Chocolate with Francois - Chocolate-Honey Madeleines

Prior to this month's choice, by Julie of Little Bit of Everything, I had never baked Madeleines. I have seen them, and the pans for them, but never had any desire to try them. They looked to me to be fussy cookies, and I assumed they would be a lot of work and they just didn't interest me. Having said all that, when I saw that it was Julie that had picked this recipe I decided I had to give it a go. The fact that they were chocolate madeleines certainly didn't hurt. :)

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. These cookies were really quite simple to pull together. I decided to only bake half of the recipe, not knowing if I would like them or not. I had all the ingredients on hand except for the orange. However I did have orange extract and added a scant 1/4 teaspoon in place of the zest. I had everything mixed up and in the fridge in less than 30 minutes.

I ended up baking the Madeleines the following night after I got home from Starbucks. I knew if I didn't bake them that night I wouldn't have another chance to bake them before the 30th. So, after the hubby went to bed I heated up the oven and got ready to bake my first ever Madeleines.

Not having a Madeleine pan I used my mini muffin pan. Thanks Julie, for posting that hint. I also used cooking spray to prepare the pan. I used a star tip and pastry bag to pipe the batter into the pan. I was hoping the cookies would retain the swirls. They didn't. :( But, they baked up in the time recommended in the recipe and smelled delicious as they baked.

When I pulled the pan from the oven I saw I had about a dozen mini muffins. As I mentioned, no ridges or swirls remained after baking. I flipped them onto the prepared pan and after placing the pan in the sink, I picked up one to try. What? Thirty seconds isn't enough cooling time? :D Maybe not, but after smelling them bake I couldn't wait!
Delicious! A bit hot, but so yummy. Tender inside, a slight crunch on the edges. I can't say I tasted the honey. I had my doubts about whether I would taste it considering there was only 1/2 a tablespoon in the recipe. I could taste the orange flavor. It didn't overpower the chocolate, and I like the combination of orange and chocolate. I tried another one, just to be sure the taste and quality was the same. And then tried another one. :) So good! I may have tried one or two more before putting them away. In my defense I was only following the directions in the recipe. Francois says these should be eaten the day they are baked, as they aren't as good the next day. You know what? He's right. The next day I had one and it was nowhere near as yummy as the couple 5, or maybe it was 6 that I had the night before. It was chewy-er, rubbery-er (is that even a word!?!). The flavor was still good, but the texture had changed completely. Definitely better eaten the day they are baked, fresh out of the oven.

Overall? I would call them a success. Simple to put together. A lot of flavor. Light and delicious. I would love to try the regular ones as the recipes I have read call for lemon zest. I also think if I made these again I might add a bit more honey and skip the orange zest altogether. See if the honey flavor comes through. So, my thanks to Julie for choosing a great recipe. I am glad to be able to cross Madeleines off my list of things I haven't baked. Still have to try fresh croissants but that will be another day. :) Swing by CWF to see who else tried these and what they thought of them.

TWD - Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

I love, love, love shortbread cookies. The sandy, buttery, melt in your mouth goodness that shortbread cookies are all about. And, since finding Dorie's cookbook, I have learned to bake my own crumbly, crunchy shortbread cookies. This week, Donna of Life's too short not to eat dessert first (which is one of my motto's btw!) chose Dorie's Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies. And, what a wonderful choice it was. Thank you so very much Donna! Not only was it a big hit for me, I shared it with the gang at Starbucks and even with a couple of favorite regulars and everyone who tried one Loved! them. Can you say Christmas presents? :)

Super easy to put together. I even made it easier on myself by using mini chocolate chips. I used two packages of Via, Starbucks instant coffee (really good to drink and great in recipes) (And, no, I don't get commission!). The hardest part for me was leaving the dough in the fridge for several hours to chill. Oh, and waiting for the wonderful smelling, as they baked, cookies to bake.

The finished product was a perfect shortbread cookie with a strong coffee flavor and just a hint of chocolate, in spite of how loaded with chips each cookie looks. The espresso was definitely the dominating flavor. Which was fine with me. The only person who really wasn't crazy about these was the hubby. He is not a big coffee drinker and found the flavor to be too strong for his tastes. But, he was in the minority. :)

So once again I would like to send out a great big thanks! to Donna for her choice. This recipe would lend itself to indefinite variations and I can't wait to try some other combinations.  Like cinnamon and apple bits. Or chocolate and peanut butter chips. Or pecans and chocolate chips. Hmmm, wonder if it's too late to start a batch now. :) If you would like to see what the other TWD'ers did, go here.


