Tag Archives: baking

Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted on by

plaidypus recipe for orange chocolate chip cookies

Now, I’m a firm believer in the classic chocolate chip cookie. But sometimes I want something a little different. But just a little different. Lo and behold, I find a recipe for my classic chocolate chip cookies, but with ORANGE in them. Orange has always been one of my favorite things they put in chocolate bars, so I tried it out. And then I had to make a second batch that same day because the first batch was almost gone already.

Be warned: you will eat these cookies like they are potato chips. So be prepared to either eat a lot of cookies in one sitting or give a bunch away (I always pack most of them up to give away, because that’s my lazy way of making friends or strengthening friendships.)

plaidypus orange chocolate chip cookie recipe

Ingredients: 

  • 1 stick of butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 tablespoons orange juice
  • 1 tablespoon grated orange zest (if you want more orange flavor, put in more zest)
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I end up putting in double the chocolate chips and using mini ones)

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a mixer, cream the butter and sugars until well combined
  3. Mix in the egg and vanilla
  4. Add the orange juice and zest
  5. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; add to wet ingredients.
  6. Fold in chocolate chips
  7. Drop balls of dough onto a greased baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are just brown
  8. Remove from baking sheets let cool
  9. Enjoy!

Bonus photo of my dog sitting patiently by the stove and hoping I will somehow drop the entire batch of cookies on the floor for him to clean up.

IMG_2896

Advertisement

A Most Excellent Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe

Posted on by
Saving the Planet with Snickerdoodles
snicker doodle cookies by plaidypus
I’ve heard snickerdoodle cookies can go one way or the other. I have only made them maybe twice (this will be the third time). And they went the way I wanted them to go. Either I am a secret kitchen goddess or this is one fine recipe. It’s probably the latter. I baked these to use up the leftover topping from my Spiced Apple Pie Cupcakes (which I highly recommend making) . I figured I should recycle more often in my life and this was the perfect chance to help save the world. Basically I just tossed a lot of cinnamon (maybe 2 teaspoons worth?) into the mix and it suddenly became a snickerdoodle topping.

The real snickerdoodle topping is literally sugar and cinnamon, so a little extra flour and butter and spices wasn’t going to be so bad. And, spoilers, it was awesome. Here’s the actual cookie recipe, though.

Snickerdoodle Cookies
Ingredients: 
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

For the topping, if you aren’t, you know, using leftover apple spice cupcake topping plus cinnamon, I recommend about two tablespoons of sugar per two teaspoons of cinnamon (which is a 3:1 ratio in teaspoons, in case you need to keep adding more topping). But if you want it heavier or lighter on the cinnamon, it’s all up to you!

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Mix butter, sugar, and eggs in a large bowl
3. Combine flour baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl and then fold into the wet ingredients.
4. Chill dough (I learned from a friend that that’s how they become softer and puffier. Otherwise they flatten out more than you want them to. Unless you like flatter cookies, then don’t chill). The recipe asked me to chill the baking sheet, but I didn’t because there is no room in my fridge or freezer for such a thing. You can do this if you want for 10-15 minutes.
5. Roll out about 1 inch balls of dough and roll them around in the topping mixture, then put on you (possibly chilled) baking sheet.
6. Bake for 10 minutes.snicker doodle cookies by plaidypus
When you take them out remove them ASAP from the pan so they don’t keep cooking. That way they’re softer. Unless you like cookies crispy. Then do what you want.
7. Enjoy. The first time I used this recipe, I had never made snickerdoodles and had only had them a handful of times, so I was pleased with the outcome. They were soft and puffy. I didn’t have photos from the first time I made these when they were so perfect (because we were too busy hrowing flour at each other and watching youtube videos), but here’s how they turned out from this batch (I think they still look pretty delicious).

Spice Cake Muffins

Posted on by
I figured I should add some recipes on this blog, because crafters and non-crafters alike require sustenance to keep going sometimes. And sometimes that sustenance is in the form of baked goods. So here’s my first contribution to your crafting fuel:

Spice Cake Muffins (or, how I made friends with baked goods)

I found a spice cake recipe in a vegetarian cookbook. But as you’ll soon find out (because I’m about to tell you), I much prefer things in muffin sizes. Almost all cake, brownie, or tart recipes I try out I use a muffin tin.

image

See? Look at that cute little muffin tin.

I’ve always been like this. Bigger portions just don’t do it for me (because if I’m never going to finish the slice of cake why try? Well of course I try, but it’s so much more satisfying to finish the dang thing than to leave a mangled piece of cake on a plate that no one wants to eat and will sit in the fridge with plastic wrap over it and you’ll see it every day and think I should eat that, but it’s not very appetizing, because it’s not pretty because you were only able to eat some of it.)

I made these spice cake muffins because I was bored one day. And the next day I brought them into lab (which is not one of those labs with all the dangerous things in them so you can’t bring food even remotely near them) and shared with my fellow research students, and we rejoiced (until break was over and we had to go back to behavioral training with rats).

The moral of the story is, if you bake delicious things and give them to others, you are more likely to make friends with those people than if you had given them, say, a knuckle sandwich or a third degree burn (who out there does these things to make friends? I don’t know. But I know you’re out there. So heed my advice and bake delicious food instead.)

image

Anyway. Here’s the recipe. Which I changed a bit because I didn’t have enough oil or any molasses (apparently you can substitute honey for molasses. Who knew?) But it’s still good. It ends up being more of a muffin than the intended cupcake, but I like muffins. Makes me feel like I can eat it for breakfast and it’s somehow healthy. Which this probably isn’t. But it’s more healthy than, say, a tub of lard or just one girl scout cookie (even though we all know you can never eat just one.) They can actually be vegan if you use molasses instead of honey and oil instead of butter. So that’s kinda cool.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup plain, unflavored soy milk
  • 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
  • 6 tablespoons honey
  • 6 tablespoons canola oil or melted, unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
  • 1 cup white whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons ground ginger
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • Pinch (I’m not kidding, the book uses this word) black pepper
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F (I didn’t 375, but I’m at high altitude and my mom always told me to add flour, add liquid, subtract leavening, and bake at a higher temperature, and I go by that). I used cupcake liners, but you can also just grease the muffin tin and dust it with flour
  2. In a relatively large bowl (it says medium, but I always end up needing a bigger one. Probably because I tend to double recipes. So I have no gauge of what baking in small quantities is like. Don’t listen to me when it comes to such things) whisk soy milk, maple syrup, honey, oil/butter, vanilla, and vinegar.
  3. In separate bowl, sift flours, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cloves, nutmeg, and (just a pinch!) pepper. I just mix it all up because I don’t have a fancy shmancy sifter (maybe some day).
  4. Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients with a rubber spatula, and try not to overmix, even though I have no idea what it would look or feel like to overmix. I just do it until it feels right. Which I realize it no help whatsoever, especially if you have no real intuition.
  5. Pour into muffin tin, filling about 2/3 of the way, and bake somewhere between 15 and 25 minutes. I know this is a big range. That’s because I baked at a higher temperature. And because I really have no recollection of how long I truly baked these muffins for. I’m already a horrible blogger. Bloggess? Eh. Bake it until a toothpick comes out clean.
  6. Enjoy! Maybe let it cool down just a little. I didn’t. I burned my mouth and it was absolutely worth it. Then maybe share. Maybe.