A Joy of Baking

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    • Chocolate Chip Cookies

      Posted at 9:03 pm by A Joy
      Nov 18th

      Have you ever had one of those weeks when it feels like it should be 5 o’clock on Friday but it’s only Tuesday?? Oh right, of course not 😉 Just humor me on this one then. I was running short on time last night and needed something to calm my mind and satisfy my sweet tooth. My go-to in times like this is to whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies (and pour myself a glass of wine). Baking is such a release for me. I love taking the simple disorder of all the separate ingredients and turning them into something yummy. Especially with chocolate chip cookies because who can resist that fresh-out-of-the-oven, burn-a-few-taste-buds experience.

      For years, I would make the same cookie recipe with varied results and it was driving me crazy. Along the way, I have worked out a few tricks to help with consistency.  The best (and probably most annoying one) is that the batter is really best if you refrigerate overnight before baking. Don’t get me wrong, there have been plenty of occasions where I don’t have the patience, but it really does makes a difference. Chilling the dough solidifies the fat, which causes the cookie to spread less when baked. When a cookie doesn’t spread thin in the oven, you are left with a more substantial, chewy, cookie rather than a flat, hard cookie. If you don’t have the time for a full overnight chill, than just through the dough in the refrigerator for as long as you can wait 😉 Any bit of time to get the dough colder than room temperature will certainly help.

      Now, the other trick is to line the cookie sheets with parchment paper. What you may have experienced before (because I know I have) is when you follow the recipe with timing but then you pull the cookies out and the edges and bottoms look burnt. Turns out that the baking time can greatly vary based on color and type of metal of your cookie tray. To avoid that burnt cookie bottom, you can choose to alter baking time based on your cookie sheets OR you can simply follow the recipe timing and line the tray with parchment paper. One certainly sounds easier….. And don’t forget- using parchment paper also makes clean up a cinch!

      Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® recipe)

      •  2 sticks of softened unsalted butter
      • 3/4 cup light brown sugar
      • 3/4 cup white sugar
      • 2 tsp vanilla extract
      • 2 large eggs
      • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
      • 1 tsp baking soda
      • 1 tsp salt
      • 1 tsp cinnamon
      • 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
      • A dash of sea salt to sprinkle on top
      Preheat oven to 375 F. Cream butter and sugars together until
      completely incorporated. About 30-40 seconds. Add the vanilla and eggs, beating after each egg. Gradually add the remaining dry ingredients until flour disappears. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake in preheated oven for 9 minutes, rotating trays halfway through. Remove from oven when the cookies are starting to brown. The cookies will continue to brown after being removed from the oven! Sprinkle with sea salt and enjoy 🙂
      Tagged baking, chocolate chip, cookies, dessert
    • Pumpkin Muffins

      Posted at 7:03 pm by A Joy
      Nov 2nd

      Pumpkin

      I all too happily kiss bathing suit season goodbye and embrace these colder, darker days because for me, it means more time in the kitchen!! I have been making these pumpkin muffins for (believe it or not) 20 years. My mom got the recipe for the muffins when I was in pre-school and came home from a play date with a full belly and an orange tint to my skin. My friend’s mom shared her recipe and we’ve been friends ever since.  Around the same time, we discovered the pumpkin cookie recipe. It’s a Libby’s recipe and was found in the newspaper, diligently cut out, and glued into our cookbook of family favorites. It is ALWAYS a challenge to decide whether to make the pumpkin muffins or the pumpkin cookies because they are both so amazingly good. The cookies are soft and chewy and have a generous helping of chocolate chips, which can almost sway my decision because who can say no to chocolate, but then I remember the light and fluffy muffin texture that comes with the perfect cinnamon-clove-nutmeg flavor.

      I finally figured it out this year. Why not make BOTH recipes, at the same time. The recipes call for almost all of the same ingredients, so I set up two different bowls (and tried not to forget which one was which) and mixed away!  Now you may be thinking, what am I going to do with 3 dozen cookies AND 3 dozen muffins, but have no fear, somehow five people can devour these in (I’m embarrassed to tell you) ….a week.  I wasn’t lying when I said we were excited to kiss bathing suit season goodbye.

      Pumpkin Muffins (or Bread)

      • 3 cups white sugar
      • 2 tsp baking soda
      • ½ tsp baking powder
      • 1 ½ tsp salt
      • 1 tsp ground cloves
      • 1 tsp nutmeg
      • 1 tsp cinnamon
      • 3 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
      • 4 eggs
      • 1 cup vegetable oil
      • 2 cups canned pumpkin
      • 1 cup water
      1. Preheat oven to 350F. Sift first 8 ingredients, then add eggs, oil, pumpkin and water. Mix with beater. Bake for 15-20 minutes for muffins or 1 ½ hours for 9 x 5 loaf. Makes approx. 3 dozen muffins.

      Fun tip: If you have different muffin pan shapes, these are VERY versatile. I have used both a muffin top pan and a mini muffin pan and they both turn out great. Just make sure to spray the pan if you aren’t using a liner!

      Libby’s Old Fashioned Soft Pumpkin Cookies

      • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
      • 1 tsp baking soda
      • 1 tsp baking powder
      • 1 tsp cinnamon
      • ½ tsp ground nutmeg
      • ½ tsp cloves
      • ½ tsp salt
      • ½ cup butter, softened
      • 1 ½ cups white sugar
      • 1 cup canned pumpkin
      • 1 egg
      • 1 tsp vanilla
      • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
      1. Preheat oven to 350F. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, set aside.
      2. In large mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla, beat until light and creamy.
      3. Gradually add dry ingredients until well blended.
      4. Drop rounded tablespoons onto cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool on racks. Makes 3 dozen cookies.

      Helpful Tip: If you are wary of overloading your kitchen with pumpkin,  you can refrigerate  dough up to 3 days or freeze up to 3 weeks.

      Tagged baking, chocolate chip, cookies, fall, muffins, pumpkin, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin muffins
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