Chocolate Chocolate Cherry Cookie

I love my cookies very meaty or as simple as can be. It was time for a meaty chunky cookie for a goodbye potluck for some office mates.  Cookies are great for potluck food because you don't need to cut anything, you don't need to serve it on a plate or with silverware, at most you just need a napkin.  

I wanted to make a very chocolaty cookie but also cut the richness with some fruit and add some nuts for texture.  Here is what I came up with...a chocolate base cookie, with two different kinds of chocolates, dried cherries, and some toasted pecan, and topped it off with some fleur del sel salt. This salt is important because it's not too salty but has a nice savory flavor. This recipe also mirror my favorite way to eat a chocolate chip cookie. 

Here is the recipe:

2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 cup of cocoa powder
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of kosher salt
1 cup of butter, soften
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp of vanilla
2 cups of dark chocolate chips
2 cups of milk chocolate chips
1 cup of toasted pecans
1 cup of dried cherries
Sprinkles of Fleur del Sel salt

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and put aside
-In a large bowl, cream butter and both kind of sugars until light and fluffy
-Add eggs and vanilla to the butter and sugar mixture and whip again until light and fluffy
-Add the dry flour mixture to the wet butter mixture until combine, don't over mix
-Add the chocolate chips until combine
-Add pecans and cherries until combine
-Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon liner
-Using an ice cream scooper, scoop the batter and place on to the baking sheet, keep about three inches of space between the cookies, once baking sheet is full, place in freezer for about 15 minutes
-Once cookies are cold and firm, take out and place in oven and bake for 8 minutes and then rotate racks to bake evenly and bake for 7 more minutes
-As soon as it comes out of the oven, sprinkle the fleur del sel salt.  When you sprinkle the salt right out of the oven, it sticks to the cookie better then when cooled
-Let cool in the baking sheet for 10 minute then transfer to a cooling rack
-Enjoy warm or completely cooled 
-Or put vanilla ice cream between two cookies and freeze for an ice cream sandwich

This was my first attempt for these cookies, and they were pretty good enough the post.  I might try to lighten it by separating the egg yolks and whipping the egg whites like meringue. 

The feedback from the potluck was good too! 

White Peach Coffee Cake - Gluten Free!

You know sometimes you meet certain people and you just click.  At first meeting, it just feels like a friend you have known all your life and it's just fun and easy to be around them.  You laugh at the same things and you are on the same page.  This is the case with my friend Erika.  I met her about 3 years ago because we were on the same project, and we probably met in person less than three times since, but I just have so much joy around her and she is good people.

She was coming to Seattle for an event and came in early to stay with me.  I know she likes food as much as I do and upon arrival, I got a shocking news that she is now gluten free.  I was thinking no! not you!  Everyone is doing the gluten free thing.  I mean, I get it, I read parts of the book Wheat Belly and I do feel much better when I do eat gluten free, but I can never give up flour and regular baked good.  I've not come across that great baked goodies made with gluten free ingredients. I had planned cooking a nice brunch since breakfast is my favorite meal to make, but now I thought what I am going to bake?   

Well, I had recently picked up a new gluten free flour from Thomas Keller, yes Thomas Keller has a new flour called Cup 4 Cup.  I thought, I will test my favorite coffee cake recipe with this.  

Peaches are in season now and while I was at the grocery store, just a whiff of a white donut peach smelled amazing !  I mean, it smells like a peach lotion where the scent is exaggerated and but lovely!  This was the coffee cake flavor I was going to make.  

Well, I have to say, I was so surprised!  The Cup 4 Cup flour didn't make a difference to the coffee cake.  It tasted the same and the texture was just as soft and moist as regular flour. Wow!  Erika agreed.  Best of all, didn't get the bloat and energy drain that you get with normal flour.  

Here is the recipe.

For the cake:
1 C Sugar
1.5 C Gluten Free Flour
2 tsp  Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
2 Eggs
1 C Sour Cream
4 White Donut Peaches Sliced

-Preheat oven to 350

-Butter or spray a 9" cake pan

-Mix the sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda in large bowl.

-In a smaller bowl, whip eggs and sour cream.

-Fold in the egg mixture to the dry flour mixture until well combined

-Pour the mixture into a cake pan and spread out evenly.
-Place the peaches evenly balanced over the cake mixture
-Bake for about 35-40 min. Test with a tooth pick in the center until it comes out clean.  Let cake cool completely.

For the streusel:

1 C Brown Sugar

2 oz or 1/4 C of Butter, cut in dice sizes and cold

1/4 C Rice Flour

1 tsp Salt

1/2 C Toasted Pecans

-Combine and mix the brown sugar and butter with a fork until blended and has sandy texture.  

-Stir in rice flour and salt and toss around until the texture of the mixture is lighter and not clumpy.  

-Stir in the pecans.

-When cake is cooled, spoon the mixture evenly distributed to cover the cake.

Erika has motivated me to try to eat less flour and try my other recipes like biscuits and cookies with this gluten free flour.  We will see!