C is for ...

COOKIE! That's good enough for me!

Some days you just want a good ole chocolate chip cookie. Soft on the outside. Chewy on the inside. Buttery. Sweet. That's exactly what this cookie is. But with a bit of a bite since it has chopped pecans. A nice little twist on something so classic.

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups + 1 tbsp unbleached all purpose flour 

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 sticks unsalted butter (a little colder than room temperature)

1 cup brown sugar (packed)

3/4 granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped pecans

• Sift flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.
• In a mixer, beat butter until soft.
• Add brown and granulated sugar to the mixer.
• Beat until smooth and combined.
• Add eggs one at a time. Then the vanilla.
• Slowly add in the sifted dry ingredients. Start on a slow speed and add about a cup at a time.
  Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl in between.
• Add the chocolate chips in 2 batches, making sure its evenly dispersed.
• Lastly blend in chocolate chips
• Refrigerate cookie dough for at least 2 hours. Can even be done over night.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Scoop 1-2 tbsp of dough for each cookie. Separating each cookie about 3 inches apart on a lined cookie sheet.
  For uniform cookies, you can use a small ice cream/cookie scoop.
• Bake for 9 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

beat butter 

after mixing butter & sugar, add dry ingredients   

after mixing butter, sugar, & the dry ingredients together ... 

then you can add your chocolate chips 

and lastly the pecans 

take out your refrigerated dough & place dollops on a lined cookie sheet 

after 9 or so minutes they look like this!

Welcome Back

I'm a terrible blogger! I have been missing for quite awhile.
So, let's skip all the blah blah blahs and lets jump right in.

Strawberry Pecan Bars

INGREDIENTS
4 sticks of butter (room temperature)
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
4 cups all purpose flour (sifted)
1 1/4 cup pecans (chopped)
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup strawberry jam
1 cup chopped strawberries

• Butter two 9x9 pan. Preheat oven to 350degrees Fahrenheit.
• In a large bowl or mixer, beat together butter and sugar until smooth.
• Mix in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla.
• Slowly mix in the flour (1 cup at a time). Scrape batter from the sides & bottom of the bowl before adding the next cup of flour.
• Once the flour is completely incorporated, add in 1 cup of the chopped pecans.
• Half the batter mixture. One half will be the bottom of the bars & the other half will be the "crumb" topping.
• Spread the already halved mixture between the two baking pans to create the bottom of the bars.
• With the remaining batter that has been set aside for the crumb topping, mix in 1 cup of oatmeal and 1/4 cup of pecans set aside.
• Mix the strawberry jam and chopped strawberries together in a small bowl.
• Spread the strawberry mixture over the batter of the 2 baking dishes.
• To add the crumb topping, place dollops of the batter over the strawberry spread.
• Bake for 30 minutes at 350degrees or until the top is golden brown.
• Let the bars cool for 10 minutes. Slice. Serve (with ice cream of course!)

I clearly forgot to take some pictures along the way. Like I said, I'm a bad blogger.

just some apples & butter

Holidays call for family gatherings. Family gatherings call for food. Food involves dessert. Therefore I bring to you delicious treats.

Easter was this past Sunday so that obviously entails a bit of a famjam. I however had to work. Yea, adult life problems. Although I wasn't there to celebrate, that doesn't mean there was one less dessert at the table. That would be ridunkulous! I managed to bake an apple galette & my sister brought it over (hi lady!). The term galette sounds fancy & makes it seem like it would be difficult to make. But don't let the name throw you off, it's very easy to make & you probably have all the ingredients to begin with. Promise! It's easy as pie (because it is!).

INGREDIENTS

Crust

1 3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (cut into 1/2 in cubes)

2 tablespoons ice water

Filling

3 tablespoons apricot preserves

2-3 Granny Smith apples (cored, peeled, & cut into 'thin' slices)

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon milk

2 tablespoons turbinado sugar (raw sugar)

• Sift flour, salt, and sugar. Blend together in a food processor (or in a bowl if being done by hand)
• Add the chilled chunks of butter & pulse. The butter should still be cold (not room temp!). If being done by hand, use a fork to blend in the butter.
• Pulse/blend the dry ingredients & butter together until the texture resembles coarse meal.
• Add 2 tablespoons of ice water & blend. If the dough has not come together, add a teaspoon of ice water at a time until the dough combines together.
• Gather the dough shaping it into a disc & wrap in plastic wrap. 
• Chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
  
• Roll out dough to about 1/8in thickness and the diameter is about 12-14in. Place dough (that is on the parchment) onto a baking sheet. Chill in refrigerator for 10mins.
  It is best to roll out dough between two sheets of parchment paper so that way you can easily transfer the dough to a baking sheet.
  
• Core and peel the apples.
• Slice apples "thinly" (about 1/6in thick) and toss together with sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon.
  
• Take out chilled dough from fridge. 
• Spread 2 tablespoons or so of apricot spread on the dough in a circle, leaving about 2inches from the edges. This is where the apples will be placed. 
• Starting on the outer layer, arrange the apples in a circle. They should slightly over lap. Continue arranging the middle layers.
• Once you have arranged your apples, begin to fold up the crust edges. If the dough tears you can easily pinch it back together.
• Brush 1 tablespoon of apricot preserve on the top layer of apples.
• Brush the milk over the crust and sprinkle with raw sugar.
  
• Bake in 450degrees Fahrenheit oven for 15minutes. Lower the temperature to 375degrees Fahrenheit and continue to bake about 25minutes longer until the crust is golden brown.
• Let it cool and then remove pie from parchment & serve.

the finished product

Mmmm a warm slice w/ vanilla ice cream would be perfect

i'm hungry

Not your typical diner

Who: The Little Baker (& Friend) . What: dinner . Where: Bowery Diner 

 When: Thursday . Why: Because I was hungry

[the bowery diner] 

[cupcake milkshake] 

[brussels sprouts w/ bacon] 

[mac & cheese] 

[johnny lee burger]

[burger w/ lettuce, tomato, onion, smoked chipotle sauce] 

[mussels w/ white wine, celery, thyme]

Conclusion: Food was so-so. Not your typical diner food & that's the whole point.

