Erica’s Edibles Turns 4!

Erica’s

Edibles

Turns 4!

 

Happy Blogaversary! (I’m fairly certain that is not a word) It was 4 years ago today that I opened my blog.  The only reason I started Erica’s Edibles was so I could participate in the Daring Bakers monthly baking challenge, I had to have somewhere to show the challenge results.  I had no idea I would love blogging so much.  I thought I would post my monthly challenges and that would be the end of it.  Erica’s Edibles has become an addiction, all I want to do is bake and post!  Over the past 4 years I have posted 186 entries, not all were fantastic, but I enjoyed doing every one of them. Even though it sounds kind of silly, a blogaversary, it is really just another excuse for me to bake something and post it!

My blogaversary post will be CCCC #5.  I have to sneak one more batch of chocolate chip cookies in before Lent starts.  Each year during Lent I give up ALL junk!  As a baker this is very hard.  I still bake things for other people but I can’t continue my CCCC during Lent because I can’t try them!  So, this will be the last Chocolate Chip Cookie post until after Easter.

I have wanted to make this Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from Cookies & Cups since I first started this challenge.  The picture sucked me right in, I was totally mesmerized by it, they are huge, thick, and look ooey and gooy in the center, they look perfect!  Every time I decide I am going to strike into a batch for the CCCC my eyes immediately go to that picture (on my Pinterest board) I get all exited, mouth waters, and then I remember the dough needs to sit AT LEAST overnight in the fridge!!! Well, this time I remembered and planned ahead.  Thank you to Shelly, at Cookies & Cups for this recipe, you should check it out, there are quite a few more recipes I will be trying from there.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Challenge  #5

1 cup salted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1 (12 oz) bag mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (I could not find good quality minis so went with regular size)

Directions

1. Cream butter and sugars together

2. Add in eggs and vanilla and continue mixing until incorporated

3. Stir in all chocolate chips until evenly distributed

4. Add in flour, baking powder and soda and coarse sea salt

5. Mix  until evenly incorporated

6. Now for the torture! Cover dough with cling wrap and refrigerate overnight, or up to 48 hours!  Are you kidding me? refrigerate at least overnight? How does one get all this together and not bake them? Talk about anticlimactic! All I have to say is, they better be worth the wait.

7. The next day……When ready to bake preheat oven to 350°

8. I used a 3 Tbsp cookie scoop (until it broke from the stiff dough, then resorted to weighing each cookie 2.5 oz) and placed 6 cookies on a sheet on baking sheet.

9. Bake for 9-10 (Mine took 14 minutes) minutes until edges are golden brown.

10. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Do this carefully, as the cookies might not be completely set in the center.

We need to take a minute and just look at these cookies….

Golden….

Big…

Thick…

Crisp outside layer…

Check out the inside of these cookies!

Soft…

Chewy…

Delicious!

These cookies were so worth the wait!  As much as I complained about having to let the dough sit overnight, I have to admit, it was worth it.  The cookies baked up perfectly! Each cookie was thick and evenly golden.  This was the first cookie that I was happy with the thickness, they were over a half-inch thick, they looked perfect!  Now for the centers… I broke one of the cookies open and cracked through the thin crispy layer I was pleasantly surprised with the soft moist (not raw) centers. As for the taste? Delicious!  The cookie had amazing texture.  The outer crispness accented the wonderfully soft and chewy centre.  It was one of those moments where when you take a bite you stop chewing, close your eyes and think ‘wow, that’s a good cookie!’.  The taste of these cookies were different then any other chocolate chip cookie that I’d ever had.  There were just enough mini chips that you got many in every bite, just sweet enough AND THEN you get the hint of sea salt which brought my taste buds back to life.  The salty sweet combination was excellent!

This recipe is now the one to beat, if that is even possible!  I will continue to try different recipes but they are going to have to be pretty amazing to beat this one.  I am so glad that my last CCCC recipe before Lent (6 long weeks of no treats!) was a success. Thank you to Shelly at Cookies and Cups for this amazing recipe!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Challenge #4

CCCC recipe #4.  I had to redeem myself after a disappointing recipe #3.  This challenge is “My Favourite”, so please if you see your recipe and it was not picked or I did not enjoy it please don’t be offended.  Just because it is not what I am looking for does not mean they are not amazing to someone else.  We all have different likes and dislike. Most might think what I pick as my favourite is awful!  Moving onward and upward, onto recipe number 4!

