Choc-o-late Chub-beez

I don't know why I wrote it like that. Yes, I do. I'm a goof when it comes to saying things in funny voices and then I try to write it the way I say it which doesn't work at all, does it? Probably one of those things that only your sister can get. (Can you back me up on that, Amy?)
For all normal-voiced cookie-holics out there, these are Chocolate Chubbies. My kids and I made these yesterday and yummmm.
Of course, now that I compare recipes, I realize why I like them so much. They're basically this cookie (one of my absolute favorites, but which I altered in that previous post to accommodate a filling) with a different name.
I used Nancy Baggett's recipe from The All-American Cookie Book but found similar examples around the web like this one. Play the recipe comparison game for a minute then make these cookies!

Two tips, though: Be sure you, or someone near you, can eat the majority of these the same day you make them. They get crumbly the next day, but are deliciously soft the day of. (That's IF, of course, you follow the common cookie-baking rule Do Not Overbake).
If you don't LOVE nuts, I advise reducing the amount and substituting with more chocolate chips. I always find these (the Nick Malgieri ones and now these) a little too nutty for me. I don't like swallowing all the yummy chocolatey parts then finding I still have a mouthful of little nuts. That's just me.

Chocolate Chubbies
2 cups (8 oz) coarsely chopped pecans
8 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, broken up or coarsely chopped
3 T cold, unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/3 c all-purpose white flour
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
2/3 c sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 t vanilla
1 1/3 c (8 oz) semisweet chocolate morsels

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper (or silicone mat) or very heavily coat with nonstick spray.

Spread pecans in a medium baking pan and toast in the oven, stirring occasionally, for 7-9 minutes, or until nicely browned; be careful not to burn. Immediately turn out into a medium bowl and let cool.

Meanwhile, in a large, microwave-safe bowl, nuke the bittersweet or semisweet chocolate and butter on 100-percent power for 1 minute. Stir well. Continue microwaving on 50-percent power, stirring at 30-second intervals. Stop microwaving before the chocolate completely melts and let the residual heat finish the job. Alternatively, in a medium, heavy saucepan (or double-boiler), melt the choclate and butter over lowest heat, stirring frequently; be very careful not to burn. Immediately remove from heat. Let cool to warm.

In a small bowl, thoroughly stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla until well blended, thickened, and lightened. Beat the melted chocolate mixture, then the flour mixture, into the egg mixture until thoroughly blended. Stir in the pecans and chocolate morsels until evenly incorporated. Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 1/2 hours or up to 8 hours, or until it firms up slightly.

Drop the dough onto the baking sheets by heaping measuring tablespoonfuls, spacing about 2 1/2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, in the middle of the oven for 11-14 minutes, or until just firm at the edges but still slightly soft in the centers; be careful not to overbake. Reverse the sheet from front to back halfway through baking to ensure even browning. Transfer the sheet to a wire rack and let stand until the cookies are firmed up, about 5 minutes. Using a spatula, transfer the cookies to wire racks. Let stand until completely cooled.

These cookies are best when fresh but may be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 1 month.

Mocha frap ice cream sandwiches. Mmmm.

Somehow I got myself onto those prepackaged Starbucks fraps and I'm trying to stop. I did find a delicious, though even more unhealthy and definitely less portable, way to get that sweet, cold, chocolate-milky, slightly coffee-ish fix. Little ice cream sandwiches.
I used the coffee variation of Christopher Kimball's Master Ice Cream recipe in The Dessert Bible with tiny chocolate bits and some extra sugar thrown in. (Partly by accident and partly because I don't really like coffee and figure all the sugary milk in the fraps is probably why I like them). The ice cream alone is so good. Homemade always is, right? And this just hit the spot.
I sandwiched some of the ice cream in these cookies, one of my favorites. The ice cream sandwiches were really good, but I think when they're made with regular drop cookies, they are almost too sweet. These cookies taste a lot like brownies. Next time I make sandwiches, I'll use a cookie recipe written specifically for this purpose, I think.
Better stick the bucket back in the freezer and choose my next recipe.

