Sweets and more sweets.

I haven't been having cravings, friends. No, I have yet to experience that awesomeness. Instead, I am just perusing cooking magazines and blogs and trying to find things that look palatable. Many times the answer includes the word(s) 'cake'. Or 'giant cookie'. Or 'fudge sauce'.

Basically, I have been in the mood to whip up desserts. Which is saying something because, as of late, my mood has not involved the desire to do much of anything except lie on the couch and say "Ughhh..." while I sniff through my congested nose. Sorry for that graphic description. Anyhow.

Here is a recipe for a Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie that I tried the other day and which turned out remarkably well. I thought for many months now that my oven is cursed because the many types of cookies I've tried to bake in said oven have all turned out less than yummy. The only type that turned out well were the gingersnaps and oh, heaven help me, they were delicious. So, I thought when I decided to make this recipe that it would probably be another disappointment.

I was wrong.

And here you go:

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie

1/2 c. white sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar (I used dark)

1/2 c. butter, melted & cooled

1 egg

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. vanilla (my vanilla was kind of mixed with some rum extract and WOW it added a nice flavor)

1 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. chocolate chips (I know I used more than 1/2 c. ..)

Preheat: 350

Cream sugars and butter. Add egg, mix well. Add dry ingredients, mix. Fold in chocolate chips.

Line a large (11x17) baking pan with foil. Press dough into a circle.

The original recipe noted that a 9" dough circle should bake into an 11" cookie, but I just pressed it until I thought it was a good thickness.

Top with anything you want, like m&ms, etc., if you decide not to do chocolate chips.

Bake 13-16 minutes or until light golden brown. Let the cookie cool completely on the baking pan. This will help stabilize it so it can be easily lifted.

This was one darn good cookie.

Greek Salad

After getting back from a cruise and eating basically nothing but red meat and dessert for a week, I'm happily munching down on lots of green things. I improved a delicious Greek salad yesterday and here are the results.

GREEK SALAD

1 bunch each: Romaine lettuce and green leaf lettuce, washed and torn or chopped into bite-sized pieces

2 large cucumbers, chopped, peeled, and deseeded (to do this easily, cut each cucumber into halves and run a spoon down the seeded portion)

3 Roma tomatoes, deseeded and diced

1 medium red onion, very finely diced

8-10 artichoke hearts, chopped

Kalamata olives, chopped, to taste (they are very briny, so I only like 10-15 in a salad this size)

4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

Dressing (makes 4 servings, approx)

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. each: Onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, basil, pepper, salt, and dijion-style mustard

1/4 c. red wine vinegar

Direction:

1) Chop up veggies and toss together

2) Whisk dressing ingredients together briskly and pour over a serving of salad. This recipe makes a lot, so refrigerate the rest and dress as needed.

Apple Crisp

Apple crisp is a remarkable food to me. It takes apples (good of their own right) and makes them transcendent. I've eaten an absurd amount of the stuff this weekend as I had a flat of apples I had to go through before going here on Saturday. Of course I love the stuff right out of the oven, but it's also great cold for "breakfast" (hey! it has lots and lots of apples! And oatmeal! That makes it practically health food!) or other snack.

I adapted this from Mark Bittman's recipe in How to Cook Everything.

Apple Crisp

INGREDIENTS:
APPLE MIXTURE:
6 cups semi-tart apples, sliced thinly (I don't see the point in using Granny Smiths because I just end up adding a bunch more sugar anyway; I used pink ladies for this and it turned out great)
Splash lemon juice
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. fresh ground cinnamon
3 Tbsp. brandy (optional, but it adds of ton of flavor)
2 tsp. vanilla (don't bother with vanilla extract; get the real Mexican stuff with tequila or make your own with 6 months of stewing split vanilla beans in vodka or other colorless/flavorless alcohol)
CRUMBLE:
2/3 c. brown sugar (add more to taste if using particularly tart apples)
1/2 c. instant oats
1/2 c. flour
1/2 Tbsp. fresh ground cinnamon
1/4 fresh-grated nutmeg seed (or about 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg)
Pinch of salt
5 Tbsp. cold butter

DIRECTIONS
NOTE: Because I like a crumble that's on the barely browned side, I cook this for less time than the original recipe indicated. I compensate for this by cutting the apples razor thin (no really, you could see through them) with my Global Chef Knife. I wouldn't attempt this with anything other than a wickedly awesome sharp knife. If you don't want to do this, add 5 minutes to the cooking time.
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Peel, core, and slice apples. It took me about five large Pink Lady apples to mostly fill the 9X9 baking pan. Squeeze 1/2 lemon or splash pre-prepared lemon juice over those puppies. Dump in brandy, 1 Tbsp. brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Toss to coat evenly and set aside.
3. If you use a food processor, dump in the crumble ingredients and pulse a couple of times until well-incorporated but not uniform. If you don't have a food processor, it's okay. Just cut in the butter into the dry ingredients and combine with your fingertips or a fork. Be careful not to handle the butter too much or the crumble won't be as flaky.
4. Spray or grease a 9X9 square baking dish. Add in apples and make sure they are evenly distributed (if you let them sit in the brandy for about 20 minutes, the apples will have soaked up much of the liquid). Pour on crumble mixture evenly and pat down gently.
5. Bake for 25 minutes (or longer if you are using thicker apples and/or want a darker crumble). Serve with Cool Whip or vanilla bean ice cream while warm. Let cool completely before refrigerating.

Snickerdoodle Scones

I had a hankering for some biscuits tonight. And just when I was thinking this blog had a biscuit recipe on it, I remembered this AMAZING scone recipe and I immediately shifted gears and made a batch of these delicious little things. They are still in the oven, so I have yet to find out if my cream of tartar substitute works out, (I'm praying it does!) but while I'm waiting I am going to share the recipe. (I know, I know, it's been AGES since I've posted on here. My humblest apologies.)

Snickerdoodle Scones

*from Baking Bites

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp butter, chilled and cut into pieces
6-8 tbsp milk or cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt and sugar. Add butter to the flour mixture and use your fingertips to rub it into the flour, breaking the butter down into pieces smaller than a pea.

Combine milk and vanilla in a small dish and add about 6 tablespoons to flour mixture. Stir with a fork until dough comes together into a slightly sticky ball. If necessary, add additional tablespoon or two of milk. Dough should not be too wet. *Note: I ended up adding about 7 Tbsp. of milk.

Divide dough into six even balls.

In a small dish, whisk together 1/4 cup sugar and ground cinnamon. Roll each ball of scone dough in the cinnamon sugar mixture and flatten slightly on to prepared baking sheet.

Bake for about 15 minutes, until scones are set and edges begin to brown.

Cool on a wire rack before serving.

Makes 6 large scones.

These really are yummy. Snickerdoodles happen to be one of my most favorite cookies, and these are just the right amount of sweet. Yay for scones.