Recipe #4 was another one I found on Pinterest.  I chose it because the pictures looked amazing, the cookie was thick and looked delicious.  There was also many, many comments about this being everyone’s favourite chocolate chip cookie, I had to try it, maybe it will be mine? This recipe is adapted from Marg at Food.com

Thick, Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs
12 ounce chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl

2. In a separate bowl, beat butter and shortening until creamy

3. Add sugar and vanilla and beat with a mixer on medium speed until well blended.

4. Beat in eggs, one at a time, mixing well.

5. Add flour mixture, and beat slowly to incorporate, then beat to blend well.

6. Add chocolate chips before flour is totally blended in to avoid over mixing

Mix until just combined

7. Drop batter in 2-tablespoon portions (scoop #45) about 2 inches apart on baking sheets.

8. Bake in a 375°F preheated oven until edges of cookies are brown but an area about 1 inch wide in the center is still pale, about 10 minutes

9. Let cookies cool on pan about 5 minutes, then transfer to racks

I was extremely optimistic, look at those cookies!  They look perfect, nicely golden and a nice height

And then as they cooled….they dropped….look how thin they got

The verdict? These were OK.  Probably would not make them again.  They looked fantastic coming out of the oven, then they fell and kinda went greasy.  The taste was good, but the texture wasn’t there.  They had a chew, but it was more of a greasy chew then a nice cookie chew.  So far #3 and #4 are not going to make the short list, #1 is still the one to beat.  The search continues….

Chocolate Chip Cookie Challenge #3

I believe it was a week ago I was complaining that it felt like summer in January.  Well, winter finally arrived, it’s a frosty -16 C with 60 km per hour winds, love it!  It just seemed like a perfect day to fill the house with the warm aroma of chocolate chip cookies!  Yep, that’s right, today I made rounds 3 and 4 of my Chocolate Chip Cookie Challenge.

Recipe #3 I kind of went in blind.  As several people know I am on the search, I have been given a few recipes to try.  I had not seen what these cookies looked like I only knew that they were ‘chewy and fairly pail’.  This recipe had 2 ingredients that none of the other recipes had, it only uses vegetable shortening and white sugar.  All the other recipes I had picked out used some if not all brown sugar and mostly butter.  I really wasn’t sure how they would turn out but I was willing to give it a try.  This recipe does not have a source, was just handed to me on a piece of paper

“The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies…
You Have Ever Tasted”

1 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Cream shortening and sugar

2. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well

3. In another bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips

4. Add dry ingredients to wet, mix well

5. Roll into balls and place on a cookie sheet

6. Bake at 350 F for 8 – 10 minutes or until the center of the cookie pops up when gently pressed

When I saw these cookies I was quite surprised how ‘white’ they stayed, it’s amazing how the brown sugar really changes the appearance.  I was very optimistic about these cookies, they had a good height and when I broke it in half they had a nice soft texture.  When they were warm they were OK, very soft (almost falling apart) and chewy.  When they cooled I did not like them at all.  They reminded me more of a soft sugar cookie.  Unfortunately these ones are right out of the running.  The search continues….

CCCC Recipe #2

I woke up this morning to torrential rain, it’s January in Canada, it’s not suppose to rain!!  Where is the snow?? We have had one dumping of snow, which only left 10 cm, now it’s all gone!  What happened to those winters like they are having out East and West? They have several feet of snow, I’m quite jealous!  Anyways….seeing as how the day is so dismal and blah I figured it was the perfect day to try recipe #2 in my CCCC.  Fresh chocolate chip cookies, mmmm, how could that not brighten your day! I searched through my saved recipes on Pinterest and decided on this one, for no other reason then it was the first one I came to that I had all of the ingredients on hand.  Recipe #2 is Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies from Erin Cooks.  I had saved this recipe because it looked delicious!  Between Erin’s post and the many positive comments I knew I had to give it a try.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Originally published in the Got Milk? Cookie Book by Peggy Cullen)
I found it on Erin Cooks

1/4 cup butter, softened
6 tablespoons white sugar
6 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (6 ounces) chocolate chunks or chips
1 cup nuts (Note: optional)

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 F

2. In a small bowl whisk together flour and baking soda, set aside

3. With and electric mixer beat butter, sugars, salt and vanilla until combined

4. Add egg, scrape down sides and mix until just combined

5. Add dry ingredients and chocolate chips, mix on lowest speeds until just combine

6. Shape into 1.5 inch balls, I used my 3 tbsp scoop it seemed to make them that size. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet, approx 3 inches apart

Dough looks (and tastes) delicious!

