TWD Baking with Julia: Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

.  Mmm it's good to be back.

Back to Tuesdays with Dorie, I mean.

I have been anything but consistent with my TWD posts, so I'm glad I'm finally getting back to it. After all, you'll be hard pressed to find anything out of the Baking with Julia cookbook that won't blow your mind.  True statement.

So let's get into these cookies.

I've never made any type of cookie with coffee and for the life of me, I can't figure out why.  I'm an avid coffee drinker [grande Veranda blend from Starbucks is my morning routine] and obviously I love a good ol' cookie.  So putting those two things together only seems right.  Right?

You bet!

These cookies were beyond delish [and I use the past tense because they've definitely been cashed already].  The cookie dough base itself is scrumptious.  Buttery scrumptious.  And the hint of coffee [a.k.a. mocha] in the cookies only exacerbates the three types of rich chocolate chips studded throughout the crispy-edged, chewy cookie.  And yes, I said three types of chocolate chips.  Just imagine biting into a cookie and having chunks of dark, milk, and white chocolate dancing across your taste buds.  Uh, YUM.  This is one of those recipes that has indeed been mastered.  So don't mess with it.

And now that I've convinced you [or scared you away] of the perfection of this recipe, head on over to our host for this month, Galettista, to get the Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.  Do it!  .  

My Notes:

• Keepin' it real, if you don't like coffee you more than likely won't like this cookie.  The coffee flavor isn't overly powering but it's definitely there.
• I opted to skip the apricots in the cookie but I think it was more because I was lazy.  Feel free to use them if you'd like though!
• You most definitely don't have to use three types of chocolate but I do think it makes the cookie that much more exciting.  But to make it easier, use what you have on hand.

TWD Baking with Julia: Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

.  What a crazy month.  And I can't believe it's literally over.  Halloween is just around the corner!

It's been such a busy month that I almost forgot this TWD post was even due!  Good thing I caught myself.  And good thing for you because I experimented a bit and came up with a fun, festive, scrumptious biscotti.  Enter: Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti.

For the month of October, we actually have three recipe options to choose from.  But due to time, I decided to go with the last post due for the month, which was a Recipe Rewind.  This meant that the TWDers got a second chance to make a recipe that got bypassed in earlier months.

Fortunately I'd managed to sneak in most recipes that I was eager to try, but one did manage to slip by: Hazelnut Biscotti.  Now really, who would ever substitute something for hazelnut?  Because nine out of ten times, I wouldn't.  But I've found it rather difficult to find a large number of hazelnuts in this stinkin' town, so for simplicity's sake I went with another option.  Cranberries and pistachios.  I was a little unsure of the combination at first, but mmMmMMMm!

I absolutely adore the sweet and salty flavors in this biscotti, which isn't too overly sweet nor plain tasting.  However, next time around I'll add a white chocolate drizzle because 1) it's pretty 2) I do like my biscotti a touch more sweet and 3) because I can.  So there.  How festively holiday would that look though?!  Right?  Right.

So head on over to Homemade and Wholesome or Baking with Boys for the Hazelnut Biscotti recipe.  And if you decide to go my route, check out my notes below for the measurements I used. 

And be sure to check out the other TWD members' posts, they're always a good time!

On to November!  .

My Notes:

• Instead of using the hazelnuts, I used a scant 1/3 cup of both the pistachios and cranberries.  Depending on your preference, you can add or decrease this amount.  Also, don't be afraid to try any combination you like.  Get crazy!

TWD Baking with Julia: Whole Wheat Loaves

.  Have you ever tried a yeast bread?  Because they are quite possibly one of the greatest creations a baker has to offer.  No joke.  That's only my opinion though.

For this month's TWD, we made Whole Wheat Loaves and my goodness, why does anyone consume store bought bread?  There's your obvious reasons but seriously, nothing beats homemade bread.  Homemade yeast bread, to boot.

As I was working my way through this recipe, I was amazed at how easy bread making actually is.  I've made yeast breads before but never really thought about the process.  If you really get down to it, all you have to do is mix, maybe knead, and let the dough do it's thang.  At it's core, bread becomes great bread during all of the rises when you're simply letting the dough sit by it's lonesome.  Easy peasy, huh?  So now you have no excuse to not try your hand at bread making.

