Mexican Wedding Cookies!

With Halloween just around the corner, the majority of food bloggers are sharing their favorite Halloween treats, but here I am making these cookies that are typically eaten around Christmastime. Oops. But hey, it's my blog and I can bake what I want to, right?! I obtained the recipe for these fabulous little cookies several months ago when I went on a spree of going to bookstores and picking out recipes from various cookbooks. This actually turned out to be a pretty good method for finding new and interesting recipes, although this is only the second time I've used one of them (I assure you I have quite a few saved for later use). I have made these cookies before but it was a looooong time ago, back in the days of endless Toll House chocolate chip cookie baking that I mentioned in my last post. So, when I just happened to come across the recipe in one of the many cookbooks I thumbed through, I thought that it was a perfect opportunity to make them once again.

The best thing about these cookies is that they are ridiculously easy to make. They have only five ingredients and the longest part of the whole process is the baking itself, since they cook about twice as long as most cookies. Another great thing about these cookies is that they can be made with ingredients that I usually have already at home so I don't have to make a special trip to prepare for them.

The other day when I was slightly pressed for time but wanted to make something, I went for these. The recipe made about 20 cookies (even though it claims to actually make 48, I am notorious for making my cookies larger than your standard homemade cookie), which were gone the following evening. I had to make a second batch already because Tom and I have been eating these things nonstop. Luckily they're smaller than the cookies I usually make so we can feel less guilty about eating so many. Also, they're great with a cup of coffee in the morning. In fact, I totally skipped breakfast this morning and replaced it with a couple of these (super healthy, I know).

Anyway, here you have the Mexican wedding cookies! So delicious and so easy, I don't see why we only eat these at Christmastime. Also, since I was pressed for time and my camera had died, I took all of these photos on my phone. However, I don't think they turned out half bad and I might just use my phone from now on since it's way easier.

The second most time consuming part of the process is chopping up the pecans

Almost ready for the oven...

Mexican Wedding Cookies:

For the dough:

• 1 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour

For the coating:

•  1 to 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Combine pecans and 1/4 cup powdered sugar and mix until both are evenly distributed. Cube butter and soften then add to nut and sugar mix along with the vanilla. Lastly, add the flour and mix until dough holds together well. Roll into small 1-2'' balls on baking sheet and bake for 20-22 minutes at 325. While cookies are baking, pour remaining 1+ cup of powdered sugar into a bowl (I just eyeballed it). Once cookies are out of the oven and cool enough to pick up but still hot, roll in powdered sugar and place on cooling rack. Once completely cooled, roll through powdered sugar a second time (I have trouble being patient enough for this last step). Enjoy!

Mmm, after their first coating of powdered sugar

Chocolate Chip Cookies = Fail

I am beginning to hate chocolate chip cookies! The first thing I ever baked was a batch of chocolate chip cookies since they are my dad's favorite, easy, and taste better than any other cookie when fresh out of the oven. As a kid, I usually alternated between baking chocolate chip cookies and boxed mix brownies; most nine to twelve year old kids aren't interested in getting too elaborate with their baking, and I was no exception to the rule. You'd think that with all that experience I would have honed in on the perfect recipe. While the classic Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe is really not that bad, I have recently been trying to branch out and see if the world has anything better to offer. Over the past month, I tried two new chocolate chip recipes only to be disappointed, once again.

I probably shouldn't admit this, but this leftover dough from a few weeks ago is still sitting in my fridge... talk about a letdown.

The disappointment caused by the first attempt was primarily my own fault for being so unobservant. I found the presumably "new" recipe on the back of an organic chocolate chip bag (which I usually do not use). The recipe seemed similar to the Toll House one, but I went with it anyway, only to discover (after I had baked the cookies, of course) that the recipe was actually exactly the same except for the addition of the word "organic." Considering the fact that I already use mostly organic ingredients and didn't really have to go out of my way to make organic cookies, I was pretty disappointed when I realized my error. Here I was thinking I was embarking on some new chocolate chip cookie adventure only to discover my old go-to in disguise. These cookies turned out acceptable, as usual, but still not amazing.

I stake no claim in professional photography, but at least I have cool looking plates, right?!

After my stupid mistake, I decided that it was time to turn to the almighty internet for some assistance. I had come across a new chocolate chip recipe while searching for a pumpkin cookie recipe, which I bookmarked for the inevitable moment when I would need to continue my search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. With a name like "Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies" I was prepared for excellence. Unfortunately, these turned out to be what are in my opinion some of the worst chocolate chip cookies ever created (luckily Tom claims to like them and keeps eating them so they wont go to waste). I have chosen not to share any of the horrific photographic images because it could severely impact my integrity as a baker (if my addition of Photo Booth pictures in my last post hadn't already done so). If you really want to, you can use your imagination and picture a cookie that is crunchy and gross on the edges and super soft in the middle with a funny aftertaste. Not appetizing or visually appealing.

