My "Everything" Chocolate Chip Cookie

What I love about cookies, is they are a lot like people, they come in every shape and size.  The types of cookies, flavors, textures and sizes are too many to number.

I believe there is truly a cookie for everyone.

This cookie is something that has evolved over the years.  The reason I love the basic recipe is because the cookie is soft and plump. It has some substance to it, a three to four bite cookie.

The secret ingredient is bacon.  I know it sounds strange but it totally makes this cookie.

My son, the other day said to me as were getting into the car, "wow, that bacon cookie is the best."

My Mom made the cookies for a church event last weekend and lets just say that after the cookies were made they didn't make it to the church.  LOL

You can find a lot more of these types of recipes here at The Chocolate Chip Cookie Challenge being hosted by 52 Kitchen Adventures.  It all starts on August 15, 2012.

Recipe:  The Everything Cookie, makes about 24 cookies depending on size of cookie scoop

3 3/4 cups of cake flour
2 tablespoons of corn starch
1 teaspoon of salt (if you use salted butter, reduce this to 1/2 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks of cold butter
1 1/4 cups of packed brown sugar
1/2 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup of buttermilk
2 large eggs, room temperature

6-8 pieces of cooked bacon, diced
1/2 cup of toffee bites
1/4 cup of pecans or almonds
1 cup of chocolate chips, I used semi sweet.

Your options may also include: coconut or dried fruit. Let your imagination guide your "everything" cookie.

With this recipe I did not use my Kitchenaid because I did not want to over work the cookie dough.  This was all done by hand.

Preheat oven to 375.

Fry up your bacon.  I found the bacon that is not super crispy works best.  Set aside to cool until you are ready to add it to your dough.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

Grate your two sticks of cold butter into a medium size bowl. Add your sugars and combine until just blended.  You should see pieces of butter.

Add the vanilla, two eggs and buttermilk.  Do not over blend.  Mix until well combined.

Start adding the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture.  The dough should be moist and not dry.

Add: bacon, nuts, toffee bits and chocolate chips.  Mix until combined.

Using a large cookie scoop, place the cookies 2 inches apart on the cookie tray.

Bake for 15-18 minutes.  This depends on your oven.  They should be light to golden brown.

Transfer to a cookie rack and let cool.

Jaffa Cake (cookie or cake is the question)

I have been hearing about Jaffa Cake from my kids for a few years.  They have been wanting me to make some for a while and I keep agreeing, then I forget to buy the marmalade or something else comes up.

Jaffa Cake is a store-bought treat that you can buy in England.  Some call it a cookie and others call it cake.  In my opinion, it's kind of both because it's the size of a cookie and the texture is like a very airy yellow cake.  Whatever you choose to call it…IT is good!  LOL

Yogscast is a gaming channel that is from England and this is where my kids have learned of this delicious treat.  Could I make it at home was my question?

I found very few recipes from scratch.  VERY FEW!  I basically had to take the few instructions and ingredients and mesh them together and HOPE that it all turned out okay.  Most sites encouraged you to buy sponge cake, cut them into your shapes and then add the marmalade and chocolate…BORING!

If you follow my directions you should have a successful batch.  The key to success is the first part in making the batter over a warm bowl.  Secondly, don't over bake them.  Know your oven.  Use good marmalade and chocolate.

Good luck with making the Jaffa Cookies and let me know how yours turn out!

Recipe:  Jaffa Cake

4 large eggs
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of flour

Marmalade
Dark Chocolate, for melting and topping

Preheat oven to 325.

In a large pot, add hot water.  Find a bowl that fits inside of this pot large enough to hold about 4 cups of batter.

In the large bowl, add your eggs.  Let them sit for 5 minutes to warm up.  Add your sugar.

Using a hand mixer, mix the eggs and sugar for 3-4 minutes.  This is an important step because you are making the bubbles for the sponge cake.  Your eggs should be very frothy and lemon in color.

