Gluten-Free Nutella-Stuffed Brown Butter Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies - Guest Post!

Today's guest post is by my friend Dori from OKnLA.  Dori and I worked on the same team but in different cities at a marketing/project management agency.  She is living the life, meeting celebs, kicking butt and taking names out in Los Angeles.  I miss working with Dori, but love keeping in touch and reading about her adventures!

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Hello!  I'm Doriean and I blog over at oknla.blogspot.com.  Normally my blogs consist of album covers, music opinions and images of my life in Los Angeles.  But today, because Stacey was so great to ask me, I'm sharing a baking post!

I love baking.  Since I moved to my current place (a guest room off of my friends' garage) I haven't been able to bake much because I don't have my own kitchen anymore.  I didn't think I would miss it much, but I do!  So any excuse to bake is a good one.

This picture is from Ambitious Kitchen's blog- she has beautiful photography.  This is what the finished cookies should look like!

I've wanted to try this recipe from Ambitious Kitchen for a while with one twist; I wanted to make them gluten-free.  I don't have a gluten allergy, but I've found my body feels so much better when I avoid gluten.  So lately I've been doing my best to go gluten-free, meaning I use a different kind of flour.

My favorite part about making these cookies was melting the butter.  Okay, I'm lying.  My favorite part was the Nutella.  I love Nutella.  Whoever created Nutella should receive a medal.  Or a shrine.  Nutella is the most amazing spread and it's a wonderful addition to a cookie.

But back to the butter.  Usually when I make cookies I let butter reach room temperature.  But this recipe required melting the butter in a saucepan, and I love the way that move increases the buttery flavor of the cookies.  The rest of the steps to making these cookies are pretty typical, except that you should leave the dough in the refrigerator for at least two hour before baking so that the ingredients mingle and set.  Once that happens, you roll the dough into cookie dough balls, flatten the balls, grab a spoonful of Nutella, eat it.  Then grab another spoonful and plop it into the flattened dough ball.  Recreate the ball so that there's no Nutella poking out and then place it on the cookie sheet.  Fill your sheet and bake those puppies!

Now, gluten is one of the main things that make things like bread, muffins and cookies rise.  Without it, these items come out flat and not as picture perfect.  But they still taste yummy!  So if you're using gluten-free flour like I did, know that these cookies will be really flat.  But I promise, even though they're not picture perfect, they are for sure tummy perfect.

Thanks for reading!  Eat something yummy today, even if it's not gluten free.

Bacon & Oatmeal Dried Fruit Cookies - Guest Post!

Today's guest post is written by my sorority sister Amy who lives in NYC with her husband Zach.  Amy is an incredible woman and an amazing friend.  We lucked out with this post as she is not often a baker.  She is, however, a really great chef and is excellent at incorporating bacon into everything, from cookies to vodka!  Enjoy!

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Zach with the freshly baked cookies

Zach's work was having a bake sale at to benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy, so I once again made Bacon and Oatmeal and Dried Fruit Cookies. I originally found these in a magazine and snipped out the recipe for its incorporation of bacon. Side note: they do not come off as very oatmeal-y, since I had a friend who does not like oatmeal cookies inhale one and then state her aversion to oatmeal. These cookies are awesome because they taste like breakfast as a cookie-- sweet and salty! In fact, they sold out immediately from the bake sale and Zach's boss had to have a talk with him about how if he ever brings bacon cookies to the office building again, the cookies need to first stop in the boss's office!

The original recipe calls for raisins, but since I am not a raisin fan, I substituted a dried berry mix which includes cranberries, blueberries, currants, and golden raisins. You can use any dried fruit here that strikes your fancy.

Ingredients 

• 8 ounces sliced bacon 
• 2 1/4 cups cake flour 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar 
• 2/3 cup sugar 
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature 
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats 
• 2/3 cup dried fruit (chopped to the size of raisins if applicable)

The Work

The process is simple. I chose to make the bacon on a rack over a cookie sheet in the oven so that they crisped evenly; I was able to crumble the bacon right into the batter at the end with the oatmeal and dried fruit, plus I had the added bonus of having a pool of bacon fat to use later on.

Once the bacon is cooking, I start whisking together the dry ingredients mix in a mixing bowl: 2 1/4 cups cake flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Keep this dry mixture on the side for a bit. Then, you start creaming together the butter and both sugars in a mixer. Give that a few minutes before adding in two eggs, one at a time.

Then add in the vanilla- the original recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon, but feel free to amp that up; I sure did. Keep the mixer moving-- you are going for a pale and fluffy batter look. Once that is achieved add in the flour mixture from before, little by little until well-incorporated. Then you can turn off the mixer.

After that, you are practically done with the prep. It is time to add in the oatmeal and dried fruit and crumble in the cooled bacon and fold. This recipe calls for chilling the dough: make 1/4 cup scoops of the batter onto two parchment lined cookie sheets (well spaced), cover w/plastic wrap, and chill for at least an hour, but I tend to let it go overnight.

