Martha Monday: Chocolate Waffle Cookies

For this Martha Monday, please welcome back our latest guest blogger--my mom! You may remember her from such hits as Apple Pie Rugelach and Cardamom Cranberry Pear Crisp. This week she brings you the perfect recipe to finally utilize that waffle maker that's been hiding in the back of your pantry and sate the sweet tooth that's secretly been missing all of the readily-accessible holiday cookies from last month. You know it's true :) Enjoy!

Oh Martha, Martha, Martha! How you entice us to bake with your glossy photos of perfect pastries and cookies. The picture in Martha Stewart Holiday Cookies 2005 showed perfectly round Chocolate Waffle cookies. This recipe attracted me because I would get to use the waffle iron that generally just takes up space on a shelf. (A gift requested by Mr. Nelson who must have had visions of me making waffles every Sunday morning). I diligently gathered my ingredients and followed the recipe meticulously only to face the cruel reality that baking once a year will not yield the same lovely result.

One thing I hadn't considered was that waffle iron grids can be different sizes, and mine are much larger than those in the picture. Also, my batter was pretty thick and I had to scrape each scoop of batter onto the waffle iron. These cookies did not turn into perfectly round circles, and some were more amoeba-like in appearance. The directions would have you coat the grids with cooking spray each time, but mine is Teflon coated and the the cookies were easy to remove and cooked according to the directions.

When dipping the tops in chocolate they're easy to drop. While the result is a tasty accident, if it happens too often you won't have enough chocolate for all the cookies! I console myself with the thought that taste is more important than appearance and these fluffy, chocolately cookies with their touch of cinnamon are yummy and "a keeper" according to my sister. The only thing that could have improved them would have been to make them with Hilary.

Chocolate Waffle Cookies
     From Martha Stewart
     Makes about 4 dozen

3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
18 Tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups All-Purpose flour
Vegetable cooking spray
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for dusting
1 1/2 Tablespoons whole milk

1. Melt chocolate with 1 cup butter (2 sticks) in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Let cool slightly.

2. Put eggs, vanilla, and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale, 4-5 minutes. Mix in chocolate mixture, salt, cinnamon, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, and the flour.

3. Heat a waffle iron until hot. Lightly coat grids with cooking spray. Spoon about 1 Tablespoon of batter onto center of each waffle-iron square to make 1 1/2-inch rounds. Close cover, cook until set, about 1 1/2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, bottom sides up. Let cool completely. Repeat with remaining batter, coating grids with cooking spray after each batch.

4. Melt remaining 2 Tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add confectioners' sugar and remaining 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder; stir until smooth. Stir in milk.

5. Gently dip surface of each cookie in icing so that just the waffle lines (not the gaps) are coated.  Repeat with remaining cookies and icing. transfer to wire racks; let stand until set, about 10 minutes. Dust iced surfaces of cookies with confectioners' sugar. Cookies can be stored in single layers in airtight containers at room temperature for 2 days. (I froze mine and they were fine).

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Rosemary Bread

Please welcome my friend Kate of Department of Plate as our latest guest blogger with her awesome and awesomely easy Rosemary Bread!

I stumbled across an easy bread baking recipe (in my opinion a gem in and of itself) but was truly drawn to try to attempt it rather than leave it in the large and ever growing stack of recipes in a magazine holder in my kitchen never to be made. This recipe made me a recall a particularly unglamorous time in this impassioned foodie's life: immediately post-college when meal plans and disposable income were both nonexistent.

Working during the day for a government contracting company and at night at the omnipresent and less than authentic Macaroni Grill Restaurant, it was in the latter that not only developed a soft spot for Rosemary Bread, but where for several months I may have subsisted upon it alone. This is an example of the little heard of "all carb diet"intended mostly for drought-ridden Horn of Africans, poorly compensated post-graduates, and other famine-ravished peoples of the world. On nights that a line cook wouldn't "accidentally" mis-make an order and box it for me to go instead of toss it in the trash (per company policy) I'd eat this bread for dinner. Oddly, this staple did not lose favor with me despite the unbelievable quantities I consumed.

So, when I found this recipe that claimed to be comparable to the one in my memory I had to give it a try. To my delight, it's true to its description: easy to make, and similar to Macaroni Grill. Each time I make it (fairly frequently) I smile to myself and think of scarfing bread during my shift in the hidden corner near the steamy dishwashing area and trashcans. An odd memory to consider fond no doubt, but somehow it is.

