Compost Cookies

I'm going to be in a wedding! A bridesmaid to be precise! I don't know much about weddings. The last wedding and reception I attended was when I was like 5. We are lucky I remember that (I don't remember my childhood, much less what I did 3 days ago). Now I am in the wedding! We call it a wedding, but really its a statement of vows, or both. There never was a wedding or exchange of vows, whoops. So it is pretty much a wedding, I guess. How could this be, you ask?!

Did you know in Colorado you can have someone stand in for the other half? That is what my brother and now sister-in-law did. The best part was, the stand in for my sister-in-law was a dude. To be precise my parents best man. How cute?

It is probably important to know why they did this. She was at boot camp. He had already finished and was an officer, in the military. It isn't the best to sleep with your boss, ya know? Especially in the military. They just failed to think of this before she was confined to boot camp. Now the wedding is in February. They aren't much for the planning ahead. Excited none the less. Do you know anyone who has gotten married in this way? Or any good wedding laughs? I'd love to hear them!

Believe it or not, the above story is slightly related to these cookies. I'm mailing them to my sister-in-law, in Texas. Another twist to their little love story: they've spent a lot of time apart. BUT she comes home in 2 1/2 weeks, for good!

These cookies are from the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook. This is a pretty great book. A lot of it is pretty involved  but oh so very interesting. Beet-lime white chocolate ganache? Intrigued. Plus I don't live in New York. AKA New York is being brought to me instead.

I've been wanting to make these for a while and a friend recently was nagging me for the recipe. Perfect reason to make them. Plus, I have been all about the sweet, salty and unexpected. Chips and pretzels in your cookie? YUM!

These come out as giant sized cookies. In case you like 'em smaller, take note of that.  You only use 1/4 of the graham crust, but I took their suggestion and froze it for later use. I plan to make these for the holidays anyways. Screw traditional cookies, someone else will make them. Another great tip, freeze them for later. The finished product is rich and sweet, with whole pretzel crunch surprises.

Ingredients:

Graham Crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup milk powder

2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted

1/4 cup heavy cream

Cookie batter:

2 sticks butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar, tightly packed

1 tablespoon corn syrup

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup butterscotch chips

1/2 cup graham crust

1/3 cup old fashioned oats

2 teaspoons ground coffee

50g (2 cups) chips

50g mini (1 cup) pretzels

Instructions:

1. Combine the butter, sugars, and corn syrup 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 7-8 minutes, until pale and fluffy (almost doubled).
2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute (you don't want to over mix the batter!).
3. Still on low speed, add the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, graham crust, oats, and coffee and mix just until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Add the potato chips and pretzels and paddle, still on low speed, until just incorporated. Don't overmix or risk breaking too many of the pretzels or potato chips!
4. Using a 2 3/4-ounce ice cream scoop (or a 1/3-cup measuring cup), portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Pat the tops of the cookie dough domes flat. 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 from room temperature--they will not bake properly (did you see all that butter you put in there!?). 
5. Heat the oven to 375F.
6. Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on parchment- or silpat-lined sheet pans (these cookies do spread like crazy, give 'em space. I put 5 per pan). Bake for 18 minutes (I'd check them at about 16 minutes, depending on your oven). The cookies will puff, crackle, and spread. After 18 minutes, they should be very faintly browned on the edges yet still bright yellow in the center. Give them an extra minute or so if that's not the case.
7. Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before transferring to a plate or an airtight container for storage. At room temp, cookies will keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.

Recipe by Momofuku Milk Bar

Sweet & Salty Sugar Cookies

What is your favorite kind of cookie? I asked my sister-in-law that same question and the response was one I wasn't really expecting. Or maybe I should have because she is a bit of a selective eater. Her response was sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies without the chocolate chips. What do you even call that, when the major ingredient is missing? Sometimes the odd stuff is the best stuff, so she might be onto something?

My favorite cookie has to be chocolate chip though or white chocolate macadamia nut. It is probably a childhood thing. My grandmother would always make billions of chocolate chip cookies and we would eat them all winter long. The macadamia nut is probably picked up from my dad, pretty sure those are his favorite. I also like them because they seem to have this sweet and slightly salty thing going on.

