Madhu Knits and Cooks

Recipe, knitting, and sewing project notes

Tag: Cooking — Desserts

  • The Best Oatmeal Cookies Ever!

    Not surprisingly, Cook's Illustrated has done it again – created the most perfect recipe for one of my favorite food items.  This recipe has the benefit of also being easy to make, which is (just one) complaint about our test kitchen friend's gifts to the world.

    So, behold, the best Thin and Crispy Oatmeal Cookie recipe I have come across.  The cookies were easy enough to assemble on a weeknight, and the result – again – was outstanding.  Thin and slightly salty with the oats stealing the show by adding both an almost nutty and chewy components to the cookies.  

    Thin and Crispy Oatmeal Cookies

    Thankfully, we shared the wealth with some co-workers, almost all of whom also declared these to be the best oatmeal cookies ever.  

    The only modification I made was to reduce the baking time to 12 minutes, potentially because my new oven isn't calibrated (and my oven thermometer succumbed to a long, painful death a year ago).  But otherwise, very easy to make and bake while preparing a weeknight dinner.

  • Thick Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

    An expiring carton of rolled oats = excuse to try a new oatmeal cookie recipe!  For this new effort, I decided to go with a Cook's Illustrated recipe (shocking, I know) – the January 1997 Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies.  

    Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies CI

    Unlike many Cook's Illustrated recipes, this was a super simple approach to cookie-making and putting together the ingredients took virtually no time.  The only modifications I ended up making were that I ended up with 22 cookies instead of 18, and I baked the cookies for less time than the 22 – 25 minutes called for in the recipe.  I took out the tray that started on the bottom rack after 17 minutes, and turned off the oven at that point for the other tray in the oven, which was baked for 20 minutes.  I also used sea salt instead of table salt because I ran out of table salt at some point.

    Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Close Up

    These cookies are definitely best after resting for at least 30 minutes.  Right out of the oven, you can't really experience the full flavors and texture of the cookies, which have a wonderful slight nutmeg flavor.  The cookies also had a great shiny exterior.  I would eat them within a day or two after baking though because they dried out a little too much after that period.  Definitely a must-bake again!

  • Coffeecake Muffins – Amazing Idea, Failed Execution

    For a recent brunch gathering I decided to incorporate a sweet offering to complement the otherwise savory egg, bread, rice/lentil and salad options.  Not surprisingly, I turned to Cook's Illustrated to find a recipe, and was incredibly happy when I found their Coffeecake Muffin recipe.  

    I am a big fan of nut-free coffeecake (I am allergic to nuts), and the muffin approach seemed like a great way to ensure a not-dry cake because the smaller cakes could presumably bake more evenly.  Unfortunately though, the concept was better than reality for at least the first time I made it.

    I followed the recipe mostly as is, omitting the pecans and using low-fat sour cream instead of full-fat.  I used 13 muffin cups though because the quantity of dough was WAY more than 12 cups would allow.  In fact, I think I should have used 18 cups or so because I definitely overfilled each cup, which led to a baking disaster.  Each cup's dough eventually spilled over the sides, covering the entire outside of the cup.  So halfway through the baking, I had to scoop up the dough on the baking pan, and off of the sides of the silicon cups.  

    Coffeecake Muffins

    When I took the muffins out of the oven, some were partially baked and sunk in while cool, and others were overbaked.  The flavor was outstanding though – great spices and dark brown sugar combined with the sour cream for a rich, dense taste.  So while I definitely look forward to making them again, this was yet another reminder to never overfill muffin cups while baking!

    Coffeecake Muffins Close Up

  • Mardi Gras King Cake – Definitely Worth the Annual Effort!

    We happened to be in New Orleans during the first weekend of Mardi Gras this year, and had a fantastic time.  The daytime neighborhood parades and festive, communal spirit were really amazing to experience in person.  And in a sign that a Mardi Gras celebration of sorts would make perfect sense for us when we returned to New York, I received a Brooklyn Public Library notice the day we left NOLA that the John Besh cookbook I placed on hold a few weeks back was ready for pick-up!

