Baker's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

I decided to bake some chocolate chip cookies tonight... shocking, I know. I think I was starting to crave them and my pants are starting to feel a little looser.  The last recipe I made, the Big Chocolate Chip cookies were delicious, best I have ever tasted and I was very tempted to just make them again but I knew I had to continue on the quest just incase there really is a better recipe out there.

So I did a good old fashioned google search and came up with all kinds of cookies that looked flat and boring.  These, "Baker's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies" looked like they had potential.  I have to admit my heart wasn't totally in it. Lila was feeling a little miserable today, I think she has some teeth coming, of course I have thought that for the past three months and so far, none.  So I was running back and forth between trying to entertain her and make the cookies which resulted in one pan of under-cooked cookies and two pans of over-cooked cookies and two pans of just right cookies. These ones were just right.

I have developed a rating scale for the cookies that I think encompasses all that is wonderful about chocolate chip cookies, according to me.  The scale is from 1 - 5. 1 being not good and 5 being excellent.  So for this recipe (based on the two pans that cooked the way they were supposed to!):

Chewy Inside - 4

Crispy Outside - 4

Amount of chocolate being just right (not too much and not too little) - 4

Sweet to salt ratio - 2 

Just out of the oven taste - 3

Next day taste - to be determined

Ease of recipe - 5

Am I missing anything here?  Is there anything else I should be rating?

I like this recipe but it feels like there is something missing.  Maybe it is because there is no salt in it and as you know I like a little salt in my cookies.  Overall, good but not as good as the Big Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Recipe:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

2-1/4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 pkg. (300 g) Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

HEAT oven to 375°F.

BEAT butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla in large bowl until light and fluffy. Stir in flour and baking soda until well blended. Add chocolate chips; mix well.

DROP tablespoonfuls of dough, 2 inches apart, onto baking sheets.

BAKE 10 to 12 min. or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheet 3 min. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

Rhubarb

You may remember in one of my very first posts there was a picture of a box of rhubarb plants that my mother had dug up from her garden for me to plant.  I don't yet have a vegetable garden established at our house so this rhubarb will be the beginnings!  

Here the plants are.... still in the box.  Good thing these are hardy!

I put on my special gardening/frog catching boots.  Nice aren't they?

Lila and I wandered the perimeter of the yard (we're starting to learn math language at an early age), to find the perfect spot to put the rhubarb.  J doesn't want anything against the house because he says it promotes mold growth.  I'm not sure that would really happen but I took his word for it. We found a good spot along the side of the house that gets lots of sunlight but is tucked away off the lawn so that J doesn't accidentally mow over it with his ride on tractor.

Lila got comfy in her bumbo chair.

I took a picture of her foot, because she has really cute feet!

Then I started digging.  I think I chose the rock graveyard because I continuously dug up rock after rock after rock.  But finally I was ready to put the plants in the ground.

I dumped some water on them and covered them over with soil.  

 Lila supervised the whole process and made sure to keep an eye on Bailey as well.  Plus she was busy being Batman.

I can't wait until I can make lost and lots of rhubarb desserts next year when the rhubarb is ready for harvesting!  Next gardening project - the hanging herb garden!

Mmmmmuffins!

So I decided to get a break from my cookie baking and attempt to make something a little healthier, muffins!  Unfortunately I couldn't find my camera for a few days and therefore missed photographing any of the muffin making, but all of these recipes came from the blog How Sweet It Is. So this might be a little boring but if you are interested in muffins, read on!

First I made Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Muffins.  At least they had the words "chocolate chip cookie" in them so it wasn't a huge jump from what I have been spending my days making (and eating). They do taste a bit like cookies, but I felt much less guilty about eating them.

Then I decided to attempt to be even healthier and I made Very Berry Whole Wheat Muffins. I just used the PC Very Berry frozen fruit mixture that I had in the freezer and I also skipped the sugar on top of the muffins.  These muffins were a little too "wheaty" for me.  Have you ever gotten the whole wheat bread at Subway and noticed how strongly whole wheaty it tastes? Almost overpowering?  That is what these remind me of.  They were good but I'm not sure I would make them again, maybe with half whole wheat flour and half white.... we'll see.

Finally I made Whole Wheat Banana Blueberry Muffins.  These muffins have very little sugar in them, no eggs and no oil.  They are almost as healthy as you can get in terms of baked goods.  Most importantly, these are delicious!  Super moist and tasty! However, I am still very partial to the banana and chocolate combination so I will likely be reserving most of my over-ripe bananas for something involving chocolate chips!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Muffins

makes 12 muffins

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose)

1 cup rolled oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup milk (any kind will do)

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

Add oats to a bowl and add 1/2 cup of milk. Let soak for 5-10 minutes, while you prepare the first few steps of the muffins.

In a large bowl, combine egg and brown sugar and whisk until smooth and caramel in color. Add in vanilla and butter, whisking well. Try to smooth the batter as much as possible – there still may be some small butter chunks. Add flour, oat mixture, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and mix. Add remaining milk and combine until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips.

