Friday, May 18, 2012

Taste Test

Yesterday I took a box of cookies to the OSU Home-economist for some feedback on the batch of cookies I'd made that morning. I had added 2/3 cup of old fashioned oatmeal to the recipe and only used half the amount of chocolate chips. The Home-economist called me today and said the cookies were a little dry. So next time I make them I'll use only half the amount of oat meal. I like cookies that are crisp but not dry. So it's back to the drawing board for the evolution of my Chocolate Chip Cookie. And more walks for me. I sample too many of them. Next time I will have to chop up the chocolate chips because they are too large and they clump together according to the Home-economist. I appreciate her help so much. They are my new taste testers. Thank you ladies at the OSU County Extension Office. Oh, and thank you at the Entz Attorney's office for being taste testers. Next batch I make I'll be sure to take some to your office.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

#7 Chocolate Chip Buckwheat Cookies

Developed on October 4, 2009

Wet ingredients:

•2 sticks softened Smart Balance Butter
•1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar packed firmly
•1/4 Cup Turbinado Sugar
•2 Tablespoon Vanilla
•2 large eggs
Combine the sugars, butter, vanilla, eggs, and milk in a large mixer and beat until smooth & creamy. Beat on medium speed. Scrape sides of the bowl & beaters.

Dry ingredients:
Sift together
•1 Cup Buckwheat Flour from Arrowhead Mills
•1/4 Cup 100% Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour from Bob's Red Mill
•1/4 Cup Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour from Bob's Red Mill
•1/2 teaspoon sea salt
•1 teaspoon baking soda

Sift together and add 1/4 cup flour mixture at a time to the butter and sugar mixture. Mix well after each addition and scrape the bowl and beaters after each addition.

•Add 12 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips or Hershey's Dark Chocolate Chips. I like the Hershey's Dark Chocolate Chips the best. They melt better, have a richer flavor and are healthier for you. If you want to be healthier you might use a chocolate that has 60% or more cocoa. If you use a dark chocolate baking bar you need to break the bar into small pieces before adding it to the mixture.

•Add 2/3 Cup Old Fashioned Oatmeal
•Add 1/2 Cup chopped pecans or walnuts.
Mix well. Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper. Spoon cookie mix on parchment paper about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake at 350° for about 9 minutes.

My notes on the recipe card state: (This recipe had a good flavor but the cookies were too soggy. I need to cook longer or use less butter or more flour. Buckwheat flour.)

While typing this recipe for this blog I think the problem of sogginess was caused by the use of the Smart Balance Stick Butter. It may have too much moisture in it. I'm not sure because it has been nearly two years since I worked on this recipe. If I were to change something on this recipe I would start with a little less Smart Balance. Possibly 1 2/3 sticks of Smart Balance. Then if it were still too soggy I would use only 1 teaspoon Vanilla. I see that I used 2 Tablespoons Vanilla when I made the recipe and that's too much moisture.

I want to try this recipe again and change those two things. Just making small changes to a recipe can be the start of a whole new recipe and a totally different flavor and texture.

Hope you try one of these recipes and even make your own changes just to see what happens. It could be the start of something really good.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

#6 Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Developed on August 26, 2009

Wet ingredients:

•2 sticks softened salted butter (I prefer Braums butter.)
•1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar packed firmly
•1/4 Cup Turbinado Sugar
•1 Tablespoon Vanilla
•2 large eggs
•2 Tablespoons Vanilla Silk Soy Milk
(I have developed intestinal cramping and it's possible it's from using soy. I have changed to Almond Milk. I haven't tried the Almond Milk in this recipe but can't see why it would make a difference in the texture of the cookie. If your not allergic to cows milk then use it instead if you wish.)

Combine the sugars, butter, vanilla, eggs, and milk in a large mixer and beat until smooth & creamy. Beat on medium speed. Scrape sides of the bowl & beaters.

Dry ingredients:
Sift together
•1/2 Cup Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour
•1/2 Cup Buckwheat Flour
•1 Cup Organic Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
•1/2 teaspoon sea salt
•1 teaspoon baking soda

Sift together and add 1/4 cup flour mixture at a time to the butter and sugar mixture. Mix well after each addition and scrape the bowl and beaters after each addition.

•Add 12 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips or Hershey's Dark Chocolate Chips. I like the Hershey's Dark Chocolate Chips the best. They melt better, have a richer flavor and are healthier for you. If you want to be healthier you might use a chocolate that has 60% or more cocoa. If you use a dark chocolate baking bar you need to break the bar into small pieces before adding it to the mixture.

•Add 1/2 Cup chopped pecans or walnuts.

Bake at 375° for about 9 minutes.

Monday, May 9, 2011

#5 Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Wet ingredients:

2 Sticks softened salted butter
1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Turbinado Sugar
1 Tab. Vanilla
2 large eggs
2 Tab. milk

Combine the sugar, butter, eggs & vanilla in the large bowl of the mixer and beat until creamy and smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl.

