Cherry Chocolate Chip Scones

Yep, that's right.  Cherry chocolate chip scones.  This will be the third scone species tested.  The recipe is identical to that of blackberry chocolate chip scones, which is a simple modification of chocolate chip scones.  As you can tell the common ingredient in all my scones is chocolate chips.

Ingredients:

2 C flour

1/4 C wht sugar

1 & 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 C butter cubed (chilled)

1/2 C chocolate chips

1 C fresh pitted, halved/quartered cherries

1 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 C buttermilk

Directions:         

Preheat oven to 400^oF, set oven rack to middle, line baking sheet with parchment paper

Pit and halve/quarter 1 C fresh cherries

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt

Cut in butter (using pastry knife)

Stir in chocolate chips and cherries

In separate bowl whisk buttermilk and vanilla, add to dry

Stir just until dough comes together (don't overmix)

On floured surface nead dough 4-5x

Pat dough 1.5" thick and cut into 8 wedges.  Place on baking sheet

Brush tops with milk

Bake 15-20 mins (until golden brown)

Cool and enjoy!

S'mores Cookie: Trial 2

Fabrication of S'mores Cookie Trial 2.

figure 1.

Procedure:

The same procedure from Trial 1 was followed with these alterations:

1. the amount of cookie dough used was 2 or 3 times larger (small handful) than a normal chocolate chip cookies.  See figure 1. above, note cookie dough size in relation to the graham cracker squares.
2. Removed both baking sheets at 13 minutes and applied marshmallows to Tray 1.
3. Total bake time was 15 minutes

Results:

figure 2. (above) Tray 1 

 figure 3. (above) Tray 2 

 Observations:

• Larger cookie size melted over the graham cracker perfectly.
• Marshmallows added at 13 minutes melted slightly as desired
• Marshmallows added at the start of cooling did not observably melt.
• Control group (seen top-left of figure 2.) was a good indicator of when cookies were done
• larger cookie size only made 24 cookies.

Conclusions:

The unmet goals from Trial 1. were cookie size and toasting the marshmallows.  This trial achieved perfection on cookie size.  New techniques were not employed for toasting marshmallows and so those results are the same as Trial 1.  Total bake-time of 15 minutes and adding marshmallows at 13 minutes was well timed and should be repeated.  Taking the baking sheets out of the oven to apply marshmallows allowed for better deployment (rather than reaching inside a 350 oven).
Summary:

• Use larger cookie dough portions, approximately a small handful, which should yield 24 cookies per batch.
• Remove trays and add marshmallows at 13 minutes.
• Bake for a total of 15 minutes.

While the quest may continue to one day perfect toasting the marshmallows on top, for now this working recipe is go for further enjoyment.

S'mores Cookie: Trial 1

Fabrication of S'mores Cookie Trial 1.

This beings my efforts to recreate the S'mores Cookie

figure 1.

Procedure:

1. I started with my standard Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.  This can be found here: Chocolate Chip Cookie
2. Graham Crackers were placed on the baking sheets
3. Large spoonful of cookie dough (standard chocolate cookie size portion) was placed upon graham cracker (see figure 3).
4. Cookies placed in oven under standard Cookie-baking conditions: 350°^F
5. Marshmallows were placed on cookies at set intervals during the baking process (see figure 4)

figure 2.

figure 3.

Results:
  figure 4.

Observations:

• Larger amounts of cookie dough will need to be applied to achieve the average radius of 4.5 cm and fully cover the graham cracker square.
• Marshmallows placed on cookies at Time 0 and Time 5 minutes melted off the cookies.
• Marshmallows placed at Time 12 minutes became gooey, but did not achieve desired toastedness.  This was the group with results closest to our desired objective.
• Marshmallows placed at the start of cooling did not adequately melt.
• Control group (standard chocolate chip cookie, no graham cracker or marshmallows) baked normally.

Conclusions:

Next round I will need to use larger portions of cookie dough per cookie.  Adding marshmallows at the beginning and during cooling did not work well.  I observed that adding the marshmallows after 12 minutes, with ~1 minute to go, gave the desired gooeyness, but lacked toastedness.  Employing another technique (quick broil?) will be necessary to achieve toastedness.

