It’s always a good day for chocolate
So it’s the third, and we haven’t celebrated anything in a while, so we decided to celebrate. We try to have random celebrations on either the 3rd or the 26th–we have two anniversaries, remember, one on a 3rd and one on a 26th. –Yes, yes, I know it’s literally the 4th, but we were both out last night–bridge clubs and ringing practises are no respecters of anniversaries. So we declared today the deputy 3rd. Which is also to say that when we feel like declaring a celebration, we declare it for a 26th, a 3rd, or the nearest day after either one that is convenient. We aren’t fussy.
And I’m sure that calls for a recipe.
White Chocolate Chunk Dark Chocolate Cookies*
¾ c oat flour (if you can’t get this, whiz your rolled oats in the blender till fine. You can simply substitute more ordinary flour, but that would be a pity)
1 ½ c all-purposes flour
½ c dry cocoa powder (proper real cocoa, not the stuff you just add water or milk to to make a cup of hot chocolate)
¾ c slightly salted butter
¾ c granulated sugar
½ c packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp REAL vanilla extract
¾ c roughly chopped macadamia nuts
1 generous c roughly chopped white chocolate (about 8 ounces)
Mix flours and cocoa. Cream butter and sugars, beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture, then nuts and chocolate. Mix well. Drop-cookie them in little heaps on ungreased sheets. 375° about 5 minutes, maybe 7. Let cool. Eat, eat.
* * *
* Thus fanning the flames of the white chocolate debate. The original recipe, from The Complete^ Cookie by Bluestein and Morrissey, suggests substituting dried sour cherries and pecans for the white chocolate. I’m not a big fan of cherries and chocolate, but I did it once with dried apricots and it was lovely. I keep meaning to try it with cranberries. I have kind of a thing for cranberries.
The original recipe also wants you to put baking powder and baking soda in. I think this is a waste of a good dense chocolate texture (that’s part of the reason you want the oat flour. That and the nutty background accent).
^ Nonsense!
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2 kinds of chocolate… You’ve won me over! Mmmmm….
too much is always good. :)
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Is there such a thing as too much chocolate?
(wait, there is. A doctor actually diagnosed me with theobromide poisoning once. Never try eating nothing but chocolate for 24 hours. But other than that…)
Inferior chocolate. :)
Oh drooooool!
It’s good to celebrate!
How are the hellhounds?
Hellhounds–say it VERY QUIETLY–are okay. At least at THIS moment. I am not making any RASH GENERALISATIONS about what they may be like in the moment AFTER THIS ONE. –One of the standard nuts-making things, the vet day before yesterday also commented on how great they look. I mean, I’m GLAD they look great, it’s one of the things tha tkeeps me going really, but it’s very hard to get the PROPER SYMPATHY when you’re moaning on and whoever is listening is also looking at these shiny-furred, gleaming-eyed, bright, lively, happy, friendly hellhounds and thinking hmmm?
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Hellhounds–say it VERY QUIETLY–are okay. At least at THIS moment.
Well good. I’m glad that, at THIS moment, they are okay. Leanne (who is sleeping on my lap), has her paws crossed for them.
You have self-crossing girls! Oh good! :)
You have self-crossing girls! Oh good! :)
It’s true.
I took a picture: http://jmeadows.livejournal.com/#asset-jmeadows-621758
Oh, totally TOTALLY adorable!!!!
. . . And remind me, when I get back to the house with the PRINTER in it, I’ll print off your game and *I’ll* play it. Though it probably won’t be pretty. . . .
Thanks for the Bb scale too. I really *wanted* a Bb scale. In between answering comments here I’ve been composing some really perverse noise . . . .
Doesn’t she look so sweet? They kill me sometimes.
I don’t expect the game will be pretty for anyone. We’re all secret cows. ;)
Perverse noise? You should have heard what the song sounded like before I gave up and recorded a scale. I’m going to try again in a couple days, but urgh, some days are better music days than others, and yesterday was NOT a good music day.
(Someone on YouTube commented on an old video of mine and said nice things (!!!), and I stuck a link in a chat box to my friends. One said, “Oh yeah, the days Jodi didn’t look really, really annoyed while fluting…”)
Thanks for reminding me why I’ve MOVED ON from the idea of videoing me PLAYING the piano. :)
Thanks for reminding me why I’ve MOVED ON from the idea of videoing me PLAYING the piano. :)
*snerk* That’s what I’m here for. ;)
Oh, you have a PURPOSE? :)
Good timing! It is my parents’ anniversary today. Now, if only I were home, I could make the cookies for them. But I am not. Oh well.
