Dessert

OATMEAL CHERRY COOKIES

December 19, 2019 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

We are in full cookie exchange season and I am loving it! This week I participated in an exchange at work and we ended up with seven varieties of cookies (and recipes). SEVEN!!! It had been several years since I last participated in a cookie exchange and I had kind of forgotten how great it is. I love seeing what people bring in and the stories behind the recipes. This is such a great way of using food to create community. With each story that is told about a recipe, we get to know each other a little bit better.

I am a huge fan of any category of dessert – cakes, pastries, tarts, etc. But let’s be real here, cookies are awesome for several reasons. They are typically easy to make. Most recipes make at least a couple dozen cookies which means you have more to share. If you aren’t needing a few dozen cookies to share, you can always freeze them for later. Actually, you can freeze the dough into individual cookie dough balls and then bake them when the craving strikes. OR, you can bake them all from the get go and just thaw them out when you’re ready for a treat. Cookies really do have a flexibility that most other desserts just don’t have.

For this year’s cookie exchange, I reached into my grandmother’s recipe box. To be fair, I chose this Oatmeal Cherry Cookie recipe partly because I already had all but one ingredient in the house and partly because it sounded like a fun twist on the more traditional oatmeal cookie. The maraschino cherries add a different sweetness than the raisins you would typically find in an oatmeal cookie but they also give a festive pop of color. These cookies are a bit smaller than what most recipes seem to make but I actually really love the size. It gives you that sweet treat that you’re looking for without over indulging. This recipe is also perfect for a cookie exchange because it makes FIVE dozen cookies. That’s right, no need to double the recipe. You’ll get five dozen little cookies out of the recipe as it is. You’re welcome.

Print Recipe

OATMEAL CHERRY COOKIES

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Oatmeal Cherry Cookies, Oatmeal Cookies

Servings: 5 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup red maraschino cherries, chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda and cloves. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat shortening, sugars, egg, and vanilla extract.
Stir dry ingredients into sugar mixture.
Stir in oats and cherries.
Drop dough by the teaspoonfuls, two inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake 12-14 minutes.

Notes

Tip: Wear food safe gloves when chopping the cherries so the food dye doesn’t stain your hands.

*Original recipe source unknown. Recipe has been modified from this version for the purpose of this blog.*

If you enjoyed this recipe, you might also like:

Peanut Butter Cut-Out Cookies

Soft Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies

Potato Chip Cookies

Lemon Iced Ginger Cookies

Vegan Shortbread Cookies with Dark Chocolate Drizzle

Stir-N-Drop Sugar Cookies

ORANGE SPICED MONKEY BREAD

December 15, 2019 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

Before we ever met, my husband and I each had a family tradition of making Monkey Bread during the holidays. One year we even had a bake off with the two family recipes. I can’t recall who the judges were but I sadly didn’t win that competition. We had a lot of fun but, if I’m honest, we also had way too much monkey bread for two people to finish off.

A couple of weeks ago we lost my oldest brother in a car accident. There is a void in the family. I loved baking with my brother, Ron. We didn’t see each other often but when we did, activities often revolved around food. He was the bread master of the family and would make delicious loaf breads and bagels. My absolute favorite of his? Orange rolls. Nothing can compare to his orange rolls.

Let me just admit right here that breads are not my specialty. As much as I love baking, I can screw up bread with the best of them. In other words, replicating those orange rolls on my own is not a very realistic goal. To honor Ron’s baking legacy, and still keep things really easy, I’ve mashed up the family tradition of monkey bread with the flavors of his orange rolls. This orange spiced monkey bread is much lighter in flavor than the traditional version. It is bright and sweet and a perfect dish for sharing with family as a dessert or a breakfast option.

Print Recipe

ORANGE SPICED MONKEY BREAD

Citrus and spices give this monkey bread a bright twist to the classic monkey bread.

