Updates: and a Crumbly Double Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe

I have two major updates in my life that will perhaps significantly impact the output of this baking blog in the future.

Firstly, I discovered that I am gluten-sensitive. This is pretty devastating news for someone who loves American desserts. Ever since I moved to New York City from Singapore, I’ve found that my internal plumbing hasn’t been working so great. The gastrointestinal discomfort that plagues me has been chronic but surmountable, which is why it took me so long to do something about it. But recently, I went to get some blood work done (thanks, full-time job and health insurance!) and tested positive for anti-gliadin antibodies. This explains everything. It explains my IBS-like symptoms ever since I moved to the US, since my diet here is certainly higher in wheat products. (Pasta, bread, cakes and cookies, vs. rice, rice noodles, congee, etc.)

One of the most misunderstood things about gluten sensitivity – that even I had – was that one has to always eat lesser versions of gluten products. Gluten-free pizza. Gluten-free cakes. Gluten-free cookies. Like, eww? Every time a bakery or a restaurant championed itself as “gluten-free” my purist instincts scoffed at the idea of having a gluten-free version of the clearly superior original. But now that I am diagnosed as gluten-sensitive, my perspective is changing.

In terms of savory foods, the perceived level of sacrifice I have to face seems alright. While I enjoy pasta and bread, these are Western staples that I rarely have at home.  There are several savory naturally gluten-free options that I prefer, such as rice, rice noodles, and so on. I even compromise with my Austrian boyfriend by eating potatoes instead of bread. But what will I do now that I can’t enjoy classic American desserts? Red velvet cake, chocolate chip cookies, brownies… all these are things that are just full of gluten.

The second thing that’s misunderstood about gluten sensitivity is perhaps the severity of the symptoms. Granted, this is on a case by case basis, but given that many gluten-sensitive individuals go years undiagnosed, you can infer that the symptoms aren’t all that bad. And really they aren’t. I have never been held captive in bed, or entered a life-threatening state due to this condition. But have I been too bloated to exercise, lethargic the entire day after a breakfast of pancakes, and excluded the possibility of wearing certain outfits due to my probable three-months-pregnant waistline by day’s end? Yes.

Armed with this new-found understanding of my body, am I going to be posting more gluten-free recipes? Probably. But mostly because those recipes are MEANT to be gluten-free, such as macarons, certain brownies, puddings, some Asian desserts… I’ve grown up on Asian desserts such as red bean soup, cheng tng, and dried beancurd skin soup, so I have a wider repertoire of desserts than your usual baked butter/flour/sugar/egg combo. And thank goodness I can still consume dairy products with wild abandon. Cheesecake and ice cream in my belly!

So why am I still baking gluten-ridden double chocolate chip cookies? Because I like chocolate cookies, plan and simple. But this gives me cause to exercise a little more self-restraint, to enjoy baking for its process as much as the finished product.

Also, I just moved into a new apartment and I was burning for the opportunity to use the AWESOME NEW OVEN THAT FITS A FULL SIZED (13×18) BAKING SHEET! This is the second major update. I can’t tell you how much grief it gave me to have to use a 10×15 baking sheet. My baking times were essentially doubled due to how pathetically small that “urban living” oven was. Sure, it had a sleeker stainless steel finish but who cares about a nice looking kitchen when you can’t cook properly in it. But now, I can bake twice as fast AND use my awesome non-stick silicone sheet! It saves me money I’d otherwise be spending on parchment paper and the clean up is so quick.

I also get SUNLIGHT in the kitchen to take pretty pictures of my food. Before I’d have to actually move my food into the balcony of my bedroom in order to get some flattering natural light.

These cookies are easy to make, bite-sized and its crumbly, sandy texture is rather European. The chocolate force is strong in this one, so definitely use real chocolate instead of crappy hydrogenated oil chocolate chips. Some packaged chocolate chips have a higher melting point due to the hydrogenated oils and thus stay intact when you bake them, but don’t you want ooey gooey meltedy chocolatey goodness in your cookies?

I tweaked the recipe a little bit, and the most significant substitution is that instead of using light brown sugar, I used half regular sugar and half dark brown sugar. I’ve realized that you can calibrate the molasses level in brown sugar by simply adjusting the proportions of your dark brown and regular sugar content. Why buy three kinds of sugar when you can buy just two?