I am going to call and sing to them later.
I suppose I can make them for when they come down to New Jersey for my birthday, and have a belated celebration for them.
Celebrations are a good thing in general, I find.
Glad all seems well with the hellhounds!
Fingers crossed and prayers said for continued peaceful digestions and so on.
–Julia
Yes, since I posted the *recipe* on their anniversary, these cookies are obviously FOR THEM and it won’t matter if the three dimensional manifestation is a little belated. :)
What do you sing?
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Something very similar to THIS song…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DINuAWoxy4Q&feature=related
But I always thought that my mother had made it up, because she always just sang the “Happy anniversary, happy anniversary. happy anniversary, haaappy anniversary. Happy happy happy happy happy anniversary. Happy happy happy happy happy anniversary. Happy anniversary, happy anniversary. happy anniversary, haaappy anniversary.” bit. But I googled the song last night, and when I found that, I was both delightfully amused and rather taken aback. My mother isn’t one who you would expect to find singing a song from the Flinstones! My dad, yes. But not Mom.
Anyway. Long, convoluted answer to a simple question.
:)
–Julia
Well, it’s not ORIGINALLY originally from the Flintstones . . .
Oh?
I love cranberries, too. They grow lots of cranberries in Wisconsin, so you can buy them by the pound for pretty cheaply here. When I lived in Japan, I could never find cranberry juice, and that was very sad.
Yes. I LIVE by cranberry juice. And a large enough freezer to lay in a supply when fresh cranberries are available.
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These look yummy, thank you! Can you mix cranberries with the white chocolate – I like the sour/sweet combination – or is it an either one or the other? Love oats too.
Glad the hellhounds have had a good day (whispering). Mixed blessing with them looking so healthy, but sending you loads of sympathy in lieu of vet :)
Go for it. I *have* a white chocolate and cranberry recipe somewhere . . . seems to me it has oatmeal (not oat flour) in it too . . . [sound of rummaging]
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Robin, I’m sorry that this comment is so completely off the topic of this post…
I have just finished reading Patricia A. McKillip’s newest book(The Bell at Sealey Head), which was made of awesomeness.
My question to you is – there was a particular passage* that struck me as something I had read before**, and my brain tells me that I read it on your blog somewhere… is my brain right?
I just scanned the past couple of pages looking for the post my brain insists must be here, but I couldn’t find it.
- Angel*
*The passage where someone tells Dulcie they’ll teach the parrot a new word, and Aunt Phoebe mentions to Toland that the parrot is stuffed and he says “it’s a good thing, knowing the twins” or something…
**which happens to me fairly often, but usually not with such clarity and my brain usually can’t provide a source. Generally a simple feeling of deja vu.
I BLOGGED about Sealey Head! Look up ‘Sealey Head’ in back entries!
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That looks fantastic. Hm. I wonder what it would be like to do chopped dried apricots and little pieces of candied ginger? I like ginger. And chocolate. And white chocolate. And dried cherries….
And yay on okay hellhounds! May they eat their dinners and be healthy for many days (I would say weeks, but that sounds like it could be pushing it).
Thank you! Please remember user name. . . .
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I’m not a big fan of cherries and chocolate,
I’m sorry, I may have to rethink my devotion to your blog in light of this information…. :)
I seem to recall posting my oatmeal-toffee-tart cherry-chocolate chip cookie recipe back on the LJ. Dried tart cherries are one of my core foods, I keep bags of them in my desk at work and here at home; eating them in handfuls with bits of very dark chocolate mixed in might be as close to ambrosial as I can imagine…. If I try this, it’ll need to be a cherry substitution, but I dunno about the pecans. Maybe, maybe. :)
Well okay it DEPENDS. As I recall your oatmeal etc cookies were SUPERB. But there’s other stuff going on in them. :) It also depends on the PROPORTIONS. One of my pet peeves is chocolate chip cookies with RAISINS. I see a dark spot I expect CHOCOLATE. But I think I’d like dried cherries mixed up with bits of dark chocolate.
