Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies are a standby in our household. We make a batch every few weeks, when we get a hankering for something sweet. They are easy and quick, and mostly use ingredients that are always around. The recipe is minimally adapted from one in the manual for our Kitchenaid mixer.

Note that your butter should be left out at room temperature for about an hour before you start.

Start by creaming 8 oz softened butter (2 sticks; see above) with 1 cup sugar and 1 cup brown sugar. This means that you beat it with the paddle until it gets creamy and smooth. Reduce the speed on the mixer and add, one at a time, 2 eggs and 2 tsp vanilla extract, mixing until combined. Stop the mixer and combine 3 cups flour with 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp salt. Start the mixer on 'stir' speed, and slowly add the flour mixture, continuing to mix until combined. Then add 12 oz (1 bag) chocolate chips, and mix just long enough to disperse them evenly through the dough.

Line 3 cookie sheets with parchment paper, and scoop 1 tsp of dough per cookie, spaced 2 inches apart. Bake at 375 F in a preheated oven for 9-11 minutes, until just starting to brown. Remove immediately from the sheet to a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy with a large glass of cold milk!

Metric Info: 8 oz = 225g; 1 cup = 240 ml; 3 cups = 710 ml; 12 oz = 340g; 2 inches = 5 cm; 375 F = 190 C.

Chocolate Mousse with Cointreau

This I made for dessert last weekend. It is very easy to make, but is much more convenient if you have a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, as there is a lot of beating to be done.

Start by melting 1/2 oz butter with 3.5 oz good-quality dark chocolate in a double boiler. If you do not have an actual double boiler, you can make one with a metal bowl and a small saucepan. Put about an inch of water in the pan and set the bowl on top with the chocolate and butter in it. Bring the water almost to a simmer and stir the mixture until it melts and blends together. Once you reach this point, carefully remove the bowl from the pan (it will be hot) and set it aside to cool slightly.

Next, separate 2 eggs. Measure out 2 oz sugar. Put the 2 yolks in the bowl of your mixer. Pour in most of the sugar (reserve a small amount for the whites) and add a splash of Cointreau. Beat with the whisk attachment until light and creamy. Remove to another bowl; clean your mixer bowl and beaters. Add the melted chocolate mixture slowly to your yolks, folding it in with a spatula.

Put your 2 whites in the clean mixer bowl. Beat until they start to firm up, then stream in the remaining sugar and continue to beat until you see stiff peaks. Pour a little of the chocolate mixture onto the whites, folding it in. Next, fold the whites back into the rest of the chocolate mixture. Clean your mixer bowl and beaters.

Put 1/2 cup cold heavy or whipping cream into your mixer bowl. Beat until thickened (but do not go too far or you will make butter!). Fold the cream into the egg-chocolate mix. Pour into small glasses or bowls and chill in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours until set. Enjoy! Serves 2.

Note 1 - This is a raw egg product. Use the best freshest eggs you can get your hands on and keep them clean. The very young, the elderly and the immunocompromised should avoid this.

Note 2 - Grand Marnier or Triple Sec can be substituted for Cointreau.

Note 3 - Metric Info: 1/2 oz = 14g; 3.5 oz = 100g; 2 oz = 55g; 1/2 cup = 120 ml.

Quick Homemade Brownies

We were feeling like something sweet to eat the other night. We were fresh out of junk food, after deciding to live the organic life. Don't get me wrong - unhealthy food is fine, it should just be simple, preferably homemade and not processed...

So, at 10 pm, not wanting to go to the store, this is what I found in 'The Good Housekeeping Cookbook' (they call them Cocoa Brownies):

Mix together 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup cocoa (unsweetened), 1/4 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt.
Melt 4 oz butter in a large pan over low heat. Switch off the heat, and move the pan aside if using an electric stove. Whisk in 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract, the flour mixture and lastly 4 oz crushed walnuts.

Pour the 'batter' into a pre-greased 9 inch square cake pan and bake in a preheated oven at 350 F for 25 minutes. A toothpick pushed into the mix should have a little crumb attached to it still. Allow to cool before cutting and eating. We found them best the next day, after leaving them in the fridge overnight. As you can tell from the picture, they went fast.

I like this recipe because it is almost as easy as box brownies, but you know what goes into it, and, if you have a reasonably well-stocked kitchen, you should have everything you need. If not, the ingredients are easy to find...

Note 1 - Makes a small batch - 16 very small brownies. If you want to do more, you could double the recipe. If you use the same pan, you will need to bake them a little longer, as they will be thicker.

Note 2 - Use the best cocoa you have/can find. I used Ghirardelli, and think it made a difference over a generic brand.

Note 3 - Thanks to Brad G. for the inspiration.

Note 4 - Although I didn't, the walnuts would probably have benefited from being toasted before adding them to the mix.

Note 5 - Metric info: 1/2 cup = 120 ml; 4 oz = 110g; 1 cup = 240 ml; 9 in = 23 cm; 350 F = 175 C.

Milk Chocolate Malt Ice Cream

I received a Cuisinart ice cream maker for Christmas, and I opened it up yesterday to make one of my favorite ice creams, from Simon Hopkinson's excellent 'Roast Chicken and Other Stories.' I love this cookbook.

The night before, freeze the bowl of your ice cream maker. The next day, whisk 6 egg yolks with 2 oz malted milk powder until thick (a Kitchenaid-style stand mixer is very useful here). Meanwhile, scald (bring to just below a boil) a mixture of 1 cup heavy cream and 1 cup milk in a saucepan. Remove from heat and drizzle slowly into the egg mixture while whisking (this is called 'tempering'). Return this mixture to the saucepan and heat gently until it starts to thicken (be careful - you do not want it to boil or the yolks will scramble!), then remove from heat and whisk in 7 oz milk chocolate (broken into squares) until melted. Cool, stir in 1.5 tbsp Bailey's and churn in the ice cream maker until it starts to solidify. Transfer to freezer for a few hours before eating.

This is the best chocolate ice cream I have eaten. I use Cadbury's Dairy Milk for the chocolate - not the best chocolate in the world but good, and with a distinct flavor, and I have found it works better here than more expensive brands like Callebaut.

This recipe is one of the easiest ice cream recipes to make, because the chocolate thickens the 'batter', meaning that you don't have to spend so long trying to thicken it with the yolks. I find that in the process of trying to thicken egg yolk-cream mixtures I often take them too far and scramble the egg, at which point I have to start over...

Two cups of Half and half can be substituted for the cream and milk mixture, if you like.