Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches with Coffee Creme Filling

For you, Stephanie:)

CHOCOLATE COOKIE SANDWICHES with COFFEE CREME FILLING

I used a little less flour and baking powder to get a crisper cookie, then (once cooled) frosted bottom with frosting and stuck another to it, bottom to bottom. Filling is just frosting thinned with very strong coffee instead of milk. I grind coffee and add a small amount of hot water, then press liquid out- max flavor w/minimum liquid. The smaller cookie, the better, IMO.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (or dark cocoa)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces butter (2 sticks), softened
• 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (not imitation!)
• 
  
• Preparation:
• 
  
• Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
• 
  
• On low speed, beat in flour mixture a little at a time, until well blended and smooth.
• 
  
• Drop chocolate cookie dough onto greased baking sheets by rounded tablespoons, about 2 inches apart. Bake at 350° for 12 to 15 minutes, or until set, a little longer for a crisper cookie.
• 
  
• Cool on pans on rack for about 5 minutes; transfer chocolate cookies to rack to cool completely.

DANGER: Chocolate chip cookies with sea salt

Don't make these if you have a taste for both chocolate and salt and don't want to gain 10 pounds by the end of the week. I love nothing more than mixing salty and sweet -- especially if the sweet is chocolate -- therefore I will never be making these ever again unless I suddenly develop much better self control. Corey and I inhaled these this weekend in some sort of a race to see who was more of a glutton. It got ugly. We both lost, I guess.

But enough self-deprication. I got this recipe from a really awesome book called Mom's Big Book of Cookies (a gift from my mother-in-law). I love this cookbook for one huge reason in addition to the awesomeness of the recipes -- it is spiral bound and actually stays open flat on the counter while I'm cooking! I have a cookbook holder, but it really only works well for a narrow range of book size. Now I just have to keep my son's grubby mitts off the book while I'm baking. The gorgeous color photos of the cookies are irresistible to him and he is bound and determined to push a chair up to the counter and spirit the book away for reasons known only to him.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES WITH SEA SALT

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

2 tbsp medium grain (not coarse) sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium-size mixing bowl.

3. Cream the cooled melted butter and sugars together in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon* until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips.

4. Place the bowl in the refrigerator for 10 minutes (or up to 6 hours) to let the dough firm up.**

5. Drop the dough by heaping tablespoonfuls*** onto ungreased baking sheets, leaving about 3 inches between each cookie. Sprinkle each cookie with 1/8 teaspoon sea salt.****

6. Bake the cookies until golden around the edges but still soft on top, about 9 to 11 minutes. Let the cookies stand on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then remove them with a metal spatula to a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days (unless you are like me and Corey, in which case the cookies won't last in the house for more than 24 hours, tops).

* This book is very particular about some things, like mixing with a wooden spoon and letting eggs warm to room temperature before mixing them in. I have made recipes out of the book before with straight-from-the-fridge eggs and haven't noticed the end result compromised in any way, but I'm sure the author would disagree. I actually did use a wooden spoon and mixed the butter and sugars by hand because it's so darn easy with melted butter.

** I have never heard of this step for anything other than rolled-dough cookies so I humored the author and did it. I thought it was kind of silly though and probably wouldn't do it again. I did put the bowl back in the fridge in between batches, but mostly to keep myself from consuming large quantities of cookie dough and spoiling my appetite for the finished product.

*** Does anyone actually ever follow this direction and make cookies that ridiculously small? I probably made my cookies twice this size and they baked perfectly in the same amount of time specified by the recipe. If you're really on the ball and bake a test batch of only two or three cookies to start with (like my mother does), you can test this.

**** Or just shake on a decent amount and laugh at the cookbook author for thinking you were anal enough to actually measure out such a tiny amount enough times to make several dozen cookies.

Banana Chocolate Chip Bars: Righting Wrongs

Wrong #1: How have I never posted this recipe on this blog?!?  Banana Chocolate Chip Bars, found in my favorite cookbook of all time (Better Homes and Garden), are my signature baked goods.  I brought them to almost every potluck event when I was working, and I have made them so many times that the page in my cookbook is covered in tiny splatters of batter.  There's no telling how many people have made this recipe as a result of me e-mailing it, posting it on Facebook, and handing out the recipe at work.  Unless you don't like bananas in baked goods, you're going to love these bars.

