6.03.2015

Chocolate Chip Espresso Ice Cream Sandwiches


I'm going to go ahead and claim that not only did I make ridiculously delicious ice cream with only four ingredients, but I also made the perfect chocolate chip cookies. I'm seriously on a roll. They're chewy and soft but crispy on the edges, just as any good cookie should be. The flavor is deep and rich from the butter and brown sugar, and the dark chocolate chunks are perfectly distributed and melty throughout the cookies. The best part is that they don't even need to chill that long- just thirty minutes in the fridge and you're good to go. Make the dough, refrigerate it, make the ice cream, freeze it, bake the dough, eat warm cookies, take out your ice cream, assemble some sandwiches. If that doesn't sound like a great day to you, get out. Seriously, you suck. 

Ingredients:
Cookies-
1 1/2 cups of flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 stick of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 cup of packed dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups of chopped dark chocolate 

Ice Cream-
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups of heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons of espresso powder
3/4 cup of chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips

Directions:
Cookies-
-Mix together the dry ingredients (flour and baking soda) in a small bowl.
-Beat butter for about two minutes, until its light and fluffy.

-Add in both sugars and the salt and beat until its all combined, about a minute.



-Beat in the egg and vanilla extract just until barely combined.



-Mix the dry mixture gently into the wet mixture with a spatula. 

-Add in chocolate chunks and mix gently. 

-Form dough into a log shape and wrap in plastic wrap.
-Refrigerate for at least thirty minutes.
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
-Slice the log of cookie dough into about 1/2 inch thick slices and place on parchment-lined pans.
-Bake for about 13 minutes.

-Let cookies cool on the pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer cookies to a cooling rack.


Ice Cream-
-Whip heavy cream until soft peaks form.
-Add in espresso powder and beat until the mixture becomes a bit thicker.
-Add in the sweetened condensed milk and continue whipping.
 -Stop whipping when mixture is thick and completely combined.
-Sprinkle ice cream with dark chocolate.
-Freeze ice cream for at least 4 hours. 
-Take out of freezer and scoop. 
-Place ice cream scoops between two of your cooled cookies. 
-EAT!



5.27.2015

Dark Chocolate Matcha, Mocha Crème Brûlée, & S'mores Doughnuts

If you're anything like me, you probably spend a pretty decent amount of time contemplating whether you prefer yeast doughnuts or cake doughnuts. Yeast doughnuts are so fluffy and pillowy you think to yourself while walking to the train. Mid-shampoo you remember how soft and delicate cake doughnuts are. I understand what it's like, which is why I have given you the gift of a cake-yeast doughnut hybrid! The dough here has yeast in it and requires time to rise, but once it's fried the result is a super light doughnut that's slightly crunchy on the outside and airy like a yeast doughnut but also crumby like a cake doughnut. Also, I decked these out in three ridiculous flavors- dark chocolate matcha, mocha crème brûlée and s'mores. Just try not to spend too much time thinking about which is your favorite. 

Ingredients:
Doughnut Dough-
2 1/2 teaspoons of active dry yeast
2/3 cup of room temperature whole milk
3 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
1 heaping teaspoon of salt
3 large room temperature eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
7 tablespoons of room temperature unsalted butter, cubed
vegetable or canola oil to fry in

Chocolate Filling-
1/4 cup of cornstarch
1/3 cup of granulated sugar
3 tablespoons of dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
3 cups of whole milk
4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
3/4 cup of cold heavy cream

Matcha-
1/2 cup of matcha powder or green tea latte mix (like the one from Trader Joe’s)
3 ounces of dark chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Mocha Creme Brûlée-
1/4 cup of granulated sugar
2 teaspoons of espresso powder
Extra granulated sugar for sprinkling

S’mores-
3 whole graham crackers
1/4 cup of granulated sugar
3 ounces of dark chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons heavy cream
12 marshmallows, sliced in half

Recipe:
Doughnut Dough-
-In the bowl of your electric mixer or a handheld mixer, with the dough hook attached, stir together the milk and yeast until it is dissolved.
-Next add the flour, sugar, salt, eggs and vanilla extract and mix it all together on medium-low for 2 or 3 minutes.

-Start to add in the cubes of softened butter, mixing the dough until the butter is completely combined, about 4 minutes.
-Remove dough from the bowl and wrap it loosely in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight. 

Chocolate Filling-
-In a saucepan, or just a plain old pot, whisk together the cornstarch, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt.
-With the heat on medium, whisk in the milk slowly. 

-Bring mixture to a boil, constantly whisking.

-Once the mixture is thick, take it pot off the heat and whisk in the chopped chocolate and vanilla extract.
-Transfer the pudding into a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic wrap touches the surface of the pudding. Refrigerate for at least 5 hours, or overnight. 
-Once pudding has cooled, whip the cold heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
-Fold whipped cream into pudding until completely combined. 


Doughnuts-
-Time to put together your doughnuts! First step is obviously frying them. Take your dough out of the refrigerator and roll it out to about 1/3-1/2 of an inch thick. 

