Fluffy Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies (3rd Version)

Fluffy Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies
*A Sebastian's Kitchen Original Recipe

This is a large party batch of cookies. If you don't feel like baking the entire dough batch, roll into balls and freeze the rest of the unbaked cookie dough. You can bake them later.

*Use SACO Cocoa Powder for half of the batch to make marble cookies (half cocoa, half plain).

S'sK Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cup salted butter, softened to room temperature
2 cup white sugar
2 cup brown sugar
6 eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 10 oz bags Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips

1.    Beat butter with a mixer until white and creamy.
2.    Add white sugar and brown sugar to butter bowl.
3.    Add eggs and vanilla extract; continue to beat until fluffy. Set aside.

4.    In a separate bowl add all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well with a fork.

5.    Add dry bowl ingredients to wet bowl - mixing with a fork until dough forms.

6.    Add chocolate chips to the dough and fold them in with a fork or spatula gently.

7.    Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
8.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
9.    Spoon dough on to parchment paper and flatten dough with hand.

10.    Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden on top. (Time depends on how big/thick you make your cookies.

Creamy Wild Rice and Veggie Soup

Creamy Wild Rice and Veggie Soup

Makes enough soup for 8-10 meals for two people

3 cups uncooked wild rice (Rice Select - Royal Blend Whole Grain Texmati brown and wild rice with soft wheat & rye)

1 teaspoon bouillon jelly or 1 cube veggie bouillon

1 bunch celery

2 leeks

2 lbs carrots

4 potatoes

Water

1 quart of half and half

Salt to taste

Step 1: Cook the wild rice in a separate pot from the rest of the soup.

1.       Follow directions on rice container for cooking the wild rice.

a.       Don’t add salt or butter to rice.

b.      7 ½ cups of water and 3 cups of uncooked rice mix.

c.       Pour water and rice into pot, cover pot.

d.      Turn stove top on and bring to a boil, stir once.

e.      Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes or until water is absorbed.

2.       Once rice is finished cooking, let cool, and place rice in refrigerator until soup is 15 minutes from being finished.

Step 2: Prepare Veggies – Wash and Cut

1.       Wash and cut celery and leeks.

2.       Wash, peel, and cut carrots and potatoes. (Cube the potatoes)

a.       The smaller you cut the potatoes, the quicker they will cook.

Step 3: Boil soup

1.       Use a large pot.

2.       Add enough water to fill pot about half way through.

3.       Place pot on stove top and turn stove top on to medium high heat.

4.       Add bouillon cube or teaspoon of jelly bouillon to water and stir well.

5.       Add celery, leeks, carrots, and potatoes to pot and start boiling.

a.       Most of the veggies should eventually be covered with water

6.       Once pot begins boiling, reduce heat to medium low, adjusting temperature on stove top as it cooks making sure water continues to boil.

7.       Boil for about 45 minutes to 1 hour until all veggies are soft.

a.       The potatoes are probably going to take the longest to cook.

8.       Stir pot every 3 to 5 minutes.

9.       Once veggies are soft, reduce heat to low.

10.   Add cooked rice to pot.

11.   Add your full container of half and half to the pot.

12.   Let cream simmer for about 10 minutes while stirring at least once a minute.

a.       Be careful not to overheat/over cook the cream or it will separate.

13.   Add salt to taste.

14.   Turn stove top off.

15.   If letting soup sit, make sure to stir every 10 minutes.

16.   Store soup leftovers in refrigerator, in an air-tight container.

Pumpkin Muffins

*Makes 2 dozen Pumpkin Muffins
This recipe is adapted from King Arthur Flour's Pumpkin Cake Doughnuts Recipe. I didn't have donut pans so I made them into muffins.
They don't rise a whole lot, so your cupcakes will be short and fat if you follow my directions.

Check out the original version here: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/pumpkin-cake-doughnuts-recipe
*This is my version, using more pumpkin and only cinnamon instead of pumpkin spice. Posted here for my convenience and so that I remember exactly what changes I made so that I can make this again.

Ingredients:   
1/2 cup canola oil
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 Farmer's Market Organic Pumpkin 15 oz can
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1. Add canola oil, eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder to bowl. Mix well.
2. Add flour until well incorporated.
3. Add cupcake liners to cupcake/muffin tins. Fill 3/4 of the way.
4. Add Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips to 1/2 of the batch. It's nice to have variety. :)
5. Bake at 350 F for 23 minutes.
6. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days max.

