If you're from the West Coast, especially from San Francisco, you're familiar with the other San Francisco treat......the it's it!!! But if the words "it's its" sound unfamiliar to you, please let me introduce you to something super special.....
it's its are ultimately ice cream sandwiches. Ice cream sandwiched between oatmeal cookies and then dipped in chocolate. Sounds good, right??? They come in a few combinations, but our favorite combo is with the mint ice cream.
It's summer and it's hot and sunny and it's time for it's its!!!!
Crispy Oatmeal Cookies
kindly taken from the blog Macheesmo via Cook's Illustrated and adapted to my taste buds and preferences
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, @ room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
zest of an orange (optional) ***I did not add this to my cookies***
1 large egg @ room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
***I added 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/4 teaspoon cardamom and a pinch of cloves***
2 1/2 cups whole rolled oats
***I also added 1/2 cup of sliced almonds for some added crunch***
Preheat your oven to 350˚.
In a medium size bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and other spices if using. In another large bowl, cream butter and both sugars until light and fluffy with a wooden spoon or hand held mixer. Add the egg and mix until combined. Add vanilla extract. Slowly incorporate your flour mixture. Gently fold/stir in your oats. You can add your sliced almonds here if you also wanted the added crunch in your cookie.
On parchment paper lined baking sheets, scoop or drop 2 tablespoons of dough onto the pans. I used a 1 1/2 inch in diameter cookie scoop. Place no more than eight on a cookie sheet, these will spread generously. With damp fingers, press down mounds of dough, 1/2 inch thick. Bake for 14 - 16 minutes, rotating cookie sheets halfway through baking.
Cool completely on cookie sheets. Do not transfer hot cookies to wire racks!!!
The original recipe said it made 24 cookies. These cookies must have been Cookie Monster size because I got 36, 4 inch round cookies.....
Turning them into it's its.....
You'll need oatmeal cookies, your favorite ice cream flavor and melted chocolate. I cheated a little bit and bought the stuff that freezes right away, by Hershey's SHELL. You can easily melt your own chocolate, but why bother when using this is so easy!! In my experiences in making ice cream sandwiches, your cookies (if fragile like these) will break easily when you're trying to mash them together. I scoop big scoops of ice cream on a small parchment lined sheet, press them down to my desired thickness and then place them back into the freezer to set up. I then top off one of the cookies with the frozen disk of ice cream and drizzle the shell topping all over!!! Place the other cookie on top, freeze for a few minutes and that's it!!!
Bran muffins are NOT my usual go to breakfast item when I'm staring into a pastry case. My first picks seem to be an almond or chocolate croissant or even a multi-grain bagel if I'm thinking about being healthy.
So I'm a food person and I also attract others who LOVE food and I LOVE THAT! Since Spring has sprung (well, kinda), my girlfriends and I are trying to head down a more healthier track and get our bodies ready for swimsuit season. Don't get me wrong, we eat healthy, but we also like to indulge in a not-so-friendly treat.
These bran muffins do have their fare share of brown sugar in them, but they also have a substantial amount of bran and whole wheat in them that you'll feel like you're getting a healthy start to your morning.
Better Bran Muffins
This recipe comes from one of my favorite food mags Cook's Illustrated.
These are "better" bran muffins! Moist and full of flavor. Not your dry and tasteless bran muffins that are wrapped in plastic and can be found at the local deli around the corner.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup raisins (or dried cranberries, cherries or blueberries)
1 teaspoon water
2 1/4 cups (5 ounces) All-Bran Original cereal ***this cereal looks like "twigs"***
1 1/4 cups (6 1/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2/3 cup (4 2/3 ounces) packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons mild molasses (or light)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 stick), melted and cooled
1 3/4 cup whole-milk yogurt ***you can substitute non or low fat yogurt here, but the muffins will be less flavorful***
INSTRUCTIONS
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400˚. Spray a standard-sized muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. ***I used my new "tulip" paper liners, but you can use just ordinary paper liners. I also think you might be able to squeeze 18 muffins out of this recipe if your muffin cups seem small. My tulip liners stood way above the muffin cup which held the batter in. Be careful not to overfill your cups or you might have a big mess*** Combine raisins and water in a small microwave-safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap, poke several steam vents in plastic with a paring knife, and microwave on high power for 30 seconds. Let stand, covered, until raisins are softened and plump, about 5 minutes. Transfer raisins to paper towel-lined plate to cool.
Process half of the bran cereal in a food processor until finely ground, about 1 minute. Whisk flours, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl to combine; set aside. Whisk egg and yolk together in a medium bowl until well-combined and light colored, about 20 seconds. Add sugar, molasses, and vanilla; whisk until mixture is thick, about 30 seconds. Add melted butter and whisk to combine; and yogurt and whisk to combine. Stir in processed cereal and unprocessed cereal; let mixture sit until cereal is evenly moistened (there will still be some small lumps), about 5 minutes.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and gently mix with a rubber spatula until batter is combined and evenly moistened. Do not overmix. Gently fold raisins into batter. Using 1/3-cup measure or ice cream scoop, divide evenly among muffin cups, dropping batter to form mounds. Do not level or flatten surfaces of mounds.
Bake until muffins are dark golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 16 to 20 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. ***Most ovens are funky, so I baked mine for 25 minutes*** Cool muffins in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving.
***I didn't love the raisins in these muffins. I've said it before, they are not my faves.....Next time I'm gonna try dried cherries of even blueberries***
Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies. They're just that.....perfect! Crispy on the outside and chewy in the inside. Well, that's the way we like them.
I'm a huge fan of mixing things by hand and if I don't have to bust out my Kitchen Aid, I just know I'm gonna love this recipe. Again, so easy!!! This chocolate chip cookie recipe calls for beurre noisette, a.k.a. browned butter. The nutty ambered butter adds chewiness and gives these cookies a toffee-butterscotch like flavor. LOVE!
Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from the blog The Way The Cookie Crumbles via Cook's Illustrated
makes 16 cookies
1 3/4 cup (8 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) sugar
3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cup chocolate (chips or chunks)
3/4 cup toasted nuts (optional and your choice)
Adjust oven rack to middle position. Preheat oven to 375˚. Line two sheets with parchment paper.
In a bowl, whisk flour and baking soda together.
Heat 10 tablespoons of unsalted butter over MEDIUM-HIGH HEAT until melted, 2 minutes. Continue cooking until butter is dark golden brown with a nutty aroma, 1 - 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add 4 tablespoons of COLD butter. Whisk to melt completely.
Pour browned butter into a large bowl. Add both sugars, salt and vanilla extract and whisk for 30 seconds. Mixture should be smooth with no lumps. Add the whole egg and yolk and whisk for 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for another 30 seconds. Repeat the process 2 more times until the mixture is thick, smooth and super shiny. Fold in flour until combined. Stir in chocolate and nuts. ***I love to add 3/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts and 3/4 cup of dried sweetened coconut to mine***
Scoop or spoon into 16 cookies. ***I use a cookie scoop***
Bake for 10 - 14 minutes, rotating halfway through baking. Cool on wire rack.
The cookies keep well in an airtight container for up to a week. That's if they last that long......
