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.



I usually roll into oversized-tablespoon balls, never press flat, just leave as balls and let the heat of the oven do the rest.

cashew-butterscotch cookies

cookie dough based off of Jacques Torres cc cookie recipe

print 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.

chocolate chip cookie bars stuffed w/ peanut butter

Remember when I (finally) made the Jacques Torres chocolate chip cookies?
Well ever since then (it was my 1st time making them) my husband has asked for them again EVERY SINGLE WEEK.
You know me, I just can't re-do a recipe the same way again.
if I was going to make them again I had to kick them up a notch.
So, with this next batch I was curious if a) they were stand up ok to pan cookies and b) can I stuff them with something!?
Answer? When made into pan cookies they make the best "almost" gooey cookies.
I like gooey chocolate chip cookies if they aren't too gooey, you know?
And the stuffing with peanut butter worked great; I was afraid the peanut butter might just melt away or dissolve away into the batter, but it didn't.
If you make these, please remember to sprinkle the sea salt on top before baking (just like Jacques does in his cookies).
Can I tell you again, just how darn good these are?  I mean they are so melt in your mouth good, so tasty, decadent, not too sweet, buttery, rich pan cookie.
The part I love most about this recipe is you can make the batter literally days ahead and keep it in the fridge.  This time I left the batter in the back of the fridge (wrapped in plastic really well) for 4 days.
I know you always ask "how can you not eat the dough earlier?"
My fridge has a lot of doughs, crusts, and other foods sitting waiting to be used; so temptation is never a factor really.
I'd be curious though to see how well the dough freezes?
Anyone know?
Also, why is the Jacques Torres cookie recipe also called the New York Times cookie?
I thought Jacques made the recipe?



Follow these simple steps.

Cover in those edges.

Ready for baking!

Almost done, little bit more; look for more golden brown.

Fresh out of the oven its all gooey baby!


The peanut butter middle did not melt away!


They are easy to make.
The hard part, if you have to have one, is letting the dough rest for a few days. ha!

chocolate chip  bar cookies stuffed with peanut butter

cookie base from Jacques Torres

print recipe

2 cups minus 2 TB (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour

1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) 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 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 TB (8 ounces) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 ts natural vanilla extract

1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks/chips at least 60 percent cacao (don’t skip this part, use a high quality chocolate, it makes all the difference)

1 – 1 ¼ cups smooth or chunky peanut butter, (not all natural-- too oily for this recipe)

Sea salt for sprinkling top of dough

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.

Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them.

Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours.

(I left mine for 96 hours and it was perfectly fine)

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with non-stick spray.

Divide dough into 2 piles: 2/3 and 1/3.

Take the 2/3 dough and line the bottom of the baking pan with it, making sure to get all the corners, making sure there aren’t any holes or gaps in the dough.

Spread a layer of peanut butter; do not spread peanut butter to the edges!

Take the 1/3 remaining dough and crumble on the top. Also make sure to take any dough and close up any gaps you see in the corners.

Don’t push the crumble down into the dough, just leave it on the top—it’s ok to have spaces in the crumble—gaps are good on the top, it will let the peanut butter swirls show through.

Sprinkle the top with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, roughly 25 – 31 minutes.

Look for golden brown edges, non-jiggly middle.

The middle will be a bit soft, but once it completely cools it won’t be as gooey; it sets up really nice.

Slice with a sharp knife.

Makes about 20-24 bars depending on how you cut them.

salty chocolate oat cookies (recipe clone from kayak cookies)

Surely everyone knows by now my obsession with Levain Bakery in NYC and my obsession with Kayak Cookies aka Salty Oats Cookies here on cape cod.
I've done all the recipe re-creations I can with Levain.
And now I'm onto Salty Oats.
Some of you may have heard of Salty Oats?
They are predominately sold in the NE.
A semi-healthy cookie that is almost a meal too.
A hearty cookie that packs a flavorful taste with a nice dose of salt.
Like Levain, no one knows the recipe for Salty Oats cookie.


