Sweet - Caramel Cookies

These caramel cookies are one of my favorite desserts. They're more biscuit than cookie; they come out a bit firm and crunchy, but still chewy and buttery. Honestly I have no idea how to describe them, except for saying they're good. Really good. The recipe comes from Bon Appetit Desserts by Barbara Fairchild - an amazing book with hundreds of superb recipes. I'm mostly copying it here for my amusement (I like pictures, and there sadly are none for this recipe in the book), and for easier access (that book is...hefty) but I stick to her recipe exactly. Anyways, here it is!

Ingredients:

1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 tbsp heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup (1.5 packets) unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp packed brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour

To Make:
~ 30 mins

- Add sugar and water to a medium pot, and place over low heat.
- Cut the vanilla bean in half, and then split lengthwise. Use a small sharp knife to scrape the seeds from within into the pot.

- Stir until sugar is dissolved, and then increase heat to boil.

- Once boiling, swirl pot occasionally and brush the sides with water-dampened pastry brush to prevent sugar crystallization. Watch for mixture to turn amber colored - which usually takes around 8-10 minutes.
- Use the down time to cut the butter into small cubes, to make mixing easier later.

- Around the 10 minute mark your mixture should turn amber. Be careful - this is a very quick process once started (sugar burns quickly!)

This change happened within about 10 seconds...a few more seconds and it would be burnt!

- Once done, quickly remove the mixture from heat (as it will continue darkening in the pot), remove vanilla pod, and add the 2 tbsp of heavy whipping cream. Mixture will bubble VIGOROUSLY (that's how you know you've done well - congrats!).

- Whisk until cream is combined with caramel, then add the butter a few cubes at a time, until fully incorporated.

- Set aside for 5-10 minutes, until you don't feel heat rising from it any longer. This is to let the butter settle a bit into the mixture. (I tend to err closer to 10; if it's not cooled down enough, the dough will remain too buttery in the end.)

- Once cooled, add 1/4 tsp salt and the 2 packed tbsps of brown sugar, and mix. Then add flour - a bit at a time - and mix to incorporate. (If you're feeling truly stellar you can sift the flour before adding).

- Once done, turn over onto a (optionally lightly floured) surface, cut into two equal pieces and mold into roughly 9"-long tubes. Cover in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator overnight to harden.

To Bake:
~15 mins

- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Cut dough into pieces roughly 1/8 inch thick, and place on tray lined with cookie sheet.

Leave a bit of room in between, but don't worry too much - these cookies don't spread much.

- Bake for 13 minutes, until cookies are a slightly darker caramel brown.
- Let cool for a bit before eating, to get the best flavor and texture. Then, enjoy!

Sweet - Chocolate Banana Cookies (Vegan)

My friend showed me this recipe a short while ago, adapted from a regular chocolate cookie recipe to fit his vegan diet. It results in a delicious moist chocolaty cookie with hints of banana flavour (though very subtle, I swear!) I've since forgotten the website he got it from (so...sorry) and I'm mainly working from memory with this recipe, but that's not a bad thing - I'd encourage you to mix it up as you please and try for different quantities of ingredients (within reason). For example, initially this recipe called for 2.5 cups flour, which I found to be a tad excessive. I reduced it to 2 cups, and increased the baking time from 10 to 14 minutes. The resulting cookie is a tad softer and much more moist in the middle while still crunchy on the outside - delicious!

Ingredients:

1-2 ripe bananas (depending on size and your preference - I use 2)
1 cup coconut oil (in solid form, room temp)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
~1.5 cups chocolate chips

* this initially wasn't a vegan recipe. The original recipe called for 2 eggs (substituted for banana) and 1 cup butter room temperature (substituted for coconut oil). You may mix/choose your ingredients as you wish.

**a note on flour: to accurately (or at least attempt to) measure flour, you want to make sure the flour is light and fluffy, not packed into your measuring cup. Sifting flour before measuring is best, but when you don't want to go through the extra effort, just make sure that you're not pushing or patting the flour down as you measure, and that it doesn't go above the tip of the cup or spoon you're using. Always err on the lesser side with flour.

To Make:
about 10-15 mins

-Mix flour, salt, and baking soda in medium bowl and set aside
-Mash banana in food processor or with fork until smooth.
-Add coconut oil (or butter) and sugar, and mix until well incorporated.
-Mix in vanilla extract.
-Add cocoa powder slowly and mix well. Then begin adding flour mixture, about 2 tablespoons at a time, mixing thoroughly before each addition.
-Finally, add chocolate chips and mix until spread throughout the dough (or if you're improvising like me and don't have chocolate chips, just cut up a bit of semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate and place it on top!)


To Bake:
14 mins

Preheat oven to 375F. Drop by rounded spoonful onto a tray lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Bake for 14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cookie comes out clean. Check around 10 mins, as ovens tend to vary.