Dump Cookies Courtesy of My New Kitchenaid Mixer

Have I told anyone it's my birthday? Happy Birthday me! Well, actually, it's not until Monday (Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday too), but I made sure to celebrate early this year.  What did I give myself? New pens? No, that's what I gave myself last year.  Some iTunes credits? Nope.  Moleskins? Already bought some for the new semester.  A Kitchenaid Mixer? YES!!! Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to my very first kitchenaid mixer.  I have yet to name him/her, much less assign its gender, but after years and years of pining after one, I finally bought the real deal--the industrial strength Kitchenaid Mixer that is essential to any real chef's kitchen (see an upcoming post on Kitchen Essentials in which I discuss the value of a real Kitchenaid Mixer in detail).

After spending an afternoon with Laura today, she casually said, "I could use dessert."  After humming and hawing about possible options--the begnet place around the corner (Coffee Call, hollah!)?, ice cream from the drug store?, a brownie from somewhere, or Sonic for chocolatey goodness? No, we decided that homemade cookies were necessary since I needed to break in the new mixer.

The below recipe is an adaptation of what is often referred to as a "Dump Cookie," a "Monster Cookie," or even a "Compost Cookie" although each of these carries its own variance in the ingredients list.  For this recipe, I'd like to refer to this as a "Dump Cookie a la Recession."  Basically, the concept is very simple--you mix a combination of what you have in the pantry cabinet for baking (chocolate/vanilla/butterscotch/peanut butter chips, nuts, candies, and really anything else you want in this recipe.  Through a combination of whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour mixed with peanut butter, and almond extract, the resulting cookie is so flavorful that it really takes several bites to taste all of what's going on in there.  This batch yielded about 30 medium-to-large cookies and originally comes from Elise Bauer over at Simply Recipes.  However, my version substitutes the wheat flour, adds almond extract to the vanilla extract combination, and really plays with what the filling ingredients are.  Welcome to Clearly Delicious Dump Cookies a la Recession.

Dump Cookies, Monster Cookies, Cookies a la Recession
One of the truly great things about this kind of cookie is that you can include any ingredient and it will still taste good.  Elise Bauer smartly noted on her food blog that there are certain combinations of Monster Cookies that please adults, others that are popular with children, and so on and so forth.  Below is my own version of this recipe, but I highly suggest looking into Elise's variances here.

*1/2 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
*1/2 cup of peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
*3/4 cup of granulated sugar
*3/4 cup of brown sugar, packed
*2 eggs, room temperature
*1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
*1 teaspoon almond extract
*1 teaspoon of baking soda
*1 teaspoon of salt
*2 1/4 cups of wheat flour

 Filling:
*1/2 cup of butterscotch chips, optional*
*1/2 cup walnuts, chopped, optional*
*1 cup of White Chocolate Chips, optional*

*Note: all of these ingredients can easily be substituted or played with.  However, you want to keep a 2 cup filling average when substituting.

1.) Preheat oven to 375F.  Add butter and peanut butter to mixer and mix on low speed until fully integrated and creamy.
2.) Add sugars 1/4 a cup at a time on medium speed.  Mix all sugars until light and fluffy.
3.) Add vanilla and almond extract and eggs.  Mix to integrate.
4.) Now add the dry ingredients.  Add baking soda until fully integrated.  Then, add the flour/salt mixture slowly.  Remember, every cook knows that the wet-to-dry ingredient combination is a delicate process and needs to be done the right way.  So, take your time sifting in the dry ingredients to your wet ingredients.  In the words of Alton Brown, "Remember Kids, Speed Kills!" So behave here.
5.) Once you've added your wet and dry ingredients, you should have a basic dough.  Now, add the filling ingredients--chocolate chips, nuts, etc. and mix on low speed to properly integrate.
6.) Lift mixer's head and scrape down bowl and mixing attachment.  Cover metal mixing bowl with seran wrap and refrigerate for about an hour if you have the time.  If you don't, this dough moves easily from fresh batter to pan, so cooking it instantly won't sacrifice the shape or texture of the cookie (probably because of the sturdyness of the wheat flour addition).
7.) Bake on a greased/sprayed cooking sheet for 8-10 minutes or until cookies' edges are light brown.  Cookies should be about an inch apart, and 6 medium-to-large cookies will fit on a standard cookie sheet. Transfer immediately to cooling rack or parchment paper to stop the cooking process.  Enjoy!

