On a visit to a Restaurant Depot my Q.C. Department convinced me to buy 11 lbs of bulk Chocolat de Couverture Noir. (64% is dark chocolate is not very bitter. I use 73% for dark bitter chocolate.) My question is… what should I make with it?
I am thinking Pain au Chocolat, chocolate croissants, chocolate chip cookies and/or brownies. Note the fluidity on the package. This chocolate is suitable for coating caramel, creams, berries and other confections.
Last year I made an over the top chocolate/orange tart. My neighbor’s orange tree has a abundance of oranges too high up for her to harvest. Hmmm……
Maybe something I made before: Eclairs? Chocolate Babka? Soufflés? Chocolate pudding? (Try the easy home made chocolate pudding recipe.) Chocolate chip scones? Lava Cake? Chocolate Fudge? Oh yes, chocolate fudge!!! (Maybe chocolate/peanut butter fudge, the QC department doesn’t like Chocolate/peanut butter fudge.)
Half of our Q.C. department requested we make some scones. Having never tried our hand at them we finally made some this morning. I found a recipe and modified it to suit my needs. They will become a regular treat here!
These are 3 berry drop scones. They are 3 berry ‘cause I forgot I was making raspberry/blueberry scones and added blackberries. Once I realized what I did I added a half cup of blueberries.
Once mixed, large tablespoon portions are “dropped” onto a parchment covered baking sheet. I ended up baking them for the full 19 minutes at 400F. It was just about right. I forgot to sprinkle some coarse or turbinado sugar, but they didn’t really need it.
Raspberry/Blueberry Drop Scones
Ingredients • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour • 1 tablespoon baking powder • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt • 1/3 cup sugar • Zest of 1 small lemon (or half a large lemon) • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes • 3/4 cup fresh blueberries • 3/4 cup fresh raspberries • 1 cup heavy cream • Coarse or turbinado sugar for topping
Directions
Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and lemon zest. Pulse a few times to incorporate.
Add the cubed butter and pulse to incorporate. The mixture should resemble very coarse sand.
Empty the flour mixture into a mixing bowl. Add the cream and stir until just barely incorporated.
Gently fold in the berries. It’s fine if the raspberries break up a little – it adds a nice pink stain to the dough. The dough should just be moist, not wet, but also not crumbly or powdery looking. If it looks too dry, add a tablespoon of cold water.
Spoon the dough into 12 equally-sized pieces on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle some coarse or turbinado sugar over the top, if desired.
Bake for 16-19 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The scones should be lightly golden and cooked through.
Cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes then carefully remove to a cooling rack.
I received a recipe from King Arthur Baking (formerly Flour) for Blueberry/Cream Cheese rolls topped with the aforementioned crumble topping.
I mostly followed the recipe with a few exceptions; I used apple cider instead of wine for the filling. I also added the juice of 1/2 lemon to activate the pectin. Also, I wasn’t impressed with the streusel crumble. I would have preferred one similar to what is found on a cinnamon muffin or a pie.
I only baked them for 40 minutes, when the internal temperature was 205 deg F. It may be my oven.
However, the taste was excellent and will definitely be making these again.
Ingredients
Dough • 3/4 cup lukewarm milk • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted • 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast • 1 1/4 teaspoons salt • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract • 1/4 cup granulated sugar • 1 large egg • 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour Filling • 2 cups (425g) fresh or frozen blueberries • 1/4 cup fruit juice or red wine • 1/2 cup granulated sugar • 1 tablespoon pectin • pinch of salt Topping • 12 ounces (1 1/2 large packages) cream cheese, at room temperature • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract • 2 tablespoons King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour • 1/8 teaspoon salt Streusel • 1/2 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour • 1/2 cup granulated white sugar • 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) butter, slightly softened
Method
To make the dough: Combine all of the dough ingredients and mix and knead — by hand, mixer, or in a bread machine set on the dough cycle — to make a soft, smooth dough. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and let it rise for about 60 minutes, until it’s nicely puffed.
