May 20, 2010 Posted by Jennifer on May 20, 2010 in cookies | 6 comments

Momofuku Milk Bar’s Compost Cookie

As many parents out there know, the last few weeks of school for your kids (and you!) is super busy. I’m the co-chair of the 8th grade dance committee (the dance is this weekend), there are t-ball games, practices, field trips to remember, gifts for teachers etc… I have about a million things going on right now and then I get an e-mail at work yesterday…

“Don’t forget you volunteered to make dessert for the teacher appreciation luncheon on Thursday!”

My heart sank. What? How can I possibly add one more thing to my list! But then again, I know why I volunteered way back then is because it involved baking!! And I love to bake!

So what is Momofuku Milk Bar’s Compost Cookie?

Momofuku is a noodle bar in New York, it’s really popular and now they have 2 restaurants that serve desserts called Momofuku’s Milk Bar. I had never heard of Momofuku in my life until a few weeks ago, I heard it on the Food TV channel. Then I read about it in Restaurant News and then I read a little blurb in Bon Appetit magazine where the magazine asked people what their favorite food was and one person said “The compost cookie from Momofuku’s milk bar is the best cookie I’ve ever eaten!”

Huh!! I had to google it to get more information. I found a recipe that another blogger wrote about it at Amateur Gourmet. Apparently on the Regis and Kelly show they posted the recipe on their site for all to see!

This is the version I made. It’s basically your chocolate chip cookie recipe except you can add multiple kinds of candy/chocolate/pretzels, potato chips, cocoa krispies, etc…

Another version I read about (but never found a recipe for) also added the above but also added ground coffee and oatmeal and butterscotch chips to the mix as well.

Since I was baking for the teachers, I threw all healthy ideas out of my head and decided to make these to see what all the rage was. I won’t lie, I did try one and the combo of the saltiness from the pretzels and the chocolate was pretty awesome.

The Amateur Gourmet had 77 comments and I read all of them. As with any baking, there are a lot of variables involved, some people’s cookies turned out great, some became one flat cookie.

I did follow 2 really important rules. You mix the sugars and butter for a whole 10 minutes AND you definitely have to chill the batter for at least an hour.

So, with out further ado, here is the recipe!

The Momofuku Milk Bar Compost Cookie
recipe by Christina Tosi
(Courtesy of Regis & Kelly’s website)

Ingredients:

1 cup butter (that’s two sticks, unsalted)
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 Tbsp corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour ( I made it 2 cups of flour)
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsps Kosher salt
1 1/2 cups your favorite baking ingredients (options: chocolate chips, Raisenettes, Rollos, Cocoa Krispies)( I used chocolate chips, butter scotch chips, heath chips)
1 1/2 cups your favorite snack foods (chips, pretzels, etc.) ( I used pretzels and rice Krispies).

In a stand mixer place the butter, sugars, and corn syrup and blend for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides with a spatula.

On a lower speed, add the eggs and vanilla extract

Increase the mixing speed to medium-high (I had it on number 4) for 10 minutes. I’ve never beaten the beginning of cookies that long before in my life. What you end up with is fluffy white batter that looks like a cloud!

After the 10 minutes is over on a lower speed add the flour and baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Mix for only about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides again with a spatula.

Next add whatever your favorite baking ingredients are (I used butterscotch chips, a few heath chips, chocolate chips).

Mix only for about 20 seconds or so.

Then add your favorite snack foods (it could be potato chips, fritos, pretzels, etc.) Mix again only for about 20 seconds.

Now after reading all the comments, I did a few things. The person who posted the recipe made 6 oz. cookies. I used my melon baller and it turned out to be only 1 oz. These cookies spread, so make sure you leave space between cookies. I added another 1/4 cup of flour to the recipe, because some people reported that their cookies turned out really flat.

Bake at 375 for about 9 minutes. Set your timer for 7 minutes and when it starts to brown evenly on the cookies, take them out. There is a fine line between perfect and burnt.

You also have to let these cool on the cookie sheet for several minutes so they set. If you try to take them off too early, they will break.

So, the good news is, I tried one and the rest are leaving my house tomorrow morning headed to school!

Have any of you tried these cookies?