Sweet and salty peanut chocolate chip cookies

More cookies! I found this recipe last month and have made it a couple times since. The taste and texture of the cookies did vary slightly when I very slightly altered the ingredients, but it was quite good both times.
The second time I made these, the flavor closely resembled peanut brittle or candied peanuts, and I think that's because I only had lightly salted nuts on hand and I may have over-roasted them. The first time I made these, I was surprised by the almost meringue-like texture, they were crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside with little pockets throughout.
Either way, these cookies are very good and a nice break from your everyday chocolate chip cookie. I will be making them again.
Here is the recipe from Cooking Light:
Sweet and salty peanut chocolate chunk cookies

Ice cream sandwiches

We made ice cream sandwiches this weekend for ourselves and some guests and I remembered how fun and easy they are to make and eat. Such a simple dessert when you have most of the ingredients on hand with no cooking, baking, chopping, or measuring necessary.
This is how we made ours:

Mint chocolate sandwiches
Mint chip ice cream
Mini chocolate chips
Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers

Let ice cream soften just a bit, scoop it onto a wafer, sandwich it closed with another, roll in mini chips. Freeze.

Chocolate banana nut sandwiches
Vanilla ice cream
Diced bananas
Chopped lightly salted peanuts (I used an electric chopper, so I don't count that as tedious or laborious chopping)
Nabisco wafers

Let ice cream soften a bit, mix in bananas, sandwich it between wafers, roll in chopped nuts. Freeze.

Now, for really good ice cream sandwiches, I would make my own ice cream and cookies, but when you don't think ahead, these do the trick.

(My daughter wanted to pose with the cookies, so that's the result of her little photo shoot, above).

4th of July cookie-cake

I've never made one of those flag cakes for the 4th. For some reason, I've always strayed from the most obvious holiday fare. Well, pictorial fare, at least. I'm pretty predictable, otherwise. This year, since the kids are old enough to recognize our country's flag, I thought it was time we finally make one. We tried the cookie version.
If you're familiar with fruit pizza, you'll know exactly how to do this. If not, here is the recipe for the pizza and flag.

Fruit Pizza
1 roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough
(or 1 lb. homemade sugar cookie dough)
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 c powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 pint strawberries, sliced
2 kiwi, sliced
2 bananas, sliced
1/2 c blueberries
or any desired mix of fruit

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Roll cookie out to fit pizza pan (about 12").
Bake cookie dough approximately 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow crust to cool.
Blend cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla together until smooth. Spread on top of cookie crust.
Arrange sliced fruit on top of filling.
Slice and serve.
Refrigerate leftovers.

Alternate filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 jar marshmallow creme (about 7 oz.)

Beat until smooth.
Great as a fruit dip; one of my favorites.

American Flag Cookie
same cookie crust
same filling (I used the fruit dip filling)
1 1/2 pints blueberries
2-6 oz. boxes of raspberries
2 bananas, sliced
1/2 lb. strawberries, sliced
some cherries, pitted and halved
some mini marshmallows
(Keep in mind, much of the fruit was consumed during assembly. If you're not planning on eating it, you could prepare a smaller amount).

Roll crust out into rectangle approx. 10x14 (I did not measure mine, but it was bigger than a casserole) on top of parchment. Lift parchment and place parchment and rolled dough in a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan.
Bake and cool as above.
Blend filling and spread over cookie.
Arrange blueberries in top left corner, optional marshmallows as stars. Arrange red fruits into stripes alternating with banana and marshmallow (white) stripes. We were short a couple stripes, but who's counting?

This is super simple and fun for kids to make and eat. I like it pretty well, myself.

Molasses Sandwich Cookies

So this week's cookie was the Molasses Sandwich Cookie from Everyday Food. I'm a big molasses cookie fan (see this post), but as I've mentioned before, I'm so stuck on one recipe that I never branch out to try others. Now that I'm kind of on sandwich (or iced) cookie kick, I thought these would be an acceptable way to branch out.
I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, as the recipe doesn't say anything about finished texture (cakey, crispy, chewy), but from the original picture, I thought they would be on the soft and chewy side, bordering on cakey. These were flat and crisp. A fine cookie, but not what I had in mind. The filling is so sweet and buttery, it was almost a little much for me. I wonder how a little cream cheese would affect/cut the overall sweetness.
I definitely would argue that they are much better once refrigerated. The cookie is so crisp in contradiction to the silky, smooth filling that one bite sends the filling squirting out the sides of the cookie. When refrigerated, the filling has a chance to firm up to a consistency that is a good match for the cookie. No squirting.
The overall flavor of the cookie was quite good. Like I said, I do like molasses. Mine may have had an even sharper molasses flavor than the original recipe since I used regular vs. light molasses. We managed to eat them without a problem.