Sweet and salty has to be the ultimate flavor combination. Chocolate covered pretzels. Salted caramel. These almonds .You name it, if it is sweet and salty it will be awesome. That is how these cookies came to be. Plain old sugar cookies seemed boring. They tend to be overly sweet and run of the mill.

These may be sweet too, but in the best way. You can't just eat one, the salt gets you coming back for more.  It might be just the cookie for the person who doesn't like sweets. These are also super easy to make. Everything should be in your pantry or fridge already.

You take a vanilla bean and scrap out its cute little seeds and combine it with sugar. Beat the sugars and butter. Add an egg and some vanilla extract. The addition of vanilla extract combined with the vanilla bean, gives these a vanilla scented quality. It cuts the sweetness a bit and balances the saltiness. Then you add your flour, mix it all up. Scoop, roll, flatten and bake your cookies. Slam, bam and done! The resulting cookie is chewy and soft on the inside, witch crisp edges.

Try them with a cup of coffee, its delicious. These will make the perfect cookie for the upcoming holiday cookie season. Not to mention an unexpected surprise from the traditional sugar cookie. Take them to a holiday party or to work, for a surprise break from the standard sugary sweet holiday cookies. You'll impress people, promise. I want to know what your favorite cookie is, leave a comment!

xo
April

Ingredients:
Yields 24 cookies
Cookies:
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
16 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Salty/Sugar Coating:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Position a rack in the middle of oven.
2. In a food processor, combine 1 cup sugar and the vanilla bean, pulsing until vanilla is well distributed (If you don't have a food processor, use your hands to break up the vanilla seeds into the sugar, until evenly distributed.)
3. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. 
4. In a stand mixer or bowl, beat the sugars and butter together for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Then add the egg and vanilla, beating until well combined. Add the flour mixture, mixing until just combined. 
5. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. In a small shallow pan or plate, mix the sugar and salt. Scoop the dough by the tablespoons, a generous one, rolling the dough into a ball. Next, roll the dough into the sugar/salt mixture. Place the cookies, evenly spaced, on the prepared baking sheets. Next, slighlty press each cookie, using a flat bottomed glass, flattening the tops. 
6. Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes, until their edges are just starting to brown.
7. Remove the cookies from the oven, and cool on the pan for several minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
8. Once the cookies are cool, store them in an airtight container and enjoy.

Recipe adapted from Baking Illustrated

Spiral Sugar Cookies

So a few weeks ago, I got a very exciting email. I found out that I had won Heather Baird's cookbook, Sprinklebakes! I couldn't believe it! I have entered a couple giveaways on blogs before but I have never won. I was never too disappointed because before this email, I had never won any raffle. Ever. One time in elementary school, we had bingo night and I won there, but that is beside the point. Otherwise, I've been going through my whole life without my ticket ever being called off or name being drawn. I guess I should take into account that I don't enter myself into these things often. But lets get back on track, I was checking my email at work and winning this book made my day! I was so excited and nervous I would miss the cut off time to reply, so I immediately replied to the email. Some short days later the book came in the mail! Thank you again Dawn from Vanilla Sugar Blog!

The cookbook not only has great pictures and recipes to go with them, but there are great technique tips to sift through, too. But the best part about the book is that it is all about making your desserts art. And if you know me well, you know there's a little artist trying to peak through the science nerd that I am.

When I was looking through Sprinklebakes, I pick this recipe as my first target. These would be a yummy but neat looking sugar cookie that would be perfect for a Wisconsin Badgers game day! The game against Purdue was away so I figured these cookies would be the perfect munchie while watching the game on TV. Although they can be a bit time consuming, a helper (aka my boyfriend) in the kitchen makes a big difference. The effort and time is definitely worth it! These cookies are the perfect sweetness that are not too soft but not quite crunchy either. All in all, it's hard to only eat one! 