I will leave you with a couple of pictures of my last two cakes. The mermaid cake was for my Starbucks boss's little girls. They were having a combination birthday/pool party Saturday. And the presents cake was for a co-worker of my daughter. A baby shower cake for the soon to be mom.

Operation Baking Gals - Round up for Team Country Cookies

Let me start by sending out a HUGE thank you to everyone who joined my team, baked cookies, and shipped them to Dan. As I mentioned in the article I wrote when I started Team Country Cookies for this round, I have been baking with OBG, or Baking Gals as we now seem to be called, since Round 2. I have missed only two rounds in the last 16. This group holds a special place in my heart. No, I don't have anyone from my family serving in the military, but I am a mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, and can only imagine what it must be like to have someone I love in harms way, far from home, making sacrifices that mostly go unnoticed. I think it takes a very special kind of person to give up home and family to serve our country in a strange land, and I hope that my boxes of goodies let these guys and gals know just how much I appreciate those sacrifices.

So, on to the round up! I had twenty members sign up to bake with Team Country Cookies. I have been able to account for all but 4 of my bakers. I will assume everyone shipped something to Dan during the dates of Feb 1 - 17. If you did ship something, and I don't have you in this round up,  send an email, with pictures if you took them, and I will edit this post at a later date to include you. :) I want everyone who took the time to help out to be recognized!

So, in no particular order...
Shelly and her son Nicholas baked Oatmeal Raisin cookies and also sent a trivia card game, the Super Bowl Sports Illustrated magazine, sunflower seeds, bags of roasted peanuts in the shell, cheese creackers, easy mac, trail mix, microwave popcorn, gum, Goldfish and beef jerky!

Diane baked and sent chocolate chip/Heath chip cookies and some Chex mix.

My daughter Beth joined me this round and baked Snickerdoodles and a Danish cookie that translates to Peppernuts. Kind of a crunchy spice cookie. Thanks honey!!

Linda, a friend I met through her blog,  Diva Weigh,  baked and shipped 5 dozen chocolate chip cookies, 5 dozen oatmeal cookies, 3 1/2 dozen peanut butter cookies and she included 4 boxes of Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies. Linda is one of three blogging buddies who joined me to bake for Dan.

Joyce baked and sent about 6 dozen M&M cookies (like chocolate chips cookies but with M&M's instead), a fleece blanket, a Georgia t-shirt to give to someone who gets little or no mail, and coffee. Joyce, that was really sweet of you to think of someone else in the troop.








Janice baked and sent Cowboy cookies (Chocolate chip, oatmeal, coconut, walnuts, etc, Sounds delicious!) sugar cookies, brownies, sunflower seeds, wipes for cleaning up with, and a local newspaper from Southeast Alaska!

Tara baked and sent Chocolate Chip cookies, Brickle drop cookies, sugar cookies, peanut butter blossom cookies. And, if that wasn't enough, she also made cinnamon streussel muffins and peanut butter fudge. Into that box, with all those other goodies,  she tossed a bag of hard candy and sunflower seeds!!

Susan sent Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk cookes and Ginger Spice cookies. She also made some Chocolate fudge and included granola bars, powdered drink mixes, hot chocolate mix, peanuts, granola, and a local paper from Edinboro, PA.

Tera was another busy baker. She sent Triple Chocolate Temptation cookies, chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips, double chocolate brownies with M&M's, Sweethearts Valentines conversation candy, several different kinds of gum, some personal care items (flossers, travel toothpaste, hand sanitizer), Charms Super Blowpops, Slim Jims, Pink lemondade single serve packets, a Thank-you card, and magazines! Wow!

Donna, who I believe is the mom of a soldier serving in our military, baked and shipped Snickerdoodles and Chocolate Chocolate chip cookies.

Jennifer sent a box filled with home baked cookies, 2 boxes of Girl Scout cookies, candies, gum and a bag of jerky.

