Cookie Quest - Raisinless Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I have a killer Oatmeal Raisin cookie recipe from my mom. I don't know where she got it, but I do know that it's a recipe for deliciousness. I've altered them endlessly over the years - subbing out the raisins in favor of various dried fruits, nuts, and chocolate - always with success. I'm now married to a man who does not like raisins (or any other dried fruit), so when I decided to make these cookies the other day I knew I'd have to switch it up. Also, I'm out of raisins and I was determined to make cookies with only ingredients I already had on hand.

Bet you wish you were here now.

Cookie Quest - Blondies!

I'm interested in making cookies that ship well lately, as I've got a customer on the west coast who keeps asking for some Becky-made cookies. My feeling, and maybe this is wrong, is that bar cookies are better shippers than regular cookies since the bar seems to be a little sturdier and it's easier to fit rectangular shaped bar cookies into rectangular shaped boxes. So far I've shipped her BB bars and brownies, which are the only bar cookies I make with any regularity. I like lots of bar cookies, like lemon bars and those crumble-covered fruit bars, but never make them because I won't get any help eating them at home. I've made them and taken them into work before, but transporting baked goods on the bus can be a bit tricky. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, sturdy cookies to ship. I'm open to ideas - what cookies do you make that ship well?

Straight out of 1988 Naples, FL

Snow Day!

Happy snow day, everyone! We've been cozied up inside most of the day, although we did take a walk around the neighborhood in the afternoon, and are enjoying the bonus day at home together. The extra day is good, since I can catch up on some things that fell by the wayside this weekend, like this blog post! I was originally going to write about the chili I made for our little Superbowl party, but I got too wrapped up in making it to remember to take any pictures of the process and also forgot to take any pictures of people eating it when it was done. I'll just tell you now that it was good, and unlike any other vegetarian chili I'd ever made before.

Here are some crushed pretzels.

Cookie Quest - the search for the best Chocolate Chip Cookie

Growing up, my mom and I always used the same chocolate chip cookie recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook she received when she got married. I made them so often I think I've memorized the recipe. For a while, our cookies came out the same, then mine started to get flatter and flatter while hers stayed rounded. And for a while, the flatness was good - they were neither too flat nor too thin - but then they started getting too thin. I did a little bit of research into why that happens and came up with a few solutions: my butter was too soft, I beat the butter for too long, or I didn't add enough flour, or some combination of those three explanations. I tried experimenting with the recipe to fix what I was doing wrong, but to mostly no avail. Adding extra flour made the cookies thicker, but they were less chewy that way, and I like them chewy. Using cooler butter didn't seem to make much of a difference, although refrigerating the dough before baking helped a bit. And beating the butter less seemed hard to do, since I generally don't beat it for as long as the recipe says anyway.

The factory that makes this chocolate is about 15 minutes from our house. We went on a tour!

Honeymooning

First of all, a big thank you to everyone who came to our wedding! We had such a great day, mainly because all of you were there (besides the getting married part, which was also pretty awesome). Anyway, as you know, Matt and I just got back from our honeymoon - a week in Iceland - so I thought I'd take a break from the bridal shower recipes to fill you in a little on Iceland and some of the food we had over there (the good, the weird, the tasty).

Mr. and Mrs. Williamson in Iceland

BB Bars

As I think I said in my welcome post to this blog, my cooking and baking styles are pretty different.  When cooking, I generally throw a bunch of stuff together and hope for the best.  I rarely follow a recipe, except if I'm making something elaborate or something new.  In baking, it's the opposite.  I follow recipes, even the ones I have memorized, and I rarely make up something new.  This recipe, though, is something I made up a few years ago when I wanted to satisfy my simultaneous cravings for peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and oatmeal cookies all at once.  Clearly I was in graduate school at the time.  My roommates served as guinea pigs as I tinkered with this recipe over and over again until I finally came up with a version that is the ultimate comfort cookie.  And there's oatmeal in them, so you know they're good for you.

These cookies are practically health food!

Old-timey Cooking - Brownies

I've been looking forward to making the Palmer House brownies since I made brownies the last time (which you can read about here).  Now, my brownie recipe is pretty different from the Palmer House one.  All the basic ingredients are there - chocolate, flour, sugar, butter, eggs - but the Palmer House recipe uses more of everything.  I mean a lot more.  For the same size pan.  This is madness, I tell you, sheer madness! 

I sprung for some of the good stuff.

Brownies

A person's preference in brownies can say a lot about that person.  Cakey, fudgy, with nuts, without, and the most important distinction - from scratch or not.  While I know people who swear by a boxed mix, I'm clearly going for a scratch made brownie, and I like them without nuts and the perfect balance between fudgy and cakey.  I made brownies today, mainly to satisfy a cute boyfriend who was sad that the cookies I made the other day were being shipped to a brother.  I've been making pretty much the same recipe for years, with minor changes here and there, and I'm not necessarily looking to change that routine.  But it makes me wonder: who came up with the (brilliant idea of) brownies, and what were they originally like?

Step 1: Heat butter, sugar, and water.