Note:  The final dough will be slightly softer than most cookie dough. For the best results, handle the dough as briefly and gently as possible when shaping the cookies. Overworking the dough will result in flatter cookies.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4cups (11 1/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) sugar , plus 1/3 cup for rolling
• 2 ouncescream cheese , cut into 8 pieces
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter , melted and still warm
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Place 1½ cups sugar and cream cheese in large bowl. Place remaining 1/3 cup sugar in shallow baking dish or pie plate and set aside. Pour warm butter over sugar and cream cheese and whisk to combine (some small lumps of cream cheese will remain but will smooth out later). Whisk in oil until incorporated. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; continue to whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture and mix with rubber spatula until soft homogeneous dough forms.
3.  Divide dough into 24 equal pieces, about 2 tablespoons each (or use #40 portion scoop). Using hands, roll dough into balls. Working in batches, roll balls in reserved sugar to coat and evenly space on prepared baking sheet, 12 dough balls per sheet. Using bottom of drinking glass, flatten dough balls until 2 inches in diameter. Sprinkle tops evenly with 4 teaspoons of sugar remaining in shallow dish (2 teaspoons per tray), discarding any remaining sugar.
4. Bake, 1 tray at a time, until edges are set and just beginning to brown, 11 to 13 minutes, rotating tray after 7 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets 5 minutes. Using wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature.

I caught a small break the other day.  The baby went right back to sleep after a morning feeding and I had a chance to make some muffins.  My mother used to make chocolate chip muffins for us when I was a kid.  She was a great cook when it came to Albanian food but American cuisine….ehhh….not so much.  She used a hand mixer for the muffins and she used regular sized chocolate chips.  Over-mixing made the muffins tough and the chocolate chips were too heavy and sunk to the bottom of the muffin.

I love this recipe from The America’s Test Kitchen Baking Book.  I used the Mocha-Chip variation for my recipe but left out the coffee flavor.  There are about seven variations to this recipe like Lemon-Blueberry, Banana-Walnut and Raspberry Almond but Chocolate Chip is my favorite so that’s the one I’m including today.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

3 cups (15 ounces) all-purpose flour

1 cup (7 ounces) sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1 1/2 cups whole or low-fat plain yogurt  (I make my own yogurt which I prefer over the store-bought brands)

2 large eggs

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup mini chocolate chips

1.  Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a 12-cup muffin tin. (Try not to use paper liners because the muffins don’t bake up as tall and you lose a fair amount of muffin goodness to that liner)

2.  Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.  In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and then whisk in the yogurt until smooth.  Gently fold the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just barely combined, then fold in the melted butter followed by the mini chocolate chips.

3.  Using a greased 1/3-cup measuring cup, portion the batter into each muffin cup.  Bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.

4.  Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack, and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Here’s the reason why:

I had terrible morning sickness the first few months of pregnancy last fall so I gave up cooking and blogging for a while.

Our baby boy is now 3 months old and a sweetheart but a handful as well.  That means I won’t be able to blog and cook as much as I’d like but I hope you will bear with me.

I am so sorry that I have been unable to post anything new for several months.  I was ill for over two months and then my husband received orders to work in Northern California (which is a vast improvement from TX) last month.  We have been crazy busy with the move and living out of our suitcases for weeks.  We finally moved into our townhome last week…well, sort of……the movers lost our mattress and boxspring as well as parts to my son’s bunkbed and my computer desk.  We spent three nights in a hotel until our new mattress arrived last night.   Our new home is in chaos right now until we organize and put things in their place so unfortunately I cannot post any new recipes until my kitchen has some semblance of order.  The kitchen is my first priority to get into order because I am so tired of eating out everyday.  I miss cooking for my family.  So hopefully by the end of January or early February, I will be able to post regularly to my blog.

Thank you all for your well wishes and your patience.

-B.

Thank you for your patience.

Pancake stack

Since I discovered this recipe in my ATK cookbook, I have not bought another box of pancake mix again.  These pancakes are easy to make and taste better than any boxed mix.  There is one change that I insist upon in this recipe.  The original recipe says to use vegetable oil in the skillet when cooking the pancakes but I use butter because it tastes much better and it makes this crisp edges that are so addictive.

Adapted from ATK Family Cookbook

Pancakes

Makes about 16 (4-inch) pancakes

If you do not have buttermilk on hand, whisk 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice with 2 cups milk in a medium bowl and set aside for a few minutes to thicken.