Some have speculated that they use a rice flour to get that perfect chewy like texture.
So with my first batch, I used rice flour.
Never baked with it before, but I like it.
What does the rice flour do to the cookie?
Well it makes is half gluten free, it brings a richness to the cookie and that's about it.
I think I might know more when I make the oatmeal raisin version; with chocolate it's hard to tell as the cocoa powder is rich and dominates the cookie flavor-wise.
At Salty Oats they have these flavors: oatmeal-raisin, chocolate oats, chunky chocolate-pecan--all salted--all good!
With these cookies I created I had set out to create first oatmeal raisin, then halfway through mixing I realized I had no raisins!  So last minute, I made them into chocolate BUT wanted to try them with nuts added. Her recipe has no nuts.
So now, I have salty chocolate-walnut.
The verdict?
I think I almost nailed it.
I know I didn't add enough oats, and I should have made them a bit bigger.
But texture wise I nailed it spot on.
If you know of the Salty Oats and are a fan, do try and make these, they taste just like the chocolate oats one.
And it's an easy recipe to play with, switching out different ingredients.




These cookies really don't spread at all. So if you make them into dough balls, you will need to "gently" push down on them halfway through baking.  Just a gentle push because they do crack!


Truly a good cookie.  Hearty, tender inside with a nice gentle crispy outside.
I added a hint of cinnamon too.
At Salty Oats she claims to use Belgian chocolate; I will have to look for Belgian cocoa powder.
Best part? The salt on top, don't worry it's not overly salty at all, and the other best part?
This cookie is not too sweet--I hate overly sweet cookies.

salty chocolate oats (kayak cookie recipe clone )
print recipe

1 1/2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup + 1 TB dark double dutch cocoa powder
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp (16 TB)
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 ts baking powder
1 ts baking soda
1 ts sea salt
1/2 ts cinnamon, optional
2 large eggs
1 ts pure vanilla extract
2 cups of rolled oats (not quick cooking!)
extra course sea salt for sprinkling the tops

In a medium bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients.
In a larger bowl, cream the butter and both sugars; add in the eggs, vanilla extract and mix.
Add dry ingredients to the wet and mix till just combined--don't overmix.
Next, by hand, add in the rolled oats.
Cover dough well with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least three hours or overnight.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Line up two baking sheets with parchment paper or whatever method you use for baking cookies.
Divide dough into 12-13 large chunks; roll into balls and place on cookie sheet about an inch apart.
Sprinkle tops with sea salt before baking.
Bake for about 14-17 minutes. Halfway through baking, you might need to give the dough balls  a gentle push down to flatten very slightly--be careful not to push too hard as they will crack.  Also rotate pans halfway through baking too.
You'll know they are done when the bottoms are almost crisp/set up and the tops have a gentle crisp to them. It's really easy to overbake them, so definitely check at the 15-minute mark.
Makes 12-13 cookies.

cake pan cookies stuffed w/ almond joys

Is it a brownie or a cookie?
A brookie perhaps, but I didn't coin that phrase.
I didn't know what to call these.
Cake pan works for me, memory-wise that is, since I'm an old fart.
What do these taste like?
To me, they taste like a softer version of a shortbread.
Not at all heavy or dense, light and very flavorful.
I'll take flavor over sweet any day.
And the best part?
Not that sweet.
Oh I cannot tell you how much I hate over-sweet cookies and brownies!
So if you are looking for a semi-lightened up version of a cookie then bookmark this recipe.
One thing you do have to watch when baking these is that they bake up fast.
Since they are not that heavy they will bake fast and tend to overbake/dry up very fast.
So heed warning on the baking times!


They don't keep long. Maybe a couple days wrapped in air-tight container.
But rarely do baked goods last even a day with my family and friends.


Do you want the middle piece?

cake pan cookies stuffed with almond joy

print recipe

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 ts baking soda

¾ TB baking powder

5 TB double dutch cocoa powder

½ ts sea salt

2 sticks (16 TB) unsalted butter, room temp

½ cup light brown sugar, packed

½ cup granulated sugar

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

½ ts pure vanilla extract

8 almond joys eggs or whatever candy you wish (might need more/less depending on cake pan size you use AND what size almond joys you use)

Cooking notes:  I used almond joy egg shapes since their size and shape made sense for this recipe.  If you can’t find them then use another egg shaped candy or whatever you desire.

I used a 10-inch cake pan.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk all the dry ingredients together; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, either by hand or using a mixer (I don’t have a mixer so I did this by hand) mix butter & sugars until thoroughly combined.

