Homemade Rocks! Oreo Ice Cream

Posted on July 19, 2011

Maybe it’s time to worry when you’re kids tell you to go into the ice cream business. “Mom, you could be the next Ben and Jerry’s. I like your ice cream better than theirs.”

Hmmm. Not going to happen. But, I must confess that the reason why I make my own ice cream is because there is nothing better than freshly whipped ice cream. I was spoiled working in the restaurant business for many years, where the ice cream I sampled was always freshly made and perfectly whipped. I particularly remember the ice cream at the two-star Michelin restaurant called Arperge in Paris, where I did a internship for two weeks. I fell in love with the chef’s curry ice cream, made by infusing a caramel base with Indian spices. Spicy and cool at the same time…perfectly luscious.

This oreo ice cream get s a two-thumbs up from both my kids, and everyone else who takes a bit. To make it, start with my recipe for rich and creamy vanilla ice cream (blog dated January 31, 2011) and once it’s churned, add 1 cup coarsely crushed Paul Newman’s Organic O’s (I use Newman’s because they don’t contain partially hydrogenated oils, plus they’re really good and proceeds go to charity…win, win, win). Freeze for a few hours and serve. It’s a great way to escape the heat, even for just a few minutes.

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Happy Father’s Day! Treat Dear Ol’ Dad to Some Ol’ Fashioned Ginger Snaps

Posted on June 16, 2011

Perfectly gingery, sweet, and slightly chewy, these ol’ fashioned ginger snaps are some of the best cookies ever invented…and here’s a fabulous recipe for them. Bake a batch and watch your dad smile! Serve with a glass of cold milk, or a cup of freshly-brewed coffee or tea. Happy Father’s Day!

Old-Fashioned Ginger Snaps

Makes about sixty 2-1/2-inch cookies
2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 tablespoons ground ginger
1-1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
3 teaspoons baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup sugar, plus ½ cup for rolling the dough balls before baking
2 large eggs
1/4 cup molasses

  1. Center an oven rack and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Have ready 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
  2. Sift together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
  3. In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine the butter and sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
  4. Add the eggs and molasses and continue to beat for 1 minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. The batter will be quite creamy.
  5. Add half of the reserved  flour mixture and beat on low speed for 15 seconds. Repeat with the remaining half. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, cover, and refrigerate the dough in the bowl for 30 minutes or up to 2 hours. (Chilling makes the dough easier to roll into balls.)
  6. Place the 1/2-cup of sugar for rolling the dough in a pie plate. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Scoop out 1 tablespoon of the dough for large cookies (2-1/2-inch size), or a ½ tablespoon for small ones (1-1/2-inch size), and form it into a ball with your hands. Place the ball in the sugar. Repeat  until you have  5 to 7 balls in the pie dish. Then, roll the balls to cover them with sugar and arrange them on the baking sheet, spread at 1-1/2 inch intervals.
  7. When the first baking sheet is filled, bake until the outside of the cookies are firm but the inside gives just a little when pressed, 8 to 10 minutes. Do not open the oven during the baking process or the puffed cookies will fall. While the cookies are baking, repeat the ball-making procedure with the remaining dough.
  8. Remove the finished cookies from the oven, allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack. Once completely cooled, store in an airtight container for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 1 month.

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Homemade Rocks! My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted on April 14, 2011

Few things in the sweets category top a still-warm-from-the-oven, perfectly crisp yet melting gooey chocolate chip cookie, and I think this recipe is the BEST on the planet. I’m sharing it under one condition: that you give me credit when people say, OMG where did you get this recipe, and then you send them to my blog, catherinejonescooks.com for more delicious recipes. I love these tasty morsels with a cup of robust coffee, my daughter prefers Earl Grey tea, while my son happily dunks his cookies in cold milk. My husband just stands by the cookie jar in easy reach of the next bite…you can’t eat only one, I’ve tried!

Catherine’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

The secret to this recipe is grinding the oats into a powder, which gives the cookies a wonderful crunch. No nuts are called for here, but add them if you wish. Also, you will notice that I call for baking the cookie sheets one at a time. Yes, this takes way more time, but in my many years of baking in conventional home-ovens (not restaurant ones with serious convection power) I have found that baking one sheet at a time leads to more consistent results. You can bake two sheets at once; see my Cooking Tip below.