7. Bake 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.  I checked after 10 minutes, they were not quite done, 12 minutes was perfect.

Very inconsistent within the same batch

Same tray had a beautiful thick cookie (above) and a flat crisper one (below)

IF they all turned out like this it would be great! These are beautiful!

These cookies were ok.  They were very inconsistent. Within the same batch, same pan even, there was thick and beautiful cookies and thin and blah cookies.  I’m not really sure what went wrong.  It is not the oven, because they were in different spots on both trays.  The cookies that stayed thick and chewy were quite good!  They had a great taste and good texture.  They were not raw, but they were quite chewy.  As the recipe suggest, cooking for 10 -12 minutes, 12 was perfect, the edges were golden and slightly crisp, the outer part of the cookie had a nice colour and a bit of a crunch and they centers were nice and soft and chewy.  As for the flat ones, they were crisp and greasy.   I may come back and try these ones again.  Not sure what I did wrong to have some turn out and some not.

Verdict? They were ok, I would eat them again, BUT I will keep searching for ‘my favourite’.  Thanks to Erin Cooks for a great blog and recipe, you should check it out, some great looking recipes there.

My Chocolate Chip Cookie Challenge

Chocolate Chip Cookies, what’s not to love!  I have yet to meet a person who did not like a chocolate chip cookie.  They are one of those things that as bad as they may be, you still eat them, why? because it’s a chocolate chip cookie!  If you search you can find thousands of different chocolate chip cookie recipes, most proclaiming to be ‘the best’ or ‘perfect’.  The thing is, most recipes are ‘the best’ to someone.  I’m sure when someone mentions chocolate chip cookies your mind immediately goes to what you think to be the perfect chocolate chip cookie, mine does!  When I think of the perfect chocolate chip cookie I thing of a big wide, thick and chewy cookie with lots of chips, others prefer a thin and crisp cookie.  It amazes me how one cookie can be made so many different ways, all aiming for the same final product ‘the perfect cookie’.  As a baker I like to have one recipe that is ‘my best’ of something, I have done this with my chocolate cake and my red velvet cake.  I have not yet mastered the Chocolate Chip Cookie.  So…my challenge for 2013 is to find ‘My Favourite Chocolate Chip Cookie”.  I  am not calling it the best or the perfect, but simply my favourite!  I have so far picked out 17 recipes of Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I’m sure all will be good, some great, but I am hoping for a favourite!  I will post each recipe and come up with a verdict before the year is through.  If you have a recipe that you think I may like please share!  Let the baking and tasting begin!

CCCC Recipe 1

The first recipe in my CCCC is adapted from Like Mothers Like Daughters, a fantastic blog with great recipes.  I was sold on this recipe because of the picture! You must check out their site, it looks delicious.  This cookie looks thick and chewy so I thought I would give it a try.

1/2 cup butter
¾ cup packed brown sugar
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
¾ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 375 F

2. Melt butter and set aside to cool

3. In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt

4. In a large bowl combine butter, sugars, vanilla eggs and chocolate chips – stir (no mixer for this one) until just combine – Do not over mix!!

5. Add your dry ingredients to the wet and stir with a wooden spoon.  Do not over mix!

6. Using a cookie scoop create 1.5 inch balls.  I weighed mine so they were all the same, 2 oz seemed right

7. Bake 10-12 minutes.  I played with this a little, each batch a different time.  I found 15 minutes to be the most successful for my oven, the others were a tad undercooked

This was a batch for 10 minutes

But they were undercooked and fell…

After 15 minutes baking and they didn’t fall

Thick and Chewy √

The next day, still moist and chewy, did not dry out at all

The verdict – these chocolate chip cookies were great!  I really liked the taste of these cookies.  The texture was very nice, moist, but not ‘raw’.  They had lots of chocolate chips and stayed thick.  I like that there was no mixer required, good old bowl and wooden spoon.  These cookies were very easy to make.  I would make these again, I really liked them.  My testers (family and friends) enjoyed them as well. I have only tried one recipe, but I think this is a keeper!  Thanks to Like Mother Like Daughters for a great Chocolate Chip Cookie!