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Monkey Bread, Orange Monkey Bread, Orange Spiced Monkey Bread

Author: Sarah Baade

Equipment

12 cup Bundt Pan

Ingredients

For the Monkey Bread

1 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
2 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
2 Tablespoons orange zest
2 packages 8-count canned flaky biscuits
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

For the Glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon orange zest

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 12cup sized bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, ground ginger, ground nutmeg and orange zest. Set aside. Cut each biscuit into quarters. Dip each piece of biscuit into melted butter then coat with the sugar mixture. Arrange coated biscuit pieces evenly in the bundt pan.
If you have any remaining melted butter and sugar mixture, stir them together and pour over arranged biscuit pieces. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until cooked through.
Let cool 5-10 minutes then turn over onto a serving plate.
For the glaze, stir together powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract and orange zest. Drizzle over monkey bread and serve warm.

PUMPKIN BREAD

November 5, 2019 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

There are days when I want to challenge myself in the kitchen. Then, there are days when I just want something easy to make. I’ve been spending a lot of time baking challenging desserts lately. It gives me a great sense of pride to accomplish a recipe from my baking bucket list but it can also take a great deal of time and energy. Life is about balance though and I am thankful for easy recipes! These are my go-to when I want something homemade with limited effort. These are also the recipes that are great for passing along to friends.

When I create recipes, I want them to be achievable, not stressful. My goal is for even a beginner baker to be able to have a successful outcome. Something easy to make that is beautiful on its own and tastes amazing. Quick breads are exactly that. Now that we’re in November, I’m hitting up this pumpkin bread recipe on the regular. It is such a hit with friends and a perfect addition to any get together. Flavorful, moist and easy to make. I’m sure you’ll fall in love with this beautiful pumpkin bread.

Print Recipe

PUMPKIN BREAD

Flavorful, moist and easy to make – I’m sure you’ll fall in love with this beautiful pumpkin bread.

Course: Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Pumpkin, Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Loaf, Pumpkin Spice

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk
1 Tablespoon unsalted pepitas (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F and line a 9×5 loaf pan with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, spices, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar together. Mix in pumpkin puree then add in eggs and vanilla.
Stir in half of the dry ingredients. Add milk and stir to combine. Stir in remaining dry ingredients.
Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and top with pepitas. Bake 55-60 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

Notes

In a pinch, you can sub the brown sugar for white sugar. The brown sugar brings out the flavors of the spices a bit more but you’ll get a taller rise from the bread with white sugar.
You can butter and flour your loaf pans if you don’t have parchment paper.

MY FAVORITE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

August 14, 2019 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

I promise I’ve been trying to focus on healthy recipes. In fact, I have a few waiting in the wings for the blog. However, sometimes I get distracted by sweets. Let me be honest here, chocolate chip cookies are typically not my jam. I mean, I’ll still eat one if that’s what’s available – let’s be reasonable, there’s still chocolate involved. But if I have other options, I will pick almost any other cookie on any given day. Maybe I’ve just had too many super plain tasting chocolate chip cookies in my day? I know you know what I’m talking about. Something mass produced for a cafeteria. Something lacking flavor and or quality chocolate.

Given my history with this all-American cookie, it is a wonder I was craving them the other night. I saw a friend post some chocolate chip cookies in her Instagram stories and I just couldn’t get them out of my head. So, I did it. I made some cookies from scratch and THANKFULLY wrote the recipe down as I created it. My cookie loving world has been forever changed! I’m going to make a big statement here and people will might try to argue with me (I’ll be respectful of your opinions if you’ll respect mine). These cookies turned out to be the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had. I know you love your grandma’s recipe but I feel like that is only because you haven’t tried these yet. Bonus? They are still simple to make!!! Be sure to eat one (or four) while they’re still warm from the oven. You can thank me later.

Tips

The toffee bits add a beautiful sweetness that is different from the chocolate chips. However, if you’re serving these to friends who have a nut allergy, please leave them out.
Quality ingredients do make a difference in the cookie, especially when it comes to the chocolate. This recipe is the perfect reason to splurge a little and get the more expensive chocolate chips.

Chocolate chip cookies with a glass of milk.

Print Recipe

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

Slightly crisp outside, slightly chewy inside. A perfectly balanced chocolate chip cookie.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 18 cookies

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup toffee bits

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking soda.
In a separate large bowl, beat butter with granulated sugar and brown sugar.
Mix eggs and vanilla into butter mixture.
Gradually stir in flour mixture until all ingredients are fully combined.
Stir in chocolate chips and toffee.
Scoop cookie dough into golf ball sized balls and place onto parchment lined baking sheet. Leave 2 ½ inches between cookies. Bake 15 to 17 minutes or until edges start to turn golden brown. Remove cookie sheet from oven and transfer the cookies from the parchment to cooling racks.