    We ate at John Besh's restaurant August during our latest New Orleans trip, and had a wonderful, five-course meal (more details will be available soon on my other blog), so I was particularly excited to open up this cookbook.  The first recipe I decided to try because of the Mardi Gras tie was Besh's King Cake recipe.  

    Upon first glance, the recipe seemed fairly simple to construct, and the user comments for the online version of the recipe on Epicurious provided some helpful tips as well.  I also made several other alterations to fit what I had on hand and/or the techniques I thought would be best.  For the cake, I used 2% milk and placed the dough on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet for baking.  For the icing, I substituted 2% milk for the sweetened condensed milk (simply because I didn't know what to do with all of the leftover condensed milk), reduced the amount of powdered sugar to 1 cup (to reach the consistency I wanted), and dyed the colored sugars at home using regular evaporated cane sugar instead of buying colored sugars.  And per the Epicurious comments, I reduced the baking time to 22 minutes, which led to a "healthy" browning on the bottom of the cake.  In the future, I'll probably go down to 20 minutes?

    Braided King Cake

    Otherwise though, I followed the recipe as is, and while I somehow got confused during the braiding process (key = use a large surface to roll out of the dough and carefully do the braiding!), it did in fact turn out to be pretty seamless to put the cake together.  The result tasted really great too – lots of cinnamon and citrus flavor, perfect amount of moisture v. breadiness that other king cakes can have, and a nice amount of sweetness from the icing.  I think the icing may have been a little lemon-y for at least Andy's tastebuds though, so I may reduce that fresh juice in the future or add a bit of fresh orange juice as well for a different flavor? 

    King Cake

    This will definitely be an annual tradition though – and the best part is that you get SO much cake from this recipe, that you absolutely need to throw a Mardi Gras party to consume it!

  • Chocolate Molasses Cookies – Quick and Tasty Winter Treat

    A few weeks ago, I wanted to eat some molasses cookies, but I also wanted to eat some chocolate.  So although I had never thought of this combination before, behold, many recipes appeared online for chocolate molasses cookies.  I settled on a Martha Stewart recipe, which couldn't have been easier to make.  

    Melt the chocolate in the microwave, mix all the ingredients by hand, and no need to chill the dough or extensively form it before baking.  The start-to-finish time for these cookies was insanely quick, and I made only one modification, suggested by the recipe reviewers, to add a bit more flour to the dough.  

    Chocolate Molasses Cookies

    The result was great – very chocolately, soft and pillowy, and with a slight molasses flavor.  After a day or two, the cookies were slightly drier, which may have been the result of the added flour, but still tasty.  Look forward to making these quick winter delights again!

  • Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies – (Almost) Straight from the Bakery

    For New Year's Eve, which we spent in this year, I decided to make some chocolate chip cookies to fulfill a week long craving.  Determining that none of my previous cookie recipes would be sufficient for what I felt I wanted, I turned to Cook's Illustrated and found the Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe.  

    (I also used the opportunity to try to ressucitate some dry light brown sugar in my cupboard, which I successfully did by placing a slice of apple in an airtight container with the sugar overnight.  This technique worked FAR better than the day-of microwaving water in a container next to the dry sugar, and is one that I will repeat again.)

    I basically followed the recipe as is, and used a combination of leftover bittersweet chocolate rounds and semisweet chocolate chunks for approximately 1 cup of chips.  I think the trick to getting these cookies to achieve the "bakery look" is to truly follow CI's suggestion for forming the dough, which involves scooping a quarter cup of dough, ripping it in half, and then shoving the two dough pieces back together with the "ripped" sides facing up.  

    Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies Close Up

    The result was pretty solid – large, soft and chewy interiors, slightly crisp exterior, and perfect cookie flavor.  The cookies were slightly dry two – three days after baking them, but definitely perfect for day-of baking for a quick potluck or children's party.  

    Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • Cultured Butter Cookies – Delicious and Complex Butter Cookies

    For Christmas this year, I brought cultured butter cookies which were inspired by a New York Times online holiday cookie special.  The recipe is incredibly easy to construct, and was a good, low stress way to make a dessert that would appeal to kids and adults alike.  