Rice Krispie Treats

Rice Krispie Treats

Ingredients:
8 tablespoons of butter (salted) (keep the little wax wrapper from the butter)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2, 10 oz bags jet-puffed Kraft marshmallows
1 12 oz box Rice Krispies



1. First get your big casserole and butter it up.
2. In a large pot, melt the rest of the butter from your butter stick on medium heat. It's quicker if you slice up your butter first.
3. Once butter is melted, add vanilla extract and stir.
4. Add marshmallows and melt, stirring continuously.
5. Add all the Rice Krispies. Stir well.
6. Once incorporated, remove from heat and pour into casserole.
7. Use the butter wax paper to lightly smash down the Rice Krispies into the casserole. Don't squish them too hard otherwise your Rice Krispies will be too compact and it will make it too hard to eat. We want fluffy Rice Krispie Treats!

No Bake Peanut Butter Bar Cookies

No Bake Peanut Butter Bar Cookies

Ingredients:
1 14.4 Oz box Honey Maid Honey Graham Crackers (makes a little over 3 cups crumbs)
3 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups butter
2 cups peanut butter


Directions

1. Use a food processor to grind up graham crackers into crumbs. Add to medium bowl.
2.  Add powdered sugar to graham cracker crumb bowl.
3.  If your butter is at room temperature, it's ready to use. Otherwise microwave cold butter until soft.
4.  Add peanut butter to butter and stir until well mixed.
5.  Add peanut butter mixture to graham cracker bowl. Mix until it forms a dough.
6. Grab a spoonful of dough and roll it into a ball. Add it to a baking sheet lined with wax paper and squish ball flat.
7. Add chocolate chips to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time until chips are melted, stirring between microwave sessions.
8. With a spoon, pour melted chocolate on top of cookies and let sit for 5 minutes.
9. Put in refrigerator to let it set for 15 minutes.
11. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator up to 5 days.

Peanut Butter Bars

Peanut Butter Bars:

Make this recipe the day before you need it. It tastes a lot better the second or even the third day of it just sitting in the refrigerator because the graham crackers will absorb the flavors.

Ingredients:
1 14.4 Oz box Honey Maid Honey Graham Crackers (makes a little over 3 cups crumbs)
3 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups butter
2 cups peanut butter


Directions

1. Use a food processor to grind up graham crackers into crumbs. Add to medium bowl.
2.  Add powdered sugar to graham cracker crumb bowl.
3.  If your butter is at room temperature, it's ready to use. Otherwise microwave cold butter until soft.
4.  Add peanut butter to butter and stir until well mixed.
5.  Add peanut butter mixture to graham cracker bowl. Mix until it forms a dough.
6. Spread the dough into a large pan.
7. Add chocolate chips to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time until chips are melted, stirring between microwave sessions.
8. Pour melted chocolate on top of dough in pan and let sit for 5 minutes.
9. Put in refrigerator to let it set for 15 minutes.
10. Cut into bars. If you wait too long to cut, the chocolate will have solidified and your cuts will be jagged.
11. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator up to 5 days.

My Favorite Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

Total cupcakes:  64
Today, I made a double batch of:
Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Filled Chocolate Cupcakes



*A Sebastian's Kitchen Original Recipe

*Makes about 32 cupcakes.
This recipe is my original formula for the classic cream cheese filled cupcakes that you see at bakeries. They are amazing! These are a crowd pleaser!

As always, the better the quality of the ingredients you put in, the better the quality of taste you will get out, so make sure to use the best! I use SACO Premium Cocoa to flavor my cocoa cupcakes. I also use Ghirardelli chocolate baking chips as they have a rich gourmet taste that makes everyone rave! Don't go for the store brand cream cheese either, let's get the good stuff and use Kraft Philadelphia cream cheese.

