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Showing posts with label chocolate chips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chocolate chips. Show all posts

Friday, May 21, 2010

Toffee and chocolate graham crackers



This recipe starts out from the amazing Deb over at the Smitten Kitchen that she adapted fromNancy Silverton’s Pastries from the La Brea Bakery, and 101 Cookbooks. And of course I, then adapted to suit to fit my needs.

2 1/2 c. + 2Tbs Flour
1 c. Dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1tsp Baking soda
3/4 tsp. Kosher or coarse sea salt
7 Tbs Butter, cut into 1 inch cubes and frozen
1/3 c. Mild honey
5 Tbs. Milk (preferably whole milk)
2 Tbs. Vanilla extract
8 oz Chocolate covered toffee bits (such as Heath) divided 6 oz and 2 oz.

In your handy dandy mixer, combine the flour, sugar and baking soda. Begin adding butter a little at a time until the consistency of slightly moistened sand (Smitten kitchen says 'coarse meal' but I try not to copy too much- She also says you can use a food processor).

In a separate bowl, whisk together the honey, milk and vanilla. Slowly add to the dry ingredients in the bowl of your mixer and mix until dough comes together. It will be very dense and sticky. Begin adding the 6oz. of toffee bits and mix into the dough.

Lay out some plastic wrap and lightly flour it. Dump out the dough and form into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours or overnight. But again, I am impatient and cannot handle such a wait so I wrap it and put it in the freezer until it is firm.

Rolling the cookies:

Divide the dough in half and return one half to the fridge while you work with the other. Sprinkle your work surface with flour and begin to roll out the dough until approximately 1/8 inch thick. Cut the dough into your standard graham cracker rectangles, I used a pizza cutter because Santa didn't bring me a pastry cutter this Christmas. Transfer your rectangles to a parchment or silicone mat lined cookie sheet. Repeat with second half of dough and again with any scraps that remain after cutting your dough.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Before you put the sheets in the oven sprinkle the remaining toffee bits over the top and gently press into the cookies. To decorate, use a skewer and poke holes over the top and draw a line down the middle (just like the graham crackers you would buy).

Bake for 15-25 minutes until browned and slightly firm.

It was inevitable, do you want to know what I did next? It would have been blasphemy if I hadn't. S'mores, baby.


Friday, April 16, 2010

Rocky rocky road cookies

Life is filled with rocky roads. Bittersweet, sticky and nutty moments, and times when you need the extra jolt. Even though we all go through this, there is no reason that we can't have a cookie take with us.
9 oz. Bittersweet chocolate
3/4 c. Butter
1 1/2 c. Brown sugar
3 eggs
1 3/4 c. Flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 c. cocoa (heaping)
2 tsp. Instant hazelnut coffee (or any flavor you want)
1 1/2 c. Hazelnuts, chopped
1 12 oz. package Chocolate chips
1 c. Mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Melt semisweet chocolate and butter. In your mixer combine the melted chocolate and butter with the sugar and mix until light. Add eggs, one by one letting each one fully incorporate into the mixture.
Sift the dry ingredients together, then slowly add to the mixer. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the nuts and chocolate chips while on low speed to fold into dough. Turn off the mixer and pour in the marshmallows, fold them into the dough as well.
Scoop dough into balls and place on parchment lined or silicone mat lined cookie sheets. Flatten tops of cookies with a glass (just something with a flat side) and bake for approximately 14 minutes. You will start to see a beautiful sheen on the top of the cookies when they are done.

Something tells me that you will be trying these, like now. Because life just wouldn't be complete without them.