Rosemary Bread
    from The Food Network
     makes 4 loaves

1 1/4 oz. package active dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing and serving
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I usually substitute whole wheat flour), plus more for dusting
2 Tablespoons dried rosemary
1 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

1. Stir the yeast, sugar and 1/4 cup warm water in a large bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer). Let sit until foamy, about 15 minutes.

2. Add 1 Tablespoon olive oil, the flour, 1 1/2 tablespoons of the rosemary, fine salt, and 3/4 cup warm water. Stir with a wooden spoon (or with the dough hook if using a stand mixer) until a dough forms.

3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting lightly with flour if necessary, until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes (or knead dough with a dough hook on med-high speed, adding a little flour if the dough sticks to the bowl, about 8 minutes).

4. Brush a large bowl with olive oil. Add the dough; cover with plastic wrap and let it stand at room temperature until more than doubled, about 2 hours.

5. Brush two baking sheets with olive oil. Generously flour a work surface; turn the rough out onto the flour and divide into 4 equal pieces.. Working with one piece at a time, sprinkle some flour on the dough, then fold the top and bottom an bottom of the dough into the middle. Fold in the sides to make a free-form square. Use a spatula to turn the dough over, tuck the corners under to form a ball. Place seam-side down on a prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, placing 2 balls on ear baking sheet.. Let stand uncovered until more than doubled, about 2 hours.

6. Preheat the over to 400 degrees. Bake the loaves for 10 minutes; brush with the remaining 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with the kosher salt and remaining 1/2 Tablespoon rosemary. Continue baking until golden brown, about 10 more minutes. Transfer loaves to a rack to cool. Serve with olive oil seasoned with pepper.

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The Boys of Baking Volume IV: New Orleans Pralines

Hey everyone! In our latest edition of the Boys of Baking, Ryan joins his Grandmother and Aunt in New Orleans, Louisiana for some traditional holiday candy making.

Today's guest blog will trace the steps of making traditional New Orleans Pralines. Pralines are thought to have been a creation of a personal chef of 17th century French statesman César duc de Choiseul Comte du Plessis-Praslin. Some believe Plessis-Praslin would have the candies made for women he was courting. According to the story, he would put the sweets into individuals wrappings with his name "Praslin" on them and people eventually began to simply refer to the candies as Praslin's (Pralines). The original receipt used almonds, but when French settlers came to New Orleans, local Creole chefs began to substitute the almonds with the plentiful pecans that grew in southern Louisiana. Today's recipe is for Creole Pralines from a local New Orleans family.

New Orleans Pralines

1 cup sugar
1cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons of light Karo syrup
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons of butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 cup of pecans

1) Place the white sugar, brown sugar, Karo syrup, and heavy whipping cream in a sauce pan.
2) Dissolve the sugars, Karo syrup and heavy whipping cream over medium heat until it boils.
3) Continue cooking until candy thermometer registers to 228 Fahrenheit - stirring occasionally.
4) Once the temperature reaches 228 Fahrenheit, add the butter, vanilla extract and pecans.
5) Continue cooking over medium heat until it reaches 236 Fahrenheit.
6) Remove from heat
7) Cool to 225 Fahrenheit
8) Beat until sauce thickens - happens very quickly
9) VERY QUICKLY, drop candy on wax paper into 10 or 15 individual portions
11) Let cool
10) Sit back under your closest Magnolia tree with a cup of chicory coffee and a plate of your delicious Creole pralines and enjoy!

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Funfetti Cake Batter Fudge Fail

I think I have a fudge curse. I haven't tried to make fudge in awhile because my last attempt saw me slaving away over the stove, sweaty and stiff-armed from stirring a pumpkin fudge that absolutely, resolutely refused to reach soft-ball stage. For anyone that's counting, that's 235-245 degrees on a candy thermometer.

When I came across this cute recipe recently, I thought it might be an easy way to ease back into fudge since it required NO stovetop time, and only microwaving. Easy as it sounds however, I guess this recipe didn't realize that I'm cursed. Despite microwaving the sweetened condensed milk and white chocolate chips for at least 4 minutes, these chips Would. Not. Melt. I ended up smashing most of them with the back of a spoon to get as close to a smooth consistency as possible.