While these are certainly my favorite chocolate chip cookie, I understand that people have strong preferences when it comes to such a classic cookie. If you prefer soft batch, I’ve got you covered. You can check out my soft batch chocolate chip cookies here.

BLACKBERRY CHEESECAKE NO CHURN ICE CREAM

July 14, 2019 by Sarah Baade 5 Comments

I have lived in several states during my adult life – Kansas, Missouri, New York, Colorado, California, Texas. Most places I’ve lived were simply because I felt like moving and exploring a new city/state. However, my journey to Western New York is a little different. Deciding to pursue a degree in Audiology required me to look outside of my home state of Kansas. At the time, there were no doctoral programs in Kansas – that has changed since then. As I was filling out grad school applications, I was initially drawn to places with a nice climate or places where I already had friends. I had a huge stack of applications and most of them were not distinct from one another. However, I vividly recall grabbing the application to SUNY at Buffalo and thinking “Why would I want to live there?” as I tossed it into the garbage. I was getting burned out on completing applications and I had senioritis in a bad way. At some point, I realized that I should probably apply to just one more school – acceptance into specialty programs can be competitive and there are no guarantees. So, I browsed online and discovered SUNY at Buffalo had an incredibly easy online application. I filled it out and didn’t really think twice about it because I had full intention of attending one of the other schools on my list. I think we can all see where this is heading, right? Each school I applied to had a unique situation as to why I ended up not going there. I’ll spare you those details but yes, I ultimately ended up moving to Buffalo and completing my degree there.

I spent a total of six years in Buffalo and surrounding towns. There were ups and there were so many more downs. To be honest, I have a hard time looking back and seeing the high points but I know there were some good times had in the midst of it all. One thing that I do recall fondly, though, is the food. Buffalo wings, anyone?!?! But also, the pizza and sub sandwiches. And even better? Perry’s ice cream. Now living in Texas, Blue Bell is the go-to option in the stores. However, I’m convinced it is only because Perry’s is not available here. (Sorry, Blue Bell.) My all-time favorite flavor was blackberry cheesecake. It was only available occasionally, and only at the local ice cream stands. It was never available in the stores. But man, oh man, this was THE flavor for me! I haven’t found it in any other brand since then. Naturally, the next best thing was to create my own version. My friend, Nicolas, from Blogtastic Food challenged me to create a new no churn ice cream and I knew exactly what I wanted to make. I truly hope this no churn blackberry cheesecake ice cream gives you the same joy I experienced when I had the original from Perry’s back in the day.

Tips:

Be sure to cool the berry mixture before adding it into the whipped cream mixture so that it doesn’t melt the whipped cream.
Don’t sub out the homemade whipped cream for the premade stuff. There is a difference in texture and sweetness.

Print Recipe

Blackberry Cheesecake No Churn Ice Cream

No Churn ice cream is easy to make – no ice cream maker needed. This blackberry cheese cake ice cream is the new favorite in our house.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Blackberry, Blackberry Cheesecake No Churn Ice Cream, Blackberry Ice Cream, Cheesecake, Cheesecake Ice Cream, Dessert, Easy Recipe, Ice Cream, No Churn, No Churn Ice Cream

Author: Sarah Baade

Ingredients

12 oz fresh blackberries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 oz cream cheese
16 oz heavy cream
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
1 9" premade graham cracker pie crust

Instructions

Stir blackberries in a medium pan over low heat until berries start to break down.
Stir in vanilla extract and cream cheese until cream cheese is melted and mostly incorporated with berries.
Remove berry mixture from heat and let cool to room temperature.
In a large, chilled bowl, beat heavy cream until soft peaks form.
Mix sweetened condensed milk into heavy cream until fully incorporated.
Add berry mixture into cream mixture and stir until fully incorporated.
Gently stir in entire graham cracker crust – do not fully incorporate the crust – chunks are fine here.
Pour ice cream mixture into a 9×5 loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for a minimum of 6 hours, preferably overnight.

More No churn Ice Cream Recipes

This recipe was developed as part of a collaboration with several other talented food bloggers. I am including the links to their recipes for you to try out as well.

