The day was going smoothly until I looked out my window. It looked like something was flying through the air. I hoped it was merely dust blowing in the wind as I walked towards the window to get a closer look. Oh yes, the air was filled with the first flurries of the year. The flakes weren't very substantial, but still -- you can't refute visible proof. Winter is on its way.
The only remedy for this: cookies with lots and lots of butterscotch chips. Using the recipe I posted about in July, I whipped up a batch, got warm by the oven, and pretended that cookies are pure health, with no bad ingredients. The smell, the taste -- it was definitely enough to ward off the woes. Now, looking for something to put under the plate to take a picture, and having the red placemats literally jump out and fall at my feet -- that was a cruel joke of the universe.
But how do you handle those winter woes, or keep yourself warm on the increasingly cold nights?* *Unless you live somewhere warm, and then I both hate and envy you.
While there's no chance in hell that I'm going to give up my beloved meats, cheeses, and other animal products, I still like to mix it up with vegan food now and then. Some of it is just darned good -- rich soups, excellent salads, and some tasty dessert treats.
Above you can check out Everyday Dish's vegan chocolate chip cookies. (Get the exact measurements here.) Making use of a ton of pantry items, this looks like a great way to whip up some tasty cookies last-minute. They also fit into a lot of dietary restrictions -- you can used unrefined sugar and other types of flour. (I kind of wish I saw this recipe last week, when my chocolate-craving friend was over and in the midst of a refined sugar fast.)
So that 36-hour cookie (unless you make use of vacuums and cut the time) has been all the rage these days, and I've been itching to see what all the fuss is about. While I'm not crazy enough to make them in my AC-free apartment, I happily accepted some fresh-baked cookies from a friend of mine. You know what? I was far from a big fan. Very far.
I loved the texture, but there was just too much darned chocolate, and my mouth even rebelled at the taste a little, getting a bit itchy. Even though my friend knows his way around baking a chocolate chip cookie, there's a chance he fudged something up, but even still -- it should've been good enough for a "wow" instead of a "huh..." Any of you out there feel the same way?
Personally, I'm going to stick with my faux Tollhouse recipe that's part of The Essential Baking Cookbook. It's great with chocolate, white vanilla, and sinfully delectable with butterscotch. Check it out after the jump.
While it's not exactly the most scientific and perfectly matched comparison, Ideas in Food took on the notion posted in The New York Times, where the perfect chocolate chip cookie takes 36 hours. I don't know about you, but whenever I want cookies, I'm sure as hell not waiting 36 hours, especially since that amount of time will usually end the craving and make me remember just how unhealthy and dangerous it would be for me to make a bunch of cookies for my single self.
Anyhow, to simulate the 36 hours, Ideas in Food vacuum-sealed the dough. "I did not make a test batch of cookies with unprocessed dough so this was an entirely unscientific experiment. What I can tell you is that the dough darkened and became fully saturated, similar to the way that the dough usually looks after a couple of days in the refrigerator. It also changed the texture of the dough, making it a bit more elastic to the touch." So, is there anyone out there with a vacuum sealer that wants to put the two techniques head to head?
Jennifer decided that the very best way to celebrate Bake or Break's second birthday was to share her very favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe with her readers. She baked up a batch (these puppies have two kinds of chocolate and homemade oat flour in them) and took some seriously drool-worthy pictures of them. This particular one makes me want to leap through my computer screen in order to show down.
Jennifer, thanks for adding your image to the Slashfood Flickr pool and happy anniversary!
Jim Mamary and Alan Harding were Brooklyn restaurant pioneers, opening a dozen restaurants in the past decade. But now people are mad because they say their restaurants are chains. Chains are bad. Yuppie fight!
If the above item makes you roll your eyes at New York, consider this: the city has roaming "Sweetmobiles" serving cookies, hot waffles, and crème brûlée. I heart New York indeed.
Eric Asimov gives poor, maligned dry sherry some love.
I haven't heard about these cookies, but it sounds like they are pretty popular. The cookies are actually baked in flight, which I found surprising. I have a hard time thinking of any airline food as good. I guess there is an exception to every rule. Has anyone had these cookies who'd like to share their opinion?
In advance of Valentine's Day the good folks at the San Diego Union Tribune'sfood section conducted a tasting of chocolate chips earlier this week. Not being much of a baker, I'd opt for champagne truffles as way to express affection through chocolate rather than chocolate chips.
But let's get back to the paper's survey. The eight panelists sampled the chips in cookies and out of hand, one of my favorite ways to, ahem, "test" chocolate chips.
The chocolatey morsels were evaluated for flavor, texture and performance in a cookie. And the winner for best performance in a cookie (and overall winner) was Guittard Real Semisweet Chocolate Chips. I've never heard of Guittard but a quick Google search revealed that the E. Guittard is a purveyor of some mighty fine sounding gourmet chocolate bars, including Venezuelan Sur de Lago.
The runner-up in the tasting was an old-school classic: Nestle Toll House Semisweet Chocolate Morsels.
It's Christmas evening and I'm sitting around the fire at my parent's
house with my favorite baking partners: my sister Abby and my babysitter Katie, a family friend. We're mulling over
that question that irks every girl who got a couple of new baking toys and has a Costco bag of chocolate chips to use
up: what, exactly, should I bake?
That's when I remembered Heidi's recipe for peppermint
bark chocolate chip cookies. What a great way to use leftover Christmas candy! (Or, an excuse to hit those
post-Christmas 50%-off sales.) You needn't stop at peppermint bark, either - try chopping up any number of leftover
chocolate-based confections. We're planning on experimenting with the recipe over the next few days. Anyone else out
there baking tonight?
In advance of Valentine's Day the good folks at the 
It's Christmas evening and I'm sitting around the fire at my parent's
house with my favorite baking partners: my sister Abby and my babysitter Katie, a family friend. We're mulling over
that question that irks every girl who got a couple of new baking toys and has a Costco bag of chocolate chips to use
up: what, exactly, should I bake?
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