Gridiron Grub Week 4: The Chewy

There are a few readers out there who I know are lucky enough to be part of Rob's weekly cookie exploitation, I'm one of them. While I often engage in the cookie festivities, in the past couple of weeks, I have been remiss in my baking duties and have been relegated to licking the the spatula (my favorite part!). I have been trying to avoid taking a dive face first into the cookie jar, so I haven't been championing the cookie baking lately. The cookie baking went from one day a year to a weekly ritual during football season.

This past weekend, Rob was at it again. The fortunate few indulged grandly on Sunday night, leaving nothing but scraps. So for those of you waiting for the Monday afternoon cookies, well it will have to be next week. In the meantime, here's a chance to see behind the scenes.

One of my favorites, the Chewy:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/4 c. bread flour (all purpose works fine, you'll have a chewier crumb if you use bread flour)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 c. sugar
1 1/4 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c. white chocolate chips
1/2 c. milk chocolate chips
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. (the microwave works too)

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl and add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed.

Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined.

Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined.

Stir in the chocolate chips. Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet.

Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes.

Eat immediately. :)

*k*

bundt cake madness

I told you that there would be photos of bundt cakes in the near future. Here it is. I have made 3 bundt cakes in as many days. Two for friends who needed comfort food (hence the other comfort food post) and one for an anniversary party. These things aren't too healthy, but they make great gifts. I have modified this recipe to make a chocolate, pistachio and strawberry bundt. Here they are:

Bundt Cake using boxed Cake Mix Recipe - Chocolate
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 package chocolate pudding
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup chocolate chips

Frosting - optional
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a bundt cake pan. Place all ingredients into a large mixing bowl, except for the chocolate chips. Beat on low until just combined. Then switch speeds to high and beat on high for about 3 to 4 minutes, until smooth. Pour batter into bundt cake pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until wooden skewer comes out smooth.

Frosting: Wait until cake is cooled. Melt butter and chocolate chips together. While still liquid, brush over the bundt cake.

Pistachio Cake Recipe
Replace chocolate cake mix with yellow or white cake mix
Replace chocolate pudding with pistachio pudding
eliminate chocolate chips, add pistachios (optional)

Strawberry Cake Recipe
Replace chocolate cake mix with strawberry cake mix
Replace chocolate pudding with vanilla pudding
eliminate chocolate chips, add chopped strawberries (optional)
2 cups chopped strawberries
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp white sugar

Place strawberries, vinegar and sugar in a bowl and toss together. Let the mixture chill for at least 2 hours. Spoon over cake.

To make this slightly more healthy:
Use low fat or fat free sour cream
Use sugar free pudding
substitute apple juice for the oil (but cake won't be as light)

Have fun with it - use lemon cake with lemon pudding, or vanilla cake with chocolate chips. There are so many variations of this.

a diversion

Every now and then, a diversion is in order. I'll be visiting a friend's house for dinner tomorrow and decided to bring a dessert. I thought of making something healthy, but not everyone likes healthy desserts. I wasn't feeling particularly ambitious, but ended up coming up with something that I thought was pretty interesting. These came out a little more cakey than I had planned, so I am certain that I'll be revisiting this recipe. Here it is, feel free to tweak it.

Cake Mix Blondies Recipe
1 box yellow cake mix
1 egg
2 containers of snack-pak butterscotch pudding
1 c. chopped walnuts + 1/2 c. reserve
1/2 c. raisins
3/4 c. unsweetened coconut

Pre-heat oven to 325. Mix all ingredients, except 1/2 c. walnuts (keep that for later) into a large bowl and using a spatula, fold the mix together. It will be very stiff. Grease an 8-inch brownie pan and press the batter into the pan. Sprinkle 1/2 c. walnuts on the top. Bake for 45-50 mins. or until done.

These came out with a very nice crumbly texture (I was trying for dense blondie texture). Maybe a liquid, instead of the pudding, would work for a denser crumb. I suspect that you could increase the temperature to 350 and cook it a little faster. Ideas for next time.

enjoy!