Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies (Recipe to Riches)

Getting the winning recipe from Recipe to Riches in my inbox on Monday mornings is always a fun little secret between me and a few other food bloggers. (Last time it was the Chicken & Bacon Skewers, remember?)

The show doesn't air until Wednesday, so as tempted as I am to tweet of photo of the baking process or the finished product, I have to sit on it for a few days.

It wasn't easy to keep quiet over this weeks winning recipe: Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies. Created by Recipe to Riches contestant Sonya Walos, they took me out of my baking comfort zone with their preparation, but brought me right back as soon as I tasted them.

First up, a confession: these are my first ever gluten-free cookies, both to make or eat. They certainly won't be my last, and not just because I've got scads of potato starch and tapioca flour (say what?) kicking around now, but because they are genuinely delicious!

Sonya's Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies won me over with their contrasting crunchy and soft textures, rich butterscotch flavor, and milk chocolate chips. The addition of coconut also gave them a lovely chewy texture. The best part? My kids loved them, so SCORE.


Want to make Sonya's cookies yourself? You can head over to the FN website to get the recipe (it should be posted soon!). Sure they required lots of unique ingredients, especially to one unfamiliar with GF baking, but it's always fun to expand one's horizons.

If you're not a baker but still want to taste these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, the product should also be on shelves this weekend at Loblaws across Canada, so you can pick up a box and see what a winning cookie tastes like.

The popular Food Network Canada show is over halfway finished, with the grand finale coming up soon, where Canada will vote and the winner will receive a whopping $250,000.

I think these Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies could have had a shot at the big prize, unfortunately Sonya has been disqualified from the competition. Get the full scoop on the Recipe to Riches Facebook page.

Missed the episode? It will be available online soon on the R to R video page.

Disclosure: Recipe to Riches is giving their official bloggers a $100 Loblaws gift cards to offset the time and money spent making the winning recipe and writing a blog post. The opinions expressed here are my own, of course!

Sour Cream Snickerdoodles and the Latest News

Trying to remember the order in which recent events took place is about as futile as attempting to list all of Liz Taylor's husbands - in order. So I'll just relate the happenings as they come to mind, and that will have to do. It's been a Monday, and this week looks busy, again.


Sugaring Off.
This has been the sole thing keeping me from joining the ranks of all other Montrealers in their pining for spring. March has been cold and snowy, warming up only in the afternoons. Fortunately this fickle weather is good for something: sugaring off.

Once again we spent the day in the forest of our uncle's maple farm, collecting sap, hanging out by the fire and eating. The blueberry cornbread pictured above stayed warm on the wood stove alongside a pot of lentil stew, and they both nourished us for lunch.

I managed to shoot a bit of video, so if you want to see a super cute recap of Noah's day in the sugar bush, head over to Simple Bites for the vlog.

Photos and Portraits.

Good friends and superstar Montreal photographers, Tim & Angela, stopped by recently for lunch and to take a few shots of me in my kitchen. I needed some professional portraits for a few things coming up and they were so kind to turn it into a full-on photo shoot.


They're quite the professionals, and had this frumpy WAHM feeling like a star in no time. The boys and I broke out the wooden rolling pins and tart dough and proceeded to get flour everywhere - except on the cameras, thankfully.


Tim & Angela captured the sweetest images of the boys and I, which I'm going to treasure for a long time. You can check a few of their favorites out on their blog.

Urban Expressions.
The main English paper in town featured Mateo and I in their quarterly magazine, Urban Expressions. Subscribers to The Gazette who received the mag at home can read the article on my blogging career and family life.

Gazette columnist, Susan Schwartz, aptly captured the simple joys of my work-at-home existence and my journey to get where I am now.

Virtual Baby Shower
Spring seems like a natural time to celebrate a birth, and that's just what I did recently with a group of talented food bloggers when we threw a virtual baby shower for a dear friend.

If you're planning a shower -wedding or baby- soon and are looking for menu ideas, here's the round-up of recipes. Be warned. You WILL leave hungry.

Babble Top 100
Last but not least, Babble.com included Under the High Chair in their Top 100 Mom Food Blogs of 2011. I have no idea what the numbering means, but I'm #42.

Thanks Babble! I'm honored to make the list, again. And thank you to the sweetie who wrote up 'Why we love her' in the profile. She knows how to get a girl choked up!

PS. Can I steal that part about 'lyrical' for my About page?

Check out the complete list of food blogs from other mama's in the trenches. You'll probably recognize a lot of names.


Recipe: Sour Cream Snickerdoodles

Apparently running out of chocolate chip can be a good thing, because it forces one to be creative when cookie baking with two little helpers.

