Bacon.

There is meat in my cookies. Yup, you read that correctly. Meat in my cookies. But don’t you worry because that meat is bacon. Phew. No big deal. Just bacon. Delicious fatty, fatty, fatty bacon.

Might I add that there are only five ingredients in these cookies. Sounds crazy right? But it’s true. I wouldn’t lie to you about these cookies. Just five. Not to mention that two of those five are bacon and peanut butter. This is madness!

Now be warned, people may doubt you. They may say, “Bacon in cookies!? Gross! Weird! Sinful! You are crazy!” But don’t let them make you doubt yourself. Simply tell them to sit back, relax, and be prepared to go on a cookie journey unlike any other.

Okay now I have to tell you something that will make it even clearer how wildly delicious these cookies are. I am not a big meat eater at all. I have even debated going the vegetarian route. But these cookies may have just transformed me into a full on carnivore. The kind of carnivore that only eats pb-bacon cookies and nothing else.

So make them right now. But just be prepared to have the unavoidable desire to eat them all immediately.

-EmW

P.S. I apologize for the serious lack of quality in these pictures, we were too busy freaking out over the cookies to sit still and have an actual pb-bacon cookie photo shoot.

Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies

(Adapted from JoyTheBaker)

1 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky, either works)

1 cup sugar (½ C brown, ½ C granulated)

1 egg

1 tsp baking soda

6 slices of bacon, cooled and diced up

1. In a skillet over medium heat, fry up bacon until cooked through. Let cool a bit and then dice the bacon (we broke it up with our fingers which worked perfectly well).
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. In a mixer, combine peanut butter and sugar until well combined. Add egg and baking soda and continue to mix until well combined again. Mix in cooked bacon.
4. Roll dough into walnut-sized balls and press down light with a fork to create a criss-cross pattern. If dough is crumbly, don’t fret! Just use your hands and smush it back together into dough balls. Problem solved.
5. Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool and firm up on baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack. And my final suggestion? Eat them immediately, because a warm pb-bacon cookie is a very beautiful thing.

Oreo, oreo, oreo!

It’s time to talk about oreos. Oreos are kind of a big deal because I really, truly adore all things oreo. Growing up, I never called it cookies n’ cream ice cream…no no no, it was oreo ice cream….that is, until I realized that most of the world calls it cookies n’ cream. Sadly, I have been forced to change my ways as it has caused much difficulty when ordering my beloved ice cream. Rest in peace oreo ice cream.

Furthermore, I believe one of the world’s greatest food pairs is vanilla soft serve ice cream blended with crushed oreo cookies. Can I interest you in Dairy Queen’s Oreo Blizzard, McDonald’s Oreo McFlurry, or Wendy’s Oreo Twisted Frosty? Now anybody who knows me knows that I am not the kind of girl to go running out for some fast food, but when you throw oreos into said fast food? Well, I’m sold. And with the number of chains that offer this brilliant concoction on their menus it means I am never far from oreo-vanilla yummy deliciousness.

And now to put the cherry on top of my oreo obsession I present you with (as if you couldn't already guess)...

Homemade oreos! Although they have the same name, these are quite different from the packaged kind that my buddies at Nabisco make. But (!) different does not mean they are any less delicious, because these treats still have those same classic elements: two crisp, chocolate, not-too-sweet wafer cookies sandwiching a thick layer of vanilla, sinfully sweet and very delicious, filling. I truly believe that cookies like this have the power to both fulfill an oreo lover's greatest fantasy and turn anybody that doubts the magic of these cookies into a true believer. Pretty amazing stuff, don’t you think?

-EmW

Homemade Oreos

(adapted from SmittenKitchen)

For the chocolate cookies:

1 ¼ C flour

½ C unsweetened cocoa (the recipe calls for Dutch process, though I used the regular kind and they turned out delicious)

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 C sugar

½ C plus 2 TB unsalted butter, room temperature

1 egg

For the filling:

¼ C unsalted butter, room temperature

¼ C vegetable shortening

2 C sifted confections’ sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Make the chocolate cookies: In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar until combined.
3. Add the butter and egg and mix until dough comes together in a mass.
4. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place them on parchment lined pans about two inches apart (these cookies spread a bit). Dip the bottom of a cup in water and slightly flatten the dough (alternatively you can use moistened hands). Also, if you want the cookies to sparkle a bit, dip the bottom of a cup in water, then a bit of granulated sugar, and use this to flatten the cookies slightly. I did this and they turned out quite pretty but be careful not to do too much sugar because then the cookies do not look so pretty!
5. Bake cookies for approximately 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Allow cookies to cool on pan for a few minutes and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
6. Make the filling: in an electric mixer, combine butter and shortening. Slowly add powdered sugar and vanilla, mixing until light and fluffy.
7. Assembly time! Place filling in a pastry bag (or if you don’t have one/don’t want to use one, just place it in a plastic ziplock bag and cut a just small bit of the corner to create a tip. Pipe approximately teaspoon size blobs on one cookie, then press down lightly with another cookie until filling reaches the edge. Continue until all cookies are sandwiched together and then eat one, immediately.

Summer Lessons (Part 1)

Some things I have learned this summer:

1. Never ever ever ever run through nettles…that story is for another day, but for now, just take my word for it.
2. The geniuses behind Disney-Pixar know exactly how to make me cry (Have you seen Toy Story 3? Or Up?? Or Wall-E!? Go see them and you will know what I mean).
3. The Midwest is missing out on some seriously amazing desserts.