Whipped Shortbread

A few post back I was talking about Shortbread Cookies.  I love Mom’s shortbread they are amazing!  Most shortbread I have had are usually thin and round or thin and cut into Christmas shapes, Mom’s are little round ones.  I was then introduced to Whipped Shortbread, they were delicious!  They were so light and fluffy but still had the same flavour and ‘short’ (as Mom would say) to them.  The person who made them said it was not a ‘sharing recipe’, which I completely understand and respect as I have a few of those myself.  I had to go on the hunt for one that I thought might work.  I found several on the internet but what one should I use?  I was looking through some old cookbooks (I can’t even remember who gave them to me) when I came across an old cut out from a newspaper of a Whipped Shortbread recipe! What are the chances, I had to try it.  The paper is quite old and does not appear to have any source on it, other then it was on page 13.

2 cups butter, softened1/2 cup cornstarch
3 cups flour
1 cup icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans or chocolate chips or cherries (all optional)

Directions

1. Cream butter and icing sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy

2. Beat in cornstarch

3. Gradually add flour, beat until mixture is very light and fluffy

4. Stir in desired nuts, cherries or chocolates if desired, I skipped this step

5. Drop spoon fulls of dough onto lightly greased cookie sheet, I used parchment paper

6. Top each with a cut cherry, this was my addtion (trying to make them like Mom’s)

7. Bake at 325 F for 15 – 20 minutes or until very lightly golden

8. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy!

After my last shortbread post, I am not even sure I should be saying this, BUT these were quite good!  They had a wonderful texture, one I’m not even sure how to describe.  They held together but when you bite them they almost melt in your mouth (must be the 2 cups of butter!).  These shortbread are very delicate and ‘airy’, I know my description is not doing them justice, they are delicious.  They have a very similar taste to Mom’s shortbread but a totally different texture.  I would not say I like them better them Mom’s short bread I will say they are my favourite shortbread that I make .  This one will definitely be made for many Christmas’s to come.

Gingersnaps

I love when people ask me to do some baking for them, it is an excellent excuse to bake, have a little taste then get it out of the house so I don’t eat it all!  The latest request was Gingersnap Cookies.  Having never made a gingersnap I was very nervous about making them to give away, it was kind of like playing darts in the dark.  I had to pick a random recipe, that I thought might be good, and hope to hit the bull’s eye.  As I started to look for a recipes I quickly realized there were two types of gingersnap cookies, crisp and soft.  I had to put my search on hold until I found out for sure what kind they were looking for.  They decided on soft.  Now the hard part, trying to pick ‘the recipe’ out of millions!  I searched and searched until I found ‘Gingersnap Cookies Chewy and Soft’ from Food.com.  After reading Katherine’s notes and the rave reviews I knew it would be the one to try.

Photos and spacing are a little off – new version of wordpress media needs some work – sorry

Gingersnap Cookies Chewy and Soft

2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup white sugar
1 cup butter
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup sugar, on a plate for later

Directions:

1. Mix the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and cloves well and set aside.

2. In another bowl beat the sugar, butter, egg and molasses for  1 to 2 minutes

3. Add the dry ingredients and stir by hand.

4. Take what ever size ball you like ( I used 1/2 a tablespoon)  and roll into a ball.

5. Roll in sugar.

7. Bake at 350 on an ungreased cookie sheet (air-insulated type is the best)** I had one so I used it but not sure if it is absolutely necessary**  for 14 minutes.  Cool slightly on cookie sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack.

This was a great recipe!  Turns out I really liked them.  They were not at all as I was expecting, though I am really not sure what I was expecting.  The aroma from the spices that filled the kitchen was amazing, it almost reminded me of a spice cake or a pumpkin pie.  The texture was very nice, the outer  cookie had a bit of a ‘crisp’ when you bit it but the center was a little more dense than cake.  The odd crunch from the sugar-coating was a nice contrast to the texture.  I think they were quite delicious.   They were my first ones, I will probably tweak them a tad, maybe some more ginger, or use fresh ginger.  This recipe is definitely a keeper, Thank you Katherine!

Shortbread ‘Bake Off’

Holiday season is the time for sharing and Peta of Peta Eats is sharing a dozen cookies, some classics and some of her own, from all over the world with us.

I was thrilled to see that this months Daring Baker’s was Christmas baking!  I love Christmas baking!  It is the one time of the year where there is a ‘good excuse’ to make 15 different cookies and squares without feeling guilty!

