RECIPE: REC: Charlotte's Hot Cocoa Cookies (from KAF)

RECIPE:
W

wigs

Well-known member
These were very good! wigs

Hot Cocoa Kisses

Ingredients

Cookies

8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature, 65°F to 68°F

1/2 cup King Arthur hot chocolate mix* (I used Swiss Miss.)

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon espresso powder; optional; for enhanced flavor (I used instant espresso powder.)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup cocoa nibs, optional--I used 1/2 cup cocoa nibs which I bought from the Sweet Designs Chocolatier shop in Cleveland--see https://sweetdesigns.com/

*See "tips," below

Topping

1) about 5 1/2 dozen Belcolade bittersweet disks, or other high-quality chocolate wafer (I used shards or rather, small pieces of a Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate bar.)

2) peppermint crunch, cocoa nibs, or chopped nuts, for garnish--My favorite was the peppermint crunch--I used a crushed candy cane.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets, or line with parchment.

2. To make the cookies: Combine the butter, hot chocolate mix, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder in a mixing bowl. Beat until the mixture is smooth.

3. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat until thoroughly combined.

4. Weigh out your flour; you’ll find its weight by toggling to “ounces” at the top of the ingredient section above. Or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Add the flour to the cookie mixture, stirring to combine.

5. Mix in the chips and cocoa nibs.

6. Drop the dough by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets - a teaspoon cookie scoop works well here. (I used a 35 mm scoop.) Space the cookies at least 2" apart.

7. Bake the cookies for 8 to 9 minutes (I baked for 7 minutes), until the surface is set, but the cookies aren't quite fully baked.

8. Take the cookies out of the oven and press a chocolate disk into the center of each cookie.

9. Return the cookies to the oven for 1 to 2 minutes longer (I found that 40 seconds was just right.), until the chocolate begins to turn shiny and softens.

10. Remove the cookies from the oven once again, and sprinkle the melted chocolate disk with your garnish of choice.

11. Allow the cookies to cool right on the baking sheet until the chocolate disks are set.

12. Store well-wrapped cookies at room temperature for a week or so; freeze for longer storage.

There is a nice picture of these cookies at the KAF URL.

Tips from our bakers

*Our hot chocolate mix is a proprietary blend of sugar, ground chocolate, dry milk, and cocoa powder. If you'd like to use a store-bought hot chocolate mix, we recommend trying to find one with a similar list of ingredients.

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/hot-cocoa-cookies-recipe

 
Another REC: Hot and Spicy Pimento Cheese

Hot and Spicy Pimento Cheese (from the Indianapolis Star newspaper)

1/2 pound miniature sweet peppers, yellow, orange and red
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup feta cheese crumbles
2 cups sharp white cheddar
1/2 cup roughly shredded real Parmesan
1/2 cup mayonnaise, preferably Duke's
1 teaspoon freshly minced garlic
1 teaspoon hot sauce, preferably Crystal or
Louisiana hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons chives, finely diced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (I used less.)
1 teaspoon lemon zest

1) Preheat oven to 500 degrees or the broil setting. Toss peppers in olive oil and spread out evenly onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

2) Place directly under broiler flame in broiler drawer or in oven under the flame or coil, letting peppers blister on all sides. You'll need to flip peppers over about halfway through cooking. Roasting time should be about 8-10 minutes per side, but check often.

3) Once peppers are roasted evenly on all sides, transfer them immediately to a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Set aside and let them cool.

4) Once cool, you'll be able to carefully remove the skins, peeling the blackened areas off. Cut peppers in half and scrape out seeds and membranes, then dice peppers finely.

5) Place the cheeses into a large bowl and stir until well combined. For a creamier spread, you can use a stand mixer and mix on low for 2 minutes.

6) Once cheese is well combined, mix in mayo, garlic, hot sauce and lemon juice.

7) Mix all the dried spices together to combine well then toss in cheese mixture. Add chives and lemon zest and stir in with the spices until everything is completely combined.

smileys/bigeyes.gif Peppers are mixed last, so fold in gently, taking care not to over mix.

9) Refrigerate pimento spread for at least 1 hour for flavors to open up. Serve on toast, burgers, crackers, or eat with a spoon right from the container.