If you're into cookies, here's a more comprehensive list of other recipes I've posted:
Caramel-Frosted Brown Sugar Drops
Fantastic Fudgewiches
Lemon Sugar Cookies
Mini Icebox Cookies
Graham Crackers
Cashew-Caramel Cookies
Molasses Cookies
Almond Fortune Cookies
White Chocolate Rice Krispies Cookies with Candied Peanuts
Rice Krispies Cookies (Scotcharoos)
No Bake Cookies
Chewy Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
Play-Doh Cookies

Hmm...I think I need to alter my categories to include "Cookies." I've been meaning to reorganize them anyway.
Happy baking!

Rainy days and Mondays=Cookies

I've noticed a theme here. For the last several Mondays, I've posted on food. Mainly, cookies, actually. Nothing wrong with that, right? We are so busy on Monday mornings that it just fits our schedule to have a food activity in the afternoon, I think. And when it's raining, what else is so homey?
Today's cookie is the Caramel-Frosted Brown Sugar Drop from Nancy Baggett's The All-American Cookie Book. Same one I baked from last week. The cookie alone is pretty good. Cakey with a pretty subtle flavor. Add the icing and pecans and it's a great combination of soft, chewy, and sweet with a bit of nutty crunch. Quite good. I'd like to say they're packaged and ready to be delivered to some meeting and shared with friends, but that's not the case. Hmm. Maybe Mondays should be veggie days.
You should be able to see the recipe here on Google Book Search.

Fantastic Fudgewiches

I made these yummy chocolate cookies yesterday. Cookies of any variety are a treat, but there's something special about sandwich cookies, don't you think? These cookies were not difficult to make and seemed even more manageable when only working with part of the dough. It keeps in the fridge, so you can make part of the recipe one day and the rest the next, if you'd like. I'm not a big fan of recipes that are so sensitive you have to bake all the dough at once. Too time-consuming.
Get your chocolate fix with these Fantastic Fudgewiches from Nancy Baggett's The All-American Cookie Book.
(I got my copy of the recipe from the book, but I found it reprinted online here and copied it for you below).

FANTASTIC FUDGEWICHES

MAKES 20 TO 25 COOKIES

It's best not to make the cookies too large, as two wafers and an ample amount of filling yield a generous serving. For convenience, the fudge may be made ahead and reheated when needed to fill the sandwiches. From "The All-American Cookie Book," by Nancy Baggett (Houghton-Mifflin, 2001)

WAFERS:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted after measuring, if lumpy

1 teaspoon baking powder

2/3 cup (1 stick plus 2 2/3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, slightly softened

2 tablespoons flavorless vegetable oil

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt

QUICK FUDGE:

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels

1 1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, broken up or coarsely chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, slightly softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

About 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, optional

WAFERS:

In a large bowl, thoroughly stir the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder; set aside. In another large bowl, with an electric mixer on low then medium speed, beat together the butter, oil and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla and salt, and beat until well blended and smooth. Beat or stir in the flour mixture until evenly incorporated.

Divide the dough in half. Place each portion between large sheets of wax paper. Roll out each portion 1/8-inch thick; check the underside of the dough and smooth out any wrinkles that form. Stack the rolled portions (paper still attached) on a baking sheet. Refrigerate for 45 minutes, or until chilled and firm but not hard, or freeze for about 20 minutes to speed chilling. (If desired, the dough may be held for up to 24 hours; let warm up slightly before using.)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease several baking sheets or coat with nonstick spray.

Working with one portion at a time and leaving the remaining dough chilled, gently peel away, then pat 1 sheet of wax paper back into place. Flip the dough over, then peel off and discard the second sheet.

Using a 2-inch round or square cutter, cut out the cookies. If desired, using a mini cutter, the larger end of a pastry piping tip or a thimble, cut away a small hole from the center of half the cookies. (If at any point the dough softens too much to handle easily, transfer the paper and cookies to a baking sheet and refrigerate or freeze until firm again.)