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Dog Biscuits

Ahhh, Christmas break. Time to enjoy sleeping in late, working on random projects, cleaning the house, and making dog biscuits. Dog biscuits? Yes, dog biscuits!

As many of my friends know, I have been the proud owner of a brindle/female greyhound since August. Her name is Eve, and despite her bodacious body (she's a runner you know), I like to refer to her as "ma petite grosse!" Meaning, in English, "my little fatty." It's a humorous nick-name because those of us who know her realize that despite her slamming greyhound figure, she is indeed a bit of a pig.

This year, in lieu of making regular batches of sugar cookies, breads, and candies for my family and friends, I decided to make dog biscuits. Almost everyone I know has a dog, and it seems a little crazy that such sweet animals would miss out on the holiday goodies we indulge our waistlines in. Thus, below are two recipes I baked today for my friend's and my pet: one is a meat-based biscuit made with real turkey, cheese, sage, and wheat, and the other is a sweeter biscuit made with almond butter.

Turkey Biscuits

The below recipe comes from BullWrinkle.  Unfortunately, after following the directions to a T, I realized that something was missing from the below ingredients list (water anyone?!).  Clearly, you cannot have a biscuit without water to activate the yeast.  Silly BullWrinkle.  Anyway, I've adjusted this recipe with the addition of 1/2 cup water, 2 more tablespoons oil, and sage instead of parsley.  The end result is aromatic (the kitchen smelled so good!) and a huge hit with the canine community.

Ingredients:

*2 cups cooked turkey -- cut up
*1/2 cup water
*2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
*4 teaspoons grated cheese
*1 tablespoon sage
*2 eggs, whisked separately
*2 cups whole wheat flour
*2 tablespoons brewer's yeast
*4 tablespoons vegetable oil

1.) Combine turkey, garlic, cheese, and sage.  Mix well. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and pour over turkey mixture.

2.) Add the flour, yeast, water and oil. Stir until thoroughly mixed and all ingredients are coated.  Mixture should look lumpy and be somewhat sticky in its dough form.

3.) Roll dough in the shape of balls (if dough is not sticky enough to form balls, then it probably needs more flour or water), and drop onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Cook in a 350F oven for about 20 minutes, or until brown and firm. These biscuits will not grow any larger in the oven from the original ball-shapes.  I have a feeling that if I experimenting with this recipe long enough and let the dough rise, we might have a fluffier biscuit.  However, this result would not be a traditional dog biscuit, but something more human-like in nature!

4.) Store in a refrigerator away from the eyes and nose of prying greyhound, and feed to pet when appropriate (i.e., "Good job! You just potty-trained correctly!").

Peanut Butter Cookie Biscuits

Since one batch of biscuits just isn't enough, I had to make the below recipe for peanut-butter biscuits for Eve.  The recipe is courtesy of The Poop Pantry, and has a few minor adjustments in the ingredients list as well.  Mostly, I changed the key ingredient, peanut butter, to what I had in my own pantry, almond butter.

Ingredients:

*1 cup water
*1 cup quick-cooking oats
*1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
*1/2 cup cornmeal

*1 egg
*1 tbsp. sugar
*1 tsp. salt
*1/2 cup milk
*1/3 cup peanut, or almond butter
*2-3 cups whole wheat flour (my recipe only needed 2, so shoot for 2 cups and if it needs more, add flour in small amounts towards 3 cups.  Be careful not to over-flour! You don't want this too be too dry!)

Glaze:
*1 large egg
*2 tbsp. milk

1.) Boil water in a saucepan. Add oats and butter. Let oats soak for ten minutes. Stir in the cornmeal, sugar, salt, milk, peanut butter, and egg. Mix thoroughly. Add the flour, one cup at a time (you may not need the entire amount) until a stiff dough forms. 

2.)Knead dough on floured surface until smooth, about 3 minutes. Roll to 1/2" thickness. Place on a greased cookie sheet.

 



3.) GLAZE: Whisk egg and add milk.  Mix well. Brush glaze on dough with a pastry brush. 

4.) Bake biscuits in a pre-heated 325F oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool completely. (NOTE: Unlike the turkey biscuits recipe above, these peanut butter biscuits do not need to be refrigerated.  However, I do suggest keeping them in an air-tight container like we do most foods.).