After the creepiest night ever in my apartment (there are so many noises!), I woke up today surprisingly energized and ready to create. But, what to make? I have a sorority meeting tonight, so I figured that some baked goods would be a welcome addition. I read ALOT of other blogs, and I mean ALOT, somewhere around 40. I skimmed through my bookmarked recipes and found a couple that sounded like crowd pleasers: Oreo Cookie Cookies and Chocolate Chip and Peanut Blondies. Both were very easy to make and should go over well.
Oreo Cookie Cookies
adapted from Nosh and Tell
Makes about 30 cookies (my batch of dough made around 45 or so)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used 1 cup of mini semisweet morsels instead)
20 oreos, crushed (I used Double Stuf, just because I'm a rebel)
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. (or use a Silpat sheet like I did)
ALL OF THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAN BE DONE BY HAND, WITHOUT A MIXER:
Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt (dorm modification: dump ingredients into a bowl and mix with a fork to aerate); set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Add in the crushed oreos. Beat on low speed for just a few seconds to break up the oreos in the dough. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon.
Drop cookie dough a rounded tbsp at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely (a dinner plate seems to work just fine for this. If you are like me and only have 1 baking sheet, let the sheet cool for about 5 minutes before putting more batter on it).
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Chocolate Chip and Peanut Blondies
adapted from Dishing Up Delights
Makes 12-16 bars (I cut mine into 16 beautiful bars)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick)
1 1/4 cups (packed) golden brown sugar (what the heck is golden brown sugar? I used light brown)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup salted roasted peanuts, divided (I used chopped pecans instead)
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, divided (again, I used mini semisweet morsels)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 8x8x2-inch baking pan (I used PAM with flour instead).
Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl to blend (or mix with a fork). Melt butter in a large heavy saucepan over low heat.
Remove from the heat; add sugar, and whisk until smooth (or you could mix it with a rubber spatula like I did). Cool mixture 2 minutes; whisk in eggs and vanilla (IMPORTANT: make sure you mix while putting in the eggs so that you don't make scrambled eggs). Using a flexible spatula, stir in flour mixture, then half of the peanuts (or pecans) and half of the chocolate chips. Spread the batter in the prepared pan; sprinkle with remaining peanuts and chocolate chips.
Bake blondies until golden, and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean and edges just begin to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a rack.
Cut blondies into 16 squares.
That's it for now.
Lynn
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