TWD: Honey Wheat Cookies

I actually made this week's TWD recipe, Honey Wheat cookies, several months ago, when I was trying to use up what was left in the gimormous jar of wheat germ that I purchased for my very first TWD recipe, Granola Grabbers. Wheat germ makers apparently believe that if you eat wheat germ, YOU REALLY EAT WHEAT GERM. You just can't find a small jar of this stuff (at least I can't). I foolishly did not take pictures of these when I made them before, and I almost did not make them again because I did not want to have to buy another monster jar of wheat germ that I later needed to use up. But my husband really liked these when I made them the first time, and I'm trying to be on my best TWD behavior these days -- so I decided to march into that grocery store, hoist that wheat germ into the cart, and go home and make these suckers again.

What I remembered most about these cookies from the first go-round was that they were mighty wheaty, but I remembered nothing about the process. The recipe calls for a full cup of wheat germ, half of which gets mixed in with the flour, and half of which is used to roll the dough balls before baking. This time around, as soon as I dumped the full cup of wheat germ into the flour mixture, it all came flooding back to me - that's EXACTLY what I did last time! I used all of the wheat germ *in* the cookies, rather than saving half of it to go *on* the cookies, which no doubt accounted for their epic wheatiness. This time, I was able to fish most of the excess half cup of wheat germ out of the flour. Repeat disaster averted!

These cookies, when made in accordance with the recipe, have a very pleasant, tangy honey wheat lemon flavor. They're fantastic with a cup of hot tea, but they would also totally work as a "summer" cookie, if you are one to assign seasons to your cookies.

My husband was really excited to see these cookies show up in the cookie jar again --you would have thought they were World Peace Cookies or something -- and seemed to enjoy the cookies as much as he did the last time, even without the excess wheat heat. I enjoyed them much more this time around. And now that I have a bushel of wheat germ in my freezer, I'm sure I'll make them again!

Michelle of Flourchild chose this week's recipe. Michelle has a great blog, and you can find this recipe, along with many other goodies, over there!

TWD: Dorie's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies - The Challenge

Most evenings, you'll find the television on in our house, and it's almost always turned to ESPN or Fox Sports World. I don't really pay attention; I mean I like sports and all, but I can't really sit still for too long or I fall asleep. But every once in a while a sports story will catch my attention, like the hair pulling soccer player, or the Krispy Kreme Challenge. And of course every year come late fall, I look forward to watching someone on TV rant about college football's BCS system:

{on the TV}
Bob: All I'll say is this Dan - the BCS is a mess. It's a complete travesty and it is hopelessly broken. And until we fix it by instituting some kind of playoff system, we will never be able to crown an Undisputed National College Football Champion!
Dan: I agree Bob.

{in the living room}
Cathy: Um, David? WHY do we have to crown an Undisputed National College Football Champion? Didn't it just used to be like somebody won the Orange Bowl, somebody won the Cotton Bowl, and then it was New Year's Day and the sun came up anyway?
David: Yes, but that was that a very dark era in sports history, even though nobody knew it at the time.

Recently, however, I've become unsettled by the fact that I don't really know which chocolate chip cookie is the Undisputed Chocolate Chip Cookie Champion. I've become borderline obsessed with finding the best chocolate chip cookie -- and suddenly I understand where the football people are coming from. No, it's really NOT good enough just knowing that there are lots of swell CCC recipes out there. I want to know which is THE BEST, dammit!! And there are a lot of other people like me out there. Be afraid, be very afraid.

On my quest for the perfect CCC, I decided to have a cookie taste-off.


Despite what the lighting in these pictures would indicate, I did not actually hold my chocolate chip cookie taste-off at 3 a.m.

The contenders:

(1) This week's TWD recipe, Dorie's Best Chocolate Chip cookies
(2) The New York Times CCC.
(3) Alton Brown's The Chewy.

