% bittersweet chocolate)

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup milk chocolate chunks

1. In a medium-sized bowl, sift together the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, and optional salt; set aside.
2. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, melt the baking chocolate on high power for about 1 minute, stir, and continue to melt in 30 second increments until fully melted and can be stirred smooth; set aside.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and vanilla; set aside. 
4. To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the sugars and beat to incorporate and mixture is uniform, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the egg-vanilla mixture and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute. Add the melted baking chocolate and beat until combined, about 1 minute. Add the sifted dry ingredients and beat to just incorporate them, about 1 minute. Do not overmix.
5. Add the semi-sweet chocolate chips, chopped truffles (or chopped candy bar pieces; chopped to the size of a chocolate chip or just slightly larger) and the chopped Oreo cookies and beat for 10 seconds to just incorporate or fold in by hand. Chill dough for at least 15-20 minutes or until firm enough to make into golf-sized balls and hold their shape. Unbaked cookie dough can be formed into balls and stored in an airtight container or ziploc in the freezer for up to 3 months and baked straight from freezer to oven, extending baking time by a minute or two if necessary
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 F and line two baking trays with parchment paper; set aside. Place dough balls on a baking sheet, spaced about 2 inches apart. Bake for approximately 10 minutes.  Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to finish cooling.

Restaurant Review: Xanh

Xanh Restaurant - dinner on September 18, 2013

Crispy Potstickers

Remember when I mentioned my friend Rick whose favorite cookie is Oatmeal Chocolate Chip and that I made him a batch the last time he was in town and a group of us got together for dinner?  Rick arranged the dinner and we ate at Xanh.  Xanh labels itself a contemporary Vietnamese restaurant, going for the hip look with a lounge-y atmosphere. Or at least as hip as you can be if you're not in a trendy neighborhood in San Francisco but are in Castro Street in the suburbs of Mountain View. But I don't care how they brand themselves because their food is amazing and that trumps all.

Inside the crispy potsticker

I'm not even going to go into each dish or else this post would go on forever but I offer the pictures for your visual enjoyment.  Xanh is the rare restaurant that holds the distinction of being a place where I like their savory dishes more than their desserts.  It's not that their desserts are bad - far from it.  But their entrees and appetizers are amazing and my taste buds tell my sweet tooth to pipe down because they're busy enjoying the wonderful entrees that come out. And my sweet tooth subsides because it agrees.

Xanh Full Moon wraps (vegan version)

Everything comes out also visually appealing, creatively and decoratively arranged on platters and dishes in a way that makes you think the kitchen is staffed with culinary artists, not just chefs.  They know what they're doing.

Crispy Shrimp Clouds

It's best to come with a group of people (there were 7 of us this time) as the dishes are meant to be shared. Plus, honestly, you want to try as many dishes as you can because they're just that good.  As Rick says, "I've never had anything bad here." So true.

A close up of a Crispy Shrimp Cloud

My favorite dish is the prawns with garlic noodles (below) - amazing.  But they also have some of the best Shaking Beef I've ever had, tender and perfectly seasoned and flavored (pictured further below).

Garlic Prawns

Xanh can be a bit pricey if you go for dinner and order a lot.  Entrees range up to $30 or so and while they're decent-sized portions, they're not overly huge.  It's still worth it to me because of how good it is but if you're value-conscious and still want to try a range of their offerings, I recommend going to Xanh on a weekday for their lunch buffet.  For $12, it's all you can eat and they put out an excellent spread, including my favorite garlic noodles, soups, fresh Vietnamese spring rolls in three varieties, protein entrees like fish, chicken, and beef, and vegetarian dishes as well.

Peppercorn Beef

You do have to order rice separately as the entrees don't come with it but that's also available as part of the lunch buffet.

Brown Rice

Shaking Beef

Miso Salmon

Vegan dish

Banana Leaf Seabass

Probably the only thing I didn't care for at this particular dinner was the sorbet.  It was mango and passion fruit sorbet enrobed in white chocolate. I tried it to see what it was like but I'm not a fan of either mango or passion fruit and found it too sweet for my taste - and I don't say that very often.  So out of all the times I've gone to Xanh and made my way through their menu, there's ONE thing I didn't like.  Those are pretty good stats.  Everything else on the menu has been delicious.