Add in the egg and egg yolk and vanilla extract, mix well. Then add in the dry mixture, mix until just combined, do not overmix.

Spray an 8, 9 or 10-inch cake pan with non-stick spray.

Spread batter into cake pan evenly. If it’s too sticky then wet your fingers. Don’t push the dough down too hard, you want it light, so just make sure to cover all areas.

Place, in a circle, about 7 almond joy eggs and then one in the middle (see photo on how to place). Gently push them in, don’t push down all the way through.

Bake about 16-19 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. You’ll know the cookies are done by crisp edges and slightly puffy middles, and the tops will be soft, this is good.  Don’t let it get crisp! It’s a fragile cookie dough and will dry out if overcooked.  So look for non-jiggly middles and a “gentle” crisp on top.

Let it sit in pan after baking for at least 30 minutes to finish setting up.

Slice into pie like slices (see photo on website).

Makes 8 large slices.

double chocolate-cinnamon cookies

Those cinnamon chips I see in the stores, I've never been one to just grab them and use them.
Always weary of how they will taste, too chemically, too harsh, too something....
But alas I did buy one, having a coupon for one AND it was on sale--that's enough reason there to buy it...right?
I first tasted them and they are awful on their own, but surely no one eats these on their own?
Now that they were opened I had to do something with them--make cookies.
Combine these with really good chocolate and there's sure to be something....I hope?
Thankfully they were a HUGE hit.
Had no idea these cookies would be this tasty with those cinnamon chips.
AND, the other bonus to this, is the dough is crazy easy to make since we melt the butter.
Only downfall, if you have to have one, is to chill the dough.
Why do I keep asking you to chill the darn dough?
Cookie doughs bake up better when they are chilled, they poof up, they crisp up in the best outer shell crispiness way.  Think of it as taking pancake batter and trying to bake it, it would just run even more, it wouldn't firm up, it would lose all it's internal moisture and dry up, it would take a long time to crisp up.  Whereas a chilled dough placed into a hot oven will automatically hold its nice uniform shape, won't spread, and most importantly will keep all it's moisture inside and steam itself (quickly) to bake, while the outside gets nice and crisp.  Warm and chewy inside, crisp outside--heavenly right?
And of course there is the whole science of letting the gluten relax while its chilling.
Ruth Wakefield the creator of the Tool House Chocolate Chip Cookie always chilled her dough overnight.
When I made the famous Jacques Torres chocolate chip cookies, I chilled that dough for 96 hours!
The longer it sits the better; flavor and texture wise.


I used a regular size ice cream scoop.  You can use a larger or smaller size, just make sure to adjust the baking times.
 

double chocolate-cinnamon cookies

print recipe

1 ½ cups flour

¾ cup bread flour

¾ TB baking soda

¾ TB baking powder

5 oversized TB dutch process cocoa powder

¾  ts sea salt

2 sticks (16 TB) unsalted butter, melted & cooled

½ cup + 1 TB light brown sugar, packed

½ cup granulated sugar

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

½ ts pure vanilla extract

¾ cup high quality semi-sweet chips

¾ cup cinnamon chips

Cook notes: make sure to let the melted butter cool a bit. When you are ready to use the butter give it a good stir to incorporate the butter solids and fats back together.

You can add a full cup of the chocolate chips and cinnamon chips if you like. I added in only ¾ cup as I wasn’t sure if the cinnamon chips would be over-powering.

It’s hard to tell when these are done, just look for non-jiggly middles and non-sticky cookies.  It’s really easy to overbake these, so definitely take them out at the 13-15 minute mark.

Whisk all the dry ingredients together; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, either by hand or using a mixer (I don’t have a mixer so I did this by hand) mix butter & sugars until thoroughly combined. Add in the egg and egg yolk and vanilla extract, mix well. Then add in the dry mixture, mix until just combined, do not overmix. Next FOLD in the chocolate chips and cinnamon chips. Cover bowl and let chill in fridge at least an hour or longer.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees, line four cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Using an normal size ice cream scoop, and making sure to compact the dough in the scooper as much as possible, scoop out on baking sheets about 1 & ½ inches apart.

Bake about 12-15 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. You’ll know the cookies are done by slightly crisp edges and slightly puffy middles.

Don’t try and take them off the cookie sheets, they will just break.  Let them sit there at least 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack.

Should make about 22-24.