A Friday Buffet
No. 020 Well, it looks like winter is back (and so is my favorite hobby). So long spot of spring...
Hello!
As I scraped the layer of ice from the windshield of my car, a rite of passage of car-ownership in New England (or anywhere that “gets winter”), I thought how silly I was for thinking we had escaped the season fairly unscathed. Ha!
Last week we saw temps soaring to 60, a day when I ran errands without a jacket, and the promise of spring looked to be incredibly soon. Well, that morsel of magic is very much in the past and everything around our house is now encrusted in snow and ice. Lovely. And there is a fairly significant storm heading our way early next week. Hooray!
Honestly, I am ready for this mess to be done. I love sunshine, jacket-less days, and the option to wear any pair of sneakers I please from my closet. Is that too much to ask? I don’t think so. And now that we’re all on the mend over here from not feeling great - tastebuds are returning - I’m more excited than ever to usher winter into the past tense. Bring on spring!
Of course, time does not work that way and I’m sure we are still many weeks away from the real change of seasons. April, that tricky month, isn’t always as spring-like as we assume, but we’ll get to that when it finally arrives. March is next and I’m ready to march right into it. ;)
I have blabbed on for multiple paragraphs now about the weather and if you’re still reading…thank you! I know it’s not the most exciting topic, but I think it’s a constant category in New England when you get to this point in the season. You’ve done all the winter things, eaten all of the comfort food, and you’re just…ready for a change. I get it. I agree!
So while we anxiously wait for winter to pass and spring to surprise us all with its glory, flowers, and green goodness, I’ll share something I’ve been loving lately: Baking!
Have I told you about my love of baking? I’m sure it’s been mentioned in passing, but in case you forgot, I am a self-taught(!) baker, which is a hobby I decided to learn way back in 2017 prior to launching my blog.
I knew I couldn’t only discuss dinner, and restaurants, so I included a baking angle “Mollie Bakes…” which was originally a monthly series. Each month I tackled baking a different sweet treat, or savory baked good, which I had trouble finding a good gluten free version of to satisfy my cravings. So I made it myself!
I baked bread, buttermilk biscuits, various cookies, a couple cakes, and all sorts of other treats. The official series wandered in and out of the blog in favor of my main passion: cookies! I do love a buttermilk biscuit like no other, but I kept coming back to baking cookies. They’re just the best; and the biggest crowd pleaser.
As much as I love baking, the best part is sharing my creations with family and friends (and being thrilled when they don’t notice - or care - that everything is gluten free). Despite a batch of cookies looking awesome on the table (cookie photography is another hobby), it’s not the best idea to eat them all myself.
This week I was tempted to break out the butter and sugar when I saw a recipe featured on Instagram for - get this - chip-less chocolate chip cookies. Rejoice! Here’s an unpopular opinion: I do not want a lot of chocolate in my chocolate chip cookie. In fact, I’d prefer them to have a pretty minimal amount or, dare I say, lack of chocolate in the cookie. I know. That goes against everything normal about a chocolate chip cookie including the name itself. However, I do think the cookie dough is the best part, without chocolate, so I saved the recipe and got to work.
The recipe was very straightforward, quick to prepare, and had all of the usual suspects in the ingredients list. The game-changer for this cookie though, in addition to the absence of chocolate, was the fact that it had browned butter and a much higher amount of brown sugar to white sugar. In my opinion, these two adjustments to the “classic” cookie dough make for one heck of a great chip-less cookie.
Browned-butter takes several minutes to make and one must pay close attention while it is bubbling away (and eventually browning). It can go from perfect to pretty awful in an instant so don’t scroll on your phone while it’s happening. The higher level of brown sugar in the dough ensured we’d end up with a soft-and-chewy cookie, which is the superior option when you’re omitting the chocolate. That is a fact. ;)
I prepared the browned butter, I mixed all of the things, I added the gluten free flour, and soon enough the dough was ready. In favor of a smaller, thicker cookie, I chilled the dough in the fridge for a few hours prior to baking. This step is key! And when I was ready to bake, I didn’t let the dough come to room temperature. I just started portioning it out on to the cookie sheet - six per pan. Total bake time was around 10 minutes - I rotated each sheet halfway through baking.
Bonus cookie tip: I decided these buttery, chip-less wonders needed something extra. I whipped up a glaze (confectioner’s sugar, milk, vanilla) and dunked each one as if it were a donut requesting glaze. I sprinkled yellow sanding sugar on each one as a final spot of sparkle. Ta da! Chip-less cookies that aren’t missing a thing.
Baking during the winter is one of my favorite indoor activities that allows me to stay busy, keeps my stress in check, and yields something delicious! I had taken a baking break for quite some time last year, but I’ve found my passion again, thankfully. I’m so glad to keep my butter and sugar supply well-stocked as well as a variety of high-quality chocolate for those times when chocolate is a must. Not every cookie will be chip-less (hooray) so I’ve got to have the goods ready to go. ;)
Stay tuned for this new version of “Mollie Bakes…” returning to this little newsletter again soon…
For Inquiring [Foodie] Minds…
Pasta with Shrimp in Tomato Cream - Recipe by Colu Henry - This was our Valentine’s Day dinner! It was stellar and ridiculously rich and delicious. There’s literally nothing bad to say about a bowl of pasta with a rich, creamy sauce and shrimp. Too good!
Farfalle with Chicken, Bacon, and Broccoli - A homemade creation that was a full-on flavor blast thanks to the thick-cut bacon. Chicken and broccoli pasta is a weeknight mainstay around here, but adding bacon took it to a new level of awesome and scrumptious.
Mongolian Beef - Recipe from The Woks of Life cookbook - Our first dish from this excellent cookbook was a total, complete win. One of the most delicious dinners Seth has made recently (but I say that about all of them), this one in particular was extremely nostalgic. I was brought back to my favorite Chinese takeout of the early 1990s, pre-celiac, when I didn’t have a care in the world and got takeout every week with my family. I loved this dinner that instantly brought me back to a joyful moment in time; food is fascinating!
A Buffet for Today: 2/24/2023
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Cheers and joy,
Mollie
