nutty chocolate chip cookies

I am in search of a signature cookie.  I know that there are much bigger fish to fry in the world, but this is close to the top of my list.  I just want that one cookie that you know will always be good, but is not too complicated so you could whip some up for any occasion.   

This here is my first attempt at finding that cookie, and it is a really good one.  I'm not quite ready to give up my search, but this was good enough to share.  A little nutty, a little chocolaty, but not too heavy.  The best part is that dough froze well and I will even venture to say that the cookies tasted better after the dough had been frozen.  

From my little kitchen to yours... Enjoy.

Nutty Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe Notes
It says to sift the flour.  If you do not a sifter, you can use a strainer.  You just want the flour to be fine, fluffy and have no clumps.  Another option is to just fluff the flour a little with the measuring cup before you measure it.  It is ideal to sift, won't totally ruin the cookie if you don't have a sifter.  I always bake cookies now with parchment paper.  Haven't seen a burnt edge since I started.  If you really don't want to buy this, you can cook on an ungreased cookie sheet, but I highly recommend the parchment paper. 

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups oatmeal
2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 (12 ounce) package semisweet chocolate chips
1 (4 ounce) bar Hershey's milk chocolate, grated
1 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Equipment
blender
parchment paper

Step by Step
Heat oven to 375 degrees F.  In a bowl, cream butter and sugars until creamy and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla, mix well and set aside.

Place oatmeal in a blender and grind to a fine powder.  Add gradually to sugar- egg mixture, along with flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.  Stir just to combine all of the ingredients.  Add chocolate chips, grated chocolate, and nut.

Roll into golf ball- sized balls for a medium sized cookie.  For small cookies, use a heaping teaspoon. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place dough 2 inches apart.  Bake for 8-12 minutes (depending on dough size), until slightly golden brown.  

soft pretzels

We had our own little Oktoberfest celebration this weekend and if I have my way, it will be the way we celebrate the occasion every year from here on after.  For that matter, it might be the way I celebrate everything.  We made soft pretzels and I am hooked.  It's a blessing and a curse when I find something I love so much.  A blessing because it's another great recipe to share but if I make these as often as I want, I would turn into one gigantic carb.

This is not by any means one of those quick recipes, but it was quite fun making them and even more fun eating them.  If you have a few friends or kids that want to join you in the kitchen, rolling these suckers is a fun little project.

We added some parmesan cheese to a few and cinnamon sugar to a few more.

My friend Kate made two great dips... a worcestire dip and a beer cheese spread.

If this wasn't indulgent enough, after one bite of the cinnamon sugar pretzel, I heard, "this would be even better with some icing"... from another, "oh I think this would be good with some Nutella.  Well, what do you know, I had both in the pantry and they made the cinnamon sugar pretzels even better.

This is the perfect weekend project.  Warning... make at least two per person or you might start feuds over who gets the goods.

pretzel rollin fun...

Don't be discouraged if your pretzels don't turn out well from the get go.  Even the ugly ones taste good... that was my first one, eek.

the baking soda bath... sounds weird, but makes for a great pretzel

Soft Pretzels

Adapted from Alton Brown, Food Network

Recipe Notes

Some people use pretzel salt and if you want to go all out, feel free. However, I used coarse sea salt and if you don't have it, I would suggest buying it.  You will use it way more than you think.  Make sure you provide a lot of time for these suckers because you will need to let the dough rise for an hour.  

Ingredients

1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water (a meat thermometer comes in handy to test temperature)

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 package active dry yeast

22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups

2 ounces unsalted butter, melted

Vegetable oil, for pan

10 cups water

2/3 cup baking soda

1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Coarse salt

Optional toppings

parmesan cheese, shredded

cinnamon and sugar

Equipent

stand mixer with a dough hook

parchment paper

Step by Step

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in a large pot.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Pinch the dough at all places that it intersects tightly so that it will stay together.  Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula or strainer spoon and return to the baking sheet.

For regular pretzels:  Brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with coarse salt.

For cinnamon sugar pretzel:  Brush with melted butter, dip in sugar and sprinkle cinnamon on top.

For parmesan pretzel:  Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with shredded parmesan cheese.

Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Serve warm with various dips.

cherry almond granola

A little something has snuck into my world and stolen a good chunk of my free time.  It's called... the real world. 


I have had a job these past few years, but new this year I have been given more responsibility with a lot more hours.  The good news is I absolutely love it,  but the bad news is I don't have as much time to share what's going on in the kitchen.  Because yes, we are still eating around here so be patient with me and I will get back to sharing.

Enough about that because what you really need to know about is this recipe.  I have been on a search for a great granola recipe and I'm afraid my long search is over with just one recipe.  I was ready to buy pounds of oats and spend many an hour slowly toasting different recipes until I found just the right one, but this has become an instant favorite.

From my little to kitchen to yours... Enjoy.

