Dark Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Warning: If you bake these cookies for family or friends, they may beg you incessantly to make them again.

I baked these to bring for the worship team, childcare workers, and staff at my church yesterday. I got lots of compliments! These really just came out of a desire to bake and I used whatever I had in my pantry. These cookies were totally gobbled up and described as "ridiculous". Not really sure what that means, but I think that's good!

I have to give all the credit to Jenny over at Picky Palate. I used her recipe for Send Me to the Milky Way cookies as my "base", and just added whatever I had in the pantry as mix-ins. It always works out great and yields a delicious, chewy cookie. Feel free to experiment with this recipe yourself!

A few more tips... I always underbake my cookies a little bit by using the minimum time given in the recipe. They will look "doughy" in the center, but after they sit on the cooling rack for it bit, they become the perfect consistency (at least to me). Finally, my last "secret" is really good vanilla. I swear by it, and it makes the biggest difference in all of my baked goods.

Dark Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Cookie base recipe adapted from Picky Palate

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks softened butter
• ¾ Cup sugar
• ¾ Cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 ¾ Cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt (you may want to cut this to 1/4 if your macadamias are salted like mine were)
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chocolate chunks (I used Guittard semi sweet chips and Nestle Chocolate Chunks, since that's what I had in my pantry)
• 1 cup chopped salted Macadamia nuts
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer cream the butter and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined, scraping edges with a spatula. In a separate large bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with the chocolate and nuts.

2. With a medium cookie scoop, scoop onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until cooked to your preference. Let cool for 2 minutes on baking sheet then transfer to a cooling rack.

January Daring Bakers Challenge: Vanilla Tuiles with Lemon Mousse Filling & Raspberry Peach Drizzle

I am so excited to post my very first Daring Bakers Challenge! I actually joined last month, but was unable to complete the challenge due to some unforseen circumstances.

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day! and Zorra at 1x unruhren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angelique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

I loved this challenge! It was a great one for a first, because it was simple, easy, and fun. It was also the first time I had made tuiles (pronounced "tweels"). Traditionally, tuiles are thin, crisp almond cookies that are gently molded over a rolling pin or arched form while they are still warm. Tuiles can be sweet or savory, so the possibilities with these are truly endless! If you are having some dinner guests over and need an impressive looking dessert, this one would be great to try.

But enough rambling, on to the recipe!

Vanilla Tuiles with Lemon Mousse Filling & Raspberry Peach Drizzle

Basic Vanilla Tuiles Ingredients:

65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)
60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)
2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
65 grams / 1/2 cup / 2.3 ounces sifted all purpose flour
1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice
Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix.Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly.Bake butterflies in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from baking sheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. (Haven’t tried that). Or: place a bakingsheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable.If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones.

Lemon Mousse Ingredients:

1/2 cup lemon juice
1 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1 egg
6 tablespoons butter, diced
3/4 cup heavy cream, whipped

Directions:

In a large, heavy bottomed stainless steel saucepan combine the lemon juice, sugar, egg yolks, egg, and butter. Over medium-high heat, whisk the mixture constantly until thickened. Strain it through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl set over ice and chill, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened. Fold in the whipped cream, wrap with plastic wrap and chill until ready to use.


Raspberry Peach Drizzle Ingredients:

1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam (I used Smuckers Simply Fruit)
1 good glug Peach Schnapps (you can also substitute peach nectar)

Directions:

Combine ingredients in a small bowl, and put in the microwave for 5-10 seconds, just enough to melt the jam a little bit. Stir to combine. Pour the mixture into a small plastic baggie, and snip a small piece of the corner off to make a piping bag. Use to decorate the plate and the tuiles after they are assembled.

Tuile Assembly Directions:

1. First, prepare your tuile batter and refrigerate.

2. While the batter is in the fridge, prepare your lemon mousse. Please note that it is very important to use a stainless steel bowl (I used my stainless steel bain marie) since you are working with eggs. If you do not have a stainless steel saucepan, I would cook the lemon juice/sugar mixture until the sugar dissolves, and use a little bit of that warm mixture to temper your eggs before adding them in. Otherwise, you'll end up with scrambled eggs in your mousse, which is what happened to me the first time.