Tina shipped off a box for Dan, but I'm not sure exactly what was in it, because she didn't put that in her email to me. :)  I am sure it was full of yummy things though!

Sarah shipped no bake cookies and chocolate chip cookie bars. Individually wrapped packages of beef jerky, peanuts, granola bars and tuna kits.

Gina and her daughters shipped Chocolate Chip cookies, granola bars, crackers, hard candies, puzzle books and magazines.

Julie (My friend from Little Bit of Everything, and the second of my blogging buddies) was another busy baker. She baked 6 dozen Chocolate chip cookies and 4 dozen Oatmeal raisin cookies. She also included some bags of hard candies. Thanks Julie!!

 

Nina, (her blog is Nina's cupcakes),  the third of my three blogging buddies who helped out this round, baked Chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies and decorated sugar cookies!

Jenni and her Mom, Jan, were busy ladies! They baked and shipped Oatmeal raisin cookies, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal chocolate chip with nuts, and then filled the "holes" in the box with valentines day suckers and spearmints! Here's Jan with the box ready to mail and a picture of some of their cookies...

And me? I shipped two boxes to Dan.  I baked 5 Dozen Dark Chocolate Chip cookies, 2 1/2 dozen Peanut butter cup peanut butter cookies, 2 1/2 dozen Reese's pieces peanut butter cookies, 3 dozen Peanut peanut butter cookies and 6 dozen oatmeal raisin cookies. I also enclosed a short letter and some pictures of my family, pets and some deer in our front yard.











Whew! And that my friends is a wrap-up of Round 16 with Team Country Cookies!  What a terrific round of baking!! I hope I hear from Dan (or his girlfriend Kelly) letting me know that he received all the goodies. As for all my team members? I cannot thank you enough for taking time out of your busy lives to make a difference in the life of a stranger. It's a wonderful thing you have done and you should be proud. Thanks again for making my first round as a team leader a big success!! 

Tuesdays with Dorie - Dorie's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

I will admit up front that I am a Toll House cookie baker. Whenever I make chocolate chip cookies, I use the Toll House recipe and chips. That's what my hubby likes and I try very hard to make things he likes. Since I don't usually eat the cookies, what hubby wants is what hubby gets. Sometimes I even bake the pre-made cookies for him. Again, that's what he likes. He asks me to buy some of those bake and eat cookies. Poor man. :)

So, I was really excited to try Dorie's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. Thought maybe I could expose my hubby to some "real" cookies. Show him how the rest of the world lives, so to speak. I had high hopes about using the recipe that Kait of Kait's Plate chose for this week's TWD. Stop by her blog to pick up the recipe and take a look around. Kait takes lots of great photos of all the things she bakes each week.

Back to my review. I gathered all my baking supplies to make these cookies. Butter,eggs, flour, vanilla,  sugars, I even dug out the good chocolate, 72% cocoa dark chocolate. 2 bars that I chopped into big chunks and added to the batter. I also added some chopped pecans. Scooped out balls of the dough onto my cookie sheets and popped one into the oven, then sat back waiting for deliciousness.

Well, what came out of the oven the first time were flat, dark, almost burnt cookies. Disappointed I turned down the oven temperature a few degrees and baked the cookies a minute or two less. Second batch, still flat, but not quite as dark. Third batch baked a few minutes less, and, still flat. I baked 6 trays I think and every batch was flat, flat, flat! I thought the cookies tasted great! The dark chocolate was perfect with the sweetness of the dough. The pecans added nice texture and nuttiness. The cookies were crisp when you first bit them and then chewy as you, well, chewed them. But, they looked terrible. Not sure what I did wrong. I don't usually end up with flat cookies. My hubby? Took one look and asked "What are those supposed to be?" I got him to try one, and that was the only one he ate. "Don't do a thing for me", is what he said as he left the kitchen, leaving a half eaten cookie behind.  So, while I liked the flavor, the hubby didn't. And, since it's for him I usually bake cookies, I guess I will stick to the recipe on the yellow bag of chocolate chips. Maybe if I could figure out what I did wrong and get them to bake up fluffy (???) he might reconsider. But, I guess I will just stick to his favorite and pass on these.

