White Chocolate, and Macadamia Nut Cookies

You see how thin these are? Okay so yes I am baking alot this month. This is the perfect time to try new recipes. My pants I slipped on this morning are fitting a little tighter but it is cause I washed them in warm with hubby's work clothes last night. You see he had been playing in the mud all day. Digging a trench, fixing a broken water main or something at work.

REALLY!! I am not gaining or anything. Really I am not. Oh you don't believe me? Hmmmppphhh. Well let us get to the cookies then. :)

Okay so making these the night after making those awesome peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, was well, disappointing. They were okay. I think they came out a bit too crispy or something. Most of my cookies seem to do that. No matter what recipe I use, no matter what butter or flour I use. They always seem to come out thin and crispy. I am talking in all my years of baking cookies. It is only recently I started using whole wheat and only real butter. I used half all purpose/half ww flour wise with these.

Most the times in the past when I make the kids choc. chip cookies I eat some of the cookie dough and have maybe one cookie. Yeah I know raw eggs and all that. But what about eggnog? Isn't that raw eggs? Or do they pasteurize the snot out of that too? haha

You know what I want? A Nice chocolate chip cookie that looks thick. That doesn't taste crispy. I didn't even take a picture of them in the pan, I was too embarrassed. So I am by no means a cookie expert. This is why I was soooo happy with the peanut butter cookies. Finally a cookie I could make correctly that were truly awesome. They were nice and thick. They were chunky. A little crispy but when they are thick like that who cares? lol

Oh by the way dh called me at break time yesterday and everyone LOVED these cookies! They kept coming back for more.peanut butter chocolate chip cookies His boss even stopped by and had one and asked for the recipe so his wife could make them. Who knows? Maybe he will get a promotion! They are THAT good!! Absolutely excellent cookies folks. You MUST try them!

Okay so I got the Macadamia recipe from Epicurious. Do you like macadamian nut cookies? I skipped on the cranberry's. I think it needed some chocolate and to be thicker.

I went back and re read about the peanut butter cookies, even though this is an awesome recipe and those cookies were excellent I am just going over what could be wrong with my other cookies. I noticed something she mentioned was to not overbake. 10-12 minutes and that is it. I do know that is something I have been guilty of in the past is thinking the cookies don't "look done" and waiting. I think that is a problem. Another thing I noticed is she said un greased baking pan. I greased it anyways. lol I wonder if that is why my cookies are too crispy?

Any suggestions or hints let me know.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chips Cookies

Who ever heard of peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips and peanut butter chips in them? Not me. Not until I found a new blog yesterday. I just love finding new blogs full of yummy recipes.

Smitten Kitchen

She got this recipe from The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook: Old-Fashioned Recipes From New York's Sweetest Bakery

Now if that wasn't interesting enough, the New York Times has even written an article about this bakery and several other offshoots and I guess they are all battling it out in court. It was a pretty interesting read if you have the time.

An excerpt from Adam Sternbergh at New York Magazine:

Together, [Jennifer] Appel and a high-school friend, Allysa Torey, begat Magnolia Bakery in 1996. When their partnership, and friendship, dissolved in 1999, Magnolia begat Buttercup. In 2003, Magnolia begat Billy’s, a bakery in Chelsea, opened by a former Magnolia manager, and Buttercup begat Sugar Sweet Sunshine, started by two former Buttercup employees. Now there are at least a half-dozen similar bakeries throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn, with such jolly names as Baked, Happy Happy Happy, Polka Dot Cake Studio, and Cupcake Caboose (an all-cupcake catering company), each serving up cupcakes topped with dollops of sugary frosting swirled artfully like beehive hairdos.

So much fuss over cupcakes and cookies. Bake these and taste for yourself what all the fuss is about. ;)

Anyhow here is the recipe:

Peanut Butter Cookies
Adapted from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

The brilliance of these cookies is that they have include two different formats for peanuts–three if you use chunky peanut butter. They’re crisp on the outside, and almost cakey on the inside. Bake a batch and then hide the results in the furthest and most forgettable reaches of your kitchen. You’ll thank me later.

1¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter at room temperature (smooth is what we used, but I am pretty sure they use chunky at the bakery)
¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon (for sprinkling) sugar
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup peanut butter chips
½ cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, the baking soda, the baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in the peanut butter chips. Place sprinkling sugar on a plate. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls into the sugar, then onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving several inches between for expansion. Using a fork, lightly indent with a crissscross pattern (I used the back of a palette knife to keep it smooth on top), but do not overly flatten cookies. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. Cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not.
Cool the cookies on the sheets for 1 minute, then remove to a rack to cool completely

Now I am normally not a peanut butter cookie lover. But WOW! I fell head over heels for these! I seen the recipe, we have plenty of peanut butter, so I just had to try it. Joey loved them too and he is normally not big on peanut butter cookies either but he said he HAS to have these cookies now. haha They are THAT good. Of course the kids loved them and Chris pitched a fit when he seen Joe take a bowl of them to work to share with co workers. lol

Here is the link to Smitten Kitchen, the blog I got it from. I am definately going to have to go over there more often. I did use half whole wheat and half all purpose flour in this recipe. Do you like peanut butter cookies?

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits

So I had some buttermilk left after I did the chocolate cake the other day. I decided to whip up a batch of buttermilk biscuits. Now I for one am not too fond of biscuits but my dh is. These are actually pretty good. I should of stuck them in a muffin pan though. For the page I got the recipe from just click the link. One batch makes 16 HUGE biscuits. Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits

Do you ever make biscuits?

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits

4 c. whole wheat flour
8 tbsp. of softened butter (½ c.)
2 c. buttermilk w/ live and active cultures
2 tsp. cream of tartar
2 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt

Work the softened butter into the flour till the mixture is crumbly, a fork works best for this. Add the buttermilk to the flour and set in a warm place (75-80 degrees) for at least 8 hours or overnight. If you want biscuits for dinner, it’s best to start them right after breakfast. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Then, add the rest of the ingredients, mix well. Butter a 9x13 pan. Grasp a small handful of dough, form it into a biscuit shape and line them up in the pan, sides touching. All the dough should fit. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until slightly brown on top. Keep an eye on them, they brown quick! Eat with butter and raw honey :-)

California Round Cake

Okay so I finally got around to making "The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever I used restraint. I waited for a birthday! lol I went to bed at 10:00 p.m. on 12-7-07 and I woke up at 2:00 a.m. having a nitemare. I laid there but couldn't fall back asleep. So at 3:00 a.m. I got up, had a cup of coffee, and started making cake! If you want the recipe and step by step pictures, just click that link. It was fun and easy to make. I have a huge cookie sheet that is only 1 inch off of hers but I decided I wanted to make 2 round pans instead so I could put it on my cake stand. Next time I will probably do the cookie sheet. I chopped walnuts, but didn't use them cause I was thinking they weren't ground up fine enough and didn't want dh to complain.

Now remember, I use all whole wheat. It was fun and very easy to make. The only problem was she recommends icing the cake when it is warm. Now that is probably a good idea if you are using a cookie sheet and leaving the cake in the pan. But I needed the two cake pans empty and the cake on a cake stand. Joey woke up, by then was it 5:00? I can't remember. So he took the cakes out but one broke a little bit. Grrrrrr......It was very soft. So yes the 3rd picture looks terrible! But trust me the cake is excellent. He iced it and there was plenty left over and I put it in the fridge hoping it would firm up. It did.

It really did. It was the best chocolate whole wheat cake ever. Not wheaty tasting at all. I also added some cinnamon to it. We ate it later that nite straight from the fridge. I really did like this recipe and will use it again and again. All the kids loved it and Joey said it tasted like a chocolate fudge brownie. On her website in the comments section lots of people were saying that this cake is Texas Sheet Cake. I believe it. In my make a mix cookbook where it tells how to make a huge brownie mix up and all the recipes you can use from that base mix, texas sheet cake is listed. The recipe is different though.

So my point is if you are looking for an awesome chocolate cake that some people think taste like a brownie, that you can also use all whole wheat with, this may be the recipe for you. :) Enjoy!

See the 4th picture? It doesn't look so bad there once it was cut and it firmed up a bit. :)

What kind of cake do you make for birthdays?

Chocolate Brownies

One sentence is all it takes.
"Mom, can I have money for the snack bar at school?"

NO!!! Do you know how much garbage is in those snacks at school? A lot more than what I would put in a snack. So I went looking for the already prepped muffin mix in the deep freezer. I can usually abstain from eating those. Gone. But there was a huge container of brownie mix! Thank goodness we only had 3 eggs left so I could only make a batch and a half. It was delicious!

Do you let the kids buy junk food at school? Or do you just make them junk food at home?

Newest Pizza Adventure

Okay so this other site is where I got the new dough recipe from that I made on Monday for Tuesday. It was supposed to sit for 24 hours.

White Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Recipe


Okay so it was really great! Even better than the last. Isn't that what I always say? each recipe is better than the last. lol His recipe calls for 3 cups of flour for one big dough ball. I wasn't sure how much it would make because we like to make 3 and freeze 3. So I made 4 big dough balls. I took two out and figured I would split them in half.


