List #4: My holiday cooking and baking list

Mike is our cook. I like to bake. We do a lot of it for fun in December, when he has a week or two off. I have been cleaning out the cabinets, drawers, and counters, trying to simplify and clean. Due to my RA, I just clean one appliance and one or two drawers a day. Even the first day on Monday, when I did the counters (moving unused things into long term storage, wiping everything down, and shining my pretty fridge) we were inspired to spend much more time in the kitchen.

This was 2 Christmases ago! Squeee!

Here are some of the things I hope to make in the next few weeks:

1. Maple Roasted Almonds Perhaps D and I can make these tomorrow if she has a snow day and then package them for her teachers Christmas baskets.
2. Sea-Salted Almond bark I think I will switch cashews for this, I'll roast them first and then sea salt them as well as sea salt the chocolate and perhaps put them in teachers baskets too.
3. Easiest Baked Mac and Cheese My Kids have eaten every kind of noodle in the world and Mike and I keep looking for homemade version we love that is quick to put together.
4. BUCKEYES Mike and I could eat these all. ALL of them!
5. Ginger Ice Cream This year I started trying flavored ice cream. I use to just have vanilla or cookies and cream, now I want every kind.
6. Cinna-nut Hot Chocolate I will have to try this with some chocolate what has a lower amount or no corn syrup. Corn syrup makes my joints ache. But, but, but, chocolate and peanut butter makes my stomach oh so happy.

Did I ever talk about chocolate chip cookies on here? If so then I'll do it again, because my friend Wren has been on a similar search as mine and I was thinking about posting... so her post kicked me in the pants.

I learned cookie making from my Grandma Huff. She made them basic, consistent and always had a piece of bread in the cookie jar to keep the cookies from drying out.

I started searching for the ultimate recipe when I got an email from my husband 2 summers ago with a link to the New York Times that said "Make me these, thanks". He normally is not demanding so I was surprised, intrigued and soon after, baking a batch. They were GOOD, but they required 2 kinds of flour and specialty chocolate. I like simple baking. I took away some good tips though.

Lots of other recipes were tried. Lots. They were all good, because they all had butter, sugar and chocolate chips in them.

Another recipe I found this spring was this one from Recipe Girl. She browns the butter and uses Alton Brown's chewy recipe. The dough was amazing and tasted a lot like caramel because it was very similar to making caramel (melting butter and adding sugar) , but I made these the night of Mike's birthday dinner and lost track of them and they burned a little. I will have to try them again.

Because I prefer art to science, it is no surprise what I came up with after trying a lot of recipes over two years. I have never found an ultimate recipe, but I have found some ultimate techniques. So here is my collection of Chocolate Chip Cookie techniques.

Key tips from New York Times

• Use the best chocolate you can afford (but I say if you can only get the store brand still go for it).
• Make your dough 1 to 2 days ahead, and keep it in the fridge.
  
• Sprinkle each cookie with sea salt just before you bake it. THIS IS MY FAVORITE TIP!
  

Key tips from Recipe Girl

• If you have time, brown your butter before you cream it with the sugars.
  

Key tip from my sister-in law, Michelle

• Take them out just before they are totally done. They will continue cooking as they cool. If you wait to take them out until they are done, then they will be too crispy.

Key tips from Grandma Huff

• Use Nestle Toll House recipe
• Make each cookie the same size so they are all evenly (I use a scoop like this)
• Put a piece of bread with the cookies to keep them from drying out.

So there you go Wren.

Oh, and I have the perfect snickerdoodle recipe. It is one I have made since I was 9. I'll post sometime soon. Not now. The recipe is in the kitchen, and if I go in the kitchen after all this talk I won't come out until I am covered in flour and have eaten about 2 cups of raw cookie dough.