Double Trouble Chocolate Chip Cookies

The trouble part comes from the fact, they can be slightly addictive.

I know its getting too hot here to be baking cookies, but sometimes a girls gotta do, what a girls gotta do.  I was having a massive chocolate craving, and I was feeling that pang of guilt having not blogged anytime recently

This recipe is an extra chocolatey modification of a family recipe for chocolate chip cookies that my Grandma W. has been making as far back as I can remember.  At every family gathering, there would be the big plastic rectangle container filled to the very top with these cookies.  I perched on the edge of a kitchen chair helping Grandma make them more than a few times(she always set aside a bit of chocolate chips for me to munch on, it was my favourite part!). 

The original recipe is from a yellowed old paper clipping, Grandma can’t recall exactly where it was taken from(as she has a huge stash of recipes clipped just like it).  When I married and moved in with my husband (4 years ago Thursday!)  I asked for the recipe and she simply jotted it down from memory.  I love when I make them, as it brings me back to being perched on that chair sneaking chocolate chips while Grandma showed me how to measure ingredients.

My husband actually had a hand in this adaptation, adjusting some of the amounts of sugar to his liking, as this was the first thing I taught him to bake (sometimes I think he even makes them better than me, but shhh, don’t tell).  There is just nothing sexier than a man who bakes (okay so that might just be my opinion) but I’m so glad that he quickly learned that recipes are fun to play around with.

This variation is thick, dangerously chocolately and nice and soft on the inside without falling apart in your hands.

Double Trouble Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes approx 3 dozen or so cookies

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Butter
• ¾ Cup White Sugar
• ¾ Cup Brown sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Tsp Vanilla
• 2 Cup Flour
• 1 Tsp Baking soda
• ½ Tsp Salt
• 2/3 Cup Cocoa
• 2 Cup Chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats, set aside.
2. Cream butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well again, scraping bowl occasionally.
3. Mix flour, baking soda and salt in bowl. Sift in cocoa powder. Gradually add dry ingredients to sugar mixture, mix just until combined. Mix in chocolate chips.
4. Place by tablespoonfuls couple inches apart onto lined baking sheets. I like to leave mine heaped or rolled into a ball for a nice thick cookie.
5. Bake in oven for approximately 8 minutes or until edges and some of the middle is set…cookies will continue to bake as you take them out of the oven.  Wait a couple of minutes before transferring to racks to cool.
6. Once cool store in an airtight container.

The dough freezes well, as do the cookies themselves. If it’s very warm in your kitchen or you find the dough very soft, you can also chill the dough before baking.

You can add ½ cup chopped nuts when adding the chocolate chips. Feel free to change the flavour of chocolate chips, white or peanut butter would taste fantastic!

The Most Delicious Orange Cake

When I was gearing up for the baking competition this past weekend, I came across a recipe for orange cake on one of my favourite blogs, Eating Out Loud.  I had the oranges all ready to make it, but just completely ran out of time.  So the oranges sat, kind of forgotten about and sad for the rest of the weekend while I took a much needed break from the kitchen.  Yesterday I was craving dessert, and seeing how I hate wasting food and the recipe looked simple, I decided to give it a go.  My expectations couldn’t have prepared me for how absolutely DELICIOUS this cake was going to be.  Its light and airy while still being so incredibly moist and flavourful.  The glaze has just the right amount of citrusy sweetness.

You can find the recipe here on Allen’s website Eating Out Loud.  I baked my cake in a 10 inch tube pan for approximately 50 minutes and it came out perfect.  You will notice a lack of zest in my cake compared to Allen’s, this is because Mr. BotC isn’t a fan of citrus zest so I omitted it from the frosting and only put about a tsp in the cake.  I would recommend using the full amount to get an extra punch of orange flavour, but its still fantastic cut back if you too have something not fond of zest.

Thank you Allen so much for this recipe, I will be making this again for sure!

(Second) Best Whole Wheat Bread

Today’s weather was just gorgeous for a parade and a big festival!  I’m back from the Bread and Honey Festival baking competition, and I didn’t do too shabby!  I wrangled three 2nd place spots, winning with my pumpkin bread, butter tarts and whole wheat bread.



Unfortunately, I was so busy that I didn’t get pictures of a lot of the things I baked.  My kitchen table is still caked with flour and covered with various Tupperware pieces.  I did have an extra loaf of the whole wheat bread thankfully that I can actually show you (and extra shortbread cookies, the post will be coming soon!).
This bread has won me second place at the festival twice now.  Its simple and straight forward to make, is hearty without being overly dense and has a lovely flavour.  It is also 100% whole wheat, so on top of tasting great its healthy for you too!  This tastes great with a big bowl of homemade soup (or hey, canned - I won’t tell!).  If you don’t have a loaf pan, you can shape as if you are baking in a loaf pan and let rise and bake on a parchment lined baking sheet, as I have done on the loaf below.  If you use shortening instead of butter, this bread is completely dairy-free.



Looking for the recipe to make some beautiful bread yourself?  Check out 100% Whole Wheat Bread by RobinHood.ca