Line a muffin tin with lines and pour about 1/4 cup batter into each line. Sprinkle the tops with raw turbinado sugar. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until cooked through. Serve with butter!

Very Berry Whole Wheat Muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup canola oil

1 egg

1/2 cup strawberries, chopped

1/2 cup blueberries

1/4-1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons raw turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 400.

Mix flour, sugar, and baking powder in a large bowl. Add canola oil, 1/4 cup milk, vanilla, and eggs, and mix until combined. If your dough is very thick, add the rest of the milk. Fold in blueberries and strawberries. Top with a sprinkling of raw turbinado sugar.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Banana Bread Muffins

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place muffin cups in muffin tins.

Mix sugar, applesauce, and egg until creamy and light yellow. Add bananas and vanilla. Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir until completely smooth. Fold in blueberries. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins. Top with course sugar.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick poked in center muffin comes out clean.

The quest continues

The perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe is out there somewhere, I'm sure of it.  I may have found it today. I have spent a great deal of time over the last two weeks trying to decide what makes a really good chocolate chip cookie?  I think the answer is different for everyone.  Some people are into thin, crispy ones. I like those, don't get me wrong, I would eat them if they were put in front of me.

But for me, I like a chewy, doughy center and a little bit of a crisp outside.  It has to have lots of chocolate chips, but not too much that it overpowers the dough and it has to have a good salt to sweetness ratio.  Not too salty but I want to know there is a pinch in there.  I think I need to make a spreadsheet so I can accurately rate these recipes before I start getting confused about which was which.

I am registered for a research methods course in the winter session at MSVU this year as part of my Masters degree and I'm hoping I can use this "research" as part of any project I have to do.... kidding, sort of.  Research methods would be so much more interesting if it was totally focused on cookies or other baked goods!  Either way, for scientific purposes or not, I need to keep track so that when I do find that perfect recipe I can make it again and again!  Anyone have any suggestions of what criteria should be included in a perfect cookie rating scale?  Now is the time to weigh in!

I made this recipe today. Big Chocolate Chip Cookies, another recipe from the blog My Baking Addiction (SO GOOD!).  I used these ingredients (except the coffee in the picture.... I did use that to function today, just not in the cookies).

I creamed together the butter (I used margarine, I can only imagine what these would be like with real butter..... oh my) white and brown sugar. Then added the eggs and vanilla. Then the dry ingredients to make the dough.

I rolled the dough into balls.  The recipe calls for 4 oz. balls, I have no idea how big that would be, nor do I have a scale to weigh each ball, so I just made them "cookie sized".

I didn't have any parchment paper, that is a luxury that people on parental leave cannot afford.  So I used some Pam from my giant can of it that I bought at Costco.  Nothing like spray grease in bulk!

 Again, the pan is clean, just ruined!

A little sampling.....

YUM!!!!

Jason's brother was here helping to work on our deck. Judging by the number cookies to two of them ingested in a ten minute time period, I would say they were a hit!  I know I like them!

Blueberry Muffins

I went on a search for a good muffin recipe because I was craving something delicious for a quick and easy   breakfast treat, something that butter would taste nice melted on!  I took to my favorite food blogs and found this recipe for the Awesomest Blueberry Muffins from the Pioneer Woman Cooks.  These muffins did not were truly terrific.  I didn't make the blueberry yogurt sauce to go with them but I still have a dozen of them in the freezer so when they come out I might make the sauce to go with them because it also looks super tasty.  Maybe a girly brunch date is in my future! Any takers?

I mixed together the wet ingredients. My favorite part of this recipe was that it contains yogurt!  I used Stoneyfield Original Organic. Yum!

Then added the dry ingredients and mixed! (Very scientific, I know).

I folded in the blueberries and spooned the mixture into the pan.  The recipe calls for fresh blueberries but I used frozen ones, they still taste great. I realized while making these that I only own one muffin pan.  I guess I'll add that to the Christmas list along with cookie pans that aren't black, new running shoes (to help work off all these delicious treats) and I'm sure the list will continue!

I baked them in our volcano.... I mean oven...  at 350 degrees for 18 minutes.

They look a little crispy in the picture but they turned out nicely.  Kind of crunchy on top and moist and soft and delicious inside!!!  I will definitely make these again!

Plus Lila loves when I bake with blueberries because she gets to munch while I work!

She REALLY likes frozen blueberries!

The Awesome-est Blueberry Muffins

3 cups minus 2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
Heavy pinch of salt
Dash of Nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 generous cup plain, unflavored yogurt (throw in extra if you want)
2 cups fresh blueberries
Vanilla Extract
Softened Butter, for muffin tins
Turbinado sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 385 degrees.

In a large bowl sift flour, baking soda, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In another large bowl whisk together sugar, oil, cap-ful of vanilla, egg, and yogurt. Add the dry ingredients and stir to a count of 10.