Wrong #2: I made these wrong for years-- probably at least 7 or 8 years.  I didn't have the right size pan (a 15x10x1 baking pan, AKA a jelly roll pan, AKA a cookie sheet with sides), so I just made them in a 9x13 brownie pan.  I always wondered why I couldn't get the texture exactly right.  Then, one time when I was sending my sister the recipe, I thought more about the pan size.  I ran to Target, bought the right pan, and the next time I baked the BCCBs, they were HEAVENLY!

Without further ado, here is the recipe:

Banana Chocolate Chip Bars

Prep: 20 minutes
Bake: 25 minutes
Oven 350 degrees

3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2-3 medium)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (6 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

1) Grease a 15x10x1-inch baking pan; set aside.

2) In a medium mixing bowl, beat the butter or margarine with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt; beat till combined. Beat in the egg, bananas, and vanilla till combined. Beat in flour till combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

3) Spread in the prepared baking pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven about 25 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Makes 36 bars.

Nutrition facts per bar: 117 calories, 5 grams total fat (2 grams saturated fat), 16 mg cholesterol, 92 mg sodium, 17 grams carbohydrates, 0 grams fiber, 1 gram protein.

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I have no picture of the banana chocolate chip bars, but here's a picture of my daughter (who loves to bake!) sampling the fruits of our labor (making brownies):

Mom's Italian Corn Salad

This salad is so good and pretty that you won't ever bring anything else along to a potluck. I brought this to my friend, Kym's house last weekend and got rave reviews. I got the recipe from my mom, and goodness knows where she got it. The original recipe called for balsamic vinegar. I used that when I made it last weekend, but this weekend I wanted to try it with white wine vinegar instead (I'm not a huge fan of balsamic vinegar, and it stained the mozzarella in an unappealing way). It turned out great. I also added a touch of lime juice because I think everything tastes better with lime juice. Except for cereal, I guess. Here is the recipe with all of my alterations.

MOM'S ITALIAN CORN SALAD

2 ears of corn, cut from the cob*

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

4 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed

1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves

5 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

2 tbs. white wine vinegar

sea salt (to taste)

black pepper (to taste)

lime juice (to taste -- maybe about a teaspoon or two)

1. Combine corn, tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil in a bowl.

2. In another bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently.

3. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then add more salt and pepper if necessary before serving.

* I used this super hilarious OXO Good Grips Corn Stripper. My mom bought it for my husband because she knows he loves his corn cut OFF the cob.

Really Freakin' Good Apple Pie (and crust)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• about 8 apples - peeled, cored and sliced

Directions

1. Prepare the apples.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
3. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust - save a little bit to put on top of the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
4. Do the lattice crust and pour or brush remaining liquid over crust.
5. Bake 15 minutes in oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

I know, you may not want to make your own crust. But someday when you are feeling like a Domestic Goddess, here's a good/easy recipe:

1 c. butter
2 c. flour
1/3 c. milk
1 tbsp. vinegar

Cut butter into flour with pastry blender. Put vinegar in milk, add to flour mixture. Roll out half and fit into pie pan, then save the other half for the lattice crust.

Hank's Butternut Squash Soup

I got this recipe from a high school friend about 2 years ago. I finally tried it this past weekend. IT WAS AWESOME. And it was a pretty color. :)

Ingredients:
4 C Chicken Stock
1 C Water
1 C Half n Half (Don’t worry, it’s a big pot)
1 large Butternut Squash
1 tsp Yellow Curry Powder (Adjust to taste - I use closer to 2 tsp)
1 Onion
1 large Carrot, chopped
1 Potato
1 C Sour Cream
Sat & Pepper to Taste


Directions:
1. Peal and Cube Potato and Butter Nut Squash while bringing Stock and Water to a boil in a large pot (seriously, it needs to be large).
2. Add Carrots, Onion, Potato, and Squash and cook until tender.
3.Using a slotted spoon remove from stock and transfer to blender with a little stock and blend until smooth.
4. Return mixture to pot and add remaining ingredients.
5. Simmer stirring occasionally for approximately 1 hour to allow for flavors to blend and soup to thicken.

More Lentil Soup!

3 carrots, chopped
a couple potatoes, chopped (whatever you have around)
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, pressed
8 cups water or vegetable broth
2 cups lentils, rinsed (I used red and brown)

Throw it all in the crock pot. Cook on low for about 8 - 10 hours or on high for 6 hours.

About 10 minutes before serving put in 1.5 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with feta cheese on top.