Cowboy Cookies

I was asked to bring dessert for lunch this past weekend and figured the best thing to make would be cookies, small, dry (travelling with frozen dessert- not the wisest thing to do in this weather) and no fork necessary. The decision to make cookies really came as I was browsing through Baked Explorations for inspiration. In the cookie chapter, I came across this recipe for Cowboy Cookies, which is essentially a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie with the addition of salty pretzels, playing off the sweet and salty flavor contrast. Interestingly enough, I found out when I served them that they brought to mind Chubby Hubby, the Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavor that contains pretzels. This was new to me. When I got home I found out that  Ben and Jerry's renamed their ice cream Hubby Hubby in support of gay marriage. So maybe I should rename them Brokeback Mountain Cookies. Anyway, these cookies were really easy to make but do require quite a chill in the fridge. The Baked guys recommend four hours, but I didn't wait that long. Something else I learned- I'm not a fan of convection baking for cookies. I've realized that they are indeed responsible for making my cookies crisp instead of chewy because they bake them faster than I can realize that they are done. So when it comes to cookies from here on out, it's regular bake! These cookies were really well received (after people got over the shock of the pretzels) and if you really feel inclined to take these over the top, you can sandwich them around some ice cream for a really fun summertime treat.

Herb Rolls

Shavua tov! Things are heating up here in Jerusalem in an unbearable way. Shabbat was particularly brutal, especially when walking to and from shul and meals in the blazing heat. I find myself staying home and hanging around in my apartment all day just to avoid the heat! In any case, seeing as I was home again for Shabbat, I decided, along with the challah, to bake some rolls. I've been wanting to make herb rolls again ever since I made them for a Purim Seuda years ago in Bar Ilan, adapted from one from KAF. A thorough search in my recipe box for the index card with the recipe neatly written on it turned up nothing. So it was back to the drawing board. A cursory glance through my bread books yielded nothing. Then I thought to look through Bernard Clayton's thorough bread book. My copy is still in the states, but I did a search through Amazon's look inside the book feature. My search turned up a recipe called Six Herb bread. Perfect! Well, almost, considering I didn't have all those herbs. But I decided to use it as a jumping off point and adapt it. That's exactly what I did. I omitted the sugar from the recipe, used regular oil, and used some dried rosemary, dried thyme and a touch of caraway. I made the dough and let it rise overnight in the fridge. The next day, I took the opportunity to try my hand at shaping different types of rolls. The rolls turned out really well! The flavor of rosemary dominated, but it was mellowed out by the baking and at some points I got a lovely hit of caraway. (I gotta start using it more!) I enjoyed it mostly with Matbucha, a mild to spicy tomato spread, and stashed the leftovers in the freezer. These rolls are headed off to Yeastspotting!

Sugar Puffs

I made these vanilla cookies this past weekend as a counterpoint to the deeply chocolately Chocolate Sorbet, thinking that the lightness of the cookie itself and its gentle vanilla flavor would nicely balance it out. Or, as one noted, for those who don't like chocolate. Or, if you know me, to complete my favorite color combination- black and white. ;) The addition of cornstarch to this shortbread like batter makes these ethereally light. This batch yielded about 21 cookies for me, so double the recipe if you need more. The tops won't color terribly, but keep an eye on the bottoms and sides, they should turn a nice golden color.

Chocolate Sorbet

This weekend, I hosted my very first Shabbat meal in my apartment! And, be proud, for the first time in a long time, my dessert choice came easily to me! As the summer progresses and the days get hotter, I find the need for something cool and refreshing increases. So I whipped out my copy of The Perfect Scoop and looked around for information. In this definitive volume devoted to all things ice cream, David Lebovitz provides no shortage of inspiration. Seeing as I have no ice cream maker, I didn't want to use a million egg yolks, and dairy was off limits, I headed to the chapter on sorbets. The fruit sorbets sounded delicious, (the cherry sorbet stood out as it's prime cherry season here!) but I passed them over in favor of the rich and decadent Chocolate Sorbet. Made with only the best cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate, this sorbet packs a powerful punch. Add the chill factor and you have a wonderful, refreshing, and refreshingly different Shabbat dessert. If you have an ice cream maker, this is a breeze to prepare. If you don't, and I don't (I asked around electronic shops here, apparently they dont carry them anymore in this country- shame!), you can still make this by chilling the base and then beating it every half hour to break up the ice crystals. The texture isn't as smooth as if machine churned, but this version doesn't suffer too much. Out of sheer laziness, and the late hour, I didn't blend before starting the freezing process, but I don't think it mattered. Also, for easier mixing, I poured the base into a nine inch pan.  I would suggest though, pouring the base into a tall container when you're finished the "churning" process as the increased surface area of the pan allows the sorbet to melt faster. No one complained about the fudgy, melty texture, in fact this was a big hit, but I would have preferred nice, clean, unmelted scoops of sorbet. 

KAF 100% Whole Wheat Bread

Happy July everyone and more importantly, happy summer! (I can't believe it's summer already. I keep asking people what they're doing for summer before realizing, oh wait, it is summer!) This loaf of bread was the last thing I baked in SFW before moving to the new apartment, which really does end a two year "era" of baking there. It seems fitting that the last thing I baked was a loaf of bread, my favorite thing to make. Normally, I don't eat bread during the week, so I have to hold myself back from baking it, but because the move was coming up and there really was no food in the fridge, I made an exception. Especially since it was going to have to be whole wheat, as I had a bag of it still in the fridge. The recipe I used was the 100% Whole Wheat Bread Baker's Companion. I made this bread once before when I was in Bar Ilan and my notes accompanying it say, "Really great bread-nice subtle flavor. Not squishy but not at all dense. Perfect w.w. loaf- go to recipe, keeper! Omitted walnuts and seeds. Made by hand, used scale." This bread really is a great whole wheat loaf but this time I made it in the mixer and the rise and texture were even better than I remembered. I did leave out the nuts and seeds again and of course as I always do these days, use the scale. I can't really remember a time when I didn't pull out the scale to bake... This recipe remains a quick, easy and most importantly, great whole wheat bread recipe. Give it a try. This bread is off to Yeastspotting!