Pimento cheese will keep for about three days in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

TIPS FOR THE BEST PIMENTO CHEESE;
--If you can, buy your cheese in block form. It's easy to throw together a batch of pimento cheese straight from the grocery store if you buy it pre-shredded, but it is worth the extra time to shred the cheese yourself. The outcome is creamier and will have a fuller, creamier taste.
--Duke's Mayonnaise may not be easy to find where you usually shop, but Hellman's will do in a pinch. Make sure to avoid any light mayo, and definitely do NOT use salad dressing. It is too sweet. Duke's specifically is what most people would use, not only for its rich, Southern heritage, but because it not only has more vinegar in the ingredients, but it contains distilled and cider vinegar for a fuller flavor.
--Already prepared and chopped pimientos can be found in the grocery store, but lack flavor. If you've got time to roast your own, it is well worth the effort for a much more robust dish. You can roast any type chiles for this--from the traditional pimientos to sweet bell peppers, jalapenos, or poblanos--the latter is a personal favorite of the author. Other ingredients can include anything from garlic, onions or toasted pecans.
--You also shouldn't feel locked into using only sharp cheddar. There are so many choices to explore. The original version of pimento cheese, which was surprisingly not from the South, included cream cheese. Many recipes still use cream cheese and Neufchatel cheese as a base. Instead of cream cheese, the author likes to use feta, goat cheese or even bleu cheese if she's feeling sassy. These cheeses all have a creamier texture, like cream cheese. This helps create the spreadable character of pimento cheese spread, not to mention add a bigger, bolder punch of flavor.

 
REC: Golden Peach Pie Recipe (from TOH)

This is a delicious peach pie! I made a total of 20 of these pies in 1.5 days last year to serve to a crowd of 240 people. It took 5 gallons of vanilla ice cream for the a la mode part. And it took me 3 days to recover from my 1-1/2-day baking marathon. lol. (And yes, I own 20 deep-dish pie pans/plates--a few had Christmas motifs on them!)

GOLDEN PEACH PIE RECIPE from Taste of Home. (Picture and recipe are at the TOH URL below.)

Pastry for double-crust pie (9 inches) (I made and rolled pastry for a double-crust 9-inch DEEP-DISH pie.)

5 cups sliced peeled fresh peaches (5 medium peaches or so)---I used 1-1/2 quarts of sliced peaches for each pie which weighed in at about 2 pounds of peeled, sliced & pitted fresh peaches.

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest (I used 3/4 tsp.)

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch (instead of cornstarch I used 2 Tablespoons of minute tapioca which I ground to a fine powder before measuring.)

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter (I used 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter.)

Whole milk or half-and-half

Directions
1) Line a 9-in. pie plate (deep-dish pie plate per wigs) with bottom pastry; trim, leaving a 1-in. overhang around edge. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine the peaches, lemon juice, orange peel and extract. Combine the sugar, cornstarch (tapioca in my case), nutmeg and salt. Add to peach mixture; toss gently to coat. (Note from wigs: let filling sit long enough so that the tapioca is well moistened.) Pour into crust; dot with butter.

2) Roll out remaining pastry to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; cut into strips of various widths. Arrange over filling in a lattice pattern. Trim and seal strips to bottom pastry; fold overhang over. Lightly press or flute edge. Brush with milk. Cover the edges loosely with foil.
(I rolled out the remaining pastry a little bigger than the top of the pie and made decorative marks in this top pastry. I brushed the bottom pie edge with cold water, and then placed the top crust over the filling. Trimmed, sealed and fluted edges and made a couple slashes in the top crust. Then I brushed the pastry with milk or half-and-half before baking)

3) Bake at 400° for 40 minutes. Remove foil; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly.
(With freshly peeled peaches, I bake the pie at 400 degrees F. for 15 to 20 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 45 minutes to an hour or until my pie is golden brown and the filling is bubbly.)

Cool on a wire rack. Store in the refrigerator. (I never store fruit pies in the refrigerator. wigs)
Yield: 8 servings. (I cut each pie into 12 slices and served each portion with a scoop of vanilla ice cream which was sprinkled with some toasted sliced almonds and a mint leaf.)

NOTE: I peeled, pitted, sliced, sprinkled with Fruit Fresh, measured, bagged, weighed and froze about 60 pounds of peaches a few months before I made all my pies. It takes about 1-1/2 to 2 hours for a 2-pound bag of sliced peaches to thaw enough to break apart with a spoon so I could mix with the other filling ingredients. I then baked at 400 degrees for 20 minutes and reduced the oven temp to 350 degrees to finish baking for an additional 60 to 70 minutes. Needed a bit longer baking time since I was starting out with slightly frozen peaches when the pies went into the oven.

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/golden-peach-pie

 
Have Swiss Miss cocoa packs - need butter smileys/wink.gif

Thanks for sharing this recipe. I've been wanting a yummy gift-worthy chocolate cookie. Great to use ingredients on hand. Colleen

 
Let me know how U like these cookies. B4 I could cool them enough to wrap up to give as a gift to a

friend, I had popped 6 of them. SIX! My thinking at the time was "Oh, these are such little things....one more won't hurt that much!" ARG. So watch yourself. Smile.

 
Thanks for the advice! Will definitely make 1st thing in the morning

so I can sleep when I eat 6! I'm thinking, "will need to hide from DH." Colleen

 
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