Baileys & Salted Caramel No Churn Ice Cream by Nicolas at Blogtastic Food
Matcha Green Tea No Churn Ice Cream by Julia at Julia Recipes
Turmeric Ginger Honey No Churn Ice Cream by Loretto and Nicolleta at SugarLoveSpices
Churro S’mores No Churn Ice Cream by Jen at Real Food Happy Home
No Churn Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream by Christine at The Rustic Foodie
Coconut Ice Cream with Spiced Chocolate Sauce by Rachel at Plant Craft
Cherry Chocolate chip Nice Cream by Leanne at Crumb Top Baking
No Churn Chocolate Brownie Ice Cream by Marie at Sugar Salt Magic

Bonus Recipe

You can also check out my own No Churn Chocolate Chunk Coffee Ice Cream here.

KEY LIME SUGAR COOKIES

June 2, 2019 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

I used to make sugar cookies on the regular. I would do thick, soft, cut-out style cookies and then spend hours decorating them. If I’m honest, I made them in order to escape life’s stress. I was in a miserable, unhealthy relationship. Staying focused on the baking and decorating kept my mind at peace. I felt like I was in a situation that I couldn’t escape physically so I would do so mentally. Some people exercise to escape stress, some people turn to drugs or alcohol… I turned to baking. I did ultimately end that toxic relationship, got therapy and moved on to much happier times. It would be easy to resent those years but that would only keep me locked into the misery. Instead, I think of it as one of the most important life lessons I’ve ever had. I wouldn’t be in the incredible marriage I’m in today if I hadn’t experienced my past. I probably wouldn’t be as thankful as I am for the healthy, loving and supportive relationship I have with my husband.

My love for sugar cookies is still strong but I don’t spend hours baking and decorating unless I’m motivated to do so out of joy. “Escape baking” is a thing of my past. Instead, I choose easier, less time-consuming recipes to satisfy a sugar cookie craving. With summer comes bright citrus – lemon and lime season. When I was looking to make some sugar cookies, I saw key limes sitting on my counter and knew I need to incorporate them. This recipe is easy to make, you don’t even need to chill the dough. Perfect for when you don’t want to wait all day to have a homemade cookie.

Tips:

If you can’t find key limes, go ahead and use regular limes or you could even swap out for lemon if you prefer.
I made the icing somewhat thick so I could manipulate it on the cookies. If you prefer a lighter icing, reduce the amount of powdered sugar.

Print Recipe

Key Lime Sugar Cookies

A vibrant take on a classic cookie.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Cookies, Dessert, Easy Cookies, Easy Recipe, Homemade Cookies, Key Lime, Key Lime Cookies, Key Lime Dessert, Lime

Servings: 30 cookies

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons key lime zest
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the icing

2 Tablespoons fresh key lime juice
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda then set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and lime zest until light in color. Add in egg, vanilla and salt and beat to combine. Gradually add in flour mixture, stopping to scrape the bowl periodically.
Roll cookie dough into 1” balls then place on parchment covered cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches between cookies.
Bake 15-17 minutes or until edges are slightly golden. Let cookies cool completely before adding icing.

For the icing

For the icing: pour lime juice into a small bowl. Gradually whisk powdered into lime juice until fully incorporated and smooth (no lumps). Spoon icing onto cookies as desired.

PEANUT BUTTER CUT-OUT COOKIES

February 9, 2019 by Sarah Baade 3 Comments

In high school I was known for being the girl who was nice to everyone. Not a bad thing to be known for but that doesn’t necessarily make a girl particularly popular. Most people knew who I was and which activities I was involved in. I had a solid couple of groups of friends but I certainly wasn’t getting invited to any big parties on the weekends. In fact, the one time did attend a party with the popular kids, I found the scene to be boring and didn’t understand what the draw was. The get-togethers that stand out in my mind are actually almost juvenile. One of my friends would invite a few of us over at Easter and Valentine’s Day for cookie decorating. Her mom was the one who actually wanted her to host these decorating parties, my friend might have even been embarrassed to have us over for cookies and hot chocolate. I hope she looks back at it as fondly as I do though. I remember there being tons of cookies, tons of frosting, tons of sprinkles, and tons of laughter. There was no pressure to impress boys or to do something that might get us into trouble. It was just pure fun. I’m hoping my daughter will want to host similar parties as she grows up.

