Stacey Makes It

That's a mouthful.  And they are. These are my boyfriend's favorite cookies and my contribution to Selection Sunday in the office.  <sarcasm>Yay, March Madness.</sarcasm> Stacey's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Ingredients : 2 sticks of butter, salted, organic, softened 1c dark brown sugar, organic (can also use light brown) 1c white sugar, organic 3/4c unsalted, unsweetened smooth peanut butter, organic 1 tbs vanilla bean paste 2 eggs, organic 1 1/4c unbleached white flour, organic 1c whole wheat flour, organic 1/4c cornstarch 1c old fashioned oats (not quick-cook), organic 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 1/2c peanuts (roasted, unsalted) 1c Guittard milk chocolate chips 1c Guittard semisweet chocolate chips First, I preheated the oven to 350F. Then, I put the butter and sugars in the mixer and blended them together.  I added the eggs and blended at medium speed until fluffy.  Then I added the vanil...

I have this Snickerdoodle recipe from  The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book , but I always felt like they were too flat.  Here is my rendition. Stacey's Snickerdoodle Ingredients : 1.5c sugar, organic 1.5 sticks butter, salted, organic 2 oz coconut oil 2 eggs, organic 3c white flour, organic 1/4c cornstarch 1 tbs cinnamon 1 tsp baking soda 2 tsp cream of tartar 1/4 tsp salt For rolling: 1/4c sugar, organic 1 tbs turbinado sugar, organic 2-3 tsp cinnamon I preheated the oven to 375F.  Then I microwaved the butter and oil until the butter was partially melted.  I added the butter, sugar, and cinnamon to my standing mixer and mixed until combined.  Then I added the eggs and mixed until fluffy. Then I threw in the dry ingredients and turned the mixer on and off to the "stir" setting in a pulsing fashion until it was mixed.  Turn it on full blast "stir" and you'll have a flour-covered kitchen.  Once it became dough, I rolled 1....

My mom's favorite candy is when I make these and use them to make rocky road (of course with homemade marshmallows and premium chocolate). Stacey's Candied Spiced Hazelnuts Ingredients : 7.3 oz hazelnuts, peeled (instructions below) 1/2c sugar, organic (3.5oz) 1 tbsp (.5oz) butter, salted organic 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/8 tsp nutmeg (freshly ground) I usually only find hazelnuts that are in the peel (if shelled - I've never tried to shell my own hazelnuts) so the best way to peel them is to toast them a bit, then rub them against each other in a towel.  I used my toaster oven.  I keep my nuts in the freezer to make sure they don't go rancid.  So, I put them into a baking tray straight from the freezer into my toaster oven at 350F for 15 minutes.  When they came out they looked like this, peels cracked. I then dumped them into a towel (as many as could fit comfortably without falling out when I gathered the edges together). Once the edges were gathered together...

How much chocolate can you get into one chocolate chip cookie? Probably more than this, but it was still a lot. :) Stacey's Way Chocolate Chip Cookie Ingredients : 1c + 2 tbs sugar, organic 1 1/4c brown sugar, organic 2 sticks (1c) butter, halfway melted 2 oz coconut oil, organic 1 tbs vanilla bean paste 2 eggs, organic 2c white flour, unbleached, organic 1.5c whole wheat flour, organic 1/4c cornstarch 1/3c unsweetened Scharffen Berger cocoa powder 1 1/4 tsp baking soda 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 1/2 tsp salt 1c semisweet chocolate chips, Guittard 1c milk chocolate chips, Guittard 1c white chocolate chips, Trader Joe's First, I preheated the oven to 350F. Then I microwaved the butter and coconut oil until the butter was partially melted.  I added the butter and oil to the sugars and then added the vanilla bean paste in my standing mixer. I turned the mixer on at medium speed until it was combined.  Then I added the eggs and beat it until it was fluffy. ...

After I coated the marshmallows in white chocolate couverture, I had some extra white chocolate leftover and I decided to be brave and try making some white chocolate truffles.  I've tried and failed many times to make these.  Because of the high fat content in white chocolate, it tends to seize up and come out of emulsion fairly easily.  There are many painful memories mulling about in my mind of pounds of premium white chocolate couverture turning into a gloppy, oily mess. I started with a recipe from Chocolates & Confections . However, I didn't have any mint, I fear butter because it's even more fat in the recipe (and we just discussed what fat does), and I was afraid of making the whole batch.  So... without further ado... Stacey's Lemon Cream Truffle Ingredients : 2.5 oz heavy cream, organic Lemon zest from 1/2 a lemon (make sure peels are big, without getting the pith) 1 oz glucose syrup 17 oz white chocolate couverture (El Rey), tempered and at...

My mom and I decided to try and make water chestnut pudding.  I really didn't do much thinking and was really just helping do grunt work.  My favorite part about making this recipe with my mom was learning about how her mom's water chestnut pudding was the best, and that she was sad that she never learned her mom's recipe.  I think she also got her love of cooking / baking / entertaining with food from her mom.  Sadly, I never got to know my grandmother on my mom's side because she died before I was born. All these years, my mom's been trying to make water chestnut puddings and it took me 31 years to figure out why.  We used this recipe: http://cheateat.typepad.com/blog/2005/08/water_chestnut_.html And we used fresh water chestnuts.  My mom's notes, in the margin: 8.8 oz water chestnut flour (this is the box size, so no measuring here) 33.5 oz water 10.6 oz fresh water chestnuts 7.7 oz sugar 4 tbs vegetable oil First she had me peel the water...