Normally I would post the recipe but I attached the link to when Heather posted the recipe on her Sprinklebakes blog here. I think the pictures that go along with the steps are useful. Also, I'm not going to lie, it has been a busy week of class, exams, work and preparing for my boyfriend's birthday dinner (yay!) so my tired body doesn't even want to type anymore. Hope you check out the recipe!

Pumpkin French Toast Bread Pudding

Food and I have not been getting along lately. There has been a lot of cooking and eating, but will sub par success. Failed attempts at the perfect pumpkin Bourbon bread pudding (determination pays off people). Restaurant meals not meeting my highly anticipated expectations. Burning cookies.

Buying the same smoked butterkase, on two separate occasions, for a Badger Cheese Club Meeting, and I call myself president. Don't worry, I caught the mistake in time to dash to the store and by smoked mozzarella, but really I had already been to three stores for cheese that same day. Where was my head at?!

I made biscuits that were over mixed and poorly risen. The whole reasoning for making them was because they are the perfect fail safe. Biscuits are supposed to be my friend. It seemed like there wasn't anything to lose by giving the pumpkin bread pudding a fourth try at perfection.

A lot of lessons were learned on the road to this fabulous baked french toast bread pudding. Brioche bread makes better bread pudding than french bread. If you do chose to use french or country bread, try to use drier day old bread.

More bourbon for me and less for the bread pudding. Too much for the pudding and it gets a sick texture and taste. Same goes for too much bourbon for me, but that's a whole other story. Be sure to really let all the bread get well coated with the pumpkin custard mixture. Keep stirring it in a large bowl, until it is mostly all absorbed. Its important.

If you find the texture of bread pudding unpleasant, this may be for you. Its more like french toast, hence the name. It's super delicious and not too sweet. Double it to feed a crowd french toast, minus the hour standing in front of the griddle, for breakfast, on Thanksgiving morning. Give it a try with ice cream and caramel sauce, for dessert.

xo
April

Serves: 6
Ingredients:
5 cups brioche bread (11 ounces), cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup whole milk
2 whole large eggs, 1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon bourbon
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch ground cloves

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F, with rack in middle.
2. Whisk together the cream, milk, eggs, sugar, pumpkin, spices and bourbon in a medium bowl.
3. In another large bowl, pour the custard mixture over the bread cubes. Toss the bread cubes until well coated and mostly absorbed. Transfer to a 8x8 inch ungreased baking dish and bake until custard is set, 25-30 minutes.

Adapted from Gourmet

Grandma Spencer's Strawberry Spinach Salad

Yesterday was my dad, the "Big Man's", birthday.  In our family we don't go all out or anything for birthdays, but we did all head over to Mom and Dad's house to have a nice family dinner.  Mom had to work late yesterday and my offer of making dinner was turned down because it would've apparently taken too much time so we ended up ordering pizza for dinner.  As a nice little side to go along with our pizza I decided to make this strawberry spinach salad.

This salad is a family favorite.  When we were kids (well maybe not my brother who also wouldn't eat ketchup) we would always gobble it up even though it was full of spinach!  My Grandma Spencer used to always make it and it was a recipe that we made sure to get from our grandpa once she had passed away.  Now we make it for special dinners every once in a while or it's also great to take to pot lucks as well. 

And in case you were wondering, there was no cake for dessert, Dad is not a big cake person.  Instead we had brownies, his all time favorite.  My sister Avery made the brownies and added pecans to half of them because that's the way dad likes them.  (Well Dad would prefer the whole pan have nuts but some other people in the family are picky.)  

Ingredients

• 12 oz fresh baby spinach
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons cider or raspberry vinegar
• 1-2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons minced green onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• dash of pepper
• 1 pint strawberries, sliced

Directions

1. Combine oil, vinegar, sugar, green onion, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.  Refrigerate for a couple of hours (or longer.)
2. Toast sesame seeds at 350 degrees for about ten minutes (150 for about 5 minutes in a toaster oven.)
3. Toss spinach, sesame seeds, dressing, and strawberries in a large bowl.  Enjoy!