Brown Butter Ginger Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

Even though I've found the BEST chocolate chip cookie HERE, I still can't resist trying yet another recipe.  Besides, this recipe was kinda different from all the others since it called for the addition of ginger.  It sounded like a delicious twist to your everyday cookie.

What I really liked about these cookies was their texture.  They stayed thick, even after baking, and had this amazing crisp exterior that gave way to an absolutely perfect chewiness within.  It was the kind of cookie that you'd get from a bakery.  And, even though I couldn't taste the ginger, they still tasted fantastic.  I gave these to someone for their birthday and was told that they couldn't get enough of them and that they were gone in no time.  Which means that these cookies are definitely worth making (and giving if you can bear to part with a few of them).

Brown Butter Ginger Chocolate Chip Cookies
(adapted from Une Gamine dans la Cuisine)

11 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. + 3 Tbsp. light brown sugar
1 tsp. ginger powder
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Melt 10 Tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan (set the remaining 1 Tablespoon aside). Cook over medium heat, swirling occasionally, until the butter turns brown and develops a rich nutty aroma- about 5-8 minutes, depending on the heat. {Note: The butter will go through a "foamy" stage, once it settles down, keep a close watch on the colour.} Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Set aside to cool to room temperature. 

Combine the cooled brown butter with the remaining 1 Tbsp. butter.  Beat with the sugars.  Add the egg and beat to combine.  Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ginger powder.  Add to the butter-sugar-egg mixture and mix well.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. For each cookie, measure out about a 1/3 cup of dough (I made my cookies smaller - about 2 Tbsp. each). Form each into a ball, place on the cookie sheet, and flatten slightly (to a little less than 1/2-inch thickness). Once all the dough has been measured out, cover the sheet with plastic wrap and chill for about 12 hours. {Note: The longer you chill the dough, the better the flavour!}

When you're ready to bake: Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line another cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place about 4 cookies on the sheet--leave about 1-inch of space between each cookie. Bake for 8-11 minutes, or until the cookies are light golden in colour.

Note:  I forgot to let them chill for the 12 hours, but will definitely do it next time.  Either way, the cookies still tasted great.   

Barbecue Chicken Sandwich Rolls

For this month's Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned to Jessica of The Inquiring Chef.  Do you know that she lives in Thailand?  So lucky!  I absolutely love Thai food and I can only imagine the wonderful access she must have to both the food and the exotic ingredients to make it.

Her blog is filled with yummy recipes that she came up with herself and it was with great joy that I chose to make her Barbecue Chicken Sandwich  Rolls.  In case you didn't know, she grew up in Kansas with some great barbecue so these rolls are part of her personality and I wanted to showcase that.  Besides, I love barbecue myself as well as baking bread, so this recipe was perfect for me.

I had some chicken tenders in my freezer, so I poached those and used them instead of roasted chicken.  I also made my own barbecue sauce instead of using storebought.  In addition, I changed the method of making the rolls a little, but otherwise, kept the recipe the same.

Eating these rolls reminded me of my favorite baked char siu bao (now I totally want to fill them with char siu aka Chinese barbecued pork).  The rolls were super fluffy and soft, slightly sweet, and paired deliciously with the barbecue chicken filling on the inside.  My only regret is that I didn't use more filling in the rolls.  But, even then, my family declared this recipe to be fantastic and they thoroughly enjoyed eating them.  I would love to try these rolls with other fillings in them, the char siu for instance or curried chicken or even sloppy joe filling.  The possibilities are endless.

And, speaking of possibilities, since I'm very much a sweets person, I went ahead and filled some of the buns with leftover chocolate ganache that I had in my fridge.  Voila!  Chocolate filled sweet buns.  Spread them with some raspberry jam and ohhh so good.  So, if you do what I did, you'll have dinner and dessert with one recipe.  Can't beat that.

Thanks Jessica for your delicious recipe.

Barbecue Chicken Sandwich Rolls (adapted from The Inquiring Chef)

3 Tbsp. warm milk (I used yogurt)
2 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
1 c. warm water 
2 1/2 Tbsp. sugar (I increased this to 4 Tbsp.)
3 and ¾ cups all-purpose flour (plus about ½ cup extra for shaping the rolls) (I used 1 c. bread flour + 2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour)
1 tsp. salt
2 ½ Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs (separated – 1 for dough and 1 for egg wash)
2 cups shredded and roughly chopped, roasted chicken (I used poached chicken breasts)
½ cup barbecue sauce (can use storebought or your own homemade sauce)

Combine the warm water with the yeast and a pinch of sugar and let sit for 5 min. till foamy.  Combine the yeast mixture with the melted butter, sugar, milk or yogurt, and the egg and mix well.  Add 1 cup of bread flour and the salt and mix well.  Add the rest of the flour and mix well till combined.  Knead the dough as best as you can until it forms a smooth ball.  Put the dough into a well-greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in size, about 1-2 hours.

Combine the chicken with the barbecue sauce and mix well.     

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Using lightly floured hands, remove 1/4 of the risen dough and gently roll it into a cylinder, approximately 8 inches long.  (The dough will be quite sticky, but add only as much flour as you need to prevent it from sticking to your hands.)  Using a knife or dough scraper, cut the cylinder of dough into 8 even pieces. Flatten each piece into a circle. Drop one teaspoon of the chicken mixture into the center of each dough circle. Pull the sides of the dough around the filling and twist them together firmly to seal the chicken inside. Place each filled roll, seam-side down on parchement paper.

