Month of Macro: White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Every now and then, I take homemade baked goods to church on Sunday mornings to share with my friends. I've been doing this for years, and have cycled through lots of recipes, including tried-and-true home runs as well as experiments in seasonal ingredients.

Well wouldn't you know it- a couple of weeks ago, a friend admitted to me that even though I'd brought lots of yummy treats to share with the group over the years, I hadn't ever brought one of his favorites. I was shocked, and made sure to bring the elusive treat to church as soon as possible.

In case you haven't guessed from the pictures by now, he had been hoping to see White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies when he arrived at church for years. Unfortunately, since someone in my immediate family is extremely allergic to these tropical little nuts, I never think to use them! Add to that fact the sad reality that white chocolate isn't my thing, and my poor friend could have gone decades without ever trying his favorite cookie from my kitchen... I'm so glad he spoke up when he did!

Since I'd never made this type of cookie before, I was a little nervous about finding a good recipe. After a bit of internet research I stumbled upon one that looked tasty. Although it took me several days (and 5 different stores) to find the nuts, it was definitely worth it.

If you'd like to bake these cookies someday, here's the recipe:

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
(Recipe courtesy That Winsome Girl)

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Directions:
Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat the melted butter and sugars together with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until combined. Mix in the white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts until incorporated. Working with 2 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll the dough into even balls and lay them on the baking sheets, spaced about 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies until the edges are set and beginning to brown but the centers are still soft and puffy (which took about 14 minutes a pan in my oven). Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

As you can probably imagine, my friend really enjoyed the cookies (as did lots of the other people who got to enjoy them). After a bit of cajoling, I even mustered the courage to try one myself... and it wasn't half bad! And if that's not a ringing endorsement for this lovely recipe, I don't know what is!

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great day!

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Monday was a big day for my co-workers and I because it was the first day of work for our new interns! We were excited about their arrival, and since we know how much time and work they'll devote to our department this year, we wanted to make their first day extra special. So I decided to bake them a special treat to enjoy while they got acclimated our office.

So I whipped up a batch of Chocolate Chip Muffins!

Like most of my recipes these days, the ingredients for these muffins were simple and conveniently located in my pantry/'fridge.

I started by whisking melted butter with some milk and an egg.

On a piece of wax paper (because I was too lazy to dirty and then clean a second bowl), I measured out the dry ingredients before mixing them into the butter/milk/egg concoction.

Then it was time for the best part: mini chocolate chips! (I'm not sure what my obsession is with this tiny morsels these days, but I love 'em!)

Once the batter was finished, I added paper baking cups to a muffin pan...

And using a batter scoop...

Distributed the muffin batter equally into the muffin liners.

And after about 18 minutes in a 400 degree oven (where I rotated the pan and sprinkled extra chocolate chips on top of the muffins about halfway through), I was moments away from a tasty treat.

(A while ago I read that you should flip muffins in the pan while they cool in order to release steam, so I did that as well. I have no idea if the steam-thing is real, but ever since I've employed the technique my muffins have been pretty tasty, so why stop now, right?)

And after a short while, my muffins were cool and ready to enjoy.

If you would like to bake these muffins for your interns (or other loved ones) someday, here's the recipe:

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Recipe adapted by Steinway Street

Ingredients:

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 egg

1 3/4 cup flour (I used whole-wheat)

1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees, and line a muffin pan with 12 paper baking cups. Beat milk, butter and egg in large bowl with whisk. Stir in remaining ingredients until flour is moistened. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake about 18 minutes, taking care to rotate the pan halfway through the baking process. Upon removing baking pan from oven, flip muffins in the pan so steam is released. When muffins are cool enough to touch, enjoy!

These muffins are pretty tasty and not too sweet, which is a nice surprise for a chocolate-themed dessert. And the best part? Our interns appreciated the special treat we provided on their first day!

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great day!

Biscuits with berries

I'm sort of obsessed with a particular flavor combination at the moment. I'm not sure if it's my sweet-tooth kicking into overdrive, or the fact that berries are so cheap at the moment... but all I want to do is bake things with chocolate and raspberries! I'm pretty powerless against this desire, so the other day I succumbed by baking Raspberry Chocolate Chip Biscuits!

I poured whole-wheat flour...

Baking powder...

And salt into a mixing bowl.

Then I added ice-cold butter and used a pastry cutter to blend the mixture into something that resembled "course crumbs".

To that I added mini chocolate chips (I love these things)...