We loved these sour cream snickerdoodles from Julie's cookbook, One Smart Cookie. She's right to say that sometimes the simplest things can be the most delicious. These are soft, with a tender biscuit-like crumb, and completely addicting.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon (I used fresh ground)
• 1/4 cup sugar, for rolling

Preheat oven to 350F

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until soft and well combined. Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

Add half the flour to the butter mixture, stirring gently to combine. Add the sour cream, stirring slowly, and then the rest of the flour. Combine only until just blended.

Stir together remaining 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/4 cup of sugar. Drop teaspoonfuls of cookie dough into the sugar and lightly roll into balls with your hands.

Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes until set, but not golden.

Cool on a wire rack. Makes 24 cookies.

Browned Butter Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Home from an intense blogging conference and what am I doing? Baking.

Right now it is the best way to sort through all the info crammed into my head on topics such as viral marketing, blogging curation, and advanced monetization, to name but a few.

There's also the song from the surprise flashmob that I performed in at the conference close; can't get it out of my head. Baking seems like the best thing to do at this point. At least it can help me avoid unpacking for a few more hours.

I mentioned these cookies in my holiday cookie swap recap, and promised the recipe sometime. It was a 'bake-the-best-cookie-of-your-life' swap and I made these, so that should tell you a lot about how good they are.

Browned Butter Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I'm not going to get into the whole 'Best Chocolate Chip Cookie' debate, although I do think mine can compete with the best of them. Browned butter gives that extra nutty flavor, extra vanilla because I can, and three types of chocolate goes into the batter just to be sure they're deluxe. Enjoy!

Adapted from Alton Brown's chocolate chip cookie recipe.

• 2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup, or half a pound)
  
• 2 1/4 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup white chocolate chunks
• 3/4 cup dark chocolate chunks (I use Scharffen Berger 62% cacao semisweet chocolate baking chunks)
  

Melt the butter in a small heavy-bottom saucepan over medium heat. Cook slowly until browned, about five minutes. Set aside and cool.

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda.

Pour the melted butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the sugars and beat on medium speed until creamy.

Add the egg, egg yolk, milk and vanilla extract. Beat until well combined.

Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined.

Stir in all of the chocolate chips and chunks and try to resist eating all of the dough.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill the dough for a minimum of twelve hours, and ideally 36 hours.

To bake. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Using a sturdy spoon, scoop approximately 1 tablespoon of dough from the bowl and roll into a ball. Place onto parchment-lined baking sheets, about 12 cookies per sheet.

Bake for 8 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes and rotating the baking sheet for even browning.

Cool completely on wire racks.and store in an airtight container.

Winners, all of them

That you all for your patience; I know I've slacked off terribly in announcing the winners to my Phaidon Press cookbook giveaway.

I won't make you wait another minute. There are two winners, as promised:

Congratulations to....

Damaris Santos-Palmer of Kitchen Corners who said:

"I really hope I win this because I seriously want the kids cookbook so bad. Currently I'm enjoying Crazy About Cookies by Krystina Castella. So good!"

And

Sam of Gastronomists Weekly who said:

"I am currently baking my way through The Bread Bakers Apprentice by Peter Reinhart. Loving it and learning a lot about bread in the process :)."

Congratulations, ladies!! You have both been notified by email.

A warm thank you to each and everyone who entered the giveaway. I really wish I could award cookbooks to each of you. (please Santa!)


There was also another winner this weekend. Yesterday I hosted my annual Christmas cookie swap and we voted for the best cookie. Twelve girls each contributed the 'Best Cookie of their Lives' and let me tell you, the competition was fierce.

The wining cookie is pictured at the top of the post, Spice Cookie Sandwiches with a Lemon-Mascarpone Cream.

Oh.my.goodness.

I was happy award the lovely Jess with her prize: The Gourmet Cookie Book. Congrats, Jess!

Look for a full report of the cookie swap soon. It's Here! It's Here!

The First Gingerbread of the Season

Some people hmm and haw over the type of Christmas cookies to make each year, flipping though stacks of magazines and surfing endless recipes sites in search of the perfect holiday cookie that will surpass all baking efforts from subsequent years.

Not I.

It's gingerbread for me. Every year. The little spiced men and I have exchanged vows and we're together until death do us part. Or snack time, which ever comes first.

Now that I have children who are old enough to really get into the cookie decorating, it's all the more reason to bake up an enormous batch of gingerbread cookies.


Last Friday was a ped day for Noah, and in hindsight, Mateo and I had prepared a double batch of gingerbread cookie dough the day before. Ten cups of flour, a pound of butter - we didn't mess around.

We woke up to fresh snow on the ground, perfect for our holiday project. Spurred to action by the prospect of fresh gingerbread and inspired by the Christmas card setting outside the double patio doors, I extricated three boxes of Christmas decorations from a closet and - Diana Krall's holiday CD tootling away - flew around flinging ornaments, wreaths and bells about the place in a festive fashion.


