It has been a minute! This last month has been full of negativity and it seems to just keep coming. I decided to take a break from this, partly because it made me sad that I couldn't write about my travels or restaurants I had tried, but mostly because I just wasn't feeling up to it. I will be the first to admit that this isolation and social distancing has taken a toll on my mental health. Some days I woke up and didn't leave the couch all day. It was painful and everyday something new happened, sometimes positive but usually negative. Watching this virus affect people had been exhausting enough, but social media began tearing friends and family apart and I had enough. While I haven't escaped it completely, I definitely am in a better place mentally than before. I had the opportunity to catch up with some friends on my beautiful campus on an incredible spring day. I have started my summer in a new state with a new job and making new friends. It is SO nice to be around people again and have people to talk to every day, even if its just on Skype. Things are slowly starting to open up, making it feel a little more normal every day.
I know things are a mess right now...in more ways than one...but every day I see people come together to make good, positive changes in our country. We can't all agree on everything, but we still come together because we all understand that we can only get through these types of things TOGETHER. Continue supporting one another and check on your friends and family...we are in a scary place right now and we need to lean on each other. Be nice, stand up for what you believe, and take care of each other. We got this.
Back to Baking
Moving forward...this summer I am going to explore some recipe development and tweaking to make some incredible recipes...hopefully. This comes from me completely messing up a cinnamon roll recipe and wow wow wow the dough came out beautiful. So...while I'm at home and have more free time after work, why not attempt some trial and error to find some stellar recipes.
To start this adventure, I would love to share an INCREDIBLE cookie recipe that I tweaked to perfection. I have to admit that I don't eat a lot of the treats I make...I enjoy the process and reward, but I am telling you, I CANNOT STOP EATING THESE. If you have ever been to the Iowa State Fair, you likely have had a bucket or 5 of cookies from the Varied Industries Building. These cookies are soft, chewy, crisp, and melt in your mouth...plus they are bite size so you can have a dozen and not feel quite so horrible. There are two secrets to this recipe: honey and frozen dough.
To start, one thing I have NEVER done when making chocolate chip cookies is melt my butter...normally I whip it to death with the sugar, giving a beautiful cookie texture. In this recipe you are going to HALF melt the butter. This means there should be large chunks of solid butter floating in the melted butter. I tried this recipe with completely melted butter and it didn't turn out the same...it was more spread out and overly soft dough. Half melted butter gives it the chewy, doughy texture we want.
After creaming the butter and sugars, the secret ingredient goes in: honey. I don't turn off my mixer during this process so the honey doesn't get stuck to the side of the bowl or paddle. Once it is thoroughly mixed in, stop and scrap the bowl down. Add the rest of the wet ingredients and the salt and baking soda. I ALWAYS add my flour last to almost every recipe...even if it tells me to put it in first. You can always add more flour, but you can't take it out. I have ruined several recipes by adding the stated amount all at once, making the dough or batter too thick or dry. This dough should be extremely soft, not like traditional cookie dough. It is almost a thick batter. If you think it's too thin, add more flour a tablespoon at a time, but don't over do it. Too much flour will ruin the texture of the cookie, defeating the purpose of the half melted butter and honey.
Finally, scoop out the cookies onto a parchment lined sheet tray. You should get about 3 dozen bite sized cookies. I make mine small, more like the State Fair cookies, but you can make them whatever size you want, just adjust the bake time. Once your have your cookies scooped, FREEZE THEM. Do not directly bake these cookies or they will completely spread out, flatten, and crisp. Throw the pans in the freezer for 10 minutes or more so the dough is solidified. Just like when you make pie crust, biscuits, and croissants, you want the butter to be hard when it bakes. In this case, its for the texture of the cookie. It will help give you a crisp edge with a soft center. Bake the cookies for 7-10 minutes...I like to have a golden ring around the edge.
Try to resist eating these straight out of the oven. While they are incredible and melt in your mouth when they are piping hot, I think they get better as they cool. All you need is a big white bucket and you have Copy Cat State Fair Cookies! Give them a try and let me know what you think!
My Copy Cat State Fair Cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
3/4 cuo brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/4 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup Chocolate chips (I uses semi-sweet)
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper.
Half melt butter. There should be some solid butter when you are finished.
Combine the butter, sugar, and brown sugar until the mixture is a lighter color. This can take a few minutes in a stand mixer.
While your mixer is still running, add the honey until it is well combined. Scrape your bowl to make sure none of the honey is stuck to the sides or to the paddle.
Add in the egg, vanilla, salt, and baking soda.
Mix in the flour 1/2 a cup at a time. Your dough should still be soft when you are done. If you think it is too soft, add flour one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency. Do not add too much flour.
Fold in your chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
Scoop cookies onto sheet using a cookie scoop (I used #100 scoop).
Freeze the sheets of cookies for at least 10 minutes or until the dough is solid.
Bake the cookies for 7-10 minutes (or longer if you do bigger cookies). They should just start to brown at the base.