Tag Archives: chocolate chips

Double Chip Molasses Oatmeal Cookies

23 Thursday Aug 2012

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I’ll warn you up front: if you think it’s possible to have too many chocolate chips in a cookie, this isn’t the recipe for you. Ditto if you like your oatmeal cookies crunchy, or only vaguely spice-scented. Subtle flavor and smooth texture? Not so much.

However, if you want a dense, chewy, chocolate chip festival, full of rubbly mounds of oats and chips, keep reading. If you crave a cookie with plenty of cinnamon, allspice, and ginger, combined with the smoky sweetness of molasses: this is the one. And if you’d like to mollify your conscience just a wee bit by using whole wheat flour, well then, have I got a treat for you! :)

Double Chip Molasses Oatmeal Cookies
makes about 30 cookies

1/2 c. unsalted butter (one stick), softened
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/3 c. turbinado or light brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste or real vanilla extract
1 large egg
3 Tbsp. unsulphured molasses
3/4 c. whole wheat or all-purpose flour (I like King Arthur White Whole Wheat here)
1 1/2 c. rolled oats (not quick cook)
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips (I use 3/4 c. semisweet and 3/4 c. white)

Beat together butter, sugars, spices, salt, baking soda, and vanilla with electric mixer until smooth and evenly incorporated. Beat in egg, then molasses, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Stir in the flour until completely combined, then stir in oats. Add chips and stir again. Cover dough and refrigerate for an hour or two, until chilled and firm.

Oven 375F. Drop dough by tablespoonful on to parchment-lined or lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake ten minutes per batch, until cookies begin to brown and centers are completely set. Allow to cool on pans for a few minutes, then transfer to cooling racks. Enjoy warm and gooey, or cool completely and store in airtight container.

(Quick tip: if cookies begin to dry out, place a small slice of apple into the container with them until they are tender again.)

Recipe Notes:
If you’re doubling this recipe, you may find double the molasses a bit overpowering. Consider using three tablespoons of molasses and three tablespoons honey or golden syrup instead. If you like nuts, switch out 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips for a 1/2 cup toasted pecans or walnuts.

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Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

03 Tuesday Apr 2012

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Happy National Bake Week! In the U.S., yesterday kicked off a week devoted to celebrating the art and science of baking, and I can’t imagine a better inspiration (read: excuse) for my own glut of baking blog posts. It’s also ideal timing considering my whole family’s birthdays fall in the next two weeks. If you are going to have four reminders of your ever-increasing age within ten days of each other, it’s best to have a lot of baked goods on hand. :)

We’ll ease into the baking frenzy with simple, friendly Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins. This is a great recipe to have on hand: unintimidating, quick, and tasty, with a classic flavor combination that suits a wide range of ages and palates. The pairing of ripe banana and whole wheat flour make for a substantial muffin that is still moist and tender, and they do double duty as a breakfast treat or a weeknight dessert. If you’re feeling spicy, add a handful of finely chopped crystallized ginger before baking, or stir in a cup of walnuts or pecans for some crunch. These muffins also work with pumpkin puree substituted in place of the mashed bananas.

Like all good banana bread, these are even better the day after they are baked. This makes them ideal for bake sales, or as a make-ahead for a special occasion later in the week. Surprise your neighbor, bake some for your co-workers, or take a dozen to a friend celebrating a birthday. (hint, hint ;)

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Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
makes 30 muffins

1 c. unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
1 1/2 c. demerara or turbinado sugar (read these recipe notes for more info)
2 large eggs
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
4 medium bananas, mashed (about 1 1/2 c.)
2/3 c. milk
2 c. white whole wheat flour (available from King Arthur, see recipe notes below)
2 c. all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt (not coarse)
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips (I used mini’s)
optional: 1/2 c. finely chopped crystallized ginger or
1 c. chopped pecans or walnuts

Oven 350F. In medium mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula, and then beat in the eggs, spices, banana, and milk until uniformly combined. In a separate small mixing bowl, whisk together both types of flour and the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gently stir this dry mixture into the wet ingredients, just until combined. (If you over-mix here, your muffins will be tough and dry.) Fold in chocolate chips and any other add-ins you like.

Scoop the batter into a greased/paper-lined muffin tin so that each muffin cup is full (about 2 tablespoons of batter in each). Bake for 20-22 minutes, until tops are lightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool ten minutes, then remove muffins from pan and allow to cool completely on baking rack. (If you cool on a plate or other solid surface, the bottoms will steam and get soggy.) These are lovely spread with a little cream cheese.

