kitchen sink cookies

Heartbroken.

Yet not surprised at all.

Our Canucks were spectacularly knocked out in the first round of the Stanley cup playoffs.

It's surreal that we can play so well sometimes, yet play like poop other days.

It's going to be a very long summer without them, but thankfully I have a tiny, doll faced little girl to dress up all summer. It evens out.

To all you hockey fans whose teams have been knocked out, consider these cookies to drown your sorrows, instead of the usual ice cream.

Filled with the regular goodies like chocolate chips and oatmeal, there are also a few tasty surprises tucked away in these cookies. Rice krispies anyone?

Kitchen sink cookies
[ from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey ]

This is adapted from the original to be a half batch of cookies. If you want a million of these cookies go ahead and make a full batch, but I warn you, you will need an obnoxiously huge bowl to mix them in. The half batch will fill (to the brim) my 5L kitchenaid mixer bowl.


1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups Rice Krispies
1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups walnut pieces

Position baking racks to the middle of the oven, and preheat to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, or another large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugars over medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition, followed by the vanilla. In another large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture and mix until completely combined. Add the rice krispies, coconut, rolled oats, chocolate chips, and walnuts, mix on low speed until combined.

Drop 1/4 cup-sized balls onto baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly with fingers. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes, or until outside edges are golden brown and the middles are still slightly soft. Let cool on baking sheet for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire baking rack to cool completely.

digestive biscuits

There are certain things I never expect the husband to say. 

"Of course I'll cook dinner, and do the dishes, and clean up, and feed the baby, and pour you unlimited glasses of wine."

" I think we aren't busy enough, so let's get another kitten."

" No, I don't mind if you spend hundreds of dollars on tiny pink clothes."

" These cookies would be better without the chocolate."

All of these seem far too ridiculous to be true.... Except for the last statement. That sentence was actually spoken after the husband took a bite out of one of the homemade digestive cookies I made. 

I turned and looked at him, with complete shock spread all across my face. You, the man who tells me I should put chocolate in everything I bake, is telling me these cookies would be better WITHOUT the addition of chocolate?!?!?!?!?!

If I wasn't holding the baby, I may have fallen over. 

While we all recover from the events that just happened, let's go over the cookies shall we?

They taste exactly like the store bought version, but mine were slightly thicker. They are sweet, crunchy, nutty, and coated with the perfect amount of chocolate. 

Homemade digestive biscuits

[ adapted from the little loaf ]

1 1/4 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 - 2 teaspoons milk

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

In a food processor, pulse the oats until they have reached a fine powder, about 2 minutes. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and butter, blend until a crumbly dough forms. Slowly add milk until the dough comes together in a smooth mass. Form dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes. 

Once chilled, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out desired shapes, I used a quarter-pint mason jar to achieve a round shape. Place shapes onto cookies sheets and bake for 15 minutes, or until cookies begin to brown around the edges. Remove cookies from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.

While the cookies are cooling, melt the chocolate in a shallow bowl. ( I used the microwave, set for a minute at a time until desired consistency is achieved. Any longer in the microwave will burn the chocolate.) Dip one side of the cooled cookie into the melted chocolate,  making sure to evenly spread it around. Place cookie back on baking rack, dipped side up, to set.

Store leftovers at room temperature, in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

cranberry almond quinoa cookies

There are few cookies that can be eaten for breakfast.

I've been known to eat more than my fair share of chocolate chip cookies for breakfast, but let's be real, we shouldn't eat those everyday.

So naturally, when I come across a recipe labelled as a "breakfast cookie", my spidey senses go crazy.

Will it be sweet? Will it have chocolate ? Does it involve kale and flax seeds?

Yes, no and thankfully, no.

The ingredient list is nothing super crazy, except the quinoa. I personally love quinoa. It's a super food. Extra tasty for dinner with some butter, black pepper, and lemon zest. Even more crazy delicious for breakfast with some maple syrup and walnuts. So really, could quinoa in a cookie be a horrible thing?

quinoa

It's not. It's probably the best thing ever to happen to cookies.

It makes these cookies, fluffy like muffins. They're more tiny muffin tops than cookies.

The cookies are sweet, but not overly sweet, the honey gives them just the right amount of sweetness, the oats and quinoa make them hearty and chewy and the dried cranberries are a really nice touch.

Cranberry almond quinoa cookies
[ from Bon Appetit ]

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled to room temperature
1 cup large flake oats
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup slivered, unsalted almonds

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In the bowl of your stand mixer, or in another large bowl, beat together the butter, sugars, and honey for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and the extracts and beat for another 2 minutes until smooth. Slowly beat in the flour mixture, in 3 additions, until well blended. Stir in the quinoa, oats, cranberries, and almonds.

Spoon 2 tablespoon-fulls on to baking sheets, about 1-inch apart. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes, or until cookies are set and golden brown.

Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool completely. Store leftovers in an airtight container.

wordless wednesday ~ cookie time

brown butter chocolate coconut cookies

I'm only a few days away from something I've never been.

Unemployed.