Here is one dough ball:


Now we have the pizza machine, but it can only cook one pizza at a time. So I took one dough ball and cut that in half. Made that pizza(Kass helped with toppings).


I dusted the dough with a little flour and lots of corn meal on the stone.



Here is how that turned out. Yeah I know dd#1 was dropping toppings all over the table.




Then I split the next half in half again cause I just bought 4 new round cake pans. I took two out, melted butter and brushed 2 round pans. That half dough was enough for two of the round pans.




I also have a huge rectangular shaped cookie sheet. I melted butter and brushed that pan as well. I took the last dough and we put that on this pan. I am thinking maybe there would of been enough dough from this for one more cake pan. Cause that pizza came out thicker than the deep dish rounds even! The first dough was enough for one big round and two cake pans.



Look at that crust on the deep dish round!




The brown meat is turkey sausage




This is the side view.


The two round deep dish ones were really good. I am going to use this recipe again next time. The brushed butter was just enough for a crispy crust but not greasy. I liked that crust better than all the other past crust. Isn't this what I always say? lol I didn't try the pizza on the pizza maker and the rectangle one looked good too but I already had 3 small slices of the deep dish and was full. That is one thing about the whole wheat. It fills you up faster than white flour.


This is a pic of the pizza from the huge cookie sheet.


Basically we wound up with ALOT of pizza! Like twice as much as we needed and there is still 2 dough balls in the fridge. haha Maybe one dough is enough for one night.

Have you ever made deep dish pizza? What is your favorite kind of crust?

Hot rolls with dinner!

I made Tammy's bread again. The first double batch of dough I am freezing. An online friend recommended freezing after the first rise and punch down. We'll see how that winds up later in the week. The next batch I made one round loaf of bread in my ceramic kitchenaid pie pan. Another loaf in my ceramic loaf pan. Then the next double batch I made rolls!!

Brown n serve rolls have nothing on these! I used muffin liners to avoid having them stick to the pan. I sprayed the liners but then some of the muffin stuck to the liners. haha Oh well. Just a little bit. They were very, very tasty and every bit as good as the last time I made this bread. Melt n your mouth!! Very soft and tender and not wheaty at all.

Dh called and said he wants some more of my home made buttermilk biscuits! I told him we are all out of buttermilk. (Yes I know the trick with the vinegar and the reg. milk ;) ) And can he wait for a few days? Sure thing. :D I was already in the middle of the 3rd double batch of bread/rolls so hunting down that recipe and whipping up MORE bread just didn't seem like a good idea at the time. lol

Well on Tuesday I am going big shopping for the month. I am usually at the store 1-2 times a week but at the beginning of the month I like to take and get a bunch of stuff at once. I need to make up a list tomorrow. I found a new cooking blog with really yummy recipes. When I seen she added about 3 lbs of butter for her chocolate cake recipe I instantly gained a size! haha

There are alot of new recipes I want to try this month so pull up a chair and stick around. These are on my list of new things to try:

Pico de Gallo

The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake

Roasted Beef Tenderloin

Cinnamon Rolls

Steak sandwiches

What new recipes are you going to try this month?

Tammy's Easy Pizza

My family loves pizza. Generally over the summer that translated to us making h.m. once or twice and the rest of the time, like once a week, it was Little Caesar's. haha Making your own is much healthier though than pizza from your local fast food place. On Oct 26 we made 6 pizzas, 3 to eat, 3 to freeze. So we actually didn't need to make any this week but I seen Tammy's recipe and I just had to give it a try. (While I actually felt like making it.)

The recipe I usually stick with is Jay's Signature Pizza Crust I think I tried one other one once and it was a complete flop. It is pretty good but tends to break easily, probably cause of the whole wheat.

Anyhow so I tried this recipe and it was pretty similiar. It is a very good recipe. A few things I did notice especially since we had this Wed. night and that was only a few days difference.

Generally, I LOVE crust. That is white flour crust. I think I enjoy crazy bread and crust more than the pizza. I loved it when L.C. used to do their "pan" pizza. They discontinued that. Now I get the cheesy bread when we order pizza and that is pretty similiar.

Anyhow ww is different though. It taste good while eating the pizza but it is not something I want to chow down on KWIM? I would be more apt to toss the crust if there were too much of it on the ww pizza. That being said, with Tammy's recipe, this crust actually was pretty good. No not white flour good. But good. I did like it better than Jay's. It was still wheaty but not as wheaty. I am wondering if the difference is in the time when you add the yeast. Her pizza and her bread recipe you add it at the end and mix with everything else. Most recipes tell you to mix the yeast with water, then add everything else.