But, don't let my disappointment with these cookies sway you. Go to TWD and see what all the other bakers thought. I saw some beautiful cookies using the same recipe.


Before I leave, I wanted to acknowledge today's date and its significance for me. I am writing this because it's been on my mind all day, and for me, it's best if I put what's in my heart and mind on paper, so I can move on, let it go. The following is not funny or upbeat and I only tell you, my readers, so that you may choose to skip this part if you'd like.

On this date, 5 years ago, my dearest friend and soul mate (as we used to call each other) passed away from cancer. Linda was 44 years old when she died. We had been friends for 27 years. We met when I was a waitress in a little diner next door to where she worked. She would come in for breakfast (bacon and toast) each morning and over time we became friends. It was an unlikely friendship. I was 5 years older, married with a child. She was a young, career minded single woman. I was a tomboy and she was a "girly" girl. When we would go out together, I would be ready in minutes and would stand watching as Linda primped and fluffed and readied herself for going out. It was something we laughed about often. Our friendship survived not only time, but distance when my husband at the time took a job that moved us from upstate NY to Richmond, VA. Linda and I would talk on the phone for hours at a time. At least once a year I would travel to Rochester and spend a week with her. We would sit up till the wee hours of the morning, drinking coffee and talking about anything and everything. We wrote long letters (pages and pages!) to each other on a weekly basis. I still have boxes of letters she wrote to me over the years. We had no secrets from each other and didn't cut the other one any slack or pull punches when necessary. When Linda had her first, of many surgeries to try and stop the cancer, I was always there in the waiting room. She fought a hard battle for 2 years. When her doctor sent her home in September of 2004 and told her there was nothing else to do, she still didn't give up. I drove up to Rochester every weekend to be by her side, leaving on Fridays and returning home on Mondays. When it started to snow and the roads became treacherous, her husband flew me to Rochester every weekend so I could be with her. Just like in the old days, we would stay up all night talking. We talked about death and dying. We talked about missed opportunities. We talked about all the fun we used to have. We talked about making the most of what you are given. Even though we both knew she was dying, we still found time to laugh together.  I took care of her, cooked for her, bathed her, helped her in anyway I could.  I left Linda on Monday the 14th of February. Kissed her good-bye and told her I would be back on Friday, like I had been doing every weekend for the previous 4 1/2 months. Her husband called me Tuesday evening and said to come back to Rochester. I left on a plane at 6AM Wednesday morning. While on a layover in DC, at 7:30AM,  I got the call from her husband that she had passed away. There has been a hole in my heart since then. I still think of her, every day, even after 5 years. I miss you Linda...

Calling all bakers!!- Please join me in baking for "my" soldier!

I am sending out an invitation to all the bakers who read my blog to join me by baking cookies for a soldier this month.

I am leading a team for the first time for Operation Baking Gals. I have been baking with this group for 15 of the last 16 rounds. I missed the first round because I didn't know about the group. After all this time I thought I should step up and lead my own team.

The soldier I am baking for is Dan McNally, a 1st Lieutenant serving in Iraq. I clean house for his girlfriend's grandmother. They gave me his name because they know I bake for at least one soldier every month. I also advertise that I bake for soldiers and am always asking people to give me the names of guys and gals that are serving overseas.

If you are interested in joining me, head over to Bakinggals and (after you register) join my team, Team Country Cookies, and bake Dan some cookies or brownies or whatever moves you, to show him we appreciate his sacrifices. It's a wonderful group, and receiving homemade goodies means a lot to the men and women who are so far away from home. It would also mean a lot to me to have you on my team. Thanks!

TWD - Cafe Volcano Cookies

This will be short and sweet (and that is a really hard thing for me as I love to "talk"!) But, I have laundry waiting in the laundry room, cookies baking in the oven (more Sables), presents to wrap and dishes to do. Sitting here chatting with all my baking friends is what I would rather be doing, but, being the responsible adult I am, I will make this post short and get back to work!

This weeks recipe, Cafe Volcano Cookies, was chosen by Macduff of Lonely Sidecar. Her cookies look fabulous and she even added a chocolate drizzle to them which made them look even tastier! Thanks Macduff for such an tasty and easy recipe!