Our friends arrived for the cookie decorating fun in a bundle of pink and purple outerwear and we got down to business immediately.

Between my friend Tavia's cookies and our gingerbread, we had over ten dozen cookies to decorate that would be later donated to a children's function at church. OK, minus those that would not make it past the little decorators.

Still, eight dozen cookie to decorate is nothing to sneeze at.


Our little bambinos seemed up for the task, so we equipped them with the appropriate tools (colored Royal icing, sprinkles, and Popsicle sticks), then sat back and let them go to town.

Incredibly, they stayed put for over an hour, and turned out some darling little cookies.


The final product! Minus the two dozen or so that were consumed. There were many casualties among the gingerbread army.

I finally had to tell Noah enough. Enough! A few minute later I saw his hand reach out and select another one.

Me: "Noah! Put that back. I said you've had enough cookies!"

Noah (cradling the gingerbread lovingly close to his cheek): "Let's just pretend it's not a cookie."

Boy, do I ever wish that worked.

Gingerbread Cut-out Cookies
This recipe is from Nick Malgeiri and you can find the original recipe HERE.

Makes about 24 large cookies, depending on the size cutter used (Aimee's note: I probably got 8 dozen small cookies, but I roll mine thin so they crisp nicely.)

• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup molasses

2 cookie sheets or jelly roll pans lined with parchment or foil

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, spices, salt and baking soda. Stir well to mix.

2. Place the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until well mixed, about 1 minute. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating smooth after each addition. Scrape down bowl and beater.

3. Lower speed and beat in about half the flour mixture. Beat in all the molasses then scrape bowl and beater. Add the remaining flour mixture, about 1 cup at a time, and beat after each addition until it has all been absorbed.

4. Remove the bowl from the mixer and give the dough a final mixing with a large rubber spatula. Scrape half the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap and press it to about a 1/2-inch thickness.

Wrap the dough securely and repeat with the remaining dough. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours or for up to 3 days.
5. When you are ready to bake the cookies, set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.

6. Unwrap one of the pieces of dough and cut it in half. Rewrap one of the halves and return it to the refrigerator.

7. On a floured surface, roll the dough until it is about 1/4-inch thick. Use a floured cutter to cut the cookies. As they are cut, place the cut cookies on the prepared pans with about 1 inch between them on all sides. Repeat with remaining dough. Save, press together, and reroll scraps (they don't need to be chilled before rerolling).

8. Bake the cookies until they become dull and dry looking and feel slightly firm when pressed with a fingertip, about 12 to 15 minutes. If you overbake the cookies, they will be very dry. Slide papers from pans onto racks to cool.

9. Store the cooled cookies between sheets of parchment or wax paper in a tin or plastic container with a tight-fitting cover.


For the decorating, I used Martha's recipe for royal icing, which calls for meringue powder. I recommend using this over egg whites if you are decorating with/for children.

Also, a touch of almond extract in the icing improves the taste quite a bit.

Happy December and happy baking!

Inspiration for a sweet table

Remember my fall list? Well, it's been keeping me pretty busy. Tonight, as we roasted cinnamon marshmallows over the open fire, and the flaming maple leaves fell all around us, I contemplated taking a little hiatus from this space. You know, since fall is such a busy time and all.

But then I realized that we'd be heading into Christmas once I returned, and after Christmas is Blissdom (yes, I'm going) and then in February is that engagement party I'm throwing and Mateo's birthday and, and...

It's always a 'busy time', so I'm just going to keep posting here and there when I have a few minutes and keeping you up to date with the goodness leaving my kitchen.

Speaking of which, have you seen the Chilled Pumpkin Cheesecake? Just in time for our Thanksgiving? Yep. Don't miss it, nor the new vlog that I had a ton of fun making. (just ignore the pantyhose comment, OK?)


On to the food! In this case, the sweets. I had the opportunity to bake up a storm for a baby shower for one of my most favorite people ever, Angela. She makes up half of the Tim Chin Photography dynamic duo (check out our last family photo shoot with them) and she's about eight months pregnant with Tiny Tim, as I like to call him.


I had to go a bit nuts with the food. Ange is such a stylish girl...and loves food almost as much as I do! Here are some of the sweets that the guests feasted on:


Sour Cream Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting. You've seen the cake before, now meet the mini-cupcake.


Chai-Scented Creme Brulé, because creme brulé is Ange's favorite dessert ever. I infused the cream with a little of Philippe de Vienne's Chai Spice Blend, and it was just enough to give the dessert a hint of something special.


Quebec Pear and Candied Ginger Individual Crisps, served warm with Cinnamon Whipped Cream.


Prosecco-Lime Gelée with Seasonal Fruits, inspired by this post on Desserts for Breakfast. Refreshing, elegant, and low-fat, if you're concerned about that.