I am wondering if that helps it not be so "wheaty" tasting. I don't know. Another thing I noticed was generally Jay's recipe I HAVE to eat it with a fork cause it breaks easily. This one I didn't have too. It was pretty sturdy.

Next time I am going to use EVOL instead of butter. I greased the pan with evol spray, not butter like it recommends. I omitted the salt to add to the top.

All in all it is a very yummy recipe and we are going to use it again. :)

Tammy's Easy Pizza

Description:

A soft pizza dough recipe, topped with your favorite pizza toppings and baked
Yield: 12-16 slices
Ingredients:

Crust Ingredients:

3/4 cup water (110-115 degrees, preferably)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 Tablesppoons butter, melted or very softened
2 1/2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon yeast

Other Ingredients:

1Â Tablespoon cornmeal (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup pizza sauce
12 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
sliced onions, optional
chopped bell peppers, optional
turkey pepperoni, fried turkey bacon, or fried hamburger, optional
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/8 teaspoon basil
2 Tablespoons parmesan cheese
Instructions:

1. If using a bread machine to make pizza dough, put ingredients in bread machine in order listed and set to dough setting.

If making dough by hand, mix water, butter, and sugar in mixing bowl. Add part of the flour and stir. Add the rest of the flour and the yeast, and stir into a dough. Knead for 6-8 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic. Set dough in bowl and grease the top. Cover with a towel and set in a warm place to rise for about 45 minutes.*

2. After dough has risen the first time, punch down and knead until air bubbles are removed.

3. Liberally butter a 16-inch round pizza pan, and press dough onto pan. Carefully lift one-half of the crust and fold over (to expose half of the pizza pan). Sprinkle 1/2 Tablespoon cornmeal over pan. Lay crust back in place and repeat on other half, so that there is cornmeal sprinkled between entire layer of crust and pan.

4. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon salt over top of crust and then spread with 1 cup pizza sauce. Sprinkle on cheese and any optional toppings desired. Sprinkle on oregano, basil, and parmesan cheese last.

5.** Place pizza in oven and turn heat to 400 degrees. Bake for 10 minutes; rotate crust and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until top is browned. (Be sure to watch so it doesn't burn; every oven is different!)

6. When pizza is browned, turn off heat and open oven door. Leave pizza in oven until ready to serve. Then remove from oven, cut, and serve. If there is leftover pizza, we often put the pieces directly on a cooling rack to cool, which prevents condensation forming between the crust and pan.

Here are some pictures.


The dough. That is the other thing I noticed, it never really did rise. I let them sit for a few hours too. *shrugs*



Here are some pictures. My dd #1 was in charge of spreading out the dough and adding the toppings. Onion, olives, bell pepper, pineapple, cheese, chicken.



We have a pizza oven/turner. But it can only make one at a time.



This is a cookie sheet. I think I want some pizza stones.



It's not as easy to try to get them into the square pans I guess. lol



This one filled out pretty nice.



The best part, sliced and on my plate! Thank you to Tammy for another wonderful recipe! What kind of pizza do you like to make?

The Best Whole Wheat Bread ever!!!

Okay so I use strictly whole wheat for my recipes. I am no expert so sometimes it is a matter of trial and error. When I started baking alot earlier this year, I found a good recipe on recipe zaar which called for half/half. We hadn't gotten the grain mill yet so used white flour and it was the softest most delicious bread you ever tasted.

Once we got our wheat it was still good. But as you know WW only is easy to taste "wheaty", quite a bit on the rougher side. Last week I baked a few loaves and I did goof by having the oven on too high or something and , well, they were pretty disappointing. VERY WHEATY as well.

I decided to try a new recipe from Tammy's Website. Oh my!!! It was perfect!!! Very soft and tender, melt in your mouth. I can honestly say it reminded me of when I had made those first loaves many months ago with white flour! That is how good it was. I am definately making this again and again. I think this will be my new "main bread" recipe and occasionally I will try others.

I made chicken breast and mashed potatoes and broc., carrots and cauli. for dinner. I served up a loaf of the bread fresh out of the oven and everyone ate two entire loaves!!

If you use WW flour only and are looking for a very tasty soft bread, I urge you to try this. The only thing I can say additionally is that the wheat we use is soft white wheat. Normally people recommend hard red wheat for bread. But I find this soft white wheat very tasty. :) I used EVOL. I also have a kitchen aid mixer with a dough hook so I let that do the kneading. Their book recommends when the dough is in a ball and it all clings to the hook then it is done kneading. This happened yesterday and the end result was amazing. I have heard that the secret to great bread is in the kneading so I just wanted to share what worked for me. I look forward to trying more of her recipes!