Next, this recipe calls for three teaspoons of vanilla. 3. Not as much of a big deal if you're using grocery store, imitation vanilla. But if you're someone that likes to use the good stuff, this could get expensive. My problem wasn't cost so much as the fact that I only had brown vanilla extract, rather than clear. So, instead of having a nice, white cake look I had more of a beige/ecru/off-white cake look.

Finally, despite the picture I saw along with the recipe, the final product only makes a rather thin layer of fudge so, if you're looking for thick slabs of country-style fudge, you'll want to double the recipe. Oh, and in the end, it only sort of tasted like cake batter.

I always wonder whether to post recipe failures or not, but I figure it helps to show that not all the food you see online comes out perfectly the first time, and not all of us have the time, money and resources to continually throw out and remake recipes until they're just the way we'd like them. Or maybe I'm just cursed.

Funfetti Cake Batter Fudge
     from Pursuit Of Hippiness
1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
3.5 cups white chocolate chips
3 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Almond Extract
Rainbow Sprinkles

1. Pour milk and white chocolate into a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 2-3 minutes, or until white chocolate is almost completely melted. DO NOT OVERHEAT. Stir until completely blended, melted, and smooth.

2. Immediately add vanilla and almond and combine thoroughly. Add a handful or so of rainbow sprinkles and fold in quickly, because they will melt (and if they are stirred for too long they’ll turn the fudge an ugly muddy color).

3. Transfer to an aluminum-foil lined 8×8 inch baking pan for very thick fudge, or a 11X7 pan (recommended). Let set at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

4. Once set,  cut into cubes (and peel off the foil!). Store leftovers in an airtight container in a cool place.

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Cardamom Cranberry Pear Crisp

Hey everyone, please welcome back my mom for her latest and greatest guest blog post with this phenomenal fall dessert (and I'm not just saying that because of my feelings towards cardamom...)

If you love autumn but are tired of the pumpkin spice craze that erupts in October, cardamom Cranberry Pear Crisp may be the recipe for you. It was easy to make following the usual directions involved with making any fruit crisp.

I was totally unfamiliar with cardamom but since it's Hilary's favorite spice I knew I had to give this a try. First of all to paraphrase Hilary, "People, you really need to go to World Market for your spices." Cardamom at my grocery store ranged from $9 to $12 but was $3.99 at World Market.

I would call this an "Adults Only" dessert. What I mean by that is the cardamom gives this crisp a spicy flavor that smells amazing as it bakes and the tart cranberries keep it from being overly sweet. This is something I could serve at Thanksgiving to break up the monotony of the usual pumpkin and pecan pies.

It did surprise me in October that I had to go to 3 stores to find cranberries, finally having success at Whole Foods. I would recommend using firm pears. Two of mine were more ripe than the others and were on the mushy side when the crisp was done. Since I'm not a big fan of the peeling, coring and slicing involved, I was please to discover my apple corer worked equally well on the pears.

When I make this again I will add chopped pecans in the topping and have some vanilla ice cream handy!

Cardamom Cranberry Pear Crisp
     from The Columbus Dispatch

Topping:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), at room temperature
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup oats (old fashioned OR quick cook)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

Filling:
8 pears peeled, cored, and sliced
1 package (8 oz) fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbs cornstarch

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 9x9" baking dish with nonstick spray. To make the topping, in a medium bowl use an electric mixer to beat together the butter and brown sugar until creamy. Add the flour, oats, cinnamon and salt. Stir together until the mixture just form moistened crumbs and small clumps.

2. To make the filling, in a large bowl toss together the pears, cranberries, brown sugar, cardamom, salt and cornstarch. spread filling evenly in the prepared pan. Sprinkle to topping evenly over the filling. Bake for about 1 hour, or until the pears are tender and bubbling and the topping is well-browned.

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Rootbeer Float Cake

My mother frequently laments that I never bake anything whenever I come home to visit. Because my brother is a rootbeer fanatic and veritable expert on all things root beer, I resolved to actually bake something on my last trip home and decided to try this Rootbeer Float Cake I'd seen on The Great Satan Pinterest as an homage to the end of summer.

For any of you who have attempted any recipes, sewing projects or, God forbid, DIY home improvements from Pinterest, you may be familiar with the infamous "Pinterest Fail" in which nothing ever comes out quite as pictured. Case in point, this will be the best chocolate bundt cake you've ever had. It will not taste like root beer.

