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.

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....)

TWD Rewind: Creme Brulee

I am SO sorry. I've completely neglected this blog, which is not okay. I've been super busy with a show I was in and then the end of school, which was crazy. This summer I'm attempting to get ready for my switch to a new school, but I hope I have time to post some more. I really haven't done any TWD, so I'm trying to get started on that again. My mom recently discovered that she has Celiac disease, making it harder to bake often, since our family is small and having one less person to eat wheat doesn't help.
This recipe is one that I actually made a while ago. It was simple and I had lots of fun caramelizing the sugar! I loved it and will make it again for sure!

TWD Rewind: Peanut Butter Torte

This week's TWD recipe was Fluff-Filled Chocolate Madeleines. I really wanted to make these, but I didn't have time. BUT, we had two of my friends and their parents over for dinner, so I decided to make a rewind for dessert. I decided on the Peanut Butter Torte, which took forever to make but was so worth it. It starts off with an Oreo crust. Then comes a peanut butter mousse, which has chopped peanuts and chocolate chips stirred in to make it crunchy. Finally is a layer of chocolate ganache, with more chopped peanuts on top. All put together, it's really good. My only comment is that Dorie says this serves 6-8 people. Um, no. We cut 11 quite big servings and only ate about half of the torte (because it is so rich). We ended up calculating that the whole torte could feed 25! If you want to try the recipe for yourself (please do), you can find it in the book. Enjoy!

TWD: Midnight Crackles

Hello there! It's been a while, hasn't it? I'm sorry - I had a show closing (Much Ado About Nothing, if you're wondering), and then I went away for Christmas and New Year's, which was a lot of fun. But now I'm back and just starting rehearsal for You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown (I'm Lucy), so I have a little bit more time. Yesterday I didn't have rehearsal, so I came home right after school to bake this week's Tuesdays with Dorie! Yesterday was the group's third anniversary! I have loved being a part of the group, even if I'm not always one of the more... um.... participating members.
This week's recipe was chosen by Laurie of Slush and Jules of Someone's in the Kitchen. The dough for these was quick and easy to whip up. After reading the P&Q on the TWD website, I decided to only chill it for 20 minutes before baking. Ten minutes ended up being the perfect baking time for these.
From the title, I was thinking these were going to be really light and airy. They certainly weren't! That said, they were very good cookies. I didn't love them, but I liked them just fine and thought they were a nice easy, quick recipe to start off 2011. You can find the recipe on the hosts' blogs. Happy New Year!

Thanksgiving Pies

Hello there! Again, I'm so sorry I haven't been posting - now that all the high school stuff is over, I'm in my school's play (Much Ado About Nothing), which opens this week, so I've been in rehearsal every day after school. I just wanted to write a little about the Thanksgiving TWD, where we got to do a rewind of our choice.
At my school, all of the 8th graders have to do a community service project. I decided to make mine be working with the soup kitchen down the street. They always have a big meal on Thanksgiving, and love it when people bring in pies. I decided to combine that week's TWD and my community service project and make a whole bunch of pies.
About two weeks before Thanksgiving, I decided to make all of the crusts. For all of the soup kitchen pies, plus the three we were having for ourselves, that meant fourteen crusts.
A few days before the due date, I set about making the pies. First, I made all the pumpkin pies. Five for the soup kitchen, one for us. Those were easy - I rolled out the dough, whisked together the filling, and baked them all. Okay, not so easy - I did manage to slightly burn a few of them. I used Libby's classic pumpkin pie for those. Since my pans were a little smaller than those the recipe called for, I made four times the filling instead of six. I still had way too much, and ended up making a few mini pies in a muffin tin (some with crust, some without). They were as delicious as the pumpkin pies themselves (which were quite delicious).
Then I made the pecan pies. I used Dorie's recipe, but since I wanted a classic pie, left out the chocolate, espresso powder, and cinnamon. This time, I made five times the filling (haha, don't ask me why), which ended up being the perfect amount (???). Those baked up nicer-looking than the pumpkin, and the one we had was also quite tasty.
On Wednesday, I took the five of each kind of pie to the soup kitchen. They were so grateful to have ten homemade pies!
Wednesday afternoon, I used the remaining two crusts (and scraps from the others) to make two of Dorie's apple pies with my friend, one for my family and one for hers. Those were delicious as well!
All in all, it was quite stressful to make thirteen pies, but it was a lot of fun and I loved getting to take them to the soup kitchen. Who knows - maybe I'll even do it again next year :)

PS - I know I haven't done a Daring Bakers in several months, and I probably won't be able to do this month's either. Hopefully I'll be back to normal in January! (That includes weekly TWD!)

TWD: Peanuttiest Blondies and Cranberry Upside-Downer

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Nicole of Bakeology. She chose the Peanuttiest Blondies.
These blondies are fairly simple to make, and the part that takes the longest is just chopping up the peanuts.
I began making these thinking that they were going to be just a basic blondie, nothing to get too excited over. I think it's safe to say I was wrong! We loved these so much. They are kind of like a peanut butter cookie, due to the peanut butter in the batter, only thick and with peanut chunks and chocolate chips. I couldn't resist trying one right out of the oven, and they were yummy, but they were better once they cooled. If you want to try the recipe, you can find it in Dorie's book or here.



This week, I had some free time and also made a rewind for brunch on Saturday. I decided on the Cranberry Upside-Downer. This is made by boiling a whole lot of butter and sugar, pouring that in to a cake pan, and sprinkling on fresh cranberries and pecans. Then a simple cake batter is made (with plenty of cinnamon!), and it is poured over the cranberry/pecan/buttery-sugary-goodness layer. Forty minutes later, you take it out of the oven, flip it over, and are faced with a plate of deliciousness. Yum..... You can find the recipe in the book or here, because I know you're going to make it tonight.

Enjoy!