Oatmeal CookieBlog

'Tis the Season for Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Cookies

The verdict is in on my Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Cookies. Looks like I've got another hit!

From Sara, a reader, fellow food blogger, and (now) real-life recipe user:

“Just wanted to let you know that I made these last night and they are AMAZING!! So yummy and perfect for Halloween.”

From Kim, a reader and real-life taster:

“DELICIOUS. I really love these.”

From Princess Ariele, a reader and real-life cookie taster:

“These are delicious Greg! I love pumpkin and this cookie has enough of it that you can taste it, but it's not overpowering. I shared my batch with my dad, who also loved them.”

Thanks, everybody! I'm so glad you liked these cookies. Happy Halloween!

Picturing Homemade Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

With all the candy and all-around junky food that we'll all be eating tonight (and probably for days to come), I thought I'd post a recipe for something healthy. Lord knows I need it. I had to re-up on my Halloween candy this afternoon because I ate my way through most of the original stash. Darn you Starbusts! Curse you Reese's cups!

This is a frugal and healthy recipe. It starts with stuff you'd normally throw away: pumpkin seeds from your jack-o'-lantern. Scoop out the seeds, removing as much pumpkin pulp as you can. Place the seeds in a strainer and rinse with cool water until they are clean.

Pat the seeds dry with paper towels and place in a pie plate. Add some olive oil and seasonings. I used cayenne pepper, but you could use salt, black pepper, or even sugar and cinnamon--whatever floats your boat. Place in a 350 preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until toasty and golden brown. Stir occasionally. Spreads the seeds on a paper towel-lined plate to cool. Snack at will.

Picturing Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here's the recipe for my Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Cookies in process.

Cream the creamables. Don't forget to brown the butter!

Combine the wet ingredients. Canned pumpkin pie filling, vanilla, an egg yolk, pumpkin pie spice, and milk.

Add the wet ingredients to the creamables. Mix to combine everything. It looks a little loose and wet, but don't worry!

Combine the dry ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to the combined creamables and wet ingredients.

Scoop and bake the cookies. Many thanks to Jon for running out and finding the mini pumpkins in this final shot.

The List...Updated

Here’s the most up-to-date list.

S’mores Cherry-Vanilla Crispies Chocolate Malted Good Ol’ Peanut Butter White Chocolate Macaroons Dark Earl Grey Caramel-Espresso Eleven Madison Hawaii Cookies Coffee Cake Fourth of July Grasshopper Elvis Dulce de Leche Chocolate & Salted Caramel Shirley Temple Golden Girls Juliana Skiffle PB & J(onnie) Mocha Mint Rosh Hashanah

ChocAlmScotch Sweater Weather Peanut Butter Cup Hot(ter) Chocolate Almond Brickle Fluffernutter XXX Cranberry Almond Joy Mulled Apple Cider Yuletides Eggnog Sin-a-Buns Lime in the Coconut Fake-Out-Eos Raspberry-Chocolate Fondue The Girl Scouts Are...Jealous Heeeere's Johnnycake! Do You Like Pina Coladas? Va-Va-Vanilla Rocky Road Hazelnut Coffee

Florida Cookies German Chocolate Cake California Cookies Raspberry Graham...Crunch Scarborough Fair Better...Oatmeal Raisin Inside-Out Peanut Butter Cups Apple Jack Cookies Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies Raspberry in the Coconut Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies Chocolate & Chipotle Cookies Orange in the Coconut Chocolate & Sea Salt Cookies Lavender & Lemon Lovelies Redheads Chocolate Orange...Coconut Cranberry Crunch Cookies Cranberry in the Coconut Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip

Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Cookies

A little while ago, Kim, a reader and real-life cookie taster, requested a pumpkin cookie with chocolate chips. "Sure thing," I thought, "easy-peasy."

But then I started thinking about pumpkin pie and what--exactly--was the flavor of pumpkin. As a self-confessed non-eater of pumpkin pie, I wasn't sure how to capture the essence of the gourd. Ugh...not so easy-peasy after all.

And then I started thinking about seasonal flavors. Duh...pumpkin pie spice and brown butter. Eureka!