Notes and disclosures:

(1) The NYT CCC and The Chewy are both famous among those of us who frequent chocolate chip cookie chat rooms (just kidding) (kind of). I've made both of these cookies before and am in crazy love with both of them. I was really looking forward to making them again and tasting them head to head so I could figure out which was better. Because not knowing was really bugging me, even more than that year that Auburn went undefeated yet got shut out of the National Championship game.

(2) Dorie describes her CCC as being a "Toll House cookies' kin," but with her own tweaks. While I love Toll House cookies -- they are probably the only thing I ever baked from scratch until I started baking from scratch maniacally last year -- I felt like recipes such as the NYT, The Chewy and others, with their unusual techniques and somewhat different ingredients, were created in an attempt to improve on the Toll House Cookie, and I personally like them better than the original Toll House. Therefore, based solely on her description of the cookie -- and this has never happened before -- I bet against Dorie. I really went into this thinking either the NYT or The Chewy would win.

(3) Dorie says her cookies are "thin and crisp and a bit chewy in the center." They certainly were thin:


In fact I pretty much had one large thin chocolate chip pancake on my silpat. I would not describe this as a "crispy" cookie, though (that's a good thing, in my opinion) - it had a little bite to it, but I thought the hallmark of its texture was its wonderfully chewy center.

We held the taste-off at David's dad's birthday party. The voters were provided with milk to cleanse their palates between cookie tastes:


One of our voters, Caroline, age 2, found the whole "Crowning of an Undisputed Chocolate Chip Cookie Champion" process to be a bit overwhelming, so girlfriend spent a lot of time on the floor:





THE RESULTS:

The Chewy did not fare well in the taste-off -- it only garnered one first place vote. David's brother described it as a "pre-scone." I'm pretty sure that's not what Alton was going for. Don't worry, *I* still love you, The Chewy.

The contest between the NYT and Dorie's CCC was almost too close to call, but in the end, the NYT won by one vote. But several people said that they had a hard time deciding between the two and really could have gone either way. When I started to explain the differences (the NYT uses a combination of cake flour and bread flour whereas Dorie's just uses all purpose, etc), David's mom (who voted for the NYT) said that she would never go out and buy cake/bread flour just to make the NYT cookies -- Dorie's were almost as good, so she would just make Dorie's with the all-purpose flour that she was certain to have on hand.

I think what a lot of people liked about the NYT CCC was the sea salt that is sprinkled on the top before baking. Of course, nothing is stopping us from getting out the salt shaker before sticking any old CCCs in the oven.

In short, I should have known better than to bet against Dorie. Her chocolate chip cookie more than held its own in my taste-off. It is a delicious, classic chocolate chip cookie. While some people might prefer a cookie that's not quite so thin, it's hard to go wrong with her recipe.

Many thanks to Kait of Kait's Plate for choosing this wonderful cookie. I'm not sure I'm any closer to crowning an Undisputed Chocolate Chip Cookie Champion, but I'm sure having fun trying!

TWD: Milk Chocolate Mini Bundts

The thing about Dorie Greenspan's recipes is that they are so good, so professional, and so foolproof that you can end up being kind of lazy about things and still wind up with a good result. Such was the case with this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, Milk Chocolate Mini Bundt cakes. To start with, Dorie clearly specifies that you should use "premium milk chocolate." Well, my one grocery stop the day I made these was going to be Piggly Wiggly, where the best milk chocolate available was this:


My days tend to fall into one of two categories: (1) days when nothing will come between me and my Callebaut, and (2) days when the very thought of loading these three kids back into the van to drive to Whole Foods for fancy chocolate is the height of absurdity. I was having day #2, so I went with the Hershey's. I've also been known to make cupcakes from a box. But really, Hershey's is good enough to support an entire amusement park, so surely it could hold its own in a couple of mini bundts.