Add blueberries, reserving 1/2 cup, to mixture and stir 3 times.

Add mixture to well-buttered muffin pans. Sprinkle remaining berries on top and press down lightly. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over top. (Brown sugar can be used instead.)

Bake 20 to 25 minutes and allow to cool completely.

Chocolate chip cookies - Take One

I love chocolate chip cookies (as I have mentioned before).  However, I have not been able to find the perfect recipe, yet.  I'm on a quest to find the chocolate chip cookie recipe that I just simply cannot live without.

Starting with this one:
"Must Make Chocolate Chip Cookies" from the blog My Baking Addiction

originally from bettycrocker.com

My dough

Check out all the chocolatey goodness! 

Little gooey balls of deliciousness.

Please don't judge my nasty looking pans.... maybe someday I will get some new ones that I'm not embarrassed of!

There are 4 cups of chocolate chips in this recipe.  Yes, you read that correctly, 4 cups!!!!

The finished product!

My Review:

These cookies really are delicious! Judging by how many disappeared from the cookie jar over the past few days, I would say J likes them too!

I think I would add a little more salt next time.  Also, there is almost too much chocolate in these cookies.  I know, I never thought I would say it either..... I just feel like with a little less chocolate and a little more salt the cookies would be more balanced.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups butter or margarine, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 eggs
4 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 bag (24 oz) semisweet chocolate chips (4 cups)

Method
1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed or with spoon until light and fluffy. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough will be stiff). Stir in chocolate chips.

2. On ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by tablespoonfuls or #40 cookie/ice cream scoop 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly.

3. Bake 11 to 13 minutes or until light brown (centers will be soft). Cool 1 to 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.

The makings of a date night

So I purchased a voucher from Deal Find for $65 at the Taj Mahal Indian restaurant in Halifax and J and I decided Saturday night would be a great time to use it. Back before the baby we were able to just jump in the car and head out for a date night whenever we pleased.  Now it is a little more complicated.

Step 1: Secure a babysitter.
Because we live about 40 minutes away from the restaurant it was just easiest to deliver miss Lila to J's mother who lives 10 minutes from the restaurant than to have her come to our house.

Step 2: Make a reservation.
Normal people go out to dinner around 7:00 or 8:00pm.  In our past life this would have been our choice as well.  We opted however to make a 5:30pm reservation so that we would be able to pick Lila up after she ate her supper and she would fall asleep on the way home.

Step 3:
Pump.... pump... pump.... pump..... For anyone who has breastfed you know the joys of sitting for hours hooked up to a breast pump.  I, for some reason, am only able to pump about 1oz. per 30 minutes.  Lila drinks about a 5oz. bottle... so lets see, that is 2 and 1/2 hours of pumping for one bottle. Yup.  No wonder we don't go out for more date nights!  Oh, and she is still nursing every 2 hours. So it usually takes me two to three days to pump enough for one evening out and this is if I can pump more than a couple of times a day which would require Lila to sleep or entertain herself for these periods of time which doesn't usually happen.

Step 4:
Pack up Lila's stuff.  I used to laugh at my friends who had babies and would arrive at parties with huge bags of stuff, bouncy chairs, booster seats, you name it.  Now I understand their pain!  So for a 2-3 hour stretch at Nanny's house I packed:
- A change of clothes (pants and shirt)
- An extra sweater
- A hat
- Two sleepers (one to change into before heading for home and an extra incase something unfortunate happens to the first one).
- A bib
- Toys
- A booster chair
- Stroller (always in the trunk)

Step 5:
Pack Lila's supper :
- Peas and corn
- Ground beef and black beans
- Cup of water
- 1 bottle of breast milk

Step 6:
Shower, dry hair and attempt to apply makeup, all while Lila is sitting in her bouncy chair in the bathroom with me either looking very unimpressed or screaming in my arms. It is very challenging to apply mascara with one hand and a kicking, screaming baby in the other!

Step 7:
Get dressed.  Easy enough right? Well..... I can't wear yoga pants and a sweatshirt to the restaurant so maybe this process isn't so easy.  Most of my pre-pregnancy clothes do not fit even though I weigh at least 10 pounds less than I did when these clothes did fit..... and the ones that do fit are just ugly and unappealing to me.  Finally I settled on a pair of jeans and a black shirt.  Fancy.

Step 8:
Change a diaper, dress Lila in something that is not stained and prepare to pack the car. I put all of the items that need to go in the car out on the deck by the stairs.  Take Lila down to the car and buckle her in.  Run back up for all the stuff and load it in the car.  This takes 2-3 trips. I think I should be much skinnier than I am with all the running up and down stairs that I do! Perhaps in another month my wardrobe choices will be much greater.

Step 9:
Drive to the babysitters.  As we are driving, realize we are 30 minutes late.

Step 10: Call the restaurant and push the reservation back by half an hour.

After all this we did end up at the restaurant where we had a lovely dinner.  Maybe we should do this more often!!!