Makes about 4 dozen 2-inch cookies
2-1/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
16 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and center an oven rack. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
  2. Place the oats in a food processor and pulse about 10 times, or until they are a broken down to a powder slightly thicker than whole wheat flour. Set aside.
  3. In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine the sugar, brown sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla extract, and mix on medium speed until light and slightly fluffy, about 3 minutes.
  4. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and reserved oats and mix on low speed just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
  5. Place heaping teaspoons of the cookie dough on the baking sheets, allowing about 1-inch of space between the mounds. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the cookies are light golden.
  6. Remove from the oven, cool for 3 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. Once completely cool, store in an airtight container. They can be frozen for up to 1 month.

Cooking Tip: To bake two sheets at the same time, position one oven rack one rung down from the top, and the other rack one rung up from the bottom. Place both sheets in the oven at the same time and bake for 6 minutes, then switch the order of the sheets and bake for another 5 to 6 minutes.

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Holiday Sugar Cookies from the Tropics

Posted on December 16, 2010

img_2258It smells like the holidays here in my kitchen in Malaysia. My cook, Luann, and I have decided to frost our sugar cookies in hot pink (don’t you love it the photo!), and various other tropical colors, including lime green, lemon yellow, and soft orange. We’ve  made five dozen cookies, which we will be distributing to teachers, embassy employees, fellow diplomats, and friends.

It’s a joyful time of year, and I can’t think of any place I’d rather be than in my kitchen decorating cookies to the sounds of a “Jazzy Christmas” playing in the background. This year I used a fabulous cookie recipe (perhaps the best one ever) that I found in a Cook’s Illustrated magazine, Holiday Baking (Holiday 2009).

Butter Cookies

Makes 3 Dozen 2-1/2-inch cookies
2-1/2 cups (12-1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (5-1/2 ounces) superfine sugar (see Cooking Note below)
1/4 teaspoon table salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces, cool to room temperatue (about 65 degrees F)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cream cheese, cool to room temperature

  1. In bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar, and salt on low speed until combined, about 5 seconds. With mixer running on low, add butter 1 piece at a time; continue to mix until mixture looks crumbly and slightly wet, about 1 minute longer. Add vanilla and cream cheese and mix on low until dough just begins to form large clumps, about 30 seconds.
  2. Remove bowl from mixer; knead dough by hand in bowl for 2 to 3 turns to form large cohesive mass. Turn out dough onto countertop; divide in half, pat into two 4-inch disks, wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate until they begin to firm up, 20 to 30 minutes. (Dough can be refigerated up to 3 days or frozen up to 2 weeks; defrost in refrigerator before using.)
  3. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375 degrees F. Roll out 1 dough disk to even 1/8-inch thickness between 2 large sheets of parchment paper; slide the rolled dough on parchment onto baking sheet and chill until firm, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, repeat with second disk.
  4. Working with first portion of rolled dough, cut into desired shapes using cookie cutter(s), and place shapes on parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them about 1-1/2 inches apart. Bake until light golden brown, about 10 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through the  baking time. Repeat with second portion of rolled dough. (Dough scraps can be patted together, chilled, and re-rolled once.) Cool cookies on a wire rack to room temperature.

Cooking Note: If you cannot find superfine sugar, you can obtain a close approximation by processing regular granulated sugar in a food processor for about 20 seconds.

For the glaze, I use a standard recipe from my files.

Cookie Glaze

Makes about 3/4 cup glaze
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
4 to 6 tablespoons milk or water
Sprinkles or other decorations

Place the sugar in a small bowl. Add the liquid gradually until you reach the desired consistency.  If you are adding food coloring, read the Cooking Note below. Use the glaze immediately, or cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the glaze to prevent it from hardening.

Cooking Note: If you plan to add food coloring, use a bit less water. So start with 4 tablespoons, add the coloring, then continue to add water slowly until desired consistency. I find a slightly thicker frosting easier to work with, especially if  kids are frosting.