My pans weren't exactly mini, and they weren't exactly bundts. I can best describe them as smallish and bundtish:


I think I found the pans at Target - they were called "dome pans" or something like that. They annoy me every time I use them, because they are never exactly what I want. Anyway, the upshot of all that is that my baking times were a little off -- these really needed to bake longer than the recipe calls for. I lost count of how many times I stuck these back in the oven for another 2 minutes, another 3 minutes. In the end, I probably overbaked them by a few minutes. Nothing that a little Reddi Whip couldn't fix!

I intended to make the glaze, and even went so far as to melt some bittersweet chocolate (which overfloweth in my pantry, unlike milk chocolate) for the glaze, but then I realized I didn't have any corn syrup. So I ended up serving the first cake sans glaze, and I figured I'd pick up some corn syrup to make glaze for, and then photograph, cake number two.

The kids and I LOVED this cake warm out of the oven. I can't identify the flavor, but it sure wasn't chocolate. Just that magical combination of butter, sugar, flour, eggs, and Hershey Bar, I suppose (and mini chocolate chips, which I threw in there for fun). I immediately thought of my friend Amanda, who does not like bittersweet chocolate. I'm so making this cake for you, sister! This is really a great chocolate cake for people who prefer milder chocolate, or who don't like chocolate at all. I don't think anyone would know this was a chocolate cake if you didn't tell them (at least not if you make it with Hershey Bars and don't glaze it).



In keeping with the lazy theme, I never did make the glaze, and I never did photograph the second cake in natural light. I'll spare you my long boring list of excuses. But don't you love the twinkle of the incandescent light as it catches the glass cake stand under the overhead kitchen fixtures? Nope, you won't get that outside at 4 p.m.

I finally decided to eat the last (still naked) cake on Sunday night, several days after I made it. And it was still fabulous! But that's a Dorie recipe for you - you can use inferior ingredients, skip a major component of the recipe, and let it sit there for days getting stale, AND IT IS STILL DELICIOUS. So you can only imagine what her recipes taste like when you actually follow her instructions!

Thanks to Kristin of I'm Right About Everything for a great pick!

TWD: Cocoa-Nana Bread

I'm not sure if I'm still on the TWD blogroll -- I'm kind of afraid to look -- but even if I'm not, I figure nothing is really stopping me from posting "unofficially." Back in the fall and through Christmas, I was doing a lot of baking-but-not blogging. Then after Christmas that kind of turned into not-baking-and-not-blogging. I hit rock bottom at my daughter's 5th birthday party, when I made cupcakes from a box:



Yes, that's how far I've fallen. Mind you, the cupcakes from a box got seriously rave reviews (they were "strawberry" cupcakes from a box, which kind of worked because I wanted them to be pink, but still). And while I was taught that you should accept compliments graciously and not try to explain to the complimenter why they shouldn't really be complimenting you, I couldn't help but immediately respond to every "these cupcakes are AWESOME!!!" compliment with: "okay look, they're from a box. Elizabeth really wanted strawberry cupcakes and she wanted them to be pink and I really didn't want to mess with fresh strawberries this time of year, um . . . yeah. I did make the buttercream though!"

Anyway, after the cupcakes-from-a-box incident, I figured I'd better do penance by baking up some cocoa-nana bread, and stat. Because everyone would know that something as weird as a chocolate banana loaf bread didn't come from a box! So I whipped some up using bananas that have been taking up space in my freezer since the mid-aughts. I thought I'd bring some over to my parents as a little peace offering after my son tried to put a Harry Potter spell on my mother after she told him he needed to do a better job sitting still at the dinner table.



This bread baked up beautifully and filled the kitchen with that irresistible cocoa-nana aroma that we all love. Okay I admit it - I didn't let it cool in the pan for the specified 20 minutes before depanning it. I hurried and snapped some quick pictures so I could get on with the tasting. I thought this bread was delicious, especially warm from the oven. I definitely thought that the cocoa was the predominant flavor, but the nana was definitely there. My kids loved this. Ate it, left crumbs everywhere, asked for more. I'm not sure the chocolate/banana combo will ever achieve the kind of legendary status as, say, chocolate and peanut butter, but this was still very good.

