Friday, January 9, 2009

Not a creature was stirring...but me!









So today Cade is at the gym with his girlfriend Alyssa. The gym as in the gymnastics studio. They have open play hour for toddlers each day, and Shawna graciously agreed to take Cade off my hands so that I could relax with just one baby instead of two. So what am I doing with my well earned hour? I had contemplated packing up the baby and going snowshoeing...which quickly got downgraded to just going on a run...which then became napping.

Instead of all those glorious things (and believe me, a nap would be glorious), I got out this:

The Apron my mom made me for Christmas.
And I got out this:
My Christmas present from Jodie, reputedly the best cookie sheets in the world. Made by Vollrath of Sheboygan (apparantly that is a real place, it is etched on the bottom of my cookie sheet).
and I made these:



They are called World Peace Cookies. I found the recipe at SmittenKitchen and was intrigued because they offed promise of bringing peace to the world. And also because they are cookies.
Well, I am not sure about world peace, but happy mommy, yes. So I have a little plate of these cookies, a glass of milk, and Grey's Anatomy on the internet. It is close second to snowshoeing/running/sleeping, and it is glorious

Here is the recipe--copied directly from her website:
World Peace Cookies
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons (11 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips ( I used chocolate chips, cause I like my chocolate sweet)

Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more.
Turn off the mixer. Pour in the flour, drape a kitchen towel over the stand mixer to protect yourself and your kitchen from flying flour and pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time. Take a peek — if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of times more; if not, remove the towel. Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough — for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don’t be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.
Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking — just slice the logs into cookies and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.)

GETTING READY TO BAKE: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
Working with a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. (The rounds are likely to crack as you’re cutting them — don’t be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them.
Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes — they won’t look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature.

SERVING: The cookies can be eaten when they are warm or at room temperature — I prefer them at room temperature, when the textural difference between the crumbly cookie and the chocolate bits is greatest — and are best suited to cold milk or hot coffee.
STORING: Packed airtight, cookies will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days (Deb note: not a chance); they can be frozen for up to 2 months.

1 comment:

Joelle said...

hey!! i made your pumpkin cookies this weekend.. SO DELICIOUS. miss you guys lots!