Black & White Cookies

Looking for a harmonious treat? Then look no further! The black and white cookie represents equality and coming together as one. Don't believe me? Watch Seinfeld and your perception will change. ;) 

Backstory: I love Seinfeld. The husband and I own the collection on DVD as well as on iTunes. We watch them before bed every night. There is an episode where Jerry has an insight on the black and white cookie. Ever since that episode I have wanted to make a black and white cookie. It seems like a weird reason to want to bake something, but I have also read how soft and cake-like these can be. 

XO, 

Brooke

Ingredients: 

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/3 to 1/2 cup water
3 ounces very bitter or unsweetened chocolate
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1 to 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

Preheat oven to 375°. Yields about 60 cookies.

For the cookie: In large mixing bowl, combine sugar and butter until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, then milk and extracts, and mix until smooth. Scrape down bowl.

In medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, and salt. Stir until mixed. Add dry mixture to the wet in batches, stirring well after each addition. Using a tablespoon, place heaping spoonfuls of the dough 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake until edges begin to brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool completely.

For the frosting: Boil a cup or so of water in a small pot. Place confectioners’ sugar in large, heat-safe mixing bowl. Gradually stir in enough boiling water to the sugar to make a thick, spreadable mixture. Be careful not to make too runny. You want a consistency that hardens after applying. Leave remaining boiling water on the stove.

Spread frosting on half of the flat side of each cookie. Once all cookie halves have been frosted, place the bowl of the remaining frosting over the hot water and bring it back to a simmer (creating a double-boiler). Stir in the bitter or unsweetened chocolate until melted, as well as the light corn syrup. 

Ice the remaining half of the cookies with the chocolate frosting. Adding in a teaspoon of the hot water if consistency is dry.

Let the frosting set. Store in an airtight container. These cookies keep for only a few days, since they are on the cakier side. In my house they didn’t even last that long so it didn’t matter. ;) 

Note: If your batter looks like this, don't be frightened, you are on the right path!

3 Generation Brownies

I've known these brownies since I was little. My grandma has always made them as well as my mom. My husband tasted them when we were first dating, 7 years ago, and fell in love with them. They are not light like your normal brownies, these babies are dense & chewy. The only difference between these brownies and the original recipe is the frosting. My mom always just bought chocolate frosting and I just can't do that. I decided on a really fudgey frosting for extra richness. So yum! You definitely get a sugar rush from these. 

Now I'm going to give you the recipe for the regular 9x13 dish, I half them sometimes because it's hard to finish a huge pan of brownies without feeling really bad. Haha. So if you have a mean conscience, like me, you can just half this recipe.

Ingredients:

2 C all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 unsweetened chocolate squares

2/3 C butter

2 C sugar

4 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 C chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Melt chocolate and butter together in microwaveable bowl, it's best to melt chocolate for 30 seconds first, add the butter for another minute. Mix sugar, eggs, and vanilla in large bowl for 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add the chocolate and butter to wet ingredients, mix until just combined. Add dry ingredients. Grease a 9x13 pan with butter and dust with flour. I have found this to be the best way to get these brownies out after baking since they are so dense. Spread batter into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. Once done let cool for 30 minutes and frost. Don't you worry, I'll give you my frosting recipe!

Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients: 

3 1/2 oz milk chocolate chips

3 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

2 C powdered sugar

1/4 C milk

1/4 C butter, softened

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

Melt chocolate in double boiler over stove, or in a glass bowl over boiling water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth. You could also put the chocolate in the microwave, checking every 30 seconds until fully melted. 

Pour the chocolate into mixing bowl of a mixer and add powdered sugar, milk, butter, vanilla, and salt. Beat until smooth, I used the whisk attachment this last time and it made the frosting slightly fluffier which I liked. You can use either attachment. Since this frosting is slightly warm I always let it sit for 30 minutes while the brownies are cooling. Once set, you have 2 options. The first option is what I do, I flip the brownies onto a platter and then frost them. Your second option would be to frost in the pan and cut as you want a piece. Either way they taste awesome! Top with nuts and enjoy!

Healthy-ish Oatmeal Banana Cookies

Every time my bananas get this way, I scramble to find a way to use them! I hate when I buy them and I don't finally think about eating them until they get to this stage.



This recipe is adapted from This Recipe

So, I really do this when I need to go off a recipe- I find it on my laptop, I email it to myself and pull it up on my iPhone...then use this nifty holder...it really is awesome, right?! Barnes & Noble if you must know!

These are the Ingredients that I used to make them Healthy-Ish..

 

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/2-1 cup Reduced-fat Peanut Butter

4 tablespoons maple syrup

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt (note: if you are using salted peanut butter, you may not need any salt, do a taste test with the batter)

½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

In a large bowl, mix bananas, vanilla, peanut butter and maple syrup into a creamy consistency (best to do with a hand mixer).

In another bowl, combine oats, flour, baking powder and salt

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until they are well combined, the batter should be slightly sticky. Fold in the chocolate chips. The batter will be somewhat runny, this is ok.

Place heaping tablespoon-sized balls of the batter onto a parchment lined (silpat if you have one) cookie sheet and cook for 13-15 minutes.

Makes around 2 dozen cookies. You can see how you can easily make these Gluten Free cookies as well, for instance, I used the brown rice flour, but you can find gluten free vanilla extract, baking powder and you can use other flour combinations. I am not entirely sure if semi sweet chocolate chips are, but I would think Dark chocolate chips would be?

They stay this shape when you bake them, so I loaded my baking sheet.

The final product...YUM! and I am just going to say it..cause my Husband said it ...These are Yummy Banana Chocolate Balls! We are going to save them for the week as a quick breakfast in the morning.