Using a spatula, carefully transfer the cookies to the baking sheets, spacing about 1 1/2 inches apart. Place the solid rounds on one sheet and the rounds with the holes on another. Re-roll any dough scraps. Continue cutting out cookies until all the dough is used.

Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, in the upper third of oven to 6-9 minutes, or until almost firm when pressed in centers; cutaways will bake faster. Reverse the sheet from front to back halfway through cooking.

Transfer sheet to a wire rack and let stand until the cookies firm up slightly. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

FUDGE:

In a 1-quart or similar saucepan, stir the condensed milk, chocolate morsels, unsweetened chocolate and butter over medium-low heat. Heat, stirring constantly, until the chocolates melt and the mixture is smooth; be careful not to burn. Immediately remove from heat. Stir in vanilla, let cool until thickened just enough to spread.

Spread the fudge about 1/3-inch thick on the underside of each cookie bottom. (If the fudge stiffens while you work, reheat over low heat, stirring constantly.)

Center the tops over the bottoms and press down lightly. Lightly dust tops with cocoa powder if desired.

Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Wafers can be frozen for up to 1 month but should not be filled and sandwiched together until shortly before serving.

How about an orange birthday

Last night I had the privilege of celebrating a birthday with some dear friends, delicious cake, cookies and sorbet. If you're a reader of crafty blogs, you may have a good idea whose birthday it was. With all that orangey goodness, it could only be the lovely Jessica Jones of How About Orange.... I'm so grateful for Jess and the other wonderful women I call my friends!

The yummies pictured above are:
A chocolate and orange cake made by Jamie, our adventurous baker. She recently made this cake by Bakerella and after good reviews decided to try it again, but revamped specifically for Jess. Tasty.
Orange-iced graham crackers made by me. I'm liking using these in place of sugar cookies, as we also did here.
Blood orange sorbet by Ciao Bella brought by Michelle. I'm not typically a sorbet fan, but this was delicious. Much more like a fruity granita in flavor, but sorbet-like in texture, if that makes any sense. And she got it at Dominick's (Safeway)!

Two birthday celebrations for us in one week. I love it!
Happy Birthday, Jess.

Lemon Sugar Cookies

Well, I've got another recipe for you. It seems that when I'm not coming up with any new crafty projects, I'm baking.
I first made these a few years ago and really liked them. Last week I made them for a get together and they were well received again. I like them the way the are-with their sugary, crispy exterior and lemony, chewy middle-but I bet you could vary them by not rolling them in sugar and drizzling on a lemony powdered sugar glaze instead.
This recipe comes from Cook's Illustrated and was included in their cookbook The Best Light Recipe.

Lemon Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

3/4	cup unbleached all-purpose flour (3 3/4 ounces)
1/2	cup plain cake flour (2 ounces)
1/2	teaspoon baking powder
1/4	teaspoon table salt
5	tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
1 1/3	cups granulated sugar ( 9 1/3 ounces), divided
1	large egg , lightly beaten
3	teaspoons grated lemon zest , divided
1	tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. 1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. 2. Whisk the flours, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and 1 cup of the sugar together at medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the egg, 2 teaspoons lemon zest, and vanilla and continue to beat at low speed until just combined, 30 to 60 seconds, scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the flour mixture and continue to beat at low speed until just combined, 30 to 60 seconds, scraping down the bowl as needed.

3. 3. Process the remaining 1/3 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest in a food processor until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Place the lemon sugar in a shallow bowl. Working with a level tablespoon of dough each time, roll the dough into 1-inch balls. (If the dough is too soft to roll, refrigerate it until firm.) Carefully roll the balls in the sugar and place them on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 1/2 inches apart (you will fit 12 cookies on each baking sheet).

4. 4. Bake the cookies, one tray at a time, until the edges are light golden and the centers are just set, 9 to 11 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through baking (do not overbake). Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then serve warm, or transfer to a wrire rack and cool completely. Bake the second tray while the first tray cools.

