30 March 2011

Monster Cookies

Many of you will be disappointed by this post because I am going to omit the recipe. The reason for this is that I believe the monster cookie may be my secret weapon, or perhaps even my trademark cookie, someday in the future at Beluga Bakery...

For my paternal family members, this is a familiar treat. I remember visiting my grandparents in Montana when I was little, hoping that someone would make these cookies because they were so, so amazing. My father has nine siblings, so when the family gets together we spend a lot of time in the kitchen preparing large meals. The same goes for baking; every time the family got together it was guaranteed that someone would spend a good chunk of time baking up enough cookies to serve the Tranel clan. These cookies were always a go-to not only because they were delicious, but also because they yielded four dozen (!) aka enough to serve a giant family like ours. I have many memories of sitting in the back of the family van while taking a break from ice skating on some remote frozen lake, monster cookie in hand. These cookies defined my childhood experiences in Montana.
As I became more interested in baking I finally asked my grandmother for the recipe. From that moment on I've made these irresistible "garbage can" cookies. When I say "garbage can" I don't mean it in a disgusting sense, but it in the same sense that you'd refer to something like hornblende. For those of you who haven't been spending four hours every Friday in a geology lab, it's a lot of things mixed in together (peanut butter, m&ms, chocolate chips, oatmeal, and more). I'm not entirely sure of the origin of this recipe. All I know is that I copied it down when I was about 14 years old from a recipe card my grandmother had, which looked well-loved and fairly dated. To this day, this is the one of the few recipes I use that has not been modified or copied from a cookbook or the internet. These are undoubtedly my favorite cookies of all time.



I halve the recipe when I make it at home, since there are only two mouths to feed (dog not included) and the full deal is so hefty that it sends my trusty stand mixer into overdrive.


I love being able to reminisce with a plate of cookies...

24 March 2011

Peanut Butter Cups

I promise that Beluga Bakery will eventually hop on the cookie train, but I couldn't resist sharing these delicious treats. Whenever I have that oh-so-familiar chocolate/peanutty craving, I make these. So simple and so scrumptious. I followed this recipe the first time, but decided to make some slight personal changes to my subsequent efforts, which I think created a much more satisfying result. The best part about these is that they require no time in the oven, just some time in the fridge or freezer.  I was addicted to Reese's throughout my first semester of college and if I'd known how easy it was to make my own peanut butter cups then, I probably would've made these weekly. Back then I could afford to stuff my face since I was rowing crew, now it's probably better that I have to go through the slight effort of making these goodies instead of simply buying a bag of Reese's at the store. I'm still active, I'm just not up at 5 AM every morning burning obscene amounts of calories. Now I try to justify indulgence by making it myself because mentally it seems better; ultimately it's all the same.


 I truly believe that silicone cupcake liners are one of the best inventions ever.


 I am a huge fan of all things crunchy, so crunchy peanut butter is a must!


It's a good idea to let these sit out for a little bit before enjoying so that they aren't as difficult to sink your teeth into.


Beluga's take on the peanut butter cups (makes a dozen):
For the chocolate:
  • 16 ounces of semisweet baker's chocolate (although chocolate chips would do the trick as well)
  • 1 heaping spoonful of peanut butter (do yourself a favor and buy the all natural/organic kind, it's a little more expensive but has no nasty stuff like hydrogenated oils, so it's better for you!)
  • dash of salt
For the peanut butter filling:
  • 3/4 cup of peanut butter (I used crunchy!)
  • 1/3 cup powered sugar
  • dash salt
Directions:
 Melt the chocolate in one minute increments in the microwave, stirring the chocolate after each interval. After all of the chocolate has melted, mix in the spoonful of peanut butter and pinch of salt. Set aside. Combine the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl, stirring until the mixture is nice and creamy (if you store your peanut butter in the fridge it helps to stick it in the microwave for a few seconds to soften for easier mixing). Use about half of the chocolate to fill the bottom of the cupcake liners. Next, add the peanut butter; if you're concerned with aesthetics avoid letting it reach the edges of your liners. Use the remaining chocolate to cover the peanut butter, then place the finished peanut butter cups in the fridge or freezer to harden. (I'm impatient so I put mine in the freezer, where it only takes about 20 minutes for them to harden.) After they've hardened, remove the cups from the cupcake liners and enjoy! Tip: keep them stored in the fridge to avoid any loss of form.

21 March 2011

Challenging Superlative Recipes

Many bakers claim to have superlative recipes. I found two recipes claiming excellence and set forth to see if their claims were true...

The first recipe was found here, which claimed to be the best ever chocolate chip cookie recipe. I've stuck with a couple of staple chocolate chip recipes over the years, but have recently decided to experiment a bit more in search of that perfect recipe. I've been pretty content with the recipes I use, but there's no harm in trying to find something better! After all, these cookies were going to be the best ever. I was excited to get baking, believing that my search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie was about to end. Well, I was let down. This particular recipe left something to be desired and had me longing for my staple recipes. I gave them a second chance after the first attempt yielded disappointment because I was feeling so optimistic. However, the second attempt changed nothing. Perhaps the third time's a charm, but I've been so let down by this recipe I'm not sure if I want to give it a third shot.



I was still feeling optimistic at this point.


The result: a cookie that is a flatter than I'd like, decent when fresh out of the oven (a little crunch on the edge and a soft center), but after about two hours these cookies lose their flavor and texture. Overall, I'd rate this a superlative fail.


The second recipe I tried was not a cookie recipe, but satisfied an ongoing craving I'd been having. I been having random urges to make blueberry muffins, but never had blueberries at hand. I settled for making chocolate chocolate chip muffins for a couple weeks until a trip to Costco led to the discovery and purchase of an inordinate amount of blueberries (enough for two batches of muffins and even pancakes, too!).  I found this recipe via a simple Google search, another claiming to yield a most tasty result: to die for blueberry muffins. I came close to omitting the crumble topping, but it proved to be the element that set these muffins apart from the rest.


Considering the amount of blueberries I had available, I added extra.


 Crumble-topped and ready to go!


Blueberries oozing out of freshly baked muffins.


These to die for muffins did not disappoint, I highly recommend!