Homemade Oreos...

I must confess that these are highly addictive. This recipe comes from Joanne Chang, owner of FLOUR Bakery in Boston. She tells the story of when she was growing up how she pleaded with her mother to buy her Oreos at the grocery store. Her mother refused telling her that looked too black to be good tasting. Years later she came up with her own version and they are fantastic! Her mother apparently has changed her opinion of them too. Here is the recipe:

1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

3/4 cup sugar

1 t. vanilla extract

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled slightly

1 egg

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1 t. salt

1/2 t. baking soda

Vanilla Cream

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1-2/3 cups confectioners' sugar

1 t. vanilla extract

1 T. milk

pinch of salt

In a medium bowl whisk together the butter and sugar until well combined. Whisk in the vanilla and chocolate. Add the egg and whisk until thoroughly incorporated.

In another bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda until well mixed. Using a wooden spoon, stir the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture.

Let the dough sit at room temperature for about 1 hour to firm up. Transfer the dough to a 15-inch square sheet of wax or parchment paper. Using your hand, shape the dough into a rough log about 10 inches long and 2-1/2 inches in diameter. Place the log at the edge of the wax paper and roll it around log. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until firm. The log may settle and sink a bit in the fridge, so reroll it every 15 minutes or so to maintain a nice round log.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut the dough log into 1/4-inch thick slices. Place the slices about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake 20-25 minutes, or until the cookies are firm to the touch. Let them cool.

To make filling: Using a stand mixer, beat butter on low speed for about 30 seconds, or until completely smooth and soft. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla and beat until the mixture is perfectly smooth. It will look like white spackle and feel about the same-like putty. You can also mix this by hand, but make sure the butter is very soft.

Scoop about 1 rounded tablespoon of the filling onto the bottom of one cookie. Top with a second cookie, bottom side down, then press the cookies together to spread the filling toward the edges.

Updates from Pastry School

I am 3 weeks in to my Pastry Class and having a great time! Yesterday was Pies and tarts and we were busy working on our crusts and fillings. My project was a chocolate ganache tart...oh my! I added toasted hazelnuts to it for an extra zing!! I chose to make mini tarts as opposed to one large one. I wasn't pleased with my crust recipe and I am thinking of practicing with another crust recipe that has ground almonds in it and looks to be a little sweeter and flakier! Practice makes perfect as they say...whoever "they" are!! ;-)

My Eclairs

These were a bit time consuming but well worth it. I researched out how to make the perfect "Pate a Choix" dough first. Made a decadent custard with a whole vanilla bean, eggs, milk, butter and sugar and a ganache for the top with some Italian Perugina chocolate and heavy cream. The recipe only made about a dozen but I was thinking I could have just them smaller if I wanted to make more of them. They were a big hit with our fellowship group.

Recipe for "My Best Cookie"

This is a recipe that I have adapted and made my own due to the different taste preferences in my family. The original recipe had wheat germ, raisins and shortening in it. I have tweaked it many times over the years and this has become a favorite among those who have tasted them.....

MY BEST COOKIE

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups oats
• 2 t. Madagascar vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 2 cups Reese's Pieces
• 1 1/2 cups high quality semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375*F. Mix sugars and butter in large bowl. Mix in oats, vanilla and eggs, one at a time. Stir in flour, baking powder and baking soda and mix until combined. Stir in peanut butter, Reese's pieces and chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded small cookie dough scoop onto cookie sheets that have been covered with parchment paper. Bake 9 to 10 minutes or just until cookies are set. Cool for a few minutes and remove from cookie sheet onto wire rack.

Alessandro Wade Cleveland

How cute is he? My brother's long awaited child!! What a wonderful addition he is to the family. There's nothing like a baby to get people together. And not only is he adorable but is such a good little guy.

I started a baby quilt for him way back in May and I must finish it before he's too old for it! Hoping that now that the holidays are over and I can disciplined to "get 'er done"!!

My Sweet Dog, Chloe

I love my dog...can you tell?

Wow, has it been this long??

Oh it has been! It's already the holiday season of 2010...and I am officially in my last year of being in my 40's! A true middle aged woman. I am glad to report that my family is well and we're getting through this hard economic transition....at least so far. It's just really hard to go backward..you know...when you're used to more of an easy cash flow!! I am always looking for deals and checking coupon expiration dates, among other things like, oh, like just not buying things!!

Well, this week I took a the whole week off! Yes, the whole week. And what I mean by that is that I purposefully did not schedule anything. No appointments, meetings, get togethers, lunches, coffees, have to lists for anyone. I looked at my schedule this week and saw that I had nothing scheduled and just had this miraculous idea that I would do only the things I have been trying to do but couldn't. For instance..laundry (yawn), ironing, gardening, finishing a baby quilt for my unborn nephew, baking for the holidays...etc... Well, guess what? It's just what was needed. It was like a sabbatical. I actually had a thought in my head and I even had time to do an actual crossword puzzle!!