Cookies with Dorie

Here I am on day two of my Dorie Greenspan project. I am able to actually do two consecutive days of baking mostly because both my husband and children are out of the house!  My husband is in Atlanta and my mother took the girls to Cape Cod for the week.  I am alone, and bored, so what better way to break the boredom but to bake.

Today, I picked Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters from "Baking: From My Home to Yours."  Again, I picked this recipe mostly because I had all the ingredients on hand, plus I wanted to make a recipe where I could bake off part of the recipe, and freeze the rest, and cookie recipes are great for that!  I baked one dozen of the cookies, and then portioned out the rest of the dough onto cookie sheets.  froze the portioned cookie dough, and then put the frozen dough into Ziploc bags to keep in the freezer.  Then, whenever I have a hankering for some fresh baked cookies, I just need to take out however many cookies I want to eat, and bake them.  You just need to add a couple of minutes baking time; keep checking the cookies after a couple of extra minutes until they are done.


Anyway, these cookies came out great!  When Ellie and Maggie get home, I can bake them a fresh batch from my frozen dough.

Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters

3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chunks, or 1 1/2 cups store-bought chocolate chips or chunks

Getting Ready: Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats. (I only baked one batch at a time on the center rack. In fact I baked one dozen and then froze the dough and did not reuse it for another week. I then let the dough thaw and baked the rest one batch at a time)

Whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, spices and salt. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients, beating only until blended. Mix in the chips.

If you have the time, cover and chill the dough for about 2 hours or for up to one day. (Chilling the dough will give you more evenly shaped cookies.) If the dough is not chilled, drop rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto the baking sheets. If the dough is chilled, scoop up rounded tablespoons, roll the balls between your palms and place them 2 inches apart on the sheets. Press the chilled balls gently with the heel of your hand until they are about 1/2 inch thick.

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back after 7 minutes. The cookies should be golden and just firm around the edges. Lift the cookies onto cooling racks with a wide metal spatula - they'll firm as they cool.

Dorie Greenspan's Corniest Corn Muffins

 I am a big fan of Dorie Greenspan.  I have her cookbook, "Baking," and have made many recipes from it.  Each recipe I have made has been just delicious and wonderful!   In a fit of copy-cattiness (all respect to "Julie and Julia"), I decided that I want to make each and every recipe from that cookbook!

So, here is the first of many recipes to come from the wonderful cookbook "Baking" by Dorie Greenspan.  I made these muffins today as my first recipe.  Mainly because I already had all the ingredients needed on hand, but also because I LOVE corn muffins, but have never found a recipe that I have been satisfied with.  Again, Dorie to the rescue!  These muffins are wonderful; very "corny" tasting and super moist!  A total winner.

 

Corniest Corn Muffins

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 3 tablespoons corn oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 cup corn kernels (add up to 1/3 cup more if you’d like), fresh, frozen or canned (in which case they should be drained and patted dry)

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Butter or spray the 12 muffin molds in a regular-size muffin tin, or fit the molds with paper muffin cups.

Working in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. In a large glass measuring cup with a spout or in another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, oil, egg and yolk. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough – the batter will be lumpy and that’s just the way it should be. Stir in the corn kernels. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin molds.

Slide the pan into the oven and bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Pull the pan from the oven and carefully lift each muffin out of its mold and onto a rack to cool.

Serving: The muffins are great warm or at room temperature and particularly great split, toasted and slathered with butter or jam or both (if they’re not in breadbasket at dinner, that is).

Storing: Like all muffins, these are best eaten the day they are made. If you want to keep them, it’s best to wrap them airtight and pop them into the freezer, where they’ll keep for about a month; re-warm in a 300°F oven, if you’d like, or split them and toast them—do that and they’ll be that much more delicious with butter.