I cut the bread into thick slices and shared the slices with my parents (as noted), David's parents, his cool Aunt Missy, his grandmother, and my BIL, SIL, and cute nieces. One bite and the Harry Potter Incident was forgotten. Later, my SIL called me to say that they were all loving the cocoa-nana bread, but that I couldn't fool them - this was no breakfast food, this was chocolate cake. I agree that the cocoa-nana bread leans more towards "dessert" than "breakfast," but honestly, I found it to be more "3 p.m. snackish" than anything else. But we could debate this for hours over some wine. Or some cocoa-nana bread.

The always fun and talented Steph of Obsessed with Baking chose the cocoa-nana bread, and you can find the recipe (and lots of other great stuff!) on her blog. Steph, this one was enjoyed far and wide in my little world. Thanks for choosing such a great breakfast(?)/dessert(?)/snack(?)!!!

TWD: Cran-Apple Crisps

Our fearless leaders at Tuesdays with Dorie have permitted us to post the November recipes in whatever order best accomodates our busy holiday schedules. The recipe that I've decided to post this week, Cran-Apple Crisps (chosen by Em of The Repressed Pastry Chef) is a classic fall dessert that would be a fabulous addition to any Thanksgiving table. But it was also great on that random Monday night in early November when I had my act together well enough to make a Cran-Apple Crisp for dessert. It is versatile that way - you can dress it up, you can dress it down. I never hesitate to make apple desserts, since my husband loves them and can be counted on to be a volume eater of them, and at least one of my three kids will eagerly join him (that's the best percentage I ever get).

Tempted as I was to make individual crisps, I decided to make a half recipe of this crisp in one large baking dish. It's an easy dessert to throw together. The only aspects of the recipe that might cause me to avoid it on those (numerous) Monday nights when I DON'T have my act together are that (1) it requires peeling/coring/cutting apples, and (2) it requires that I break out the food processor. But honestly, if either of those activities seems overly daunting, I know that I don't need to be making a crisp anyway.


This crisp is fairly traditional, but the topping has the unexpected addition of coconut. I'm not a huge fan of coconut, except when I am, and in this case, I think I'd have preferred the topping without the coconut. But I'm certainly not going to quibble - this is a delicious, crowd-pleasing dessert. It certainly pleased (3/5th) of my crowd!

You can find the recipe in Dorie Greenspan's amazing book, Baking from my Home to Yours, or by visiting Em's gorgeous blog. Thanks for the perfect fall pick, Em!

TWD: Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies

Even though I've been a monumental blog slacker of late (which I am really sorry about, particularly to my friends whose blogs I have not been visiting), I always get as excited as a kid in a candy store when the Tuesdays with Dorie recipes for a new month are announced. It's the promise of a clean slate - the promise of a new month in which I CAN make caramel. I just can't click over to the TWD website fast enough when I see that "new recipes are up!" tweet. And typically, I am affirmatively excited about one or two of the recipes; one or two of them scare the heck out of me (usually custard or caramel-based); and one or two of them fill me with indifference. The Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies, chosen by the fabulous Pamela of Cookies with Boys, fell into my "overwhelmed by indifference" category for November. Other people were really excited about them, but as someone who, when presented with a platter of chocolate chip cookies, lemon cookies, and spice cookies, would ALWAYS choose the spice cookies last, my primary thought was "Good. These won't tempt me and David will eat them."


Well. Then I made them. And realized, after taking one bite of their crispy-on-the-outside-chewy-on-the-inside-perfectly-spiced-subtly molassesy goodness, that these cookies now rank solidly among my top three favorite cookies EVER, right up there with World Peace Cookies and Alton Brown's The Chewy. This, a spice cookie! I don't know if my taste buds have changed (there's been some banter on Twitter that your taste buds die as you get older, and I did just have a birthday) or if I was just young and stupid back in the days when I thought I didn't care much about spice cookies, or if these spice cookies are just particularly amazing, given that they are a Dorie Greenspan recipe and all. I don't know and I don't care. All I know is that I am deep deep deep in Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookie love. If you see me sitting there with sort of a faraway look and a goofy half-grin, you can assume that I'm thinking about the Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies again.