And fresh raspberries... delish!

Then, I poured in some half-and-half and used a spatula to stir the mixture until it came together in a ball.

And while I could have used a biscuit cutter to make traditional biscuits, I went with something a little more rustic. So I balled the dough into loosely formed spheres...

And placed them onto a baking sheet before brushing their tops with half-and-half and sprinkling on a healthy pinch of sugar.

After about 12 minutes in the oven (and a half-turn of the baking sheet midway through the baking time)...

I had a plate full of delicious, rustic, sweet and tart biscuits.

And boy, were they tasty!!

Here's the recipe if you'd like to make these biscuits someday:

Raspberry Chocolate Chip Biscuits

Recipe from: Hungry Girl Por Vida

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cold butter, cubed
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup half and half, plus 1 tablespoon for brushing

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 F. Stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry cutter, cut butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add chocolate and raspberries, and toss mixture with hands. Add half and half and stir until dough just comes together to form a ball. At this point place the whole bowl, covered with a towel, into the refrigerator to rest for about 20 minutes. Then, ball using your hands form dough into rough balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush tops with remaining half and half and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 10-14 minutes, until bottoms are golden brown and tops are beginning to brown around the edges.

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great day!

Rasberry-Chocolate Scones

I love scones.

Ever since I worked at Panera in undergrad (where I used to eat scones, for free, whenever I wanted), I've had an obsession with the scrumptious little triangles.

However, I completely stink at making them. It's true- every time I try, there's always something "not right" about the finished product. A few months ago, I decided that my quest to bake a decent scone should be put on hold, so I tackled other types of pastries for a few months. But a couple of weeks ago, my co-worker treated me to a Raspberry-Chocolate scone from a local tea-house (gotta love NYC, right?), and I fell in the love.

So the other day, I decided to try my hand at scones- more specifically, the delicious Raspberry-Chocolate Scone I had tasted at work one day. And you know what- these weren't half bad!

Since raspberries are in season right now (i.e. cheap), I purchased a pint from the local green grocer.

Along with the raspberries, I grabbed a few other ingredients:

And got to work measuring, sifting, and stirring.

Once I had all the dry ingredients in the bowl, I added some cold butter and mixed away with my pastry blender.

When everything in the bowl looked like this...

I added the egg and milk (which I had whisked together in the mixing cup).

And then, I added the best part- the raspberries and chocolate (I went with mini-chocolate chips).

When the dough was just combined, I plopped it onto my counter (along with a ridiculous amount of extra flour because the raspberries were extra juicy and my dough was pretty sticky). After I padded it into a disc, I sliced it into 6 portions...

And placed them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

And a few minutes later...

I had finally made edible scones!

They're certainly not perfect, but they taste good... which is good enough for me!

If you'd like to try this simple (and mixer-free) free recipe, here you go:

Raspberry-Chocolate Scones


Recipe adapted from Naturally Ella

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup pastry flour
2 tablespoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoon butter
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup + 2 T of buttermilk
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup raspberries (fresh if you have them)
Egg wash (1 egg + 1 tablespoon water)*
*I totally forgot this step and mine turned out okay!

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425˚ and cover a sheet tray in parchment paper. In a large bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients. Cut in butter (using pastry blender) until butter is in little pea size pieces. In a smaller bowl, whisk together egg yolk and butter milk and then stir into dry ingredients until dough pulls together. Fold in chocolate chips and raspberries and roll out onto a floured surface. Pat dough into a circle and cut into 6 pieces. Place on the tray and brush egg wash (if you remember it) over scones. Place tray in oven and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden.

Not only are these scones good right out of the oven, but they freeze well and defrost in the microwave in about 2 minutes!

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Hippity, hoppity Easter's on its way!

When I was a kid, the Easter Bunny would bring me these little chocolate eggs.

But he didn't make it easy on me- he left the eggs all over the house: balanced on the top of the window moulding, placed inside the toe of my slipper, and even tucked between the keys on the piano. He was really good at hiding them, and it would take my brother and I all morning to find them! It was a lot of work (for an impatient kid like me), but it was worth it to see my Easter basket overflowing with chocolate treats!

Nowadays the Easter Bunny still gives me chocolate eggs, but they arrive via the USPS! I guess that's what happens when you grow up and move out... I get all of the chocolate for hardly any work- and I love it!

So however you get your chocolate fix from the bunny, I hope you have a wonderful Easter! Thanks for stopping by!