"cookies"

Is there anything better?

This morning I decided that one of my favourite activities in the entire world is baking with The Monster.  She is intrigued by the process and will dive right in making a mess, if only to lick the paddle at the end of it all.  I have a million pictures of her devouring the sticky dough left on that paddle.  But today I took pictures throughout the process.  I don't think there is much more to say today.  Pick you favourite recipe and bake.  Pull up a chair for the kids, make a mess, and watch some Yo Gabba Gabba while the cookies cool.  

A personal stash of chips keep little hands busy while the cookies are in the final mix.

Everyone wants in on the action.

Fresh from the oven and into the mouth.

Cooling cookies and watching Tony Hawk on Yo Gabba Gabba.

The crumbs she swept into my hand, off the table, because they were getting in the way of eating her orange.

All is quiet, but not clean (see that bowl?) during naptime.

Today we made an old recipe for me.  These make a cakey, crumbly cookie.  I'm not normally one for anything instant, but the pudding mix does work nicely here.  You can use vanilla, chocolate, or even butterscotch (my fave). You can also play with the type of chocolate chips. I learned how to make these when I was a little girl. I think the recipe came from a church cookbook.  Really, a duotang filled with photocopied sheets.

Secret Ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 4 dozen

1 cup butter
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 package instant pudding mix
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup (or more) chocolate chips

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees Celsius.
2.  Cream butter and sugars together.  Add vanilla and pudding mix.
3.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, until mixed well.
4.  Slowly add in flour and baking soda.  Stir in chocolate chips until well blended.
5.  Drop by teaspoonful on to a greased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Let cool and enjoy with your favourite monsters.
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Friday Favourite - Salt

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Hubby is addicted to salt.  Seriously.  Almost nothing is salted enough for him, he loves salt and vinegar chips, and actually licks his finger and dips it in the salt pig.  One Christmas I nearly bought him a salt lick as a joke, until I realized that I would be the one stuck finding a real home for it.  In true fatherly generosity he passed this love on to The Monster.

Daddy salts his food, she wants salt on her food.  Mama seasons the sauce, she has to season the sauce.  We've developed the fine art of faking it for her.  She is a wickedly smart girl, but somehow the motion of salting her food satisfies her, even if she doesn't see any salt crystals falling from our fingers.  We're either that tricky or she's only two.
With the past few weeks filled with a lot of sick days we've turned to baking as a way to keep her engaged and away from Yo Gabba Gabba (she is a child obsessed).  When she asked to bake cookies this week I inquired as to what kind.  

"Salt."

Yup, salt cookies.  In a freaky twist of fate, I had pulled out my Cook's Country cookbook and had it open to the cookie table of contents.  Wouldn't you know, they have a recipe for salty thin and crisp oatmeal cookies?  Considering it was a real recipe and all, I figured we had a better chance than last week, when she requested salt muffins.  In case you didn't know, salt as a crunchy topping on a banana muffin is okay, but not something I have a desire to repeat.  Salted oatmeal cookies are another matter entirely.


Crispy, thin, and with just a touch of salty crunch.  These are good cookies for people who don't like sweets.  Such a change from dense and chewy oatmeal cookies.  Equally delicious, and I'm not a big fan of salt.


Salted Oatmeal Cookies
(adapted from Cook's Country)
Makes 2.5-3 dozen cookies

1 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp table or kosher salt
14 tbsp unsalted butter (2 tablespoons less than a cup)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups rolled oats (not quick or instant)
fleur de sel or Maldon salt

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and 1/4 tsp salt.  Set aside.
3.  Beat together the butter and sugars  until fluffy.  Scrape down the bowl.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat until fully incorporated.  Slowly add the flour mixture until just blended, then stir in the oats until well mixed.
4.  Roll cookie dough into balls about 1.5 - 2 inches around.  Place them 8 to a cookie sheet and press down with your palm.  Cookies should be about 3/4 inch in thickness.
5.  Sprinkle with fleur de sel or Maldon salt, a generous pinch per cookie.
6.  Bake for 10-12 minutes until the cookies are spread out and lightly golden.  Let them cool completely on the cookie sheet.

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If You Can't Buy Shoes...

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Stay-at-home moms don't get Christmas parties. Especially stay-at-home moms married to a self-employed men. There is no reason to go shopping and buy a fancy dress and wickedly sexy shoes. There is no babysitter to find and pay a small ransom. There is no mediocre prime rib dinner and boring dance. There are no door prizes, cheezy centerpieces, and someone embarrassing themselves.

Okay, it isn't all bad. But a night off is nice. My girlfriend Tanya to the rescue (she is so good at that)! She invited a few of us over for treats, gossip, and Grey's Anatomy. We all brought more treats too. That way none of us was really cooking and all our little girls stayed home with Daddy (or were already asleep).

We had a fantastic time. What a treat to talk without interferences from little girls demanding our attention. We ate way too much sugar and talked about everything from Barbies, pajamas, colo-rectal surgery, vacations, bilingualism, waxing, and politics. There was no need to watch what we said, and no reason to watch how much sugar we ate. Oranges gave us some semblance of feeling healthy.

My contribution to the night was peppermint bark. Williams and Sonoma be damned, make it yourself. I am by no means a chocolate making expert, so anyone can do this. If you know how to temper chocolate (to make it solid again at room temperature and a little but shiny), great. I don't, but I try. Either way, it is ridiculously easy and highly addictive. Just keep it in the fridge and no one will know the difference.

Peppermint Bark

4 candy canes
16 ounces semi-sweet or dark chocolate
10 drops peppermint extract
16 ounces white chocolate

1. Prepare a rimmed cookie sheet by lining it with parchment paper.
2. With candy canes still their wrapper bash them lightly with the handle of a knife or a wooden spoon. Don't bash too hard or you will have candy cane dust everywhere. Unwrap them over a bowl.
3. Chop semi/dark chocolate coarsely. In a bowl set over a pot of simmering water melt chocolate slowly. Pull off the heat just before it is fully melted. Stir to finish melting. Let sit, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes, until it is still warm, but not hot. Stir in the peppermint extract. Pour and spread around prepared pan.
4. While the semi/dark chocolate is resting, coarsely chop the white chocolate and melt in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Pull off the heat just before it is fully melted. Stir to finish melting. Let sit, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes, until it is still warm, but not hot. Pour directly over the semi/dark chocolate.
5. Sprinkle the candy cane bits over it all.
6. Cool in the fridge until hard. Break into bite size pieces.