When it comes time to bake the cookies, just preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake cookies for 20-22 minutes and cool first for 10 minutes on their sheets and then move to racks to cool completely. Remember to first put aside cookies for your significant other and boss and then enjoy the rest of the batch! Delicious.

Original Source: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2012/03/bacon-oatmeal-and-raisin-cookies

Peanut Butter Blossoms - Guest Post!

Today's guest post is written by my good friend Cheryl.  Cheryl was actually my boss for three years at my very first job out of college, and we've kept in touch since then.  We have the most fun going on weekend adventures and girls nights out - she is wild and crazy fun, not to mention very talented in the kitchen!  Thanks for sharing your family recipe, Cheryl!!

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When I was a little girl my Grandma Webster made Peanut Butter Blossoms every Christmas, and we had them in our home during the holidays as well. My mom adopted the recipe long before I was born as one of four cookies she made annually at Christmas time.

My grandmother baked for a living, or I should say for extra money when my grandfather retired. Everything she made was deliciously moist and she never needed a recipe. She had all her recipes memorized!

I secretly think she started selling her baked goods because it allowed her time away from grandpa when he retired. Mind you, she did all her baking out of her home so she never truly got away from him, in fact he began helping her when orders started to climb and she couldn't keep up. It grew a wonderful business and partnership between the two of them.

Often during the holiday season when orders grew my mom would spend the day helping out. My siblings and I of course came along for the ride. The smells in their home were divine.

For this reason, I continue the tradition today to keep those memories alive. Instead of with my grandmother, I now share this tradition with my husband Mike.

Need:
1 cup of peanut butter (Jiff works best)
1 cup sugar
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of Butter
2 eggs
4 tbsp of milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 3/4 cup of flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp of salt

Do:
Mix butter, peanut butter, and sugars until mixed together and batter is uniform. Then add eggs, milk and vanilla. Then add dry ingredients to a medium size bowl - blend them and slowly add this flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture.

Refrigerate for one hour or overnight or even better results. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake on non- greased baking sheets 8-9 minutes. Remove from sheet immediately and add kisses or peanut butter cups while cookies are still hot, this way the chocolate melts into the cookie. Makes 75 cookies.

Soft & Chewy Chocolate Drops with Hot Cocoa Frosting - Guest Post!

Today's post is written by my good friend Heather.  Heather and I were coworkers at my first "real" job, and then neighbors for two years.  Heather is a die-hard-"Michigander" (Go Blue!) and is an excellent running buddy.  She also makes the BEST Heath Bar Angel Food cake you will ever eat, so hopefully I will get her to share that one day, too.  I happen to know that Heather brought these into work and they were a huge hit.  One coworker who avoids butter like the plague couldn't even resist!  Thank you for sharing your cookies, Heather!!

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Double-chocolate soft & chewy cookies

I've been craving a chocolate cookie and had one in mind that my mom made once years ago.  She couldn't find the recipe so I used the one on the back of the Bakers Unsweetened baking chocolate box.  You will need:

4 squares Bakers' Unsweetened Chocolate
3/4 cup butter (1.5 sticks)
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2.5 cups flour

Dough with flour added

Heat oven to 350F.  Microwave unsweetened chocolate and butter in large bowl on high for 2 minutes (or until butter is melted - mine took more like 3 minutes).  Stir until chocolate is completely melted.  Add sugar and mix well.  Blend in eggs and vanilla.  Stir in flour.  (Do not over mix).  Refrigerate 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle.  (I was impatient and just refrigerated for 20-30 minutes.)

Shape into 1-inch balls (highly recommended - they keep their shape so just dropping them on the baking sheet makes them look yucky - too ugly to take to work!)

Balls of cookie dough

Bake 8 minutes or just until set (I let mine bake for 10 - they didn't look done after 8 minutes).  Let stand on baking sheet for 1 minute (if you don't wait the bottom falls out - at least that's what happened to me!  I'm going to fill it with frosting.)  Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.  This yields 5 dozen cookies (I got 61).

Baked cookies

Frosting!

I planned on using the recipe on the back of Hershey's Unsweetened cocoa but didn't think I had enough powdered sugar so I used hot cocoa mix that's mostly powdered sugar.

Hot Cocoa Frosting

1/4 cup of butter (1/2 stick)
Splash of milk (I used roughly half of a 1/3 cup)
1 3/4 cups hot cocoa mix (see below for recipe)

Melt butter.  Add hot cocoa mix and milk.  I mixed with a fork and it was really lumpy so I brought out my mixer to smooth it out a bit.  Still wasn't super smooth (see below).  The taste makes up for the lumps! :)

Lumpy but delicious frosting

Cocoa Mix (makes a whole bunch!!)

11 oz. jar non-dairy creamer
3 cups plus a little powdered sugar
2 cups Nestle Quick
1 1/3 cups non-fat dry powdered milk (enough for a quart of "milk")

Mix all ingredients together and store in an air tight container.  (Use 4 heaping tablespoons per cup of boiling water for actual cocoa.)