Chocolate Pecan Puddle Cookies are a must at any event, as are Orange Sandwich Cookies with Chocolate Caramel Ganache.

S'mores! Traditional graham crackers, cinnamon marshmallows (blue for 'boy') and dark chocolate squares. (I used Lindt). I torched these á la minute for the girls.


Close up of the sandwich cookies. I used Jamie's Chewy Lemon Cookies, which were fantastic because they can be mixed up, rolled into logs and frozen in advance. I used orange instead of lemon and it paired well with the dark chocolate.
For the filling I prepared Robin's Dark Chocolate Caramel Sauce, and let it firm up before filling. These cookies were pretty, bite-size and perfect for a baby shower, however they had to be refrigerated right up until serving. Not a warm weather cookie!

There were also mini Lemon Poppy-Seed Cupcakes, and these Nutella Brownies. And that was about enough.

Congratulations again to the mother-to-be. I'll bet the little guy was kicking up a storm after this sugar rush! Way to get him hooked on crême brulé early...

Chocolate Pecan Puddle Cookies

More often than not, it's a recipe from Julie that ends up bookmarked in my elite Firefox folder titled "Foods to make ASAP".

It's not just any recipe that I tuck away in there, it has to be something that looks and sounds jaw-droppingly delicious - and come from a reliable source. There are currently only five recipes in the 'Make ASAP' folder; these shrimp are one of them, as is this vanilla bean dulce de leche. They are both slotted for testing very soon.

Julie's Chocolate Walnut Puddle Cookies have been there since the day she posted the recipe back during Olympic fever and I've made them several, *ahem*, many times. While most recipes are made once and then moved over for the next, this puddle cookie recipe just stayed.

I guess more than a few times this spring have I felt the need to make these cookies As Soon As Possible. They are that good.


I so enjoy the reaction when I bring them here or there, or serve them up to guests, that I have almost been hesitant to share the recipe, and thus the glory. But so many of you have asked for the recipe, that I can't keep it a secret any longer!

Here it is, courtesy of Julie, who is, in a way, my cookie mentor, whether she knows it or not. It seems every decent cookie I make these days comes from her little corner, starting with this one, where I first discovered her blog, to me working my way through her cookie cookbook. Yes, that's right, her best-selling cookie cookbook. (psst, get yours now!)



I make my puddle cookies with pecans, which are well on their way to being my favorite nut and I always have around. I imagine the hazelnut version would be pretty spectacular, too.

Chocolate Pecan Puddle Cookies
adapted from 101 Cookbooks, via Dinner with Julie

3 cups pecans (or hazelnuts or walnuts)
4 cups icing sugar
2/3 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
4 large egg whites
1 Tbsp. good vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F.

Toast your pecans, cool them and roughly chop them.

In a large bowl, stir together the icing sugar, cocoa and salt. Add the nuts, then stir in the egg whites and vanilla. Stir until well combined.

Line a baking sheet with parchment and drop the batter in small mounds (about 1 tablespoon each) spacing them well away from each other.

Bake for 9-11 minutes – they will spread, puff, crack on top, get glossy and then turn matte. Slide the cookies on the parchment off the sheet onto a cooling rack and let them cool.

Makes three dozen 2-inch cookies.

Snow Picnic Cookies at Your Request

Your response to my Wordless Wednesday: Snow Picnic post was great. It was a good time! Since then, I've had several requests for the cookie recipe (not mine) and so here you go.

It comes from my dear friend, Tavia, who's girls are in the photos with my Noah. She's about the coolest mama out there--and a good friend too; she never fails to show up with a batch of still warm cookies.

We're still enjoying snow around our place, and if you stopped by for hot cocoa, it would be topped with homemade marshmallows. Have you tried making them yet?


Tavia's Chocolate Chip Cookies with Skor Bits

1 cup soy margarine (may substitute regular or butter)
2/3 cup white sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 pkg chocolate chips (Tavia: sometimes I use semi-sweet, sometimes milk chocolate, or even white)
2/3 pkg Skor bits (Tavia: sometimes I crush up skor bars instead but they are more crunchy then)
2 cups oatmeal

Cream the margarine and sugars. Add eggs and beat well. Add vanilla. Sift flour, salt and soda and add to creamed mixture. Mix in oatmeal and add chocolate chips and Skor bits.

This is a drop cookie and bakes for about 9-12 minutes at 350F

Enjoy !


Oh Hey! Any picky eaters around your table? I addressed this issue over at Simple Bites this week in The Picky Eater and Me: A Survival Guide. Included are 8 survival tips for coping with picky eaters, plus a recipe.

If you haven't already, be sure to head over and read it. Don't skip the comments, either, for Simple Bites readers share a wealth of wisdom on the topic.

