Beet, Blue Cheese & Arugula Pizza

Has anyone else been watching the Olympic trials? I caught synchronized diving the other night when it was a bit slow at work. It is some crazy cool stuff. I'm especially excited to watch the swimming Olympic trials. I even know someone who will be swimming, crazy! It was also just brought to my attention that the Tour de France starts Saturday. 

That is right, I like to watch the kind of sports where people just truck along, alone. Wind through the hills of France. Swim back and forth, back and forth, in a pool. It is thrilling stuff, seriously. 

If the Olympic trials and Tour de France don't thrill you, pizza will. Pizzas are such a great treat in the summer time. There are so many fresh veggies and even fruits available to top you pizzas with. That is right, savory fruit pizza. Its going to happen this summer, just wait for it. 

Homemade pizza is a great way to get outside the box in the kitchen. Like this beet pizza. The ingredients are a classic flavor combination. Think beet salad, on a pizza. My new unofficial mission is to get people to like beets. At least to give them a chance. Good thing these beets are on a pizza, because everyone likes pizza.

The beets add a little sweetness, contrasted by the tangy, creamy and sweat blue cheese. I used a Hook's Danish Blue. Using a variety of colored beets, makes this pizza very pretty too. The only difference in red and orange beets is their sweetness.

Walnuts add a unexpected crunch to the pizza. Lets be real, who expects nuts on a pizza? Probably no one. The addition of arugula adds a peppery spiciness to offset the sweetness of the beets. I added some before I cooked the pizza and then more after it came out of the oven. Either or both ways work.

Just have fun with this pizza. It is super easy to throw together, using your favorite pizza dough. I used this one from Smitten Kitchen. You can always do store bought dough. Try adding goat cheese, if blue cheese isn't your thing. Enjoy!

xo

April

Ingredients:

10 ounces pizza dough (homemade or store-bought)

4 small to medium beets, thinly sliced

4 ounces of blue cheese, such as Hook's Danish Blue, crumbled

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

2 cups arugula

Olive oil

Salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 500F. Gently roll your pizza dough out to a 10 to 12 inch diameter (don't worry if it isn't perfect, that is what we call rustic!). Place the pizza on a sheet pan, or heat a pizza stone in the oven. Cover the surface of the pizza with the beet slices, overlapping them slightly. Sprinkle with salt and olive oil, to keep the beets moist. Sprinkle the blue cheese, walnuts and half of the arugula evenly over the beets.
2. Bake until the dough is golden and crisp, about 10-15 minutes, popping any bubbles with a fork that might form. Remove from the oven, topping it with the remaining arugula, allowing it to wilt slightly. Serve and enjoy!

Maple Bacon Biscuits with Maple Glaze

Swim lessons just started up and I've been a bit busy and trying to get into a new routine. You know how that goes, right? It is only a small change and doesn't really take up much time, but it seems to throw off your whole game. Maybe I am just in a bit of a slump. Work has at least forced me into a working out routine. Riding your bike to work plus some for the win! Now its time to kick the slump elsewhere, starting with maple bacon biscuits and a wonderful message from fellow blogger Frances!

Frances (aka Emily) and Kelsey are in Spain right now. Totally jealous. In case you didn't know, they also contribute to the blog along with Brittany and I. The only difference is Britt and I are here, in good old Wisconsin. We make our own fun that  competes with their European adventures. It is fun to pretend we do anyways.

I got the best message from Frances this morning. A real fixer for the slump I am in. Her host mom wanted to check out the blog, mostly the pictures. Then Frances writes down the recipe in Spanish for her, if the picture looks yummy. No big deal, she thought my hummus looked tasty enough to write down. It pretty much made my day. Remember that people, little things (especially food orientated things) make my day. Now onto more important things, maple bacon biscuits.

These biscuits are like little nuggets of gold. Be sure to use a good quality real maple syrup, not Mrs. Butterworth. They are best enjoyed warm out of the oven. They are still good if made the night before or at room temperature, just not as good. Their sweet, salty, bacony goodness makes up for their lack of warmth, if you choose to make them ahead of time. Try sandwiching a fried egg between these biscuits. I bet it would be out of this world delicious. I made these in a food processor because I think it easier. They can be just as easily made without one and are equally good. If you like bacon, you will love these. Give them a try.