Mini Icebox cookies

I noticed multiple posts about old-fashioned icebox cookies and cakes recently, just as I was preparing some for a friend's baby shower. I'm always surprised when that happens even though it seems to happen often.
Today I have a post up at Blissful Kids on making miniature icebox cookies. Perfect for a child's Valentine party, or if too late for that, for you and your family to enjoy over the weekend.
Happy Valentine's Day!

Obama grahams

I have to confess, I think every celebration is enhanced with cookies. Or, rather, when I want to celebrate something but can't think of a good way to do so, cookies are an easy answer.

I watched a bit of the Inauguration coverage yesterday and explained to the kids about the new president taking office. I thought I should probably do something to make the occasion more memorable for them while educating them at the same time.
I'm not very educationally-brained, but I am cookie-brained. So today I mixed up a batch of graham crackers (throw in a bit of whole wheat while we're educating) and we started making Obama cookies. I decided to cut out the center, I don't know why, but the kids liked the hole in the middle so we went with it. Less icing that way. I wasn't too careful about mixing or applying the icing, so I ended up with something less than my ideal, but that tends to happen with small children hanging on to your legs while you're working.
Tomorrow they get to cut and decorate the second half of the batch.
I have to say, I was pleased when my husband came home and my daughter explained about the cookies representing the new president starting his job.


Oh, and before you go thinking I'm original here (like I tend to do before realizing the rest of the world has already done the same thing I'm doing) check out this Flickr pool of over 200 Obama cookies and cupcakes. (I did happen to find these after I'd made our cookies).

Unrelated: I haven't been here in a while due to preparing for, traveling to, and participating in my sister's wedding. I hope to be more regular here now that we're home, but things are always more chaotic than I anticipate. I'll be here when I can and I thank you for stopping by!

Homemade graham crackers

Finally! Another cookie in my cookie-a-week series. I will be playing catch-up since I've lost time to holiday travel and computer breakdown. Unfortunately, I can't do all of my catching up right now as our computer is still broken. That means, cookie-a-week becomes more like three or four cookies in one week. As long as we have cookies, right?
Today's cookie: the homemade graham cracker. Yum! I had never made these before and now wonder why. These are simple, tasty, and versatile.
We used the recipe from Carole Walter's Great Cookies. I think. Shoot. I'm not at home and can't see it. It was a photocopy. I'll change this later, if I find I'm wrong. I hate to reprint the recipe, but can offer you two I found online. Here at 101 Cookbooks and this one at Baking Bites.
We cut ours in squares and coated half of them with chocolate, but you have a lot of options on how to eat these. You could draw lines down the middle to imitate store bought crackers, you could frost them, sandwich them, add peanut butter, etc. And really, delicious no matter which way you go.
Since I have access to these pictures, I'm going all out with a photo journal of our graham cracker making. See below for an updated 2008 Holiday Cookie list.

My holiday cookies, 2008:
#1 Molasses
#2 Cashew-Caramel
#3 Homemade Graham Crackers
To come....chocolate!!

Cashew-Caramel Cookies

This is not an everyday cookie. I first made these a couple years ago and am just making them again. Not that they aren't delicious, because they are. Buying a couple jars of cashews and a bag of caramels, though, is a little much. I put this in the holiday splurge cookie category.
These are made with cashew butter (ground yourself in the food processor) and chopped cashews. How often do you have that in a cookie? Probably not often, which is something I like about these. It's nice to have an out-of-the-ordinary cookie for holiday parties and gifts.
The recipe for these Cashew-Caramel Cookies is here at Martha Stewart.

Notes: The caramel topping is a little tricky. The recipe suggests drizzling with a spoon and pictures a beautiful little zigzag pattern, but we (my children and I) found it difficult to drizzle. We opted for dropping a blob in the center and spreading it a little. Also, the caramel remains sticky so you can't layer these cookies. They are delicious without the caramel, but it is a nice touch and may be a shame to not at least try it.
The recipe is a little fussy in that you are supposed to remove the cookie sheet halfway through baking to press the cookies with a spatula then return for the remainder of the bake time. I'm lazy when it comes to turning pans and foods over during cooking, but if you're in the kitchen anyway, I suppose it's not that big of a deal.
Enjoy!