Variations on a Shortbread Theme

(this post was originally published on November 28, 2006)

Who doesn’t love Shortbread?

Perhaps it’s because I am half British (my father was born in England and moved here as a lad of four) and I never feel more in tune with those roots as I do when I am sipping tea and nibbling shortbread. Throw in a good Colin Firth movie and, blimey, that’s the cat’s pajamas! Of course ‘nibbling’ might be a tad of a stretch, it’s so rich and delicious, scarfing might be more appropriate.

Now what some people don’t know is that shortbread is Scottish, not British. Shortbread is to Scotland what biscotti is to Italy and madeleines are to France. This simple combination of only four ingredients - flour, sugar, butter and salt - lays claim to be the best cookie out there and I tend to agree. If you are bored with the classic recipe, the good news for you is that there are many variations that you can make on the standard.

Trendy foodstuffs such as green tea and espresso have made their way into these delightful sweets, updating them for your 2009 Christmas! You can also get creative on your own. Chop up your favorite nuts or dried fruit and add that to the dough. Dust with icing sugar, dip in chocolate, or glaze with icing -- just not all three; you don’t want to mask the shortbread's humble and elegant appeal.


Here is a recipe for basic shortbread and following it, some flavoring variations. Remember that baking time for each variety will vary depending on the size and shape of the cookies. I am always looking for an excuse to play with my cookie cutters, so I usually roll my shortbread dough and make shaped cookies, but the dough can also be pressed into a pan or rolled into balls and baked. There are almost as many variations in baking shortbread than there are flavorings.

Get creative and have fun!

Basic Shortbread

Makes 8-12

1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup confectioners’ sugar

Sift together the flour and the salt and set aside. In a bowl or stand mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add sugar and beat another 2 minutes until very light and fluffy. Add flavoring if using. Slowly add flour and mix on low until just combined. Gather into a ball with your hands, wrap in plastic and chill until firm.

Roll dough onto a lightly floured surface until ¼ inch thick and cut into desired shapes.
Place on baking sheet and chill until firm. At this point dough can be well wrapped and frozen for a few months.

Preheat oven to 325F.
Bake until firm and just starting to color. Cook on a wire rack.

*Keeps well in an airtight container for up to three weeks.*


Variations:

Dried Fruit: Cherries, cranberries, and other dried fruits add wonderful textures and flavor to shortbread.

Almond: Add ½ cup powdered almonds and 1 tsp almond extract to the creamed butter.

Lemon: Add 2 teaspoons lemon zest and a few drops of lemon extract if desired. Experiment with all types of citrus and don't forget about poppy seeds!

Ginger: Substitute brown sugar for the icing sugar in basic recipe. To the flour mixture add 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp ground cinnamon and a pinch of cloves.

Green Tea: Sift 2 tablespoons of finely ground green tea with the flour and salt and proceed as usual.

Chocolate: Add ½ cup cocoa to the flour and salt and proceed with recipe. dip cooked cookies in dark chocolate for an irresistible double-chocolate cookie.

Vanilla: Add 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or the scraped seeds of one vanilla bean to the creamed butter

Espresso: Dissolve 2 tablespoons espresso powder in 1 teaspoon hot water. Add to creamed butter and sugar mixture before adding flour.

Nuts: Add lightly toasted and chopped hazelnuts, pecans, or (insert your favorite nut variety here) to give a lovely texture and flavor to you shortbread.

Herbs: Rosemary is spectacular paired with lemon, as is lavender, so don't rule out the spice & herb cabinet when creating your perfect shortbread.

Glazed Maple-Pecan Cookies

This could very well be the unofficial start to my holiday baking. Although all future baking is at the mercy of our move and me getting my kitchen set up before Christmas Eve, at least I have a solid cookie recipe to fall back on and a back-up plan for my contribution to that upcoming cookie swap.

We're moving in two weeks! Everything is half-packed, boxes line the hallways and fill the corners and the walls are bare. It's an exciting time, despite the stress, and we can't wait to get settled in our little house in the woods.
I haven't spilled much about our new place, but I'll informally introduce you once all the craziness of the move is over with. I will say that we feel extremely fortunate to have found a home where we can enjoy the serene country life that we love so much, yet still be relatively close to the perks of the city with it's markets and gourmet shops. We have a little piece of land that we intend to utilize to the maximum, and that may mean tapping those giant maples in the back and getting a few chickens in the spring. Everything in it's season.



OK, obviously, I'm excited. This post was supposed to be about cookies, perfect little maple-pecan cookies with just the right amount of crunch and a decadent maple glaze to dress them up. Pardon me for getting sidetracked; these stellar cookies deserve better.

We made these and delivered several dozen to the nurses that took such good care of Mateo when he was in the hospital. I didn't stick around to see if they were a hit, but with so much pure maple syrup inside and on top, what's not to love?