The pumpkin pie spice--a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice--gives these cookies the aromatic, autumnal flavor of a real pumpkin pie. And the brown butter adds a rich, nutty note that really complements the spice.

(Oh...and stay tuned for a pumpkin cheesecake version of my Golden Girls cookie. Alicia, my blog buddy, requested that one.)

Makes 4 dozen cookies. (To see this recipe in process, check out Picturing Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Cookies.)

Creamables	2 sticks brown butter 1 3/4 cups dark brown sugar
Wet Ingredients	1 egg yolk 1/3 cup canned pumpkin pie filling 1 tablespoon vanilla 1 tablespoon milk 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Dry Ingredients	3 cups oatmeal 2 cups flour 1 cup chocolate chips 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 1 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon salt

1. Brown the butter.
   
2. Preheat oven to 350º.
3. In your Kitchen Aid or a large mixing bowl, cream together the creamables.
4. In a small bowl, combine the wet ingredients and whisk together until smooth.
5. Add the combined wet ingredients to the creamables. Mix together until well incorporated.
6. In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed.
7. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the combined creamables and wet ingredients. Mix until evenly combined.
8. Shape dough into balls--about 2 tablespoons each.
9. Place dough balls about 2 inches apart on Silpat- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.
10. Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.

New Blog-Flair!

Key Ingredient's Back Burner blog featured my (Dark) Chocolate Orange in the Coconut Cookies, and I got a neat badge to add to my sidebar.

New Feature: Scene on the Street!

I've added a new category to the blog. Introducing "Scene on the Street"! In the course of walking and eating our way around New York, Jon and I come across stuff that we just have to post. Now there's a category for all that crazy, funny, weird stuff. (Take a look here, here, and here.)

Poll Roundup XI

According to my Talkin' Turkey poll, more than half of you are planning to have traditional Thanksgiving meals.

I'm hosting Thanksgiving this year and had originally planned to do something entirely nontraditional: eggplant parmesan. But I'm also going to do a small turkey breast, gravy, and stuffing. You know...all the stuff to make leftover turkey sandwiches (but I guess they'll be more first run than leftover). So count me among those who chose "eclectic."

Voting still remains open, so feel free to weigh in. Thanks to all who already voted, especially those ex-pats out there. (I'm talking to you Belgium and London!)

Blogging By Mail Success!

Looks like my Blogging By Mail package to Antonia at Food, Glorious Food was a hit:

“Hello Greg, Thank you SO, SO much for my fantastic parcel! It arrived safely this morning and I am absolutely thrilled with all the contents. I love the NYC theme, especially as I have a trip planned for February next year so the map and Zagat guide couldn't be more handy. Currently listening to the CD while I type which is really good - I haven't heard of this band before but I'm enjoying it so far. Thank you for a great parcel - was great fun to unpack everything this morning.”

Woohoo! Though Jon gets the credit for the NYC theme. I can't wait for the next round of Blogging By Mail.

Oatmeal CookieBlog Hits 50 Large

Since I launched this site back in January 2007, Oatmeal CookieBlog has gotten 50,000 page views. What a milestone!

Picturing Brown Butter

Brown butter has an earthy, nutty flavor that really shines through in autumnal flavors. (Just try pumpkin ravioli with brown butter and sage.) I use brown butter in my Heeeere's Johnnycake! cookies, and I'm going to use it in my soon-to-be posted pumpkin cookie recipe.

I use salted butter when I make my cookies (see here), but you should use unsalted butter when you make brown butter. Salted butter will make brown butter that tastes very salty. Melt the butter over medium heat and stir often. The butter will melt and get really foamy. Keep stirring.

The foam will disappear, and the butter will start to have clear bubbles. Keep stirring. The butter will start foaming again and turning brown, and the solids in the butter will start settling to the bottom of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat. Voilà! You've got brown butter.

Sunday Lunch: Steak for the Steaky

To celebrate Jon's birthday (belatedly) and his dad Steve's birthday (early), Jon's mom Lorraine, step dad Howie, brother David, and his fiancée Kathryn had lunch at the one and only Peter Luger Steakhouse. Thanks, David and Kathryn, for treating! Our steaks were huge--practically the size of the ribs Fred Flintstone gets in the closing credits. What a feast!

