Quick Hit: Betty’s But Better – Cinnamon-Chipotle Snickerdoodles

I've mentioned before that Betty Crocker's Snickerdoodles are a mainstay of my holiday baking repertoire. It's a cookie I've loved since I was a kid and it's one of Wolf's favorites, too. While he was in NYC this weekend, sending me jealous-making photos from Momofuku Noodle Bar and Il Laboratorio del Gelato, I was in the kitchen whipping up these cookies. (Good man, he brought me some Milk Bar cookies). With just a quick tweak, you get the cinnamon you're expecting in a snickerdoodle, but with a slow building smoky heat from the chipotle. Two additional changes I do make to the original recipe -- add 1/2 t. vanilla and up the salt to 1/2 t. as well. Betty's, but one better.

ByMichelleDecember 10, 20121Comment

Baking Dessert Recipes

Cookie Time: German Chocolate Cookies aka Chocowalnos

Every Christmas, I find myself making the same cookies. For every other holiday, it's ok to add new dishes, but at Christmas, there’s something comforting about tradition, about knowing that there will be snickerdoodles and chocolate crinkles and that my mom will probably send me a batch of candy cane cookies. But if tradition is just something you’ve done more than once, these chocolaty, coconutty, walnut-studded "brownie meets German chocolate cake" cookies are going to be a new holiday tradition.

ByMichelleOctober 23, 20122Comments

Baking Dessert Entertaining

Rosemary Cornmeal Pine Nut Biscotti

It’s Tuesday night. The gorgeous Asian pears are gone, except for a half, the blueberry muffin from Craftsman and Wolves but a memory, the husband is sick and watching Corner Gas somewhere he can’t infect the rest of the household, and I had my dad’s Sloppy Joes for dinner. It involves Campbell’s Chicken Gumbo soup. Don’t judge. It’s back to real life. It’s a relief. Being on the road, dining out for every meal, sounds glam, but it is tiresome. I’m not 25 anymore. But believe me, it’s not a complaint. I had a fantastic time in San Francisco, catching up with folks I see once a year. Italian and Cal-Italian dominated our restaurant choices over the course of the week and Tim, the friend we hung out with at the market, and I chatted about lavender biscotti, so naturally I’m diving back into posting with these little Italian cookies on the brain. So, Rosemary, Cornmeal and Pine Nut biscotti.

ByMichelleOctober 11, 20120Comments

Baking Dessert Recipes

Gluten-Free Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Back of the bag recipes have sustained us for ages. Our grandmothers clipped recipes from paper board cylinders of oatmeal, from the backs of chocolate chip bags, and ordered recipe booklets from Betty Crocker and Jello. Some of those recipes stand the test of time because manufacturers just keep putting them on the packages, like the Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe. But others are lost to the ages because there was no where else to get them. It's in that spirit that I'm bringing you these cookies from the back of the Trader Joe's Rolled Oats bag. (And we all know how transitory products can be at Trader Joe’s.) So, oatmeal cookies. But not just oatmeal, Gluten-Free Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip.

ByMichelleJune 25, 201211Comments

Baking Photo One-offs

Banana Breakfast Cookies

I was a hold out for a long long time on Larabars. The texture always kind of weirded me out - they're just a little too soft, y'know? But after trying the Ginger Snap and more recently the Coconut Cream Pie, I'm on board. They're like Samoas without the chocolate! And they were a perfect…

ByMichelleMay 23, 20120Comments

Baking Dessert Recipes

Ovaltine Nutella Cookies

World Nutella Day coincided with the SuperBowl this year and they basically cancelled each other out on the food front for me. I did make guacamole. You can't have the Superbowl without guacamole. Anyway, I've been playing a little catch up, so instead of just going the Nutella route, I did one better and came up with these Ovaltine Nutella cookies, because, well, just because.

ByMichelleFebruary 9, 20121Comment

Baking Recipes

Yes! More Cookies: Anzac Biscuits Dressed Up for the Holidays

Originally, I was thinking about making these No Sugar Oat Drops, but it being the holidays I decided they were maybe a little too close to a granola bar...a little too healthy (yes, I'm crazy). I even bought the overripe bananas at the grocery in anticipation of making them, but then settled on a batch of Anzac biscuits. Anzac biscuits are a brilliant invention all their own. Coconut, oats, brown sugar, butter, Lyle's Golden Syrup and a little baking soda and water. What's not to like? But since the holidays are all about gilding the lily, I thought I'd dress 'em up a little. By altering the recipe, it's not strictly an Anzac biscuit anymore, but it's an oaty, coconutty drop of delicious, that's for sure, and with a couple of additional tweaks, it just gets better. So coconut, oats...plus what?

ByMichelleDecember 14, 20110Comments

Baking Recipes

Cranberry Chocolate Chip Butter Cookies

Around here, Thanksgiving is all about the old favorites and not deviating from them one iota. It's the one time of year we have stuffing and sweet potatoes simmered in butter and spices, so there's almost no need to add anything new. Almost. I might sneak in Lisa Fain's Ancho Creamed Corn in place of…

ByMichelleNovember 20, 20112Comments

Baking Recipes Restaurants

Just Ginger Cookies, Not Gingerbread

One of the best things I've ever eaten in an airport was a ginger slice in Auckland, New Zealand. Think of a bar cookie with an almost shortbread-like crust, topped with a thick ginger icing. But this is icing with fire power -- the ginger is no afterthought and doesn't play second fiddle to molasses or cinnamon or allspice or anything else. Right about now everyone goes crazy for gingerbread with its earthy, spicy richness, chock full of molasses, nutmeg, allspice, and oh yeah, ginger. And I'm right there, too. I made a batch of molasses (really, gingerbread) cookies a couple of weekends ago from a Prudence Penny recipe from waaaaaay back. But they weren't much to talk about (um, hard and stale at the same time on day 2?). So then yesterday while doing a little DailyCandy catch up reading, I came across the Meatball Shop's Ginger Cookies recipe with a ginger lover's triple-threat: fresh, ground and, yeah crystallized. No molasses in sight! All I can say is, thank you Daniel Holzman and David Chernow.

ByMichelleNovember 13, 20110Comments

Baking Recipes

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip

Is it wrong to be thinking about Christmas cookies in October? Every year holiday decorations seem to appear in stores earlier and earlier. I'm always that person who complains and shakes her head. Why can't we enjoy fall and give Halloween and Thanksgiving their due before Christmas barges in and takes over? But then again, I don't have kids yet, so Halloween passes by without much notice and for me Thanksgiving is more about the whole meal, so I'm giving myself a pass. It's ok to be thinking about Christmas cookies right now.

ByMichelleOctober 25, 20111Comment