Split Personality Sorbet

Hazelnut Mousse

Red Velvet Oreo Truffle Bars

Red Velvet Oreo Truffle Bars - made September 20, 2013, brownie base from That Skinny Chick Can Bake, brownie concept from Pizzazzerie

I was inspired to make these bars by Pizzazzerie's recipe.  But I knew I didn't want to use a cake mix and I wanted to make the red velvet brownies from scratch, especially since I had a good recipe for it from That Skinny Chick Can Bake.  I had blogged about these earlier and had only linked to the recipe but when I checked the link on my blog recently, I was redirected to a new site.  I'm glad it still works and I still have access to the recipe but it freaked me out enough that I'm re-posting it on my blog in case I can't access it sometime down the road.  That would be terrible since I really like these brownies.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this whole brownie though.  The concept was different enough to dress up a regular brownie and I thought the Oreo layer would win me over.  Plus topped with melted chocolate and mini chocolate chips?  It sounded like a good idea.

Maybe because it was one of many for the bake sale but I didn't love these.  I mean, they were fine, taste-wise and all, and I'm glad I tried them out. But after 7 cookie doughs and 4 pans of brownies and bar cookies, I have to admit my taste bar was a little high that day.  A "really good" brownie on a different day might've just been "eh, they're okay" on that particular marathon baking day. Especially since this was another one that I confess I barely tasted from the sliver I cut from it.

Red Velvet Brownies

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 tablespoons red food coloring

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 8 x 8 pan with nonstick foil or regular foil. Grease regular foil with cooking spray if using.
2. In a small bowl, mix cocoa powder, food coloring and 1 teaspoon of the vanilla to form a paste. Set aside.
3. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, then add second teaspoon of vanilla. With mixer on medium, beat in cocoa paste. Add flour and salt, and mix just until combined.
4. Spread in pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool before frosting.

Oreo layer
1/2 package Oreos, finely crushed
4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1. Combine crushed Oreos and cream cheese and beat until blended smooth.  Spread over cooled brownies.

Topping
1 cup semisweet chocolate, melted
Mini chocolate chips

1. Spread melted chocolate over oreo truffle layer, smoothing into an even layer.  Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and let set.  Cut into squares when cool.

7-Up Cake

7-Up Cake - made September 17, 2013 from From the Kitchen of: Mrs. Bettie Rocker

I've had this lone can of Sprite in my pantry for awhile.  I can't even remember how it got there but assume someone must've brought it for a past social gathering since I don't drink Sprite so I wouldn't have bought it for myself.  I finally got tired of looking at it and I didn't want to waste it by simply throwing it away so I searched for a recipe on pinterest that would use it and sure enough, found a 7-Up cake (close enough).

I've made soda cakes before and I don't know how the chemistry works but find that generally the cakes that use soda have a tender crumb.  Must be something in the carbonated water.  This was no exception.  There was too much batter for my Bundt pan so I baked the overflow in a ramekin and a mini loaf cake.  The ramekin was my usual taste test piece and the cake had great texture, very soft, almost velvety.  But I think I underbaked the Bundt cake a little and it could've used more baking time in the oven.  You can tell by how dense the crumb was and the bottom in the first picture above is a dead giveaway.  The Bundt cake formed an almost meringue-like crust on top and past experience has taught me that those are almost always very hard to get out of the pan intact because it clings stubbornly to the pan and only gets more intractable as it cools.  So as soon as I took it out of the oven, I quickly ran a small spatula along the top and sides, keeping the cake from clinging to the pan like a jealous lover and turned it out onto a plate.  Normally I let it cool for a few minutes in the pan at least since if you turn out a Bundt cake while it's still too hot, it can fall apart more easily.  But thankfully, this time it worked and it came out intact.  I think if I had waited longer, the meringue-like crust would've turned into tentacles adhering to the Bundt pan and at least the top would've crumbled a lot more before releasing itself from the pan.

The texture is best when this is baked properly as when it's underbaked, it's a little dense and not as fluffy although it's still got a soft crumb.  But you get more of the velvety mouthfeel if it's baked the right amount of time.  Taste-wise, this was just a bit too sweet for me...and you know it takes a lot for my iron sweet tooth to flinch.  I think it was the Sprite itself - one reason I don't drink it is because it's too sweet.  Combine sweet Sprite with the amount of sugar the cake calls for plus the glaze and even my sweet tooth blinks.

1 cup butter
1⁄2 cup shortening
3 cups sugar
1-1⁄2 teaspoons lemon extract
1-1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
7 fluid ounces 7-Up (or Sprite)

Glaze
1-1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 tsp lemon extract

1. Preheat oven to 300. In a large bowl, place butter, shortening, and sugar. Beat until it is fluffy and well mixed. Add in lemon extract and vanilla flavoring. 
2. Add in all of the eggs and beat again until blended in. Add in all of your flour and then seven up. Mix until smooth and creamy. Pour into greased and floured tube pan
3. Bake at 300 for one hour, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Run a spatula along top and sides and turn out onto a plate while cake is still warm.

