"Spicy Hot Chocolate" Chip Cookies

There are few flavor combinations that are as intriguing and exciting as cayenne and chocolate... 

        During the summer I spent a much needed week in Asheville, NC eating and drinking myself silly.   My boyfriend and I spent our evenings gluttonously devouring awesome vegetarian food and great craft beer.   We really lived it up every night, which didn’t exactly result in us waking up feeling refreshed in the morning.  Luckily Asheville has some excellent coffee shops.  One that we particularly liked... well actually really loved, was the Battery Park Book Exchange.  If you are ever in Asheville you need to go spend a couple of hours (or a couple of days) in this place.  It is a two story coffee and wine bar that is filled, and when I say filled I mean crowded with books.  There are these little sitting areas placed in little rooms amongst the books.  It felt like we were hanging out in the attic of the most interesting person in the world.  Not to mention, this is place is dog friendly!  So you’re surrounded by books, drinking amazing coffee, and hanging out with your dog... or someone else’s dog. 

        Their coffee menu was very unique, it was unlike anything you could get in Augusta.  I tried their Doberman which is a spicy mocha made with dark chocolate, mexican chocolate, and topped with cayenne pepper.  Just typing that made me want one!  It was one of those lattes that you never want finish, but you end up finishing it in less than ten minutes because it is that good. 

            So as a tribute to the Doberman and to wonderful Asheville, I give you "Spicy Hot Chocolate" Chip Cookies.  These cookies have luscious chocolate flavor that is complimented well by the warmth of cinnamon and the subtle burn of the cayenne.  Of all of the cookies that I have made these have been the most addicting. 

What you need:

• 2 sticks cold and cubed unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup dark cocoa powder
• 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips 
• 1 cup of white chocolate chips 
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar plus 2 tsp cinnamon for topping 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Using an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.
2. Add eggs and beat until well-incorporated, then add the vanilla and briefly mix 
3. Beat in cocoa powder, cayenne, and cinnamon
4.  Mix in flour, salt and baking powder until just combined. Gently fold in remaining chocolate chips... using clean hands to mix the dough in a large bowl  works well. 
5. Using a greased tablespoon or a cookie scoop measure out 1oz (2tbsp) cookies. This measurement yields about 20 cookies.  I like to measure out my cookies and pop them into the freezer for about twenty minutes. This makes it easier to shape the cookies into rounded balls, and the freezing also results in a moister cookie in the end. However you don’t have to freeze  your cookies. 
6. Before baking, gently roll the tops of your cookies in the cinnamon sugar mixture. This gives the cookies a nice crunchy topping similar to a snicker doodle. (I feel that it is important to mention that this recipe was slightly of inspired by the Vegan Mexican Hot Chocolate Snicker Doodle recipe in Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar)
7. Bake for 16-20 minutes until edges become firm 
8. Cool on a cooling rack for about 5 minutes and enjoy! 

Spicy music to bake to...

I hate to admit it, but I think that I am a closet Black Keys fan... and I guess that this was my coming out... 

Anti- Fall... Raspberry Lemon Scones

Today I was seriously craving a nice scone to go with my coffee.  I really have a super soft spot for Starbucks’ Cranberry Orange scones, and I seriously considered just going out and buying one for breakfast.  But come on!!  I am trying to perfect my baking skills and simultaneously write a super awesome baking blog, so buying a scone would just be plain cheating!!  So I decided to bake some scones.  I love Fall almost just as much as I love baking with Fall ingredients (ie pumkin); however I fear that my blog might get a little monotonous if I spent the entire months of October and November baking with pumpkin.  (Plus baking over 200 pumpkin cookies in a week can cause one to have a temporary aversion to pumpkin).  I decided that today I would bake the Anti-Fall Scone, and I felt that Cranberry Orange was still a little too fall friendly. 

My raspberry lemon scones were fresh, tart, bright, and just screamed “SUMMER!” However in my opinion they are pretty much perfect for anytime of year because they are awesome and pretty healthy (well healthy in the world of scones). 

Fresh out of the oven... notice the exciting pink color of the berries. 

