Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm a cookie snob. There I admitted it. Cookies come in all shapes, sizes and textures, but only some are really worth those calories. My preference is ones that are crispy on the edges and chewy in the middle. The best ones are filled with chocolate chip (no raisins please!). But I especially love a chocolate chip cookie with a little something extra and the oatmeal adds to the great texture. Use a stand mixer for the easiest way to make this dough. The key for the perfect bake is refrigerating the dough, so don't skip that step. Ready, set, bake!

1 Large Egg

1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1/4 Cup Sugar

1 T Vanilla 

3/4 Cup Flour

1/2 t Baking Soda

1/4 t Salt
1 1/2 Cup Oats

1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1. Using a stand mixer with paddle, combine egg, butter, sugar and vanilla. Mix well on medium until ingredients are combined and forms a paste. 

2. After scraping down the bowl, add flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix 1 min.

3. Add oats and mix just to combine. Then add chocolate chips and mix again just until ingredients are evenly dispersed.

4. Separate the dough into 12 balls for larger cookies or 24 for smaller cookies. Once rolled, place on cookie sheet and slightly flatten the top. Refrigerate for MINIMUM of 2 hours. Dough will last up to 3 days in the fridge or freeze and thaw in fridge for quick access to delicious cookies!

5. Preheat oven to 350. Add cookie dough to a greased cookie sheet with minimum 2 inch spacing between each. 

6. Bake large cookies for approximately 13-15 minutes and small cookies for 9-11 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving. 

ENJOY!

Lemon Chevre Cheesecake

Rich and refreshing, this dessert is a great spring time dessert. The goat cheese gives the cheesecake an unmistakable tang that helps offset the sweetness and the lemon curd topping is zesty and addicting. For best results, make a day ahead of time and let chill for 24 hours before digging in!

Crust

9 whole graham crackers

1/2 C Packed dark brown sugar

3/4 C All Purpose Flour

1/4 t Salt

9 T unsalted butter, melted

1 T unsalted butter, melted (to brush the spring form pan)

1. Place oven rack to lower middle position and preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Break Graham crackers into pieces and put into a food processor along with 1/2 C dark brown sugar and process 30 seconds. Add in 3/4 C flour and 1/4 t salt, pulsing to combine. Pulse in 9 T unsalted butter until evenly combined.

3. Brush bottom of 9" spring form pan with the 1 T unsalted butter.

4. Using hands, press crust mixture into pan and use the bottom of a measuring cup to pack down.

5. Bake for 13 minutes. The crust should be fragrant and starting to brown at the edges. Cool completely but leave oven heated to 325 degrees.

Filling

1 T lemon zest

1/4 C Lemon juice

1 1/4 C granulated sugar

16 oz cream cheese, room temp

8oz goat cheese, room temp

4 eggs

2 t vanilla extract

1/2 C heavy cream

1/4 t salt

1. Put 1/4 C sugar and 1 T lemon zest in food processor and blend until combined and sugar appears yellow. Add in remaining 1 C sugar and blend until just combined.

2. Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment, combine 16oz cream cheese with 8oz goat cheese on low.

3. With stand mixer on 2, add in sugar mixture. Increase speed to medium for 3 minutes until mixture is smooth.

4. Reduce speed to 2 and add in eggs 2 at a time beating until combined.

5. Add in 1/4 C lemon juice, 2 t vanilla and 1/2 C heavy cream, 1/4 t salt mixing in between each addition.

6. Take 2 sheets of aluminum foil and wrap bottom of spring form pan. Place that inside a roasting pan.

7. Stir the mixture by hand and pour into spring form pan. Add hot water to roasting pan until water level reaches halfway up the pan.

8. Bake for 55-75 minutes until center registers 150 degrees on an instant read thermometer.

9. After hits temp, turn off oven and prop open the door with a potholder for one hour.

10. After one hour, remove from oven and water bath. Place on counter and run a pairing knife around edge of pan. Then let cool 2 more hours.

Lemon Curd Topping

1/3 C lemon juice

2 large eggs, plus 1 yolk

1/2 C sugar

2 T unsalted butter, cut into pieces and chilled

1 T heavy cream

1/4 t vanilla

1. Whisk eggs and then gradually whisk in sugar.

2. Heat 1/3 C lemon juice in a sauce pan until hot (do not let boil).

3. Slowly pour hot lemon juice into egg/sugar mixture, whisking constantly. Return mixture to sauce pan and heat on medium heat until mixture thickens and registers 170 degrees on an instant read thermometer, about 3 minutes.

4. When temp is reached, immediately remove pan from heat and stir in cream, vanilla, butter and salt.

5. Pour mixture through a fine mesh strainer and then cover with plastic wrap, adhering wrap to surface of the curd. Chill.

6. Once cheesecake has cooled 1 hour in the oven and 2 hours on the counter, top with chilled lemon curd and chill the entire cheesecake for at least 4 hours.

ENJOY!

Mini Chocolate Chip Cheesecakes

Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts and this recipe makes just the right amount of tiny decadent morsels. You can use this recipe as a base for other flavors too. I've been experimenting with flavors like nutella and mint among others!