Restaurant Review: Rick's Cafe

Rick's Cafe, Los Altos - brunch on September 14, 2013

The only thing I love more than brunch food is meeting friends for brunch. Then I can actually have brunch at the time I'm supposed to rather than at odd hours of the day because I had nothing else but baking stuff in my pantry and fridge so that's what I threw together for dinner.

I'd never been to Rick's Cafe in Los Altos before but I like trying new places, especially ones that are local and family-owned such as Rick's. We got there a little after 10 am and waited about 5-10 minutes for a table which isn't bad.  Rick's has both indoor and outdoor seating and they were decently busy on a Saturday morning which is always a good sign. According to their website, they're open every day at 7:30 am but close at 3 pm so it's mostly a breakfast, brunch and lunch place.

Inside Rick's Cafe

Rick's has a typical brunch and lunch menu which I really like since, again, some of my favorite foods are brunch items.  My main conundrum is while I love pancakes, waffles and french toast, I usually can only eat one kind.  Plus I have to have protein.  Pancakes come with protein options and most of the time French toast does too but did you ever notice that waffles are standalone orders?

At the foyer of Rick's Cafe

I mean, there are always "specials" where you can get eggs, bacon or sausage, a short stack of pancakes and hash browns or else French toast with eggs and/or a breakfast meat as one order.  But waffles?  They come in a variety of flavors and toppings but if you want anything besides a waffle, it's a separate order. I'm not sure why that is but it's consistent at every cafe and brunch place I've been to.  Maybe because the size of a whole waffle is considered enough of a meal?  Whatever the reason, it means I usually default to getting pancakes with some kind of protein as one order since it's more cost effective.  Yes, I'm cheap.

Apple Waffles sans whipped cream

But this time around, I wanted a waffle.  And eggs.  So I ordered the Apple Waffles (hold the whipped cream; whipped cream on waffles, shudder) AND a side order of scrambled eggs.  Walking on the wild side now. But I'm glad I did.  I love scrambled eggs and it wouldn't be brunch without it.  And I loved the waffle.  The cinnamon glazed apples were a nice touch and prevented me from dousing the waffle with too much syrup since the apples provided a nice sweetness but the waffle itself was excellent - fluffy and tasty. It's either because I rarely get waffles when I eat out because of the lack of protein thing so I miss waffles or Rick's just makes a darn good waffle or both.

Side of scrambled eggs

My friends got an omelet order and some kind of scramble (I think).  The sides that each order comes with are rather carb-y (bagels and potatoes with almost every breakfast order) but you can swap out one of the starchy carbs with a fruit cup like they did.  Rick's prides itself on a friendly wait staff and we certainly experienced it.

Green Eggs and Ham

The price points are slightly higher than a chain brunch place like an IHOP but I'm always willing to pay a little more to support a family-owned small business, especially one with good food and good service, so it was no sacrifice (hey, I'm not THAT cheap).  All in all, a good experience and I'd certainly go back and recommend this to others in search of a good brunch place.  They also have good-looking lunch options as well.

I forgot what one of my friends ordered but it looks good

Soft & Thick Snickerdoodles

Soft & Thick Snickerdoodles - made dough September 19, 2013, recipe adapted slightly from Sally's Baking Addiction

I've made some good snickerdoodles in my time (again, baking modesty set way, way aside) so please take me seriously when I say this could be my new favorite snickerdoodle recipe ever. Yes, they're that good. Kudos to Sally's Baking Addiction for coming up with a winner.

It isn't just the taste, although that's pretty excellent too.  I've made good-tasting snickerdoodles before, some with brown butter, some with pudding mix, some with just the core basic ingredients.  They've been good as well. Some have had crisp edges, some chewy middles, some were good enough to combine both. What I liked about this rendition was the cinnamon incorporated into the cookie dough as well as in the traditional cinnamon sugar coating. The cinnamon I use is pretty strong so I cut mine back to 2 teaspoons in the dough itself and that was perfect.