3 weeks after I graduated high school I got my first full time job and 10 years later, I haven't been without one.

It's strange because I'm going on a leave, I'm going to be busy, but I'm not going to be working.

I'm having a hard time grasping it.

Part of me is ready. So ready I could burst, literally. I'm exhausted, I'm the size of a harbour seal, I feel like I'm walking with a towel between my knees, I just want to stay at home all day in my pajamas.

Part of me isn't. What the heck am I going to do with myself for the 2 or so weeks before the baby arrives? Sure, I'm going to sleep and bake, but what else to do with the other 8 hours of the day?!?!? Play with the cats? Fold tiny clothes? Eat ?

Cookies make big life situations better.

Browned butter smells like how heaven should. It soothes my worries. And this girl will never say no to chocolate and coconut.

I have a feeling this is not the only time I will be using cookies as an excuse.

Browned butter coconut chocolate chip cookies
[ from Joy the Baker ]

1 cup unsalted butter, melted and browned to about 3/4 cup of butter
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter until it start to foam and bubble. Start paying real close attention, the butter will start to smell extra delicious and turn golden brown. Once brown, remove from heat and pour into a bowl to stop the butter from cooking. Let rest for a few moments.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of your stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat together the sugar, brown sugar, and browned butter for 2 minutes. The sugar will still be grainy, it's okay.

Add the egg and the egg yolk, beat for 2 more minutes. Mixture will look silky smooth. Add the vanilla and beat well. Add the flour mixture and stir at low speed until just incorporated. Stir in the coconut and chocolate by hand.

Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes.

Spoon tablespoons of chilled dough on to baking sheets and bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until cookies just start to turn golden. Let rest on pan for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

peppermint meringues

The husband and I had a bit of an arguement last week.

It was about cookies.

I kid you not.

I have a bad habit of making a whole bunch of cookies (duh, I write a baking blog), eating one cookie, then not touching the rest.

I don't see it as a problem, my co-workers and my waistline love it.

The husband has zero self control when it comes to treats. Remember how he ate 12 apple turnovers? He is a cookie monster.

His thought process is that if he eats them all, then they are gone and they won't tempt him anymore.

Is anyone else thinking that maybe eating an entire batch of cookies is a bad idea? Me neither.

So he's grounded me from baking cookies.

At least until after Christmas.

But crunchy, minty, pretty meringues don't really count right?

I didn't think so.

Peppermint meringues
[ from Bon Appetit ]

3 large egg whites, room temperature
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract
12 drops red food colouring

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchement paper, set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites on medium speed until white and foamy. With the mixer still running, add the sugar in 3 seperate additions, beating for 2 minutes after each addition. Once all the sugar has been added, beat until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes.

Add the peppermint extract and the icing sugar, beat to blend, about 1 minute. Dot the top of the beaten egg whites with the red food colouring, do not stir or swirl, it will swirl when you pipe it.

Spoon in to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip or with the large star tip (which I used) and pipe onto baking sheets, about 1 inch apart.

Bake until dry, around 2 1/2 hours. Remove from oven and let stand for 1 hour. Meringues will crisp as they cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

caramel pecan cookies

psst, I have something to tell you.

I made these cookies. But I'm sharing them at other places on the internets.

I'm the guest poster over at Britt's blog, the story of our rookie years, today.

If you haven't come across her blog yet, shame on you. She has an adorable son, pb, I want to bite his face. And she's freaking hilarious. She has no shame in showing her permed femullet from her childhood. It's spectacular.

mom's shortbread

You know those holiday recipes that evoke such fantastic memories?

This is one of them.

My mom, used to be, suzy homemaker. She was Christmas-crazy. She would bake, and decorate, and be a great hostess. Christmas was amazing when we were kids.

She isn't so much like that anymore, she prefers Christmas in Mexico or Palm Springs, but I have a feeling that will all change next year when her granddaughter arrives.

Part of my mom's Christmas baking, besides the butter tarts and the whipped shortbread, was traditional shortbread. I remember her baking a whole whack load of it, containers upon containers of it, mostly in this scalloped rectangle shape, and freezing it early in December.

This trick of freezing cookies is nothing new to all of you ladies (or gents) who do their Christmas baking early. But this brought on my weakness for frozen cookies. Specifically, frozen shortbread cookies.
Shortbread is one of those cookies I enjoy more straight from the freezer than I do at room temperature.

It's cold, still buttery and crisp, after a few chews, it melts away in your mouth. Seriously, it's amazing.

Please bake up some shortbread, freeze it, then eat it.

It's a guilty pleasure everyone should learn from their mothers.

Shortbread


2 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 cup icing sugar
5 cups all-purpose flour

In the bowl of your stand mixer, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Turning the mixer to low, add the flour, 1 cup at a time until completely mixed. Turn mixer speed up to medium, beat for 1 minute.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, knead a few times, gather into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Once dough is cool, but not firm, roll out onto a floured surface and cut into desired shapes. Place shapes onto baking sheets, about an inch apart.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until edges just begin to brown. If you're unsure, tap the top of the cookie, should dent in slightly OR you can use a spatula to lift a cookie off the sheet, if it's just starting to golden on the bottom, they are done.