Believe it or not, this was my first time to make a slice and bake cookie. I certainly loved the 'make ahead' aspect. My freezer is going to feel naked without a few logs of this Maple-Pecan cookie dough stashed for hard times. I'm going to have to remedy that soon - as soon as I unpack my measuring spoons and cups, that is.


Glazed Maple-Pecan Cookies

From Fine Cooking
Yields about 6 dozen 2-inch cookies.

11-1/4 oz. (2-1/2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. table salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup very firmly packed, very fresh dark brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp. maple flavouring (available in supermarkets)
6 oz. (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
8 oz. (2 cups) toasted pecans, coarsely chopped

For the glaze:
3/4 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup, warmed
Hot water as needed for thinning

Mix the dough:
Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda. In a food processor, pulse the granulated and brown sugars to blend and then add the maple flavouring. Pulse five or six times and then process for 15 seconds. Scrape the bowl to be sure all of the flavouring has been incorporated.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium-low speed until very smooth, about 2 min. Add the sugar mixture in three additions. Mix until lightened in colour, about another 3 min. Add the egg and then the maple syrup and vanilla, mixing just until blended. Scrape the bowl as needed. Reduce the mixer speed to low.

Mix in the dry ingredients in three additions, and then add the pecans and mix just until blended.

Shape the dough: Have ready three 15-inch sheets of plastic wrap. Portion the dough into three equal pieces and roll each piece back and forth until it forms a log about 10 inches long. (You needn’t flour the rolling surface.) Position each log on a sheet of plastic wrap, centreing it at the edge closest to you. Roll tightly, twisting the ends firmly to seal. With your hands on either end, push the log firmly toward the centre to compact the dough. The finished log should measure about 9 inches long and about 1-1/2 inches thick. Refrigerate the logs until firm enough to slice, 2 to 3 hours, or freeze for up to three months.


Bake the cookies:

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Heat the oven to 350°F. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment.
Working with one log at a time, use a tomato knife or other small serrated knife to cut the dough into 1/4-inch rounds using a gentle sawing motion. Set the rounds 1 inch apart on the prepared pans and bake until the cookies are lightly browned, about 18 minutes, rotating the pans as needed for even browning.

Whisk the confectioners’ sugar and maple syrup until smooth and pourable. Remove the sheets from the oven and let rest on the baking sheets for 2 min. While the cookies are still hot, use a pastry brush to brush a thin layer of the glaze on top of each cookie. (If the glaze becomes too thick as it stands, thin it with a few drops of hot water.) Transfer the cookies to a rack; the glaze will become firm within minutes.

Store the cookies, layered between sheets of waxed paper, in an airtight container for up to a week, or freeze for up to three months.

CookiePie's Gingersnaps

UtHC is delighted to welcome Beth from CookiePie as a guest blogger for this post.

When Aimée wrote and asked me to guest-post on UtHC, of course I immediately said YES! Who wouldn't want a chance to visit one of the warmest, loveliest, and certainly tastiest blogs out there? Then panic set it -- What would I write about? What would I bake??

But of course, part of what makes UtHC a must-read is how welcoming it is, so that inspired me to submit these gingersnaps. What could be better on a cold, rainy autumn day (as it is here in NYC) than freshly baked gingersnaps warming up the kitchen and filling the apartment with the wonderful aroma of delicious spices and molasses? My husband, Mark, came home while I had one batch in the oven and my hands covered in dough as I scooped the next batch into balls and rolled them in sugar, and said, "Man, it smells good in here!" That made me smile.

I hope you'll try out these cookies on a day when you want to warm up your kitchen! I love them with a cup of tea or cocoa, but a glass of milk is always a good way to go (or some vanilla ice cream!). Enjoy!


CookiePie's Gingersnaps

By the way - this recipe is from my new cookbook, "You Made That Dessert?". Recently Aimée was kind enough to participate in an online book tour in which she made another recipes from my book: Geraldine's Chocolate-Date Cake .

Makes about 3 dozen

2 cups (8.5 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (10.5 ounces) sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Line three rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and pepper, and stir with a fork to combine.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer at medium speed, beat together the butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and add the egg, molasses, and vanilla, then beat until combined. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a flexible spatula. Beat again until the mixture is uniform. (The mixture may look curdled and separated at first, but don't worry; as you beat it, it will come together and turn a pale brown.)

Stop the mixer and add the flour mixture. Use a flexible spatula or wooden spoon to mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture until a dough forms. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and stir well so that all of the dry ingredients are fully incorporated.

