killer blondies

the secret to these baking marvels is #1 using muscavado sugar #2 letting the batter sit for 12 hours. they are to die for! i can't just take a pretty picture i have to share my recipe so you an all try them!


killer blondies

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, plus butter for pan
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup dark brown muscovado sugar (find at whole foods or other gourmet store)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 tsp instant coffee dissolved in ½ tsp brandy
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
½ cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons toffee chips
1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans

topping

3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup mixed white and chocolate chips
1/2 cup pecans
1 tsp kosher salt or fleur de sel

butter and line a 9 by 9 by 2-inch baking pan with parchment paper, allowing a 2-inch overhang. butter the lining too.
whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
melt the butter in a medium saucepan; add both sugars and whisk until combined and sugar is melted, about 5 minutes. transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and let cool slightly. whisk in the eggs, vanilla and coffee/brandy mixture until combined. add the flour and whisk until just incorporated. fold in the chocolate chips, toffee chips and almonds. Refrigerate mixture 12 hours or overnight. when ready to bake, bring batter to room temperature and preheat oven to 350, transfer the mixture to the prepared pan. bake for 24 to 27 minutes or until the top cracks slightly and is firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the center comes out with moist pieces clinging to it.
in a saucepan over medium heat, stir together 3/4 cup butter 1/2 cup brown sugar, stirring constantly until bubbly. once it starts bubbling cook and stir for 1 minute.

scatter the ½ cup of chocolate and white chips and pecans over warm blondies.

pour butter and sugar mixture evenly over nuts and chocolate in pan. make sure not to get too close to the edges of the pan or it will burn to the sides.

bake 10-15 minutes more or until just bubbly around edges.
cool in pan on rack. refrigerate a few hours to make easier to cut.
cut into bars.

super good served warm with vanilla ice cream

homemade ice cream and snickerdoodles

my friend joy and her family are coming to dinner tomorrow night. joy loves snickerdoodles and i have been wanting to break out the ice cream maker. i went nuts and also made another batch of my famous tricked out, better than levain bakery cookies cause joy is pregnant and i want to indulge her cookie cravings. the two cookies couldn't be more different. the chocolate chip, coconut, pecan cookies are almost gluttonous compared to the simple snickerdoodles. but those puppies are deceptively decadent and simple enough the you can really taste the subtle flavors of the ingredients. the ice cream is a super rich tyler florence recipe, of course vanilla, to go with the cookies, but there are some delicious variations! warning: its a pain in the butt but worth it :)
the snickerdoodles are out of some old cookbook i have with no cover but its a great recipe :( the ice cream is still firming up but here is a pic of the snickerdoodles and i'll post more tomorrow when we eat it after a fabulous dinner.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Base Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence 10 cups heavy cream 5 cups whole milk Pinch salt 3 cups sugar 3 vanilla beans 24 large egg yolks Variations: Chocolate-Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream: 3/4 cup whole milk 16 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped in chunks Strawberry Cheese Cake Ice Cream: 1 1/2 cups strawberry preserves, no sugar added 1/2 frozen strawberry cheesecake, cut in large chunks 10 large fresh strawberries, halved Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Ice Cream: 1 tube ready to bake peanut butter cookie dough, cut in large pieces To make the vanilla ice cream: Combine the cream, milk, salt, and 2 cups of the sugar in a large pot. Split the vanilla beans down the middle lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a paring knife; add them to the pot and toss in the pods for added flavor. Place the cream mixture over medium heat, and bring up to a simmer; stirring with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar. Ideally, the temperature should reach 175 degrees F (just below scalding) for a smooth-textured ice cream; this should take about 15 minutes. Shut off the heat, cover the pot, and allow the cream mixture to steep for 15 minutes to further infuse the vanilla flavor. In the meantime, combine the egg yolks in a large mixing bowl and blend them lightly with a wire whisk. Gradually add the remaining 1 cup of sugar and continue to whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved and the eggs are thick and pale yellow; about 6 minutes. Using a large ladle or measuring cup, temper the eggs by gradually whisking in about 4 cups of the hot cream mixture. Return this back to the rest of the cream in the saucepan and turn the heat to medium-low. Stir constantly until the custard thickens and leaves a path on the back of a spoon when you run your finger across it, about 10 to 12 minutes (do not let boil.) Pour the vanilla custard through a fine strainer into another pot* and chill completely in a sink full of ice, stirring here and there; this should take about 1 hour. Ideally, let the ice cream base "age" overnight in the refrigerator before churning in an ice cream maker to improve the flavor and texture of the final product – but it is still good if you decide to process it right away. Divide the ice cream into quarts** and churn each in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. When done, the ice cream will be the consistency of "soft serve." ***To harden the ice cream fully, freeze in plastic covered containers. Flavor Variations: *To make the Chocolate-Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream: Heat 3/4 up of milk in a pot over medium-low heat. Add 12 ounces of the chopped chocolate and stir until completely melted. Pour 1 quart of the strained hot vanilla ice cream base into the melted chocolate and stir until very well incorporated. Chill and process as directed in the master recipe. Fold in the remaining 4 ounces of chopped chocolate after churning while the ice cream is in the "soft-serve" stage. Churn another 1 to 2 minutes just until combined. **To make the Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream: Mix the strawberry preserves into the vanilla custard just before you start churning in the ice cream maker. Add the pieces of strawberry cheesecake and fresh strawberries after churning while the ice cream is in the "soft-serve" stage. Continue to churn for an additional 5 minutes or until combined but still chunky. ***To make the Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Ice Cream: Add the pieces of cookie dough after churning while the ice cream is in the "soft-serve" stage. Continue to churn for an additional 1 to 2 minutes until combined but still chunky. Snickerdoodles 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour 2 tsp cream of tartar 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 12 tbsp unsalted butter, softened 1/4 vegetable shortening 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, plus 3 tbsps for rolling 2 large eggs 1 tbsp cinnamon for rolling 1. preheat oven to 375. adjust oven racks to upper and lower middle. line cookie sheets with parchment. 2. whisk all dry ingredients together and set aside. 3. by hand or with mixer, cream butter, shortening, and 1 1/2 cups sugar until fluffy. and eggs and beat until combined. 4. add dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined. 5. mix remaining sugar and cinnamon on shallow plate. using an ice cream scoop, scoop out balls of dough, roll dough into balls with hands then roll in cinnamon sugar and place on baking sheet. 6. bake reversing position of baking pans halfway through baking to ensure even top and bottom browning until edges are set and cookies are puffy in center, 9 to 12 minutes. let cookies cool on baking sheet 2 to 3 minute before you very carefully transfer to rack to cool.

