Bready or Not Original: Easy Italian Meatballs
Everyone probably has their own take on classic Italian Meatballs. This is mine!
What I love about the recipe is that it, 1) tastes good, and 2) is convenient. I can mix the meatballs up ahead of time and stash them in the fridge or even the freezer. They can be cooked straight from the freezer, too! Just cook them a little longer.
I always go with 93% lean ground beef, but use whatever kind you want–even do a meat of beef and pork or ground sausage. Consider this recipe a template. Mix it up, switch out or increase seasonings, whatever.
These are great with all kinds of dishes, too. Use them with the standard spaghetti or other Italian pasts, or on zoodles, or with sauce on some submarine sandwich bread. They are even good heated up, eaten by themselves!
Bready or Not Original: Easy Italian Meatballs
Equipment
- food scale
- 9×13 dish or large rimmed baking pan
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus extra for pan and hands
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups panko
- 1/2 cup milk or water
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 ounce Parmesan or Grana Padano, freshly grated, roughly 1/2 cup
- 1 pound ground beef
Instructions
- Move rack to top third of oven and start to preheat at 425-degrees. Rub or brush a 9×13 casserole pan or rimmed baking sheet with oil.
- In a large bowl, use a big spoon to mash together the 2 Tablespoons oil, eggs, panko, liquid, salt, pepper, seasoning, garlic powder, and cheese. The goal is to create a smooth paste. Add a handful of meat. Mix in, and gradually drop in the rest of the meat to thoroughly combine.
- Use a food scale to weigh the meat, then divide that total by 8 (or any other desired increment). With oiled hands, press together meatballs, weighing each to create ones of equal size.
- Bake meatballs for 20 minutes. Use a metal spatula to carefully flip over each for the browned-bottom is on top. Bake for another 6 to 10 minutes, until meatballs are fully browned. An instant read thermometer plunged into one should read over 160-degrees.
- Serve as desired. Leftovers are great to refrigerate or freeze.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Chewy Cookie Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
These Chewy Cookie Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are embodied with extra cookie dough flavor thanks to the miracle of cookie butter.
It always seems someone is always discovering cookie butter for the first time, so I shall repeat: this stuff is basically ground-down cookies blended with oil, giving it the same consistency as peanut butter, but without the health benefits. And oh yeah, it’s delicious.
Ccookie butter can be found under the Biscoff brand at many grocery stores (and sometimes in a store generic brand) and at Trader Joe’s as Speculoos. You can use it just as you would peanut butter for sandwiches or for baked goods.
It’s fantastic stuff paired with chocolate, as in this recipe. It makes cookies taste more… cookie. Once you try it, you’ll know what I mean.
This recipe makes a nice, big batch of crispy, chewy cookies. Use any kind of chocolate chips that you want–or use a mix! It’ll all be good.
Bready or Not Original: Chewy Cookie Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- tablespoon scoop
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 cube), room temperature
- 1/2 cup creamy cookie butter
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
- 2 Tablespoons water
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 bag milk chocolate chips or semisweet chips, about 1 3/4 cups
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 375-degrees.
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a big mixing bowl, beat butter and cookie butter until completely blended. Add the two sugars. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the corn syrup, water, and vanilla. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Use a tablespoon scoop to dole out dough onto a cookie sheet, giving each one room to spread while baking. Bake for 10 to 11 minutes, until golden, then let them sit on the sheet another 5 to 10 minutes to set. Transfer to rack to completely cool.
- Store in a sealed container at room temperature. They will keep well for up to 3 days.