As for these wheat loaves, well, they're wheat loaves and very classic at that.  The bread is soft and fluffy and bodes well with anything: make a sandy for the kiddies, toast it up for breakfast with some jam or honey, or just grab a slice on it's own.

Classic and quality bread at it's finest.  Thanks again, Dorie.

Head on over to our blog hosts for this month, Veggie Num Nums and The Family That Bakes Together, for the Whole Wheat Loaves recipe.  And be sure to check out the LYL post to take a peak at all of the other TWD participants posts and read about their bread making adventures.

Don't forget to make this bread either  .

My Notes:

• I wasn't able to find malt extract, so I just swapped it out for molasses.  My bread turned out wonderful, so I would suggest doing this if you're like me and still don't know what malt extract is. 
• I also didn't have the right sized loaf pans that the recipe called for, so I used my standard 9x5-inch pans instead.  Again, the bread was great so I see no problem there!

TWD Baking with Julia: Popovers

.  Whoa.

Easiest thing I've ever made, let alone the easiest TWD recipe to date.  And guess what?  Still dang scrumptious.

 A true one-bowl wonder that you'll want to keep in your repertoire.  Especially if you want to impress any visitors.  Popovers are simple but they look [and taste] fancy-schmancy.  Agreed?  Agreed.

I was actually a little taken aback at how short this recipe was.  But like I've said before, some of the best goodies come from the simplest of things.  And in this case, it's never been more true.

The popovers themselves are so light and airy, the classic popover many of you are probably used to.  I fell in love with the doughy innards and slightly crisp exteriors.  And the simple base got me thinkin': how many variations of this treat could you conjure up?!  Pair the popovers with sweet preserves, honey, or add in some savory items such as cheeses and herbs.  The possibilities are seemingly endless.

Once again, Dorie came through 100%.  What a lady.

And since I know I've peaked your interest, head over to our August hosts blogs, Vintage Kitchen  Notes and Bake with Amy, for the popover recipe.  Also, don't forget to check out the TWD LYL post to see all of the other TWD participants posts and get the inside scoop on how it all went down.  Bon appetite!  .

My Notes:

• As you'll read in the recipe, you can make the popovers in either a popover tin [which I don't have] or in regular muffin cups.  I opted for the latter, so as you can see, my popovers aren't as 'high' as most popovers.  Nevertheless, they were still wonderful!
• Dorie says to serve the popovers straight out of the oven, and I wholeheartedly agree.  But I did throw some into a ziploc bag over night to see how they'd fare, and I've got to be honest, they were still pretty good.  Maybe throw them into the microwave for a couple seconds to heat them up, but I had no problem eating them straight from the baggie.

TWD Baking with Julia: Blueberry Nectarine Pie

.  This is an exciting one and I want to get right into it.

Tuesdays with Dorie has done me in again.  And I loved every bite of it.

Let's be real, this Blueberry Nectarine Pie [that you're hopefully drooling over right now] is easily one of the best pies I've made and probably ever tasted.  No joke.  After making this, and devouring most of it by my lonesome [because I wouldn't share with anyone else], I realized how much I love pies.  I mean, I've always known it.  But this pie just solidified it.  Sorry all you other treats.

Ha, I guess that's all I really have to say.  And it's basically all you need to know.  If you don't, at the bare minimum, at least bookmark/pin this recipe, you are doing your taste buds a disservice.  And who would ever want to do that?

Well...I guess I could at least try to begin describing what it is that I can't stop talking about.  And anyone who's been around in me in the last week knows I haven't stopped talking about this pie.  Sorry friends.

First, top two pie crust EVER.  If you ever read my Bumbleberry Pie post, then you know that I thought that crust was to die for.  But this crust gives my former favorite recipe a run for its money [or butter...har, har].  This crust is so dang flakey it's ridiculous.  A slight touch with the fork sends this buttery crust softly falling atop the blueberry-nectarine filling deliciousness that I could have eaten by the spoonful.  Oh wait... I did that.

I mean really, who can deny a carby, buttery, flakey pie crust paired with a refreshingly juicy fruit filling?  Because if you slap something like that in front of me, I have no chance.  Willpower goes straight out the window.  I'll thank my mom and her sweet tooth for that ☺

So by now you shouldn't need any prompting, but head on over to our hosts for this month, Manchego's Kitchen and That Skinny Chick Can Bake, for the Blueberry Nectarine Pie recipe.  And also check out all of the other TWD participants posts about this lovely summery pie. 