As I’ve gotten older, I still occasionally spend days decorating cookies but I’ve expanded beyond sugar cookies. Over the past few years I’ve favored gingerbread but February doesn’t exactly feel like gingerbread season. The cooler temperatures still have me thinking deep flavors – I’m just not quite ready for light floral/spring flavors. With Valentine’s Day coming up I still wanted to incorporate chocolate without making it the main event. What could pair better with chocolate than peanut butter?! So, I’ve created peanut butter cut-out cookies. The flavor is traditional but they are just as fun to decorate as a sugar cookie.

Tips:

While you don’t have to refrigerate this dough before rolling and cutting it, you can if you want to. Feel free to make the dough a day ahead, wrap it in plastic wrap and then chill in the fridge. Just be sure to pull it out and get it back to room temperature before rolling it.
I know it can be tempting to dunk the entire cookie in chocolate but try to show some restraint. Honestly, if you cover more than about half of the cookie, the chocolate will overwhelm the peanut butter flavor.

Print Recipe

Peanut butter cookies dipped in dark chocolate - the perfect cut-out cookie for Valentine's Day.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 36 Cookies

Ingredients

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups creamy style peanut butter
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
10 oz dark chocolate melting wafers
variety of sprinkles for decorating (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt then set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat peanut butter, butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth.
Beat in eggs and vanilla.
Gradually stir in flour mixture.
Once flour is fully incorporated, place 1/3 of the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap and roll to ¼” thick.
Remove top layer of plastic wrap and cut dough with cookie cutters.
Bake on a parchment lined sheet pan for 11-13 minutes or until edges start to brown.
Cool cookies completely before decorating.
Melt chocolate wafers according to package.
Dip cookies in chocolate then add sprinkles as desired. Alternatively, drizzle chocolate over cookies.

HAZELNUT ICEBOX PIE

January 27, 2019 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

Lately it seems like I’ve been living in the glorification of busy. I’ve been chasing all sort of new goals. Isn’t that what New Year’s is about? I’ve been reducing and reorganizing the clutter in our house (hello #konmari). I’ve been doubling my workouts which is totally cliché this time of year but there are worse things to strive for in life, right?! I’ve been placing an emphasis on family through dating my husband (sometimes stay at home dates) and playing/reading with our daughter. When you add more to an already full schedule, something else typically suffers. For me, creativity has been a huge struggle this month. Typically, I come up with several recipe ideas each month, some make the cut for this blog and some don’t. However, we are always eating well and trying new dishes around our house. That was, until this month. We all have ruts and I am no exception but I’m happy to say the creativity is coming back and recipe ideas have started flooding in again.

These new routines and activities does not mean creativity needs to laid to rest. Quite the opposite. Creativity can only add to the creation of recipes that are easy to make as well as delicious. When my husband and I do date nights in at home we always include dinner and dessert in our plans. In need of something exceptionally easy to make, I came up with this recipe. This pie is the precisely what the doctor ordered to cure our cravings. Get your sweet tooth ready, you’ll need it if you’re going to hang with this one!

Tips:

You can elevate this recipe a bit by making a homemade graham cracker crust if you want to. Recipe included after the pie recipe.
I used half of a container of whipped topping in this pie. Feel free to use the rest for garnish when you serve the pie.

Print Recipe

Hazelnut Icebox Pie

Five ingredients are all you need to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Servings: 8

Ingredients

8 oz cream cheese, softened
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
7 oz hazelnut spread such as Nutella
4 oz frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 pre-made graham cracker crust

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk and hazelnut spread until combined (a few streaks are fine). Fold in whipped topping then pour mixture into pie crust. Freeze at least 8 hours or overnight.

Print Recipe

Homemade Graham Cracker Crust

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
6 Tablespoons melted butter
2 Tablespoons sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar. Press mixture into pie dish. Bake 7 minutes. Cool completely before filling.

