Posts Tagged ‘pecan meal’

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cookies

Posted: 28th March 2013 by doomthings in Dessert, The Foodening
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I’m apparently on a strawberry and pecan meal kick, as the last bunch of posts seem to have some version of one of those in them.  So now, I shall combine the two.

For years, my dad added pecan meal to his chocolate chip cookies instead of chopped up nuts.  When I made my own for the first time, I ignored the “chopped nuts” part of the recipe and they never tasted like his cookies.  Every time I’ve made them since, it’s been the same result and I could never figure out why.  Until now.  [The mini-egg chocolate cookies also calls for pecan meal.]  Now I’m hooked.  This recipe is based on the Toll House chocolate chip cookie dough recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup + 2 tbsp bread flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 3/8 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup coursely chopped strawberries (or more if desired)
  • 1/2 cup pecan meal
  • 1/2 to 1 cup of chocolate chips (for melting)

Directions:

  1. Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
  2. Beat sugar, butter, and vanilla until creamy.
  3. Add egg and mix well.
  4. Gradually add flour mixture.
  5. Stir in pecan meal and mix well.
  6. Coarsely chop strawberries and stir into mixture.
  7. Drop by teaspoonfulls onto baking sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes at 375 degrees F.
  8. Melt chocolate chips via your favorite chocolate-chip-melting method as the cookies cool.
  9. Once mostly cool, decorate the cookies with chocolate!  I dipped half of each cookie and let them dry on wax paper before packing them up.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cookies | doomthings

This recipe makes about 30 cookies, more if you make them smaller.  I was going to write a bunch of words that described how good they are, but I couldn’t find any.  Pictures are MUCH better.  Drool away, because they’re AWESOME.

Craisin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted: 26th March 2013 by doomthings in Dessert, The Foodening
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The very first time I ever flew first class (2 1/2-hour domestic flight, a chance upgrade for $70, and will likely never happen again), I was treated to a cranberry white-chocolate chip oatmeal cookie.  Normally, that combination would have made me reach for the regular chocolate chip cookie, but alas those did not exist on that trip, and I was determined to enjoy every little bit of my one and only first-class experience.  [Side note:  I found out that I really like almonds because of this trip.]  Since then, I have craved something of this nature (and coincidentally started loving craisins), and it hasn’t gone away.  I came across White On Rice Couple‘s blog via Pinterest and their adaption of a similar cookie, which sounded ripe for my own adaption and immediate consumption.

Trying to work only with what I already have in my kitchen (keeping future furloughs in mind), I came up with the following:

Craisin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies | doomthings

Ingredients (adapted from White on Rice Couple):

  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries (craisins)
  • 1/2 cup other dried fruit (or more craisins)
  • rum, enough to cover the dried fruit
  • 1 cup pecan meal
  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups quick oats
  • 3/4 cup  unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. Soak the dried fruit in a bowl with enough alcohol to just cover them.
  3. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the oats. Set aside.
  4. In a mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, then mix in the eggs and vanilla extract.
  5. Stir in the oat mixture until nearly combined, then stir in the chopped nuts and chocolate chips.
  6. Drain the dried fruit and stir into mixture.
  7. Scoop by tablespoons onto parchment-lined sheet pans, about 1 1/2″ apart.
  8. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned. Cool on the sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

 

So, they didn’t quite turn out looking like the original cookie, but that could be because I halved the recipe and substituted pecan meal for the original recipe’s chopped pecans and almonds.  They smelled really good though, so I could barely hold myself back from eating these fresh out of the oven.  I definitely burned the top of my mouth and fingers as I shoved one into my mouth without regard to my personal safety.

It all worked out because they were hearty and delicious!  What I really liked about them is that they were not overly sugary.  They were not very gooey, which I did not expect, but I enjoyed this little detour from the norm.  My husband gave me the thumbs up, so I’m happy.  Once you try one, I dare you not to eat the whole batch.  Because you will.