But what really set this apart to reach "most favored recipe" status is they stayed thick.  Honest to goodness, these have been the thickest snickerdoodles I've made that have still retained their chewy texture rather than being a cakey one.  The hard part about making great snickerdoodles (for me anyway) is I can get great flavor and great texture but they still spread thin.  The ones that have stayed thick have had more flour, less flavor, and were more cakey than chewy in texture.  This trumps them all with great flavor, great chewiness and perfect chubbiness. Just don't overbake them or you'll get cakey texture instead.  I baked from frozen dough (as usual) and only baked them until the middles didn't look raw anymore and have perhaps some slight puffiness and a few cracks but not too many.  Don't bake until the middles are fully puffy and have cracks all over - chances are they're overbaked by then.  You want the middles to sink into cragginess after you take them out of the oven. It also helps if you make the cookie dough balls very generously sized.  You want them to be at least a little bigger than the size of golf balls.  When you bake them from frozen dough (freeze without the cinnamon sugar coating then roll them in the coating right before baking), in the time it takes for them to bake, they only spread to the perfect thickness if the dough balls are large enough.  I haven't tried baking smaller-sized cookie dough balls because why tamper with perfection? 

Look how thick this is and the texture isn't cakey

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 and 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (I cut it down to 2 teaspoons)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. If baking right away, preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
2. Make the topping: toss 1/4 cup granulated sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Make the cookies: In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream the softened butter for about 1 minute on medium speed. Once smooth, add the sugar on medium speed until fluffy and light in color. Mix in egg and vanilla. Scrape down the sides as needed. Set aside.
4. In a medium size bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 different additions. The dough is quite thick and you may have to stir the rest by hand.
5. Take approximately 2-3 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. You want them to be slightly bigger than golf balls. You can freeze them at this point if you don't plan to bake right away.  When ready to bake, roll the dough balls into the reserved cinnamon-sugar topping. Sprinkle extra cinnamon-sugar on top if desired. Bake cookies for 11-12 minutes or until the middles no longer look raw. The cookies will be very puffy and soft.  Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Mississippi Mud Brownies with Midnight Milky Ways

Mississippi Mud Brownies - made September 17, 2013, recipe adapted from Cooking Classy

Almost without exception, I always love pics of various recipes for Mississippi mud brownies or cake.  The frosting is always flowing and gooey atop decadent baked chocolate deliciousness.  But I never make it.  Why?  Because I don't like marshmallows. I don't like their taste (too sweet) or texture (too rubbery) and can only stand them melted down with butter and holding rice krispies together. But I feel like I'm missing out on a whole repertoire of caloric, chocolate heaven. When I came across this recipe on pinterest from Cooking Classy, it was so tempting to try and get over my dislike of marshmallows and make these as is. But I just couldn't do it.  I have a hard time trying to eat rubbery sugar.

Fortunately it's Halloween candy-buying season and I remembered Midnight Milky Ways.  They're like regular Milky Ways except with marshmallows to go with the caramel and covered in dark chocolate.  I wouldn't eat them "straight" (I rarely eat Halloween candy anyway) but baked in something? I'm okay with that. More to the point, I could chop them up and substitute them in for the marshmallow layer in the original recipe (skipping the torching them part), melt them down slightly in the last few minutes of baking, and cover them with the flowing, gooey chocolate frosting.  That's about as close to the real Mississippi Mud anything I'm going to get.

Okay, this is the part where I shed any semblance of modesty and declare myself a brownie genius. Substituting the Midnight Milky Ways worked in spades.  There was some marshmallow substance that provided some gooeyness and the glimpse of white marshmallow blanketed in chocolate but not enough to be rubbery. The Midnight Milky Ways melted slightly as you blanket the hot brownie with them in the last few minutes of baking then you cover them with freshly made, hot/warm chocolate frosting which melts them into further gooey deliciousness.  I didn't finish making these until late at night and it was too late to try them then (even *I* have a chocolate curfew) so I didn't try the taste test piece until the next day.  Even then, it was gooey chocolate perfection.  Granted, they're very rich so you may want to cut into small pieces.  And I'll add my usual caveat of "go workout first".  But it's worth it.

I included some of this in goodie bags when I met friends for dinner and counseled them, "if you eat nothing else from this bag, eat the brownie."

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 package Midnight Milky Way minis, each mini cut into fourths (they're easier to cut cleanly if you chill them first)

Frosting
1/4 cup salted butter
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with aluminum foil; spray with cooking spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, brown sugar and salt until well blended. Using a wooden spoon stir in melted butter and mix until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and stir until blended. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and bake in preheated oven 35 - 37 minutes (underbake slightly as you'll be returning them to oven to melt the Midnight Milky Ways).
3. Remove from oven and sprinkle top evenly with the chopped Midnight Milky Ways. Return to oven for another 2-4 minutes before removing.While brownies are still hot, cover evenly with the warm chocolate frosting. Let cool completely before cutting and serving.

For the chocolate frosting:

1. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Add milk and cocoa powder and cook whisking constantly until mixture has thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and using an electric hand mixer, stir in vanilla and powdered sugar. Use frosting immediately.