Home-made Oreos

Today was the day.  I'd been keeping this recipe on hold for the past week until I had the time and opportunity to make them.  Russ was here this weekend and after he left this morning, I immediately went to work on my version of home-made OREOs!!!!  Too late for Russ, who, when he arrived, asked if I had any cookies.  For someone 6' 4" with no discernible body fat, he's quite the cookie monster! So, nope, no cookies last night...(sorry, handsome).  Anyway, I'd been researching recipes and found some that used cake mixes as their base.  I didn't want that, no.  What I was looking for was a great cookie that I could create, one that could be sandwiched together with a good butter cream filling  Who better to point me in the right direction than Deb from Smitten Kitchen.  She had already tried her hand at home-made Oreos, based on a recipe she credits to Retro Desserts and Wayne Brachman.

I understand that in blogging world we all borrow from each other.  None of us has a truly original idea -we gain inspiration and motivation from others in our cyber world, as well as in actual-world restaurants, bakeries, and in old cookbooks, magazines, and even word-of-mouth.  We may think of new takes and twists on old standards, but really, something outside ourselves usually triggers the creative process to try something new (to us) and different (from what we've done before).  It is with that mindset that I bring you a home-made yet simpler version of a processed food, a little bit 180-degrees from the way things usually work. Like my friend Jody posted on facebook when I mentioned that I'd be making homemade Oreos soon..."Why?  Did they run out of the real thing?"  I might have thought the same way before I became an obsessed "how do they do that?" kind of baker, eager to try my hand at making something good at home, with a little less process, a lot fewer ingredients, and a whole lotta freshness.

So, here, along with my photos, is the recipe for homemade Oreos!


HOME MADE OREOS
inspired by, and adapted from, Smitten Kitchen who was inspired by Retro Desserts, who was inspired by Nabisco, I'm guessing!

Oven - 375 degrees F
line cookie sheets with parchment paper


Cookies:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Hershey's is fine)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature butter or margarine
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream Filling: 
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter (not margarine)
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract




Directions:

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.

2. In large bowl of electric mixer, stir together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. On low speed, add the butter, and then the egg and vanilla. Mix well until dough comes together in an almost-solid ball.

3. Take rounded half-teaspoons of batter and roll into dime-sized balls.  Place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened fingers, slightly flatten the dough.

4.     Bake for 9 minutes.  Remove from oven.   Set baking sheet on a rack to cool.

5. To make the filling, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.

6. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip (I used a pastry tip with a "toothy" edge), pipe filling cream onto the center of one cookie (see photo in collage). Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.  Pour some icy-cold milk and share!

Click to almost taste enlarge

Roasted Red Pepper and Smoked Gouda Soup

At Skidmore College, there's a cafe called "The Spa" (in the tradition of all things Saratoga), and I eat lunch there at least a couple of times a week.  Each day The Spa offers specials, one of them being a small container of soup with half-deli sandwich.  I love to see what the soups of the day are, and this week I lucked out -- they had Roasted Red Pepper and Gouda soup!  Oh, how I love that soup!  It's right up there with my two other favorites, butternut squash and cream of mushroom.  I was in lunch nirvana!  Then yesterday, my email inbox had a message from Smitten Kitchen where Deb had posted her recipe for roasted tomato soup with a giant cheese crouton on top!  Holy moly!  How many favorite soups can I have on my list?

I could have soup for every meal and never get bored!  It all harkens back to those childhood days of Campbell's tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, which I've written about before.  Seems I keep coming back to comfort foods that continue to provide comfort, even at age 57-and-a-half!  I searched on-line for a good recipe for roasted red pepper soup (with gouda).  The recipe that follows is the winner.  It sounds great, and because you use jarred,roasted red peppers, it's easier than other recipes where you have to roast your own over an open flame (dangerous and risky, and not a good idea when I'm in a hurry for soup!)... 

Here's what I found:

Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Smoked Gouda
recipe from McClatchy Newspapers


Makes 4 servings (total yield 5 cups)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into small pieces
1 (12-ounce) jar roasted red peppers, drained and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans (14.5-ounce) reduced sodium, fat-free chicken broth
2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup shredded smoked Gouda

1. Heat olive oil in a 4-quart saucepan over medium high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, 3 to 5 minutes or until tender. Add carrots, roasted red peppers, garlic, chicken broth and seasonings. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 25 to 30 minutes.

2. Remove from heat. Carefully use an immersion blender and purée soup.

3. Return soup purée to saucepan; add cheese.

4. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until cheese is melted.


Per (1 ¼ cup) serving: 161 calories (43 percent from fat), 10 grams total fat (3 grams saturated), 16 milligrams cholesterol, 15 grams carbohydrates, 14 grams protein, 165 milligrams sodium, 4 grams dietary fiber.



Recipe and photo source:  McClatchy Newspapers

Sophisticated Rice Krispie Treats? Yes!

One of my favorite food blogs, Smitten Kitchen, posted a recipe for Browned Butter Rice Krispie treats a while back.  SK's blogger, Deb, is a great cook and baker, and she has been at this blogging thing for much, much longer than me. I actually have a bit of blog-envy when I read her posts, but I also come away with inspiration and appreciation of her passion for food, her writing skill and lightning-quick wit.

Deb's version of the popular Kellogg's snack treat takes a different twist.  She uses more butter, and browns it to a dark nuttiness.  Then she yings and yangs the whole thing by garnishing the old standard with sea salt!  Other than those two unexpected turns, it is still the reliable Rice Krispie Treat, but with a sophistication that an adult can truly appreciate.

SALTED BROWNED BUTTER RICE KRISPIE TREATS from Smitten Kitchen

Deb says:

"What’s different about these? Oh, just a bit more (coughdouble) butter which you toast until it’s brown and nutty and help along with some coarse salt, just minor things. But it changes everything...

Makes 16 2-inch squares or 32 1- x 2-inch small bars

4 ounces (1/4 pound or 1 stick) unsalted butter, plus extra for the pan
1 10-ounce bag marshmallows
Heaping 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal (about half a 12-ounce box)

Butter (or coat with non-stick spray) an 8-inch square cake pan with 2-inch sides.

In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you do. Don’t take your eyes off the pot as while you may be impatient for it to start browning, the period between the time the butter begins to take on color and the point where it burns is often less than a minute.

As soon as the butter takes on a nutty color, turn the heat off and stir in the marshmallows. The residual heat from the melted butter should be enough to melt them, but if it is not, turn it back on low until the marshmallows are smooth.

Remove the pot from the stove and stir in the salt and cereal together. Quickly spread into prepared pan. I liked to use a piece of waxed or parchment paper that I’ve sprayed with oil to press it firmly and evenly into the edges and corners, though a silicon spatula works almost as well.

Let cool, cut into squares and get ready to make new friends."

Recipe credit: http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/11/salted-brown-butter-crispy-treats/

Photo credit: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcLBUAd8qQnw8PuEkK_5OZXOWK4dhd1ZD7TZ597202uLyjDDG-hdeQiqhyphenhyphen2PQSf6jg5xEXsogEzFU90hKc15e9RqZKBoiKMKsDTV7FI0YhqVgWaB4M3YkBpu10A4RXs_h7ckZRirf0cfU/s1600/ricekrispietreats2.jpg