Transfer cookies to a wire baking rack to cool completely. Can be stored for a month in the freezer or a few days at room temperature.

banana bread biscotti

I'm just plain sleepy.

Between my day trip yesterday and my built-in alarm clock, who has a dance party at 5:30 every morning (I'm screwed by the way if this continues), I'm getting tired.

I start to lag later on in the day, I feel like drinking a bucketful of caffeine, constantly. I am that large, tired pregnant woman.

I wish I could sleep for days, but I can't. I have cookie exchanges to bake for, packing to start, blogging to do, cats to cuddle, babies to bake.

In amongst naps, I did make some cookies. They're even semi-healthy!

Banana bread biscotti. With whole wheat flour and NO chocolate. Although, next time I would add some walnuts and possibly dip them in chocolate, otherwise they taste pretty excellent with a cup of tea and a nap. No dipping of course.

Banana bread biscotti
[ from Company's Coming: Cookie jar classics ]

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/3 brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 large egg white
1/2 cup mashed banana, about 1 large banana
1 teaspoons vanilla extract.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine the flours, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl, set aside.

In another large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the eggs white, mix well. Add the mashed banana and vanilla, mix until well combined. Stir in the flour mixture, beat until a safe dough forms. Turn dough out on to a lightly floured surface, knead 6 times. Shape into a 16-inch long log, place onto prepared baking sheet. Flatten top slightly.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden. Remove from oven and let stand for 15 minutes, or until cool enough to touch. Cut log diagonally into 1/2-inch slices using a serrated knife. Place slices onto baking sheets. Bake for another 10 minutes at 275 degrees, rotating baking sheets halfway through.

Turn oven off, turn slices over on baking sheets and let the sheets stand in the oven for 30 minutes, or until dry and crisp. Remove from oven and let cool completely on wire racks. Store in an airtight container.

chocolate chip cookie cups

Current loves;

- Trail mix. For reals, it's a problem.

- clothes that don't  (and currently won't) fit me.

- Putting baby hats on Jackson.

- Chai lattes.

- Dark grey walls.

- Adele's new album.

- Christmas themed maternity photos.

- Baby boy cardigan sweaters.

- Pajamas all day.

- Mixing breakfast cereals.

- Cucumber slices and green grapes.

- Documentaries on Netflix.

- This song.

- Making tiny cups out of cookie dough and filling it with melted chocolate.

- Then feeding them all to the husband.


Chocolate chip cookie cups


1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups chocolate chips, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a mini-muffin tin with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter, brown and white sugar on medium speed, until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add vanilla, salt, and baking soda, mix to combine. On low speed, slowly add the flour until no dry parts are left. Fold in 1 cup chocolate chips.

Scoop 1 teaspoon of dough into each muffin cup, pressing down and up the sides. Almost to form a little cup. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes or until the cups are just turning deep, golden brown. Press the middles of the cookie cups down again with the back of a spoon or the knob of a wooden spoon.

In a small bowl, melt the remaining chocolate chips in the microwave. Spoon a small amount of the melted chocolate into the centre of the cups. Let cool for 10 - 15 minutes, or until chocolate has set a little bit before attempting to remove the cups from the muffin tin.

Feed to chocolate monster husbands who ask, "When are you putting this on the blog? You should tell everyone I loved it so much."

speculaas ~ round one

After I write a post earlier in the week, about how I need to relax, I'm a good baker, blah, blah, blah.

I have an EPIC FAIL.

Oh yes my friends, it happens even to the best of us.

To give you some back story, I come from Dutch heritage. My dad's family is from the Netherlands, my dad is first generation Canadian. During my childhood visits with my Grandma and Papa, they would give my sister and I, Dutch treats.

My favourite treats are speculaas cookies. Some people might know them as windmill cookies, either way, they are amazingly delicious. My sister would dip hers in tea (crumb factor overload), and I would inhale them at record speed.

The cookies are thin, crispy, gingery, and spicy. Sometimes they are topped with almonds, sometimes they aren't. I will eat them either way, I'm not fussy. Ilovethemsomuch.

So why not make them at home? I just rocked out some croissants, no big deal, I can make these cookies.

WRONG.

I burnt the first batch.

I should of just stopped there.

The second batch, after I adjusted the heat and time, just didn't turn out right.

They were bland, crunchy but no real texture. Just crap. Horrible cookies.

I now have 2 containers of cookies I don't like. I hate to throw things away, especially when they are in cute cat shapes.

I'm not posting the recipe, but if you search for speculaas recipes, don't use this one.

6 a.m.

On my blog, I may look like I have my stuff together.

Not even close.

I take photos at 6 am.

Mostly cause I'm lazy from the night before. I'm usually in my pj's, pre-breakfast, during coffee, being attacked / meowed at by multiple cats.

Sometimes there are random husband socks on the coffee table. These are things I cannot explain.

Sometimes Jackson thinks he's being helpful by half-attacking, half-rubbing his face on my camera while I try to take photos. It's never helpful.

One day, I might have to get things together.  Or not.