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Gooey Chocolate Crinkles for the Holidays

Posted on December 14, 2010

gooey-chocolate-cookiesGooey chocolate cookies don’t get any better than this. Last week, I hosted a cookie exchange chez moi. It was a smash hit. I used every ounce of discipline I had not to sample every cookie on the table. We all shared recipes, so I thought I’d share mine with you. Warning: These cookies will fill your home with the most delicious chocolate smell, and if you or anyone else samples them still warm from the oven you might pass out from pleasure. P.S. I’m giving a bunch of these morsels to my children’s teachers as gifts, along with frosted sugar cookies and raspberry jam laced with rose petals.

Catherine’s Gooey Chocolate Crinkles
Makes about 35 cookies
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
½ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup sugar
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate cut into small chunks or semisweet chocolate chips
About 1-1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, for coating the balls

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the oil, sugar, melted chocolate, vanilla, and eggs and mix with an electric mixer on medium-low speed for 2 to 3 minutes, or until well blended.
3. Reduce the speed to low, add the reserved flour mixture in 2 batches, and continue mixing for about 1 minute, or until well incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chunks. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough 1 to 2 hours, or until firm enough to handle. (Cooking Note: The dough can be refrigerated overnight.)
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the confectioners’ sugar in a bowl.
5. Using a tablespoon, scoop out one tablespoon of the dough and roll it into a ball. Place the ball in the confectioners’ sugar and gently nudge it until well coated. Space each of the balls about 1 inch apart on the baking sheets. Very slightly flatten the each ball with a fork.
6. Bake 14 minutes, or until just set (the cookies will be a little soft in the middle). Remove from the oven and cool the cookies on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

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Sweet Gratitude: The Perfect Gift

Posted on December 6, 2009

sweet-gratitude1

Looking for a holiday gift for a teacher, co-worker, boss, aunt, or friend that says Happy Holidays and Thank You at the same time? Judith Sutton, author of Sweet Gratitude: How to Bake a Thank You, has created the perfect solution. I buy her book by the dozen (no kidding) and give them to teachers, doctors, co-workers, and as hostess presents ($15.95 for a hard-cover cookbook with whimsical watercolor illustrations is a lot cheaper than a bouquet of flowers, and it lasts longer too! http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Gratitude-Thank-You-Really-Important/dp/1579652611). When it comes to super-size thank yous…for the friend who took care of my spunky blonde labradoodle for a week…I give the book along with a delectable confection I baked from it.

Honestly, I’d be hard pressed to choose a favorite recipe. Those I return to repeatedly include the Little Lemon Loaves, Devil’s Food Cupcakes, Very Special Fudgy Brownies, Melt-In-Your-Mouth Coconut Macaroons, and the Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies. With Judith’s permission, below is a deliciously crisp gingersnap to indulge yourself and others. To quote from her recipe notes: “…A friend who never bakes asked for the recipe as soon as he tasted them and then made them at Christmas. They keep and ship well—slip them into your holiday gift boxes or other care packages, or into the kids’ lunch boxes.” http://www.sweetgratitude.com

Judith Sutton’s Spicy English Gingersnap

Makes about 96 cookies
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground allspice (optional)
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
12 tablespoons (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar, plus about 1 cup for rolling
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
¼ cup dark molasses

  1. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, if using, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.
  2. In a large bowl, bear the butter and both sugars with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the egg, blending well, then beat in the molasses. On low speed, beat in the flour mixture in two additions. Cover and refrigerate until the dough is firm enough to shape, about 2 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 1 day; it can also be frozen, well wrapped, for up to 2 weeks. Thaw in the refrigerator before using.)
  3. Put the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two heavy baking sheets (if you don’t have heavy baking sheets, reduce the baking time by a minute or two).
  4. Put the sugar for rolling in a small shallow bowl. Using about 1 level teaspoon of dough per cookie, roll the dough into scant 1-inch balls, then roll the balls in the sugar, coating well, and place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
  5. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, switching the position of the baking sheets halfway through baking, until the cookies are flat and crinkled and the edges are very slightly browned. Let cool on the baking sheets for 1 to 2 minutes, then transfer the cookies to racks to cool completely. (The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.)

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