oatmeal raisin vs. chocolate chip walnut

I was feeling indecisive as usual… Oatmeal raisin cookies? Or chocolate chip walnut cookies?

Well, what the hell, it’s only 95 degrees here, if I’m slaving over an oven in this ridiculous heat, I might as well make it all.

Kind of just split the dough right down the middle and made both versions. Mostly because I was researching places to go in New York, and one of my top choices is Levain Bakery which is absolutely famous for their chocolate chip walnut and their oatmeal raisin cookies. I had some crazy cookie cravings last night… Woke up with cookies on the brain.

I’m sure once I taste the ones at Levain, my humble cookies will be blown away, but for now, this will have to do. (Not that I’ll have to wait very long. Leaving tomorrow! But I’m impatient.)

I’ve made this recipe about four times already, and I think it’s my favorite oatmeal cookie recipe yet… Everyone loves them and they’re not overly sweet and super versatile so feel free to dump as many raisins and chocolate chips in there as you want. I’ve used everything from almonds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, craisins, etc. Best part about this recipe is that it yields about 40-50 cookies depending on how big you make them. The recipe has been adjusted so many times, it’s kind of a family recipe now… But food is best when shared, so here it is on the internet for the world to see.

But on a more important note..

Now I have 50 cookies sitting on my kitchen counter. Warm. Gooey. Cookies…

Any Way Oatmeal Cookies
Yield: 40-50 two-inch cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 teaspooon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
3 cups old-fashioned oats (I’ve used quick-cooking before and it turned out fine)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon (I used pumpkin pie spice for kicks)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts (I like to roast mine in a 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (Be careful not to overmix. You don’t want to melt the sugar.) Break up the egg in a small dish and add to butter-sugar mixture little by little, mixing until incorporated. Then, mix in vanilla and salt.

Mix the oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix by hand until the dry ingredients are all wet. If you want to make two types of cookies, this is where I split the dough into two bowls and added half the nuts to each bowl. Then, whatever else you got goes in, chocolate chips, raisins, craisins, whatever you feel like throwing in.

Using a small ice cream scoop or a spoon, drop dough in two-inch rounds on an ungreased baking sheet. Press each cookie down slightly but not too much. You can place them about one or two inches from each other because they spread, but not that much.

Bake at about 12-15 minutes or until the cookies are a light brown, golden color. They should be a little wobbly to the touch in the middle when you pull them out of the oven. Cool completely before storing in airtight containers.

The chocolate chip ones taste best when still warm and gooey. :)

peach shortbread bars

Whole house smelled like butter yesterday.

Certain someone came charging down the stairs complaining that I’m making her life impossible by pastry-scenting the place. Oh well!

You know how in your group of friends, you’ve got all those different types of friends? The party-crazy one with the wild weekends. The best friends who agree with you about everything. The leader who dictates where the group goes for happy hour. The emotional dependent one who thinks her life is a Korean drama. The listener who kind of mellows everyone out. The attention whore.

And my favorite: The friend who feeds you.

You know. The friend who does that awesome thing when you’re out eating and they’re like, “Oh, I got this.”

The friend who invites you over for dinner because they made too much food.

Or the friend who bakes you the most awesome cheesecake the day before you got an exam (Hi Hannah.)

Or the friend who delivers carne asada fries to your doorstep the week you get back from two months in Asia and she knows you’ve been craving the greasy Mexican good stuff. (Hi Linda.) Also known as the friend bringing you 호떡 & 붕어빵 so you can ace your stupid test.

And then there’s the sister friend who brings you key-lime cheesecake from your favorite bakery because you’ve been studying all day at the library. (Hi Lynn.)

Supporting me when I feel like I’m going to fail. Supporting me when I don’t even really believe in myself. Supporting me when I stay up all night, nosebleed-status, and wake up in the morning looking fugly and feeling even fuglier on the inside. Telling me I look beautiful even when my hair is 똥머리, my dark circles are down my cheeks, and my skin is rough and patchy, and here, just eat this and feel better and you’re going to be okay.

What awesomazing friends I have.

Peach Shortbread
Yield: One 8×8 pan

1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, cold
1 egg
1 large peach, pitted and thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Butter or spray pan or line with parchment paper for easy removal.

Whisk together all dry ingredients and sugar. Cut butter and egg into the mixture, it should be fairly crumbly. Pat 3/4 mixture onto the bottom of the pan. Place peach slices over the mixture. Scatter remaining crumbs on top evenly.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until the top and edges are slightly browned.

Cool completely in the pan before slicing into squares or rectangles.

lemon meringue cookies

I love sour stuff. I love lemons. How can you hate lemon anything?