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Blue ribbons at the Labor Day Fair in Guilford for Chocolate Chip Cherry Brownies (really too rich, but the judges only eat a tiny sample) and “Red, White, and Blueberry Scones” (dried cherries, white whole wheat flour, and blueberries with half a maraschino cherry on top) and cheddar poppy seed whole wheat bread. I never thought they’d do so well, as the bread was a bit dark and the brownies had a big thumb mark thanks to my having to juggle them in order to keep them away from an inquisitive dog. The scones looked quite nice, but I was afraid the cherry was a little schmaltzy.
It’s funny, they judge fruit and veggies by whether they all look exactly alike (color, size, etc) … jams and canned food by an as yet undiscovered standard … flower arrangements supposedly by perfection of
blooms, but I’ve noticed that cheerful and/or unusual flowers seem to do well … paintings and photos by realism and sentimentality (I’m being snide).
But I really can’t complain, as they give small cash prizes and I always come away with at least fifty dollars in my packet. And I get to feed my friends really yummy stuff, for which they are generally grateful.
Well done you. :)
I’m with you on raisins, though I tolerate them in oatmeal cookies I’m always a bit disappointed to discover they’re not chocolate chips. Fortunately the tart cherries retain a little bit of a reddish tone even when coated in cookie dough goodness, and so there are few surprises with the O-T-C-CC cookies. :)
Best trail mix ever, to my mind, includes tart cherries, chocolate chips, almonds and peanuts…
Yes, actually, you’re right. I stand corrected. (Take notes. It doesn’t happen often. :))
But who wants to follow the actual recipe? That’s boring.
You give us chocolate, I give you chocolate back!
My mother-in-law gave me this recipe (after I helped her make a batch of course!) and I am not sure where she got it from.
Ultimate Double Chocolate Cookies
2 cups flour
1/2 cup Dutch processed cocoa (if you don’t have Dutch processed cocoa, regular cocoa works just fine)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
10 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. instant coffee or espresso
2 tsp. vanilla
1 lb. semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
Preheat oven to 350
Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Cream butter and sugars till smooth. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Stir in the coffee and vanilla until well-blended. Stir in the melted chocolate, scraping the sides of the bowl and mixing well. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 35-45 minutes.
Cover baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll dough into small balls and place 2″ apart on the pan. Bake 8-10 minutes at 350. Centers will still be soft. Cool on pans for 10 minutes before transferring to racks to cool.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The cast of my show absolutely DEVOURED these and that little bit of caffeine helped them through their show and photo call! I hope you enjoy them as much as they did!
Cheers!
We need some more tabbouleh recipes, fast. :)
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Yay for chocolate, anniversaries, and champage (not necessarily in that order)!
Fresh cranberries or dried? The latter I have, the former, not so much. And I don’t care for white chocolate – dark chocolate chunks, now….
But I think the recipe sounds gorgeous, all the same.
Glad that (whispering) the hellhounds are doing well.
Either.
There’s not a lot of point to dark chocolate chunks in this recipe. If you don’t like white chocolate, do use one of the fruity ones.
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Oh hey — may I add a chocolate recipe? I’ve been meaning to post this for a few days :)
Chocolate Fudge Sauce
1 8 oz. package unsweetened baking chocolate
1/2 c. butter
2 c. sugar
1 c. milk (any kind, even soy)
1 t. vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1. Melt chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring constantly
2. Add sugar and stir to dissolve
3. Add milk and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes
4. Add vanilla & salt
5. Cover & chill (this is critical, don’t ask me why)
According to the recipe this keeps up to 2 weeks. I’m not sure we’ve ever tested that :). And it seriously does not taste nearly so good until it’s been chilled and reheated. In fact the more times it’s reheated the better it tastes.
I personally like to cut out about a half cup of sugar, but I like my chocolate very very dark.
And yes, I’m the crazy one who says you can bake with soy milk. Admittedly the expensive, chilled, soy milk that doesn’t live forever, but I honestly can’t taste soy in this, and neither has anyone I’ve ever served it to.
We eat this on ice cream (of course), cake (soft crumbly ones work best), cream puffs, and straight by the spoonful :).
