4/21/13

cashew-butterscotch cookies + OneFundBoston.org

Sorry for being so m.i.a. lately.
With all that's been going here in Boston, my world was shaken up, busy, crazy with work, etc..
On the day of the Boston Marathon, my husband who works at Mass General Hospital in Boston stayed home.
You can imagine my excitement, my confusion,  my gratefulness, my fear --all rolled into one on how lucky I was that he stayed home that day.  Anything could have happened. Anything!
We were blessed that nothing did, but I was so "spooked" (is that the right word?) that of all days, that was the day he stayed home.
My mind went a-spinning for days on end on the coulda, woulda, shoulda....it's only human nature I guess to do so, but thankfully for work, I submerged myself in to it to get lost and move on.
I haven't been baking for a while, but as I type this on Sunday night, I'm ready to get back into it again on Monday.
There are, as you know, a lot of people who were not so lucky and lost loved ones that day.
And a lot of other victims were badly hurt; their lives changed in an instant and forever.
Please if you can, keep those people in your hearts and if you can help them out with a donation to
OneFundBoston.org
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino have announced the formation of The One Fund Boston, Inc. to help the people most affected by the tragic events that occurred in Boston on April 15, 2013.
Thank you!
Our wonderful city of Boston is strong, a very strong city, with doubly strong resilient people.
It was good to see the Red Sox game last night.
Did you see that Neil Diamond showed up to sing?
Apparently he hopped a plane from california at like 12:30am, showed up at Fenway and asked "Can I sing?". There was no schedule, he just wanted to get here to Boston as quickly as possible in hopes they (Fenway) would let him sing.  As if Fenway would turn down Mr. "Sweet Caroline" himself.
Just like that.  What a great man.
If you didn't see it, here is the link.  (I know it looks as if he was lip-syncing, he wasn't, the song was playing along with him singing).
Brought tears to my eyes; every person in that audience was so proud.
All is well in Boston again...

The idea for these cookies...
Sometimes I buy things at Trader Joe's en masse, take them home and eat them en masse and later have an en masse stomach ache.
Said "en masse" this time was those delish thai-lime cashews.
Gosh those are good!
Once you have too much of one thing, you rarely go back to it for a while; that craving for it goes away.
I had a small amount left and wanted to use them use before the gift of staleness set in.
When in doubt on what to do with leftover sweets--throw in Cookies!
And it worked!
The thai spice, lime and hint of heat go really well in here, you really can't taste the heat that much or maybe my heat-tastebuds are numb from all the years of eating spicy foods?
Up to you if you want to add them, plain, roasted salted cashews is fine too.
But I know a few of you might have leftover trader joe cashews sitting in your cupboard right now.
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I usually roll into oversized-tablespoon balls, never press flat, just leave as balls and let the heat of the oven do the rest.
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cashew-butterscotch cookies
cookie dough based off of Jacques Torres cc cookie recipe

2 cups cake flour
1 2/3 cups bread flour
1 1/4 ts baking soda
1 1/2 ts baking powder
1 1/2 ts coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar, loose pack
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 ½  ts natural vanilla extract
1 cup butterscotch chips or chunks
1 ¼ cups salted, roasted cashews
Sea salt for gently sprinkling tops of cookie dough balls, optional

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes.
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.
Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds.
By hand, add in the butterscotch chips and cashews.

Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.
I scooped out about oversized tablespoon dough balls, and kept them as balls; did NOT press them flat.
Sprinkle cookie balls lightly with sea salt, making sure to push the salt into cookie dough. (this is an optional, but wonderful step)
Bake about 18-22 minutes or until center is not jiggly and edges are LIGHT golden brown.
Makes about 30-33 cookies.

14 comments:

  1. Isn't that the best cookie dough recipe to work with? Delicious combination in your cookies!
    SO glad all is well in Boston now. What a week!

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  2. My post tomorrow (in 8 hrs) is butterscotch cookies! I love baking with it.

    And those chili-lime cashews are dangerously good! Would have never paired them into a sweet cookie but I can totally see it working...and also with white chocolate, too. Salty and sweet. Mmmm, so good! And you have lots of luck with the J Torres cookie bases. For me, meh, never QUITE get to what I want. Yours are perfect though!!

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  3. The whole world has been focused on Boston with the tragedy and heartache of the past week. I am sure you have felt the virtual hugs from all around the world.

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  4. So glad your husband, family, friends etc are ok. Such craziness. I will never understand how people can do things like this.....the cookies? Omgosh. Makes me want to bake stat!

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  5. I am glad that you are well out there in Boston. I remember peering at the screen last Monday wondering what the heck was going on, and if my friends out there were okay.
    Alas, I've never been to a Trader Joes, (as there are none up here in Montreal) but I can dig the combination here. It looks as if I'd have an excuse to come up with a Thai Chili Cashew recipe just so I could make these cookies. Like that was a bad thing or something.

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  6. yes. to all those emotions at once. it has for sure been a crazy week! these would definitely help with the healing, though <3

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  7. I am so glad that you & your husband are safe... I thought of you when this craziness went down. I love that Neil Diamond flew in to sing live. Sooo cool.

    These cookies look mouth watering delicious and I know they wouldn't last long in my house.

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  8. I'm so glad your husband didn't go in that day...it saved you a lot of stress! I've yet to try those cashews but now I'm going to buy them specifically for these cookies!

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  9. So many people were badly hurt. Glad your hubby's safe.
    My dad was in Boston right at that time for work, but luckily safe.

    My heart breaks for all those weren't so lucky. Thanks for letting us know about the fund.

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  10. Love everything about this post. So, so sweet. Can't wait to try this recipe!

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  11. I love your post and I'm so glad you and your loved ones are fine. I'm still shocked what happened and I'm sending all my love to Boston!
    Your cookies look absolutely amazing... I have to try the combination of butterscotch and cashews!!
    xox Amy
    www.swissmissinthekitchen.blogspot.com

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  12. I am so glad you and your loved ones are safe. We have family in the Boston area, and this was the first year my husband's aunt wasn't working the finish line. Gulp.

    For what it's worth, I'm a runner, and many running stores around the country have - and are - organizing runs to benefit OneFundBoston.org. Many are even designing t-shirts with the B strong logo or something along those lines, with 100% of the proceeds of registrations or purchases to benefit OneFundBonston. So... you can not only financially support the Boston's victims, but also literally wear your support for the city!

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  13. These cookies look great! I love the mix of cake and bread flour - I bet it gives the cookies great texture.

    I'm glad you and your husband are safe. I did see that Neil Diamond singing thing. It was so cool! People are really awesome sometimes.

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  14. cashews don't get nearly enough glory! very tasty cookies, dawn!

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