There are 2 Momofuku’s Milk Bar locations, one in midtown, and the other one is in the East Village, so if you are lucky enough to live in New York, maybe you’ve had the real thing!

Apr 9, 2010 Posted by Jennifer on Apr 9, 2010 in cookies, diabetic, News | 7 comments

Cookie experiment – and it worked!

I’ve had this cookbook for a long time now, but more recently I’ve been reading it. I never knew just how informational this book actually is! Well last night I wanted to make chocolate chip cookies for my kids lunches and I used his recipe, which is pretty much the same as the tollhouse cookie recipe. So, I got the butter out, put the brown sugar and sugar in and started to mix. I went to the fridge to get the eggs, but guess what? I had no eggs! Rats! I looked at the clock. It was 9:00 p.m., I was in my jammies…should I just put my raincoat on and run out? No, I didn’t have that much energy. Then I remembered my fried Celine who is Vegan and has a great blog called Have Cake Will Travel. I didn’t need eggs…I had ground flax seed! Did you know that a lot of Vegans use ground flax seed in place of eggs? I had read before that in place of one egg, you can use 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed mixed with 3 tablespoons warm water. So, in place of 2 eggs, I measured out 2 tablespoons of the ground flax seed and 6 tablespoons of warm water.

I continued adding the rest of the ingredients and the batter looked just like it should have. I put the batter on the cookie sheet and set my timer for 7 minutes. I have a very unreliable oven, so I always go low in case they get burned! Well, when the timer went off, I opened the oven and the cookies were…ummm….flat and crispy! Hmmm…what to do. I hate wasting batter, so I added some more flour and tried again. This time they were a little better, but I decided to add even more flour and try a third time. Well, the third time was a charm! They turned out just like regular cookies, and you never would have known there were no eggs in the batter!

Basic Chocolate Chip cookies adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground flax seed mixed with 6 tablespoons warm water
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips

Mix the butter and sugar together. In a small bowl, add the ground flax seed and water and stir together. Add that to the butter and sugar mixture and add the rest of the ingredients until combined.

My oven is weird, but these were done at 7-8 minutes at 375, but you oven might be more normal and it could go up to 10 minutes.

My family loved these! So, even if you don’t have all the ingredients you need, sometimes you can always improvise!

Have you ever used ground flax seed in place of eggs in recipes??

Jan 21, 2010 Posted by Jennifer on Jan 21, 2010 in cookies, Muffin of the Week, News | 12 comments

Banana chocolate chip muffins

Every month at my office, we celebrate birthdays/anniversary’s. I almost always bake something, and even though I’ve made banana chocolate chip muffins I wanted to make a different version.

So I googled “banana muffins” and this recipe was the first one to pop up and it sounded great, so I went with it! It’s from a site called Simply Recipes.

INGREDIENTS
3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tbsp espresso or strong coffee (optional) * I didn’t use that
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup of flour
1 cup chopped walnuts (toasted or raw) * No nuts for me!

Directions:

No need for a mixer with this recipe.

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.
2 Mix in the sugar, egg, espresso (if using) and vanilla.
3 Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in.
4 Add the flour, mix until it is just incorporated. Fold in the chopped walnuts (if using).
5 Pour mixture into a prepared muffin tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Makes 12 muffins.

I actually used bananas that were frozen in my freezer. I defrosted them, but they were still pretty cold and I wasn’t sure if it would make the batter too mushy, but it didn’t at all!
Christina, you have to make these, since I know you have bananas in your freezer right now!!

I doubled the recipe to make 24 and they were gone very fast!

My next baking experience didn’t turn so hot! I made chocolate chip cookies and even though I followed the directions, this is how they turned out!

It was like one GIANT cookie! WTF? So I added more flour to the rest of the batter, and the next ones turned out fine. I hate when that happens! One of my sons actually liked the flat ones because they were super chewy. They were pretty gross!

Have a super day!

Dec 3, 2009 Posted by Jennifer on Dec 3, 2009 in cookies, holiday foods, News, potluck | 7 comments

Jenn’s Everything but the kitchen sink cookies

As Christmas is coming super fast I am starting to make a list of gifts for teachers/the crossing guard/and after school staff. I usually just make something. Last year I made home made chocolate covered pretzels (with sprinkles by my daughter!)

