Tag: eating

My favorite chocolate chip cookies

kate2 Comments

I’m not sure why exactly baking is everyone’s particular obsession right now. Is it all the spare time at home? A desire for comfort food? Feeling guilty about panic buying too much flour and needing to put it to good use? Probably a little of all three.

I’m deep in it myself. I’ve nearly gone through a whole 5 pound bag of flour in less than a month. So far I’ve made cinnamon rolls, pancakes, waffles, and pita bread—each of these recipes is a tried and true favorite. I think next up I’ll make something totally new to me like bagels or pasta.

But the easiest and most comforting use I’ve found for my bag of flour is these chocolate chip cookies. It’s the only CCC recipe I use anymore and, with just a couple alterations, these cookies always turns out just how I like them—chewy inside, crisp and beautifully caramelized outside.

chocolate-chip-cookies

Here’s what I do differently:

  • Cut down the salt from 1 tsp to 3/4 tsp.
  • Cut down the chocolate chips from 12 oz to 10 oz (I know, I know, this sounds crazy, but as much as I love chocolate, 12 oz just ends up being a little too much. It’s even hard to shape the cookies since there’s not quite enough dough to bring all the chips together. With 10 oz you still get plenty of chocolate in each bite plus a more balanced chocolate to dough ratio. Bonus: a handful of chocolate chips leftover for snacking on once the cookies are all gone.
  • Make the cookies a little bit bigger. I did this by accident, but I like the results. Instead of the 30 cookie yield I get about 21-22 cookies.
  • I use light brown sugar (instead of dark brown) and dark chocolate chips (instead of semi-sweet), just because that’s what I usually have on hand.

3 sauces for a better dinner

kateLeave a comment

Anyone starting to get overwhelmed with so much cooking at home? When I’m in need of something easy, delicious, and leaning toward healthy, I always use the same equation: grain + protein + veggie + tasty sauce. The tasty sauce is really the star of the show here. It makes it easy to mix and match whatever grains or veggies you have on hand to easily pull together a fantastic meal.

Here are my three faves:

Spicy peanut sauce (via The Kitchn)

I love to put this on top of a bowl of stir fried veggies, brown rice, and Quorn steak style strips.

Blend until well-combined:

  • 1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy or chunky–I prefer natural peanut butter)
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons Sriracha (I love to sub Gochujang instead)
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons water until you reach your preferred consistency

Lemon tahini sauce

I make this sauce just about once a week, it’s so delicious and easy. I think it really shines on top of a bowl of farro with tempeh, roasted broccoli, and roasted sweet potato.

Blend until well-combined:

  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1/2 cup tahini
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • Dash of smoked paprika

BBQ sauce (via Post Punk Kitchen)

I used this sauce to make BBQ seitan the other day and then combined it with quinoa, sautéed garlicky kale, and roasted potatoes, all drizzled with more BBQ sauce. It was so good, I’m still thinking about it days later.

Blend until well-combined:

  • 1/2 cup vegetable broth
  • 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons molasses
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons peanut butter
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon prepared mustard (I use Dijon)
  • 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke (I subbed smoked paprika here since I didn’t have liquid smoke)
  • 1/2 teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce (again, I subbed Gochujang here!)