3. Bake your tuiles. I used a sheet of parchment paper, and traced around a coffee cup to use as a guide. Then, I spread on my batter in a very thin, very even layer. I only baked two at a time, because after these things come out of the oven, they firm up quick and you want them to stay malleable. I used the handles of my pizza cutter and vegetable peeler to shape them around.

4. Once your tuiles are baked and shaped, fill them with lemon mousse using a piping bag or plastic baggie with corner snipped off.

5. Put them on a plate, then prepare your raspberry drizzle and drizzle over the tuiles.

6. Serve and enjoy!

These are wonderfully tart, sweet, and yummy. Raspberry and lemon is always a great combination!

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

These cookies are simply delicious. The macadamia nuts and white chocolate are perfect with the buttery vanilla flavor of the cookie. The secret is to use a really, really good quality vanilla. Trust me, it makes all the difference! I also always bake my cookies for the minimum time given on the recipe. They always come out perfectly golden brown and chewy that way. Make these cookies today... your friends and family will thank you!

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoons baking soda
10 ounces white chocolate chips
1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped into chunks

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 F. In large bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt with electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs, beat well. Stir together flour, and the baking soda; gradually add to butter mixture,beating until well blended. Stir in white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. (Edges are golden brown and center is set.) Cool slightly, remove from cookie sheet to wire rack to cool completely.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

I found this recipe by way of the LiveJournal community bakebakebake. It is courtesy of the community member spracker, so all credit for this absolutely delicious and perfect fall treat goes to her. I did, however, run into one small problem. No one here had heard of whoopie pies! I had, maybe because I peruse cookbooks and food blogs online for hours at a time, or maybe because I tend to watch exhorbatant amounts of Food Network, but no one at the Halloween party I went to knew what they were and snickered at the name. So, of course, I turned to my trusty friend Wikipedia to find out the origin of the Whoopie Pie.

"A whoopie pie, sometimes alternatively called a gob, black-and-white, or bob is a baked good traditional to the Pennsylvania Dutch culture as well as New England, made of two small, chocolate, disk-shaped cakes with a sweet, creamy frosting sandwiched between them. In Western Pennsylvania they are known as "gobs." They are popular both as a simple dessert or as a snack food. They can be purchased wrapped in plastic at Amish farmers' markets throughout Pennsylvania, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio and are often found in restaurants and gift shops throughout Pennsylvania Dutch Country. They can also be found in most convenience stores and supermarkets throughout New England, most commonly in the states of Maine and Massachusetts, and in some convenience marts and supermarkets in New York as well as in Quincy Market located in Boston, Massachusetts. As one of the most common delicacies of the cuisine, recipes for whoopie pies are almost always included in Pennsylvania Dutch cookbooks. They can be found elsewhere throughout in the United States in various restaurants and bakeries, although uncommon." - courtesy of wikipedia.com

So, there it is. Now you know. No wonder no one down here in Alabama knew what they were! And, of course, I have no picture (again) for this recipe. I was in a hurry and had to make them for a Halloween party my husband and I were attending. But I thought they turned out really, really well! The cake was very moist and had just the right amount of spice and pumpkin flavor; and the cream middle was just sweet enough. I think this one will surely be added to my repetoire and be made again!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Cake Ingredients

• 1/2 15oz can of pumpkin
• 1/3 C softened unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 package spice cake mix
• 1/2 C milk Parchment paper for lining the baking sheet

Directions

In a large bowl, beat pumpkin and butter until smooth. Add spice cake mix, eggs, milk, and beat at a low speed until combined for 1 minute. Use a spoon or mini ice cream scoop to ladle batter, about 3 inches apart on a lined cookie sheet. Bake at 375 until lightly browned around the edges (about 15 minutes). Cool the cakes on the parchment paper so they do not become sticky.

Spiced Cream Cheese Filling Ingredients

• 1/2 C softened unsalted butter
• 8oz package cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 1/2 of a 7oz jar marsmallow creme
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Directions

Mix dry ingredients in small bowl. In mixing bowl, beat butter until smooth, add cream cheese and marshmallow creme and continue beating. Add dry ingredients, a little at a time, mixing until smooth. The longer you mix it the more fluffy you will get. I suggest 5 minutes minimum. Spread filling on the flat half of one cake, and top with another cake to make a sandwich. You may end up with extra filling. Just a tip - It's great spread on gingersnaps and banana bread too!