West Village Weirdness II

Just when we thought our Friday night constitutional through the West Village couldn't get weirder, we come across The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill. (Click on the link; it's worth it. There are videos you'll watch again and again.) At first glance, this place looks like a run-of-the-mill pet shop. But on closer inspection, you see something's not quite...right.

The sign outside the store reads, "Open for Rare Breeds, Pet Supplies, Mechanically Retrieved Meat." No,those aren't baby chicks at right, they're chicken nuggets! You guessed it. This is an art installation. What you don't see in these pictures is the motion. Each of these things was moving around, kind of like a processed-food version of the Hall of Presidents at Disney World.

Fish sticks swimming around a goldfish bowl. Hot dogs squirming around a snake enclosure. If you're in  New York, you've got to make it down to this place. Its' at 89 7th Ave. South, between Bleecker and West 4th Streets. It's open Monday through Friday from 10 am to 12 am until October 31, and it's free!

Update: There's more info at Andrew Sullivan's blog and the New York Times.

Fro-Yo A Go-Go

I survived on dining hall grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken noodle soup, and vanilla soft-serve ice cream topped with Cocoa Krispies when I was in college. (Oh. And Diet Coke. I can't forget the Diet Coke.)

At Yogurtland, for the first time in a looong time, I had my soft-serve and cereal topping and ate it too. (Thanks, In-Young for bringing me to this place after work all those months ago.)

It's self-serve soft-serve, and you pay by weight (the fro-yo's, not yours). The flavors range from vanilla to funky, and you can choose your own toppings, including fruit, candy, and cereal. I got a snickerdoodle-cookes 'n cream combo topped with Cap'n Crunch cereal. Jon got cheesecake, snickerdoodle, and cookies 'n cream topped with graham cracker crumbs and crushed Oreo cookies.

So good!

West Village Weirdness

No, these people aren't lining up for the Village Halloween Parade a week early. These two are advertising for the new Cirque du Soleil show called Wintuk.

It's just another Friday night in the West Village.

Friday Night Dinner: Gusto

For dinner last night, we decided to try out a new neighborhood place called Gusto, which bills itself as the city's first USDA certified organic restaurant. I know. It sounds all la-di-dah, but the food is pretty good, and the prices are reasonable.

I got a whole wheat flatbread pizza. When they say flat, they mean flat.

Jon got grilled chicken and pesto risotto. We shared a tres leches strawberry shortcake. Ooh. I feel healthier already!

Awww, Go On...No Really, Go On!

Indyenna left the following comment on my YouTube video on how to make a thumprint cookie:

“You are VERY talented, guy. You should write a cookbook and have a catering business with these cookies. Keep on sharing though.”

Thanks, Indyenna. You see that, cookbook publishers!? Food Network!? I'm sitting here...ripe for the picking.

The Pumpkin Pie Cookie Is Almost Here

As promised, I'll soon be posting a recipe for a pumpkin pie cookie. See...I even bought a can of pumpkin!

Full disclosure time, though. I've never eaten pumpkin pie before. I love the way it smells, but I've never actually tasted it. But I'm guessing there's something missing from the mouthfeel experience of pumpkin pie--namely, crunch. Sure, there's the crust, but I think the smooth, custardy texture needs a crunchy element for balance.

I'm toying with including toasted walnuts, but I know some people don't like or are allergic to nuts. I'm also thinking of including chocolate chips (thanks for the idea, Kim), but Mumma seemed dubious when I mentioned it to her. And then I was thinking of including both toasted walnuts and chocolate chips.

Decisions, decisions... What do you, dear readers, think?

Picturing Cranberry in the Coconut Cookies

Here's the recipe for my Cranberry in the Coconut Cookies in process.

Cream the creamables. Butter and dark brown sugar.

Combine the wet ingredients. I microwaved the cranberry sauce, cranberry juice, and cream of coconut so that liquify and become easier to combine with the egg yolk and extracts. Make sure you let the mixture cool before you add the egg yolk.

Add the wet ingredients to the creamables. Mix to combine everything.