Hmm. This might be worth trying with soy milk. :) And I like that ‘may I add a chocolate recipe?’ Please. Who do you think you’re talking to?? :)
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Eeep! These look lovely – but my waistline is only just getting over the lemon bars we had last weekend! Still, in honour of all 3s and 26s (and our 21st anniversary next week) I offer:
Tabbouleh
The quantities below are what I use for 2 hungry people for whom the Tabbouleh will be the main carb/veg elements in a main meal. However, as I expect most people know, this dish can be made with a varying ratio of bulgar wheat to herbs to oil/lemon juice, so is infinitely adjustable to your own taste/hunger/occasion.
Bulgar wheat, to the 6oz level in a measuring jug
Juice from 2 medium lemons
6 good sized spring onions (scallions) or half a medium red onion if spring onions not available
4 T good olive oil (extra virgin for preference)
Large bunch of fresh washed mint (about 2 oz of leaves)
Small(er) bunch of washed green coriander or parsley (about 1 oz of leaves/some stalk)
Crispy lettuce (2 small or 1 large, Cos or similar)
Rinse the bulgar wheat in a sieve under cold running water, drain quickly and put back in the jug. Add the same volume of cold water as the wheat comes to and leave to soak at least 30 minutes. Wash and finely slice the onions (the white part and an inch or so of the green).
After the wheat has finished soaking it should have at least doubled in volume. Drain wheat thoroughly and empty into the serving bowl to be used. Mix in the oil, lemon juice and sliced onions and leave in a cool place for things to soak up flavour and liquid for at least 30 minutes.
Separate out the washed and dried lettuce leaves, cutting in half horizontally those more than about 4 – 5 inches long (so they can be used as manageable scoops to eat the tabbouleh). Chop herbs (by now reasonably dry) together, fairly finely (do not use a food processor – little flecks are needed, not mush). The great mound of unchopped leaves will go down to about two joined/cupped handfuls. Add to bowl containing bulgar wheat and mix well in. Taste to check lemon/oil balance is OK and then serve in a mound, with lettuce leaves round to use as scoops/wraps.
I make this without any salt as I find the lemon juice and herbs are enough seasoning. On days that feel a bit too chily for a salad I serve it alongside pork fillet, either roasted and sliced or cut into medallions and lightly coated in seasoned flour then fried.
I shall be interested to see variations on this recipe – which is adapted from the one in Claudia Roden’s wonderful ‘New Book of Middle Eastern Cookery’.
Ah. I’ll have to fish out my tabbouleh(s). I was even thinking, yesterday, that I should post a SALAD. And somehow . . . :)
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I think the “Eat, eat” instruction probably wasn’t necessary! :>
Hmmm. Wonder if, instead of cranberries, there might be a way to get some sort of raspberry in there? I used to be able to find a dark-chocolate-with-freeze-dried-raspberries chocolate bar which was lovely; freeze-dried raspberries might absorb too much moisture in a cookie, though. Hmmm. Certainly bears thinking about.
And I’ll add my sympathies on the hellhounds’ continued issues; sick pets are a constant worry even when there’s a well-defined path to getting them feeling better again.
sick pets are a constant worry even when there’s a well-defined path to getting them feeling better again.
************ Indeed. NOT knowing and endlessly having to try again is grim.
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My absolute favouritest thing ever is crystalized ginger covered in dark chocolate.
It’s something of a weakness when I go to the bulk food store.
Thanks for the latest decadent recipe ;p Must. Not. Make. Cookies.
Urge. To. Bake. Rising.
Arrrrgggh
Hee hee hee. :)
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Hee hee! A new cookie recipe! And I have white chocolate chunks! And macadamia nuts! And dark chocolate cocoa powder! And oat flour (I love the stuff, and one of our local markets sells it in its organic foods section)! Yum. I’ll be baking tomorrow.
My tabbouleh recipe is similar to the one posted by AJLR but done in a quantity to feed 8 people; to the ingredients listed I add a couple of large tomatoes, seeded and chopped, and one cucumber, seeded and chopped (if regular cukes, I peel ‘em, if they’re “English” cukes, I just seed ‘em). I love tabbouleh, I think it’s time to make some …
Tabbouleh and cookies, the perfect meal. :)
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Dammit dammit dammit. “Anonymous” was me. We just switched browsers and I haven’t adjusted yet. Stupid thing doesn’t have autosave on names and things….
That’s okay. Happens all the time. WordPress is not very helpful about this.
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