2-16-2011 C is for Cookie!

No cooking going on in the Hock house tonight! We went to Aderet, the kosher cafe located at Alpha and Preston. On a scale of 1-10 I am going to give tonight's dinner a 7. The best thing we had was the chicken schnitzelonim, which is basically chicken schnitzel fingers. It was served with a yummy mayonaise sauce that I'm sure was not very healthy. Hubby and I both had overly salty hamburgers and great crispy french fries. The kids loved their chicken nuggets and fries, hard to go wrong there. Dinner was a giant cholesterol fest for all of us. The food came out quickly, and the service was good.  Everyone left happy.

C is for cookie, and cookie is for me, yum yum yum!  That is the song I have stuck in my head from the Sesame Street toy my son was playing with. I was wanting to post a recipe or 2 tonight, so, as I was trying to think of what to post, that song reminded me of cookies. I know a lot of you out there love the convenience of slice and bake cookies, but there is nothing like homemade ones.

Everyone is always asking me to make them chocolate chip cookies. Before I had kids, and had extra time on my hands, I used to go to our Shul on Fridays and help prepare lunch for Shabbat. I was always assigned the task of making chocolate chip cookies. I would diligently bake as many as I could, although it seemed there were never enough. After I baked them, I would secretly hide them away, otherwise there would be none left come dessert time on Saturday.

Another time I baked some of these cookies for a friend's birthday party. At the end of the party, I kindly decided to give the few leftover cookies to her housekeeper. My friend got so mad at me, it was as if I had given away her prized posession.  I learned my lesson after that!

You will be suprised to know that this famous chocolate chip cookie recipe is nothing more than from the back of a Tollhouse Chocolate Chips package.

Here is Lee Hock's take on Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies, this version is Parve (dairy free):

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) margarine (for meat meals), softened, (I prefer either Earth Balance or Fleishmans)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Parve Chocolate Chips (Whole foods has semi-sweet chips in a green package that are very good)

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat margarine, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in flour mixture in 2 or 3 parts, do not overmix, mix until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Hard to believe this, but I prefer oatmeal raisin cookies over chocolate chip cookies (who ever heard of such a thing!). My mom is allergic to chocolate, so she would always bake oatmeal raisin cookies. I really enjoy a good chewy oatmeal raisin cookie. Here is a recipe for parve oatmeal raisin cookies. If you would like to make them dairy, just substitute the margarine for butter. Also you can vary these cookies by using dried cranberries or even yellow raisins.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 cup margarine

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed 

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups Quicker Quaker Oats or 3 cups Old-Fashioned Quaker oats, uncooked

1 cup raisins

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream together margarine and sugars.

 Add the eggs and vanilla, mix until well combined.

In a seperate bowl mix together flour, salt, and baking soda.

Add flour mixture to margarine mixture, and mix until just combined, add the oats, mix until just combined, add the raisin, mix until just combined.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or silpat.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown especially on the edges. I would watch the first batch you put in the oven, if you overbake them even slightly, they will not be chewy. 

Let cool on baking sheet a few minutes, remove from sheet and put on a cooling rack.

***Last Tips: There are 3 things I think are a must for baking cookies.

1. A cookie scoop: looks like an ice cream scooper but is smaller. Definitely can be found at Acemart (see yesterday's post) for a good price, although I am sure William's Sonoma, and Sur La Table carry it

2. Good quality cookie or baking sheets, I bought mine at Acemart, they have the same ones at the fancy stores above, but they are double the price or more. Here is a link to the Acemart website, so you will know what to ask for when you go there:

http://www.acemart.com/prod8280.html

it is called a Bun Pan, and you prob want half size

3. Parchment Paper or Silpat: this helps the cookies not stick to the baking sheet. I bought a huge roll of parchment at Cosctco, it lasted a long time!

You can find Silpats at the fancy places listed above, or Bed Bath and Beyond, make sure you buy the correct size to fit your baking sheet

If you do decide to bake some cookies from scratch like the ones above, I am sure your family will thank you. Good luck! Talk to you tomorrow.

Pin It