Cherry Almond Granola
Adapted from Peace Meals, Junior League of Houston
Recipe Notes
I have never met a dried cherry I didn't like and I am sure any variety you find at your grocery will be great.  I used tart dried cherries for this recipe.  Though I haven't tried it myself, the original recipe suggests throwing in some mini chocolate chips after the granola has cooled for an afternoon snack.
Ingredients
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/4 cups sliced almonds
1 cup dried cherries (an extra 1/2 cup if you love these)
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/4 flax seeds
parchment paper
Step by Step
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a large bowl, mix together the oats, almonds, cherries, coconut and flax seeds.  Stir together the oil, honey, brown sugar and vanilla in a small saucepan over low heat.  Stir until well blended and sugar has dissolved.  Pour sugar honey mixture over granola and mix to coat well. Spread the granola on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 32 minutes or until golden brown, stirring halfway through.  Cool completely, then loosen from the baking sheet and crumble.  Store in an airtight container.

Makes 8 cups.

little kitchen loves... the marta glass

Every once in a while, something makes its way into your kitchen and just makes everything better.  That's how I feel about the Marta glass.  I first read about them here and after staring at the chips and cracks on our current glasses, I decided we needed a change.  I am in love with the Marta glass from CB2.  I can be a little bit of a cheap skate, especially with breakables because we seem to always, well, break them.  So the price tag on these babies was also very attractive because I can rest easy knowing its not going to break the bank if we break one.  

They are light but sturdy and are perfect for everything from water to wine.  We went with two sizes... the middle and the one on the right.  I love them both, but I also wish we had a few of the biggest one too.  Probably my next investment.

They also make great, sleek vases.  Wouldn't a line of these in different sizes be great table decor?  I plan on trying it sometime and will share.

creamed corn + a confession

I battled the idea of renaming this altogether because I know I would personally have no interest in reading a post about creamed corn. However, I promise you should keep reading. This is the best creamed corn, maybe corn in general, that I have ever had. This is not your sloppy, goopy creamed corn that you would get served at a cafeteria.

This is crisp corn kernels that have been sauteed in onions and cream sauce and is absolutely delicious. And once again, this couldn't be easier. So, please, take my word for it and try this dish while there is still great summer corn at grocery stores.

Now on to the confession...

I cannot make skirt steak... also known as flank steak. I am really beside myself about it. The key to skirt steak is the way you cut, so I've heard, and I've cut this darn meat every which way and I still get a barely-able-to-chew piece of meat. I've done marinades, I've grilled, I've seared and still... nothing but hours of chewing. My friend Jennifer told me about this meal from Real Simple and I don't feel like it was a total loss because of the great sides, but if someone could give me a few hints on skirt steak I would be forever grateful.

If I get any good hints and can re-make this meal, I will share... and I will tell you about the salad because it was easy and delicious, but I'm going to hold out on you in hopes someone tells me something about skirt steak.

Creamed Corn
Recipe Adapted from Real Simple
Recipe Notes

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 4 cups fresh corn kernels (from 8 ears)
• 1 cup half-and-half
• kosher salt and black pepper
• Step by Step

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the corn, half-and-half, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper and simmer until the corn is tender and the half-and-half is slightly thickened, 5 to 8 minutes.

Oven Baked Chicken Tenders

These. are. so. good. and easy.

Crunchy and flavorful chicken tenders that are healthier and much easier to prepare than frying them up.  I have always had a thing for Panko bread crumbs (they are just so versatile) so I found a recipe for chicken tenders and substituted the bread crumbs and cereal mixture for my main squeeze panko and voila, here is a pretty darn good recipe if I do say so myself.

From my little kitchen to yours... Enjoy.

p.s. have you bought a meat thermometer yet?? I really hope you have because this is another great recipe where having a meat thermomter allows for perfectly cooked, tender, juicy chicken tenders.  I promise you will not regret this purchase.

Oven Baked Chicken Tenders

Recipe Notes

The spices of one of the recipes I was combining called for Allspice.  I didn't realize until right before making these that I didn't have any so I cam up with my own subsitute... half ground cloves and half cinnamon.  If you have those two on hand, they will work just great.  If you have never used Panko, they are a Japanese bread crumb and I find that most grocery stores carry them now.

2 cups panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice (see recipe note)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 pounds chicken breast tenders, 2 packages
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup barbecue sauce

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Pour the Panko bread crumbs in a shallow dish. Mix in sugar, salt, pepper, and allspice. Place flour in a separate shallow bowl. Place eggs in another separate bowl.

Drizzle about 3 tablespoons vegetable oil evenly over the breading, tossing and turning it to mix the oil all through the panko mixture.

Dredge the chicken through the flour, egg, the flour again, the egg again and then the panko mixture. Arrange the tenders on a nonstick baking sheet. Place the chicken tenders in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes, turning over once. If you have a meat thermometer, heat to 165 degrees. Serve hot chicken tenders barbecue sauce for dipping.