While the dough is rising, prepare the filling. Place the berries and juice or wine in a medium-sized saucepan. Combine the sugar, pectin, and salt. Add the sugar/thickener to the berries/wine and cook over medium heat until the sauce is thick, about 5 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.
Gently deflate the risen dough, and roll/pat it into an 18″ x 20″ rectangle. Spread with the cooled blueberry filling, and roll up cinnamon-roll style.
Slice the roll into 12 equal portions. Place in a greased 9″ x 13″ x 2″ baking dish, cut (spiral) side up. Cover the dish with plastic wrap, and let rise for 40 minutes.
As the dough is rising, prepare the topping. Combine the softened cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, flour, and salt. Stir until very smooth. Place in a large zip-top plastic bag. Cut off a generous piece of the corner of the bag, leaving an opening the size of a quarter.
Prepare the streusel by combining the flour, sugar, and butter with a fork or your fingers until it’s in large crumbles, similar to large granola clusters.
Uncover the rolls and pipe a large dollop of cream cheese filling on top of each. Use your wet fingers to spread the filling completely over the top of each bun.
Sprinkle the streusel over the tops of the rolls. Use all the streusel; don’t worry if it falls off the top of the rolls and settles between them. Everything will bake together just fine.
Bake the rolls in a preheated 350°F oven for 45 to 55 minutes. They should be golden brown on the edges, and the streusel should be nicely browned, as well. A digital thermometer should read 200°F when inserted into the center of a roll.
Remove the rolls from the oven. Serve warm, or at room temperature. These large, rich buns make a very filling breakfast! Tips from our bakers
• For smaller buns, divide the dough into 24 equal portions and place in two well-greased 12-cup muffin pans. Reduce the baking time to 25 to 30 minutes.
Store these buns in the fridge for up to 3 days. A short warming in the microwave or toaster oven will take the chill off before eating.
Tangzhong was developed in Asia and used in both China and Japan as a method of keeping bread soft and fresh. Tangzhong is a mixture of flour, water and milk, heated while stirring until the “water roux” thickens. The tangzhong is added to the rest of the ingredients and processed more or less normally. The result is a soft, pillowy white bread (see how I cleverly incorporated the title into the body of this post?)
L: Rolling Log – R: Rolled Logs in Bread Pan
I found the rise and proofing times were much longer that suggested in the recipes. I thought my yeast may have lost potency so I tested it in a water/sugar solution. (1/2 cup water @ 110-115F, 1 tsp sugar, 2 1/4 tsp yeast. Mix and after 10 minutes the mixture should have grown to 1 cup. It was fine. The problem is I now had the beginnings of another bread/pastry or something. QA Department to the rescue—See subsequent post on cinnamon rolls.)
L: Timer set to 10 Min Mixture at 1/2 cup — R: After 10 Min – Mixture at 1 cup — The yeast is good!
The long proof times were likely due to the cooler temperatures in the kitchen today. (It was only 62F when I started.)
L: Finished Loaf – R: Sliced for Sandwiches (and QA)
Combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan, and whisk until no lumps remain.
Place the saucepan over low heat and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until thick and the whisk leaves lines on the bottom of the pan, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Transfer the tangzhong to a small mixing bowl or measuring cup and let it cool to lukewarm. Dough
Combine the tangzhong with the remaining dough ingredients, then mix and knead — by mixer or bread machine — until a smooth, elastic dough forms; this could take almost 15 minutes in a stand mixer.
Shape the dough into a ball, and let it rest in a lightly greased bowl, covered, for 60 to 90 minutes, until puffy but not necessarily doubled in bulk. (120 min in cool kitchen)
Gently deflate the dough and divide it into four equal pieces; if you have a scale each piece will weigh between 170g and 175g.
Flatten each piece of dough into a 5″ x 8″ rectangle, then fold the short ends in towards one another like a letter. Flatten the folded pieces into rectangles again (this time about 3″ x 6″) and, starting with a short end, roll them each into a 4″ log.
Place the logs — seam side down and side by side — in a lightly greased 9″ x 5″ loaf pan.