And, how much easier is it to toast some nuts, toss them into some sugar, egg whites and espresso powder, stir and bake? Not much! I (and perhaps most of the other TWDers) had the required egg whites left over from when I baked the Sables, which only used egg yolks. In fact, I made my Volcano cookies the same day.

What a fun cookie for the mouth! Crunchy, crumbly, chewy, nutty, all at the same time! The meringue is so light and crispy when you first bite into the cookie. Then it becomes chewy. And all the nuts are running around in there too. Delicious!  They aren't the prettiest cookies on the block, but they more than make up for that in taste.

So, thanks again Macduff  for such a fun and easy recipe. Just what the doctor ordered! And, be sure to stop by TWD to see what all the other bakers thought of this one.

PS The cocoa ones I baked today turned out great! Even better I think than the original recipe. I also loved the pecans with the hazelnuts. I made 11/2 times the recipe and added 3 TBLS of dutch processed cocoa to the recipe. Turned out awesome!

Tuesdays with Dorie - Sables

Wow, two posts in one day. What is this world coming to? This post is about this week's TWD recipe, Sables. This one was chosen by Barbara of Bungalow Barbara and if you visit her blog you can see all the fun and colorful variations on this cookie that she did. Also, all the tips and directions she so graciously took time to type up. Thank you so much Barbara! I really enjoyed baking along with you this week!

These cookies were a breeze to put together. I made up the dough last night and chilled it till today. When I got ready to bake them, while the oven was preheating, I brushed the logs with egg yolk, sprinkled some raw sugar over them, sliced them and put them on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Into the oven they went, and after about 16-17 minutes I had the most perfect looking shortbread cookies I have ever baked. Golden brown around the edges, with the sparkle of sugar. I (barely) waited for them to cool and then tried one.

Fabulous!!! Tender, buttery, melt in your mouth goodness. My hubby said that except for the fact they were missing pecans, they were as good, if not better than the elves cookies. I'll take that as a compliment as I think the elves cookies are pretty good. These are definitely better, and with as easy as they are to put together, you can have a cookie jar of these on hand anytime. I did not try any of the variations, but know that I will in the future. Pecans, chocolate shavings, lemon, orange, cinnamon, just to mention a few.  I see that many of the other TWD bakers did play around with the recipe. You should check out all the different cookies you can have with this one simple recipe.

Operation Baking Gals - Cookies for my soldiers!

If you came looking for my Sweet Melissa Sunday post, sorry to disappoint. I do not do fruitcake in any way, shape or form, not even for Sweet Melissa! :P But, be sure to check out Karin's blog, Sugar and Spice and everything nice. The Golden Almond Fruitcake was her choice this week, and her pictures make me wish I did like fruitcake!  Also, be sure to check out SMS's bakers page to see which bakers did join her in making the fruit cake.

What I did do this weekend was bake cookies. Lots and lots of cookies. About 47 dozen to be exact!

Operation Baking Gals, or Baking Gals as it is now known,  is a group I have been involved with for over a year now. I joined up in Round 2. The first round was when Susan of She's becoming DoughMessTic asked some fellow bloggers to join her in baking for a cousin who was stationed overseas. The outpouring was overwhelming. The rest as they say is history. I have baked in 13 of the 15 rounds since it's beginnings. I missed the first round because I didn't know about it at the time, and I missed a round this October because I was in Germany. I know, lame excuse, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it! :D

This round was a bit more special than most as I was baking for the nephews of two ladies I clean house for. I have been cleaning for them for a long time now and I had told both women about the organization when they mentioned having family members that were serving overseas. I asked them for the names and addresses of the boys (though it is just as often a girl we bake for) and I passed the info onto Lyndsay, who is our fearless (and tireless) leader now. She got both boys assigned to teams for this round and I joined both teams so I could bake for these two boys.

Did I mentioned I baked a lot of cookies. Here's a breakdown on what I baked...

6 Dozen Oatmeal Raisin (would have baked more but ran out of oatmeal!)
13 Dozen Walnut Chocolate Chip
15 Dozen Peanut Butter with Peanut Butter chips
13 Dozen Molasses cookies (the same molasses cookies we baked with TWD this month!)