Combine the dry ingredients. Don't forget to toast the coconut!

Add the dry ingredients to the combined creamables and wet ingredients.

Scoop and bake the cookies. These taste best when they've fully cooled.

[Fruit] in the Coconut Cookies

Here they are. All my "...in the coconut" cookies gathered together in their own mini-list:

Lime in the Coconut
Orange in the Coconut
Raspberry in the Coconut
(Dark) Chocolate Orange in the Coconut
Cranberry in the Coconut

Cranberry in the Coconut

That's right...another "in the coconut" cookie. I got the idea for this one from a jar of cranberry-coconut jam I saw in Mumma's fridge when I was home for the Cranberry Harvest Festival.

This isn't my XXX Cranberry recipe, which I will post soon, but I do use three sources of cranberry flavor: cranberry sauce, cranberry juice, and dried cranberries.

These guys can go crispy pretty quickly, so make sure you keep an eye on them when they're in the oven. I got sucked into a tower defense game, and a sheet's worth (OK...two sheets' worth) of cookies got a little too golden brown, if you know what I mean.

The cranberry doesn't pack an overwhelming punch of flavor. Instead, the combo of cranberries, white chocolate, and coconut gives a nice balance of tart and sweet, rich and bright. And (if you don't bake them too long), there's also a nice texture balance of chewy and crunchy.

I froze some of the dough and will bake them off later--maybe even for Thanksgiving.

Makes 4+ dozen cookies. (To see this recipe in process, check out Picturing Cranberry in the Coconut Cookies.)

Creamables	2 sticks butter 2 cups dark brown sugar
Wet Ingredients	1 egg yolk 1/3 cup cranberry sauce 1/4 cup cream of coconut 2 tablespoons cranberry juice 1 tablespoon coconut extract 1 tablespoon vanilla
Dry Ingredients	3 1/2 cups oatmeal 2 cups toasted coconut 2 cups dried cranberries (craisins) 1 1/2 cups flour 1 cup white chocolate chips 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. In your Kitchen Aid or a large mixing bowl, cream together the creamables.
3. In a small bowl, combine the wet ingredients and whisk together until smooth.
4. Add the combined wet ingredients to the creamables. Mix together until well incorporated.
5. In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed.
6. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the combined creamables and wet ingredients. Mix until evenly combined.
7. Shape dough into balls--about 2 tablespoons each.
8. Place dough balls about 2 inches apart on Silpat- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.
9. Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.

Talkin' Turkey

I know it's a little early to start thinking about turkey and all that, but Jon and I will be playing host to Mumma, my brother, and sister-in-law this Thanksgiving. Regular readers know I'm from cranberry country, which also happens to be next door to pilgrim country. Our family Thanksgivings have been pretty traditional, with the turkey, gravy, stuffing/dressing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, pearled onions, and on and on...and on. Oh! And don't forget the pies. And cheesecakes.

We'll be in New York City this year, not Plymouth County, Massachusetts, so some twists on the traditional are a must. And I'll be doing the cooking, so unless everyone wants to eat cookies for dinner, the star of this year's Thanksgiving is going to be eggplant parmesan.

All this menu planning got me thinking about what others do for Thanksgiving. Do you keep it traditional, go off on an Asian-fusion tangent, or do a bit of the old mixed with the new?

Online Surveys & Market Research

PS: For those who are interested, here are some photos I took of Plymouth Rock and its portico when I was home for the Cranberry Harvest Festival. (I tried to take a few snaps of Mayflower II, but there was a line of tour buses blocking it from view.)

The portico and a view of Plymouth Harbor.

The rock itself. Sorry about the shadows!

Gratuitous Catherine Tate Clip

Everyone needs a chuckle now and then.

Blogging By Mail II

Here are my 10 items for this round of Blogging By Mail. Jon came up with the New York theme. Thanks, Jonnazz!

My recipient is Antonia, who lives in London and whose blog is Food, Glorious Food.

