Not Your Average Chocolate Chip Cookie

Who doesn't love chocolate chip cookies? No one I know! For years I used the tried and true Tollhouse Cookie recipe and it is, of course, great. However, about six years ago I stumbled across this recipe on Allrecipes.com. It was posted by Debbi Borsick. Debbi named these "Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies". I tend to stray away from recipes that use such hyperbole in the title, but the average 4.5 star rating (5000+ reviews as of this posting) made me give them a try. I haven't won any awards with them but I have gotten a lot of "these are the best chocolate cookies EVER"!

Everyone loves the soft texture and the intense vanilla from the pudding mix and the TONS of chocolate chips make them irresistible. Beware, this makes a lot of cookies. 4-6 dozen depending on the size of your cookies!!! You can just half the recipe if you don't need so many cookies. Somehow these never seem to go to waste at my house!

TIPS: Use REAL BUTTER. I refuse to use margarine or butter flavored shortening when I bake. YUCK! Fresh unsalted butter is the only way to go. Use a good quality vanilla. It makes all the difference in the world. I usually add a little extra vanilla to just about everything I bake...but that's just me.

Use a shiny cookie sheet with no sides when baking cookies. (Not the dark non-stick pans with the sides.) Use nice thick, cookie sheets. In fact, double up the cookie sheets. Rotate the cookie sheets in the oven half way through baking. This is a tip I picked up from reading Marcy Goldman's Passion for Baking. You will not believe how much better your cookies will rise and brown evenly. Invest in some good cookie sheets. You will be pleased with the results.

Use a cookie scoop for chocolate chip cookies (or any drop cookie). This will keep them uniform in size. Don't press the cookie dough down on the sheet.

Never. I repeat...NEVER put your cookies on a hot cookie pan. Your cookies will spread out too fast and you may end up with thin, burnt cookies. If you are short on cookie sheets, just run the warm cookie sheet under cool water before putting the next batch on to bake.

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.

Easy Pasta & Corn Salad

This pasta salad is a staple at my cookouts (along with my potato salad). It is so easy, it's almost sinful--yet almost everyone seems to like it. I got this recipe from my mother-in-law, Marie. She got it from a friend, but I'm still going to call it Marie's Pasta Salad as an homage to her! Much like my mother's potato salad, this is usually a little of this and a little of that kind of recipe. However, I tried my best to give some rough measurements. Taste as you go and adjust seasoning accordingly.

MARIE'S PASTA & CORN SALAD

1 lb Ditalini Pasta (cooked al dente in generously salted water)

1 can of whole kernel corn (or 1 pkg frozen corn)

1 -- 1 1/2 cups of Mayo

1 tsp Garlic Powder

Kosher Salt to taste

Ground Black Pepper or more to taste

Drain the cooked pasta. Then rinse with cold water until pasta is completely cool. (If you mix this together when the pasta is hot, the mayo is going to curdle on you--ick!) Don't drain the pasta completely. Put it into a large mixing bowl while it is still fairly wet. The pasta will not soak up the mayo as much this way. Mix in the remaining ingredients. Season with the salt and pepper to taste. I tend to go heavy on the black pepper, but you might prefer less. You can make this pasta salad the day before. If you do, put a little more mayo in than you think is necessary. Otherwise you are going to have a dry pasta salad.

I think chopped tomatoes would be yummy in this but not many in my family like tomatoes...You can add anything your heart desires. The possibilities are endless, but as is this goes great with anything off the grill!

Fruit! Glorious Fruit!