However, the food was average and didn't live up to the hype of the place. Definitely,

more room for improvement.

Faves: Milkshake & brussels sprouts. Btw, you can add alcohol to your milkshake. Total plus.

Easy as can be

Today's post is not about baking. Nor is it about where I went to eat. I decided to shake things up and show you what I made for dinner. And because it is a Friday during Lent that means no meat. So, I bring to you my not so Asian dumplings. I call it that because the only Asian things about it are: the wrapper, and the fact that I made it. Tonight's dinner are ricotta & spinach dumplings. Ha, not Asian at all.

INGREDIENTS

• Spinach
• Ricotta cheese
• Dumpling wrappers

Now here's the thing. I don't have measurements for anything! But it really is quite simple and it's all about personal judgement. I promise!

1. Cook spinach. Throw it in a pan with some salt and pepper over low heat. I didn't add any oil or butter because spinach has so much moisture. It will take a few minutes to cook down and once it does it will appear as if you lost all your spinach. 

2. Let the spinach cool down completely. Once it has cooled down, squeeze out all the liquid. Even though you didn't add anything to your spinach, it excretes a lot of water as it cooks.

3. Now that you have squeezed out as much water as possible, roughly chop the spinach into chunks. This just makes it easier to mix with the cheese and put into your dumpling wrappers.

4. Add the chopped spinach to a heaping amount of ricotta. How much ricotta should you add? That's entirely up to you. 

5. Put half a teaspoon of the mixture into your dumpling wrapper. 

6. Close your dumpling by wetting the edge with water and folding over the other half.

7. Throw in a few dumplings at time into a pot of boiling water.

8. The dumplings are done once they float. 

A pan full of spinach

A heaping scoop of ricotta cheese 

Ricotta cheese & chopped up spinach 

Mix until combined. Adding as much ricotta as you see fit. 

Put about a teaspoon of the mixture in the middle of your wrapper. 

All folded up & ready to be cooked. 

They cook in about 2-3 minutes. 

Drizzled some herb butter on top.

Quick & simple :)

You're next on my list

I don't really care for sticky buns or things of that sort but the one featured in Bon Appetit might be the exception. This picture has me mesmerized! 

Yup Mr. Stickybun, you're on my hit list!

Love means a full stomach

While most people consider Sunday a day of rest, I had to substitute mine for Saturday. That's what happens when a Sunday becomes a work day.

My day of rest was just that, until 6:30 rolled around and a 'late' dinner came into play. I usually deny such a thing if I have work the next day because I really enjoy my sleep. But when the words 'Buttermilk Channel' are spoken, I drop any sense of practicality, exchanging it for shoes and a bag and head out the door. Although I gave up some sleep time, it was definitely worth it. 

Since Buttermilk Channel is very dimly lit, I refrained from taking pictures. Don't you find the flash on the iPhone to be very bright? I thought the flash would be distracting to the people next to us. Lucky for me and the sake of this blog, my "dinner companion" (hi Kev! ... not like you read this) disagreed and took the pictures anyway. He had his own agenda. He's become an instagram snob. Thanks for the picture though!

slow roasted pork spare ribs : painted hills farm delmonico rib eye w/ bone marrow spread

buttermilk fried chicken w/ cheddar waffles : pecan pie sundae

Yumm.

 

Still no baking but lots of eating

Another week has gone by where I have not baked. I must get out of this baking slump quick.
In the mean time, I'll just have to fill you in on my latest food obsessions.

Lets start with Friday.
Since it is Lent, that means meatless Fridays. Which makes it a perfect day to hit up Flex Mussels. Finally! Seriously, it's been a long time coming. Thank you meatless Fridays for giving me a reason to go. (As if I needed an excuse). Yummy food. Just wasn't able to try the clam chowder since there was bacon in there, or the San Danielle mussels since that had prosciutto. Darn, I do love prosciutto. As for the donuts, not too bad. My faves would be raspberry, pb&j, and the chocolate hazelnut! Mmmm what a delish dinner.

 [tuna tartare]

 [clam chowder]

 [italiano: calamari, roasted garlic, red wine, tomato sauce] 

[san danielle: prosciutto, caramelized onions, white wine, garlic]

 

[truffle fries] 

 [donuts: raspberry, salted caramel, cinnamon sugar, pb&j, (2) chocolate hazelnut]

Now onto Tuesday...

Had linner at Roberta's in Brooklyn. Oh and if you're wondering if that was a typo, well it was not. Linner is similar to brunch, but is the afternoon meal instead of lunch and dinner. So maybe it should be called lunner? Anyway... my afternoon meal was at Roberta's. Which was then followed by dessert at Brooklyn Farmacy.
Both delicious and unique places, that I would consider my favorites. What a great way to welcome spring :) Great food & lovely weather.

Roberta's

[cheese plate] 

[the beastmaster: tomato, mozz, gorgonzola, pork sausage, onion, capers, jalapenos 

& the bee sting: tomato, mozz, sopressata, chili, honey ]

Brooklyn Farmacy

 [strawberry rhubarb pie & vanilla ice cream]

[vanilla & coffee milkshake -&- a slice of apple pie]

Brooklyn Farmacy is a restored pharmacy that serves dessert in an old-fashioned setting.

Decorated with original fixtures, this place is absolutely adorable.

Traditional soda shops meets modern day culinary twists <3 

Happy Eating