No One Will Ever Say They're Small

  

This is a big one!  Cookbook author Elinor Klivens, who wrote Big Fat Cookies, told Tonia's Kitchen about her recipe for Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies, and stuffed they are!  Elinor told Tonia she starts with an all brown sugar dough, and standard chocolate chip cookie ingredients.  She then sets aside one cup of extra chocolate chips, takes 2 tablespoons of dough and balls them on a cookie sheet.  Eleanor then adds the chocolate chips and places two more tablespoons of dough on top of that. She describes it kind of like a chocolate chip sandwich.  When it's all baked, it's delicious!

2 cups (280g) unbleached all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened for about 30 minutes

1 1/2 cups (240g) packed light brown sugar

2 large cold eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups (505g/18 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1
Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 175°C/350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2 Sift the flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and brown sugar until smoothly blended, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until blended, about 1 minute. The mixture may look slightly curdled. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated. Mix in 2 cups (336g) of the chocolate chips.

3 Roll 2 tablespoons of dough between the palms of your hands into a ball, flatten it slightly to make a 2-inch (5cm) disk and place on one of the prepared baking sheets. Repeat to make a total of 16 disks, placing 8 on each baking sheet and spacing them 4 inches (10cm) apart. Leaving a 1/4-inch (6mm) plain edge, lightly press 1 tablespoon* of the remaining chocolate chips onto each disk. Using the remaining dough, make 16 more disks, placing one on top of each chocolate-chip-topped disk. Press the dough disks gently to cover any of the chocolate chip filling that shows around the edges.

4 Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the edges are lightly browned but the centers are still pale golden, about 15 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm (the filling will be soft and melted) or at room temperature.

5 The cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

6 * I ended up using less than 1 tablespoon of chips – it was difficult placing all that amount of chocolate inside each disk of cookie dough

Rich, Creamy, Delicious...and Simple

You've heard the phrase, keep it simple. If you're looking to make dessert and you want to keep it as simple as possible, look no further than the new cookbook Sheet Pan Sweets. Author Molly Gilbert told Tonia's Kitchen that she tries to keep things down to one bowl whenever it's allowable. But the main thing here is, while the desserts are simple, they're also innovative...and mostly importantly delicious. Case in point, Jack's Chocolate Chip Cake with Fudge Frosting. Jack is Molly's middle son, and she made this to celebrate his 3rd birthday. She calls it favorite with both rich chocolate flavor and the fun of chocolate chips. Essentially standard cake ingredients with the chips. Molly told Tonia that it bakes fast simply because of the fact you're using a sheet pan here. If Molly likes it, chances are good you will too!

Simple Sweets

You've heard the phrase, keep it simple. If you're looking to make dessert and you want to keep it as simple as possible, look no further than the new cookbook Sheet Pan Sweets. Author Molly Gilbert told Tonia's Kitchen that she tries to keep things down to one bowl whenever it's allowable. But the main thing here is, while the desserts are simple, they're also innovative...and mostly importantly delicious. Case in point, Jack's Chocolate Chip Cake with Fudge Frosting. Jack is Molly's middle son, and she made this to celebrate his 3rd birthday. She calls it favorite with both rich chocolate flavor and the fun of chocolate chips. Essentially standard cake ingredients with the chips. Molly told Tonia that it bakes fast simply because of the fact you're using a sheet pan here. If Molly likes it, chances are good you will too!

Cookies Are Always Fun...

...but sometimes the same-old, same-old standbys like Chocolate Chip Cookies or Peanut Butter Cookies can get a little long in the sweet tooth. With that in mind, authors Chris Taylor and Paul Arguin stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about their new cookbook, Fabulous Modern Cookies! It takes the traditional recipes and sets them on their sides! Case in point, a delicious spin on the cookie batter where they use what they call Bronze (or Brown) Butter to put a spin on these taste treats. By doing that, they told Tonia the different butter offers a toffee-esque flavor profile that is incredibly delicious. They also take peanut butter cookies and put an East Asian spin on things, by offering a Peanut Satay cookie. Is it different? You bet! Is it delicious? Absolutely!

Unbleached all-purpose flour - 3 cups /425 grams

Salt 1/2 teaspoon

Unsalted butter, at room temperature - 16 tablespoons/227 grams

Granulated sugar - 1/2 cup /100 grams

Light brown sugarPacked - 1/2 cup /100 grams

Egg, at room temperature - 1 large /50 grams (weighed without shell)

Instant espresso powder - 2 teaspoons

Pure vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon

Whole roasted coffee beans - 1/2 cup/ 35 grams

Directions

1. Whisk together the flour and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

2. Combine the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in a stand mixer fitted with a flat beater, and cream together on medium speed until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the egg, espresso powder, and vanilla until the mixture is uniform.

3. Reduce the mixer to low speed, and mix in the flour mixture until combined and no dry flour is visible. Scrape the sides of the bowl and the beater with a silicone spatula to make sure all ingredients have been incorporated.

4. Place the coffee beans in a bag, such as a 1-quart resealable storage bag. Crush the beans coarsely, using a heavy object, such as a rolling pin or the bottom of a small pan. The goal is to still have small, crunchy nuggets of coffee bean that are smaller than 1/4-inch chunks but not a fine powder. Stir the crushed beans into the cookie dough, using a silicone spatula.

5. Divide the dough in half. Roll each half of the dough to a 1/4-inch thickness between two sheets of parchment or waxed paper. Stack the paper-covered sheets of dough on an 18-by-13-inch baking sheet, and refrigerate until cold and firm throughout, at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.

6. Position two racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat to 350F. Line two 18-by-13-inch baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

7. Use a coffee bean shaped cookie cutter (or any shape) to cut your desired shapes from the dough and transfer them to the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches of space between cookies. If you don’t have a coffee bean–shaped cutter, find an oval or ellipse that seems reasonably close. Drag the back of a butter knife through the center of the cookie to draw that central coffee bean line. (Be sure to use the back of the knife—you just want to draw a line, not cut through it.) These cookies keep their shape well, so you can crowd the pan a little more than with cookies that spread more during baking. But keep them about 1 inch apart for proper heat circulation.

8. Bake until the edges are just starting to brown, 10 to 20 minutes. Halfway through baking, rotate the pans from front to back and top to bottom. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes on the sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Large (over 4 inches) or delicate shapes should be allowed to cool completely on the sheets to prevent breaking. Repeat with the remaining dough, rerolling the scraps of dough, if necessary, once the baking sheets have completely cooled, or prepare additional baking sheets. After cooling, the cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for several days.