Lemon bars. Lemon meringue pie. Lemonade. Lemon poppyseed muffins. Liz Lemon. My interchange yellow Mini Cooper – Liz Lemon, Jr. Any kind of seafood with lemons. Greek Lemon Chicken Orzo soup. Am I forgetting anyone?

Oh yes. One new acquaintance.

Say hello to Lemon Meringue Cookies. With lemon curd filling. Oh yummmm.

Couldn’t resist this little bit of summer. Especially since I spend all day in A/C and I’m trying to avoid getting sick… And…. Lemons have a lot of vitamin C. So… These cookies are good for my health? Whatever. I’m just gonna eat ‘em. The weather’s been kind of hot though so these got wrinkly and sticky overnight :( Or maybe I didn’t beat the egg whites stiff enough. Gotta buy a large start tip for the pastry bag and try this again when the weather’s a bit cooler and drier.

I tried a couple cookies while they were cooling and they were hella good. Then, I put the lemon curd on them and my mouth went into buttery lemon sweet-tartness overdrive. Then, I stuck them in the freezer and tried a cold one and my mouth is currently experiencing puckery bliss.

Little buttons! They’re so cute.

These are kind of like mini candy/cookie version of a lemon meringue pie without the crust. I already can’t keep my family away from them… My dad, or as I sometimes call him, the Diabetic, kept reaching his hand out for more while I was assembling them and he ate like four in a span of five seconds. He straight up vacuummed the cookies. Shoomp.

Not that he needs to feel guilty about it or anything. They’re gluten-free and the meringues themselves are fat-free. The lemon curd I can’t take responsibility for… It’s fatty heaven in a jar. And the recipe yields more than you need… Unless you take into account the fact that I like to eat things out of jars with a spoon. Then, I guess it’s just enough.

BUTTER? BRING IT.

Lemon Meringue Cookies
Yield: About 25 cookies
From joythebaker

Meringues:
2 large egg whites
pinch of salt
2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place two racks in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 200 degrees F.Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Foil will also work in a pinch. Set the baking pans aside.

Place the egg whites (save the yolks for the curd) in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.  Beat egg whites, on medium speed,  until foamy.  Add the pinch of salt and increase speed to medium-high.  Slowly begin to sprinkle in the sugar.  Continue to beat eggs until they become thick, glossy and hold stiff peeks.  The egg whites will be the consistency of melted marshmallow.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the lemon zest and vanilla extract.   Spoon into a piping bag, fitted with a large star tip.  Pipe about a teaspoons worth of meringue onto the baking sheet.  Stars can be close together, as they won’t spread or puff during baking.  Pipe stars onto the two baking sheets until no meringue remains in the bag.  Using the back of a spoon, flatten out half of the meringue stars, making them as flat as possible, but not necessarily a larger circle than the original piped star.  The flattened star will become the bottom of the sandwich cookie.

Bake meringues for 2 hours, until no longer sticky , but firm and hardened.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the baking sheet before filling and sandwiching.

Lemon Curd:
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
pinch of salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter

Place a fine mesh strainer over a medium bowl and set aside.

In a medium pot, whisk together lemon juice, granulated sugar, eggs, yolks, and pinch of salt.  Place the pot over a medium-low flame and add butter.  Stir mixture with a whisk, and spatula.  The spatula will help you get into the corners of the pan, ensuring that none of the curd over-cooks too much.  Cook the curd until the butter is melted, and the mixture is the thickness of warm hot fudge.  The whisk will begin to leave a trail of whisk marks and the mixture will have the distinct smell of lemon curd.  You don’t really need to boil lemon curd… it’s probably done it if gets to the boiling stage.

Remove from the flame and immediately pour into the fine mesh strainer over the medium bowl.  Press through the strainer, leaving any cooked egg bits in the strainer, and not in your beautiful curd.

Place curd in a jar, with a piece of plastic wrap placed directly over the curd.  Place in the fridge until completely cold.

Assembly:
To fill the cookies, spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of curd onto a flattened bottom cookie.  Top with a star shaped cookie.  Place cookies in a single layer on a tray and place in the freezer for 20 minutes to an hour.  I love these cookies right out of the freezer.  You can also fill them and serve them immediately.  These cookies do not last well if willed and left to sit.

french macarons

Happy Easter! The weather was bleak and rainy, but it’s ok. Have a macaron. With chocolate ganache filling.

Yes, I did just say those words.

First time making macarons.

Now, I don’t want to sound like a snob, but … twas easier than expected?

HAH.

I guess that’s what happens when you combine the power of three bakers. :)

We did a really simple macaron recipe because it was our first time and we wanted to minimize the number of things that could go wrong, but I think we’ll probably branch out and experiment some more now.

Ah, the possibilities.

Matcha chestnut?

Black sesame?