- 2 cups all-purpose flour

- 2 tablespoons sugar

- 2 teaspoons baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 1 large egg

- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

- 2 cups buttermilk

- butter or oil for cooking

1.  Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 200 degrees F.  Set a wire cooling rack over a baking sheet and set aside.

2.  Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.  In a seperate bowl, whisk together the egg, melted butter, and then the buttermilk.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour the buttermilk mixture into the well and whisk very gently until the buttermilk mixture is just incorporated (a few lumps should remain).  Be careful not to overmix the batter because it will make the pancakes tough.

3.  Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet or flat griddle over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes.  Melt a pat of butter in skillet or brush with 1 teaspoon of oil.  Using 1/4 cup of batter per pancake, add the batter to the skillet (only 2 to 3 pancakes will fit at a time) and cook until large bubbles begin to appear, about 2 minutes.  Flip the pancakes and cook until golden brown on the second side, about 1 1/2 minutes longer.  Spread the pancakes over the wire rack on the baking sheet (they should not overlap) and hold in the warm oven.  Repeat with the remaining batter, using a new pat of butter or brushing the skillet with oil as needed between batches.

If you have leftover pancakes, let them cool to room temperature, then wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze.  They will keep for up to a week.  Defrost in the fridge, then heat in a 350-degree oven until warm, about 5 minutes.

Tip:  Less mixing is key

To keep the pancakes as light and fluffy as possible, the key is to mix the batter minimally.  Stop stirring the batter when there are still some streaks of flour visible.  Overmixing the batter develops gluten, the strands of protein that make bread chewy, but turn pancakes tough.

New York-Style Crumb Cake Muffins

Adapted from AmericasTestKitchen.com

If you can’t find buttermilk, you can substitute an equal amount of plain, low-fat yogurt. When topping the muffins, take care to not push the crumbs into the batter. Cooled leftovers can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.

12 muffins

Crumb Topping

- 1/3     cup granulated sugar (2 1/3 ounces)

- 1/3     cup dark brown sugar (2 1/3 ounces)

- 3/4    teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 1/8     teaspoon table salt

- 8        tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), melted and still warm

- 1 3/4    cups cake flour (7 ounces)

Muffins

- 1 1/4   cups cake flour (5 ounces)

- 1/2      cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)

- 1/4      teaspoon baking soda

- 1/4      teaspoon table salt

- 6          tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 stick), cut into 6 pieces, softened but still cool

- 1           large egg

- 1           large egg yolk

- 1           teaspoon vanilla extract

- 1/3       cup buttermilk

Powdered sugar for dusting

1.  FOR THE TOPPING: Whisk sugars, cinnamon, salt, and butter in medium bowl to combine. Add flour and stir with rubber spatula or wooden spoon until mixture resembles thick, cohesive dough; set aside to cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

2.  FOR THE MUFFINS: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line standard-sized muffin pan (cups have 1/2 cup capacity) with baking-cup liners.

3.   In bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt on low speed to combine. With mixer running at low speed, add butter one piece at a time; continue beating until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no visible butter chunks remaining, 1 to 2 minutes. Add egg, yolk, vanilla, and buttermilk; beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute, scraping once if necessary.

4.   Using 1/4-cup measure or ice cream scoop, divide batter evenly among muffin cups; using small rubber spatula, spread batter into even layer. Break apart crumb topping into large pea-sized pieces and spread in even layer over batter (about 1/4 cup of crumbs per muffin), beginning with edges and then working toward center. Bake until crumbs are golden and wooden skewer inserted into center of muffin comes out clean, about 18 to 21 minutes. Cool muffins in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack at least 20 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar just before serving.

German Apple Pancake

Adapted from the The America’s Test Kitchen Baking Book

Serves 4

Note:  The apples that you choose can greatly affect the flavor of this recipe.  If you prefer tart apples, use Granny Smiths; if you prefer sweet ones, use Braeburns.  One-third cup each of heavy cream and whole milk can be substituted for the half-and-half.

- 1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour

- 1 tablespoon sugar

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 2/3 cup half-and-half

- 2 large eggs

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

-1 1/4 pounds (3 to 4 large) apples, peeled, cored, quartered, and sliced 1/2-inch thick

- 1/4 cup packed (1.75 ounces) light or dark brown sugar

- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

-powdered sugar for dusting

1.  Adjust an oven rack to the upper-middle position and heat the oven to 500 degrees F.  Allow the oven to heat for at least 15 minutes before baking the pancake.   Whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl.  In a small bowl, whisk the half-and-half, eggs and vanilla together.  Whisk the half-and-half mixture into the flour mixture until smooth with no lumps.