1. Scratch ticket: Because somebody's got to win, right? But I reserve the right to claim half of any winnings.

2. Black & white cookie: Though not one of my favorite snacks, the black & white cookie is New York through and through.

3. Doughnut Plant T-shirt: I love Doughnut Plant. I don't mind spreading the love across the world.

4. C. Howard's violet candies: These guys are violet-flavored breath mints. Totally unique and native to New York.

5. Hem's Eveningland CD: I've gone on and on about Hem on this blog because I absolutely love this band. They're based in Brooklyn and make the most beautiful music. Buy this CD. Trust me...you'll love it!

6. Garlic-flavored bagel chips: It's garlic. It's bagels. What else can I say...other than Y-U-M?

7. New York Magazine: Jon and I always think it's fun to check out the local newspapers and magazines when we go someplace new. It really does give you a deeper look at a place.

8. New York City map: Maps are cool!

9. Zagat Survey: The 2009 edition just came out. Even if you're not necessarily a foodie or fancy-schmancy restaurant person, this is a funny--and punny--read. And it's so very New York.

10. Bagel: From our favorite neighborhood Deli, L&M. I think a bagel is the best food to symbolize New York. It was brought here by immigrants, has been adapted for all sorts of tastes, and is loved by all.

Autumn Saturday VI: Carb-alicious!

As Jon just said, "This is the time of year you want to eat a potato and take a nap." Our carb-venture began Friday night with ramen at Ippudo and continued into Saturday with--of course--doughnuts from Doughnut Plant.

As always, Doughnut Plant has season-appropriate flavors, including pumpkin (left) and apple spice (right) for the month of October. I foresee a pumpkin cookie recipe in my future.

Then on to Teariffic in Chinatown for bubble tea and more noodles--udon this time.

Over the bridge to Brooklyn Heights...

where we stumbled upon a movie shoot. No celeb sightings this time, though. Darn!

We wandered around Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill all afternoon, enjoying the crisp fall air and all the Halloween decorations. At left, Halloween scarecrows, pumpkins, and hay bales (!?) spanning the window sills of a brownstown in Cobble Hill. At right, a sukkah for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot on Kane Street.

We ended the day with an earlyish supper at little Polish diner called Teresa's Restaurant in Brooklyn Heights. Ahhh...the food of my people. Well, my father's people. Continuing our day of carb-loading, we started with potato pancakes with sour cream and applesauce.

Kielbase...and mashed potatoes! Beef Stroganoff...and noodles! Needless to say, we took a cab home to Manhattan.

Friday Night Dinner: To Ippudo We Go

When I was a kid, ramen soup was one of my favorite foods. It tasted great and was fun to eat, but a bowlful of ramen could double as a swamp for my R2D2 action figure to get stuck in. (Poor guy...he turned from white to beige after just a few dunking sessions. If only I had foreseen, all those years ago, the rise of eBay...) Why this trip down memory lane? Because Jon and I had the most delicious ramen soup for dinner at Ippudo Friday night.

I've got to thank In-Young and Pam for pointing out this place to me. First up: Spicy pork buns and spicy chicken buns. These mini-sandwiches, with their spicy/sweet sauce and super-light, steamed rice-flour buns, make perfect starters. They might look like huge hamburgers in this picture, but they're really about the size of finger sandwiches.

We got the pork belly ramen, which also had hard-boiled egg, sesame seeds, mushrooms, and spicy mustard leaves. There are a few different varieties of ramen and a menu of add-ins you can add to your soup. Save room to re-up on the noodles. If you have enough broth left in your bowl, the waitress will offer you a second plate of noodles. The open kitchen and communal tables make a trip to Ippudo the full ramen experience.

Reader Query: What Kind of Tea?

Noel wrote in and asked the following question about my Dark Earl Grey Cookies:

“Hi Greg, Very cool and unique cookies. I'm very surprised about including the actual tea leaves in the cookie though. How small were the leaves inside the bags? I'm afraid of trying with the loose leaf Earl Grey tea I have because I think it might end up with large leaves in the cookies, giving them an unpleasant texture.”

Hi, Noel. That's a really good question! When I first tried out this recipe months and months ago, I used loose-leaf tea (pictured here), and--as you guessed--the finished cookies had an unpleasant, twiggy texture. For my second test batch, I tried grinding the loose-leaf tea and the other wet ingredients in a food processor. This helped make the cookies less twiggy, but they were still too grainy. (These two batches would have made primo Oops! postings.)