Now allow me to elaborate on Lesson 3:

Okay first there were whoopie pies and my shocking discovery that almost none of my Midwestern buddies knew what the heck a whoopie pie was.

And then came along these black and white cookies.

First of all, I have always referred to these delicious treasures as half moons, but according to further research (thanks again Wikipedia!) that is just a regional, New England thing. But that is not the point I want to make. See, I always assumed that these yummy little things were all over the country. Apparently they are not. Once again, none of my Midwestern buddies grew up with them! Well it is time for an introduction. Midwest, this is black & white cookie, black & white cookie, this is the Midwest.

Now please enjoy the beauty that is the black and white (half moon!) cookie: soft, cakey vanilla cookies with a vanilla glaze on one half and chocolate glaze on the other. I see them as the delicious, cookie version of a chocolate-vanilla twist soft serve ice cream cone, and come on, who doesn’t looooove that? It’s a double, twisted yum.

-EmW

Black & White Cookies (aka Half Moons)

(Adapted from JoyTheBaker)

For the cookies:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk*

1 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

For the vanilla glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar

1 Tb light corn syrup

½ tsp vanilla extract

2 Tb hot water

For the chocolate glaze:

4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped

3 Tb unsalted butter

1 Tb light corn syrup

1. Make the cookies: Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a cup.

2. Beat together butter and sugar in an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, beating until well combined. Mix in flour mixture and buttermilk/vanilla mixture alternately in batches at low speed, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Be sure to scrape down the bowl occasionally. Mix until smooth.

3. Spoon tablespoons of batter onto parchment lined baking sheet (be aware that these cookies spread quite a bit). Bake in middle of oven until tops are puffed and pale golden, and cookies spring back when touched, about 12 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

4. Make the vanilla glaze: in a bowl whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, corn syrup and hot water, until smooth. If the glaze seems too thick, add a bit more water (but just a little bit! nobody wants a too thin glaze). The glaze needs to be thick enough to stay on the cookies.

5. Flip all the cookies over so they are bottom side up. Spread vanilla glaze on one half of the cookies. A slated spatula is very helpful at this step but not necessary by any means and a knife works just fine.

6. While the vanilla glaze sets, make the chocolate glaze: place the butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat butter and chocolate in the microwave for about 1 minute and stir until all the chocolate is melted. Add the corn syrup, stirring again until nice and smooth. Spread other half of cookies with chocolate glaze. Allow glazes to set (if you are impatient just pop them in the fridge) and then feast on the beautiful chocolate-vanilla-yummminess you have just created.

*As I mentioned with the whoopie pies, there is no need to buy buttermilk if you don’t want to. Just add one tablespoon white vinegar per one cup milk, allow to sit for 10 minutes, stir it and voila, buttermilk!

Makin' whoopie (pies)

So here’s the scene:
First: One hot, cramped, humid kitchen (apparently not good for angel food cake, as EmB will soon tell you all about)

Second: EmB and I are hosting our first special Wednesday event. Will it be a bust? Will EmB and I have spent all day baking for nothing? Will we be done in time? Oh the stress, the stress!

Third: We have EmB suffering through banana cream pie. As EmB mentioned, custard making…not so easy. It seems simple, but nope, it’s sneaky and hard to make. Not to mention, I was zero help. My advice regarding custard is apparently very bad advice. Seriously though, Dorie Greenspan’s directions for custard making: NOT clear. Dorie, we love you and the drool inducing photos of desserts in your cookbooks, but really, you need to help us out a little bit more.

Fourth: We have whoopie pies. According to Wikipedia, a whoopie pie could also be a macaron. FALSE. A whoopie pie is a whoopie pie and it ain’t nothin’ but a whoopie pie. I am really super into making and eating them, and much to my horror I have come to realize that much of the world does not know what a whoopie pie is. Apparently, these most delicious of cookies are a New England phenom, but my goooooooooodness they should not be.

Never seen one? Okay, imagine this: a thick layer of beautiful, fluffy, vanilla, marshmallowy frosting nestled between two perfect, round, cakey, chocolately cookies which are then sprinkled with powdered sugar to amp up the adorableness of these cute little cookies (and by little I mean huge, because these cookies are large and in charge). They are soft little pillows of amazing and I would sleep on a bed of them if I could. And if you still can’t picture it, just think of an Oreo but about a hundred times more decadent, delicious, and mouth watering.

Are you drooling yet? Because I am.

Anyway, want to know how many whoopie pies I made? About a million. Yup, that many. I channeled my inner Keebler Elf and busted out batch after batch of these babies. And now you should too.

-EmW

Whoopie Pies
(Adapted from Martha Stewart)

For the cookies:
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk (don't want to buy buttermilk? make it yourself: add one tablespoon white vinegar per one cup milk, allow to sit for 10 minutes, stir it and voila, buttermilk!)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 jar (7 1/2 ounces) marshmallow Fluff
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract


1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sift together flour, salt, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside. With a mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat until well combined. Slowly add dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
2. Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough on parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake for 12 minutes. Move cookies to cooling rack. Repeat with remaining batter until all cookies are baked.
3. Make the frosting: with an electric mixer, cream together butter and confectioners’ sugar until pale and fluffy. Add Fluff and vanilla and continue mixing until well combined
4. Spread frosting onto flat side of one cookie and sandwich together with another.