Various Winter Bakings

Here are some things that I've been baking this winter. No recipes here but I thought it might be nice to show you some photos. I really need a professional light for taking photos. Short days mean short time periods of when I can photograph, and in dark and rainy Vancouver, the light that is available isn't great. This winter, I didn't even bother trying to catch the light, thus these photos. Oh well.

Let's start with a birthday cake with blueberry jam. I just love those colours.

Next is a Winter Wonderland cake that I made for a potluck. A chocolate cake with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream. Pretty simple and it's all in the decor!

Next is the World's Best Cake, which was a disaster, but which I managed to salvage. The final product is layers of angel food cake, whipped cream, and meringues with slivered almonds.

Next is a dairy free birthday cake. Chocolate cake with meringue frosting. Fluufffyyyy!

And finally, a pretzel cake from Christina Tosi (Milk Bar). Interesting flavours for sure - pretzel, honey frosting, and ganache. A grown up cake for 3 grownups' birthdays.

That's all for now. I'll be here hoping for better weather and lighting.

Pretzel M&M Cookies

I recently bought a package of M&M’s with pretzels inside.  These were right up my alley of sweet and salty.  I was itching to do some baking and the package of M&M’s was sitting in the cupboard so I thought I’d throw them in cookies. I’ve previously made cookies with pretzels and chocolate, but this makes it one step easier.

Other baking ingredients sitting in my cupboard waiting for baking experiments are giant marshmallows, guava butter, and coconut syrup.  Sit tight for those!

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Pretzel M&M Cookies

Adapted from here.

Ingredients

1¼ cup all purpose flour

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup salted butter

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1 teaspoon butter vanilla bakery emulsion (or vanilla extract)

1½ cup pretzel M&M’s

¼ cup toffee bits

Directions

1.  Sift flour, cornstarch, and baking soda into a bowl. Set aside.

2.  Beat butter until fluffy (1 minute).

3.  Add both sugars and beat until fluffy (2 minutes).

4.  Add egg and beat until light yellow (5 minutes).

5.  Add vanilla and beat until incorporated.

6.  Add flour mixture and mix until just mixed (30 seconds or less).

7.  Add M&M’s and toffee bits and mix until incorporated.

8.  Scoop with an ice cream scoop and portion it onto a cookie sheet.  Cover with foil and refrigerate for 24-72 hours.

To bake:

9.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment or silpat.

10.   Spread cookies out on baking sheet and bake for 14 minutes.

11.   Cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

Verdict: This is one of my standard recipes with which I mix different add-ins, such as coconut, nuts, chocolate, and coffee.  The Pretzel M&M add-in did not disappoint.  Great caramelization especially around the edges while the middle remained chewy.  Definitely follow the step of refrigerating for a few days.  It's what takes these cookies to the next level. I brought them to work and they were all gone in a matter of a couple hours!

Pretzel Banana Cookies

Long time no blog. I’ve been moving and vacationing.  In fact, I visited my friend in Toronto for whom I decided to bring homemade cookies for her birthday.  She is the only person I know whose favorite flavor is banana!  She’ll pick a banana flavored treat over anything, even chocolate!  I wanted to incorporate bananas in the cookies and I decided on banana chips for their crunch.  Plus, I’ve never seen cookies using banana chips. Hope these turn out!

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Pretzel Banana Cookies

Inspired from Milk Bar.

Pretzel Crunch (make ahead of time)

Ingredients (I made double this recipe and snacked on the leftovers)

1 cup mini-pretzels

2 Tablespoon packed light brown sugar

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 Tablespoon milk powder

½ Tablespoon malt powder

3 Tablespoon butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.

2. Crush pretzels to ¼ of original size and add to bowl.

3. Add sugars, milk powder, and malt powder and mix.

4. Add butter and toss.

5. Spread on baking pan lined with parchment or silicon mat.

6. Bake for 20 minutes

7. Bake apart into chunks.  Cool completely before adding to cookies.

Before baking

After baking

After breaking apart

Pretzel Banana Cookies

Makes 18 small-ish cookies.

Ingredients

½ cup salted butter, room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

½  egg

½ teaspoon vanilla syrup or ¼ teaspoon extract

¾ cup bread flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

¾ cup pretzel crunch

½ cup crushed banana chips (put banana chips in a plastic bag, seal, and go over with a rolling pin)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and both sugars with a beater on medium high for 2-3 minutes.

2. Add egg and vanilla, and beat for 7-8 minutes. 

3. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and mix on low just until dough comes together (1 minute).

4. Add pretzel crunch and crushed banana chips.  Fold in with a spatula.

5. Scoop dough using a small ice cream scoop and place on a baking sheet.  Refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.  Do not bake un-chilled dough.

Crushing bananas

Scooping out dough for the fridge

To bake:

6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

7. Place cookie dough rounds onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mat, 4 inches apart.

8. Bake for 7 minutes.  For bigger cookies, you’ll need to bake longer.  Cool on baking sheet before removing to a rack.

Verdict: These were surprisingly good.  I was a bit nervous about the pretzel-banana combination, but they worked well in the cookie.  My friend really liked them!  I really liked the pretzel crunch – a really addictive snack!

Kitchen Sink Cookies

I’m moving closer to work!  As I’m in the process of packing, I’m purging all the things I don’t need, which feels phenomenal!  In the kitchen, I have bits of left over baking ingredients that I thought I’d use up.  Result: Kitchen Sink Cookies!  A mash-up of leftovers.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Kitchen Sink Cookies

Inspired and adapted from Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook. 

Makes 17.

Toasted Coconut Make ahead

Toast ¾ cup of shredded coconut by placing on a baking sheet and baking in oven at 350 degrees until golden.  Take the sheet out after the top is golden, stir to expose un-toasted bits, and place back in the oven.  Keep an eye on it because it will brown quickly.

Pretzel Crunch Make ahead

Ingredients

1 ¼ cups coarsely chopped pretzels

¼ cup milk powder

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup melted salted butter

Directions

1.  Heat oven to 275 degrees F.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon baking mat.

2.  In a medium bowl, mix chopped pretzels, milk powder and sugar.

3.  Add melted butter and toss to coat.

4.  Spread onto the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until toasted.  The sugar will turn golden and caramelize.

5.  Cool before adding to cookie batter.

Left: Toasted coconut; Right: Pretzel crunch

Cookie Recipe

Ingredients

½ cup salted butter, room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

½  egg

½ teaspoon vanilla syrup or ¼ teaspoon extract

¾ cup bread flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon coffee grounds (not instant, and not used coffee grounds!)

¾ cup butterscotch chips

¼ cup chocolate chips

Toasted coconut from above recipe

Pretzel crunch from above recipe

Directions

1.  In a large bowl, cream butter and both sugars with a beater on medium high for 2-3  minutes.

2.  Add egg and vanilla, and beat for 7-8 minutes. 

3.  Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and mix on low just until dough comes together (1 minute).

4.  Add the rest of the ingredients.  Fold in with a spatula.

5.  Scoop dough using an “average sized” ice cream scoop ¾ full and place on a baking sheet.  Refrigerate for 1 hour.  Do not bake un-chilled dough.

To bake:

6.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

7.  Place cookie dough rounds onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mat, 4 inches apart.

8.  Bake for 10-11 minutes.  Cool on baking sheet before removing to a rack.

Bake after chilling in the fridge.

Verdict: These cookies were fantastic!  I loved the crunchy and caramelized components in the buttery cookie.  The coffee grounds give it an interesting flavor, too!  I brought them in to work and they were gone by lunchtime!