Filed under: Dessert
I have been wanting to try making Momofuku Milk Bar’s Compost Cookies ever since Jodi mentioned it to me a month or so ago. The only trick was that the recipe requires a stand mixer, and I don’t have one. Thankfully I do have an awesome neighbor, so I borrowed Sharon’s KitchenAid.
I omitted the corn syrup (others did, too) and used a combination of potato chips and pretzels for the snack food, and a chopped Nestle Crunch bar and Goobers for the candy. I also used a smaller scoop for making the cookies than the recipe suggestion — mine fits a tablespoon of dough, which is definitely a large enough cookie for us. Even though I allowed the dough to sit in the fridge for more than an hour before baking, they spread a lot.
Verdict on the flavor: they are buttery, delicate, and there were none left over after a couple of days. But they had absolutely no hint of the wacky snack food ingredients to me. They were kind of generic tasting — a good chocolate chip cookie with a hint of peanuts (from the Goobers), but not something special to make again. Disappointing!
I also didn’t like the way they spread so thin. I double-checked the recipe to see if I’d done something wrong with the volume of flour, and in the process stumbled across several posts Anna at Cookie Madness had written earlier this year about these cookies: her first post, with lots of comments about problems readers had with the original recipe on the Regis & Kelly site; a second post, where she is thinking out loud about how the recipe might not have been written quite as intended; and a third post, where she bakes these cookies successfully.
I am not a baker, just someone who likes to bake. I am probably a little too fast and loose with measurements, and after reading Anna’s posts I am sure that there were several problems in the batch I made. First, I didn’t use enough flour. Second, the dough would have benefited from an overnight refrigeration. And finally, I think the Nestle Crunch bar was a poor choice, in that it probably made the cookies spread even more than a chocolate chip would have.
I don’t have any urge to try these cookies again and get them right. Both my boys were ambivalent about this cookie, and would have been much happier with a basic chocolate chip, or their favorite cookie, where I use M&Ms instead. Next time I have a Compost Cookie, it’s going to be an original from Milk Bar.
June 11, 2010
Over the winter we watched all the Star Wars movies with the boys, and since then rarely a day goes by without a lightsaber duel or someone breathing loudly like Darth Vader in my ear. Although I am not much for rolled cookies, I knew the boys would adore this set of Star Wars cookie cutters from Williams-Sonoma. The store sells icing and decorating sets, too, but I thought the detail of the cutters themselves would be enough without frosting them black or green.
There are four cookie cutters: Darth Vader, Yoda, Boba Fett, and a stormtrooper. I know. Boba Fett? Really? What a waste of a cookie. There is a sugar cookie recipe included in the set, and I used that one because several reviews on the Williams-Sonoma site said using store-bought refrigerated dough spread too much during baking. It has a simple, straightforward flavor — not too sweet and also buttery without being greasy. I made a full batch of dough, but only rolled out half of it this afternoon — I thought I would pass out if I kept the oven on any longer in this mid-summer type of weather. G. (who is 4) made the cookies with me, and he had no trouble using the cookie cutters by himself. We stuck to just good ol’ Darth and Yoda today, but perhaps we’ll roll out a sheet of stormtroopers tomorrow.
June 3, 2010
My friend Alison is well-known around here for her incredible bakery and candy creations — especially her chocolate-covered pretzels. I am glad to have her as a resource when I have a baking question or need a recipe. This is her basic vanilla buttercream, which she jotted down from memory for me many months ago. I’ve used it several times since, and think it’s totally no-fail (unlike a cooked frosting I tried making recently).
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Enough to generously frost 1 dozen cupcakes
1 c. unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
salt
3½ c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
milk, if needed
Using a hand or stand mixer, beat butter with a pinch of salt until it is light in color, for 3-4 minutes. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add vanilla and milk, if needed, to thin frosting. Beat for an additional minute.
April 18, 2010
I have a tiny pantry, but it has pull-out shelves that enable me to cram more than I should be able to in a very slender space. I was reorganizing my baking supplies the other day and found a 3.5-oz. bag of cooked, shelled chestnuts that I bought because they were on sale for 99 cents. Turns out, it was no bargain.
I decided to chop the chestnuts into a cookie, and I used these Back Bay Chestnut Cookies as inspiration. I’m sure the recipe didn’t expect my chestnuts to be a little mushy, and practically flavorless. I proceeded anyway, and used mini chocolate chips instead of the golden raisins.
The result was a cakey cookie, which on the day they were baked were OK with a cup of coffee, but not something I’d make again. The chestnut flavor was imperceptible (I believe this is due to the quality of my ingredients, not the recipe itself), but I did enjoy the combination of cinnamon and chocolate. The flavor actually reminded me of biscotti, though the texture was much softer than that. A. ate one but didn’t ask for more; G. had a bite and then told me he was full. Full of cookies! Impossible! I think he just couldn’t wrap his head around not liking a chocolate chip cookie.
By the second day, the chopped chestnuts had hardened, and were out of place in the soft surroundings. On the third day I threw the rest out. Next time, straight chocolate chip cookies — I promise.