Thanks ladies for hosting, this is my favorite recipe thus far!  .

My Notes:

• For those of you intimidated by pie crust making, this recipe is for you.  You might be able to tell from my picture that I added a bit too much water to my crust and for whatever reason, I didn't feel like fixing it (i.e., adding in a bit more flour).  So when I went to roll the crust, it completely stuck to the counter.  I literally had to scrap the dough off and piece it into the pie pan.  Not your most traditional method but it worked and the pie was still ah-mazing!

TWD Baking with Julia: Lemon Loaf Cake

.  Wow, it's only been about a month but I feel like I haven't visited Baking with Julia in a VERY long time.  Sad day.

But not to worry, TWD is back in action!  And today we have a very easy, yet spectacular, treat for you:  Lemon Loaf Cake.  Remember my Cake Show Pound Cake I made for SRC?  Well this loaf cake is extremely reminiscent of it, except with a refreshing touch of citrusy lemon.  And because the almond whipped cream was such a hit with that Cake Show Pound Cake, I felt a need to make a simple, simple accompaniment: lemon drizzle.  Supa easy [squeeze out the juice of one lemon and add powdered sugar until desired consistency] and the drizzle added just the right amount of extra lemon flavor. 

Whoa, this might be my shortest post to date.  But I guess that speaks for the simplicity of the recipe, right?  I must say though, this isn't exactly my most favorite recipe from TWD.  Yes, the loaf still screams 'quality', but I guess I'm just not the biggest lemony bread fan?  Yeah, that must be it.  Or I think what would really bring me in would be a nice thick layer of lemon frosting.  Maybe next time!  But for those of you looking for a heavenly lemon-scented bread, you will find this recipe all too pleasing.

I know my direct and to-the-point description of this citrus loaf has you itching for more.  And possibly drooling.  So head on over to our blog hosts for this month, Treats or The Beauty of Life, for the Lemon Loaf Cake Recipe!  OR, check out the Leave Your Link (LYL) Post to check out all of the other TWD members!

Until next month, TWD!  . 

TWD Baking with Julia: Rugelach

.  Say it with me: rug - eh - lock.  Yep, you got it ☺  Well, that's according to Google.  I've actually been pronouncing it roo - ga - losh.  Oops.  But either way, it's a scrumptious treat all the same.

As you can see, it's that time again.  Another TWD post featuring a recipe from Baking with Julia.  For March, this fancy cookie we call rugelach was chosen for the first monthly post [the second one will be on March 20, we'll see if I get around to making it!].  And my oh my, were these a trip.

First of all, I didn't have a dang clue what rugelach was.  Heck, I can't even pronounce it!  I'd seen recipes for it in several of my recipe books but I've never actually seen it in person.  So when I saw that rugelach was our next assignment, I was all in.  But first, a little Googling was in order.

Rugelach is a Jewish rolled cookie surrounding a filling and literally means 'little twists.'  According to Wikipedia, some say rugelach share a common ancestor with the French croissant [uh, yum?!] and I would have to say that would be a fantastic comparison for this particular recipe.  Since I have never had rugelach before, I don't have much to compare it to.  But what I will say is that these are utterly fantastic and I've been missing out my entire life.  Thanks, mom...

These cookies start with a cream cheese pastry.  Okay, you had me at cream cheese.  And like I said, the cookie element in this recipe is strongly reminiscent of a croissant or a flakey, flakey pie crust.  And to accompany this wonderful pastry is several layers of filling.  Several.  As in four.  As in an apricot jam, cinnamon-sugar, cinnamon-sugar ground nuts, and plumped dried fruit layers of filling.  Can we say decadence?  Yes we can.  And I thoroughly enjoyed every single whopping bite.

The only thing I must put out there is that this treat is quite time consuming.  But, I would take my advice and break the steps up into a couple of days, such as making the pastry one day and completing the rugelach the following day.  The part that sucks up the time is chilling the pastry two times for several hours, otherwise nothing else is overly complicated.  And despite some pouting on my end from the feeling that I had made these wrong, I will say that if you have the time, these are more than worth it.  I've truthfully never made anything like these, so it was an interesting [and deeeeelish] adventure!