CRUST:

1 package of regular or chocolate graham crackers

5 T melted butter

BATTER: 

16 oz cream cheese at room temp 

(two blocks of Philadelphia)

1/2 C sugar

1/4 C plain yogurt (sub sour cream if desired)

1 t vanilla

2 eggs

1 C mini chocolate chips

1/2 C Nutella (optional - add 1/8 C extra yogurt with this)

1. Preheat oven to 325. Grease mini cheesecake pan or mini muffin tin with pam.

2. Crush graham crackers in a gallon zip lock bag and add melted butter. Massage together until completely combined. Fill each tin with a scoop of crust mixture. Use a shot glass or other flat bottom to press mixture into each tin. Bake for 5 minutes to set. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. 

3. Slowly combine batter ingredients in order, one at a time using a stand or hand mixer. All should be room temperature. Do not over mix or beat on high speed. Goal is to put as little air into the batter as possible, but you must ensure ingredients are combined fully and batter is smooth.

4. Fill each tin to the top with the batter. Bake for 10-20 minutes. Pull these out of the oven before they start to crack, but once they are firm with a slight crust on the top. Place on a wire rack to cool

5. Once cooled, run a knife around the edge and pop out of the pan. Do not refrigerate until you've removed them from the pan or they will be difficult to get out. 

6. The cheesecakes will drop in the center. I fill mine with a topping before serving. Whipped cream, cool whip, salted caramel or chocolate sauce are all good options. Can also top with berries or other fruit.

Enjoy!

Carrot Cookies with Orange Glaze

Certain foods are an instant reminder of the holidays. For me, this cookies are the epitome of Christmas. My mom always made these when I was a kid and the recipe was passed down from her side of the family. Every time I make them, I'm always surprised how good they are! I usually make a bit of extra glaze because I love to cover these pretty generously.

Cookie Batter:

1 C shortening

3/4 C sugar

1 C cooked, mashed carrots

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

2 T milk

2 C flour

2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

3/4 C coconut

Orange Frosting:

4 1/2 C powdered sugar

1/2 C softened butter

4 T fresh squeezed orange juice

Grated orange rind from one orange

1. Boil 8 oz of carrots. (Baby carrots work great.) Drain and mash with a potato masher. Set aside to cool.

2. In a large bowl, beat one cup of shortening on low. Slowly add in 3/4 cups of sugar and beat on medium high until blended. One at a time, add the carrots, egg and vanilla. Blend each ingredient with the beaters until evenly mixed. 

3. Mix together flour, baking powder and salt, then sift into bowl stirring into batter. Add in coconut, folding into batter.

4. When completely mixed together, drop teaspoon sized balls onto a greased cookie sheet. 

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 - 15 minutes or until cookies are rounded and bottoms are browned. Cool on a wire rack.

6. Beat together ingredients for the orange glaze on medium speed. Consistency should be creamy but loose. Spread glaze over each cookie and let harden. Store in an air tight container for up to two weeks.

Enjoy!

Salted Caramel Candy

Who doesn't love a delicious chewy caramel? Sweet and salty, these treats are great gifts and staples for the Holidays. I'm not going to convince you they are easy, but if you follow the tips below, you'll become a caramel making machine! Watch out, these are highly addictive.

1 C sugar

1/4 C room temp water

1 C cream

3 T butter

1 vanilla bean halved and scraped

1 t fleur de sel (sea salt)

1 t vanilla

candy thermometer

8x6 or 7x5 glass dish

parchment paper

wisk

TIP #1: Prep everything beforehand. The timing of each step is essential to successfully making caramel. Follow the below process exactly.

1. Line your glass pan with parchment paper. very lightly butter the parchment paper and set aside.


2. In a small sauce pan, melt 3 T butter over medium heat. Add 1 cup of cream, halved and scraped vanilla bean and 1 teaspoons fleur de sel. Stir to dissolve salt. Wait for mixture to simmer, then remove from heat and pour into a measuring cup. Set this mixture aside for later.

TIP #2: For the next step, use a medium size sauce pan with high sides and a heavy bottom. Non stick pans should NOT be used.

3. Combine the 1/4 cup of room temperature water and 1 C sugar. Stir until mixed evenly. Turn burner to medium. Run warm water over end of candy thermometer and insert into sugar mixture. From this point on, DO NOT STIR this mixture and don't make any adjustments to the pan or the heat. All of this can cause the sugar to seize and your batch will be ruined. If needed you can gently swirl the pan on the burner, but I try to avoid this.

4. Closely watch the candy thermometer. As soon as it registers 320 degrees, slide the pan off the heat. Slowly drizzle the cream mixture into the hot sugar while wisking continuously. The sugar mixture will bubble up, but continue to stir consistently until all the cream is incorporated. I usually leave the candy thermometer in the mixture and stir around it.


5. Slide the pan back onto the burner (which is still set to medium heat) and continue to cook this mixture. It will bubble up again and then remain at a rolling bubble.

6. When the candy thermometer reads between 240-248 degrees, remove the pan from the heat and immediately (and carefully) pour the caramel into the parchment paper lined glass dish.

TIP #3: The final temperature is what dictates the texture of the caramel. The lower end of the spectrum yields a very soft chewy caramel while the higher end gives you a very firm consistency like a sugar daddy.

7. Let caramel cool to room temperature. Then lift the parchment paper out and chop candy into squares.

8. Wrap each square individually and enjoy!