Despite using rootbeer in both the frosting and the cake, there was unfortunately no discernable rootbeer flavor in the end product. However, this is BY FAR the moistest bundt cake I've ever had. Even after a couple of days the cake was still moist and fudgy, and I wouldn't hesitate to make this again to serve for any chocolate fiends. Similarly, the cake was awesome paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side, but just not what I was looking for.  If I made this again, I might try it with rootbeer extract instead to try to capture that summery flavor.

Alas, back to the Pinterest drawing board.

Rootbeer Float Cake
     from Brown Eyed Baker
2 cups root beer (do not use diet root beer)
1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1¼ cups granulated sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs

Rootbeer Fudge Frosting
2 ounces dark chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup root beer
2/3 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
2½ cups powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F*. Generously spray the inside of a 10-inch bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray, or butter the pan and dust with flour, shaking out the excess flour; set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, heat the root beer, cocoa powder and butter over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together.

4. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until just beaten, then whisk them into the cooled cocoa mixture until combined. Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture. The batter will be slightly lumpy, which is okay. Do not overbeat it, as it could cause the cake to be tough.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a small sharp knife inserted into the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Gently loosen the sides of the cake from the pan and turn it out onto the rack.

6. To make the Root Beer Fudge Frosting, put all of the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse in short bursts until the frosting is shiny and satiny, scraping the sides of the food processor a couple of times. (If you don’t have a food processor, simply throw it all into the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl using a hand mixer and mix on medium-low until combined and satiny smooth.)

7. Use a spatula to spread the fudge frosting over the cake in a thick layer. Let the frosting set before serving. Store leftovers wrapped well or in an airtight container at room temperature.
*Note: If you are using a dark, nonstick pan, heat the oven to 300 degrees F.
 

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Oatmeal Cream Pies

If you're like me, you might think that there's no way that a homemade recipe could ever rival the taste of a true Little Debbie oatmeal cream pie.  Fortunately for both of us, we're both totally wrong.

When I first started seeing oatmeal cream pie recipes popping up across the interwebs, I was incredulous that anything I could make in my kitchen could achieve the moist, soft cookie or the signature filling flavor of the oatmeal cream pies of my childhood.

And, to be honest, the cookie is great but not exactly the same. But the filling...oh, the filling. It is amazing. It is perfect. It is Little Debbie without all the scary chemicals and preservatives. I did debate for awhile on which type of cookie recipe to use. Specifically, whether to go with one that would result in a puffy cookie that would make the sandwiches "look" better, or a flatter cookie that would better emulate the real deal. Clearly, you can see which I chose.

I used a Martha recipe for the cookies and, while it specifically calls for rolled oats rather than quick-cook oats, I only had quick-cook and all the other recipes I found called for this type as well. I didn't notice any issues, but can't say how they would have come out differently. Let me know if you try it!

The recipe also calls for using 2 Tablespoons of batter per cookie, which results in monster-size oatmeal cookies that are popular at bakeries these days (who eats that much cookie??) Anyway, I found 1 1/2 tablespoons to be much better and if you want 20-24 sandwiches, go ahead and reduce it to 1 Tablespoon.

A couple of notes: If you're smarter than me and already have a small cookie scoop, this would be the time to use it! Otherwise measuring out 1 1/2 Tablespoons of batter gets pretty messy.

Oatmeal Cookies
     slightly adapted from Martha Stewart 
     makes 13-18 sandwiches
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon unsulfured molasses
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups rolled or quick-cook oats

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. In another large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter, brown and granulated sugars, and molasses on high, scraping down bowl, until light and fluffy, 4 minutes. Add vanilla; beat until combined. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl after each addition.

2. With mixer on low, add flour mixture and beat just until combined. With a rubber spatula, stir in oats. Drop dough in 2-tablespoonful mounds, 2 inches apart, onto two baking sheets. Bake until cookies are just set at edges and slightly soft in middle, about 11 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cookies cool on sheets, 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool completely.

Oatmeal Cream Pie Filling
     from Baked Perfection

2 teaspoons hot water

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow cream

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

While the cookies bake prepare the filling. In small bowl, dissolve the salt in the hot water. Set aside and allow this to cool.  Combine marshmallow cream, shortening, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a bowl; mix on high until fluffy (3-4 minutes).  Add the cooled salt water and mix well.  Spread filling on flat side of one cookie, press 2nd cookie on top.

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