Peta provided us with 12 different recipes to choose from, something for each of the “12 Days for Christmas’.  Our requirement was to pick at least one of the recipes provided and one of our own favourite Christmas treats.   Of the recipes provided I chose to make the Brown Butter Shortbread.  I chose the shortbread because I thought it would be fun to make a different version of shortbread then we are used to.  Around here it just isn’t Christmas without Mom’s Shortbread.  Regular readers are probably thinking, ‘your Mom’s shortbread?’ Yep! There are 2 things Mom bakes, her famous Rice Crispy Squares and her amazing Shortbread. She will generally make a Rice Crispy Square when ever the request is made, BUT will only make her shortbread at Christmas.  Thank goodness she makes A LOT, they freeze well and last well into the new year.

I will start with Mom’s Shortbread in this “Shortbread Bake Off”

Mom’s Christmas Shortbread

½ cup cornstarch
½ cup icing sugar
1 cup flour
¾ cup butter
red and green cherries

Directions:

1. Chop candied cherries into small pieces

2. In a large bowl measure your butter

3. Sift in remaining ingredients

4.  Blend until soft and smooth.  (Sidenote: you could use a spoon, Mom uses her hands to mush is all together.  She has never done it any other way and they are ALWAYS amazing, so why mess with perfection)

It will be crumbly, but keep going…

This is what you are looking for

5. Shape dough into small balls, place approximately 1 inch apart.

6. Press with a floured fork

7. Top with a chopped cherry

8. Bake at 300 F for 20-25 mins or until the edges start to turn golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack.

Look at that! Amazing as always!

Mom’s shortbread are like none I have had before.  She refers to them as being ‘very short’.  They are not very sweet as you might assume from a cookie.  They have a much more dense texture then most shortbread I have tried, like the whipped ones and rolled varieties. Despite the ‘snap’ when you bite into it and the ‘dense’ texture they simply melt in your mouth, they are the best shortbread ever! Now, having said all that, I have yet to find someone who can duplicate this recipe and get it to taste like Mom’s.  It is not like she is withholding a secret ingredient because I watch her time and time again.  I have just come to accept that it is ‘Mom’s Love’ that makes them so darn good!

Now onto the Brown Butter Shortbread, they have a tough act to follow.  I had worked with brown butter once before, on another Daring Bakers Challenge, Baked Alaska.  The cake in the baked Alaska was a brown butter cake, it was delicious!  I was excited to try it in a shortbread.

Brown Butter Short Bread

1 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
2 teaspoons  pure vanilla bean paste
1-2/3 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
2 teaspoons table salt

Browning Butter

1.Cut the butter into small pieces and place in a saucepan over a low heat.

2. Melt the butter and cook until it starts to brown and gives off a warm, nutty aroma.   Stir from time to time to make sure the butter browns evenly. As it gets close to being browned enough it will foam up and you will see little brown bits in the foam.

3. Remove from the heat and pour into a heatproof jug or bowl.   Set aside to cool slightly and then refrigerate until it starts to set again but is not too firm. It should be the consistency of softened butter. Don’t strain out the little brown bits they taste great.

Cookies

1.Preheat the oven to moderate 300°F/ 150°C/gas mark 2.

2. Line 2 large baking sheets with silicon baking paper.

3. Add the sugar and vanilla to the browned butter and beat until very light and fluffy and the sugar is dissolved.

4. Add the flour and salt and mix for at least 2 – 4 minutes to form a soft dough.

It seemed to go all crumbly

So, Mom resorted to her method of mixing

Much better

5. Roll into small balls and press with a fork

6. Bake at 300 F, until edges start to brown.  Remove from the oven and leave the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

These shortbread were ok.  I shouldn’t say that, as a shortbread they were ok, as a cookie they were pretty good.  They did not share any of the same qualities that I would associate with a shortbread.  They were very sweet and a little ‘grainy’ as though the sugar did not fully dissolve.  It kind of reminded me of the texture of graham cracker crust.  Once I turned my thinking around and thought of them just as a cookie, they were pretty good.  We did decide that we may, one day, try the browned butter in Mom’s recipe and see how it turns out.  All and all a good recipe.  It was fun to compare the two,  I think we will be sticking to our original shortbread recipe though.

Thank you Peta for a great challenge!!

Monster Cookies

These cookies caught my eye a few months ago.  They seem to be appearing on many of the foodblogs I frequent and Everyone gave rave reviews!  I had made a few “flops” over the past few days and needed to redeem myself.  I had all ingredients on hand so I figured this was the recipe that was going to do it!