This year I am just making a ton of cookies and I varied my usual recipe so I wanted to test it out last night.

This recipe believe it or not is based off a recipe on my bag of flour!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks of butter or margarine
1 tsp. vanilla
1 large egg
2 cups quick cooking oats (which I smashed in zip lock bag with a rolling pin)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
6 TB. chocolate chips (chopped to make it seem like there is more!)
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup ground flax seed

In a big mixing bowl, beat the brown sugar and butter until smooth. Add the egg and beat again. Add the rest of the ingredients until its all combined. I put 11 cookies on each cookie sheet. These don’t spread a lot, so its ok if they are close together.

Bake for about 10 minutes or until they are lightly browned on the top.

Leave on the cookie sheet for a good 5 minutes before taking them off. They are super soft right out of the oven.

Once cooled I melted a little Chocolate Flavored Almond Bark (chocolate used for making candy). It’s right next the the chocolate chips in the baking aisle. Drizzle the chocolate over the top. The best part about the Almond Bark is that it dries super quick!

This is what the package looks like:

The best part about these cookies is that they are super moist but chewy. I kind of like that vs. a crunchy cookie.

I plan to get cute cookie tins at the dollar store. They even have really cute Holiday plates that I may use as well and cover with colored saran wrap.

AND, just because I was curious, (and because I had to try one….or two!) I figured out the calories.

It made 44 cookies and each cookie was 138 calories and 8 grams of fat…. so not too bad!

Do you make/bake gifts for the Holidays to give to teachers, helpers, babysitters, etc???

Other ideas with almond bark:

You can melt a package of almond bark in a microwave safe bowl and add a bag of almonds. Stir until combined, and put a tablespoon at a time on waxed paper to make chocolate covered almonds.

You can dip pretzel rods in the chocolate and cover in sprinkles.

Take a sheet of graham crackers, and separate into 4 pieces. Take 2 pieces and put peanut butter in between, then dip in the chocolate. I make these ever Holiday and they taste like home made kit kat bars!

You can also make peppermint bark using the white chocolate variety:

2 lbs. white almond bark
1 1/2 c. crushed peppermint candy

Melt white almond bark in a microwave safe bowl until melted (about 2 minutes, stirring after each 30 seconds in the microwave). Crush either peppermint candy canes or peppermint hard candy in blender until it is powder. Meanwhile, line a cookie sheet with tin foil. Mix hard crushed candy with melted white almond bark. Spread on lined cookie sheet. Let it dry and chop into pieces.

YUM!

Jun 30, 2009 Posted by Jennifer on Jun 30, 2009 in cookies, dessert, holiday foods, kid friendly, News, party food! | 12 comments

Cookie Dough Pops

Thanks to Risa at www.bakedperfection.com who shared this great recipe for a kid friendly after dinner treat! I have been wanting to make these for the longest time, but haven’t found the time until tonight!

The best part? You don’t need to turn on the oven. And the cookie dough is made without eggs, so no worry about getting sick!

Here is what I used, adapted from Risa’s original recipe:

1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
dash cinnamon
1/2 stick of butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1-2 TB. of skim milk, until the dough comes together

I just put all the ingredients except the skim milk into my mixer and mixed for a few minutes. Maybe because I used half the butter, the batter was kind of dry, so I added a few tablespoons of skim milk and it turned out perfect!

I used wooden skewers for kabobs for the lollipop sticks

Just roll the dough into small balls and insert the sticks in them. When its complete, freeze for about 20 minutes.

I used almond bark in chocolate flavor and vanilla flavor to coat the cookie dough balls. It melts in a microwave safe bowl and once you coat the cookie dough balls, it dries very fast.

The almond bark can be found in major grocery store chains right next to the chocolate chips.

They turned out really good! The leftovers I am storing in the freezer, if one of the kids wants one, they can just set it on a plate and in a few minutes it will be softened enough to eat. Now, I know these aren’t the healthiest thing to eat, but because they are sweet, one is enough!

Thanks Risa for posting such a fun recipe, check out her site for many other great desserts!