Category — Hacked Cookie

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Originally uploaded by dieselboi

When I started this journey, someone asked me if I would try to do a spicy cookie. I immediately thought of Chipotle. Chipotle is a smoke dried jalopeno chili and I happened to have a whole huge bag of them. I’ll tell you now, I didn’t use them all, just a couple. I searched around the Internets for some ideas. Do I use flake chipotle or ground? Should I tear it up by hand or use a grinder? I opted for the grinder and ground up a couple of medium sized peppers in order to produce 1tsp of chipotle powder for the cookies. After cooking, I now have 2 or 3 tbsp of powder for cooking and such.

So, how do they taste? We have this phrase at the house - creeper heat! You don’t taste the spiciness upon first bite, but it creeps up on you in a couple of minutes. I could smell the smokiness while the cookies were cooking and had hoped that profile would have shown through in the final product. Maybe it will. When you place these hacked cookies in a closed container, you usually generate a smell profile that is inviting.

In the end, I enjoy the cookies and recommend them. I may tweak the recipe in another batch to do flakes instead of the power. Just adding more powder will make it spicier but not necessarily enhance the flavor.

Chipotle Chocolate Chip Cookie

1/2 cup Trader Joe’s butter (unsalted)
1/3 cup plus a spoonful of organic brown sugar
1/3 cup plus a spoonful of organic sugar
1/2 tsp organic vanilla extract
1 large white eggs (Stebbs Farms Cage Free veggie diet)

1 1/8 cups flour (I used normal unbleached flour from Gold brand)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp chipotle powder (ground from packaged chipotle peppers)
1/2 bag Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Chocolate Chips

Mix the butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Add eggs and whisk (I don’t have a blender.) Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Chill in fridge for about 30 minutes to firm up. Drop onto cookie sheet the size of a spoonful. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes. Cool on rack before storing.

Saltolate chip cookies

Salt. Everything tastes better with a little salt right? What about sweet chocolate chip cookies? I have been wondering why you put in 1tsp of salt in 5 cups of cookie dough. It doesn’t come through in the flavor, so what is the purpose? There may be a baking purpose, but one person’s answer to the question was - “salt makes it taste better.” So I began seeking out a recipe where salt would be a lead ingredient and came across this recipe on epicurious.
While making the cookies, I realized the recipe had a significantly lower amount of sugar and actually no brown sugar. I had assumed I would mix in a ton of salt with the dough, but that isn’t the case. The salt comes into play on top of the cookie. As with all my other cookies, I chilled the dough and then made small balls of dough on the cookie sheet. Lastly, I sprinkled flaky kosher salt over all the dough balls and baked.

The cookies came out almost white due to the lack of brown sugar. They are very fragile right out of the oven, so I let them cool on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes before moving them to the cooling rack. My first taste was great. The salt is right there, yet then you taste the cookie and chocolate and boom, a flavor explosion. Well, not really, but it is pretty darn good. Another nugget of discovery - the cookies have a biscuit quality. Is that due to not having the brown sugar? I must learn more.

Saltolate Chip Cookies

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
About 2 1/2 teaspoons sea salt, divided
5 oz Tillamook unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar (the recipe called for vanilla sugar, I did not have it)
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 bag Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Chocolate Chips

Mix the butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Add egg and whisk (I don’t have a blender.) Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Chill in fridge for about 30 minutes to firm up. Take the dough and roll into a ball and place on cookie sheet. Take kosher salt and sprinkle somewhat generously over dough balls. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes. Cool on rack before storing.

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Originally uploaded by dieselboi

Yep, it is that time of the year again, Oregon’s statehood birthday. On Feb 14th, Oregon will be 150yrs old. Pretty cool huh?

Oh yeah, and its also Valentine’s day. I have never liked this holiday because it implies that there is only day you buy your love flowers or chocolate. It creates a duty that must be done. Blerg! I tell people daily how much I love them. You reading this - I love you! See, and today isn’t the 14th. And I didn’t have to buy you a card and flowers and candy and….

OK, enough ranting. I saw red, pink and white M&M’s at the store the other day and thought - bing!, a Valentine cookie. Replace the chocolate chips with M&M’s and you have a colorful and tasty hack. I love that the outer shell of the M&M stays in tact during backing. When I bite in, I get a sense that the M&M chocolate is cooler than the rest of the cookie - as if it were minty (which it is not.) A strange sensation and a taste that forced me to walk away or I would have eaten them all last night. You should try this one for your honey.

Valentine M&M cookies

1 cup Tillamook butter (salted)
3/4 cup organic brown sugar
3/4 cup organic sugar
1 tsp organic vanilla extract
2 large white eggs (Stebbs Farms Cage Free veggie diet)

2 1/4 cups flour (I used normal unbleached flour from Gold brand)
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 bag chocolate M&Ms - Red/Pink and White

Mix the butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Add eggs and whisk (I don’t have a blender.) Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Chill in fridge for about 30 minutes to firm up. Drop onto cookie sheet the size of a spoonful. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes. Cool on rack before storing.

Orangy Chocolate Chippy

One of my first cookie hacks was to add the zest from an orange to the mix before I baked them. I’m not sure why I did it other than I was eating an orange while I was making the cookies and just thought - hey, what about zest? I have a pretty basic grater, so just threw it in, along with some juice.

The orange flavor adds so much to the cookie and reminded me that when I go to the store, I usually see chocolate bars with orange. What would a cookie be like with other citrus zet? Lemon? Lime? Grapefruit? Does grapefruit zest have a strong grapefruit flavor? Hmm, gotta try that.

Orangy Chocolae Chippy Cookie

1 cup Tillamook butter  (salted)
3/4 cup organic brown sugar
3/4 cup organic sugar
2 large white eggs  (Stebbs Farms Cage Free veggie diet)

2 1/4 cups flour (I used normal unbleached flour from Gold brand)
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp organic vanilla extract
1 bag Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Chocolate Chips
2 tbsp zest from Valencia orange.

Mix the butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl.  Add eggs and beat.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.  Chill in fridge for 30 minutes.  Drop onto cookie sheet the size of a spoonful.  Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.