Nice girls keep their cookies in a jar

Do you have a cookie jar?  I don't.  I always wondered if the cookies would get stale.  Also, if I had a cookie jar, I would eat cookies all the time and frankly, I don't need that kind of temptation in my life.  However, if you have a cookie jar I won't judge you.  I will only say that you should fill your jar with Dorie [cue angelic choir] Greenspan's Chocolate Oatmeal Drops.  This recipe along with a great many others can be found in her book, Baking From My Home to Yours.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 sticks butter, unsalted
1 Tbsp water
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
9 oz. bitter sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and cinnamon.
Set a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Put the butter in the bowl and add the water, then the brown sugar and the chocolate.

This is 9 ounces of chocolate.

This is what it looks like after it's been chopped to smithereens.

Here's everybody in the pool.

Melt on low heat, stirring occasionally. The mixture does get smooth but it stays kind of grainy.  See, smooth but grainy.

Remove from the heat and whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Whisk in the dry ingredients, then the oats. Try not to stir it too much, though.

It's thick and kind of hard to mix, but be thankful you don't have to wash your KitchenAid.

Drop by tablespoonfuls on to your Sil-Pat or parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for about 12 minutes.  After they bake, let them cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes.  Place on a cooling rack to come to room temperature before storing.

This recipe makes about 50 cookies.  Sometimes I wish my cookies came out looking more uniform, but they never do.  These are particularly lumpy and rustic.  But that's just fine. I consider myself lumpy and rustic from time to time. Being lumpy and rustic is juuuuust fiiiiiine.

Next time I'm going to substitute coconut for the oats and see what happens.  These cookies are great with milk or coffee.  Because the chocolate isn't sweetened much at all, the complexity of the flavor of the cocoa itself really shines in this cookie, with the slightest hint of cinnamon.  Also, the center stays kind of chewy so that's always a win in my book.  These cookies were delivered to a local high school and also to a friend who had a baby over the weekend and therefore deserves to eat as much chocolate as she wants.  Enjoy, ya'll!

Let's talk about cake, baby...

Not just any cake.  The best chocolate bundt cake since sliced bread.  When I first came across this recipe I was intrigued because it seemed old-fashioned.  As you may have noticed from my recent post on pie, I've taken it upon myself to revive seemingly "old-fashioned" recipes and make them a part of my recipe repertoire.  Yes, I spelled 'repertoire' correctly.  Anyway, I am now trying out any and all recipes that contain the words "mystery" or "surprise".  So far I haven't regretted it.  I think "bundt" falls into the same category, at least in my world, because I never see anyone making bundt cakes anymore.  I got the following recipe from The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook. 

This photo was taken the very first time I made this and if you look on the top side, you can see where part of it collapsed.  Hey, bundt pans are tricky!  But I've made it twice since then and I've got it down pat now. 

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp brewed coffee

3/4 cup cocoa

2 1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 tsp kosher salt

2 1/2 tsp baking soda

2 whole eggs

1 egg yolk

1 1/2 cups plus 1 Tbsp buttermilk

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp canola oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups plus 2 Tbsp All-purpose flour, sifted

Directions:
Put the coffee and cocoa in a small pot and bring to a boil, whisking frequently.  Let it come to room temperature before you get started on the rest of the batter.  Mix the sugar, salt, baking soda, eggs, and egg yolk.  Add in the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, mixing for one minute.  Add the flour and mix for 2 minutes.  Then add in the cooled cocoa mixture and mix for 3 minutes.  Pour into heavily [I say that to ensure the cake will come out] oiled bundt pan.  Bake for one hour.  Let the cake cool almost completely before you take it out of the pan.  If you take it out when it's warm, you'll mess your cake up.  Trust me, I've done it!  When it's basically cool enough to handle, you'll know it's time to invert it onto your cooling rack.  While it's cooling the rest of the way, you can make the glaze.

Ingredients:
6 oz. unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup unsalted butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup sour cream at room temperature
1/4 cup brewed coffee, cooled

Directions:
Let me start off by saying that this glaze, to me, is too much for this cake.  I like a little glaze with my cake, not the other way around.  But you try and see what you think.  You can half this recipe, or you can use it to make sandwich cookies or extra-decadent chocolate-dipped strawberries.  Now let's get started...
Melt the chocolate slowly over a double-boiler.  While this is going, melt the butter into a seperate pot before whisking it into the chocolate.  When the chocolate and butter are smooth, remove the bowl from the double-boiler and sift in half the powdered sugar.  This makes it seem like the chocolate is seizing up or getting chunky but it's not.  Add in the sour cream and whisk to combine.  Sift in the remaining sugar until smooth.  Add in the coffee at the end to create a glossy glaze.  If chocolate had sex appeal, it would be found in this glaze.  You can put it on your cake in whatever manner you choose.  Just put it on the cake!

This cake always wows a crowd.  It's very moist and embodies the flavor of chocolate without being too sweet.  That's what the addition of the coffee does to the chocolate. 
I hope you try it!