Place the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a small bowl. Use a small ice cream scoop or two teaspoons to scoop out pieces of dough and roll them, one at a time, in your palms to form balls that are about 1 1/2 inches wide. One at a time, roll the balls in the sugar until they're coated, then place the dough balls 2 inches apart on the baking sheets (don't crowd them-they will spread a lot). Use the bottom of a glass to lightly press the balls into discs.

Bake the cookies for 10 to 11 minutes, until lightly browned. Let them cool on the pans on wire racks for 5 minutes, then use a spatula to remove the gingersnaps and place them directly on the wire racks to cool completely.

If you like the recipes you've seen so far, pick up the book at your local bookstore, or online.

Maple Walnut Cookie Dough Ice Cream

I love May for so many reasons; watching the tulips waving from their beds, receiving Mother's Day construction paper cards, celebrating seven years of married bliss, being excused from housework to garden, attending weddings...Oh, that reminds me, I have a wedding coming up and a cake to make.

It always seems like such a fun idea when I agree to make a cake; it is usually on a dismal January day, when the month of May and its weddings seems like a distant fantasy and I have no recollection of those panicky days leading up to 'cake day'. Heck, why not, I tell the client, it will be fun! I wish this time was different, but as I stockpile butter and eggs and sketch the anatomy of the four-tiered beauty, I'm feeling the familiar butterflies and am wishing it was over already! Oh well, don't worry about me. I'll find a way to channel my stress! At least the client is a friend, and a polar opposite to a Bridezilla--she a sweetheart.

Enough about Project Wedding Cake--I also love May because it ice cream time!
OK, so this bonjour!-to-summer ice cream is amazing. Is actually Maple Ice Cream with Maple-Walnut and White Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. Enough of a mouthful?

When Julie professed her love of these Maple Walnut White Chocolate Cookies and sang the praises of the dough itself, I knew I wouldn't be waiting long to try them. A bottle of homegrown maple syrup from our families sugar shack outing was calling from the fridge and fortunately I had just stocked up on white chocolate chips from Bulk Barn. (A first in Quebec, Bulk Barn is my latest and greatest culinary discovery. Think Costco meets Ares meets Anatol.)


I don't think it was coincidence that I also had a half a batch of Ben & Jerry's Sweet Cream ice cream base in the fridge. The other half had already been made into strawberry ice cream and consumed entirely, but the rest was awaiting a destiny of cookie dough ice cream.
So I chunked up some cookie dough with a knife, spread it out on a tray, and threw it in the freezer to freeze solid. Then I added 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup to the ice cream base, churned it 'til it was hard and folded in the cookie dough right at the end. A few hours in the freezer and it was ready!


It was way better than the B& J original cookie dough ice cream--and I am a huge fan. I love nuts in ice cream so the walnuts made me happy. It was just nice to have a maple ice cream that didn't taste artificial.
You could leave out the white chocolate chips as maple cookie dough ice cream is pretty spectacular as it is.

And if you don't have an ice cream maker, or *gasp* ice cream just isn't your thing, try a batch of Julie's cookies. They will rock your world! Recipe at the bottom of the post.


Maple Walnut Cookie Dough Ice Cream with White Chocolate Chips

1/2 recipe raw Maple Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookie dough (recipe below)
1 recipe Maple Ice Cream Base (recipe below)
White Chocolate chips to taste

Have a 1 quart sized Tupperware container chilling in the freezer, ready to receive the ice cream.
Chop the cookie dough into bite-sized pieces, place on a tray, cover and freeze.
Prepare the ice cream maker and add Maple Ice Cream Base. Freeze following the manufacturers instructions until quite stiff.
Add the chopped cookie dough and a few handfuls of white chocolate chips. Continue freezing until the ice cream is ready. Scoop into your chilled container and place in freezer to freeze further. Enjoy licking the dasher of the ice cream maker--this is one of the fine things in life.
Enjoy your ice cream!


Maple Ice Cream Base
adapted from Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream & Dessert Book

2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Using a hand held blender, whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 minute more. Pour in the cream and milk and whisk to blend. Finally, add the maple syrup and whisk thoroughly.
Chill completely before churning.


Go ahead and bake off some to eat, too.

Maple Walnut White Chocolate Chip Cookies
From Dinner with Julie

1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup (not flavoured pancake syrup)
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla or maple extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup each white chocolate chips/chunks and chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar and maple syrup until well combined — the mixture will have the consistency of wet sand. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add the flour, baking soda and salt (stir them together first only if you want to) to the butter-sugar mixture and stir by hand until almost combined; add white chocolate and walnuts and stir just until blended. It may seem dry at this point - I always find it easiest to get in there with my hands toward the end. Drop spoonfuls of dough (or roll rough walnut-sized balls) about 2” apart on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Flatten each a little with your hand, just to give them a head start. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until pale golden and set around the edges but still soft in the middle. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Makes 20 cookies.

