Cookies by Request

I went to visit some friends yesterday, and when I got home, I made the mistake of mentioning that I had been offered (and accepted) two oatmeal cookies while I was there. I had forgotten that when it comes to the power of suggestion and sweets, someone I know is a goner.
Today, after a few hours, I caved to the "I wish I had some oatmeal cookies..." sighs that were coming my way. I measured and cracked and mixed and added and combined...

And for a comparatively small amount of work, I got cookies. Crisp on the edges and soft and chewy in the middle, and just a hint of chocolate. Also, please don't look too closely at the Tupperware mat I've got there on the cookie sheet. I promise you it's clean. It's just a little sad.

Look at the cookies instead. For my money, a lazy, somewhat sunny Sunday, can't get any better than fresh cookies, a glass of milk, and time on the porch.

Oatmeal Cookies
Makes about 4 dozen

1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 c brown sugar, packed
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 t salt
1 c. chocolate chips
1 1/2 t. baking soda
3 C. rolled oats
1 c. dried cranberries
3/4 c. pecans, roughly chopped

1. Mix the butter and both sugars until creamy.
   
2. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.
   
3. Add the flour, salt, and baking soda and combine.
   
4. Stir in the oats, scraping down the sides to make sure everything is incorporated.
   
5. Stir in the chocolate chips, cranberries, pecans and mix thoroughly.
   
6. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, until golden. Let them cook for a minute on the cookie sheet, then transfer these yummy cookies to a baking rack to cool.

Hot Chocolate, for Reals

Have you ever had hot chocolate? The good stuff? REAL hot chocolate? The amazing kind that is more pudding than beverage?

Clive and I went to Spain a few years ago. We were in Madrid for two days and went to Chocolatería San Ginés three times. (Obsessive much?) The Chocolatería San Ginés is amazing. And old - 1890. It also (nerd alert!) is mentioned in a really fantastic book - Luces de Bohemia (1924) (I mean that sincerely. I liked the book and that makes me like the chocolate even more.) In other words, this place has some history, and a lot of experience making excellent hot chocolate. And churros. Did I forget to mention the churros? They're to-die-for good. But today, I'm talking about the chocolate.

(Image from the internet)

The chocolate is so rich and so perfect for today's return to chilly, rainy weather. Today at lunch, I saw a picture of the Calle de Alcalá in Madrid at night, and it reminded me of walking down the street with friends, and later, on a different trip, with Clive. Fond memories of Madrid and friends ... and chocolate.

Hot Chocolate
This hot chocolate is no joke - it's extremely rich. This recipe will technically fill one mug, but we usually split it between the two of us. That usually ends up being a perfect amount.

1/2 c chocolate, chopped
1/2 c half and half, divided
1/4 c water
1 T cornstarch
1 t vanilla extract
1 generous tablespoon whipped cream

1. Put 1/4 cup half and half in a pan over medium heat. Put the remainder in a small cup with the water and cornstarch and stir until the cornstarch is dissolved.
   
2. Add the chocolate to the pan and heat until the chocolate is melted and incorporated with the half and half.
   
3. Stir in the sugar and the half and half/cornstarch mixture and reduce the heat to low. Stir constantly for 5 minutes until the chocolate has thickened.
   
4. Remove from heat and add the vanilla extract.
   
5. Serve with whipped cream.
   

Chocolate Souffle Cupcakes

Seriously. Go make these chocolate souffle cupcakes with mint cream by Smitten Kitchen right now. They're so wonderfully rich and chocolatey without being too heavy, thanks to the whole souffle aspect.

They start with melted chocolate and end with meringue.



When they come out of the oven, the tops are perfectly puffed, and quickly fall. That's a good thing - it means there's somewhere to put the white chocolate mint cream.


Seriously. Go make these today. It's Valentine's Day, after all, the holiday of chocolate.

Wednesday Night Cookies

It's cookie time again in our house. Cookie time is that random day - usually a weekday - where the rhythmic scooping, measuring, and pouring rights all the wrongs of the day and yields (hopefully) delicious cookies.

Inspired by one of the featured recipes in the Culinate Newsletter, but stymied by a lack of rolled oats, I started looking around. I wanted to replicate a cookie from eons ago. Crisp and crunchy, with soft chewiness from the chocolate chips and slightly-sweet-because-they're-just-a-bit-burnt raisins, I try now and again to recreate it.

Today's attempt started off as the infamous Cup of Everything cookies, so called because - yay for creative naming! - most of the ingredients are measured in cups. Somewhere along the way, they turned into something else, something soft and light and chewy and crunchy. It may not quite be the cookie I remember so fondly, but it's awfully close.

Everything Cookies
These cookies are rich and on the sweet side. I'm not a huge milk and cookies fan, but there was something about these that made milk sound like the best idea ever (probably all the sugar). This recipe makes 4-5 dozen, depending on how big you make the cookies.

1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 c brown sugar
1 c sugar
3 eggs
1 c peanut butter
1 c. flour
1 c. chocolate chips
1/2 c white chocolate chips
1 T. baking soda
3/4 C. rolled oats
3/4 c coconut
1 c. dried cranberries
3/4 c. pecans, roughly chopped

1. Cream the butter and both sugars until creamy. Add peanut butter and mix to combine.
2. Add the eggs and mix well.
3. Add the flour and baking soda and combine.
4. Stir in the chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, coconut, oats, cranberries, pecans and mix thoroughly.

Bake at 350 for 15-17 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the tops look done.