drew was far less hesitant to get into the pools and pick up some mussels.
we had a great time with our little utah nephews that we never get to see. i wish we had some pictures from creed's blessing that was the following day, but we don't. in any case, it was a beautiful blessing and it was so fun to have all of our nieces and nephews in the same place!
½ cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 cups smashed bananas
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts
½ cup water
topping:
3 oz of melted bittersweet chocolate
Preheat oven to 350° degrees. Prepare muffin tins with liners (makes 24 cupcakes). Cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and blend until barely mixed Sift the dry ingredients and gradually add them to the shortening mixture. Add bananas, vanilla, nuts and water as needed to create proper consistency (should be runny, that's what makes them moist). Bake for 23 minutes. The tops should be golden brown. Let the cupcakes cool and if so desired top with the melted chocolate. I prefer mine with sugared butter, so do whatever you want.
next i'm trying the strawberry sprinkles cupcake recipe. i just can't decide how to frost them.
More Traditional Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies1 ½ cup butter (very room temperature)
1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
1 ¼ cup brown sugar
1 tbs vanilla
2 eggs
4 cups flour
2 tbs baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 cups walnuts, chopped
1 24 oz bag of semisweet chocolate chips
directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter with sugars in a large mixing bowl with a sturdy wooden spoon, this should take about 10 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla. Sift the dry ingredients together in another bowl and gradually add to the creamed mixture. Mix together until just barely incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts. Spoon out onto cookie sheets, about 2 oz of dough per cookie and bake for 13 minutes.
*note: if you want your cookies to be more uniform in shape roll in your hands before putting them on your ungreased cookie sheet
The Consummate Chocolate Chip Cookie
Adapted from David Leite via The New York Times
Takes: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch), plus at least 24 hours chilling
Makes: 2 dozen 5-inch cookies.
ingredients
2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour*
1 2/3 cups bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content
Sea salt
directions:
1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and try to incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. [Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.]
3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm. Or if you can wait. Let cool completely on a rack and then store in an airtight container.
* I should have used Valrhona feves, but I didn't feel like going to Sur La Table, so I just used Guittard 62% chocolate disks, found at Bristol Farms. They worked just fine, but Valrhona is definitely a better tasting chocolate. If you can't find the big disks, I've heard that Ghiradeli makes larger chocolate chips that you can find at the market and those would probably work just fine.
* To make pastry or cake flour just sift together 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup cornstarch. Obviously makes 2 cups.
I would rate these cookies a 9.5. I think they would be even better with darker chocolate. Some of my taste-testers preferred the cookies made without the sea salt, but I liked the salty cookies. Up to you I guess. But if I were you, I would definitely try some with salt.
Up next. A softer chocolate chip cookie with walnuts.
then we did some backyard sledding.
more sledding
then it was time for a family pic. then david, andie and typod thought it would be cool to push me and ambie down the hill.
it wasn't :/
but we made up
such and angel
on the way home we had to go to the famous waffle place. andie almost lost her breakfast:
while there we also watched 7lbs. wtf?