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these cookies in a way that my gluten-sensitive bowels can’t.

Crumbly Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 50 small cookies
Adapted from Chocolate and Zucchini: Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen and David Lebovitz

1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (25 g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
5 ounces (140 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped in chip-sized chunks
½ cup, plus 1 tablespoon (125 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup (50 g) (packed) light brown sugar
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla and/or chocolate extract**
optional: cinnamon salt or fleur de sel

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.

1. In a small bowl, sift both flours, cocoa powder and baking soda together.

2. In a clean, dry bowl set over a pan of simmering water (or in a microwave), melt half of the chocolate (2½ oz, 70g), then let cool to room temperature.

3. Beat the butter with a standing electric mixer, or by hand, just until smooth. Beat in the sugar, salt and vanilla or chocolate extract.

4. By hand, stir in the melted chocolate, then the flour-cocoa mixture. Then finally the chocolate chunks.

5. Scoop the dough into rounded teaspoons and place evenly-spaced on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with cinnamon salt or fleur de sel, if desired, then bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies take on a slightly dry sheen to the top. They may feel soft, but don’t worry; they’re firm up just fine when cool.

Chocolate Pudding (Without Cornstarch)

Most homemade pudding recipes require the use of cornstarch to solidify its texture, but not having any on hand, I used a recipe that used flour as a thickener instead, and the results were pretty good! Flour creates a more custard-like texture than cornstarch would; a spoon that cuts into a pudding thickened with flour leaves a spoon-shaped cavity, whereas a cornstarch-thickened pudding probably wouldn’t. The downside to this recipe is that it requires an immersion stick blender, whereas a cornstarch-thickened pudding just requires your tireless attention for about 15 minutes.

This recipe ended up really rich for how little pudding it generates, so it really stretches your dessert dollar. It’s rich and chocolatey, and for some added texture, grate some semisweet chocolate over it.

Chocolate Pudding (Without Cornstarch)
Makes 4-5 portions
From Christian HomeKeeper

1/4 c flour
6 Tablespoons sugar
2 1/3 cups whole milk (I used 2% and it was fine)
dash of salt
4 Tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon good vanilla extract

Place all dry ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Gradually add the milk and butter, blending thoroughly with a stick blender.
Set over a low flame and stir until the pudding thickens and starts to bubble when you stop stirring for a moment.
Turn off heat. Cool slightly, blend in vanilla.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I started my first real job out of college about a month ago, and now that a considerable chunk of my time is devoted to work, I have much less time to blog. I still cook and bake quite often – I recently made two chocolate cakes and a soy sauce chicken, but not having daylight to snap my food in makes blogging an afterthought. These red velvet cupcakes, however, were for a specific occasion. Every month, my work place hosts a birthday party for people born in that month. I wanted, nay, needed an excuse to bake up something more elaborate than a utilitarian chocolate cake that fulfilled my dessert cravings.

The original recipe for these were for an 8-inch layer cake, but for ease of transport, I decided to make them into cupcakes. I’ve made the cake a few days ahead in time and froze them, and I intend to frost them in the office pantry. Transporting frosted cupcakes often require large, bulky carriers, and as a bike rider, I prefer to fit everything into my backpack as much as possible. I used all-purpose flour instead of cake flour for the cupcakes, and that contributed to a slightly coarser but more firm texture that’s transportation-friendly. I baked up about 18 cupcakes with the batter, and I would recommend checking for doneness at around 15 minutes and swapping the racks at half-time. Also, I cannot stress how important it is to sift your flour and confectioner’s sugar before mixing. It’ll help create a more uniform texture with less lumps and clumps.

Red Velvet Cake
Makes 18 cupcakes
Adapted from Cookie Madness

Ingredients
4 oz unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 whole eggs, room temperature
2 slightly heaping tablespoons cocoa powder (natural)
2 ounces (1/4 c) red food coloring
2 1/4 c of cake flour (9 oz), sifted
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon white vinegar

Frosting for Red Velvet Cake
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 stick (4 ounces) butter, softened
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (optional)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 18 (or potentially more) cupcake moulds with cupcake liners.