-Cut out rounds of dough using a cutter or a cup. Re-roll dough and continue to cut out as many rounds as you can. 
-Place the rounds on a floured cookie sheet and let them rise in a warm place for 2-3 hours. 

-Once that time is up, fill a pot with vegetable oil and heat until 350 degrees. I used a deep fryer because my grandpa likes to buy every single appliance he sees. Never change, gramps.
-Toss one or two doughnuts into the hot oil and let them fry for about 90 seconds on each side. 

-Remove doughnuts from fryer and place on a plate or cookie sheet coated in paper towels. 
-Once some oil has been drained from the doughnuts, follow the directions below for the specific doughnut you want to make! 

Dark Chocolate Matcha- 
-Place matcha powder in a shallow bowl and roll the warm doughnut in it until completely coated.
-Once the doughnut is completely cool, about 45 minutes, use a piping bag to fill doughnut with the chocolate pudding.  
-Heat heavy cream in the microwave until steaming, about 1 minute. Mix in the dark chocolate.
-Drizzle doughnuts with the melted dark chocolate. 


Mocha Creme Brûlée-
-Mix together the espresso powder with the granulated sugar in a shallow bowl.
-Dust the warm doughnut in the espresso sugar mixture.
-Once the doughnut is completely cool, about 45 minutes, use a piping bag to fill doughnut with chocolate pudding.  
-Sprinkle the surface of the doughnut heavily with more granulated sugar.
-Burn the surface of the doughnut with a torch.



S'mores-
-Crush the graham crackers into crumbs and mix with the granulated sugar. 
-Dust the warm doughnut in the graham cracker sugar mixture.
-Once the doughnut is completely cool, about 45 minutes, use a piping bag to fill doughnut with chocolate pudding.  
-Heat heavy cream in the microwave until steaming, about 1 minute. Mix in the dark chocolate.
-Dip the tops of the doughnuts in melted dark chocolate.

-Slice a marshmallow in half and place each half, cut side down, on top of each doughnut.
-Torch the marshmallow until brown and toasted. 

-Oh yeah.

5.15.2015

Chocolate Cream Cookie Pie


Not that I'm sick of cupcakes or anything, but why aren't pies as popular as they are? Why do bakeries offer slices of cake but not slices of pie? Why are pies reserved for the holiday season? I think it's about time we all realize the potential pies have. You can make crust with any type of cookie or cracker you like, fill them with mousse, pudding, or cream, and you can layer them with stuff like chocolate ganache or caramel or cookie pieces. That's why I made this chocolate cream cookie pie, with chocolate chip and double chocolate cookies folded into chocolate pudding and whipped cream, to make you realize that pies deserve way more credit than they're currently getting. You're welcome.

Ingredients:
Crust- 
2 cups of chocolate cookie crumbs
5 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted

Ganache- 
4 ounces of dark chocolate
1/2 teaspoon of espresso powder

Filling-
2/3 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon of salt
4 large egg yolks
3 cups of whole milk
7 ounces of super dark chocolate, melted
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup of powdered sugar
7-10 chocolate chip cookies (homemade or Tate's chocolate chip) 
7-10 double chocolate cookies
(homemade or Nabisco chocolate wafers or Tate's double chocolate chip or Oreos)

Recipe: 
Crust-
-Preheat your oven to 350.
-Mix together cookie crumbs and melted butter until they're combined.
-Pat the mixture into a pie pan and bake for 20 minutes.
-Put aside to cool.

Filling-
-In a medium pot or saucepan, use a whisk to mix together the sugar, cornstarch and salt. 
-Add in the egg yolks and whisk until the mixture is totally combined. 
-Turn the heat to medium and start to add in the whole milk, making sure to whisk constantly.
-Continue whisking over heat until the mixture starts to thicken.
-Once it gets thick like the consistency of pudding, pour it through a strainer into a new bowl. 
-Mix in the melted chocolate, butter, and vanilla extract. The pudding is done! Taste it and be amazed by how easy it is to make your own pudding. 

-Cover your bowl of pudding with some plastic wrap-unless you like pudding skin- and refrigerate it for a while.
-In a stand mixer, with a hand mixer, or just with a whisk, mix the heavy cream and powdered sugar together until it's thick and can hold peaks. Aka, until it looks like whipped cream.
-Once the pudding is cooled, mix in the cookies, breaking them in half or in thirds.

-Fold in the whipped cream, just until almost all of the pudding and cream are mixed together, but with some streaks of pudding left. 



Ganache layer-
-Melt ganache with espresso powder in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds. 
-Once it's nice and smooth, pour it over the pie crust.
-Place it in the fridge to let it set. 

Pie-
-Now it's time to assemble your pie!  Pour the filling into your cooled crust, and top it off with some cookie crumbs or maybe a drizzle of chocolate. Whatever you want- it's your pie.

-Place back in the fridge or freezer just so that the cookies can soften. It's best if you leave it overnight, but you can most definitely eat it after a few hours. It's great at room temperature, refrigerated, even frozen. So versatile! Reason number 103873737 why pies should be the next cupcakes.