Chocolate Chip Skillet Cake

I've said this so many times before, but it bears repeating now: one should never underestimate the power of a chocolate chip cookie. There's a reason why it's such a classic, go-to dessert. It's soft in the middle, ooey gooey, and oh-so-cholatey. In times of stress, I find myself going back to my favorite chocolate chip recipes, seeking out that comfort that only a good cookie can bring. And when that cookie happens to be 9-inches, baked in a skillet, and slightly under-baked in the center, it's even better. Let's call it an easy reward for surviving Monday, shall we?

Never have the words "You deserve a cookie," been more applicable.

What You'll Need:

2 cups AP flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour well one 9-inch ovenproof skillet.

-In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt.

-In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl using a wooden spoon, or with a hand mixer) beat the butter and sugars (granulated and light brown) on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed to low and add the egg. Add the egg yolk, then the vanilla, and mix well.

-Carefully add the flour mixture a little bit at a time while the mixer is on low speed,  and beat until just combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a rubber spatula to fold in the chocolate chips. Transfer the batter to the prepared skillet, making sure that it is smooth and evenly distributed.

-Bake until the edges are baked and golden, but the center is still slightly under-baked, about 18-20 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before serving.

(This cookie can last for up to three days tightly wrapped, and at room temperature.)

SOURCE: Joy the Baker Homemade Decadence: Irresistibly Sweet, Salty, Gooey, Stick, Fluffy, Creamy, Crunchy Treats by Joy Wilson

P.S. Check out my review of this excellent cookbook here!

When Chocolate Chip Cookies Just Aren't Enough

The sad news: My work chum, Kate, had her last day at the office today. The happy news: We ate like champions.

When Kate told me that this week would be her last, I immediately started brainstorming the perfect going away surprise. But the more i thought about, and the more I scoured my cookbooks for the answer, the less certain I became. So I asked her: What was her favorite go-to dessert? Her answer: chocolate chip cookies. Good. Done.

But then I thought about it: chocolate chip cookies are always amazing, and absolutely no one can tell me otherwise, but are they good for goodbyes? I guess it depends on who you ask, but for me, no way. They're the perfect treat to have in hand for hangout sessions, good for break ups, great for sick days, and perfect for when you need a quick pick-me-up. But for goodbyes, they're just not epic enough. So it was time to think outside of the box: how can I stay true to her favorite, while still taking it to the next level? Then it came to me: a chocolate chip cookie cake. 

When I was little, my parents got for me one Christmas a Mrs. Fields Cookie Oven. They were just like the Easy Bake Ovens, but way better because it was like having a mall favorite right in your play room. I made tiny cookie cakes and brownies constantly, and as I set out to make Kate's cake, it took me back. What was so good about those cakes, other than the fact that they cooked like magic under a dinky light bulb, was that they always turned out gloriously under-baked. So chewy, so yummy. And now that I'm feeling all nostalgic, I wonder what happened to it...

(Note to self: scour the basement next time I'm home. I've got mini cookies to make.)

I've got a fun little story to tell you. Last night, I made two of these cakes. And it wasn't because I wanted us to have one at home. It was because I didn't exercise enough patience, and tragically broke Cake # 1.

A word to the wise: If a recipe tells you to wait until something is completely cooled before taking it out of the pan, wait until it is completely cool. In my haste to start frosting this thing, I thought that just leaving the pan on the wire rack for thirty minutes would do the trick. I was wrong. Very, very wrong. Yeah, it came out of the pan alright, but in several very large chunks. Cake #1 was hurled in pieces into both the trash and my mouth. Cake #2 went straight into the freezer as soon as it was out of the oven, and cool enough for me to handle it without an oven mitt on.

I would also like to note that this was my first successful attempt at using a pastry bag! Also, this was my first time using gel-based food coloring instead of liquid. The colors are more vibrant, you don't taste the colors, so to speak, and it just takes a few drops to get the shade you desire. Use gel food coloring. Trust me.

After frosting, cover your cake and pop it in the fridge overnight. It allows the buttercream to set, and makes it taste OUT OF THIS WORLD. Seriously, the buttercream was the best part, and I saved the best part for last.

One piece of this cake, and you're done. But man, is it worth it.

I miss my work chum Kate already, but we had a forced office group hug, so I'm counting today as one of the best I've had in a while.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake:

What You'll Need:

• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4  teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg  and 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325F. Throughly grease a  9 inch round cake pan, then line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper cut to size. Set aside.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

With an electric mixer set to medium speed, beat the butter and both sugars together until combined. Beat in the egg, then egg yolk, one at a time until combined. Then add the vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients and beat at a low speed until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips using a rubber spatula.

Scoop the dough into the prepared cake pan, and use your fingers to evenly press the dough into the pan. Bake until the cake is golden, and the outer edges have started to harden; about 20-25 minutes (Watch out for cracking!) Place on a wire rack to cool COMPLETELY before removing from the pan.

Make sure to throughly wrap in plastic wrap to ensure freshness. If kept at room temperature, this can last for up to five days.

SOURCE Brown Eyed Baker

THE PERFECT BUTTERCREAM FROSTING 

What You'll Need:

• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat the powdered sugar and butter together using an electric mixer on medium speed until the mixture comes together, and is throughly mixed.

With the mixer on low speed, combine the milk and vanilla extract, and slowly stream it into the butter-sugar mixture.

Once fully incorporated, turn the mixer to high speed and beat until the frosting is perfectly light and fluffy, for a minimum of five minutes. (As Joy the Baker says: "The longer the frosting is beaten, the lighter and fluffier it becomes!")

Add dyes into the frosting for the desired color, and beat until fully incorporated.

SOURCE  Joy the Baker

Next stop: Key Lime Pie for my work chum Brad's 25th!