Let sit until doubled in size, about 30 min.  Preheat oven to 350F.  
 
Brush the top of each roll liberally with a beaten egg.

Bake until the surface of the rolls are golden brown, 18-20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note:  Alternately, you could fill each piece of dough with a teaspoon of chilled chocolate ganache.  







 

Chocolate Covered Brownie S'mores Sandwiches

 

I love it when I have a new idea for some over-the-top treat.  It gets me so excited and I can't wait to get into the kitchen and try it out.  You know you've had your moments like this too and you feel like Edison probably did when he thought up the light bulb.  Of course, it's not like a treat is as important as the light bulb, but it's still a good thing, nonetheless.

Anyway, back to the idea.  I was thinking about s'mores and how to go about creating what would be, to me, the ultimate s'mores ever.  This would be rich, it would be decadent, it would be overly indulgent and require at least an hour or two at the gym to work it off, but oh it would be worth it. 

 

I started off with chocolate dipped graham crackers.  Then, I'd top them with a layer of brownie.  But, not just any brownie.  True, you could use a boxed mix, but like I said, this had to be the ultimate.  So, I used the absolute best brownie recipe ever - Alton Brown's Cocoa Brownies.  I've posted about these before HERE and mentioned how they are so fudgy and dark that they'll blow your mind.  Well, this was the time to use them.

 

As you can see, I cut the pan of brownies into two layers, cut them to fit the graham crackers, and put one uber-fudgy layer onto each one.  I know, you're wondering, why go to all the trouble of having to cut it into layers?  Why not just bake them in a bigger pan?  Well, this particular brownie recipe bakes up thicker than other recipes and the gooey-est part is on the inside, underneath the crackly top.  I figured that if I baked them thinner, I just wouldn't get that same moist fudginess.  At least that was my reasoning and it seemed to hold true.   

I then whipped up a marshmallow frosting.  I used a dab of the marshmallow frosting under each brownie to hold it in place.  Then, I dolloped the frosting onto the brownies and spread it into a nice thick layer.  Finally, I topped it with another chocolate covered graham cracker.  I also tried to cover the entire thing in chocolate but soon realized that it was going to take way too much time and way too much chocolate (in hindsight, I should have just made some ganache and poured it on, but, I can do that next time).  So, I went the easy route and just spread the chocolate on the graham crackers and left it at that. 

 

Finally, I chilled the sandwiches.  This makes the brownies even more like fudge and solidifies the frosting a little so that it truly becomes like marshmallows. 

The best part, of course, was eating them.  All that chocolate on the outside shatters when you bite into it, then you crunch into the graham cracker and your teeth sink into that soft, fluffy, marshmallow frosting and sinfully rich brownie.  It's a s'mores experience like no other.  Mmmmmm.  All the best s'mores flavors and you don't even need a fire. 

 

Chocolate Covered Brownie S'mores Sandwiches
(created by Sweet as Sugar Cookies)

Alton Brown's Cocoa Brownies: 
4 large eggs
1 c. sugar, sifted
1 c. brown sugar, sifted
1 c. butter, melted
1 1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. flour, sifted
1/2 tsp. kosher salt

18 graham cracker sheets
2 c. chocolate chips, melted
2 tsp. canola or vegetable oil

Marshmallow Frosting 
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 (7 oz.) jar marshmallow fluff
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla


For the brownies:
Preheat oven to 300F.  Line an 8x8 pan with foil, leaving some to hang over the sides.

Melt the butter.  Add the sugars and mix well to combine.  Mix in the cocoa powder.  Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl until well combined and add to the butter-sugar-cocoa mixture along with the vanilla.  Stir in the flour and salt until just combined.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 45 min. (mine took 1 hour). Check for doneness with the tried and true toothpick method: a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan should come out clean (I took mine out of the oven while they were still slightly gooey in the center). When done, remove to a rack to cool for 45-60 min.

For the marshmallow frosting:  
Beat the butter with the marshmallow fluff until well combined.  Beat in the powdered sugar until light and fluffy.  Stir in the vanilla. 

For the graham crackers:
Carefully slice each graham cracker sheet in half so that you end up with 36 separate crackers.  Melt the chocolate chips and stir in the oil until smooth.  Dip one side of each graham cracker into the melted chocolate, lay out on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, and chill in the fridge for 15 min. until chocolate is hardened.

For the assembly:
When the brownies are cool, lift them out using the foil.  Put the graham crackers on top and cut the brownies to fit the graham crackers (you should be able to get 9 squares total).  You'll have some of the edge scraps left over (you can just eat those).

Lay the graham cracker, chocolate side down on a piece of parchment paper or a cookie rack.  Smear a little marshmallow frosting onto each cracker.  Cut each brownie in half, horizontally so that you have two layers (the top and the bottom).  Put each layer of brownie one of the frosting covered graham crackers.  Spread each brownie evenly with 1 Tbsp. of marshmallow frosting.  Top with another chocolate covered graham cracker.  If desired, you can go ahead and cover the entire sandwich with chocolate.  Chill in the fridge until ready to eat.    

Makes 18 sandwiches

Note:  If you decide to cover the entire sandwich with chocolate, you'll probably need to double the amount of chocolate chips and oil in the recipe.