One For the Babies: Sweet Potato Pancakes

By now you know that if I discover something great, I'm going to share it with you, and so here is a find for all the new or soon to be mama's out there! My latest and greatest haunt is Nurture-Baby, an adorable site all about making your own baby food.

I know, you probably think I've got that area pretty much covered, I mean, how hard is it to make a puree, right? But since my kids are so frustratingly picky, I'm more than open to new mealtime suggestions and Nurture Baby has provided some fresh fodder for under the high chair!

Broken down into categories such as 'recipes', 'nutrition' and 'techniques', this site is a thorough resource for homemade baby food. I love how the recipes are categorized by the babies's age and guess what? the photos actually make the dishes look appetizing! Not easy to do when the subject is, hmm, brown mush!

Noah and Mateo gobbled up-and I mean inhaled-these Sweet Potato Pancakes.


We're pancake fiends around here, so I knew I had to try this recipe.
Thank goodness it makes a generous batch because they were sooo good! Think: pumpkin pie pancakes (psst! I think they should be renamed) thanks to the spices, sweet potato puree, brown sugar, and melted butter. Maple syrup complemented them wonderfully, but they really need no dressing up and were perfect finger food for Mateo.


Danny and I scarfed these pancakes for breakfast the next day, so this recipe is by no means just for little ones! I recommend thinning out the batter with an extra 1/4 cup of milk or so and cooking them on a medium-low heat to ensure they are cooked through.


Eager for another success, Noah and I baked up a batch of Banana Oatmeal Cookies and were rewarded with delicious soft cookies that we couldn't stop eating. Reminiscent of banana bread, these healthy cookies make a huge batch and are sure to please the somewhat critical playgroup gang.

I'll be recommending Nurture-Baby to all my friends with new little ones--maybe they will stop pestering me for those baby food tutorials!!

Coping With Chocolate-Glazed Cinnamon-Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

Say your cat is deathly ill and you rush it to the vet. Several days, a surgery, and many procedures later, you find out that the bill is going to be to the tune of $1000 dollars. Oh, and it's coming out of your savings for that trip to Italy in 2010.
Do you...

A. Smile, hand over your AMEX and remind yourself that pets are people too. Italy can wait. Like its wine, it only gets better with age.

B. Grind your teeth, curse all things furry under the sun (vets included), but pay the bill anyway.

C. Resort to childish tactics: crying, swearing, arguing, flirting, etc..., and hope that they will lower the bill. (They don't.)

D. Sign the credit card slip, walk out the door, straight into a drug store and fill a basket with chocolate. (Thank goodness it's Valentine's soon and the place is stocked!)

You can probably guess my coping strategy. Yep, "D" lots of chocolate. M & M's (the big bag), Lindt Extra Thins, Nestle chocolate eggs, you name it, I bought it.

Note that all of the numbers above include paying the inflated veterinary bill. Somehow there are no other options. Grrr. Don't get me wrong, we're happy to have our Cassis home again, but had we been a little better informed of certain common complications that can occur in neutered male cats, we may have saved ourselves the stress and money*.

Anyhow, that is the very short version of how I found myself looking for ways to use up lots of chocolate. Having just mixed up a batch of our family favorite chewy oatmeal-raisin cookies with Noah, and watching him top them with M&M's, I decided to melt a some of my Lindt Extra Thins on top as the cookies were cooling on the rack. The results were rather delicious:

The 70% cacao sliver of chocolate melted in the oatmeal cookie's warm hug and created the most tantalizing and perfectly square glaze on the round cookie. The few left on the cooling rack that did not get devoured hardened nicely again, which helped for stacking and storing.


It's fun to watch them melt...Now if you'll excuse me, I've got lots of chocolate to eat.

Cinnamon-Raisin Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Glaze

makes 3 dozen large
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh cinnamon
1/4 cup coconut
3 cups oatmeal (not quick or instant)
1 cup raisins
36 Lindt thins, 70% Cacao

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Combine and add flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in coconut, oatmeal and raisins and stir just to combine.

Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a greased cookie sheet and bake 8-10 minutes until edges start to brown slightly. Tops will still be slightly raw. (I like to under-bake my oatmeal cookies so they are chewy as opposed to crispy.)

Let cool on pan for a minute or so and then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Place a Lindt Thin on the top of each cookie and watch them melt.

Allow cookies to cool completely and wait for the chocolate to harden before transferring cookies to a tin.

* * *

*UPDATE: Attention cat owners! For a detailed look at what happened to Cassis the Cat and, more importantly, how to easily prevent it from happening to your cat, visit my sisters' blog My Mini Zoo. Miranda is well schooled in this area and gives a complete rundown on what every cat owner should know --and what vets don't necessarily want you to know. Seriously, don't go through what we did; educate yourself now!

Cassis sleeping in our bathroom sink. What a wack!