triple chocolate, coconut, pecan cookies

i have tested a lot of chocolate chip cookie recipes. this is my favorite. its basically an adaptation of two famous recipes, #1 levain bakery 's chocolate chip cookies that i got from the su good sweets' blog and #2 the urban myth/neiman marcus recipe, with my own additions. this particular batch is a big thank you to my graphic designer and her husband for being the best people on earth and helping me so much this year. it will ship out tomorrow am via fed ex and hopefully make them very happy. my camera really didn't want to come out of its bag after todays shoot but they looked so pretty i forced it out. notice they are very full of chocolate, mmm.





here is the recipe:

Triple chocolate, coconut, pecan cookies

These cookies are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and a tad underbaked in the very center. Adjust baking times if you like a more well done cookie.

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temp but should still be firm
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar (muscavado if you can find it)
2 eggs

2 tsp good quality vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup oat flour (just grind up old fashioned out in a blender to equal one cup)
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup EACH semisweet, milk, and white chocolate chips (splurge and use valhorna or scharfen berger if you can)

1 cup toasted unsalted pecans

½ to ¾ cup freshly toasted UNSWEETENED coconut

*I buy my gourmet chocolate at whole foods, they usually have valhrona by the gourmet cheeses and scharfen berger in the baking aisle. Of course any chocolate you like is fine. Whole foods is also the only place I can find unsweetened shredded coconut. Its in the dried fruit/nut section usually by the bulk bins and comes prepackaged.

Preheat oven to 375. Line cookie sheets with parchment. In a large bowl, cream the butter with beaters or electric mixer till fluffy. Add sugars and beat till light and very fluffy. Then beat in eggs one at a time, then vanilla.

In a separate bowl mix all dry ingredients and whisk to blend well. Add dry ingredients to butter/sugar/egg mixture and stir until fully incorporated. Add chocolate, pecans and coconut. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop very generous balls of dough up from bowl and place on baking sheets. I measured once and they were 4-5 ounces. Cook at 350 for 18-20 minutes till they are nicely golden brown. Judge by the color. When they are done they will still be very soft but will firm up as they cool and be perfect, trust me. Just be careful when transferring them to cooling rack. Also if using two baking sheets make sure to rotate top to bottom racks once halfway through baking.