xo

April

Adapted from Baking Illustrated
Ingredients:
Biscuits
6-8 slices of bacon
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sugar
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1/2 cup cold buttermilk
1/4 cup maple syrup
Maple Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450F
2. The bacon can be fried or baked. I prefer the baking method for a more crispy bacon. Preheat the oven to 400F. Arrange the bacon on a parchment lined rimmed baking sheet side by side. Place the bacon in the oven for 10-20 minutes or until crispy. Drain the bacon on paper towels and roughly chop into 1/2 inch pieces.
3. If you baked the bacon, increase the oven temperature to 450F. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in a large bowl or food processor. Whisk together or pulse six times.
4. If making by hand, add the cubed butter, working quickly to break it into bits, to resemble small peas. If using a food processor, evenly distribute the butter into the work bowl, pulsing 12 times, for 1 second.
5. If making by hand, add the buttermilk, bacon and maple syrup, stirring until it just starts to form a ball. If using a food processor, add the buttermilk, bacon and maple syrup, pulsing 8 times or until the dough just comes together.
6. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and quickly form a rough ball. Be careful not to over mix. Using a knife, dived the dough into quarters and then cut each quarter into thirds. Quickly shape each piece into a rough ball and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. 
7. Bake until the biscuit tops are light brown, 10 to 12 minutes.
8. For the glaze, mix all the ingredients together, whisking to combine. Serve the biscuits warm with glaze poured over the tops.

Perfect White Cake

Earlier this week I found out great news from my boyfriend - he got a raise at work! He deserved it and I couldn't be prouder of him! I wanted to celebrate so I asked him to pick a dessert that I could make. With some deliberation, we decided on white cupcakes with chocolate chips and Ghirardelli chocolate frosting. The last time I made white cupcakes, found here, I thought they were a little too dense and tasted a bit like pancakes (yes, I just said pancakes). So I was determined to find a better recipe that would make a fluffy, light but still moist cake. This recipe does the job, hands down! It is light and has the perfect flavor to accent any type of frosting.

The recipe calls for cake flour, which I have never worked with before. I did some research and found that cake flour is better for fluffier results. I had to try it, especially because that was one of my complaints about the last cupcakes. I was very happy with the results! The only problem with these extra light and tasty cupcakes is that our chocolate chips sank to the bottom! However, it makes for a yummy surprise!

Perfect White Cake 

adapted from allrecipes

Ingredients

2 3/4 c. sifted cake flour

4 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

4 egg whites

1 1/2 c. white sugar

3/4 c. butter

1 c. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract 

1 1/2 c. Ghirardelli chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Sift together cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites until frothy. Add 1/2 cup of sugar gradually and beat until soft peaks form. Set aside. 

3. In another bowl, cream butter and the remaining cup of sugar. Alternating between sifted ingredients and milk, gradually add to bowl and mix. 

4. Add in vanilla extract and meringue (the egg whites/sugar mixture). Be careful not to over-mix. To help avoid over-mixing, I folded in the meringue instead of using a hand mixer. Fold in chocolate chips, if desired.

5. Spread batter in a large cake pan or scoop into a lined cupcake pan. The recipe makes a few more than 24 cupcakes.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes for a cake, 20 to 25 minutes for cupcakes. Cool in pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wired rack.

7. Frost with your favorite recipe or the one below once completely cooled. 

We made chocolate frosting found on the can of Ghirardelli's sweet ground chocolate and cocoa for these cupcakes. I struggled to get the perfect consistency. I actually made the frosting twice! The first time I added too much sugar so I scraped it off and tried again. The second round turned out great! It still had a bit more powdered sugar than the recipe called for so it was a good thickness. So don't be afriad to use a little more than the recipe calls for.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients

1/4 c. butter

3 Tbsp. milk

1/2 c. Ghirardelli sweet ground chocolate and cocoa

2 1/2 c. powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

dash of salt

Instructions

1. Melt butter in a saucepan on low heat. Add milk and ground chocolate and cocoa. Remove from heat

2. Add powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla.

3. Beat until smooth

4. Frost onto the cupcakes above or your favorite baking good

Beetroot Hummus

If you could be any animal, what animal would you be? I have never ever had a good answer to that question. Sure, I got the height, uncoordinated, awkwardness of a giraffe, but that always felt like a predictable default sort of answer. Not very unique, but it may be a close second.

The other day I was having dinner with the family and my mom blurts out that she would like to be reincarnated as a chicken. Why? Its a mystery to us, some things are better left not trying to be understood. The next day I decided I would be an orangutan. They are awesome furry gingers and I have a soft spot for gingers. I don't think think it is true that they don't have a soul.

In my primate class last year, I learned that they are generally solitary creatures. Being solitary isn't really my thing exactly. They are mostly loners because they don't like to share their food. Its fitting for me, I say I want to share my food. What I really mean is you can have a bite and I will hoard the rest for myself. I also expect that you share an even bigger bite of your food with me. That is why I would be an orangutan. Now onto the food: beets.