Dry ingredients:

1/2 Cup Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup Buckwheat Flour
1 Cup Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon soda

Sift together the flour, soda, and salt. Add this mixture 1/4 cup at a time to the wet mixture. Beat well after each addition and scrape the sides of the bowl.

Add:
1 1/2 Cups Old Fashioned Oatmeal
1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans
12 oz. Chocolate Chips

Stir the oatmeal, pecans, and chocolate chips into the cookie dough using a spoon. I do this to keep from having to clean the beaters of oatmeal.

Bake at 375° on a greased cookie sheet until light brown. Place on a wire cake rack to cool. Store in airtight container.

Monday, March 28, 2011

#4 Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I developed this recipe on 5-14-2009

Wet Ingredients:
1 1/2 sticks softened butter = 1 cup butter
(I like to use Braum's butter. It doesn't leave a strange taste like other butters.)
1/4 cup applesauce
1 cup dark brown sugar firmly packed

1/4 cup Turbinado Sugar


1 Tbsp. Vanilla
2 large eggs

In a large mixer bowl beat butter & sugar until smooth. Add vanilla & eggs one at a time. Beat well after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl each time.

Dry Ingredients:
Sift together
1/2 cup Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup Buckwheat Flour
1 cup Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Sea Salt

Add flour mixture 1/4 cup at a time to the sugar & butter mixture. Beat well after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl after each addition.
Add:
1 1/2 cups Old Fashioned Oatmeal

1/2 cup chopped pecans
1-12 oz. package semi-sweet chocolate chips

Bake 350° on greased cookie sheet. I hit the cookie sheet on the oven rack during the cooking process in order to flatten the cookies a little. I like thin, crisp cookies.

I chose to use Buckwheat Flour after reading that it is one of the best sources of protein in the plant kingdom. Each 1/4 cup has 4grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber, zero grams of sugar, and 8 calories from fat. I buy my Buckwheat Flour at the health food store. I've used the Hodgson Mills and it's really good. I love to use it in cookies, pancakes, and waffles.

"
Substitute buckwheat flour in the place of any other kinds of flour for recipes that don't require that the flour rise, like biscuits, muffins or cookies. Keep in mind though that buckwheat has a very different taste than white or wheat flour. This will slightly change the flavor of your baked product.

Buckwheat has great health benefits. The substitution of buckwheat flour has been proven to lower cholesterol, high blood pressure and blood sugar.

If you want to use buckwheat because of gluten intolerance then make sure to note where the buckwheat was processed. Many facilities that grind buckwheat into flour use the same machinery to grind wheat flour as well."

Read more: How to Bake With Buckwheat eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2155044_bake-buckwheat.html#ixzz1HsXzBR3Z

Monday, March 21, 2011

#3. Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Developed on 3-14-2009
Pre-heat oven to 350 °
Wet Ingredients:
2 sticks softened butter
1 cup dark brown sugar firmly packed
1/4 cup Turbinado sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 large eggs

Combine sugar, butter, eggs & vanilla in a large mixer bowl and beat until creamy and smooth. Scraping the sides and re-mixing.

Dry Ingredients:
1/2 cup Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup Buckwheat Flour
1 cup Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Combine all the dry ingredients and sift together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients 1/4 cup at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Combine all the dry and wet ingredients thoroughly.

Add 1 1/2 cup Old Fashioned Oatmeal.
Beat until incorporated. Scrape sides of bowl.

Add one 12 oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips and stir with a spoon. I like to use a spoon with this step because the chips are hard to remove from the beater.

Bake on lightly greased cookie sheet. I used Crisco Buttery Spray to grease the cookie sheet.

Bake at 350° for about 9 minutes. Mid way through the baking process I open the oven door and bang the cookie sheet on the oven rack to flatten the cookies. When finished cooking to your liking remove from the oven and place on a wire cooling rack. Then enjoy hot or cold or any where in between.

This cookie tastes wonderful hot.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

#2. Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made this cookie recipe on 3-6-2009
Pre-heat oven to 350 °
Combine in large bowl of mixer:
2 sticks butter softened
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup Turbinado Sugar
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
2 large eggs

Combine all the above ingredients in mixer and beat until smooth.

Sift Together:
1 cup 100% stone ground whole wheat flour
1/2 cup Buckwheat flour
1/2 cup Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Sift dry ingredient together.
Add dry ingredients one cup at a time to the wet ingredients.
Beat after each addition.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and re-mix.

ADD:
2 cups Old Fashioned Oatmeal
1-12oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips

Bake 350° oven
Lightly grease the cookie sheet. Cookies don't spread out much so I bang the cookie sheet on the oven rack during cooking to flatten them a bit.
Bake cookies until the desired brownness.
When finished baking place cookies on a cookie rack to cool.
Great taste.