TWD: Cottage Cheese Pufflets

I find that participating in a weekly baking group is mostly a good thing, but one bad thing about it is that sometimes you bake for the wrong reasons. You might find yourself baking not because you feel like baking, or because you are going somewhere where it might be nice to bring a cake, or because you or anyone you live with or know actually wants what you're baking. No, sometimes you bake just to get the darn thing baked, because that's what you do. You get things baked.


But it's always great when you taste something that you baked for the sole purpose of getting it baked and find that you really really like it. Then it's all worth it. Such was the case with this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, Cottage Cheese Pufflets, which were chosen by Jacque of Daisy Lane Cakes. It's not that they didn't sound good to me -- they did. But I baked these in a hurry several weeks ago before heading out of town to visit my adorable new baby nephew, so I was kind of checking things off the ol' list left and right, and the pufflets were just another item on the list, along with "buy TSA-approved baggies" and "pick up monogrammed bib." Therefore, I remember very little about baking them. I don't think they gave me too much trouble, or I would have remembered. I know that some people found the dough to be hard to work with, but I don't recall having any particular issues with it. I know that I did a poor job sealing them, as the jam kind of oozed out while they were baking, as you can see in the picture.

I do know that we really liked these. The pufflets were more breakfast pastry-ish than dessert pastry-ish, in my opinion. The dough puffed as it was supposed to puff and was flaky, tender and not too sweet. It went well with strawberry jam, which I can see from the pictures that I used. I might have made a few with apricot jam as well. David?

I knew that David would be turned off by the name "cottage cheese" pufflets. As I handed him one, I thought for a split second about calling them "jam pufflets" or "pufflet pastries" or "jam pastry thingies," but I told it like it was -- "cottage cheese pufflets" -- and watched him grimace. But fortunately, the worst thing about these is their name, and after one bite hubs was a believer in the deliciousness of cottage cheese dough. Who knew?

Thank you Jacque for the great pick!

Ellie Krieger's Breakfast Cookies

I have to thank my good friend Peggy for talking me into making this week's CEiMB recipe, Breakfast Cookies, chosen by Natalie of What's For Supper?. The cookies sounded good to me from the beginning, but I just wasn't sure I was going to be able to fit them in. Then I saw Peggy, who had already made them and raved about how fabulous they are, and suddenly it was clear that nothing I had going on could possibly be as important as making these cookies -- my tire rotation, filing deadline, permanent crown, birthday party preparations, handyman meeting, and sleep could all wait.

I've had store-bought breakfast cookies before, and thought they were really pretty bad. Like actually kind of inedible. So I didn't know what to expect with these, but I figured they had to be better than the store-bought ones. Sometimes it's nice to go into a recipe with the bar set really low.

This is certainly an unusual recipe. It calls for whole wheat pastry flour, which of course they did not have at Publix, so I used white whole wheat. It also calls for all-purpose flour; cinnamon & nutmeg to spice things up; brown and white sugar; a little bit of butter and canola oil, an egg and vanilla. The "breakfast" in these is provided by oats, bran flakes, raisins and walnuts. And the secret ingredient:


My poor hubs almost had a heart attack when he came home and saw that sitting on the kitchen counter. He said "What's THIS for??" and I saw the color drain from his face. I don't know if he felt any better when I told him it was just for the cookies I was making. Yeah, he probably did.


Wow, we love these cookies! They have a lightly spiced flavor and a wonderful soft and chewy texture. They feel hearty but not heavy. Most of the fat in these comes from canola oil, so they are healthier than most cookies, but they don't taste "healthy" (which is a deal-breaker for me with cookies). I will definitely make these again, and not just because I have the second container of baby food carrots that came in the two-pack. These are really delicious, and perfect for grabbing and going on busy mornings. Thanks for the great pick, Natalie!

Breakfast Cookies, Ellie Krieger 2007

3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup (1 small jar) strained carrot baby food
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup bran cereal flakes
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup walnut pieces, lightly toasted in a dry skillet for 2 minutes, until fragrant and chopped
Directions
Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk together flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Combine butter, oil and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on high speed, scraping down sides if necessary, until sugars have dissolved and mixture is light in color, about 1 minute. Add egg, carrot puree and vanilla and beat an additional 30 seconds. Add flour mixture and beat an additional 30 seconds. Add oats, flakes, raisins and walnuts and mix over low speed just until incorporated. Dough will be slightly sticky and less cohesive than traditional cookie dough. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using between 3 to 4 tablespoons of batter, form a ball and place on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining batter, leaving about 3 inches between cookies. Wet hands and use palm of hand to flatten cookies until about 1/4-inch thick. Bake for 12 minutes, until cookies are fragrant but still soft. Let cookies cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.