Lesson learned! I'm going to stick with the old Toll House recipe but focus on tweaking it ever so slightly to meet my needs (and don't worry, I'll update you all once I've nailed it). After all, I've been baking and enjoying these cookies for over a decade so they can't be that bad. All of my toil over chocolate chip cookies hasn't been without benefits though; here are a few things I've learned from experimenting with so many chocolate chip recipes:

• always use more vanilla than called for
• adding a little bit of milk is a good idea
• shortening (even if it's of the non-hydrogenated organic variety) is not okay
• a convection oven is ideal (even though some of us rent, which means no access to any appliance made before 1930... but I can dream!)

Pumpkin Goodness

It has been a rough week for me. I've been suffering relentlessly from crazy back pain and have been feeling generally crummy as well as stressed out. I wanted to break my pitiful sore back routine of sitting in the only chair that makes my back feel semi normal while endlessly watching wedding shows by baking something. I wasn't sure how it would play out because standing for long periods of time is proving to be painful. Why I have the back of an octogenarian at the ripe young age of 22, I cannot seem to understand. I'm starting to feel like one of the people on the show Mystery Diagnosis since a trip to the doctor has proved worthless, unless you call muscle relaxers a permanent solution (which I don't). The search for a decent chiropractor is now on... Let's just hope that I am partially improved by Saturday, because I'm supposed to run a half marathon.

Anyway, since I am a cripple my boyfriend (who I will refer to by his name, Tom, from now on because "my boyfriend" is starting to sound awkward and disrespectful) had to do the usual shopping trip without me and I asked him to pick up some cream cheese with every intention of making red velvet cake cookies with some kind of cream cheese swirl/frosting/filling. Being generally more creative than I, Tom picked up some pumpkin as well. When he arrived at home and I discovered the pumpkin, I decided that making pumpkin cookies sounded like a much better idea. So that is exactly what I did. I am going to be completely honest here, generally I think that my cookies are fairly tasty, but these are fucking delicious (yes, the expletive is necessary... because they are that good).

A general Google search seemed to be all I needed. After all, it is the pumpkin-y time of the year! I found a couple of different recipes, including one from the Food Network which had been uploaded less than 24 hours prior to my search. Since that particular recipe already had a good amount of positive reviews, I went with it. Boy am I happy with my decision! These cookies have the perfect inner fluffy/outer slightly crunchy consistency that I had hoped for.

I am admittedly one of the worst food photographers ever... but you get the idea!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies:

• 2 sticks butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• pinch salt
• 1+ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 cups chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)

Combine sugars and butter and beat until creamy, then add the remaining ingredients in order.  After I added all of the ingredients, I mixed the dough for a long time, probably 5+ minutes. These cookies bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. (Can you tell that I think directions for baking cookies are pointless? I mean really, who can't figure out how to combine the ingredients? It's pretty idiot-proof.)

Because these cookies bake a little longer than your standard chocolate chip, I decided to kill some time by taking photos with our dog on photo booth that you might find amusing:

Can you tell that Tikishla was really enjoying it? I mean, I practically had to strangle her. What fun!

You can see the pure joy in her eyes!

Aahhh! It's a dog! With elbows!

 In retrospect, if you have now lost any desire to continue reading my blog, I understand. So, here's another picture of cookies to help my cause:

Seriously, these things are delicious. I wish there were more people in my household to prevent me from eating all of them... or maybe not.

It's a Miracle!

I actually baked something! Thanks to Zach and Nina for your suggestions, I really appreciate it. Since Zach came up with a suggestion so quickly I went with his ideas and actually ended up (coincidentally) satisfying both of your requests. Zach suggested that I make some peanut butter brownies, but instead of making brownies I decided to make brownie cookies! The idea has crossed my mind before, but I never followed through until now. I decided to go with a little improvisation from a few recipes I found online and came up with the following:

Peanut Butter Brownie Cookies:

For the chocolate brownie batter:

• 12 ounces  bittersweet chocolate
• 1 stick butter (melted together with the bittersweet chocolate, either double broiler style or carefully in the microwave)
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• pinch salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips

For the peanut butter filling/topping:

• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar

For the peanut butter, I basically did the same thing that I did for peanut butter cups except that I didn't really measure anything so these measurements are estimates. I tried a few different methods for combining the peanut butter mixture with the brownie batter. I tried spooning a little on top of a few cookies as well as putting some in the middle of the cookies (kind of like a cookie version of a peanut butter cup) and left two cookies without peanut butter (just to get the full effect of plain brownie cookies in case the peanut butter concoction baked funny).

Peanut butter dollops on top

The alternative - peanut butter innards

I had some batter and lots of peanut butter leftover, so a few days later I mixed the two together and baked the rest, which turned out a little dry but pretty good. Ultimately, I think that I prefer the cookies with the peanut butter on top.  My boyfriend prefers the cookies with the peanut butter inside, so I suppose it's up to the eater to decide. Not sure which method I would go with if I make these again.

This isn't a very good photo, but it is the only evidence I have of the peanut butter/brownie mix

What's next?
I might experiment with some whoopie pies (even though the name and concept has always freaked me out a little bit... I'm willing to bite the bullet so that I can become a real baker one day!) or chocolate/vanilla sandwich cookies (you might know them as Oreo cookies, but I'm trying not to sell out to a brand name here... especially because Oreos have hydrogenated oils in them, boo Nabisco!). Got an idea? Share it.