A Lot About Nothing

In my search to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie, I knew I wanted a certain texture along the same lines of shortbread cookies, but not so soft that they break apart in your hands. At the same time, I didn’t want to create them too hard and crispy that they were a tooth hazard. So after three attempts I think I’m satisfied with this version of mine. The first time around I added too much cornstarch and they crumbled in my lunch bag like streusel topping. The second attempt I was trying to think about how I could make them a bit more crisp. I guess I shouldn’t have added that extra egg, because the cookies (while delicious) came out too “cake-like” and that wasn’t what I was aiming for.

In my trials and research I learned the following baking facts:

• More butter = more spread; more flour = less spread
• By reducing the amount of ingredients that retain moisture (e.g. egg, flour or brown sugar), you can make a nice, crispy cookie.
• Using white sugar instead of brown sugar allows for a crispier cookie, since brown sugar has molassas (higher water content)
• Adding an extra egg, milk or water to the dough can lead to a cake-like cookie since the additional moisture adds steam during baking (making them puff up)
• Baking a cookie for a longer duration and at a lower temperature will allow your cookies to become more crispy.

So now for attempt number three, and as they say, third time’s the charm. This recipe has just the right amount of a chewy, soft centre, and a crisp outside that will leave tasters asking for more.

Yield: 24-32 cookies (depending on size)

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter (softened at room temperature)
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix together butter and sugars with a wooden spoon. Add the egg and vanilla until incorporated.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
4. In three parts, gradually fold the flour mixture into the bowl with the wet ingredients until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Drop about a tablespoon of cookie batter onto the lined baking sheet, leaving about 2-inches between each cookie.
6. Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are golden-brown.
7. Remove baking sheet from the oven and let the cookies rest about 5 minutes before placing on a cooking rack.

Yes, I know I’m a couple of weeks off (school leaves little time for blogging), but here are some photos of some yummy treats I made for Valentine’s Day weekend.  I’ve been on a baking frenzy as of late. I need to replenish my butter…

Cream-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Icing
To make this yummy icing simply blend 2 or 3 fresh strawberries in a blender, mix with some confectioner’s sugar and a drop of red food colouring.

Shortbread Cookies
A very basic recipe: Flour, butter, confectioner’s sugar and cornstarch. I added some vanilla extract in my version for a little extra flavour.

Mousse-Filled Chocolate Cups with Berry Coulis
After taking a culinary workshop run by Tatiana (a classmate at school), I just had to try this at home. It came out delicious. I used a mixture of strawberries and raspberries for the coulis.

I totally forgot to post some of the pics I took of all the goodies I baked over Christmas. Oh, well… better late then never!

Peppermint Swirl Cookies - One of the recipes I got from a holiday issue of Canadian Living. These came out really well.

Sugar Cookies - These were so yummy! Melt in your mouth!

Angel Food Cake – This was my first time making this type of cake from scratch… I didn’t realizes it would be so easy!

Peanut Brittle – My mom loved these… Got the recipe off allrecipes.com

I’m really lovin’ this Mexican food! I tried to make flan for the first time a couple Saturdays ago and it came out tasting delicious! There’s a bunch of different variations of flan recipes out there, but using my best judgment, I think the following ingredients make for a great-tasting, and low-fat-as possible flan dessert.

Ingredients:
2 whole eggs
4 egg whites
1 can (300mL) low-fat sweetened condensed milk
1 can (370mL) fat-free evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract

Equipment:
1 8-inch round glass/silicone dish
1 roasting pan (large enough for the 8-inch dish to fit in)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Pour sugar into a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir constantly to prevent burning until the sugar is liquefied and golden in colour. Quickly pour the caramelized sugar into the glass dish, swirling around the sides to coat the surface evenly. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat egg whites and egg yolks. Beat in the condensed milk, evaporated milk, vanilla and cinnamon until smooth. Pour egg mixture into the caramel-lined glass baking dish.
4. Place the baking dish in the roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with boiling water (enough to cover halfway up the sides of the glass dish). Bake for about 1 hour until the centre is just set. Cool for an hour on a wire rack, then chill in the fridge for several hours or overnight.
5. Run a knife around the edge of the glass dish and invert the flan onto a serving platter to unmold.

One of the things that I love about visiting the National Women’s Show is learning about new products (and of course freebies ). One of these freebies that I got a couple weeks ago was a 15-pack of Sun-Rype Fruit Source Bars. There was a choice of strawberry or wildberry “plus veggie” flavours, so I opted to try the one with the veggies. I didn’t recall tasting these particular bars before (I usually buy the smaller Fruit-To-Go snack bars), but I’m glad that I did, because they are super-tasty!

Made with 100% fruit and vegetables, these bars contain fibre, potassium, Vitamin A and 3 servings of fruit and veggies in each one. I could hardly taste the carrots that are part of the ingredients, so the bar has a nice, naturally sweet taste. No artificial colours either, and it’s only 130 calories with no fat–perfect for that mid-morning snack. Chewy (but not sticky), these Fruit Source bars should be a staple in your kitchen when you want a healthy snack alternative