My holiday cookies, 2008:
#1 Molasses
#2 Cashew-Caramel

Colorful Play-doh cookies at Blissful Kids

If you missed the brightly colored play-doh-like cookies we made last year, then see them here at Blissful Kids. I was thinking we may try these with holiday specific colors this season. Maybe add the lollipop or popsicle sticks for the kiddos. These are a lot fun to make and kids love the unusual cookie colors. Try them!

My favorite molasses cookies

Alternately titled: Why I like taking pictures while my children are occupied.
I love molasses cookies. I have loved these particular molasses cookies as long as I can remember. My mom started making these for us from her Betty Crocker's New Dinner for Two Cookbook in the early 70s and we've been enjoying them as a family ever since.
I love trying out new cookie recipes and have previously tested a number of them in search of my favorite variety of chocolate chip or snickerdoodle or some other. But with molasses, I'm stuck. No matter how many other recipes I see claiming to be the best, I can never bring myself to make any but these. Truly. I agree there must be other fine recipes for molasses cookies out there and I would like to try them someday, but I think someone else will have to make them for me.
Find the recipe for yourself here.

Tips: You can substitute oil for the shortening and still have a wonderful cookie.
This is a simple to follow recipe and one that kids could easily help with. They'll particularly enjoy the rolling and dipping.
Also, if you want to hear one of my oddities: Almost every time I eat one of these cookies, I take a bite, squish it in my mouth and suck on it. I don't do this with any other cookie. I know, it's weird. But it's like some kind of molasses cookie nectar comes out and makes me love it even more.

P.S. I'm thinking of sharing a cookie a week up til Christmas. Anyone else like cookies??

Chinese Moon Festival

Sunday marked the Chinese holiday of Mid-Autumn. This is traditionally celebrated in China, and Chinatowns around the world, through the Mid-Autumn Festival. (Also apparently referred to as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, depending on where you look or with whom you speak). I found it timely that we happened to be studying China this week with our homeschool co-op and took the opportunity to make mooncakes, fortune cookies, and learn a bit about the Festival along with the culture.
I'm not intending a lecture here, but thought I'd share a few basic internet resources (for someone like me who doesn't want to take 3 small kids to the library to participate in group research):
A basic explanation of the Mid-Autumn Festival with links to related articles.
General info on China. Includes population, capital city, history, geography, travel and shopping tips, culture, and how to say "that tickles," in case you end up getting a massage while visiting China.
Super simplified recipe for mooncakes. These look nothing like mooncakes, really, but can be made quickly with pantry ingredients (I don't keep lotus bean paste around here). Preschoolers probably won't be concerned about the cookie's authenticity.
Really tasty sounding mooncake recipe. (I have made other dishes by Nina Simonds with success.)
Great read-aloud Chinese folktale: Tikki Tikki Tembo.
Colorful rhyming book of shapes and Chinese culture: Round is a Mooncake.
Almond fortune cookie recipe (pictured above).

To make fortune cookies a fun and educational experience, insert a combination of messages like the silly and sweet ones pictured below and these informational (and possibly interactive) ones:
1.2 billion people live in China.
Ni hao! Hello!
Let's build a Great Wall. (Easy to do with pillows, beanbags, cardboard boxes, etc. on the floor).
Beijing is the capital city of China.

Rice Krispies cookies redux

I've already written about my favorite version of the Rice Krispies cookie. It happens to be called a Scotcharoo by Kellogg's, which I didn't realize when posting. I was still harboring the dream that maybe it was an old family recipe. I know I've posted other recipes, as well, for sweet and satisfying foods that would fall into the same "traditional" and "easy" categories as the all-American Rice Krispies cookie. Despite my love for these treats, I've only been able to confidently post these recipes after recently realizing that, much like sleeping in, vacationing, or listening to my own music, cooking more complex dishes is an activity that will come and go through the varied phases of my life. At one time, I loved cooking new foods and baking semi-complicated desserts, just as I loved staying in my warm bed past 6 or 7am. It's been hard for me to see that beyond the years of beans, mashed potatoes, spaghetti, and eating to survive will come years of cooking and eating for survival and pleasure. Now that I've realized this, I can declare that until that day comes, I'm going to continue sharing and enjoying the very basic, but satisfying, foods we eat around here.
Wow, that was a strangely long introduction to this cookie. Another version of the Rice Krispies cookie. Even though I now openly revel in the joy of this simple treat, it helps that a published cookbook author living and cooking in Paris shared his love for these with the world.
Here is David Lebovitz's White Chocolate Rice Krispies Cookie with Candied Peanuts. I'm not writing it out because I think you should read his post and his accompanying recipe for the peanuts.
I will tell you that they are a great take on a classic.
Here are my notes on making the candied nuts:
It may seem like the sugar will never carmelize, but that doesn't mean you have time to run in the other room and check your e-mail. This can result in a batch of stinking, brown nuts.
However, if you do decide to check your e-mail, this will give you an excuse for eating the nuts as you prepare the cookies. (It does make a cup more than what is called for in the cookie recipe).
Enjoy!

