Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sandwich Cookies

I think that my life would be complete if I had the opportunity to eat chocolate chip cookie dough every 35 minutes. Actually, my life may be more complete if I simply did not think about eating cookie dough as often.

If you think about cookie dough as frequently as I do, I suggest heeding the following warning: turn away now...........from what you are doing and make these cookies. What is the alternative? Continuing to work on that boring excel spreadsheet and not make brownie cookies filled with cookie dough?

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Brownie Cookies with [egg-less] Cookie Dough Filling

Make the cookies: Combine butter and chocolate chips in a medium saucepan and melt over medium heat, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and allow to cool, ~10-15 minutes. 

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together sugars, eggs, and vanilla on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute. Using a rubber spatula, fold and stir in melted chocolate mixture. 

Fold in 1/3 of the flour mixture at a time just until combined. Chill dough about 45 minutes (until it holds it's shape), preheating oven to 325 degrees while it is chilling.

Using a size 100 scoop (~1 tbsp), scoop dough onto Silpat or parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for 9 minutes, cool on baking sheet for a minimum 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool. Once cool, sandwich with chocolate chip cookie dough.

Make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugars together on medium until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and milk/cream and mix until combined. Whisk together flour and salt and add to mixer; beat until combined. Add chocolate chips.

Cookies
1/2 cup unsalted butter
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

Egg-less Cookie Dough
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
4 oz brown sugar (1/2 cup)
3.5 oz sugar (1/2 cup)
1 tsp vanilla
1.5 oz milk/cream
6 oz all purpose flour (1 1/3 cups)
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips

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Sticky Toffee Pudding

One of my most unexpectedly favorite desserts was a warm toffee pudding I had at Lucia's last winter.  I say unexpected because for the most part I do not care for warm desserts (and, yes, this includes hot-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies...get over it).  The cake was warm, covered in freshly made caramel, and did not last more than three minutes on my plate.

I have been meaning to make this cake for over a year and finally got around to it; trust me, it is a great dessert to serve on a cold, blustery, why-do-I-live-in-Minnesota, type of day.

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Sticky Toffee Pudding (Date Cake)

Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350° and butter a 9×13 inch baking pan (and line with parchment paper). Remove pits and chop dates and put them in a heatproof bowl. Pour the boiling water over them and stir in the baking soda. Cover the bowl and let it sit for 30 minutes.

Blend date mixture in a blender or food processor until smooth. In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugars. Whisk in eggs, then salt. Stir in the flour, then date puree. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Make the sauce: Combine butter, cream, sugar, and vanilla in a large pot over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Whisk for about 10 minutes, until the mixture thickens slightly.  The sauce is best right away so make it right before serving (it becomes grainy the following day or the second time you heat it up).

To serve: Cut the cake into squares and pour the warm sauce over the top.  Sprinkle some sea salt on top and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Cake
2 1/4 cups dried dates
2 1/4 cups boiling water
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour

Sauce
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 cup cream
1 cup plus 2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla

Other
Unsweetened whipped cream
Vanilla ice cream
Sea salt flakes

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Mini Eclairs

There are few desserts that I dislike.  This list includes pecan pie, coconut macaroons, cannolis, cheesecake...and it used to include eclairs.  I never understood why people enjoyed a semi-cold puff of dough filled with a less than semi-tasty pastry cream. But then I made pastry cream at home and that all changed.  Here's the thing: semi-cold, semi-tasty chocolate chip cookies are still pretty good but fresh homemade pastry cream is nothing like the stuff in a chilled glass case.

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Eclairs 

Make the pate a choux: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.

Sift the pastry flour and reserve in a bowl.  Bring the milk, water, salt, sugar and butter to a boil in a small pot over medium heat. Remove from the heat, add the flour, and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon to combine. Return the mixture to the heat and cook the paste for 1 minute or until it clears the side of the pot, stirring occasionally.

Transfer the cooked dough to a stand mixer and with the paddle attachment, mix on low speed until the steam is gone (a few minutes). While the dough is mixing on low, temper the eggs by pouring 3/4 of the eggs into the dough and mix until combined. Add the remainder of the eggs and mix until just combined (dough will have a sheen to it).

Transfer the dough to a piping bag and pipe into the desired shape onto prepared pan and brush lightly with egg wash (optional). I piped mini eclairs about 2.5 inches long but they can be much larger.

Bake at 350°F in a convection oven for 10 minutes and then decrease the temperature to 325°F with the door slightly open for 15-20 minutes or until they are slightly brown on the exterior and "dry" in the center.

Make the pastry cream: Place the milk in a heavy bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil. Keeping an eye on the milk, whisk the cornstarch, sugar, and salt together in a bowl. Gradually add eggs to this mixture and mix until smooth.

Slowly add about one-third of the hot milk to the egg mixture while whisking rapidly (tempering the egg mixture so the eggs do not cook). Pour the tempered egg mixture back into the remaining milk. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. You know that it is ready when it is thick enough to stick to the back of a wooden spoon without sliding off quickly. Stir in the vanilla extract, then the butter until fully incorporated.

Pour the pastry cream into a bowl and cover with a piece of parchment paper until cool. When fully cooled, store in the refrigerator with plastic wrap. If stored properly, pastry cream will keep fresh for up to three days (but definitely best on day one).

To serve: To assemble the eclairs, fill a piping bag with a small tip and some pastry cream and lightly poke a hold in the end, or bottom of the cooked shells and gently add the cream until you feel it puff up. You can also slice the shells in half, lengthwise, and spoon the pastry cream onto the bottom layer and then sandwich the two layers back together.

If you so desire (and why wouldn't you?), you can add some melted chocolate to the top.

Pate a Choux
6 oz Whole Milk
6 oz Water
1 tsp Salt
1½ tsp Sugar
5 oz (9 tbsp) Unsalted Butter
6 1/4 oz (1½ cups) Pastry or Cake Flour
9 oz Eggs (~5 eggs), gently mixed

Pastry Cream
2 cups Whole Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract (or, better yet, vanilla paste)
1 oz Corn Starch
4 oz Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1 Whole Egg + 1 Yolk
1.5 oz Unsalted Butter

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