HAPPY FRIDAY, MY LAMBS!

Cookie Party!

First, I have to apologize for my brief absence. The second I was seated next to a coughing, sneezing, sniffling gentleman on my plane ride back to Boston from Wisconsin, I knew that I was a goner. It took maybe an hour or two for the sickness to sink in, and I was out of commission for a full week. I'm just now starting to feel like myself, and if I ever see my row-mate again, I'm going to cough all over him.

Being sick for ages and ages limited my activity, and the one thing that I wanted the most while I was sick, was the one thing I was too exhausted to make: a cookie. I have a sweet tooth that cannot be denied, and because I refuse to buy anything from bakeries that I can't make myself, I was fresh out of luck. But now, now that I'm feeling better, I set out to complete my mission. And just in time as well, because my co-worker and I decided to throw an impromptu cookie party for the office! Fair, it'll just be us bringing cookies, but there will be cookies, and that's really all that matters.

If there's anything you know about me thus far, it's that I collect a lot of recipes, but I hardly ever do anything with them but stick them in my "Recipes" folder. I've got so many that my fingers start to get tired after a while from scrolling through. But today, as I searched and searched for a recipe that was simple enough to make, but still totally impressive, there was one special cookie that screamed out to me: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip S'Mores Cookies. YEAH, S'MORE. I've tasted a s'mores cupcake, but never a s'mores cookie. And today was the day.

And for real, I can't believe how simple these cookies were to make, but also how INSANE THEY TASTED. There are few things better in this world than a toasted marshmallow, and I did it using the broiler on my oven. I tell you, my mind was blown. And I'm going to blow the minds of all my work chums tomorrow, mark my words.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip S'Mores Cookies: totally into it.

What You'll Need:

• 1 cup softened salted butter
• ¾ cup dark brown sugar
• ¾ cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup graham cracker crumbs
• 2½ cups quick oats
• 2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips
• 12 giant marshmallows, sliced into thirds

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

Using a stand mixer fi tted with the beater attachment, cream the butter and sugars at medium-low speed until well combined.  Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add in the vanilla; combine well.

In a separate bowl, combine the fl our, baking soda, salt, and graham cracker crumbs.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet batter. Mix on low until just combined. Stir in the oats and chocolate chips.

Scoop rounded balls of batter onto the prepared sheets. The batter will spread, so be sure to leave ample space between.  Bake for 13–15 minutes, or until the edges are very lightly browned.

Remove from the oven, and immediately top with a slice of marshmallow.  Allow to cool on baking sheets.  Before serving, place the pan under the oven broiler or use a kitchen torch to toast the marshmallows.

SOURCE: The Cake Blog

The cookies are safely tucked in their tin foil, and ready for a trip to the office tomorrow, and I'm snuggled in my blankets becaause it is positively freezing. And I'm totally slacking on my holiday movie-viewing, so if you'll excuse me, I've got a date with The Santa Clause before bed.

HAPPY BAKING!!

When You're in the Mood for Cheesecake...

On Tuesday, my works chums and I were shooting the breeze for a little while, and decided that as a way to bond, we should have a little workday get-together. Mind you, we wouldn't leave our desks, and we wouldn't stop working, but we would share a little something. And because I have a massive sweet tooth,  I volunteered to provide that little something. What that "little something" would be, was going to be a surprise of course; for them mostly, but for me as well. Even though I had quickly volunteered, I had no idea what to make at first. And really, when I set out to bake something, I hardly ever do.

I was surfing Tumblr the next morning when it came to me: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake. It was like the Heavens had opened up, and placed it on my dashboard. And I looooove when that happens. When I have no idea what I'm doing, and then BAM! There it is. That sort of thing happens with other parts of my life as well: songwriting, books to read, and of course, what to watch on Netflix. So many choices, sometimes I need a little guidance.

So off I went to the store, ingredient list in hand, and the chill of Fall finally in the air, followed by a giant gust of cold wind, followed by me ever wondering why I would wish cold weather upon anyone. I ran into Roche Brothers and emerged 20 minutes later with all the fixins' to make me a cheesecake!

LOOK HOW MANY CHOCOLATE CHIPS THERE ARE. Ughh. It took everything I had not to eat every bit of this as I slowly rolled them into dough balls and placed them on a carefully parchment-papered cookie sheet. Side note: the cookie dough portion of this recipe is glorious in that, there are no eggs. And you know what that means: no salmonella! WHICH MEANS, you can make these cookie dough balls at a separate time, and place them into your classic vanilla ice cream! It's brilliant, and a great way to spice up a classic, but sometimes boring, ice cream flavor. Or, you know, you can just eat them as is. (There is no shame in that, believe me. I did it.)

FINALLY FINISHED and ready for the oven!

And after fully cooling, and taking all night to get its beauty rest...

This little baby was born, and ready to be devoured.  Sadly, it cracked. But that did NOT stop it from being one of the tastiest treats ever produced in Sydney's Kitchen.

My workmates, who I'm pretty sure had forgotten about my promised treat, were throughly surprised and delighted. We each had a piece, rubbed our bellies because that is a LOT of sweetness on one plate, drank like, a gallon of water each, then went back for seconds.

Cheesecake is always a great way to cheer up a rather gloomy, windy, Thursday.

What You'll Need:

Cookie Dough:

• ½ cup butter, softened
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips
• Set aside an additional 1 cup mini chocolate chips to fold into the batter with the cookie dough balls

Crust:

• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs or chocolate cookie crumbs (like Oreos) I used crushed up (I spent 20 minutes!) Nilla wafers! It gives it a little something extra!

Filling:

• 4 (8-ounce) blocks cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup sour cream

For the recipe, click here!

HAPPY BAKING!!