Short entry #3: Books & chocolate chip cookie bars
I've been on a Discworld marathon, of sorts.
I quite liked Reaper Man - it was funny, but more moving than I expected, too.
Equal Rites and Sourcery were both very good, and I laughed quite a bit - no small compliment!
I've got to order the next couple in the series from the Library soon - probably tomorrow.
I stayed home today, incidentally. The winter storm warning this morning, coupled with surprising heavy snowfall when I got up, made that a pretty easy decision. I'm not going to drive 20 miles on slippery roads with Sebastian in the back seat - no way. His school closed early, incidentally.
I baked another batch of chocolate chip cookie bars today. I hadn't baked any in years, but decided to make some on a whim last week. Sebastian took one taste, and his eyes got huge. "These are the best brownies in the whole world!" he said.
I use the standard Toll House cookie recipie, with a few slight changes:
1. Double the vanilla extract, from 1 tsp to 2 tsp. That works for almost any baked goods; vanilla is magical.
2. Halve the chocolate chips. I did that, and even so the chocolate flavor is a bit overpowering; since the cookie part of the bar is SO delicious, that's a pity.
3. Make sure to use real butter, and make sure it's unsalted.
4. Instead of using 3/4 cup each of white granulated and brown sugar, I use one cup of dark brown sugar and one-half cup of granulated; it makes the cookies more flavorful and moist. I'm thinking of substituting light brown sugar for the 1/2 cup of granulated, actually.
5. Once I used a whole wheat flour instead of white flour. The results were very interesting; there was more texture and flavor, in a good way. But it wasn't necessarily better, so I don't use whole wheat flour as a rule. If I happened to have some, though, I'd probably consider using it.
6. As soon as I take the pan out of the oven, I put it on a cooling rack and cover it with a large baking (i.e. cookie) sheet. This seals in the moisture. The result is very moist and dense bars - they almost seem like cookie dough - but they are, in fact, completely cooked. And delicious.
I quite liked Reaper Man - it was funny, but more moving than I expected, too.
Equal Rites and Sourcery were both very good, and I laughed quite a bit - no small compliment!
I've got to order the next couple in the series from the Library soon - probably tomorrow.
I stayed home today, incidentally. The winter storm warning this morning, coupled with surprising heavy snowfall when I got up, made that a pretty easy decision. I'm not going to drive 20 miles on slippery roads with Sebastian in the back seat - no way. His school closed early, incidentally.
I baked another batch of chocolate chip cookie bars today. I hadn't baked any in years, but decided to make some on a whim last week. Sebastian took one taste, and his eyes got huge. "These are the best brownies in the whole world!" he said.
I use the standard Toll House cookie recipie, with a few slight changes:
1. Double the vanilla extract, from 1 tsp to 2 tsp. That works for almost any baked goods; vanilla is magical.
2. Halve the chocolate chips. I did that, and even so the chocolate flavor is a bit overpowering; since the cookie part of the bar is SO delicious, that's a pity.
3. Make sure to use real butter, and make sure it's unsalted.
4. Instead of using 3/4 cup each of white granulated and brown sugar, I use one cup of dark brown sugar and one-half cup of granulated; it makes the cookies more flavorful and moist. I'm thinking of substituting light brown sugar for the 1/2 cup of granulated, actually.
5. Once I used a whole wheat flour instead of white flour. The results were very interesting; there was more texture and flavor, in a good way. But it wasn't necessarily better, so I don't use whole wheat flour as a rule. If I happened to have some, though, I'd probably consider using it.
6. As soon as I take the pan out of the oven, I put it on a cooling rack and cover it with a large baking (i.e. cookie) sheet. This seals in the moisture. The result is very moist and dense bars - they almost seem like cookie dough - but they are, in fact, completely cooked. And delicious.