Cover the loaf and allow it to rest/rise for 40 to 60 minutes, until puffy. (I put the dough into a proofing oven for this and let it rise until the tops of the rolls were even with the top of the pan.)
Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Brush the loaf with milk and bake it for 30 to 35 minutes, until it’s golden brown on top and a digital thermometer inserted into the center reads at least 190°F.
Remove the loaf from the oven and cool it in the pan until you can transfer it safely to a rack to cool completely.
Store leftover bread, well wrapped, at cool room temperature for 5 to 7 days; freeze for longer storage.
My friend, Maggie, and I have been trading recipes, tips and techniques for a while now. A couple of weeks ago she sent me this recipe for her biscuits, and it is outstanding. Making the batter takes 10-15 minutes, then 15 minutes in the oven and they are ready.
I followed her method exactly, except I cut the biscuits out with a 2” circular cutter. I then bunched the leftovers into a ball, patted them out and re-cut, twice. This provide a good sample for our Quality Assurance Department, who graded them A+
L – QA Samples are the rough ones on the left, R – Finished biscuits
Maggie’s Six Biscuits
INGREDIENTS • 1 tsp Baking Soda • 1 tsp Salt • 1 tsp Sugar • 1⁄2 tsp Baking Powder • 1 1/2 c AP Flour • 1 stick Cold Butter • 3/4 Sour Milk or Buttermilk (I soured whole milk with a bit o’lemon juice)
METHOD
Mix the dry ingredients.
Cut in the butter (fingers or pastry thingie, your choice) til it’s a shaggy mess … remembering that the less it’s messed with the flakier it’ll be.
Once it’s at the shaggy mess stage begin adding the liquid a bit at a time until it’s a soft dough … keeping in mind then”remembering” bit notes above.
Knead it a tiny bit.
Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, pat it into a rectangle about 1/2” high, spread some melted butter on it,
Fold in half, pat it into a rectangle about 1” high, spread some melted butter on it.
Cut into 6 pieces, place on parchment papered baking sheet, bake at 425 for about 15 minutes.
As we hunker down at home I realize I have to stop reading new recipes! Despite exercising nearly as much as pre-Covid19 my baking is up around 400%. While all this baking is increasing my skills, it is also increasing my belt size. Luckily, as we are sheltering-in-place stretch waist warmup pants are all the rage.
I saw this recipe from PopSugar online and as I had lemons and raspberries all I needed was the plain Greek yogurt, which was procured during our sanctioned grocery shopping yesterday. Speaking of grocery shopping, we find it difficult to buy a weeks, much less two weeks worth of groceries in one trip. Any suggestions?
The only change I made to the recipe was to substitute equal quantities of olive for canola oil. The intense flavor of the fresh raspberries complemented, but didn’t overpower the lemon. It may be fun to remake these muffins using AP flour rather than whole wheat. I’m thinking it may make a lighter muffin. We have weeks more hunkering down here. Who knows? Obviously, only the Shadow knows.
I also baked these using Convection, which dropped the temperature from 400 deg to 375. I set the timer for the lower range (18 min) and took the muffins out at 20 min.
The batter is very thick so folding in the berries without mashing them is difficult. Be gentle. Be patient.
Lemon Raspberry Muffins
from PopSugar
INGREDIENTS • 1 lemon • ½ cup sugar • 1 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt • 1/3 cup canola oil • 1 large egg • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract • 2 cups white whole-wheat flour • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder • 1 teaspoon baking soda • ¼ teaspoon salt • 1 ½ cups fresh raspberries
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 large (½ -cup) muffin cups with cooking spray, or line with paper liners.
Use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest from the lemon in long strips. Combine the zest and sugar in a food processor; pulse until the zest is very finely chopped into the sugar.
Add yogurt, oil, egg, and vanilla. Pulse until blended.
Combine whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add the yogurt mixture, and fold until almost blended. Gently fold in raspberries. Divide the batter (it will be thick) among the muffin cups.