I then decided to use tea from tea bags because tea-bag tea is finely ground and is practically a powder. The cookies came out with just the right texture. (I would have taken a snap of a cut-open tea bag, but I used my last one to make these cookies.) Definitely go tea-bag tea instead of loose-leaf tea.

Oatmeal Cookie Guy Raw

As I mentioned in my Autumn Saturday III post, Jon and I got to be part of the Times Square audience for The People's Court. You know...we were in the part of the show when Harvey Levin asks people what they think about the cases.

Oatmeal Cookie Guy was asked to debate someone as part People's Court Raw. Lucky me.

I'm never going to say the word regardless again. Never.

The List...Updated

Here’s the most up-to-date list.

S’mores Cherry-Vanilla Crispies Chocolate Malted Good Ol’ Peanut Butter White Chocolate Macaroons Dark Earl Grey Caramel-Espresso Eleven Madison Hawaii Cookies Coffee Cake Fourth of July Grasshopper Elvis Dulce de Leche Chocolate & Salted Caramel Shirley Temple Golden Girls Juliana Skiffle PB & J(onnie) Mocha Mint

Rosh Hashanah ChocAlmScotch Sweater Weather Peanut Butter Cup Hot(ter) Chocolate Almond Brickle Fluffernutter XXX Cranberry Almond Joy Mulled Apple Cider Yuletides Eggnog Sin-a-Buns Lime in the Coconut Fake-Out-Eos Raspberry-Chocolate Fondue The Girl Scouts Are...Jealous Heeeere's Johnnycake! Do You Like Pina Coladas? Va-Va-Vanilla

Rocky Road Hazelnut Coffee Florida Cookies German Chocolate Cake California Cookies Raspberry Graham...Crunch Scarborough Fair Better...Oatmeal Raisin Inside-Out Peanut Butter Cups Apple Jack Cookies Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies Raspberry in the Coconut Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies Chocolate & Chipotle Cookies Orange in the Coconut Chocolate & Sea Salt Cookies Lavender & Lemon Lovelies Redheads Chocolate Orange...Coconut Cranberry Crunch Cookies

Don't Do It, Duff!

At the end of last night's episode of Ace of Cakes, Chef Duff dropped the bomb that Charm City Cakes is expanding. To Los Angeles. What the...!? Didn't Mary Alice say no to a caller who wanted to open a branch of the bakery in Dubai?

The thing that makes the show so good is the real-life cast of cake-decorating characters at the Baltimore-based bakery. You know, Duff's friends. With an LA-based bakery, the cake decorators will be unemployed character actors using the show to audition for every casting director on the West Coast. In other words: not Duff's friends. And I have no doubt the show will become a promotional vehicle for every movie premier and award show in Hollywood. The new Harry Potter movie is opening...whip up a Diagon Alley cake! It's Oscar time...roll out the gold fondant for the Vanity Fair afterparty!

You don't want Ace of Cakes to become the next American Chopper. Don't use your bakery as a cover for a PR operation that embeds 30-minute commercials into your show. I have four words: Don't do it, Duff!

Picturing Dark Earl Grey Cookies

Here's the recipe for my Dark Earl Grey Cookies in process.

Cream the creamables. Butter, white sugar, dark brown sugar, and cocoa powder.

Combine the wet ingredients. Make sure the melted chocolate has cooled slightly so that your egg yolk doesn't scramble.

Add the wet ingredients to the creamables. Mix.

Combine the dry ingredients. Don't forget to add the contents of one more Earl Grey tea bag.

Add the dry ingredients to the combined creamables and wet ingredients.

Scoop and bake the cookies. Mmmm...so fudgy!

Dark Earl Grey Cookies

I almost called these cookies "Earl Greyer" but  decided that's what we'd name our Weimaraner...if we ever get one.

This cookie is inspired by some chocolates my parents brought back from Belgium. Yup...they take off to Brussels, and all I got was some Earl Grey tea-flavored Neuhaus chocolates. Who am I kidding? That was the perfect souvenir...way better than any T-shirt they could have gotten me.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find those chocolates anywhere. That's the reason I came up with this recipe: to duplicate the flavor of those chocolates Mumma and Puppa brought home for me.