February 24, 2010
A couple of years ago, I used Devil Dogs as decoration for a birthday cake I made for J.’s grandma. Even as I was making that cake, I realized that trying to replicate a Devil Dog with my own cake and frosting would have been a cool alternative. So I had big plans for GG’s birthday cake this year — I was going to follow Smitten Kitchen’s recipe for Homemade Devil Dog, Ding Dong, or Hostess Cake and make the cake and frosting from scratch.
However, I really didn’t take a good look at the recipe or directions until the morning of the birthday celebration, and I quickly realized I didn’t have the time to make the cakes from scratch, let alone freeze them before frosting (as Deb and my friend Jen — who has made Deb’s cake before — suggest). I decided I’d use a devil’s food cake mix instead, but still make the Marshmallow Frosting myself.
I divided the batter between ten 5-inch mini loaf pans, filling them each with only about an inch or so of thick batter. They puffed up while baking, but then settled back down to a nice, slightly-rounded top as they cooled. The cake was perfect — moist and deeply chocolaty, and not cloyingly sweet.
I started the frosting just before dinner, following the recipe with what I think wound up being two major changes: I didn’t use a metal bowl (I only had glass), and I used pasteurized egg whites (from a carton, but they are 100% liquid egg whites, not Egg Beaters) rather than separating the yolks out of fresh eggs. I beat the frosting for 6 minutes, then another minute, then another. Nothing. I got a little froth but overall it stayed in liquid form. With only a few minutes to go before I had to put a meal on the table, I threw out that batch and made a super-quick vanilla buttercream instead. With this successful batch, I made sandwiches out of the mini loaves (used whole) and the frosting, making five small Devil Dog-like cakes. A reasonable serving would have been to cut each filled cake into three servings. But you know, I can’t say we were too reasonable.
Overall I was very pleased with the way the Devil Dog Birthday Cake looked, even though it was created quite differently than I’d originally intended. Everyone loved them, especially the birthday girl. If you come to my house today, don’t expect any leftovers — I sent some home with GG and between the rest of us we polished these puppies off within 24 hours of them being baked.
February 9, 2010
I always like an opportunity to bake a cake, and to celebrate my dad’s birthday last month I decided to try something other than standard chocolate. He likes Jack Daniel’s whiskey, so I thought that would be a good starting point for this adults-only cake. A Google search led me to Jack’s Birthday Cake on a Paula Deen forum, but the same recipe — which seems to originate on the Jack Daniel’s site — has been copied around the Web under different names.
This is a dense, pound-like cake that works well in a Bundt pan. Everyone liked the cake, though J. and I felt the alcohol flavor was a little too pronounced in the glaze — it overpowered the cake, which was very good in its own right. If I made it again, I might try a chocolate glaze, or just sub out some of the whiskey in the glaze for water.
Even though it bakes for almost an hour, keep in mind this cake has a strong, distinct whiskey flavor. As I made it, it contains more than three-quarters of a cup of Jack — about 7 shots — in the whole glazed cake. I would not serve it to kids (mine had Carvel Flying Saucers instead). Remember to eat this cake responsibly!
Jack Daniel’s Cake with Buttered Whiskey Glaze
Slightly adapted from Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey
2 sticks (1 c.) unsalted butter
2 c. firmly-packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs
½ c. Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey
2¼ c. all-purpose flour
2½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 c. pecans, roughly chopped
6 oz. semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
Buttered Whiskey Glaze (recipe below)
Preheat oven to 325° F.
Melt butter in a large pot over low heat. Once it is fully melted, turn off the heat and use the pot as your mixing bowl. Add in the brown sugar, eggs, and whiskey, stirring well after each one. Then add the flour, baking powder, salt, nuts, and chips. Mix until well-combined.
Pour batter into a greased 10-inch Bundt pan (a 9×13-inch pan will also work). Bake for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one side comes out clean, and the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. The cake will *not* change color significantly, so don’t go by color alone.
Cool completely on a wire rack, then turn out of the Bundt pan. Drizzle with glaze.
Buttered Whiskey Glaze
Glaze can be made ahead and reheated briefly in a microwave (20 seconds or so) so that it can be drizzled right before serving.
½ stick (¼ c.) butter
2 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey
1 tsp. vanilla
Melt butter in a small saucepan, and then remove from heat. Add remaining ingredients, and mix with a whisk until glaze is completely smooth and no lumps of sugar remain.
February 1, 2010
The boys are still chuffed about the Wii they got for Hanukkah, and decided that the best birthday present they could give J. this year was another game (that they could play too, of course) — Wii Sports Resort. J. and I stayed up doing the archery module while the kids were asleep last night! It seemed natural that they wanted to make J.’s cake in the shape of a Wii controller.
I baked brownies in a 9×13 pan, and then cut them in half the long way to make two strips that I stacked to make the shape of the controller. Some vanilla frosting roughly covered the whole thing, and I did my best to draw on the details with blue gel icing. Thankfully, G. added his touch to the cake by covering everything I’d done with sprinkles. It wound up being the most attractive part of the decoration.
It might have looked a mess, but there were no complaints when we ate it!