Beets are probably my favorite vegetable. I love the color of them. You eat with your eyes first after all.  I even love the earthy flavor they have going on. Yes, some may translate earthy to dirt. Maybe I like dirt, so what? What ever you want to translate earthy to mean, I love it. They are also delicious hot, cold or at room temperature. Diverse vegetable alert!

This hummus is perfect for those of you who may not be able to get past the earthy quality of beets. What you really pick up in the hummus is the sweetness of the beets and the nuttiness of traditional hummus. Make sure you salt this generously too, brings out the flavor double time! The bright pink color of this too makes it really fun and unexpected. Give beets a chance, with this hummus. If you already love beets, you are good to go.

xo
April

Ingredients:
5-6 small beets, tops trimmed and cleaned
1 (15 ounces) can of garbanzo beans
2 tablespoons tahini paste
2 garlic cloves
1 lemon, zest and juice
Salt
Olive oil

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Wrap the beets in tin foil and cook in the oven for an hour or until fork tender. Once cool enough to handle, peel and cube the beets, placing them into the food processor.
2. Add the garbanzo beans, tahini paste, garlic, lemon juice and zest and salt to the beats, pulsing to combine. Taste and season with more salt if necessary. Add a splash of olive oil to thin the consistency, if desired. Transfer to a bowl, top with a drizzle of olive oil or feta. Serve with pita chips, crackers, veggies or whatever you like. 

Chocolate Brownie Cookies

I was just having one of those weeks. The one's where you think there is no way Friday will come and the Universe seems to be laughing at you struggle. Yup, that sums up my week so to turn it around, I made these. I was just browsing recipes and once I feasted my eyes upon this recipe, I knew my week could only get better. C'mon, its a cookie...and a brownie. And it's made with chocolate, lots of it! I used up all my cocoa powder and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Oh, and I had to go to the store for some white chocolate chips. Universe, who is laughing now!

These cookie/brownies are a perfect mood-booster or a easy dessert to add to a cookout menu. I actually used this recipe for both purposes! They are chewy (as long as you are extra careful with baking time), chocolately, and are sure to go within a couple of days!

Chocolate Brownie Cookies

adapted from Yammie's Noshery

Ingredients

2 sticks butter

2 1/4 c. sugar

4 large eggs

1 Tbsp vanilla extract 

1 1/4 c. cocoa powder 

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder 

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 c. white chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Add butter and sugar into a saucepan. Place on stovetop at medium heat. Stir until the butter/sugar mixture is bubbly and smooth. Remove from heat. 

2. Add in eggs and vanilla and stir. 

3. In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa, salt, baking powder, and flour. Add in the butter/sugar/egg mixture.

4. Fold in both types of chocolate chips once the dough is at room temperature. 

When I did this, the sugar/butter mixture was still a bit hot and melted the semi-sweet chocolate chips (oops!). So I added more and the white chocolate chips later

5. The dough will have a consistency (and smell) of brownies so chill the dough in the freezer or refrigerator until it becomes pretty solid. 

6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Form the dough into balls and gently pat them down onto a cookie sheet. These cookies don't spread out too much during baking, so shape them/pat them down to your liking. 

7. Bake for about 9-13 minutes. Keep an eye on them to not over-bake them. I took them out just as the middle of the cookie was losing its dark brown color (as mine cooked, they turned into a slightly lighter brown color). 

8. Set cookies on a cooling rack.

9. Enjoy!

Strawberry Shortcake

The roomie and I went on a Target run the other day. Honestly I don't remember what we needed in the first place, but we for sure left with more junk than we needed. Target, the best place ever. Anyways, we were in the refrigerator aisle, with the Jell-O. Turns out she really likes the Jello-O Mousse Temptations. Personally I think they are sick. Your spoon leaves a perfect indent where you scooped, the texture is all wrong and the list goes on. Maybe I deserved her next comment after sharing my thoughts on Jell-O Mousse. She compared my butterscotch pudding to these pre-packaged mousse puddings. That right there is a total food foul, an insult!

The moral of the above story is comparing my food to packaged, processed food is not the way to make me like you. She won't be hearing the end of that one for awhile. A better way to make me your best friend is to tell me its the best you ever had, like this shortcake. A friend told me this shortcake is better than his aunts. Score! That is saying a lot too, when the family gathering is centered around strawberries. Those are the sorts of food praises I never forget. Why you ask is it the best?

