Chocolate Chip Cookie

 

Having spent a lot of the winter snowed in, I have made a few batches of cookies just experimenting with older recipes.  One recipe that I am constantly tweaking is Chocolate Chip. 

One thing I found while I was searching chocolate chip cookies was the suggestion of adding Cream of Tartar to give your cookies that cracked look.  I added the Cream of Tartar and the cookies did have that beautiful cracked look, however, I don’t know if that was in fact the reason.  I don’t believe the Cream of Tartar had any effect on the taste of the cookie so it could be omitted without harm to the recipe.

 

These cookies, like most any chocolate chip cookie, are best right off of the cookie sheet. 

 

 

Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp hot water

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. 
2. Cream butter and sugars.  Add eggs and stir in vanilla.  Dissolve baking soda in hot water for several minutes;  in the meantime sift together flour, salt, and cream of tartar.  Add to creamed mixture along with baking soda mix.  Stir in chips and nuts.
3. Drop by large tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven 9-10 minutes.  Cool one minute on sheet before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

Yields 4 1/2 dozen delicious cookies.

Nutty Pancakes

In January, probably when we were snowed in, I made a Nut and Grain Pancake reminiscent of the delicious ones the folks at IHOP make.  Since then I have made these pancakes no less than six times.  I prefer them to any box pancake I’ve ever had but I’ve also been testing out buttermilk pancakes and I keep coming back to these.  They don’t seem to keep as well in the fridge as your run of the mill buttermilk batter but my kids love them so much that we never have any leftovers.

I have altered them a tad since first making them to include three types of nuts and Canola Oil in lieu of vegetable oil.  I also have designated several two-cup Ziploc containers for storing the different ground up nuts and oatmeal so that these are an even quicker breakfast to throw together for the kids.  Don’t let the list of ingredients deter you, these really do go together quickly and make for a hearty and delicious breakfast. 

Nutty pancakes

ingredients

3/4 cup ground Oatmeal

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1/2 cups fat free buttermilk

1/4 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons ground almonds

2 tablespoons ground pecans

2 tablespoons ground walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat griddle to medium (roughly 350*) and spray with a cooking spray such as Pam or Baker’s Joy.  Spray between each batch of pancakes.
2. Grind outs in food processor thoroughly.
3. Combine oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in medium bowl.
4. With an electric mixer combine buttermilk, oil, vanilla, egg and sugar. Stir in dry ingredients followed by ground nuts.
5. Ladle 1/4 cup batter onto griddle and cook approximately 3 minutes on each side.

Note: You can use any combination of nuts but I wouldn’t add more than 6 tablespoons as it will dry out the batter too much making these pancakes dry and crumbly.

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

When it comes to baking chocolate chips, nuts and zucchini are three of the things I love to see on a list of ingredients. My favorite quick bread is zucchini and my favorite cookies are chocolate chip and I will take both with nuts, especially walnuts or pecans. This muffin incorporates all three as well and is a wonderful afternoon snack or morning pick me up.

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1 egg

1/4 cup applesauce

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup shredded zucchini

1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin tins with cooking spray.
2. Combine dry ingredients (flour through salt). Combine egg, oil, applesauce, buttermilk and vanilla. Combine with flour mixture and fold in zucchini, chips and nuts.
3. Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full. I like to use a cookie scoop, about two good size scoops fills the tins 2/3 full.
4. Bake for 18-20 minutes in preheated oven. These freeze well.