In bowl of a stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar and salt until light. Add the vanilla and the eggs beating 30 seconds after each egg is added. Make a paste of food coloring and cocoa and add to the creamed mixture. Add buttermilk and flour alternately, beating at low speed until mixed.

In a small cup, combine the soda and the vinegar and let it foam up. Pour the foaming mixture into the batter and stir until it’s mixed in. Immediately pour into the cupcake liners and bake for 15-20 minutes. When a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake emerges without crumbs, it is done.

Let cool for 10 minutes in pan set on a rack. Remove from pan and let cool completely. Make icing.

Beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Add confectioner’s sugar slowly, beating until smooth. For a little tartness, beat in some lemon juice.

Mini Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sometimes I bake because I am craving something sweet, but sometimes I bake because a recipe just looks too good to pass up. While I am personally more of a chewy cookie person, something about adorably-sized cookies appealed to my current dieting state. The idea is that the smaller they are, the easier it is to portion control, right? However, they do have such a crisp and light texture that might trick you into eating more than you’d want to…

These cookies were a big hit with everyone who tried them, and all attested to their can’t-stop-at-one quality. If you like your cookies crisp and light, somewhat like Tate’s Bake Shop‘s, then you’d find these quite similar. If you like your cookies chewy, dense and as big as an infant’s head, I beseech you to give these a try as well. You might be converted.

Mini Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 100 small cookies
From Cookie Madness

Ingredients
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour (140 grams/5 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Beat the butter until creamy using an electric mixer. Beat in both sugars, and vanilla. When creamy, beat in the egg. When egg is mixed in, beat in salt and baking soda. Add flour and stir until it is almost blended in. Add the chocolate chips and stir until all flour disappears.
Line two large baking sheets with regular foil.

Using a 1/4 teaspoon measure, scoop up rounded spoons of dough, each with about 3 chocolate chips (you’ll have what appears to be a lot of chips and a tiny bit of dough). Shape into marble sized balls and arrange on baking sheets spacing about 1 1/2 inches apart.
Bake one sheet at a time for 25 minutes or until cookies are evenly browned. Let cool slightly, then remove from baking sheets to finish cooling.

Notes: Since each cookie is so small, it might make more sense to stud the chocolate chips onto the finished balls so that you get an equal number of chips on each cookie. I ended up with my first tray of cookies with three chocolate chips each, then down to two chips per cookie for the second, then eventually no chips at all.

Red Velvet Snowball Cookies

Now that I’ve completed my last stretch of college, I’ve been unwinding by baking up quite a storm. Baking is such a relaxing activity to me. The methodical weighing, stirring, baking, and even washing up the avalanche of dishes that I aim to pack as much of as possible on the drying rack – it’s all very comforting to me. Humans find meaning in creating, and a part of me might be quite content to be home all day, baking Christmas cookies. (And folding origami while I wait for the cookies to bake. I was attempting this origami spring and despite two attempts, it was a veritable failure.

Luckily, these red velvet snowball cookies are the prettiest little mounds, aren’t they? I really love red velvet anything for its visually arresting color contrast. The pictures have a wintery blue cast over them, and I didn’t edit it out because I rather liked the blue’s effect against the red. The texture of these are really like regular shortbread cookies – buttery, a little sandy texture that melts in your mouth. They aren’t very sweet by themselves as well, and absolutely need the dusting of confectioner’s sugar to taste good.

I halved the original recipe because I didn’t want to deal with 4 dozen of the same thing, and since there weren’t any eggs, halving was easy. That’s why I think a digital weighing scale is essential for any home baker – your baking gets so much more precise, and it’s also much easier to scale down recipes for a smaller home. I weighed my mounds out to 17 g each, and ended up with 25 mounds.

It’s only a few more days before Christmas. Keep baking while you can!

Red Velvet Snowball Cookies
Makes 2 dozen
Adapted from Baking Bites

3/4 cups butter, room temperature
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cocoa powder
approx. 1/2 tsp red food coloring
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup almond flour/meal
extra confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, vanilla and salt until smooth and creamy. Beat in cocoa powder and red food coloring until the mixture is bright red. Add additional coloring if needed.
Gradually incorporate the flour and ground almonds, mixing until no streaks of dry ingredients remain.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place on prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges of the cookies are very lightly browned.
Allow cookies to cool for 3-4 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. When cooled, roll cookies in confectioners’ sugar until well-coated in white “snow.”
Store in an airtight bag.
Cool completely on a wire rack before storing.

