The New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) 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 (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds chocolate chips (milk and semi sweet chocolate, then also went back and added Reece's peanut butter chips.)


Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.

Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy – about 5 minutes. Add eggs. Stir in vanilla. Reduce to low speed and add dry ingredients slowly, mixing until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough for 24-36 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350.

Drop spoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

La Isla's Stuffed French Toast

Ingredients


Filling:

2 tablespoons soft unsalted butter, plus additional for sauteing
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 tablespoons guava marmalade, plus additional for drizzling (recommended: LaFe)
5 ounces diced strawberries
3 ounces guava shells (recommended: LaFe)
4 thick slices Pullman-style bread, refrigerated
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Egg Batter:

6 extra-large eggs
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces whole milk
4 ounces evaporated milk

Breading:

10 ounces corn cereal (recommended: Cornflakes)
6 ounces sliced almonds

Directions

In a medium bowl, using a hand beater, beat the 2 tablespoons of butter, and the cream cheese until combined. Add the marmalade and mix until incorporated, then fold in the strawberries and guava shells, using a rubber scraper. Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a large tip.

Make an incision (pocket) on the crust side of the 4 pieces of bread about 3/4 of the way through. The incision will allow you to stuff the pocket. Leave the slices with the incision, covered, at room temperature before stuffing. Gently stuff the room temperature slices with the filling. Refrigerate the stuffed slices with the pocket opening facing up for 20 to 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Egg batter:

Add all the ingredients to a medium shallow bowl and mix well.

French Toast:

Add the corn cereal and almonds to a sheet pan and crush together. Dip the bread slices in the egg batter and then into the cereal mixture.

Put a large skillet on medium-high heat and add 3 to 4 tablespoons butter. When the butter has melted add the stuffed bread slices and brown on 1 side, then flip and put the skillet in oven for 8 minutes. Remove the skillet from the oven and transfer the toast to a serving platter. Drizzle with guava marmalade and a dusting of powdered sugar before serving.

Hot Chocolate Fudge Cakes

Ingredients


3.4 ounces all-purpose flour (about 3/4 cup)
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
5 teaspoons instant espresso powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup egg substitute
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (2.6-ounce) bar dark (71% cocoa) chocolate (such as Valrhona Le Noir Amer), finely chopped
2 tablespoons powdered sugar



Preparation

1. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Sift together flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt.

2. Place butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed 1 minute. Add granulated and brown sugars, beating until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add egg substitute and vanilla, beating until well blended. Fold flour mixture into sugar mixture; fold in chocolate. Divide batter evenly among 10 (4-ounce) ramekins; arrange ramekins on a jelly-roll pan. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours or up to 2 days.

3. Preheat oven to 350°.

4. Let ramekins stand at room temperature 10 minutes. Uncover and bake at 350° for 21 minutes or until cakes are puffy and slightly crusty on top. Sprinkle evenly with powdered sugar; serve immediately

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Grandma's Pie Dough

Ingredients


4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon(s) salt
1 tablespoon(s) sugar
1 3/4 cup(s) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon(s) white vinegar
1 (extra large) egg


Directions

1.Combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

2.Whisk the vinegar, egg, and 1/2 cup of ice water together and mix into the flour mixture with your hands until just combined.

3.Transfer to a clean work surface, and gently press to form a dough. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts. Shape each into a ball, flatten slightly to form a disk, and wrap in plastic. Chill for at least 1 hour.

Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup smooth peanut butter at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

If you are baking immediately, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If you are resting dough overnight, preheat oven when you remove dough from the fridge.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl (or in an electric mixer) beat the butter and peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and continue beating until fully combined. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla extract, and beat well. Add half the flour mixture, fold in, then the rest of the flour, and beat until no white pockets remain. By hand, fold in the peanut butter chips. At this point, you can chill the dough overnight. Press plastic wrap on the surface of the dough and refrigerate. Or continue without aging the dough.

Drop small teaspoonfuls of dough onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving a few inches of space between drops for expansion. Using a fork, lightly indent with a criss-cross pattern, but do not smash the cookie completely flat. Bake for 10 minutes. Do not overbake—cookies may appear underdone when perfectly cooked.

Cool the cookies on the cookie sheets one minute, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

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OVEN TEMPERATURES

Ice Cream Sandwiches

Ingredients:

For the ice cream:

1 cup whole milk
¾ cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
Pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
6 large egg yolks
¾ tsp. vanilla extract


For the cookies:

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt


Directions:

Combine the milk, sugar and 1 cup of the cream in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until warmed through. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the mixture and add the husk of the bean as well. Cover the saucepan, remove from the heat and set aside to steep for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a large bowl with a fine mesh sieve set over the top. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour some of the warm milk mixture into the bowl with the egg yolks, whisking constantly to temper the eggs. Continue until you have added all of the milk mixture. Return the mixture to the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, being sure to scrape the bottom of the pan as you stir. Continue cooking until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon (about 170-175°F.) Pour the custard through the mesh sieve and stir it into the cream. Place the vanilla bean into the custard mixture, stir in the vanilla extract, and stir until cool over an ice bath. Cover and chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.

Remove the vanilla bean from the ice cream batter, stir well, and freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Line a chilled 9 x 13" pan with plastic wrap. When the ice cream has reached a soft serve consistency, spread some of the ice cream into the pan in an even layer about 1 inch thick. Freeze until firm.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, vegetable oil and brown sugar. Beat on medium speed until combined. Blend in the eggs one at a time, and the vanilla extract until smooth. In a separate bowl combine the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix just until incorporated and a soft dough forms. Gather the dough into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough to about ¼-inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out as many pieces as you can, transferring the cut outs to the prepared baking sheet. Gather and re-roll the dough scraps as needed. If desired, use a wooden skewer to make a dotted pattern on the cookies. Bake 8-10 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

To assemble the sandwiches, use the same cookie cutter that was used for the cookies to cut out pieces of ice cream. Layer one piece of ice cream between two of the cookies and return to the freezer immediately. Wrap the sandwiches individually as desired. Keep frozen until ready to serve.
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