Sift your flour TWICE.  Remeasure your flour to equal a 1/2 cup and sprinkle all over your egg/sugar batter.  CAREFULLY mix in the flour.  You do not want to break down your bubbles.

I used three sizes of pans and they all worked.  A cupcake pan, a mini cupcake pan, and an 8in spring foam pan…you choose.

Whichever pan you use, lightly butter.  With a teaspoon, add the batter to the bottoms of your pan.  This does bake and rise, so you want to use just a little bit, enough to cover the bottom.  Remember it's kind of like a cookie.

The cook times are all different for the three size pans you use:

Cupcake or Muffin pan…bake for 12 minutes
mini muffin pan…………bake for 8 minutes
8in spring pan…………..bake for 20 minutes

When you remove the pans from the oven, have a rack ready to transfer the cakes too.  I used a sharp knife and gently went around each one to help them come out of the pan.  You will notice that they hold their shape really good and are springy.

Once they have cooled, add the marmalade to each top.  I used a knife and frosted the marmalade on.

Melt your chocolate.  I use the double pan method.  The mini muffin's I was able to hand dip and the rest it was easier to frost the chocolate with a knife.

Put the cookies/cakes in the fridge to set.  ENJOY your homemade Jaffa Cookies..or cakes..or..YEAH.

NOTE: If you let the cakes/cookies sit out over night they are even better and more authentic to what you get in the package.  The exposure to the air allows the spongy cake to dry on the outside a bit giving you this cookie-cake-biscuit texture that is absolutely to die for!

Pictures for each step and more are below!

GLUTEN FREE OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES and Hurricane Irene

We had an earthquake and then we had a hurricane, the first month of living in Maryland. It was quite an adventure. 

I would be so ungrateful if I did not say "Thank You" to everyone that wished us well while dealing with Hurricane Irene.  I cannot tell you how much your comments, well wishes and words of concern reached into our hearts.  We truly felt your concern and love towards us.  I spent several days cooking before the storm actually hit us.  One of the things I made twice was the GF Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (recipe below).  They were so yummy and hit the spot for a quick snack or pick me up.  I have shared links to some of those wonderful pages that kept my family in their thoughts last week.  I went to each site and pulled a recipe that had chocolate, chocolate chips or oatmeal in them.  There are a few pages that I could not find recipes on their sites but I need to mention them here:  

Fresh Plate, Recipes for my Boys, Lifestyles of the not so rich and famous, Cupcakesluv for Food an Cakes, The Culinary Lens, The Chop Shop Butchers, Art and Jewelry Designs by Audrey, The Unseasoned Wok, Easy Skinny Life...THANK YOU!

Mia's Domain- Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

Rich and Sweet- Chocolate and Pecan Cookies

Cooking with Mel-Peanut Butter Chip Chewy Chocolate Cookies

What's for Dinner? Ally's Kitchen- Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Basilmomma, a busy Mom who likes to cook- Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Chef in Disguise- Oatmeal Date Biscotti

Dishing the Divine-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

Simple Fare, Fairly Simple-Mama B's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Farmgirl Gourmet- Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cookies

Just One Cookbook-Steamed Cake (Chocolate included)

The Southern Lady Cooks-Zucchini Oatmeal Cookies

Running with the Devil(ed) Eggs-Chewy Oatmeal Apple Cookies

Hugs & Cookies xoxox- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

Sumptuous Spoonfuls- Decadent Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Lark's Country Heart- Strawberry Chocolate Chip Scones

I try to post a gluten-free recipe as well as a "regular" recipe for the things I cook.  After all, I did cook for 25+ years before going gluten-free and have some amazing recipes to share.  Unfortunately, this is not one of those times.  I cannot find the recipe that I used to make.  I hope that you enjoy the recipes that I have found on these pages that I follow.  All of these sites that I have shared above are foodies that have become my friends.   

