Posts made in February, 2025

• Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and two sugars until they are pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients followed by the yogurt or sour cream. Add a few squirts of red gel food coloring, mixing in until the entirety of the dough is colored and reaches the desired depth of color. Measure out 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips. Fold them into the dough. Reserve the rest of the bag for topping later.
• Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat oven at 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Use a small cookie scoop or teaspoon to dole out round of dough spaced out on the sheet. Add a couple of the reserved white chocolate chips atop each round.
• Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until cookies are set, then let them rest on the sheet 5 to 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
• If stacking the cookies in a container, place waxed paper between the layers to prevent the cookies from slumping together. Cookies will keep well for at least 3 days stored in a sealed container at room temperature.

OM NOM NOM!

• These cookies can be baked right away or chilled/frozen for later. Note that if they are chilled, the dough may get extra hard, and need to soften at room temperature for 20 minutes before shaping.
• If baking right away, preheat oven at 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a big bowl, mix together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and both extracts, scraping the bottom of the bowl to incorporate everything.
• In another bowl, stir together flour, pudding mix (make sure that any clumps are pressed out), baking soda, and salt.
• Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet. Fold in the sprinkles. Pour some extra sprinkles into a saucer.
• Use a scoop or spoon to shape the dough into a small ball. Press one side into the sprinkles and set on baking sheet with the super-sprinkly side on top. Continue with rest of dough balls.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until cookies are flatter and no longer look gooey. Let them rest about 5 minutes before moving them to a rack to finish cooling.
• Store cookies in a sealed container at room temperature. Best eaten within 4 days.

OM NOM NOM!

• Mix together the vanilla bean paste, white sugar, and butter until smooth and creamy, not light and fluffy. Add the salt and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Add 1 egg yolk. Mix in the flour until just combined.
• Turn out dough onto counter to lightly knead. Divide in half and shape into long logs about 1-inch tall. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 3 hours, or freeze up to 2 months.
• When it is baking time, preheat oven at 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Place egg yolk into a small bowl or ramekin. Add a splash of water and whisk it with the yolk. Pour sanding sugar onto a plate.
• Brush the yolk down the length of a cookie log, fully coating it. Roll the log in the sanding sugar. Place on a cutting board and slice into pieces 1/2-inch thick. Place spaced out on cookie sheet. Repeat process with other log. Don’t squeeze the cookies too close, as they will spread.
• Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, until set and just turning a hint of gold. Let them set on sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to fully cool.
• Pack cookies in a sealed container at room temperature. They will keep for at least 4 days.

OM NOM NOM!

• Most bread machines call for adding liquids to the bucket first. Therefore, place the starter and water inside. Use fingertips to whisk them together. Add sugar and salt, followed by the flour and yeast. Start the machine on dough mixing mode.
• Monitor the dough as it mixes. If it seems especially lumpy, drizzle in some extra water until the texture smooths out.
• Once the dough is done, measure it on a food scale to divide in half. Sprinkle extra flour on a clean work surface. Press dough out to a flat rectangle, about 10 inches long, then fold inward as if folding a sheet to go in an envelope. Pinch the seam together while gently elongating bread. Place seam underneath. Set loaf on parchment paper. Repeat with other half of dough.
• Let rise in a warm spot in the kitchen or in an oven on proof mode for an hour or so, until loaves look doubled. If loaves were in warm oven, remove them so the oven can preheat at 400 degrees. On a lower oven rack, place something like a metal cake pan that is an inch or two in depth so that it can heat as well.
• Once the oven is preheated, use a French lame or knife to slash the top of the loaf so that it can vent while baking. Being VERY careful to not overfill or get scalded by steam, pour water into the hot pan in the oven. Immediately place the risen loaves on the rack above and close the oven (and don’t open it again until the bread looks done!).
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, until loaves are golden and sound hollow when tapped. A check with a food thermometer should find an interior temperature over 190 degrees.
• Let loaves cool at least 30 minutes before slicing in. Bread will keep in a sealed bag at room temperature for up to 3 days. It can also be frozen right after cooling, and will keep well for up to a month there.

OM NOM NOM!