Photo via David Lebovitz.

Rice Krispies Cookies

Peanut butter-chocolate chewiness. This Rice Krispies Cookie was really my family's favorite variety of no-bake cookie. This was also the only variety of Rice Krispies cookie we ever made at home. Never once made the marshmallowy kind that I recall. These are great for summer since the cooking time is brief and you don't have to turn on the oven.
Here's the recipe:

1 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup
Combine in large pot and heat until just beginning to boil. (Really, just as you detect a simmer. Cooking too long makes them hard and way too chewy). Remove from heat and add:
1 cup peanut butter
4-5 cups Rice Krispies cereal (I like about 4 1/2 cups)
Stir gently to combine. Spread into 9x13 pan.
Melt and stir:
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
Spread over Rice Krispies mixture. Cool at room temp or in refrigerator. Yum.

Speaking of bar cookies, this is a favorite little tool of mine. A tiny spatula, just right for lifting bar cookies and brownies and such out of the pan. (I use this way too much.)

No-Bake, No Good?

I love a bit of nostalgia. Although, by definition, it's a bittersweet feeling, and I've never really thought of it that way. I find it's usually happy and comforting. Like the No-Bake Cookie. For me, No-Bake Cookies mean melt-in-your-mouth chocolatey sugar and grade school classroom parties. Someone always brought them, right? (Maybe the bitter part of this nostalgia is being homesick for the no-big-worry lifestyle of a 3rd grader?) I remember really liking these cookies, but only eating them at parties or other peoples' houses.
When discussing this memory with my sister (after our world-affairs conversation, of course), I realized that for years we both harbored the same snooty secret about No-Bake Cookies. Since they are called No-Bake Cookies and our mom doesn't make them, they must be beneath us (at least when it comes to making them, but not necessarily when it comes to eating them). So, I never made this cookie until I married a man who liked them and came with his own hand-me-down recipe for them. (His recipe calls them Boiled Cookies, however, which for me conjures up really unappetizing images, so I stick to proclaiming what sounds like cookie 2nd-rated-ness with the title "No-Bake.")
Years later, I admit to having an appreciation for this cookie. It may be one of the fastest-making cookies ever, providing close to instant gratification. It has a fun sense of nostalgia. And it still has that distinct yumminess of chocolate-sugar. I do still wonder if it qualifies as a real cookie (are pastry chefs making these at home or sending them to school with their kids?), but feel more confident making them with my ever-so-slightly more healthy and contemporary ingredients: rolled oats and dark chocolate. That kicks things up a notch, right?
Anyway, I'm not ashamed to say I like them and I make them and, on top of that, I'm sharing the recipe.
(I apologize for my food-snobbery, which is completely unwarranted considering I have a very non-particular and undiscerning palate. Who knows where it comes from?)
Enjoy! And party like a 3rd-grader.

No-Bake Cookies
2 c sugar
1 stick margarine or butter
3 level Tbsp cocoa
1/2 c milk
3 Tbsp peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
3/4 c coconut
2 c quick oats
3/4 c chopped pecans (optional)

Get all ingredients and wax paper ready before beginning.
Melt butter in large skillet. Take off heat and add sugar, cocoa, and milk. Return to medium heat, stirring constantly. When it reaches a full rolling boil, cook and stir for 1 and 1/2 minutes (do not overcook). Turn off heat. Add all at once-peanut butter, coconut, pecans, and oats. Mix thoroughly, making sure peanut butter is blended in. Spoon onto wax paper. Should firm up in 20-30 minutes.