baking


Perrin and I made these one afternoon with some cocoa nibs he had leftover. (Who has leftover cocoa nibs? Perrin.) They’re so good, and indescribably chocolate-y without being too sweet or bitter. Which is wonderful.

2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and still warm
3/4 c. granulated sugar
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2/3 c. cocoa nibs
1 c. finely chopped walnuts
1 c. currants or raisins

Mix the four and baking soda together thoroughly. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the melted butter, sugars, and salt. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture just until all the dry ingredients are moistened, then stir in the nibs, nuts, and currants. If possible, cover and chill the dough for at least 2 hours, preferably over night.

Position the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator to soften.

Scoop up level tablespoons full of dough and place them 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake, rotating the cookie sheets from top to bottom and front to back about halfway through the baking time, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown at the edges and no longer look wet on top.

Use a metal pancake turner to transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let cool completely. The cookies keep, in a tightly sealed container, for several days.

Taken from Bittersweet by Alice Miedrich.

They’re also great if you freeze the pre-measured cookie dough and bake later.

Perrin says this is super-easy and fool-proof. As I am a fool with pie crusts, it’s right up my alley:

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 c. sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. vanilla
1 c. flour

Mix butter, sugar, salt and vanilla in a medium bowl. Add flour to mix just until well blended. Press dough thinly and evenly into tart pan.

I’ve made countless batches of oatmeal raisin cookies, which are my favorite type of cookie (well, in the top 5, at least). And their ingredients pretty much jive with my diet, so I’m especially fond of them. I’ve modified the recipe on the back of the Quaker Unprocessed Bran box to suit my dietary needs, and they’re good!

5/8 c. Splenda brown sugar blend
1 c. butter, softened
4 full droppers of clear Stevia extract
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
7/8 c. whole-wheat flour
3/4 c. unprocessed bran
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c. oatmeal
raisins and/or chocolate chips as needed.

I also suggest putting a moistened cotton ball inside the tupperware that you store the cookies in. It’ll keep them from drying out.

They’re still not as chewy as the amazing oatmeal cookies at Au Bon Pain (go figure), which I’m still trying to replicate. I think it’s going to involve white flour, which I’d rather not use. The experimentation continues!

<img src="Meyer Lemon Tart

My aunt and uncle live in Napa, where they have enough land to grown vegetables, fruit trees, and a small planting of grapes. Every year my aunt sends me a box full of Meyer lemons—which is always exciting for me, because Meyers aren’t easy to find in NYC; if you do find them, they’re astronomically expensive.
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