I am LOVING all the great cast iron skillet recipe suggestions everyone is sharing on last week’s post. I am super excited to start using my cast iron skillet regularly! Many people mentioned making giant chocolate chip cookies in their skillet, so of course I had to give that a try ASAP. And the experiment was beyond successful. I think the skillet chocolate chip cookie is my new favorite chocolate chip cookie.

Here’s what I love most about making a giant skillet chocolate chip cookie: you only dirty one dish! All the mixing and baking happens right in the skillet. Oh, and I also love that it is delicious.

I found the recipe on Tasty Kitchen, but if you have your own skillet chocolate chip cookie recipe that you love or any tips, please share! I want to perfect this delectable goodie! Plus I’m always up for experimenting for dessert.

Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie...Mmmmmm...

 

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Adapted slightly from Tasty Kitchen

Author: Jane Maynard

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons butter
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Melt butter in 8-inch cast iron skillet over low heat. When butter is melted, stir in sugars with a spatula until well mixed. Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes.
3. Stir in egg and vanilla with a fork. Mix well. (I was worried the pan and dough would be too hot for the egg, but they weren’t – no scrambled eggs to be seen!)
4. Using the spatula, stir in baking soda and salt, then stir in flour until well mixed.
5. Spread batter over surface of the skillet then sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the top. Fold chocolate chips into batter. By spreading the batter first you minimize chocolate chips hitting the pan and melting. It’s okay if a bit of this happens, but it does help to sprinkle the chocolate over the spread out dough and then mix the chips in.
6. Bake for about 20 minutes, until edges and top start to brown and center is set. (Took my oven 22 minutes.)
7. Best served warm and with ice cream!

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OTHER RECIPES YOU MAY LIKE:

• Chocolate Chip Pie
• Chocolate Almond Fudge Bars, i.e. Crack Bars
• No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Bars

EQUIPMENT I USED TO MAKE THIS RECIPE:

• Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron Skillet
• OXO Silicone Spatula

Today we have the last yummy recipe for biscotti week!

Cinnamon Sugar Biscotti. I must admit, when I walked into our little biscotti class last week and saw all the various biscotti flavors at hand, the cinnamon sugar variety was the one I was least attracted to. I don’t know, I just wasn’t expecting much.

Well, low expectations served me well this time around because HOLY MOLY this biscotti was good. At first bite I was stunned at how much I loved it, and then proceeded to eat not one, not two, maybe not even three of these delectable goodies. Seriously, I’m not sure how many I ate. Best not to dwell on such things.

I don’t really have much to add to this recipe. It’s from Joy the Baker (again) and she got it from Epicurious. And it’s fabulous. Enjoy!

{Biscotti Week} Cinnamon Sugar Biscotti

 

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From Joy the Baker (originally from Epicurious)

Author: Jane Maynard

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• For Topping:
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 beaten egg (for brushing biscotti before baking)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and arrange two baking racks in the upper portion of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (or silpat) and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. Also whisk together the cinnamon and sugar for the topping and set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fit with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and beat in the egg followed by the egg yolk. Beat in the vanilla extract.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter all at once. With the mixer or just with a spatula, bring all of the ingredients together until a somewhat stiff dough is formed.
6. Divide the dough in two on the two baking sheets. Shape each half of dough into a 9-inch long and 1½-inch wide log. Brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle very generously with cinnamon sugar. Bake the two sheets on two different racks in the oven for 20 minutes. Rotate the cookie sheets for even baking and bake for 20-25 more minutes until golden and firm to the touch.
7. Remove from the oven but keep the oven on. Let biscotti cool until able to handle. Using a serrated knife, cut logs into ½-inch wide diagonal slices. (Click here to see a diagram for how to cut biscotti.) Place biscotti cut side down on baking sheet and sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar. Bake again until pale golden, about 10-15 minutes.
8. Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

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Today we’re using the cornflake crunch!

Our family calls these cookies the Milk Bar Cookies. When I was out in New Jersey this summer, my sister-in-law made them and it was love at first bite. Actually, more than love. Holy cow, people. SO GOOD.

These cookies are unique and special and oh-so-yummy. The cornflake crunch is perfect in the cookie both flavor- and texture-wise and the marshmallows cook out to create great texture and a sweetness that nicely counterbalances the semi-salty flavor of the cornflakes. Plus there’s chocolate. Bingo.

The recipe comes from the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook I told you about yesterday. I borrowed the book from my sister-in-law and need to get my own copy stat. Any cookbook that has two pages devoted to explaining the cookie dough mixing process is a book that needs to be on my bookshelf!