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

Filling:
1 (8 ounce) package Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 bag (5 oz) Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips 60% cacao

Cupcakes:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup SACO Dutch processed cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups water
2/3 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions
1.    Line cupcake tins with cupcake paper cups.
2.    In a microwave safe bowl soften cream cheese slightly for 10-20 seconds in the microwave. (Don’t melt it completely; we still want it to be solid but soft).
3.    Add softened cream cheese, egg, and white sugar to a medium bowl. Beat until creamy.

4.    Add chocolate chips and stir.
5.    Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set in refrigerator while you mix the cupcake batter.
6.    In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients: flour, white sugar, Dutch processed cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

7.    Make a well in the center of the bowl with dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients to the center of the bowl: water, canola oil, and vanilla extract.

8.    Stir wet and dry ingredients together with a fork just until batter is well incorporated. Do not over stir batter.
9.    Refrigerate batter for 5 to 10 minutes to thicken batter for scooping into cupcake tin cups.
10.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
11.    Fill cupcake tins a little over 2/3 full with cupcake batter.

12.    Add about a half a tablespoons worth of cream cheese filling on top of the batter right in the center of the cupcake.

13.    Bake for about 20-30 minutes or until tester comes out clean from batter. Baking time varies depending on the thickness of the batter in the cupcake tin.
    a.    Test one cupcake to see if it’s done by poking the cupcake with a toothpick or cake tester. If your tool comes out clean then your cupcake is done.
    b.    If you put the tester through the cream cheese filling, it will be sticky, so make sure to test the actual cupcake and not the filling as melted chocolate from the chocolate chips can throw off your results and make the cupcake appear to be underdone because the chocolate is melted and oozy.
 

14.    Let cupcakes cool at room temperature. If you are going to frost the cupcakes, do not do it while they are still warm or your frosting will melt! Once my cupcakes reach room temperature, I put them in the refrigerator to get cold before frosting.

I made a triple batch of:
Buttercream Frosting
I did have some frosting left over, but I did frost my cupcakes lightly.

Sebastian's Kitchen Favorite Buttercream Frosting

(1 batch)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup salted butter softened to room temperature
1/2 cup un-salted butter softened to room temperature
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
a pinch of salt to taste
Gel dye for dying colors (optional)

Directions:
1.    Unwrap softened butter from wrappers.
2.    Set butter into large mixing bowl.
3.    On medium high speed, beat butter in mixer for about 5-7 minutes until butter turns white.
    a.    Scrape sides of bowl with spatula often.

4.    Add heavy whipping cream and vanilla extract.
5.    Beat for 3-5 minutes.
6.    Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time.
    a.    Stir with a fork first and then use the mixer to avoid spilling powdered sugar everywhere.

7.    When frosting starts to thicken up, add salt, and add gel food dye (optional).
    a.    Only use a little gel dye or it will make your frosting taste bitter.
    b.    If you are making different colored frosting, separate frosting and then add dye gel to separate bowls.

8.    Continue beating frosting until it is finished.

    a.    Once frosting starts to thicken up, taste test to make sure just the right amount of salt is in the frosting. If it is too salty, add more heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar and continue beating.
    b.    Frosting should have a thick and airy consistency. It will hold the shape of piping tips very well. If your frosting is too runny, refrigerate a little to harden up.
9.    Scoop frosting into piping bag.
10.    Pipe frosting onto each cupcake in whatever design you want.
11.    Set frosted cupcakes in an air-tight container and refrigerate until ready to eat.
12.    If you prefer warmer cupcakes, you can leave them room temperature up to 3 hours before eating. Again make sure they are in an air-tight container.


*I used a #5 star tip from the Kuhn Rikon piping tip collection.

White Bread

This is a TESTER recipe just uploaded to test and try this recipe out for myself.  I'm still working on some of the details of this recipe, so try it at your own risk. :)

2 cups lukewarm water
2 tablespoons white sugar

2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

2 teaspoons salt

4-5 1/4 cups Bread Flour

Prep dough.

Add cold water from the sink into a microwave safe bowl, microwave for about 40 seconds, until warm.

Add sugar, and yeast, stir. Let yeast sit for about 10 minutes to bubble up.

Add salt and bread flour.

Let sit for 1-2 hours. Kneading once during the half-way point.

Separate dough in half.

Add both halves to parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Spray dough with boiling water before putting in oven. (I just poured it on with a spoon).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Let bake for about 30 minutes.

Bold = Needs to be tested