SOFT BATCH CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

October 29, 2018 by Sarah Baade 1 Comment

The other night we were invited to a friends’ house for an impromptu dinner – with no need to bring a contributing dish. What?! These friends were just wanting to love on our family and spend time together in community. How awesome is that??? An evening filled with conversation, kids running around playing and adults catching up on life. This is what sharing a meal is really all about. That being said, I struggle to just show up at someone’s house for a meal without having some sort of food in hand. I looked through the pantry, found some basic baking ingredients and whipped up some chocolate chip cookies.

A classic, simple dessert that is always a crowd pleaser. One of the neat things about chocolate chip cookies is how many variations are out there. And people have strong opinions on what they prefer. Soft batch (like this recipe), chewy or crisp. The way to vary the outcome is through changing the flour, the sweetener and the leavening agent. The other thing I like to do is use more than one kind of chocolate in my cookies just to add a little more depth to each bite. If you’re ever creating your own recipe, play around with these variables and see what you come up with!

Tips:

If you have left your cookies out too long when cooling them and they end up dry, put them in a zip lock bag with a slice of bread. You’ll be amazed at how much moisture those cookies will absorb!
If you don’t need three dozen cookies at one time, you can scoop the dough into individual servings and freeze it. Later on, you can pull out what you need and bake just a few at a time.

Print Recipe

Soft Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies

This classic cookie is elevated by using maple syrup and two types of chocolate.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Christmas Cookies, Homemade Cookies, Soft Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies

Servings: 3 dozen cookies

Author: Sarah Baade

Ingredients

2 cups bread flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
4 oz 70% cocao extra bittersweet chocolate bar, chopped into chunks

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat sugar with butter. Add eggs, maple syrup and vanilla. Ingredients will not fully combine just yet. Mix in dry ingredients 1 cup at a time, until all ingredients are fully combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
Scoop tablespoon-sized mounds of cookie dough onto parchment lined baking sheet. Leave 2-inches between the cookies. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove cookie sheet from oven and transfer the cookies from the parchment to cooling racks.

A FOOD LOVER’S TRAVEL GUIDE TO CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

October 18, 2018 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

Earlier this month, my friend, Deya, and I spent a few days in Charleston, SC for a girls trip. It had been years since I had gone on a girls trip. Does a trip back to your home state even count as a girls trip?!? Years, it had been years!!! Not only was I overdue, I had a really stressful week leading up to our departure. This could not have been more perfect timing for me to get away. Deya had been dreaming about going to Charleston for a long time and was the one who got the ball rolling. We did our research, had a couple of planning sessions over coffee and ultimately planned the whole trip around food. Don’t get me wrong, we were excited to see some sites too but the itinerary was focused around local restaurants.

FRIDAY

We arrived in Charleston on Friday afternoon with time to relax and refresh from our flight. Our first culinary stop was at The Ordinary, a seafood hall and oyster bar. In a restaurant with a bar this beautiful, I think a cocktail is exactly the right way to start. I had the Raoul Duke and Deya had the Classic Daiquiri. Both rum based drinks, these cocktails were incredibly smooth and just slightly sweet. We ordered the ordinary Hawaiian rolls with sea salt butter as our appetizer. The salt on the butter, and the rolls added so much flavor! These rolls were also our introduction to benne seeds – a type of sesame seed that was brought over from western Africa by slaves in the early 1700’s. We quickly learned that these seeds are a local favorite and are incorporated into dishes at restaurants all over the city. Our second starter was the snapper ceviche with pedron pepper and avocado. When you’re at a seafood restaurant, you order seafood, right?! This dish was incredible fresh and light and served with huge tortilla chips. For our entrees, we shared the New England style fish chowder and the grilled New Orleans Style BBQ white shrimp. The chowder was creamy with huge chunks of fish – exactly what you want from a chowder. However, the shrimp dish is what really won us over. If you’ve never had New Orleans style BBQ you might be surprised to know that it is nothing like a typical red BBQ sauce. Instead, this divine sauce is made up of butter, Worcestershire sauce, tabasco sauce and rosemary. We at a lot of amazing things on this trip but this sauce is what we continued to talk about even after we got home. Friends, do yourself a favor and just order some extra sauce on the side – you’re going to want to dip some of those Hawaiian rolls into it!