Tammy's Homemade Wheat Bread

Description:

A slightly sweet, healthy half-whole-wheat bread
Yield: 1 loaf
Ingredients:

1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons dry yeast
Instructions:

1. *Combine first 6 ingredients in a large mixing bowl; stir.

2. Add flours and yeast, and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10-15 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with a clean towel and let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes.

3. Punch dough down; knead for a few minutes until smooth and then form into a loaf. Place in greased loaf pan and cover. Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. If loaf starts browning too soon, lightly lay a piece of foil on top of the loaf to prevent too much darkening.

5. Remove bread from oven and allow to rest in pan for a few minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cover with a cloth. Slice and enjoy while still warm! Leftover bread can be stored in an airtight bag or frozen until needed.

The oil,water,honey,sugar,salt, and milk mixture.



The dough



Ready for the oven



I smeared butter on the tops



Too bad you can't smell it!



Sliced up in my bread basket



I need to make up 9 batches at once and stick 3 in the freezer. I wonder how that will work freezing the dough after it has risen? Do you like to make bread?

Pipin' Hot Bakery Whole Wheat Tortillas

W.W. Tortillas

Pipin' Hot Bakery Whole Wheat Tortillas
Recipe #7417
14 ratings

These flavorful tortillas were used at the bakery for our breakfast burritos, which had scrambled eggs, cheese, salsa, fried potatoes, and sour cream. I also use them to make bean burritos, quesadillas, and as an accompaniment with a bowl of pinto beans.
by Troy A. Hakala

servings:8 tortillas

time to make 10 min 10 min prep

1 cup white flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons canola oil
2/3 cup water

1. Combine flours, baking powder, and salt.
2. Stir in the oil and water all at once, using mixer or a fork, and toss quickly.
3. When dough can be gathered into a soft mass, turn onto floured surface and knead a few times.
4. Form 8 balls of dough, dredge in flour, and store in a plastic bag to prevent drying until ready to be used.
5. Flatten first ball of dough into a disk.
6. Roll out dough on floured surface until 7 inches or larger with even strokes that do not reach to the edge, turning over frequently.
7. Place tortilla in ungreased, frying pan that has been preheated to medium-high heat.
8. Cook 30-40 seconds on one side, turn over with spatula and cook 30-40 seconds on other side., First side should be pale and sprinkled with brown spots and the other side will be blotched.
9. Repeat process with other balls of dough.
10. Stack tortillas on a plate as they are cooked and cover them with a dish towel, which will keep them soft.

Okay so I made these the first time back in January. They were really good! I have made them many times since. I substitute the white for wheat flour though and the canola for olive oil though. They looked funny the way I rolled them out and I need practice but they were really yummy! I originally made 8 for the 5 kids and I and they said that was NOT enough! They wanted more! haha

Okay so this is my normal recipe now. I would still like to tweak it a bit. They taste GREAT! But sometimes they break when folding. *taps foot* So alot of times we fold them in half like a taco. When I make the kids quick stuff to eat like scrambled eggs and cheese burritos, or chili and cheese burritos, I flash freeze them and then put in a container or freezer bag. The kids eat them up quick! I need to do another pot of chili tomorrow.

Anyhow I take two, lay one flat and put ingredients in, then lay another one on top and seal the edges with a fork, flash freeze etc.

On Sunday I even got Kass in there to help! We made 48 and had chicken breast & cheese quesadillas for lunch. We had bought an $8.00 tortilla press. They are supposed to be a press for corn tortillas but I heard women saying they have one for their flour tort. on another forum. (SO you don't have to roll out) I notice without a press they come out very poofy and one thing is there was burnt flour all over it seems. But when I used the tortilla press, no bubbles and no burnt flour! You may need to add a bit extra flour before putting on tortilla press as they do tend to stick! Oh I forgot to add earlier when we were making the food to flash freeze, instead of warming them up individually in the skillet, we took them straight from the press, filled with ingredients and sealed with a fork, put them on cookie sheets and baked in the oven. We let them cool, then flash froze, etc.

For our quesedillas, we coated them with butter and cooked in pan. The kids will microwave the frozen ones later.

Anyhow I have pics w/out tortilla press and with. Enjoy!

BRB with pics

These first two pics were as the recipe calls for 8(small)tortillas.

This second pic is when I took the 8 recipe and made them twice as big.
laug
These last two are with the tortilla press . As you can tell no huge poofy bubbles and they are shaped round like they are supposed to be! Very cute and they look like corn tortillas!

Have you ever made h.m. tortillas?