Recipe Notes + Tips:
I love the extra fiber and vitamins that come from using whole grain flour in baked goods, but not the unappealing, leaden texture that often follows. It is one thing to have a satisfyingly weighty loaf of whole wheat bread; it’s quite another to have a chocolate cupcake that could double as a doorstop.

One of the ways I have found around that conundrum is King Arthur Flour’s white whole wheat flour. Made from hard white spring wheat instead of traditional red wheat, it retains the nutritional content of other whole wheat flours, but with a lighter color, texture, and flavor. While most people can detect the appearance and taste of whole wheat flour, I find the white whole wheat is much less noticeable. I have used it with success in everything from cinnamon applesauce cake to pumpkin bread, and I especially enjoy the chewy texture it lends to these Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins.

I have found KAF white whole wheat flour for sale at multiple grocery stores in my area, but you can also order it on-line. If you don’t have any on hand, you can use traditional whole wheat flour in the recipe above, with the end result a more dense muffin. If you prefer to keep the crumb lighter, decrease the whole wheat flour to one cup and increase the all-purpose to three cups.

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Peanut Butter Fudge Bars

26 Monday Mar 2012

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Disclaimer: I don’t generally hold with the notion that there is such a thing as “bad” food, at least not the ones that nature created. As with most things in life, it is the extremes that will get you in trouble. A healthy diet is balanced, both in amounts and types of food, and pays attention to what our bodies require.

I also find that the quickest way to make a human being want something is to declare it off-limits. Unless dietary constraints based on health issues prevent you from eating sugar or fat, I don’t think there is anything wrong with indulging in a reasonable portion size of dessert. I love to bake, and I love to share what I bake, and I would have a hard time giving up either. Preparing food and feeding myself and others nurtures me, both body and soul, and that feels very right to me.

Okay, I felt the need to say all that first so that I can now quite contradictorily say these Peanut Butter Fudge Bars are BAD. They are so full of fat and sugar that whoever invented the recipe for the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion ought to blush. These cookie bars do happen to taste fantastic, in a rich, over-the-top sort of way, but that was not my real motivation for choosing them. Mainly, I made this recipe because I had two extra kiddos in the house who absolutely love chocolate and peanut butter in all its forms, and I had a surplus of white baking chips left over from the holidays.

I could pretend that the protein in the peanut butter somehow balances out the multiple sources of sugar, or take heart in the fact that I cut them into tiny servings. If it helps you sleep better at night, I could note that all four children who ate them are very healthy and spent hours playing outside every day during their visit. The truth is, I fell right off the balanced diet wagon into a pool of peanut butter frosting and white chocolate-studded fudge brownie. If you want to join me there, the recipe is below. (Don’t say I didn’t warn you. :)

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Peanut Butter Fudge Bars
makes 36 small bars

For crust:
1/4 c. unsalted butter (1/2 stick), softened
1/3 c. creamy peanut butter
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. salt (not coarse)
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste or real vanilla extract
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour (I use King Arthur)

For fudge filling:
3/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. unsalted butter (1 stick), softened
1/2 tsp. salt (not coarse)
1/4 c. golden syrup or light corn syrup (read more about golden syrup here)
1 c. plus 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 c. all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 c. white chocolate chips

For frosting:
3/4 c. white chocolate chips
1/4 c. creamy peanut butter
1/4 tsp. salt (not coarse)
1/4 c. mini-chocolate chips to sprinkle on top (optional)

Oven 350F. First the crust: in medium mixing bowl, beat together butter and peanut butter with electric mixer until soft and creamy. Stir in the sugar, salt, and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Mix in the flour until you have a slightly dry, crumbly dough. Press the dough into a lightly greased 9″x13″ glass baking dish. (It helps to put a sheet of plastic wrap between your hands and the dough.) Bake 8-10 minutes, until lightly brown at the edges. Remove from oven, but leave oven turned on.

While the crust is baking, start on the filling. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, microwave the semi-sweet chocolate chips, butter, salt, and golden/corn syrup until chocolate is melted. Stop and stir with a silicone spatula after first minute, and then every 30 seconds afterward to prevent over-cooking. Stir in sugar and flour until mixed, then beat in the eggs one at a time until well-combined. Fold in white chocolate chips, then pour filling on to baked crust and bake for 22-24 minutes. The top will be shiny and set, but don’t overbake — you want to keep a fudgy texture.

While the bars bake the second time, make the frosting by melting the white chocolate chips in the microwave, then stir in the peanut butter and salt until creamy and smooth. Spread the frosting over the baked, warm cookie bars using a silicone spatula, then sprinkle with mini-chocolate chips if desired. (I mean, really, why hold back now?) Allow bars to cool completely before cutting, then cut into roughly 1-1/2″x2″ bars (six rows both directions).

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