Bake the muffins until the edges and tops are golden, 18 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for five minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Serve warm.
(a Cinnamon Star Bread that is,) “Makes no difference who you are.”
I saw this recipe on KAF as part of their CINNAMON STAR BREAD BAKEALONG: CHALLENGE #16. These are fun ways to improve and augment anyones baking skills, no matter who you are, plus they result in a delicious product (when executed properly.)
INGREDIENTS
DOUGH
2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
¼ cup potato flour
¼ cup nonfat dry milk
¾ cup + 2 to 4 tablespoons lukewarm water, enough to make a soft, smooth dough
¼ cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
FILLING
1 large egg, beaten
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
METHOD
First, measure the flour by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Next, sift the flour, potato flour, and dry milk through a strainer; this is an important step to prevent lumps in the dough. (If you’re using instant mashed potatoes rather than potato flour you can skip this sifting step.)
To make the dough: Combine all of the dough ingredients and mix and knead —I use a mixer and dough hook — to make a soft, smooth dough.
Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let it rise for 60 minutes, until it’s nearly doubled in bulk.
Divide the dough into four equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball, cover the balls, and allow them to rest for 15 minutes.
On a lightly greased or floured work surface, roll one piece of dough into a 10″ circle. Place the circle on a piece of parchment, brush a thin coat of beaten egg on the surface, then evenly sprinkle with 1/3 of the cinnamon-sugar, leaving 1/4″ of bare dough around the perimeter.
Roll out a second circle the same size as the first, and place it on top of the filling-covered circle. Repeat the layering process — egg, cinnamon sugar, dough circle — leaving the top circle bare.
Place a 2 1/2″ to 3″ round cutter in the center of the dough circle as a guide. I used a 3/4 cup measuring cup and scored the center of the top ring. With a bench knife or sharp knife, cut the circle into 16 equal strips, from the cutter to the edge, through all the layers.
Rolled and Dusted Dough
Half Twisted Dough
Twisted Dough before Baking
Using two hands, pick up two adjacent strips and twist them away from each other twice so that the top side is facing up again. Repeat with the remaining strips of dough so that you end up with eight pairs of strips.
Pinch the pairs of strips together to create a star-like shape with eight points. Be sure the ends are well pinched or they will separate.
Transfer the star on the parchment to a baking sheet. Cover the star and let it rise until it becomes noticeably puffy, about 45 minutes.
While the star is rising, preheat the oven to 400°F.
Brush the star with a thin coat of the beaten egg. Bake it for 12 to 15 minutes, until it’s nicely golden with dark brown cinnamon streaks; the center should register 200°F on a digital thermometer.
Remove the loaf from the oven and allow it to cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve warm or at room temperature.
Store any leftover bread, well wrapped in plastic, at room temperature for several days. Freeze for longer storage.
Having just washed some rust and dirt from my hands caused by carrying some rebar I bought at Home Depot (for the uninformed, rebar is a steel rod with ridges for use in reinforced concrete, or in my case, stakes for anchoring wooden tripods framing our new citrus trees to hold frost blankets,) I caught up with Fran who was just leaving the produce section of the supermarket, when she said: “Look, I bought some blueberries.”
Hence:
Jordan Marsh BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
by KAF INGREDIENTS
½ cup (8 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
½ cup milk
2½ cups blueberries, fresh preferred
¼ cup sugar, for topping
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin; or line the tin with papers, and grease the papers.
In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until well combined.
Add the eggs one at a time, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl and beating well after each addition.
Beat in the baking powder, salt, and vanilla.
Add the flour alternately with the milk, beating gently just to combine. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
Mash 1/2 cup of the blueberries. Add the mashed and whole berries to the batter, stirring just to combine and distribute.
Scoop the batter by the heaping 1/4-cupful into the prepared muffin pan; a muffin scoop works well here.
Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon granulated sugar atop each muffin, if desired. It’s traditional — go for it!
Bake the muffins for about 30 minutes, until they’re light golden brown on top, and a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean.
Remove the muffins from the oven, loosen their edges from the pan, and after about 5 minutes transfer them to a rack to cool.
