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!

(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

Spring…Finally!

Happy First of Spring!  I know, if you live where I do, its still cold.  Definitely better than it was, no more –20C days, but we’re not outside in shorts yet (well I heard there were a few when it went to 12C but I’m not that brave!)

This rose is Morden Blush during its first summer last year.  I became curious about roses two years ago, and last winter met a wonderful friend through a popular rose forum.  He has helped me through the trials and tribulations of rose growing, and made me realize it doesn’t have to be snobby or serious!  I gaze upon this picture and sigh, waiting for next month when I can dig my hands into the earth again.  There is something so satisfying about getting down and dirty(in the garden of course), and soon having something so amazing to show for it.  I only got a few blooms from it last year and it became leggy (a great attribute in us girls but not what you want in a rose!), a side effect of too little sun in my very shady backyard.  So shady in fact that we can’t even grow grass back there.  It will be moved to the more sunny front of our little townhouse to join my other roses like Out of the Blue,  I think I’ve finally given up on plants needing sun in the backyard unless they can grow in a lot of shade.

Out of the Blue

Last year we grew a large pot of herbs on our front porch.  I remember excitedly going through tables and tables of choices at the nursery, trying to decide what would smell best all together.  I hate to admit, I never used even one leaf of our choices in our cooking.

From front centre going clockwise – chocolate mint, lemon grass, lemon thyme, rosemary, basil.

I would sit on the front steps, and crush a couple of leaves between my fingers and inhale the scent.  All of them smelled so wonderful, and they were attractive all bushy and green together.  I wish I had known how to utilize them then!  I get afraid of spices as they can wreak havoc on my reflux, but I am finding small amounts may be tolerable.  This year we plan on getting herbs again, but actually using them this time.  The lemon grass would be lovely steeped in tea, or an iced tea…or used in a simple syrup for a sorbet.  The rosemary for my husband’s favourite use of roast beef,  Beef Dip or a pureed bean soup I have been curious about from the Barefoot Contessa cookbook.

What are you looking forward to most about spring?  What is your favourite dishes for using fresh herbs?