    I used Organic Valley's cultured butter for the recipe, and while the price tag for only two sticks was pretty high, it seems completely fine for making these occasional treats.  

    Cultured Butter Cookies

    The cookies went like hotcakes, even after a large Christmas meal.  They were the perfect size for a two (to three) bite treat.  Compared to "regular" butter cookies, the flavor was more complex and the cookies were more crumbly, which gave a pleasant texture to the cookies.  I will definitely make these again, particularly for a simple brunch, lunch or afternoon tea (not that I have ever hosted a tea before, but you never know…).

    Cultured Butter Cookies Close Up

  • 2013 Holiday Party – Our First Major Party Spread

    We held our first holiday party in late December, and putting together a menu for 10 – 15 attendees with varying taste preferences was definitely a new challenge for me.  I decided to combine mostly a set of the usual suspects with a few options that seem like they could be a) made ahead of time, or b) were relatively simple to construct within a day because I was traveling for work until the night before the gathering.  The biggest challenge was to figure out the right quantity of food to prepare, especially because we didn't know if people would be showing up for dinner, a snack, dessert, etc. given that we might have other holiday parties to compete with.

    We ultimately settled on the following menu, which ended up being perfect for this set of guests for this wintery season, albeit during a temporary winter heat wave of 60 degrees! 

    2013 Holiday Party

  • Another Vegetarian Panna Cotta DISASTER!

    Sadly, the headline of this post says it all.  I recently tried to make Panna Cotta again, this time with powdered agar agar instead of agar agar flakes, and the whole thing was a mess.  Basically, a sad, unsettled soup-like mess.  

    I used David Lebovitz's popular Perfect Panna Cotta recipe and despite googling around to make sure agar agar powder could be substituted in the recipe without modifying the directions, the agar agar didn't firm and settle the heavy milk/sugar mixture.  I let the mixture sit in the fridge overnight, and still no settling.  Ultimately, I think the problem could either be with a) the agar agar itself that I used (which I tried to modify the amount to fit the gelatin called for in the recipe) or b) not cooking the agar agar with the water and cream to have it dissolve more thoroughly throughout the panna cotta.  

    But thankfully, unlike the first Panna Cotta attempt, at least I knew it was a failure upon sight instead of having a deceptively good-looking dessert with undissolved agar agar shards throughout to ruin the eating experience.

    If anyone has any recommendations on how to make a good agar agar Panna Cotta, please post in the comments!

    Panna Cotta v2

  • “One Sweet Cookie” Cheesecake Brownies – Rich Winter Dessert

    I recently tried what I think will be my final "One Sweet Cookie" recipe – the Cheesecake Brownies by Nicole Kaplan of the Institute of Culinary Education.  The brownies took several hours to make – one has to first make the brownie/chocolate layer and then freeze the batter for several hours before adding the cheesecake layer.  The recipe was otherwise fairly simple and easy to follow, though unlike the recipe directions, the cheesecake layer did not set after 40 minutes of baking, nor 55 minutes of baking.  After some frantic googling, I decided to not risk overbaking the brownies and instead took them out of the oven at approximately 55 minutes of baking.  Only 1 inch around the edges were fully set, but I followed the counsel of internet posts that stated that the brownies were firm up after cooling and being placed in the fridge or freezer.  

    Sadly, the brownies never really firmed up, but the result was still very tasty, albeit very rich.  The chocolate layer was very dense and fudgy, and the cheesecake layer was a pretty intense sweet cheese flavor as well.  

    One Sweet Cookie Cheesecake Brownies

    I brought the brownies to a dinner get-together, and they were a hit.  I think this is a great recipe to re-try during cold weather months, though I may end up reducing the cream cheese from 1.5 pounds to 1 or 0.75 pounds to make a more manageable dessert experience (and reduce the required cooking time).  I might also try a different brownie base that is slightly less fudgy and more cake-like in consistency.  In any case, I'll keep in my mind that folks really seemed to like this dessert in its original form – including Noah, who kept asking for more!


    Noah Eating Cheesecake Brownies