Conclusion: close, but no cigar.  

S'more Cookie: Reverse Engineering

 Meet the S'mores Cookie from Cookie Connection, a local chain of excellent cookie shops.  

The S'mores cookie is Emily's favorite cookie from Cookie Connection.  For this reason I have decided to reverse engineer this cookie and create my own.

There are three components to the cookie

1. Melted marshmallows on top (see above photo) 

2. Chocolate chip cookie

3. Graham cracker square base (which provides an excellent textural variation to the cookie)

 The graham cracker base

I acquired an official S'mores cookie and began my analysis.  Here are my observations:

1. Average radius of the cookie was 4.5 cm (to fully cover graham cracker)
2. Milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet chips.
3. Marshmallows were nicely toasted.  They were on the cookie long enough to make indentations in the cookie as they baked, but were not completely melted.

These are my notes for now.  Next up will be Trial 1 to replicate this S'mores-y goodness.

Beer Bread

(Jalapeno Cheddar Beer Bread pictured)

Beer Bread is always a winner.  It's simple, quick, and affordable.  It is great at parties, potlucks, and other social gatherings.  I learned to make beer bread in college from my roommate Ian, and even if Ian was not the amazing man that he is, I would still be indebted to him for this beer bread recipe.

In case you or someone you know is worried about the alcohol from the beer, the boiling point of alcohol is 173°^F well below the 350°^F the bread is baked at.  Even when compensating for the boiling point elevation due to solute concentrations, it is safe to say the ethanol (alcohol) in the dough will boil out of the bread long before it finishes baking.

Ingredients:
3 C flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 C sugar
1 can/bottle/12 oz. beer (use whatever, my experimenting with different quality, brands, and styles of beer has not yielded detectable differences in beer bread)
1/3ish C butter

Directions:
(brace yourselves for the complexities)

• Preheat oven to 350°^F
• Mix ingredients (everything except butter) in a large bowl.
• Pour dough into a greased loaf pan (a deep/wide pan is best)
• Layer thin (~1/4 inch, 1/2 cm) slices of butter on top of whole loaf.  The butter by the sides of the pan will coat the sides of the loaf.
• Bake for 45-60 mins (toothpick comes out clean)
• Cool and enjoy.

Variables:

An option to spice things up with beer bread can be the addition of cheese and/or jalapenos.

1-2 C grated cheese (cheddar was more flavorful than pepper jack)

5-6 jalapeno slices (diced)

Add to the dough, no alteration to bake time.

Spearmint Tea

Spearmint tea is simple enough to make.  Growing spearmint provides me with a steady stream of fresh mint, which I dry and store in the pantry (to avoid light degradation)

To make spearmint tea:

• boil water
• approx. 1 tsp dried mint leaves per 2 cups (approx) water
• Steep mint 5-6 minutes, and remove mint leaves.
• Pour, add sugar to taste and enjoy! (I usually add a leaf to the cup for a little extra flavor and texture)

Tip: spearmint tea is very light in color; a full cup will only be slightly green.

Pumpkin Waffles

Pumpkin waffles are a Fall family classic.  Now that cooler weather has finally arrived, I have decided to welcome Autumn once again with pumpkin waffles.  Not only are they festive, but as someone who enjoys making and eating waffles I can say they are in many ways simpler to make than traditional waffles.  With the simplicity comes a wonderful hardiness to these waffles, making them even more appropriate for a chilly season.

Ingredients:
1 can(15 oz) pumpkin (not to be confused with pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 C milk
1/3 C melted butter
4 eggs
2.25 C flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger

Directions:

• Mix pumpkin, sugar, milk, butter (melted), and eggs
• Add in dry ingredients
• Warm up waffle iron and spray with non-stick spray
• Cook waffles
• Serve with butter and maple syrup, and enjoy!

Mixing pumpkin, sugar, milk, butter, and eggs

Add in dry ingredients and mix

Enjoy this Autumn classic!