It may sound odd, but tea and chocolate go really well together. The rich, bitter-but-sweet flavor of the dark chocolate and the lightly floral and citrusy, smoky undertones of the tea are delicious. One warning, though: These pack a caffeine kick, so you might want to use caffeine-free earl grey tea if you'll be eating these cookies past lunchtime.

I use three kinds of chocolate in this cookie: cocoa powder, melted dark chocolate, and dark chocolate chips. For the tea, I simply cut open tea bags and emptied their contents. (I used Twining's Earl Grey tea.) These cookies are rich and fudgy like brownies but with a refined, elegant flavor you'd find in a schmancy truffle from a chocolatiere.

Makes 3 dozen cookies. (To see this recipe in process, check out Picturing Dark Earl Grey Cookies.)

Creamables	1 stick butter 1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar 1/4 cup white sugar 1/4 cup cocoa powder
Wet Ingredients	1 egg yolk 1/2 cup milk 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 2 ounces melted dark chocolate Contents of 4 Earl Grey tea bags
Dry Ingredients	1 1/2 cups oatmeal 1 1/2 cups flour 1 cup dark chocolate chips 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt Contents of 1 Earl Grey tea bag

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. In your Kitchen Aid or a large mixing bowl, cream together the creamables.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients and then add to the creamables. Mix together until smooth.
4. In another large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the creamables and wet ingredients. Mix until evenly combined.
5. Shape dough into balls--about 2 tablespoons each.
6. Roll each dough ball in turbinado or raw sugar.
7. Place sugared dough balls about 2 inches apart on Silpat- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.
8. Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes or until edges are firm. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.

Lovin' the Blog-Love

A reader named PET left some really kind words on my post about my winning recipe at this year's Cranberry Harvest Festival:

“WOW! Mazel tov! I wish I lived closer so I could be one of your official tasters! You are amazing, and your blog is one of my faves! There are times when I am literally salivating (sounds nicer than drooling) over descriptions of your cookies!”

Thanks, PET! You really made my day. And thanks to all who left congrats and well wishes. You make me smile. :-D

Carver: Roadside Attractions IV

This was the day we went to the Cranberry Harvest Festival to pick up my award for my Cranberry Crunch Cookies.

A flooded bog and a barn. To do a wet harvest, growers flood their bogs and then use machines that look like small paddle boats to knock the submerged berries off the vines. The berries float to the the surface, where they are corralled and then pumped out of the bog and into waiting trucks.

Here are some typical sites you'd see driving around Carver: bog after bog after bog and signs for Ocean Spray-affiliated cranberry growers.

When we got to the Cranberry Harvest Festival, we took a school bus shuttle from the parking lot, through the woods, around the bogs, and to the festival grounds. I got to take only a couple pictures before my camera died...for good. (Argh!!!) Here's a pic of Mumma with a flooded, berry-rich bog in the background and a pic of some berries floating in a bog. Unfortunately, these were the only pics I was able to snap at the festival itself. If you'd like to see how a wet harvest works, check out this video of a cranberry harvest in Nantucket. It's not Carver, but you get the idea.

Mamma Mia's...How Can I Resist Ya?

In honor of Columbus Day, here are pics of our Sunday dinner of good old red-sauce Italian food from Mamma Mia's. (Yes...there we went again.)

Mamma Mia's has been an institution in Plymouth, one town over from Carver, for what seems like forever. When Mumma found out that Mamma Mia's was opening a restaurant in Carver and that it was going to be around the corner from where she lived, she practically swooned. We did, too, because we had our Christmas, birthday, and Mother's Day gifts figured out in perpetuity: gift certificates! We started with the antipasto. Cold cuts on top of a salad...how bad can that be?

My family--my grandparents and my mom and dad--used to make tortellini, or "tootalings" as I used to call them, from scratch. Tootalings in broth from Mamma MIa's is one of my favorite things in the world to eat, and baked ziti with melted cheese, thin slices of meatballs, and lots of sauce is another.