The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Throughout my life I have made a lot of batches of cookies. In my family cookies never lasted long and were in high demand in planting and harvest seasons. Thankfully, my family wasn't picky about their cookies, because not many of my batches of cookies were very good. It has only been in the past few months that I have learned to make good cookies. Through practice batches and reading about cookie making techniques online, my cookies have improved. Here is a list of some of the tips I have learned.

• Always use butter. It gives the best flavor. And when the recipe says soften it, don't let it melt even a bit. It is best to just let it sit on the counter till room temperature. Trying to soften it in the microwave often leads to melted butter, which does not give the dough the structure it needs. 
• Then, it is best to use room temperature eggs. Using cold eggs can cause your butter to harden up again. 
• And make sure you are creaming your butter and sugar long enough. Cream them together not just until they are mixed. But until they are very creamy. Using a stand mixer can help make this faster
• Add cornstarch or pudding mix. Both will make your cookies softer. Butter has better flavor than shortening, but it tends to make the cookies flat and crispy. Cornstarch or pudding mix counteracts this and acts as a thickening agent. 
• Always chill the dough before you bake it. This is a major step. I form my dough into balls and then let them sit in the refrigerator for at least two hours. Skipping this step will make your cookies flat and crunchy.

 Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 3 sticks butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 T vanilla
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 T cornstarch
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 cups chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars together. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Add to butter mixture. Stir until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Form into balls about an inch or slightly more in diameter. Chill for at least 2 hrs or a couple days if you don't want to eat them right away. Preheat oven to 350 and grease cookie sheet. Bake for 8-11 minutes until edges are lightly brown. Do not over-bake. The centers may still look doughy. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then cook on wire rack. Makes 4 dozen. 

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Pretzel Rolls

Job searching is stressful! So between interviews and job application stuff, I managed a break to de-stress and to try a new recipe for pretzel rolls. Both Tyler and I love the pretzel rolls sandwiches served at our work cafeterias, so I set out to copycat those rolls. They were amazing! With a perfectly chewy, salty pretzel crust and a moist, fluffy inside, the make fun sandwiches. Plus, its hard not to just keep eating them plain. Which is what I did.

Don't they look great. Picture perfect. They taste even better. If you can't tell, I am pretty proud of them!

The secret to a great pretzel or pretzel rolls is to boil them before you bake them. Boiling them in a mixture of baking soda and water for a minute or two gives them that trademark pretzel chewiness. This is the most involved step. Then after they are boiled, brush them with egg and sprinkle with coarse salt. The egg will make them turn the pretty golden brown. Other than that it is a pretty simple yeast recipe.

Chewy Pretzel Rolls

 - 1 T yeast

 - 1 cup hot water

 - 3 T white sugar

 - 1/4 cup olive oil

 - 1 tsp salt

 - 3 cups all purpose flour

 - 2 T. wheat gluten*

 - 1 egg

Add the yeast, hot water, oil and sugar to a large bowl and mix.In a separate bowl combine the flour, salt and gluten. Add to yeast mixture. When dough forms a ball, place on counter and knead for a few minutes until smooth. Divide dough into twelfths and shape into balls. Place on greased cookie sheet, cover with a towel and let rise for 45 or so minutes until double in size. Preheat overBring 6 cups of water and 3 T baking soda to a boil in a shallow pan. In batches boil rolls for 1 minute on each side. Use a slotted spoon to remove them and place them on a well greased cookie sheet. Brush the rolls with beaten egg and sprinkle with salt. Use a sharp serrated knife to lightly slash the top of the rolls. Bake for 12-15 minutes

* instead of using regular flour and gluten, bread flour may be used.  

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Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

Happy Valentines Day! I hope you are enjoying the day and the chocolate that comes along with it! :) It was great to be snowed in this year and have my husband around all day. Very romantic for our first Valentines married. Anyway, as one special way to celebrate I made him these awesome Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes. Its starts with a super moist, fine-crumb chocolate cupcake, then a creamy, smooth strawberry cream cheese frosting, and is topped with a strawberry, chocolate covered of course. 

This recipe was adapted from another recipe with a few minor changes. You can find the original here.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

Cake:
 - 1/2 cup cocoa
 - 1 cup very hot water
 - 1 stick softened butter
 - 1 cup sugar
 - 2 eggs
 - 11/2 cups flour
 - 1/2 tsp salt
 - 1 tsp baking soda
 - 1/4 tsp baking powder

Frosting:
 - 1/4 cup finely chopped strawberries
 - 8 oz cream cheese
 - 1/2 cup butter
 - 3 - 4 cups powdered sugar
 - chocolate covered strawberries, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350. Beat together hot water and cocoa until smooth, allow to cool. Meanwhile, whip together butter and sugar. Add eggs, beat until very fluffy. Mix together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a separate bowl. Add the cooled cocoa mixtures to eggs and beat till smooth. Next add the flour and beat for 30 seconds. Distribute the batter into lined cupcake tins, filling them 2/3 full. Bake for 15-18 min. Cool.

For frosting: beat together softened cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add chopped strawberries. Next, beat in powdered sugar until consistency is right for frosting. Frost cupcakes (I used a lot of frosting, it adds a great strawberry flavor!) and garnish with a chocolate covered strawberry. Enjoy!

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Easy Salted Caramel Sauce

This has been a great week. I found out I passed my last section of the CPA exam and got a good job offer, and its only Wednesday. Another victory of the week was this salted caramel sauce. So much creamy, caramely, sugary, salty goodness. Salted Caramel is the "in" thing right now, and in my opinion, for good reason. The extra saltiness cuts through the extra sweetness of the caramel, making it a great contrast to what other sweet item it may be paired with. Unfortunately, it doesn't cut the calories. But who cares anyway, especially when you pair the caramel with a sweet vanilla ice cream or a rich, velvety chocolate cupcake.

Super Easy Salted Caramel Sauce. No candy thermometer needed!

The other thing about this caramel sauce recipe is that its incredibly easy. No candy thermometer required. Its actually a cheater recipe. Purists would may not consider this caramel. Instead of starting with the normal white sugar and browning it to a beautiful amber color, this recipe has a base of brown sugar and a little corn syrup which gives it a great, smooth texture. It definitely is not missing any caramel flavor, and its impossible to mess up! I found and adapted the recipe from here. The amount of cream added to the caramel can be altered to make the caramel the consistency you want.

Stirring in the cream

Easy Salted Caramel Sauce

 - 1 Cup brown sugar

 - 1 Cup butter (2 sticks)

 - 1/4 cup corn syrup

 - 2 Tbsp vanilla

 - up to 1 cup heavy cream

Melt butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and vanilla over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring continuously. Reduce heat and let boil for 3-4 minutes until thickened. Allow to cool to a warm temperature. Add cream until desired consistency is reached. As the caramel cools it will thicken more so keep that in mind when adding the cream. Enjoy! Makes about 2 cups of caramel sauce. 

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