Caramel Corn Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hey! If you’re reading this in Google Reader, your missing a (slightly) new look.  I’m still not convinced the picture in the header is going to stay, but for now I’m happy with the all white background and the wider header.  I like to think that I’m going to periodically update the picture I use, but I’m saying that as a person on maternity leave with time for things like that, and I’m fully aware that when I’m back at work I will most likely have about thirty billion more important things to worry about than making another header.

Moving on.

Caramel corn and chocolate chips in a cookie.  I really wish I could take credit for this, but it was actually Trouble Coffee (scroll down a little bit in that post) that made them first.

I’ve been kind of thinking lately that my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe might not be the best one out there, so I tried a new one for these cookies and was TOTALLY impressed. I definitely have a new favorite. I added a cup and a half of chocolate chips and two cups of caramel corn, and although they weren’t as thick as the ones from the coffee shop, I loved how these turned out. Apparently they were a big hit at Mike’s work, too. Yay.

I made my own caramel corn using half of this recipe and still had some left over to snack on.

Recipe:
(adapted from Savory Sweet Life)

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups caramel corn

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Beat the butter and sugars together in the bowl of a stand mixer for about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each one. Scrape down the bowl, add the vanilla and beat for another minute.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add to the butter mixture and mix on low until incorporated. Stir in the caramel corn and chocolate chips.

Using a cookie scoop or a spoon, form a ball using 2-3 Tbsp of dough. Arrange on the cookie sheets leaving a few inches between each cookie to allow for spreading. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until just golden on the edges.

Cool on the cookie sheets for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins

It’s been a little rainy lately. Rain makes me want to run (I had a delightfully soggy 4.5 mile run yesterday at 9:46 pace…I’m getting faster!)

It also makes me want to bake. I made some Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

They disappeared far too quickly.

Apparently the rain made Mike want to bake too, because he made this awesome cake (with kirsch and caraway seeds) from his Celtic Folklore cookbook. The man can bake!

Then last night, because obviously cookies and cake aren’t enough, I decided to make some ridiculously rich muffins. These are not healthy muffins, and I’m okay with that.

With my little (or not so little? How is she already ONE MONTH old?!) baking buddy strapped into the Ergo, these muffins were easy to mix together and came out absolutely delicious.

The only change I made was increasing the amount of instant espresso, and for me this yielded 14 muffins instead of 12. They were a HUGE hit both at home and at Mike’s work, where he claims they disappeared “literally within 30 seconds” (and he would not use literally incorrectly!)

Recipe:
(from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking)

makes 14 muffins

4 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup whole milk
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp instant espresso powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a 12-muffin pan with paper liners (plus two ramekins).

Stir the bananas, sugars, butter, milk, and egg together in a large bowl.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, espresso powder, baking soda, and salt.

Gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet, mixing just until all traces of lour disappear. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Divide the batter evenly among the pans, then bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool the muffins in the pans for about 10 minutes, then let cool completely on a wire rack.

Chocolate Chip Muffins with Peanut Butter Swirl

I feel like muffins come in 3 categories. Healthy, Seems Like it Should be Healthy, and Let’s Be Honest This is Actually a Cupcake. These fall into the last category, but sometimes life just calls for ridiculously indulgent treats for breakfast.

I made these for my usual Friday take-to-work treat last week and I kind of wished I’d saved more for myself. I started with Dorie’s Chocolate-Chocolate Chunk Muffin recipe (from Baking From My Home to Yours and swirled in something that could probably pass for peanut butter frosting. They’re probably slightly better for you than doughnut holes, but not by much!

This made 14 muffins for me – 12 of which I baked in muffin tins and 2 of which I baked in ramekins.

Recipe:
(adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)

muffins
6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup chocolate chips
2 cups all purpose or whole wheat pastry flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract

peanut butter swirl
1/3 cup natural creamy peanut butter
1 tbsp butter, softened
1 tbsp milk
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line 14 muffin cups (or a 12-cup muffin tin and 2 ramekins) with paper liners.

Melt the butter and 1/3 cup chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler. Remove from heat and stir until smooth. Let cool slightly.
Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla together. Gradually stir the liquid ingredients and melted butter and chocolate into the flour mixture, mixing just until combined. Stir in the remaining chocolate chips.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans.

In a medium bowl, beat the butter and peanut butter together until smooth. Beat in the milk and powdered sugar until smooth. Drop a spoonful of peanut butter mixture on top of each muffin and swirl it in with a paring knife.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan before removing each muffin to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I may still be suffering from holiday treat overload, but my family hinted that they would enjoy some cookies, and my husband asked specifically for oatmeal chocolate chip.   I made a batch of these and using my New Years will power, only ate one!  Everything is fine in moderation, right?  

The title of the recipe pretty much says it all: these are chocolate chip cookies with a little oatmeal, crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside.  I didn’t even bother dirtying the stand mixer, because these are so easy to mix together by hand.

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup dark brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup old-fashioned oats

1 12 oz bag chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F

Beat the butter with a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy.

Add both sugars and beat until homogeneous.

Stir in vanilla and egg and mix well.

Add flour, baking soda, and salt, and give the bowl a few good stirs. 

Add the oats and chocolate chips, and mix until well-distributed.

Bake on silpat-lined baking sheets until just set and browning on the edges, about 10-12 minutes.

Let cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

I had a lot of things to do to get ready for Thanksgiving…pie and tart crusts to make, bread to make and cut for stuffing, an apartment to clean and mounds of dishes to wash. But what did I decide to do before all that? Make pesto and pumpkin bread. But not just any pumpkin bread. Pumpkin bread with CHOCOLATE CHIPS.  Because really, chocolate chips make almost everything better.  Especially pumpkin bread!

(adapted from Joy of Cooking)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice (which I normally wouldn’t use, but I was feeling lazy – see below for actual spicing)

1/3 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

6 tbsp butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan.

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter with the sugars until fluffy.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then mix in the pumpkin.

Stir together the milk and vanilla in a small bowl. 

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three parts, alternating with milk.  

Fold in the chocolate chips, then pour into the loaf pan and bake for about 5o minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

We had some friends over to carve pumpkins, and of course I just had to make some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for the occasion.  The problem was, I didn’t have a recipe.  I checked out Annie’s blog, because she always has such fantastic recipes. I found this one, took out the raisins and nuts and replaced them with chocolate chips, opted not to do the glaze (because I didn’t have the time and it just seemed like overkill with chocolate), and changed up some of the spices. 

The verdict:
“So soft and fluffy!” says Meghan. “This cookie makes me wish pumpkin could be used year-round.” (I think it should be!)
“Mmmmmmmm” says Brigitte.
Simon says “this is delicious.”
Ian declares “I love these cookies!”
“They’re damn good!” says Dana. “They taste like pumpkin!”
And my husband is speechless.

So there you go… pumpkin carvers agree – you gotta have these cookies!
And for the record I will make the original recipe from Annie’s blog soon because it looks amazing!
(adapted from Annie’s Eats, originally from Williams Sonoma)

2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup), softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Stir together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg with a fork. Set aside.
In a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium-high speed for about 1 minute.
Add the sugars and mix on medium until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add the egg, vanilla, and pumpkin and mix until incorporated.
Stir in the flour mixture, and mix on low until the flour disappears.
Add the chocolate chips, mixing on low until they are evenly distributed.
Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a Silpat lined baking sheet, and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until set.
Cool on a wire rack.