Tasty Treats on Tuesday

As previously stated, I am experimenting with baking and bread making.  Today I decided that I would try to adapt a cookie recipe that I saw on a blog called "The Pioneer Woman."  She made a delicious cookie called a monster cookie that contained everything from M&M's to pecans and rice krispies.  Usually the guinea pigs for my recipes are Kenneth, the Donahue's, or Kenneth's office.  I decided that four dozen cookies would be the perfect treat to kill the Wednesday blues at the Air Force base.

I adapted Pioneer Woman's recipe to include more things that I like while keeping the important baking equation the same.  I used M&M's, milk chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, pecans, and dried currants in my batch with no oats or cereal.  I also added more of the chocolate and more nuts to the batter than the original recipe called for but left the basic batter recipe the same.  Baking is like working with a chemistry set.  If you don't use the right amount of leavening, fat, sugar, and flour, your baked goods won't turn out right.  The cookies spread quite a bit in the oven but they come out crisp with a slightly thicker center and they are studded with sugary goodness. Our whole house smelled like butter, chocolate, peanut butter, and toasty pecans.  I have to admit that after trying one, I am glad I added the dried currants.  They are tart and tangy and they really round out the flavor!

Butter and sugars 

Added the eggs and vanilla...

Next up are the dry ingredients... 

and finally add the goodies!  I used milk chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, M&M's, dried currants, and pecans.

At this point I am battling the dogs for control of the raw cookies!

I shall call them, "Em's Everything Cookies" and they shall be my masterpiece!

So, I sampled one (or three) after they cooled on wire racks.  They are amazing!  I can't wait to make these again (pending office approval) with new ingredients.  Maybe more dried fruit like cranberries or cherries with dark chocolate and nuts!  I might also try the cereal in the next batch to see how it changes the texture.

I also attempted to make my own homemade tahini today.  Tahini is impossibly hard to find in Tehachapi.  None of the grocery store carry the stuff and it is hard to find in Bakersfield or Lancaster.  I really only use it in one recipe, Kenneth's "noodley stuff."  The tahini really gives the recipe a nutty flavor and I would hate to substitute it for peanut butter like the recipe suggests.  I bought some sesame seeds at Albertsons and toasted them on the stove.  Then, I added them to my food processor with a little canola oil and a little toasted sesame oil to help turn the seeds into a paste.  A few minutes later and I had tahini!  The texture is not as smooth as the kind that I buy at the store but the flavor is pretty spot on.  I can't wait to see what the hubs thinks about the flavor and to try it in "noodley stuff."

Toasted seeds in my food processor...

and the final product.  Not as smooth but just as delicious!