2.  Melt the butter in a 10-inch ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon and cook, stirring often, until the apples are golden brown, about 10 minutes.  Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice.

3.  Quickly pour the batter around the edge of the skillet first, then over the apples.  Place the skillet in the oven and immediately reduce the oven temperature to 425 degrees F.  Bake until the pancake is brown and has risen about the edges of the skillet, about 15 to 18 minutes.

4.  Loosen the pancake edges from the hot skillet with a heat-proof spatula and flip the pancake onto a large plate or serving platter.  Dust with powdered sugar, cut into wedges, and serve immediately.

Delicious chocolate roll cake

Oh those chocolate cake cravings!  They will not relent until they are satisfied with the real thing.  I’ve tried eating a piece of candy or cocoa-covered almonds but to no avail….a chocolate cake craving must be met with the real thing and quickly too.  No store-bought cake will do and there are no decent bakeries or pastry shops in this city so I needed a recipe that was fairly quick to make but rich in taste.  My favorite baking book came through once again but with a few adjustments.  The roll cake recipe in the book calls for marshmallow creme in the filling but since I didn’t have enough left in the cupboard and I certainly didn’t want to waste time running to the store, I decided on something even better…a whipped ganache filling.   I’ve made ganache in the past but only the type used to pour over a cake or pastry so whipped ganache was new to me.  This baking book did not have a whipped ganache recipe so in my hurry to get this cake made and silence those chocolate demons, I failed to thoroughly research whipped ganache and used a faulty recipe from AllRecipes.com.  Ganache must NOT be overwhipped.  The recipe I used failed to mention this so mine turned out a bit grainy……I tried fixing it by cooling it and re-whipping….Fail.  I tried to warm the ganache and re-whip it…..Fail.  Lessons learned: there is no way to rescue over-whipped ganache and always take the time to do the proper research when it comes to making something new.  So the filling was darker than what it should have been and not so smooth but it tasted so good.

Chocolate Roll Cake with Ganache Filling

Adapted from the America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book and from an assortment of whipped ganache recipes found on the Internet

Filling

- 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

- 1 cup heavy cream

Cake

- 3/4 cup (3.75 ounces) all-purpose flour

- 1/4 cup (3/4 ounce) Dutch-processed cocoa powder

- 1 teaspoon baking powder

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

- 5 large eggs, room temperature

- 3/4 cup (5.25 ounces) granulated sugar

- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling:

1.  Place the semisweet chocolate in a large heat-proof bowl.  Bring cream to a boil in heavy-bottom pan over medium-high heat; pour over the chocolate. Let sit for 10 minutes; use rubber spatula to stir until smooth.

2. Let chocolate mixture cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Place mixture in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whip on medium speed until ganache holds its shape and is slightly lightened in color.  This happens in just a few seconds so keep a close eye on the mixer and stop it when it lightens in color.

For the cake:

1.  Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease an 18 by 13-inch rimmed baking sheet, line the bottom with parchment paper, and grease the parchment.  Whisk the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.

2.  In a large bowl, whip the eggs with an electric mixer on medium-high speed and gradually add the sugar and then the vanilla, about 1 minute.  Continue to whip the mixture until very thick and voluminous, 4 to 8 minutes.

3.  Sift the flour mixture over the egg mixture and fold in with a rubber spatula until incorporated.  Make sure you check the very bottom of the bowl in case some of the dry ingredients have not been mixed thoroughly.

4.  Scrape the batter into the prepared baking sheet and spread out to an even layer.  Bake the cake until it feels firm and springs back when touched, 12 to 17 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.

5.  Remove the cake from the oven, run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it, then flip the hot cake out onto a large sheet greased parchment or waxed paper or use a large, clean kitchen towel dusted with cocoa powder.  Peel off and discard the parchment paper baked onto the cake.  Starting from a short end, roll the cake and paper or towel snugly into a log and let cool for 15 minutes.  (Video how-to)

6.  Gently unroll the cake.  Spread the filling over the cake, leaving a 1/2-inch border at the edges.  Reroll the cake gently but snugly around the filling, leaving the paper or towel behind as you roll.  Trim the ends of the cake, then let it cool completely, about 30 minutes.  Dust with powdered sugar if you like and transfer to a cake platter.

Store in fridge and serve with whipped cream, ice cream or strawberries.