This shortcake is not your overly crumbly or dry shortcake. It is super moist and a cross between dense and fluffy. The perfect shortcake. The outside has a slightly crunch sugar coating from sprinkling the pan and top of the cake with sugar. Try it out for yourself, I promise you will like it. Who knows, maybe it will even be the best shortcake you have ever had!

xo

April

From Epicurious
Ingredients:
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1/3 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 quart strawberries; rinsed, hulled and sliced
Sugar, depending on their sweetness

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9-inch diameter pan with 2-inch-high sides with nonstick spray. Sprinkle bottom and sides of pan with sugar; tap out any excess sugar. Whisk flour, baking powder, and sugar in a medium bowl. Using a stand mixer, beat 1 cup sugar, cream cheese, and butter to blend. Beat milk, eggs and vanilla in a measuring cup to blend. Beat milk mixture into cream cheese mixture. Add dry ingredients; beat until smooth. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining 1 tablespoon sugar over top of the batter. 
2. Bake until the cake is golden brown on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes. Cool in pan, on a rack.
3. For the strawberries, add enough sugar for the desired sweetness. Let strawberries stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or until some of their juices are released.

Peanut Butter Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

It is doubtful that anyone cares that we have had a onslaught of cookie and baked good posts as of late. Maybe it is the weather? The temperatures have been cool and pleasant, making it perfect for turning on the oven. Actually the weather has little influence on my turning the oven or not. It actually may get  more use during the summer.

If you feel like you can't do or have something, it just makes you want to do it more. We all know this feeling right? Good thing there is air conditioning for when I realize what an awful idea it was to bake. Air conditioning is up there on my favorite inventions ever list. Honestly, I don't know what I would do with out.

Enough about the downfalls of baking in the heat of summer. These cookies are awesome. I went to visit my grandma this weekend and made these for her. She LOVES bacon, peanut butter and chocolate. After I said "peanut butter, bacon, chocolate chip cookies", she immediately scurried across the kitchen and hid them in a cupboard from grandpa.

I would also like to think that these cookies are the perfect man bait. Most men apparently don't like sweets, but can they really stand by that when bacon is involved? Doubtful. Really they shouldn't care at all what is in the cookie. They should just be happy that a pretty lady cares enough to make them cookies.

Honestly anyone who loves bacon should think these cookies are the best. The bacon can be omitted, if you must. Although the bacon flavor was not overwhelming. It was more like pleasant background music. I was surprised by how moist this cookie turned out too. No flour had me worried, I am skeptical of gluten free. The very best part, besides being the best peanut butter cookies ever, they are the easiest/simplest cookies ever. Almost everything should be in your pantry, which means you better get working!

xo
April

Ingredients:
8 slices of bacon
1 cup all natural peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar, plus some to roll the dough in
2 teaspoons molasses
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup coarsely chopped peanuts
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Fry the bacon in a pan over medium-high heat, until cooked through and crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan onto paper towel to drain and cool. When cool enough to handle, coarsely chop the bacon and set aside.
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
3. In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the peanut butter, sugar and molasses until thoroughly combined, about 3-5 minutes. Add the egg and baking soda and mix on medium speed for another 2 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 350F.
5. With the mixer on low speed, add the chopped peanuts, bacon and chocolate chips to the mixer, until just combined. Roll the dough into large walnut-sized balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place on a lined cookie sheet, and use a fork to make the distinctive peanut butter cookie crisscross pattern. If the dough sticks to the fork, dip it in sugar before pressing into the cookies. The dough will be a little crumbly, just press together with your fingers as necessary. 
6. Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies will be crumbly and delicious. Cookies will last up to 5 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Recipe from Joy The Baker Cookbook

Caramel Oatmeal Chewies

So yesterday while I was at work I was thinking about how it is less than two weeks until I leave to study abroad in Spain for the summer, and boy am I excited!!!  The only problem is that being away for two months means two months of not cooking and baking, so I figured I should try to get in a couple of good posts before I leave.

I decided I wanted to bake a dessert so when I got home from work I looked through my two new cookbooks and found this bad boy.  I was short a couple of ingredients though, so I decided to walk the couple of block to Trader Joe's since I had never been there which I am now embarrassed to say because it is my new favorite grocery store!  It is awesome!