Moist... delicious... berry... goodness! 

What you need for the scones:

• 2 cups plus 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, chilled and diced
• 1 cup fresh raspberries
• 1 large lemon (for zest and juice)
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 2 large eggs (I’ve never mentioned this before, but I always use large brown cage free eggs in all of my recipes. I really think that they taste better and result in a better product. Not to mention they’re slightly more ethical than regular cheap eggs)
  

What you need for the glaze:

• 1cup confectioner’s sugar
• 2 tbsp of lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Combine 2 cups flour, brown sugar, baking powder and kosher salt in a large mixing bowl. 
2. Add chilled butter and cut into flour mixture (using a pastry cutter. If you don’t have one you can use a a fork or whisk, but make sure you’re cutting the dough and not simply mixing) until butter resembles pea-sized pieces.
3. In a small bowl, combine raspberries, lemon zest, and 1/4 cup flour. Stir until berries are well coated with the flour, then add to flour and butter mixture and stir to combine. Try to avoid breaking your berries too much, but a little breakage will be alright. 
4. In a separate large mixing bowl, use a whisk to beat together yogurt and egg until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. 
5. Using a greased 1/4 cup measuring cup scoop out rounded scones onto a greased baking sheet leaving a little over 1 inch between each scone. This should yield about 10 large scones. (For triangular scones you could also kneed your dough and roll it out onto a floured surface. Roll your dough out in a circle about 3/4 inch thick and cut into triangles.)
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned. 
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool on cooling rack for about five minutes. 
8. Drizzle with or dip in the lemon glaze. 

Music to bake to...  Trust me its not a weird song about lemons, or berries, or summer. 

For the past month I have not been able to get enough Real Estate! This cd has been on repeat in my car for what feels like forever! I believe the whole album is on youtube... lucky you! Its awesome to bake to, or just to listen to! 

Spiced Pumpkin Cookies

      I am seriously excited.... its officially the time of year when I get to eat PUMPKIN FLAVORED EVERYTHING!!  Obviously many people share my enthusiasm for pumpkin season, because as soon as Libby’s Pumpkin Puree hit the shelves of my local supermarket it pretty much sold out. I have been wanting to make pumpkin cookies since summer, but I had to wait until the second week of fall (which I think was too long of a wait) to make some deliciously soft pumpkin cookies. In hind sight I think I should have been really cool and made my own pumpkin puree, but I didn’t so what can you do? 

     I baked my first batch of (vegan) pumpkin cookies the day I got my hands on some canned pumpkin. They were soft like cake, and I some how found a way to pair them with every meal... cup of coffee...glass of water.  They were so delicious I decided to bake over 100 of them.  Well I didn’t really decide to bake 100, I was actually commissioned (like I got paid, yay!) to bake 100 cookies for a local art auction.  Just let me tell you baking 100 cookies sounded pretty easy... it wasn’t.  Although it was really messy and nerve wracking at times, I feel like I learned a lot about baking, about cleaning, and about my awkward inclination to lick my fingers (which I know is not cool when you’re baking for the public).  So here you go, Spiced Pumpkin Cookies!!

This is what about 50 cookies looks like... imagine 100!

Drizzled glaze... it looked really pretty when it hardened. 

What you need for the cookies:

• 2 1/2 cups AP flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
• 1 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Spiced glaze:

• 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground clove 

What to do:

1. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger and salt in a mixing bowl
2. Using a hand mixer, beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until well blended 
3. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract until smooth 
4. Gradually beat in flour mixture 
5. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets
6. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until edges are firm (15 was plenty of time for my cookies). 
7. Transfer to wire racks and allow time to cool completely. 
8. Glaze!! You can glaze these cookies however you like, but in my opinion the glaze really makes the cookie. I enjoyed them best with a lot of glaze spread over the top using a spoon. I used a piping bag to drizzle the glaze on the cookies that I baked for the commission. Its really up to you though. 
9. EAT THOSE COOKIES!!  

Music to bake to: 

This recipe was modified from the Old Fashion Pumpkin Cookie recipe found on  www.verybestbaking.com