If you're feeling a little kitchen courageous, head on over to The Urban Hiker or My Baking Heart for the rugelach recipe.  Happy baking!  .

My Notes:

• As you'll see in the recipe, you have the choice to pick what types of nuts and dried fruits you would like to use.  I chose to use almonds, pecans and walnuts, and cherries, apricots, and dates for my filling.
• All of the fillings combined makes a LARGE amount of goodness.  So while you're rolling your pasty, you'll have to really tuck in the fillings [it will fall out some] and be patient.  I got a little flustered at this part because it can be a bit messy, but if you do everything on wax/parchment paper, it'll make for much easier clean up.
• As you can see from some of my pictures, I didn't generally get that signature twist in my rugelach like I had hoped.  I'm not really sure what happened there...  Nevertheless, the taste was still spot on!

TWD Baking with Julia: Chocolate Truffle Tartlets

.  TWD?  Baking with Julia?  Did you miss something here?

No, no, nothing has slipped by you.  I've actually been waiting for over one year to make this announcement.  Over one year for this very post.

You all know that I'm part of a couple monthly challenges, both SRC and ICC [the Secret Recipe Club and the Improve Cooking Challenge, for you newbies].  But since the day I started blogging, one group was always out of my grasp.  Yes, the infamous Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD) club.  For those of you who don't know of Dorie Greenspan, well, she's basically THE baker woman and a well known cookbook author.  So much so that there is an entire blog and following dedicated to honoring her work [obv the group I speak of now!].  You can read the entire TWD history for the full story, but the group is based around recreating recipes from Dorie's books or from books written by her and other authors.  The first book adventure, Baking: From My Home to Yours [by Dorie], began in 2008 and officially wrapped up in December 2011.  That's FOUR YEARS people!  Fortunately I started blogging when the group only had one year left [ha!], but here I am now.  An official TWD member!

So beginning in February 2012, the TWD club commenced, this time making recipes from Baking with Julia, written by Dorie and Julia Child.  There's basically only one major rule to the group: every month, two recipes are chosen from the book and members are encouraged to post about both of them, however, only one monthly post is required.  The actual recipes are posted on the blogs of the hosts for the month, where you can also find the links to other members' posts.  That's it!  Unfortunately, I wasn't accepted into the group until about a week or so before the first post, so I opted to skip that one [it was White Bread, in case you're curious!].

Consequently, I was left with Chocolate Truffle Tartlets.  Left?  Ha, that makes it sound like it was a chore.  Hmm?  No.  When you get something this dang good, it's anything but an obligation.  Dorie and Julia completely outdid themselves with this one.  And I can guarantee I will be saying that, oh, every TWD post ☺

So to be frank, these tartlets are pretty fancy pants.  They look fancy, taste fancy, and the name 'tartlets' just screams  fancy!

I will forewarn, these take a couple of steps, but I was quite caught off guard by how easy they were to make.  And the product?  Rich decadence.  Pure bliss.  I swear.

Let's start from the outside: a chocolate crust.  Uh, yum?  Yes sirree.  The crust itself is flakey and well, chocolatey.  Not an outrageous chocolate flavor though.  No, there's enough chocolatey-ness in the filling to complement this subtly sweet and buttery crust.  But I know you are all curious as to what make these tartlets so special.  And yes, you guessed it.  It's that filling!  Not only do you get to sink your chompers into a chocolate truffle middle, a seriously soft and creamy filling, but you'll also get to indulge in chunks of milk chocolate, white chocolate, and bits of biscotti.  Okay, kind of random combination if you ask me, but BOY [or girl], does it work!  How could all of that together not be good, anyway?  Answer?  It can't.

To be honest, I was a tad intimidated to attempt this recipe.  I'd never made tartlets before, so I had no clue what to expect.  But the directions were spot on and I can't really think of any hitches I experienced?  The only thing I can recall is that the crust can have a tendency to be crumbly, so just be patient with it.  Otherwise, you should be golden!

For my first TWD post, I think things went rather well!  I even sent 'sneak peak' pictures to my mom because I was so excited [and shocked!] that the tartlets turned out.  So head on over to Spike, Jaime, or Jessica's blog to find the recipe for Chocolate Truffle Tartlets and experience these heavenly rounds for yourself!  .