Chocolate Whiskey Cake

When I saw this recipe, I instantly knew I had to make it. I know I’ve been diverting my attention lately to more European desserts, but you could never tear me away from anything combining chocolate and whiskey. I was deciding between using Jim Beam and some cheapo scotch lying around, and went for the scotch because I was counting on all that sugar and chocolate to cover it up. Cooking is the best way to use up bad alcohol anyway.

What was interesting about this recipe was the preparation technique. I had to heat up a saucepan with coffee, butter, whiskey and cocoa powder, and then the addition of sugar turned it into a gloopy, caramelly liquid. Fortunately the cake turned out well, though. I really liked the slightly crisp muffin top-esque shell that formed, which was a nice foil against the tender and moist crumb. The chocolate chips added some gooey-ness to its insides so it was reminiscent of a molten chocolate cake. It didn’t taste very alcoholic at all, and I wish it had. This is a very decadent cake, and in a future iteration I might add a pinch of salt, or sub some of the coffee with whiskey, or omit the chocolate chips.

Note: Although the recipe called for making a whole cake, I think the cake would benefit greatly from being split up into about 8 or so 3.5-inch ramekins, or even cupcakes. Reduce the bake time accordingly. You’d also get that delicious crusty muffin top.

Chocolate Whiskey Cake
Makes 1 10-inch round cake
Adapted from NYTimes

INGREDIENTS

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, more for pan
85 grams unsweetened cocoa powder (about 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
1 1/2 cups brewed strong coffee
1/2 cup whiskey
200 grams granulated sugar (about 1 cup)
156 grams light brown sugar (about 1 cup)
240 grams all-purpose flour (about 2 cups)
8 grams baking soda (about 1 1/2 teaspoons)
3 grams fine sea salt (about 3/4 teaspoon)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground clove (I omitted)
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used regular chocolate chips)
Powdered sugar, for serving (optional)

PREPARATION

1.Heat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 10-inch springform pan. Dust with 2 tablespoons cocoa powder.
2. In a medium saucepan over low heat, warm coffee, whiskey, 12 tablespoons butter and remaining cocoa powder, whisking occasionally, until butter is melted. Whisk in sugars until dissolved. Remove from heat and cool completely.
3. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, pepper and cloves. In another bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla. Slowly whisk egg mixture into chocolate mixture. Add dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Fold in chocolate chips.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan. Transfer to oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean, 55 to 65 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack, then remove sides of pan. Dust with powdered sugar before serving, if you like.

Vanillekipferl (Vanilla Almond Crescent Cookies)

Vanillekipferl originated from Vienna, Austria, and are popular in Central European countries. Shortbread-like in texture, they are buttery and crumbly but with an additional almond nuttiness. These are often consumed in association with Christmas, and have similar variations around the world: Mexican wedding cookies, pecan sandies, Chinese almond cookies, Greek kourabiedes, polvorones… It’s interesting that in almost all of these cases, almond crescent cookies are associated with celebratory events. I wonder what it is about almonds that make them such a popular choice for fêtes.

These cookies were super simple to make. Mixing it up didn’t require any special techniques, and the key thing is probably refrigerating the dough. Refrigerating the dough before shaping them is essential for easy maneuverability. I personally found the shaping process very comforting. I tend towards drop cookies, so shaped cookies are quite a change of pace for me. I also used vanilla essence instead of vanilla beans because that stuff is expensive, yo. I weighed each dollop of dough in order to achieve consistency, and that might be a good idea if you want your cookies to bake evenly. I would also recommend sprinkling the sugar when the cookies are still warm: this will ensure that the sugar adheres to the cookie as it cools down.

Vanillekipferl
Adapted from Allrecipes
Makes 30 cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup almond flour
2 cups confectioners’ sugar for rolling

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time. Add vanilla essence. Mix in the flour and ground almonds. Divide the dough into two pieces, wrap and refrigerate until firm.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Break off tablespoonful sized pieces of dough and roll them into little ropes about 2 inches long. Bend the ropes into a half circle and place them 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned. Carefully roll warm cookies in the sugar.