Recipe from Fresh, Fast and Fabulous: 2nd Edition.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups oatmeal
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, divided
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 1 cup caramel ice cream topping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease bottom of a 13x9 inch metal baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine oats, 1 1/2 cups flour, brown sugar, baking soda and salt.
3. Stir in melted butter, mixing well.
4. Set aside 1 cup of oats mixture.  Press remaining mixture into bottom of pan.
5. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
6. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and pecans.
7. Mix caramel topping with remaining 1/4 cup flour.  Drizzle over pecans to within 1/4 inch of edges.
8. Sprinkle with remaining oats mixture.
9. Bake for an additional 18 to 22 minutes, or until golden brown.
10. Cool in pan on wire rack.  Then refrigerate until firm.

Cornflake, Marshmallow, Chocolate Chip Cookies

June just came out of nowhere! This year has flown by, which also implies my summer is dwindling too. I've got a long list of things I want to accomplish this summer too. Who knows it may be one of my last in Madison? That decision is a long ways away though, lets focus on the summer list:

1. Find a hostess or waitress job. Check, cocktail waitress to be precise!
2. Raise $4,000 for the MS bike ride. Only 2 months and $3,965 to go, no biggie.
3. Put a 1,000 miles on my sexy new bike.
4. Go on a brewery tour. Ale Asylum anyone?
5. Make a trip to Devils Lake. I've never been, which appalls many of my fellow Wisconsin natives.
6. Canoe camping round two.
7. Concerts on the square, cheese and wine.
8. Willy Street biking eating-drinking crawl.
9. Lose a bit of the pasty white girl look.
10. Make a mean sangria.

That list probably makes me seems a lot more outdoorsy than I really am. Because I think that last word anyone would use to describe me is outdoorsy. That is just my summer list too, there are so many things that I want to do before the year is over! What sort of things do you want to do this summer?

Make these cookies, if June being here is as alarming as it is to me. Even if it isn't, the first of everything month deserves to be started out right. Theses cookies are just the thing. The sister-in-law was in town last weekend. I hadn't seen her since Christmas!!!! I met up with her and my brother at our favorite watering hole, The Library Bar and Cafe. These cookies along with some cake balls came with us. I like to bake and then contemplate how to pawn the goods off on people.

Turns out a bar is a pretty great place to pawn baked goods off on people. These cookies especially. They are crispy, chewy and salty. The salty aspect keeps the people drinking too. I like to help not only myself the bar too. All the reviews were amazing and it wasn't just because people were drinking. The night was young, in fact it wasn't even night time yet.

There will be a leftover cornflake crunch, but just make yourself a bowl of cereal with it. You won't regret it. You can save it too, since after you share these, people will want you to make more. Give these a try you won't regret the sweet, salty, gooey, chewy goodness that results.


Recipe by Christina Tosi from Momofuki Milk Bar Cookbook
Makes 15 large cookies
Ingredients:
Cornflake Crunch:
1/2 box (5 cups) cornflakes
1/2 cup milk powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Cookie:
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups Cornflake Crunch
2/3 mini chocolate chips
1 1/4 cups mini marshmallows

Making the Cornflake Crunch:

1. Heat the oven to 275F
2. Pour the cornflakes in a medium bowl and crush them with your hands to one-quarter of their original size. Add the milk powder, sugar, and salt and toss to mix. Add the butter and toss to coat. As you toss, the butter will act as glue, binding the dry ingredients to the cereal and creating small clusters.
3. Spread the clusters on a parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes, at which point they should look toasted, smell buttery, and crunch gently when cooled slightly and chewed.
4. Cool the cornflake crunch completely before storing or using in a recipe. Stored in an airtight container at room temperature, the crunch will keep fresh for 1 week; in the fridge or freezer, it will keep 1 month.

Making the Cookies:

1. Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg and vanilla, and beat for 7 to 8 minutes.
2. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minutes. (Do not walk away from the mixer at this point, or you will risk overmixing the dough.) Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. 
3. Still on low speed, paddle in the cornflake crunch and mini chocolate chips just until they're incorproated, no more than 30-45 seconds. Paddle in the mini marshmallows just until incorprated. 
4. Using a 2 3/4-ounce ice cream scoop (or a 1/3 cup measure), portion out the dough onto a parchment lined-sheet pan. Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 1 week. Do not bake your cookies at room temperature-they will not hold their shape.
5. Heat the oven to 375F.
6. Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on parchment-lined sheet pans. Bake for 10-18 minutes (I baked mine for for 15 minutes-keep an eye on them). The cookies will puff, crackle and spread. The cookies should be browned on the edges and just beginning to brown toward the center. Leave them in the oven for an additional minute or so if they aren't and they still seem pale and doughy on the surface.
7. Cool the cookies on the sheet pans before transferring to a place or an airtight container for storage. At room temperature, the cookies will keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.