January 10, 2010
The idea of cookie brittle is simple — spread your dough in one thin sheet across a lined baking pan, bake thoroughly, and then gently break the slab of cookie into small shards once it has cooled. Because the dough is eggless, the finished product winds up crisp and flaky like a shortbread or pie crust. (It’s a tiny bit greasy, too.) It really does break apart like peanut brittle. Because we used some open bags of chocolate chips — a little bit of white chocolate, a little bit of semi-sweet — G. said they looked like polka dot cookies. Who am I to argue? My friend Hillary passed this recipe on to me, and it’s a keeper — everyone that tasted the cookies adored them.
Polka Dot Cookie Brittle
Adapted slightly from Cookie Brittle in Kosher by Design Short on Time
You can substitute 8-10 oz. of any baking chip instead of the white and semi-sweet chips I used. Mini chips would work very well.
1 c. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 c. white sugar
1½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. salt
2 c. white whole wheat flour
4 oz. white chocolate chips
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Using a hand or stand mixer, cream butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt for several minutes on medium speed. Add in flour and continue mixing until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips by hand, being careful not to over-mix — it’s OK if the dough is still crumbly.
Line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper, and (with clean hands!) spread the dough as thinly and evenly as possible over the baking tin. The chocolate chips will limit how thin it can be spread, and it is OK to have rough edges.
Bake for 20-25 minutes (mine took 23 minutes), until the cookie is browned evenly and firm to the touch in the center. Remove and allow to cool thoroughly before breaking into pieces for serving.
November 19, 2009
I won’t turn away a piece of chocolate cake if you set it in front of me, but I’d prefer something like carrot cake most any day. (Better yet, give me some mac & cheese or homemade mashed potatoes, and I’ll pass on dessert completely.) So it’s no surprise that my absolute favorite cake in the world is filled with apples, not fudge. J.’s aunt usually makes this cake for Rosh Hashanah or Thanksgiving, so I don’t often get a chance to make it myself. But, it is my all-time favorite cake to bake… and eat. This is her recipe.
Ann’s Apple Cake
My Bundt pan takes about 2 quarts of batter, and measures 10″ in diameter. This recipe completely fills the pan.
3 c. apples, pared and thinly sliced (5 or 6 — I like Golden Delicious)
5 Tbsp. + 2 c. sugar
5 tsp. cinnamon
3 c. white whole wheat flour (or AP)
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 c. canola oil
4 large eggs
1/4 c. orange juice
1 Tbsp. vanilla
3/4 c. chopped walnuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 375° F.
Toss apple slices with 5 Tbsp. sugar and cinnamon, and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine flour, the rest of the sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add remaining ingredients EXCEPT for the walnuts, and beat well. The batter will be very thick, almost like a cookie dough.
Grease and flour a Bundt pan, then use a flexible spatula to layer in a third of the batter, then half of the apples, a third of the batter, remaining apples, and top with remaining batter. You can press the apples down lightly with clean hands to make sure they’re evenly distributed. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts, if you’re using them.
Bake cake for 50 minutes to an hour, or until a bamboo skewer or cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before unmolding.
October 7, 2009
I am a big fan of giving and receiving consumable gifts — tickets to a show, a gift certificate to a great restaurant, or a gourmet food item like really incredible olive oil. No one needs another tchotchke lying around. But for some reason, I don’t normally make food gifts myself.
I did today, though. This treat reminds me of a gourmet trail mix, in cookie form. It’s flourless, so the dough is a little crumbly but once they’re baked the cookies hold together surprisingly well and are pleasingly chewy. The slightly tart cherries, bittersweet dark chocolate, and mellow brown sugar dough are, to me, perfectly balanced and not overly sweet.
Dark Chocolate-Cherry Oatmeal Cookies
Inspired by Flourless Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 30 cookies
1/2 c. butter (1 stick)
4 c. quick-cooking oats
3/4 c. light brown sugar, loosely packed
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. dried, unsweetened cherries
2 whole large eggs
2 large egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips (or similar)
Preheat oven to 325° F and line two baking sheets with foil or parchment paper (this will help the cookies release easily without breaking apart).
In a microwave or in a small saucepan on the stove, melt butter and then set aside to cool.
Combine oats, sugar, salt, and cherries in a large mixing bowl. Beat eggs, egg whites, and vanilla together in a small bowl, and then stir into the oats mixture, making sure ingredients are well-combined. Once butter has cooled for a few minutes, stir into the rest of the ingredients. Finally, incorporate the chocolate chips.
Rinse your hands in cool water and shake them off — you’re going to roll the cookie dough into balls, and damp hands will help keep the dough from sticking to you. Repeat this step as needed.
Scoop about a soup spoon’s worth of dough from the bowl and roll it into a ball, flattening it slightly when you place it on your lined cookie sheet. (The cookies will not spread while baking.)
Bake for 20 minutes, or until the tops of the cookies are just turning golden brown. Allow to cool before removing from the pan, and store in an air-tight container.
September 5, 2009
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I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two boys, ages 4 and 6, and husband. Trying to feed my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more 