I was a little thrown off kilter by my love for these cookies. I had to scramble to change my plans, because again, I was expecting to be indifferent to these cookies while my husband, he of the superhuman metabolism, ate them all. But after I had one, I knew I had to get some of them out of the house pronto. I needed a worthy recipient, though, someone who would fully appreciate their awesomeness - maybe someone who is eating for two. Yeah, that's it! So I brought some to my 8 months pregnant friend, Amanda. She called me after trying one and said "I am SO glad that you're on a diet." And I replied "I am SO glad that you are not."

Amanda can expect more of these cookies before she has the baby (and some after she has the baby); and I am going to start sharing them with some of my non-pregnant friends, too. If you are likely to receive baked goods from me for Christmas, these will be in the package. Just wanted you to know so you can plan your Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookie needs accordingly. Don't worry, the World Peace Cookies will be in there too.


My only cookie-related disappointment is my pictures of them. I got a fancy new camera for my birthday, and I expected to take it out of the box and instantly start taking beautifully styled, perfectly composed, well-lit pictures (on full auto, of course). Instead, these are even darker than the ones I took with my old point & shoot! I'm taking an Introduction to Digital Photography class starting this week, so maybe that will help. But I'm afraid that there may be inherent talent limitations at work here, and at the end of the day, I suspect that this is just not going to be the place you want to come for pretty pictures. But this IS the place to come for unbridled enthusiasm about Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies!!

Pamela, I loved you before you chose these cookies, and I love you even more now. Thank you for introducing me to a new favorite cookie!

TWD: Chocolate Caramel Crunched Tart

I should start by saying that there have been far, far more TWD desserts that I expected not to enjoy, but ended up loving, than there have been desserts that I expected to love but did not. I will also say that when I affirmatively do not like a Dorie Greenspan dessert, and cannot explain that dislike purely by personal taste (see, e.g. custard, flan), I assume that I made an error. Usually I can identify the error, but in the case of this week's Tuesdays With Dorie dessert, Chocolate Caramel Crunched Tart, I cannot. But since most of the TWD universe heard angels sing upon tasting this dessert, and I was most disappointed, I can only conclude that I messed something up somewhere.


I cut most of the recipe down to make one 4" tart, but I made a full batch of the caramel because I had visions of my non-chocolate-eating husband enjoying the leftovers over vanilla ice cream. And he might have, if we owned a jackhammer. I had one previous run-in with caramel that, um, did not go well, so I was nervous going in. In fact, when my husband asked me that Saturday morning what I had on the agenda for the day, I told him that I was totally flexible for most of the day, but that at 1:00, I needed to concentrate on caramel completely, and would be most appreciative if the children were out of the kitchen (out of the house = even better). He totally wrangled the kids during the appointed time, and I had zen-like focus on the caramel. It seemed to go fine. The temperature was right. The color was right.


But the caramel was so, so wrong. It was spreadable at first, but once it cooled, it became rock hard, and I found the flavor to be on the bitter side. Not at all the smooth, luxurious caramel I had been hoping for. The caramel was very hard to break through without a knife (or with a knife, for that matter), and the ganache did not seem to be properly set. While this screams "company dessert!" on paper, I would not serve it to company unless Dorie herself were in the kitchen making it with me, because I don't want to have to raid my toolbox for proper dessert utensils (wire cutters? needlenose pliers?) nor do I like to ask my dinner guests to sign a waiver before biting into my dessert affirming that they have not had any recent dental work.

Carla of Chocolate Moosey chose this tart. It is obviously wonderful in just about everybody else's hands, so head on over to Carla's website for the recipe!