Monday, August 15, 2011

Dorie's Chocolate Chip Cookies, revisited

Okay, I have a big post I'm working on for later this week, but I had to come on and write something really quick. Last February, TWD made "Dorie's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies". I thought they were great, but a lot of people complained about how flat they were. This didn't bother me so much, but I can see how a thicker cookie is more appealing. Since then I've made several batches of the cookies, and I figured something out; the key to making them thicker is really simple. First, increase the baking soda to 1 teaspoon. That little bit makes a big difference. Second, although they will look done at 10 minutes, bake them for 11-12. This will make them not sink once they come out of the oven. Third, if you have them, use thick baking sheets. Sometimes the thin flimsy metal ones bake less-than-pretty cookies. I'm still working on perfecting the recipe even more (haha, like I can do that....), but these changes certainly made the cookies less flat and bumpy.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

A new sort of TWD

Okay, sorry, no pictures here - my camera isn't working right now. I've recently realized how much there still is for me to bake from "the book", and how since I really don't have all that much time, there's no way I can finish with the rest of the group, however much I would like to. So, I've decided. I'm not giving up on the book - I've done too much to do that. But I am going to just bake whatever I want from it, whenever I want, until I'm done. And I'll try to post on here more often :)
Recently, I've made three things from Baking from My Home to Yours. The first two were actually made the weeks that twd chose them, and they were both delicious. The first was the Cream Scones. These come together quickly and easily, and are best right out of the oven. I used a mixture of currants and raisins, and they were so good.



The second was the Chocolate Chunk Muffins. I had high expectations for these, and although they were great right out of the oven, I didn't find them all that good after they had cooled. They were fine, but for the amount of chocolate in them, you would expect them to taste more chocolate-y.
Earlier this week, I made a recipe that was chosen a while back: the Split-Level Pudding. These were actually really good, although I must have done something wrong with the ganache, because it was still pretty liquid when we ate it. Oh well, it was delicious either way! We served them with whipped cream and raspberries.
So, what's going to happen with this blog? I don't know, but I'm going to try my best to post more often (and with pictures!), especially with all of the Dorie recipes I bake. Strangely, it motivates me to bake more knowing that I can choose anything I want - there's no reminder that I still have to bake this week's TWD. So, maybe there will be more posts on here than I think.

Update: I was able to find a picture of the muffins! (Obviously....)