Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies, Levain Bakery Copycat

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baking, chocolate, cookie, dessert, Levain

I am a chocoholic. I will therefore eat pretty much anything with chocolate. For example, I have eaten chocolate covered crickets. A little crunchy and gritty, but still chocolatey. One of my professors in college offered them to us, and college is the best time to try new things so I decided why not! Needless to say, I wouldn’t  recommend eating chocolate covered crickets. These cookies on the otherhand… totally recommended!

These cookies weigh in at a quarter pound per cookie. Quarter pound! How great does that sound! They’re as big as a hamburger, but better since it’s all chocolate!

There is a bakery in Manhatten called Levain Bakery. They are rumored to have the best cookies, as well as many other amazing baked goods. They have even been featured on some of the Food Network shows, which is how the writer of Parsley, Sage, Desserts, and Line Drives began to perfect her copycat recipes of the famous Levain cookies. At the bakery, they actually make their cookies into 6 ounce masterpieces! Though scaled down by just a little bit, these cookies are the ultimate chocoholic’s dream come true.

Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1¼ cup sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup dark cocoa powder
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. coarse salt or table salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed.  Mix in the cocoa powder until well blended.  Add the flour, salt and baking powder to the bowl and mix on low speed just until incorporated.  Gently fold in the chocolate chips.  On a work surface or against the side of the mixing bowl, mix the dough by hand to ensure even distribution of the chocolate chips.

Divide the dough into 4 ounce portions, or divide into 12 equal pieces.  Roll each portion of dough into a ball and flatten just slightly into a disc.  Place on the prepared baking sheets, a few inches apart.  Bake 16-20 minutes, or until the cookie edges are set.  Let cool on the baking sheets 5-10 minutes, where they will finish cooking, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Source: Annie’s Eats, from My Baking Addiction

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Tortellini Soup

Quick meals are the best, especially when most of the ingredients can be kept on-hand, either in the pantry or the freezer. This is one of those meals that are perfect for when you get home from work and are exhausted, and just need to throw something together for dinner. The first time I made this, I needed something fast for dinner unless I wanted to be eating super late. The second time I made it was this past weekend (or I guess my past weekend, which is my two days off during the week). I wanted something easy for lunch for my husband and myself, and this fit the bill. It’s light and tasty while still being filling. It was easy to double, too, so now I have leftovers for future lunches!

Tortellini Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup onion, minced
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 quart (4 cups) low sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
9-10 ounce package cheese tortellini, fresh or frozen
3 cups fresh baby spinach, loosely packed
Parmesan cheese

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion; cook until the onion is softened and the garlic has turned light gold, about 5 minutes.

Add the oregano, broth, and tomatoes (undrained); salt and pepper to taste. Bring the soup to a boil and add the tortellini. Cook according to the package directions. When the tortellini are cooked, remove the pot from the heat immediately so they do not overcook; add the spinach and stir until wilted and combined. Season with additional salt and pepper, if necessary.

Serve the soup immediately, topped with grated or shredded Parmesan cheese.

Source: Adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod, via The Well-Fed Newlyweds

Portobello Fettuccine

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fettuccine, pasta, portobello, vegetarian

Whenever I see portobello mushrooms on sale, I feel a need to buy them. I then need to figure out what to make with them. When tomatoes are in season, I have my go to recipe, but I had some mushrooms on hand and the tomatoes didn’t look juicy or sweet enough. I started searching online for some different options and came across this recipe. It had pasta, which was a plus, along with cream and cheese… an even bigger plus!

Freshly shredded Parmesan cheese is a must, otherwise the cheese will not melt properly. I learned this the hard way in multiple attempts to make fettuccine alfredo with pre-shredded Parmesan, and I always ended up with lumps of cheese disspersed in a slightly cheesy sauce. Portobello mushrooms have a very bold mushroom flavor. They meld wonderfully with this alfredo sauce, which helps to slightly diminish the strong flavor without washing it out, while the wine helps to add an additional layer of flavor.

Portobello Fettuccine

1 pound fettuccine
6 ounces portobello mushrooms (2 mushroom caps)
¼ cup butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup dry white wine
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup milk
1 cup (4 ounces) freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley

Prepare pasta according to package directions; drain.

Remove brown gills from undersides of mushroom caps using a spoon, and discard gills. Rinse caps thoroughly; dry mushrooms then cut into ½-inch pieces.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat; add mushrooms and garlic, and sauté 5 to 6 minutes or until tender. Add wine and boil until most of the liquid has evaporated.  Stir in cream and milk. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat, and simmer, whisking constantly, 10 minutes. Stir in cheese, pepper, and salt; stir constantly until cheese melts and mixture thickens. Stir in 2 tablespoons parsley. Serve over hot cooked pasta.

Source: Adapted from Southern Living

Mango Bread

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baking, bread, cinnamon, Hawaiian, mango

My husband and I went to Maui for our honeymoon. While we were there, we met up with his aunt and uncle who live on the island. As a thank you for treating us to a wonderful dinner, we bought them a loaf of banana bread while on the the Road to Hana. They have many stands that advertise for the “best banana bread,” and I must admit, we bought some really tasty breads. One loaf that we bought was a mango banana bread, and it was delicious and unique. While talking with his aunt, she mentioned that she had a recipe for mango bread, and she was kind enough to mail me the recipe along with a few other recipes she thought I would like from one of her Hawaiian cookbook. I was so excited when I opened the envelope containing the recipes!Mangos can be rather pricy, so I was a bit hesitant since I didn’t know how many mangoes it would take to get 2 cups diced. When visiting my sister, I found them for really cheap so I bought 5 and actually got 3 cups. I had enough for one loaf of bread, and I used the other cup with a cup of mashed banana to try mango banana bread. Both loaves were amazing. Perfectly spiced, moist, and subtly mango with bursts of mango when you bite into a chunk. It may have taken me a while to make this bread, but now that I’ve had it I can’t believe I waited this long! I will definitely try to make this more often.Mango Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
¾ cup canola oil
¾ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups diced mango, about 3 mangoes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×5″ loaf pan.

Combine flour, baking soda, spices, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk to combine and make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the eggs, oil, sugars, vanilla, and mango to the well. Stir to combine, until just mixed. Pour into the loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let bread cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Variation: Mango Banana Bread – Replace 1 cup of mango with 1 cup mashed banana

Baked Potato Soup

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bacon, cheddar cheese, potato, soup

The weather in Northern California has been kind of weird lately. It’s May, and it’s been getting quite warm during the days. But every now and then, we have been getting cold days with random bouts of rain. We were even snowed on at work last week, and hailed on today! It’s these random cold days that it’s nice to have warm comfort food. A nice, creamy bowl of soup really hits the spot.

This soup combines the wonderful flavors of baked potatoes. Potatoes, bacon, and cheese all combined in a creamy medley. I would highly recommend using the cream and the whole milk. Low-fat or non-fat milk don’t thicken the same, and the soup will remain thin. You deserve a tasty splurge every now and then!

Baked Potato Soup

½ pound bacon
1 cup white onion, diced
4 large russet potatoes
3 cups whole milk
1 cup whipping cream
2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Poke holes in the potatoes and microwave them for 8 to 10 minutes, or until tender. Chop the potatoes, including the skin, into bite sized pieces.

In a large pot, cook the bacon until browned and crispy. Remove the bacon strips and crumble, leaving the drippings in the pot. Cook the onion in the bacon drippings until tender, then add the chopped potatoes. Stir in the milk and cream and heat thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper. Slowly add the cheese to the pot until melted. Add the crumbled bacon to the pot and stir everything together until it thickens.

Source: Adapted from Food Network