Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters

I got my new cookbook, Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan on Friday and was really excited to try a recipe from it.

I let Phil thumb through it and pick a recipe that he'd like me to make. He picked probably the best recipe for himself, the Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters, a combination of his two favorite cookies.

I halved the recipe, because 60 cookies is really too many for just the two of us. What I really like about the cookbook is that there are often suggestions on how to tweak the recipe for different variations. I followed the recipe exactly but followed the advice of adding peanuts. The book also says that you can add raisins instead of chocolate or in addition to it.

Ingredients
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chunks, or 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips or chunks

Preparation
Adjust the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, silicone mats. In a large bowl, whisk together oats, flour, baking soda, spices, and salt.

With a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and sugar on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat for one minute after each. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients slowly, beating only until blended. Mix in the chocolate chips. (At this point, the dough can be covered and refrigerated for up to 1 day.)

If the dough is at room temperature, drop rounded tablespoonful two inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. If the dough has been refrigerated, scoop it out by rounded teaspoonfuls and roll the balls between your palms. Place them 2″ apart on the sheets. Press the balls gently with the heal of your hand until they are about 1/2″ thick. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until the cookies are golden and just firm around the edges.

Lift the cookies onto wire racks with a wide metal spatula - they will firm as they cool. Repeat until all the dough has been used.

Makes about 60 cookies.

Recipe from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Turkey Tacos

Today, I had a hankerin' for Taco Bell and after driving around for about 45 minutes during my lunch hour without coming across one, I decided to make my own for dinner.

Taco night usually comes around every few months in my house. Normally, I use turkey meat, a taco seasoning packet from the grocery store and serve them with flour tortillas, fresh diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce and sour cream. (Do not use 99% fat free turkey! The one time I did this the meat turned out extremely dry and tasteless. I will never do that again.) I didn't want to make more than one stop so when I saw that Trader Joe's doesn't have a taco seasoning mix but saw that they have cumin, I decided to make my own mix. The recipe is below.

Honestly, all I was looking for was plain old iceberg lettuce and roma tomatoes. Instead, I picked up these awesome looking heirloom tomatoes and some artisan lettuce. I also love the handmade tortillas at Trader Joe's. I heat put them in the microwave and cover them with a wet paper towel to steam for about 50 seconds.

It was my first time making my own seasoning mix and I think it turned out well. I didn't have onion powder so I added extra garlic powder. I also cut down the amount of red pepper flakes because I prefer my food mild. I don't think I'll be going back to the packaged stuff when I have all the stuff in my cupboard already!

Turkey Tacos

1 1/2 lbs ground turkey

salt and pepper to taste

3 tablespoons taco seasoning (recipe follows)

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 cup water

10-12 flour tortillas

diced tomatoes

shredded lettuce

sour cream

Cook turkey meat in large pan over medium to high heat. Break down the meat with spatula as it cooks. Season lightly with salt and pepper (remember, the taco seasoning has salt and pepper). Drain as much of the fat as possible. Mix cornstarch with water, making a slurry. Sprinkle the taco seasoning over meat and add water mixture. Stir to incorporate all the seasoning. After about 5 more minutes, turn off heat and set aside to cool slightly.

Serve with tortillas, tomatoes, lettuce and sour cream.

Taco Seasoning

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Mix together in small bowl or Ziplock bag.

2008 Cheesecake Competition

The official date of this year's Cheesecake Competition is Friday, August 15th at 6:30pm. DeLessio Market and Bakery has offered their patio for our event, so please come and purchase a beverage inside before judging begins.

This year we are awarding the overall winner with the coveted Golden Whisk.

Here's a little background on how it all began:

Last year, Cynthia and Marv wanted to challenge each other in a cheesecake baking contest. Once I heard about it, I had to join in. Word spread and we had ourselves quite a little event and everyone who heard about our competition automatically wanted to be a judge.

So eventually we had 4 bakers, 6 judges, Jollibee's fried chicken, and our theme ingredient: pumpkin. Last's year winner was Miss Elisha's marbled pumpkin cheesecake with a semisweet chocolate crust, served with fresh hand-whipped cream . Here's the recipe she used:

Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup butt or margarine, melted
2 cups semisweet chocolate mini morsels, divided

Directions: In medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter. Press onto bottom of greased 10-inch springform pan; sprinkle 1 cup of chocolate morsels.

Cheesecake

3 8 oz. packages of cream cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
4 large eggs
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions: In small, heavy saucepan over low heat, melt remaining chocolate morsels. Stir constantly until smooth. In large mixer bowl, beat cream cheese, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in pumpkin.

Beat in eggs and evaporated milk. Beat in cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Remove 1 cup pumpkin batter; stir into melted chocolate. Pour remainder of pumpkin batter into springform pan. Pour chocolate mixture over top. Swirl.

Bake in preheated 325 degree oven for 60 minutes, or until edge of filling is set. Turn oven off; allow cheesecake to stand in oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven to cool completely. Cover and chill for several hours.

I'm still looking for the pictures we took that night. Stay posted!

Peanut Butter Hazelnut Brownies

On the 4th of July Greg invited us to hang out at his place. My mother raised me right and taught me to always bring something when you are a guest at someone's house. Since I didn't want to go to the store, I decided to make something with the stuff I had at home.

These Peanut Butter Hazelnut Brownies have peanut butter and Nutella (Mmmmm...). I followed the directions exactly and they were underdone so if you make them give them longer than 30 minutes and keep checking on them. Remember, the toothpick test doesn't quite work with brownies. They should still be a little wet in the middle, but of course if the tester comes out covered in batter, it's probably not done.

I have to say, these brownies were really good and if I didn't use up all the Nutella I had, I'd make these again... and soon. I was originally looking for a peanut butter swirl brownie, mostly because they look and taste good. These don't have any swirls in them, which is why I overlooked the recipe at first, but you definitely taste it in there.

Can someone tell me why brownies get the crackled skin on top and cake doesn't?