Adapted from Recipie Girl

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated white sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup Smarties

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray, or line with parchment paper or a silpat mats.

2. In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter with the sugars and butter.

3. Use an electric mixer to mix until well combined

4. Mix in the eggs and vanilla.

5. Mix in the oats and baking soda.

6. Then stir in the chips and Smarties.

7.. Drop the cookies by heaping spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.

These seemed a tad big, so I also made some which were 2 tablespoons

8. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. (this was nowhere near enough baking time for me, the cookies were still raw.  I added an additional 10 minutes, but watch yours as all ovens are different). Do not overbake.

9. Cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheets until cookies are set.

10. Transfer to wire racks; cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

These cookies were every bit as delicious as everyone described them to be!  The were very chewy, which I love in an oatmeal cookie.  You could taste the peanut butter, but it did not over power.  I loved the extra crunch of the Smarties. Next time I think I would cook them just a tad bit longer, but they were fantastic! These cookies have made the favourites list!

Almond, Cherry and White Chocolate Biscotti

A few weeks ago I got a request to make Biscotti.  Biscotti? Really? I had never had a biscotti, to me they just seemed like rock hard cookies you had to gnaw on, kind of reminded me of teething biscuits.  I think it was because I am not a fan of “dunking”.  I just never understood why people would “dunk” their cookies in a glass of milk, making a perfectly good cookie all soft and soggy…ewww! Even though I had never made them, my Daring Bakers instincts kicked in and I was up for the challenge!

First off I figured I should learn a little about what a biscotti really was.  Biscotti are twice-baked biscuits originating in Italy. The biscuits are long and narrow, made dry and crunchy through cutting the loaf of dough while still hot and fresh from baking in the oven.  Biscotti are usually accompanied with a beverage for dunking.  Originally made for dunking in wine, they are also enjoyed dunking in coffee and teas.

After much searching, ( I had no idea there were as many varieties of Biscotti) I decided on something simple for the first batch.  The only request that was made was that it had “almond” in it.

Cherry, Almond & White Chocolate Biscotti

From gimmesomeoven.com

Ingredients:

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. oil
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vanilla
4 large eggs
1/2 cup dried berries (cherries or cranberries)
1/3 cup sliced or slivered almonds
white chocolate baking squares or chips (optional)

Method:

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.  Set aside.

2. Mix eggs, oil, and extracts in a bowl with an electric mixer.

3. Then add in dry ingredients and mix together until combined.

4. Then add in berries and almonds – and either mix by hand with a wooden spoon, or very briefly with the electric mixer.

** I added the nuts and mixed until combined.  Removed half the dough and added the cherries to the rest, so I had to different kinds**

5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured surface.  Knead lightly a few times to be sure that berries and almonds are well-distributed.  (Dough will be sticky, so you may need to lightly re-flouring your surface once or twice.)

6. Shape each half into long logs, and flatten to 1″ thickness. Place on a baking sheet.

Almond

Almond and Cherry

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

8. Remove rolls from baking sheet and cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack.

9. Cut each roll diagonally into 1/2″ slices.

10. Place the slices cut-sides down on a baking sheet.

11. Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove, and turn each slice over, and bake for another 10 minutes.  Remove and cool on wire racks.

To add white chocolate, simply melt your desired amount in a double boiler or (carefully!) in the microwave.  Use a fork to drizzle it over the biscotti slices.  Or you can dip each slice in a bowl of the melted white chocolate.

Out of the oven, cooled, pictures taken, I have stalled long enough…I will taste.  I have to admit I was not looking forward to it, but figured I should at least try them before I give them away.

Verdict…They were not bad, quite crunchy!!! Again I had a flashback to 20 years ago of my little cousins gnawing on those awful almond teething cookies.  But I did go back for another bite…they were growing on me.  I figured if I was going to have a biscotti I should do the “dunk”!  So, I brewed up my favourite loose leaf herbal peppermint tea and go in for the “dunk”….

I hesitated a bit….thinking of that soggy cookie….but I go for it

I was pleasantly surprised! It was pretty good!  It did not go soggy, it was not gooey, just right.  Soft enough to chew and not have to gnaw, but not mushy.  Hmmm, I went in for the second dunk! At which point I grabbed the cup and biscotti and headed over to the couch, might as well enjoy in comfort.   I’m not sure if it was a good thing having made these, just another cookie I have to try to stay away from!!!!! I am already looking at a few others I would like to try.