Espresso & pistachio?

Caramel fleur de sel?

Strawberry?

Saffron?

Our little trio was very productive on Saturday when the weather decided to be unexpectedly lovely. About 70 degrees with a slight breeze… Around lunchtime, we headed out into the fresh air of spring and parked our butts at Silverlake Meadow. It’s a sweet little park next to the reservoir that just opened several months ago. We spread out a blanket and lied down.. finally a little free from school, textbooks, and stress. Nothing like reading a good book and this month’s Cosmo while wiggling your toes in some soft green grass. :) And after taking some silly pictures and taking a lazy warm nap, we packed up and had some currywurst before heading over to the Art in the Streets Exhibit at the Geffen Contemporary in Little Tokyo.

They certainly made a big fuss about getting too close to exhibits that will only be there for a couple of months. Graffiti is a pretty interesting art form. It’s territorial, unique, vandalizing, modern, but transient. It can be erased, painted over, wiped out, ruined by the elements. A little blip on the radar. No one is going to try to preserve your work for hundreds of years like they will with a Picasso or Michelangelo. If you’re lucky, the paint will last for about a decade or so before it fades, crumbles, and disappears. And when the city whitewashes it over, no one will even remember it was there.

Can baking be considered art? Is cooking art?

Probably the most fleeting of all art forms.

These macarons lasted about a second before they were scarfed down.

Sometimes I’m pretty amazed at how quickly two dozen cookies can disappear.

French Macarons with Chocolate Ganache

For the macarons:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup almond flour
2 large egg whites, room temperature
Pinch of cream of tartar
1/4 cup superfine sugar

For the chocolate ganache
½ cup heavy cream
1 cup bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and have a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/2-inch, 2 cm) ready.

Sift the almond flour and confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder mixture twice until the lumps are gone.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Whisk whites with a mixer on medium speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar, and whisk until soft peaks form. Reduce speed to low, then add superfine sugar. Increase speed to high, and whisk until stiff peaks form, about 8 minutes.
If you want to add food coloring, add now (We used one drop of yellow, but in hindsight, a couple more drops would have made them look more Easter-y and cute.)

Sift flour mixture over whites, and fold until mixture is smooth and shiny. Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip, and pipe 3/4-inch rounds 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.

Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake 1 sheet at a time, rotating halfway through, until macaroons are crisp and firm, about 10 minutes. After each batch, increase oven temperature to 375 degrees, heat for 5 minutes, then reduce to 325 degrees. Let macaroons cool on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

Chocolate Ganache:

Heat the heavy cream and bring to a light boil in a saucepan. Add chocolate and remove from heat. Stir until the chocolate is melted. Cool until it is at a spreadable consistency. We had trouble with it because it was a bit runny so we stuck it in the freezer for a bit until it was okay.

cappuccino cookies with espresso and white chocolate

It’s been a long week. And it’s only Monday. I’ve been in dire need of caffeine since days and days ago. Tuesday was TEDxUSC plus cramming for two midterms. Wednesday were two consecutive exams and me just wanting to die. Thursday more exhausted. Then, this weekend in Vegas just took every ounce of energy out of me. Today just dead and more dead.

Today is one of those days when I genuinely did not give a crap what I looked like as I walked out the door this morning.

So.

The solution to all my problems. These are a caffeine-jolt-wake-me-up cookies. These are I’m-sorry-for-being-a-hot-mess-please-forgive-me-I’ll-make-it-up-to-you-somehow cookies.

They make everything better.

Transforming from this…

To this…

Mmmmmm. Cappuccino cookies. I really love coffee – black, Americano, lattes, espresso shots. It’s all delicious.

Joy the Baker describes these like coffee and the white chocolate chunks are like clods of cream in your morning brew. They’re good. The coffee taste is pretty strong, too. So, if you don’t like coffee, don’t bother.

They’re good with a cup of coffee or tea.

I, on the other hand, ate these with some Haagen-Dazs coffee ice cream. No such thing as too much coffee flavored anything.

Cappuccino Cookies with Espresso and White Chocolate
Adapted from joythebaker
Yield: 3 dozen cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons instant espresso or coffee powder
1 cup white chocolate chunks

Place racks in the center and upper third of the oven and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside and we’ll preheat the oven after we chill the dough.

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

In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the butter mixture with a spatula. Add the egg and egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat on medium speed until mixture is fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and add the dry ingredients, all at once to the butter mixture. Beat on low speed until just combined. Stop the mixer, add the chocolate chunks and fold together with a spatula until well combined. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 45 minutes.

Just before you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Scoop cookie dough by the heaping tablespoonful onto the prepared baking pans. Bake for about 12 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. Remove from the oven, allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container.

Delicious. :)