GLUTEN-FREE OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1 cup butter

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

3/4 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup almond flour

1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1 tablespoon arrowroot or corn starch

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)

3 cups quick-cooking oats

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1.  Preheat the oven to 350°F degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth.

2.  Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla.

3.  Combine the dry ingredients, except for the oats and slowly mix into the wet ingredients.

4.  Mix in the quick oats and chocolate chips.

5. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Use a cookie scoop, with the dough tightly scooped to create a softer and thicker cookie. If the cookie scoop is loosely scooped the cookie will bake and go flat.  It still tastes good just slightly crispier on the edges.

6.  Bake for 12 minutes in a preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on sheet before transferring over to a wire rack to cool.

I will share some pictures with you from our week with the hurricane.

When they said that we were in the path of Irene, I honestly believe that most people where I live did not believe them.  My family took the warnings seriously and immediately started planning and preparing for the worst.  We did not know what to expect.  We gathered our 72 hours kits and had them ready so if the call came that we had to leave, we would.  We are not superheroes and we did not want to take any chances with our lives or those of the many people that may have to rescue us if we chose to stay against the council to leave.  We bought food, gas, water, propane.  We filled our bathtubs, checked our generator, tied down our stuff outside and watched with anticipation.

This is my handsome husband that did so much!  When we lost power for 3 days he spent some of his time reading. 

We played our favorite game during those days without power.  Settlers of Catan is an awesome family game. Drake won three games in a row!

Even with a hurricane, Isabella was dressed like a princess.  She is so cute!

After two days of not having a shower, I could not stand it and had to do the ol' "boil water and use bucket" set up.  It worked and it felt great to have clean hair again!

I prepared meals that we could use on our outside gas grill.  BBQ chicken legs were a huge hit and super easy.

I cannot tell you how happy I was to have our NUWAVE .  It allowed us to have homemade fries. I had an oven if we needed it.  I love this thing.

I should have made more, the kids devoured them!

The damage was not as bad as some places that we have seen.  We were lucky that we did not have any flooding like some areas.  Our neighbors dealt with wind damage and trees.  This one lost his fence.

Trees in power lines were everywhere, hence our not having any power for a few days.

Branches and limbs were everywhere.

Even a few trees landed on several homes.  I felt bad for these people.  I can only imagine the scare they got when they heard the tree land on their roof.

This is a picture of how one tree knocked another tree and another over.  It was like dominoes.

Written by Sherron Watson

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies #GlutenFree

I have recipes that I only make during certain season's or holidays like everyone else.  I enjoy having eggnog at Christmas time and Ham with Easter Dinner.  You will soon learn that I love pumpkin all year long.   When I crave a cookie that is soft, warm and filled with the flavors of spices and chocolate, I usually go to my favorite Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.
 


I was first introduced to this gem of a recipe, 24 years ago by a family friend, Roseanne.  I still remember Roseanne and their family.  They had all boys and we would often house sit for them when they went away.  She would make these cookies for her boys because the recipe would make a whole bunch and the kids loved them.
I had some pumpkin leftover from the scones and decided to attempt this recipe using my GF flours.  I have included the recipe as is (which is wonderful) and with the changes for a GF family favorite.  My family could not get enough of them... POOF and they were gone from the kitchen in a heartbeat.


This past week I have not felt well, a summer cold is not FUN, so I have missed my walks at the beach every day.  I love going to the beach and searching for my beach glass.  I call it beach glass and not sea glass because our glass comes from the Chesapeake Bay and not the wide-open ocean.  Under a microscope, you can tell the difference. The sea impact on the glass is different than the bay.  


I collect the glass and I love it.  I am not picky when picking up the glass on the beach.  I take it all home and then lay it out and sort the glass.  I have glass that is new and old, brown and white, small and large.  I have old china pieces (my favorites to find) and a few in an array of colors: blue, green, lavender, pink and yellow.  It's a hobby that relaxes me and a way that I can bring the beach home with me.