TOPPING
½ cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
¼ cup butter
1½ tsp cinnamon
Mix together sugar, flour, butter, and teaspoons cinnamon. Mix to a coarse granular consistency, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
We just had a weekend guest, and sadly, put her on a plane to return to her home last night. This woman prefers to eat healthy, in moderation and occasionally diet. Boy did she come to the wrong place!
We started with some rugelach. I made apple/cinnamon, chocolate and
chocolate/blackberry. They are very similar except the for filling. I added an apple tart, (I got to use my new spiralizer so am happy.) Fran and I had some fruit dumplings from Apple Hill (much like my hand pies but bigger, so I added blueberry, apply and blackberry hand pie/filled rough puff pastry dumplings. For dinner we had my homemade pizza margherita: sweet/salty sauce, home made dough (ala Independent Pizza in Seattle), basil and fresh mozzarella, baked 6 minutes at 600 degrees in my gas grill. I added some garlic bread knots to accompany. It was so good, I made second one for Sunday night. Unfortunately, we at all the garlic bread knots, so I made some chocolate mousse with pink whipped cream topping. Oh, we also had a salad.
RUGELACH
INGREDIENTS
CRUST
16 tablespoons (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup cream cheese, at room temperature (2 T cream cheese = 28g. 3/4 Cup = 12 T, ¾ C = 4oz.)
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
FILLING CINNAMON RAISIN
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries, raisins, or currants
1 tablespoon cinnamon
water for brushing dough
DARK CHOCOLATE:
1 T brown sugar
1 Tsp unsweetened cocoa power
¼ Tsp cinnamon (optional)
TOPPING
granulated sugar or coarse white sparkling sugar
milk or cream
METHOD
To make the dough using a mixer: Beat together the butter, cream cheese, sour cream, and salt until smooth. Add the flour, mixing to make a stiff dough.
Divide the dough into three equal portions. Press each gently into a disk. Make the disks as round as possible, smoothing their edges; this will allow you to roll the disks into a perfectly round circle, making the resulting rugelach more attractive. (Note how :perfect this dough circle is.) Wrap the disks in plastic, and chill the dough for about 1 hour, until it’s firm but not rock hard. Or chill longer (up to overnight), then warm for about 45 to 60 minutes at room temperature, until the dough softens enough to roll out without cracking.
To make the CINNAMON RAISIN FILLING: process the sugar, walnuts, dried fruit, and cinnamon in a food processor or blender until finely chopped and well combined (but not pasty). Don’t have a food processor? Simply stir together the filling ingredients; your filling will be chunky rather than smooth.
To make the CHOCOLATE FILLING: Whisk together 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder; add 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, if desired. Sprinkle atop rolled-out dough. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup (1 1/2 ounces) mini chocolate chips or chopped semisweet chocolate.
Working with one piece of dough at a time, place it on a generously floured surface. Roll it into a 10″ circle and brush it lightly with water. For a flavorful touch, brush the rolled-out rugelach dough with a thin layer of boiled cider, warmed apple or
currant jelly, or puréed fruit preserves, instead of water.
Use your fingers to spread about 1/3 of the filling onto the round, going all the way to the edges and gently patting the filling to help anchor it to the dough.
Using a pizza cutter, baker’s bench knife, or sharp knife, divide the dough into 12 equal wedges. Roll each wedge up, beginning with the wide end and ending with the narrow end. Place the rolls point-side down on a baking sheet; lining the baking sheet with parchment will help with cleanup. Repeat with the remaining two pieces of dough.
Brush the rugelach with milk or cream; and sprinkle with granulated or coarse white sparkling sugar, if desired.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Refrigerate the rugelach while the oven is preheating.
Bake the rugelach for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven, and cool right on the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Store leftover rugelach in an airtight container at room temperature for several days. Freeze for longer storage.
APPLE TART
TART SHELLS
INGREDIENTS
100 g cold butter cut into small cubes
200 g all-purpose flour
60 g icing sugar (Splenda?)
½ tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
1 egg (50g)
APPLE FILLING
3 apples (sliced thin or spiralized with skins on)
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tsp cinnamon
METHOD
Mix butter with sugar
Add salt then vanilla
Add egg
Stir in flour.
Mix by hand until incorporated
Add 3-5 Tbl water to make dough sticky
Cover with plastic and refrigerate for 30 min
Butter tartlet pans
Roll dough to about ⅛” thick
Lay over tart mold and press into all crevices
Roll top to cut off excess
Prick holes in bottom and sides of formed dough
Add pastry weights to each pan
Bake in preheated oven 350o F (175o C) for 17 min
Remove pastry weights with 5 min left in the bake
Remove pastry shells from pans and let cool on wire rack
Fill cooled tart shell with sliced apples. I put them in a spiral shape but any way will do
Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over the apples.
Cover exposed edges of tart with aluminum foil to prevent over browning.
Back at 375 F for 20-30 min. When apples have reduced and mixture is bubbling.
Remove from over and cool on a wire rack.
Sweet and Salty Pizza Sauce
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 medium tomatoes, diced
1 can tomato paste
1 Tbsp sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground
2 tablespoons (4 large leaves) fresh basil, coarsely chopped
METHOD
Heat oil in medium saucepan over a medium heat until hot.
Add garlic; cook 30 seconds or until fragrant.
Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, salt and pepper and cook for 8-10 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring and mashing tomatoes with potato masher until crushed.
Stir in basil.
Place in small bowl; cool to room temperature This sauce may be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated or up to 2 months ahead and frozen.
I am expecting to harvest over 100 pounds of fig from our single tree in the back yard. We are leaving the very high figs for the birds and squirrels. They don’t seem to understand that and keep raiding my allotment on the lower branches. To date I ate figs, froze figs, made fig preserves, fig spread, fig newtons, fig cake and now fig/oatmeal/chocolate chip cookies. Daniel is making some figgy pudding, I am planning some fig hand pies and we gave away 20 lbs to friends, family and neighbors. What’s next, Fig fudge? Fig ice cream? Fig bread? You know, sometimes there may be too much of a delicious thing.
I searched a number of recipes to find one I liked for fig cookies. The one I chose also had oatmeal and chocolate. Think oatmeal/chocolate/raisin cookies except the fig imparts a softer and more subtle flavor and texture the raisin would. I upped the fig content being sure to not use any fully or over ripe figs. They would kick up the moisture content making the cookies too soggy. I also omitted the coconut (not a favorite of Fran.) Chilling the batter is essential. I chilled for 2 hours and it may not have been enough. The first batch were a little flat, the second were better.
1/2 Cup Chopped Figs
Unchilled Mixed Dough
Fig and Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Based on post from fiveandspice at Food52.com
Makes about 2-dozen cookies
INGREDIENTS
½ cup plus 3 tablespoons salted butter, at room temp.
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
9 ounces chopped dark chocolate (I like 70% cacao)
1½ cup chopped fresh figs (not over ripe)
METHOD
Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy (3-5 minutes) in a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides of the mixer as needed.
In a separate bowl, stir together all the remaining ingredients. Stir these into the butter mixture on low speed until fully combined with no dry floury patches left.
Refrigerate the dough 30-60 minutes before proceeding. Heat your oven to 350F. Scoop the dough in 2-3 Tbs. scoops onto baking sheets. Bake each sheet one at a time (keep the full sheets that aren’t being baked in the fridge until it’s their turn) until the cookies are golden around the edges but still look a tad doughy in the middles, about 15-18 minutes, rotating each baking sheet halfway through the bake time.
Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Brush the star with a thin coat of the beaten egg. Bake it for 12 to 15 minutes, until it’s nicely golden with dark brown cinnamon streaks; the center should register 200°F on a digital thermometer.
new citrus trees to hold frost blankets,) I caught up with Fran who was just leaving the produce section of the supermarket, when she said: “Look, I bought some blueberries.”
aBatteredOldSuitcase 