Here is the fruit display I made for our Fourth of July Cookout. Nothing is more refreshing on a warm summer day than a nice fruit salad (and the cold beverage of your choice)! This is really easy to do. I should have taken photos while I was cutting the watermelon but I wasn't thinking. However, it is pretty self explanatory. I just inserted a paring knife into the watermelon to make each v-shape and then separated the melon. You can draw a template for yourself if you want to keep it even. I just wing it though. Make sure before you open up the watermelon that you do make a slight mark on the top and bottom of one v-shaped cut. That way you can put the watermelon back together with a perfect fit. I always scoop out with a melon-baller and scrape out all of the unwanted rind the night before. I put the fruit in a large Ziploc bag and then put the watermelon back together, wrap it with foil and stick it in the fridge to keep it from shriveling.

When you are ready to serve just, open up the watermelon, throw the melon balls and additional cut fruit (I used fresh blueberries, strawberries and grapes) back into each half of the watermelon and you have a wonderful presentation. If it is a particularly warm day and you are serving outside, just throw some ice cubes in a tray underneath the watermelon and add a few cubes to the fruit. Keeps it nice and cool and yummy!

June Daring Baker's Challenge -- Bakewell Tart..er...pudding

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

Jasmine and Annemarie tell us that like many regional dishes, there’s no “one way” to make a Bakewell Pudding, but most of today’s versions fall within one of two types. The first is the “pudding” where a layer of jam is covered by an almondy pastry cream and baked in puff pastry. The second is the “tart” where a rich shortcrust pastry holds jam and an almondy sponge cake-like filling.

The version we’re daring you to make is a combination of the two: a sweet almond-flavored shortcrust pastry, frangipane and jam.

I was intrigued by this challenge. Not only had I never made a Bakewell Tart...er Pudding, I have never even eaten one. This was definitely a challenge I could sink my teeth into. (Pun intended!) Some Daring Baker's chose to use homemade jam. I opted for the easy way out and used store bought jam. I went with a boysenberry and it turned out to be a very good choice.

The frangipane was interesting. I had no idea what to expect from it. Just as the recipe stated, it curdled a bit while mixing. No worries because it won't be curdled in the finished product. I tasted it before baking and it was quite tasty.

I really had no trouble with this recipe. The instructions were perfect. The crust came out flaky and tender. It was not too sweet and the jam with the spongey almond-flavored frangipane was surprisingly delicious. I suggest serving it warm with creme fraiche or fresh whipped cream on top. Just use the flavor jam that you love and you can't go wrong.

I will definitely be making this recipe again! Good Challenge Annemarie and Jasmine!


Shredding the butter with the box grater makes it easier to incorporate the butter into the flour without overworking.


The dough is slightly stick

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill.

Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding


Makes one 23cm (9” tart)
Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)
Resting time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin

One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)
Bench flour
250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)
One handful blanched, flaked almonds

Assembling the tart
Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Jasmine’s notes:
• If you cannot have nuts, you can try substituting Victoria sponge for the frangipane. It's a pretty popular popular cake, so you shouldn't have any troubles finding one in one of your cookbooks or through a Google search. That said, our dear Natalie at Gluten a Go Go has sourced some recipes and linked to them in the related alt.db thread.
• You can use whichever jam you wish, but if you choose something with a lot of seeds, such as raspberry or blackberry, you should sieve them out.
• The jam quantity can be anywhere from 60ml (1/4 cup) to 250ml (1cup), depending upon how “damp” and strongly flavoured your preserves are. I made it with the lesser quantity of home made strawberry jam, while Annemarie made it with the greater quantity of cherry jam; we both had fabulous results. If in doubt, just split the difference and spread 150ml (2/3cup) on the crust.
Annemarie’s notes:

• The excess shortcrust can be rolled out and cut into cookie-shapes (heck, it’s pretty darned close to a shortbread dough).

Sweet shortcrust pastry
Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Jasmine’s notes:
• I make this using vanilla salt and vanilla sugar.
• If you wish, you can substitute the seeds of one vanilla bean, one teaspoon of vanilla paste or one teaspoon of vanilla extract for the almond extract

Frangipane
Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

Annemarie’s notes:
• Add another five minutes or more if you're grinding your own almonds or if you're mixing by hand (Heaven help you).