On this particular day, I grabbed my warm cookies and a cup of tea.  I grabbed my bowls of glass and sat by the window just thinking and looking at my glass.  I always wonder "where" did it come from, was it on a ship, who had the glass, was it garbage to someone else?  So many possibilities from one tiny piece of glass.  I can guess to how old the glass is based on how smooth the edges are. How "salted" the glass looks and the color.  History and events have always tugged at my heart and by searching for this glass on the beach I find myself looking BACK in time.  

I don't have the heart to throw away the glass that is not aged. So I keep it.  Someday it will find a new home but today I love seeing it sparkle in the sunshine.

This post is about my glass, but I do collect rocks too.  I have bowls of rocks that my kids have found.  I also like the very flat rocks to stack in my sand garden.  I love nature brought inside.

I love spending some quiet time trying to stack the rocks.  It's very relaxing for me.  The sand also feels good in my hands.

With my cookies in hand, I was able to slow down and enjoy something I loved doing outside of my home.  It's okay to take a minute and find a quiet place to have your thoughts be turned to a memory, a moment or just to say "ah" after a long day of work or a day of not feeling well.  I hope that when you make these cookies, you too, can find a quiet place to say "ah".

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies


1 cup of pumpkin ( I have used canned and freshly baked..they both work well)
1 cup of white sugar
1/2 cup of butter 
1 egg
2 cups of flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. of milk
1 T. Vanilla extract
1 cup of chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts (Optional)


Combine the pumpkin, sugar, butter or egg in a mixing bowl. Using a mixer,  blend together. 


 In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. 


Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.  Mix well.  Add the vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.  I don't use the nuts in mine.  It's a personal choice.


Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet or baking stone lined with parchment paper. 


Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. They should be firm and lightly browned.


Remove to a cooling rack.  Serve with milk, coffee or tea. 


NOTE:  To make this gluten free, I made these changes:

1 cup of pumpkin ( I have used canned and freshly baked..they both work well)

1 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup of butter 

1 egg 

1/2 cup of white rice flour

1/2 cup of brown rice flour

1/4 cup tapioca starch

3/4 cup almond meal

1 tsp. xantham gum

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. of milk or almond milk

1 T. Vanilla extract

1 cup of chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped nuts (Optional)

Follow instructions above to make the cookies. ENJOY!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter has been a favorite of mine for years.  My friend, Debbie, used to make these peanut butter bars with chocolate frosting that were so divine.  The recipe made a cookie sheet full and I was usually the one who ate most of them.  When I found out I could not eat wheat, I was so sad. Yet, my waistline was jumping for joy.  I have not made the recipe using a GF flour yet to see if it would even taste and bake the same...BUT, I will one of these days.

Today I was in the mood for something with peanut butter.  I found this recipe on cooks.com several years ago and we have not looked back.   I like to take this recipe to parties and serve our guests in our home.  Everyone loves the flavor and the texture is perfect. 


My original thought was how does this work...no flour and only 4 ingredients.  I have to say it's super easy and can easily be made by a kid-let with adult supervision.   I have to tell you though, that the organic peanut butter DOES NOT work.  I tried this today and the dough was terribly dry and grainy.  So, I did what any good wife would do, I sent my hubby to the store to buy some normal peanut butter and they turned out great.  I posted a picture of the two so you can see the difference.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup of peanut butter. I used Jiffy.
1 cup of sugar.
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg.

1.  Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Stir with a fork until well blended.  I use a cookie scoop to make the cookies into balls (I also like them to all be the same size).  I take a fork dipped in sugar and add the criss-cross on top.

2.  Bake at 350 for 13-15 minutes.  They should be golden brown.  I also line my cookie sheet with parchment paper so they will remove easier.  Let cookies cool on a cookie rack.

3.  The recipes makes about 20-25 small cookies (2 inches).  It works great for our family of 5.