Cornflake-Chocolate-Chip-Marshmallow Cookies (a.k.a. Milk Bar Cookies)

 

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From Momofuku Milk Bar, with notes on my experience

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• 16 tablespoons butter, softened at room temp
• 1¼ cups granulated sugar
• ⅔ cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1½ cups flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1¼ teaspoons salt (Jane note: I only did ½ teaspoon salt and I thought that was plenty, and I love salt)
• 3 cups Cornflake Crunch
• ⅔ cup mini chocolate chips (Jane note: mini chips distribute better; also, I did 1 cup of chocolate chips and wish I had done even more, like 1½ cups)
• 1¼ cup mini marshmallows

Instructions

1. Combine butter and sugars in mixer with paddle attachment. Cream together on medium-high for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl, add egg and vanilla and beat for 7-8 minutes on high. Scrape down sides of bowl.
2. Reduce speed to low and add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix just until dough comes together, 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add cornflake crunch and chocolate chips and mix on low for 30-45 seconds, just until mixed. Stir in the marshmallows just until mixed.
3. The original recipe calls for a 2¾-ounce scoop (or ⅓ cup) measure. I did do this, but I wish I had used my small scoop. The cookies spread out a lot and my oven cooks so unevenly that I think a smaller cookie would have cooked more evenly. ANYWAY”¦back to the recipe!
4. Portion out the dough onto parchment- or wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Press down the domes to flatten, cover in plastic wrap and freeze for 1 hour or up to 1 week. Do not bake from room temperature or they will spread too much when cooking. Once they were frozen, I moved them to a ziploc bag to store in the fridge/freezer.
5. Preheat oven to 375. (Jane note: I cooked them at 350)
6. Arrange dough a minimum of 4 inches apart if using the large scoop (cookies spread a lot) on parchment- or Silpat-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 18 minutes. Rotate pan halfway through. Cookies should be brown on edges and starting to brown in the center when you take them out of the oven.
7. Cool completely on the cookie sheet then eat or store in an airtight container. Will store for 5 days or up to 1 month in the freezer.

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No matter your opinion of Valentine’s Day, we can all agree it’s a good excuse to binge on chocolate, right? So, that’s what I’m giving you this week.  Chocolate. Because that, my friends, is how I show my love.

For the Super Bowl, my friend Rachel made us two utterly delectable chocolate treats. Today I share with you her homemade oreos.  Tomorrow…well, it’s a surprise! But it is most certainly Valentine’s Day worthy!

I’m not a huge fan of store-bought Oreos. I know, how can I call myself an American? But even I, the evil Oreo-disser, loved these cookies. It’s certainly a derivative of the classic Oreo, but much so much better.

Rachel found the recipe on Smitten Kitchen, one of the best food blogs out there.

Homemade Oreos

 

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Adapted by Deb (Smitten Kitchen) from Retro Desserts by Wayne Brachman

Author: Jane Maynard

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 25-30 cookies

Ingredients

• Chocolate Wafers:
• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1½ cups sugar
• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons (1¼ sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
• 1 large egg
• Filling:
• ¼ cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
• ¼ cup vegetable shortening
• 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.
2. In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.
4. To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
5. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a ½ inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.

Notes

Thank you, Deb, for a great recipe! Thank you, Rachel, for making them for us!

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A dear friend of mine in San Diego hosts a Cookie Exchange every December.  It is the best!  Everyone bakes 10 dozen of one kind of cookie, then brings them to the exchange.  We all hang out for a few hours (eating and chatting!) and then go home with 10 dozen of all sorts of wonderful cookies!  I was able to put the cutest plates of cookies together for friends.  It was fantastic!

I wish so much I could have you all over for a real cookie exchange, but I simply don’t have room! 🙂  But how about a little “virtual” cookie exchange to get us ready for the holidays?  One of the best parts of Jen’s cookie exchange was discovering new recipes, so I thought a Cookie (Recipe) Exchange here on the blog would be fun!

So, share your favorite cookie recipe of all time.  Or your favorite holiday treat that you like to share with friends (i.e. you don’t have to “bring” cookies…just something yummy!).  I’ve got my sprinkles and cookie cutters ready to go!

Oh!  And here’s my recipe.  I discovered these at the first cookie exchange I went to.  I have no idea who made them or brought the recipe, but I will be forever grateful!

Chocolate Swirls

 

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Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• ½ cup butter, softened
• 3 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate ships, melted and slightly cooled

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350F. In large mixing bowl combine sugars, butter, cream cheese, egg and vanilla. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Beat at low speed until soft dough forms. Fold melted chips into dough until lightly marbled. (do not overmix)
2. Drop dough by heaping teaspoons 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 mins, or until edges are light golden brown. Cool completly before storing.

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