Easy Peasy

Last night we hosted the Elmores, Jeremy and Nicci, one last time before their exciting but sudden move to Johnson City, TN.  These two have been around my family for years as they have been friends of my brother and his wife since their college days.  We moved to their college town here in KY where the Elmores have been living since they graduated and married.  We are excited for them as they begin their new life in Tennessee, serving at Carson Newman. We're sad, but we know exactly how they feel and rejoice with them in that.  Here is a couple more photos of from the evening.

I know, this is just weird.

Bailey really likes Nicci.  Bailey is praying very hard that the Elmores will find a good home for their dog, Josie, since she can't move to Tennessee with them.  Would YOU be interested???

Let's talk about dessert.  Last night we made pizza, and what goes better with pizza but CHOCOLATE!  We decided to go with Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes.  I found the recipe at Tasty Kitchen.  You will need:

4 1-oz. squares of semi-sweet Baker's chocolate

1 stick of unsalted butter

1 cup powdered sugar

2 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

6 Tbsp flour

Here's what you do:

First, preheat the oven to 425.  Lightly oil 4 custard cups or ramekins.  Microwave the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl for 1-2 minutes and whisk until smooth.  I usually prefer to do this over a double-boiler, but I braved the microwave for the sake of convenience and it turned out fine.  In the same bowl, whisk in the sugar until well-blended.  Then whisk in the eggs and yolks.  Lastly, stir in the flour.  Divide the velvety chocolate mixture amongst the 4 ramekins.  Yes, I just used the word "amongst".  Bake 13-14 minutes until the sides are firm but the center is squishy.  When they come out of the oven, they will look like this:

They are kind of lop-sided and assymetrical, not uniform at all.  But I prefer to think of this dessert as a reflection of those to whom it is being served.  Let them cool in the cups for a minute or two and then invert them onto plates.  You should probably top them with homemade whipped cream or ice cream, at the very least.  We chose homemade vanilla with strawberries.  It was a perfect pair.

Ok, pretend like the above photo doesn't have any shadows and that the scoop of ice cream hadn't fallen off the top of the cake.  Look how the chocolate oozes out!  It is a cozy dessert, perfect for entertaining because it requires just one bowl and a whisk, and bakes up in no time at all.  You'll definitely want to eat this while it's still warm!

Life, Love, and Mocha Silk Pie

Who doesn't love pie?  Apple, blueberry, coconut cream--you name it, somebody loves it.  I haven't made too many pies in my day.  I don't know why, I just haven't.  People are into layer cakes, fancy cookies, and the ever popular high-maintenance cupcake.  I don't get a lot of request for pies, and frankly I don't mind because making pie crust is a lot of work!  However, in an effort to preserve the nostalgia of pie, I vow to become a better and more seasoned pie maker.  Last week I made this:

Mocha Silk Pie.  All credit goes to The Pioneer Woman.  I have wanted to make this ever since I found the recipe here, but it calls for Kahlua and you can't buy that stuff around these parts.  So I just left it out and added melted butter in its place.  It seemed to work out just fine.  I made a couple of other changes from the original recipe as well.  Note: this pie contains raw eggs.  Don't make this or eat this if you have a problem with that. 

For the crust you will need:

1 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 oz, weight, Semisweet [Baker's] chocolate, grated

2 Tbsp melted butter

Scant pinch of kosher salt

Just go to town chopping those nuts until they're pretty fine.  Not pulverized, just finely chopped.  Put them in a bowl with the brown sugar and the grated chocolate.  I like to use Baker's chocolate for these kinds of things because it's already measured into 1 oz. segments.  Then add the melted butter after it's had a chance to cool so you don't melt the chocolate.  Use a fork to get it all combined and then press it into the bottom of your crust.  It will look like this:

Put it in the fridge to set while you make the filling.  It'll be just fine in there. 

For the filling:

2 sticks room temperature butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tsp instant espresso

3 oz, weight, semisweet [Baker's] chocolate

1 tsp vanilla

4 whole large eggs

First you'll need to melt the chocolate in the microwave for about 45 seconds [or in a double boiler] and let it cool while you're doing the rest.  Cream the heck out of the butter and sugar.  After that, add in the vanilla and espresso. Once the chocolate is cooled, get all of it into the bowl of your mixer and let it go until just combined.

Here's the fun part.  With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time over a 20 minute period.  You heard me.  Put one egg in and let it go for 5 minutes.  Then add another, and so on.  Set your timer and do something productive like unloading the dishwasher until it's time to add the next egg.  When you're done you'll havea creamy-dreamy filling for your crust.  I ended up with enough filling for 2 pies so I just whipped up another crust and delivered the second pie to a friend.

This pie will taste better as it sets up in the fridge.  I recommend at least 3 hours.  I would imagine it would be even better frozen, topped with fresh whipped cream and perhaps even more chocolate.  It doesn't seem like the 2 teaspoons of instant espresso is enough at first but believe me, this pie is the perfect mixture of coffee and chocolate.  Let me know what you think!  I hope you'll try it out.