I started Saturday morning by making the dough for all the cookies. I made double batches of every kind except the Oatmeal Raisin and that is because I didn't realize I only had enough oatmeal on hand for one batch. Once I had all the doughs made I cleaned up the kitchen and began baking. I started baking the first batch of cookies around 11 Saturday morning and finished the last batch about 9:30 that evening. I took a break long enough to heat up leftover Thanksgiving for dinner, eat it, and then get back to baking cookies. It's a labor of love people. :) When I was done I had about 564 cookies all waiting to be packaged for their trip overseas.

I divided the cookies between the two soldiers and vacuum sealed them for travel. I also enclosed boxes and boxes of Starbucks new VIA instant coffee. It's really good for instant; I drink it and took it to Germany with me so I could have coffee whenever I wanted, no coffee pot needed! I think I had 13 boxes of the 12 packs and about 26 packs of the three packs for each soldier. So, what's that, about 234 "cups" of coffee I am sending.  Much easier than sending pounds of ground coffee and worrying about whether or not the guys or girls have a coffeepot handy to brew it in. And, my local Starbucks collects the packages of VIA from customers and gives it to me to send to "my" soldiers! They are the best!

I packed all the cookies and coffee into 4 separate boxes. Couldn't get it all to fit in just one box per soldier. Thank goodness for flat rate shipping as the boxes are heavy. I also enclosed a letter from me and a few pictures of my family, pets and the local wildlife (deer). The guys who get the boxes like knowing a little about who shipped them. 

Tomorrow I will head to the local post office and mail these boxes out. Official shipping dates are December 1-16, but I am shipping tomorrow. One of the reasons is I already have the addresses of the boys since I know the aunts and I figure one day early won't be a bad thing.

If you ever want to do something to let a soldier know that what they do is appreciated, please stop by BakingGals and join a team. It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside when you do. :)

Tuesdays with Dorie- Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice

This weeks recipe is supposed to be Cran-Apple Crisps and it was chosen by Em of The Repressed Pastry Chef. Head over to her blog to see a beautiful picture of how it is supposed to look when finished. However, since we have been given the leeway to bake November's recipes in any order we'd like, I chose to make the Sugar-topped Molasses Spice cookies instead. I will make the Cran-Apple crisps Thanksgiving week. Next week, stop by Pamela of Cookies with Boys blog to see her choice, which I made this week.

I decided to bake these cookies to kill three birds with one stone. Bird number one was, of course, one of the Tuesdays with Dorie recipes. Bird number two, I needed gingersnap cookies to make a crumble for the top of some muffins I baked with SMS, and knew these cookies would fit the bill (though as my son pointed out, there is a difference between gingersnap cookies and molasses cookies, but I digress!). The third bird I wished to kill was having something yummy to bake for my Operation Baking Gals team, Team Oven Loving for the Recovering - East Coast. So, this recipe worked out great for me. I love it when a plan comes together! :)

These were no real trouble to put together. The dough was very soft when I wrapped it in plastic and placed it in the freezer to cool for 30 minutes. It was still a bit soft when I began to use it; my palms were coated in cookies dough after rolling just a couple of balls. I just cut smaller portions to work with and kept the rest in the fridge.

I did not make big cookies, mine were maybe two inches across. I wanted enough to ship to my soldiers and enough to crush for the crumble. I ended up with about 5 dozen, give or take a couple. (Like the couple two or three I ate)

I rolled the first batch in raw sugar, liking the look of the big granules of sugar. Unfortunately, I ran out of the raw sugar and the remainder cookies were rolled in granulated white sugar instead. My house smelled wonderful as these cookies were baking.

The cookies tasted as wonderful as they smelled while baking. These were soooooo very good. I am glad I shipped all of them off. They were dangerous.  The couple I ate was actually more like 4 or 5...I lost count! They were crispy around the edges when you first bit into them and then the center was soft and chewy. The flavor was delicious. I added a good sized pinch of black pepper to mine, and didn't think it made them too hot at all. In fact, I think I would add a touch more in the future. My son's favorite cookie is Molasses, and when he heard I gave them all away he was crushed. That's okay. Just gives me a reason to bake another batch.

So, be sure to stop by Cookies with Boys  next week to get the recipe. You won't be sorry. And, if you would like to see who baked what this week, head over to TWD.