The Ordinary, Charleston, SC

SATURDAY

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, right? We knew we had a full day ahead of us so we wanted something hearty to get us going. We walked from our hotel to Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit on King Street. It is such a tiny little restaurant but it is cute as can be. They offer up a variety of biscuits (living up to the name) along with a couple of sandwich options and a handful of other options. At first glance you might think the menu is limited but let me tell you, when you’ve perfected what you make, there isn’t a need for a huge menu. Deya and I each had the bacon, egg and cheddar biscuit sandwich with a coffee. This sandwich was so thick I could barely get my hands around it, let alone my mouth. The biscuit itself was so rich and buttery!!! That butter is exactly where the love lies in this meal. If you stop in here, get there early. There was a line to the door when we arrived and not an hour later we saw the line curling out the door and down a couple of store fronts. Absolutely worth a little bit of a wait though.

Husk is one of those restaurants we had heard a lot about when we first started doing research for our trip. The best advice I can give here is to make reservations well in advance. Deya made our reservation at least a month ahead and we still were not able to get in for dinner. However, the lunch menu was great and lunch is always more affordable than dinner. Having had such a hearty breakfast, I kept it relatively small for lunch and just had the Charred broccoli with mushrooms, crispy onions, smoked cheddar and Alabama white sauce. I’m a sucker for broccoli anyway but this flavor was incredibly rich, like melt in your mouth comfort food. Deya started with the pickled shrimp dish and, of course, I sampled it as well. I didn’t even know pickled shrimp was a thing (I grew up in a land locked state) but it was absolutely delicious! She had the fried chicken with Carolina gold rice, bacon, cabbage and butterbeans as her entrée. I didn’t taste this one but Deya raved about the rice and bean mixture!

Saturday night dinner was truly a unique experience. Deya found Feast Upon Charleston through AirB&B Experiences. We ubered our way to Chef Christopher’s home and were greeted by his huge smile, smooth jazz, and a choice of rum or gin for a cocktail. The blackberry mule he made with rum was the perfect drink to sip on while getting to know the other soon to be friends attending this pop-up dinner. Once we sat down, Chef Christopher treated us to a four-course dinner. He changes up his menu regularly so I hesitate to spend too much time describing our meal but let’s just say those crab cakes could be famous one day. Not only can he cook, Chef Christopher was able to give us history lessons on both the food and the city of Charleston. What I loved most about this dinner experience, though, was getting to know people we otherwise wouldn’t have ever met. Chef Christopher’s food is delicious but his passion for creating community is what really shines through.

SUNDAY

I love rich, buttery food as much as the next person but at some point, you also need some fresh, lighter fare. Sunday morning, we hit up Butcher & Bee for brunch. Coffee, local beets and ricotta toast for me. Coffee, crispy sweet potatoes and the smoked salmon bagel for Deya. The flavor combinations made with such fresh ingredients – exactly what I needed! This is one of two restaurants on the list that I absolutely wish had a location in my hometown of San Antonio. Lots of vegetarian options in addition to classic options like a burger. Seriously though, go here for the freshness that they put together on their plates!

Our big splurge dinner was at Zero Restaurant + Bar. This place made us feel like we were on an episode of Chef’s Table. So much thought goes into each dish – colors, textures, plating, and of course flavor. This is the type of spot that is best experienced without the distraction of a phone. In other words, no photos for this one. If you’re looking for a romantic spot to celebrate a special event, make the reservation and enjoy every single bite.

MONDAY

If dessert for breakfast is wrong, I don’t want to be right. Sugar Bakeshop has got to be the cutest little bakery I have EVER seen! Jars upon jars of huge cookies plus cupcakes galore. It is absolutely best for my waistline that I don’t live near this shop. We shared all five of the mini cupcake flavors that they had available that day. Coconut, vanilla, honey, almond and caramel. If I could have, I would have tried every single dessert but I needed to save room for one last lunch in the city.

Our last meal was at Basic Kitchen. This restaurant has natural light flooding in from all sides which automatically has you feeling refreshed. Using seasonal and local produce, they strive to fuel your body with food that will keep you going throughout the day. Once again, great vegetarian options abound here. I had the basic bowl which was full of veggies and chickpeas; Deya had the power bowl which was packed with protein from steak, eggs and quinoa. These dishes were so good we didn’t even bother sharing with one another. I also need to take a moment to mention Kellie, the general manager. She took genuine interest in our experience and was more than happy to answer questions we had about the food and the restaurant.