Pichet Ong's Chinese Walnut Cookies

5 ounces (about 2 cups) walnut halves
1 3/8 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/8 cup sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract.

Directions

1. Heat oven to 300 degrees. Toast walnuts on rimmed baking sheet for 10 minutes, shaking nuts halfway through. Cool.

2. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter on medium speed with 1/2 cup walnuts and the salt until walnuts break up.

3. Scrape down bowl, add sugars, and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, and beat until incorporated. Scrape down bowl and add flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated. Scrape dough onto plastic wrap, wrap tightly, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 3 days.

4. Heat oven to 325 degrees, and grease 2 baking sheets (or line with parchment). Scoop 1/2-inch rounds of dough, and place them 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Press a walnut half on each cookie. Bake cookies, rotating pan halfway through, until lightly golden brown, about 10 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

Yield: 5 dozen cookies.

Bill Yosses’ Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp

¾ cup granulated sugar

¾ cup light brown sugar

¼ cup unsweetened hazelnut paste or peanut butter (all natural, no oil added)

2 large eggs

2 vanilla beans, seeds scraped out

2 1/3 cups AP flour

1 t baking soda

1 t salt

12 oz chocolate chips or chopped chocolate of choice

Cream the butter and sugars in the large bowl of a free standing mixer. Add the nut butter/paste, beating until smooth (I used al natural peanut butter). Beat in the eggs and the vanilla beans, scraping the bowl as needed.

In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet, and combine at low speed until the dough comes together. Mix in the chocolate. Cover the dough with plastic wrap (or transfer to Tupperware) and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a tablespoon ice cream scoop, drop heaping tablespoons of the dough onto the cookie sheet—I got 12 exactly onto my cookie sheet.

Bake until lightly browned, 9-13 minutes. Cool the cookie sheets on a cooling rack before removing the cookies.

Rose Levy Beranbaum's Buckwheat Blini

• 1 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
• 2 1/2 cups milk, warmed
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 3 large egg yolks (3 1/2 T)
• 1 large egg white (2 T)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons clarified butter

Directions

1. DAY BEFORE: proof yeast by mixing dry yeast, 1/2 t sugar, and 1/2 c of milk (warmed to lukewarm). Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

2. Stir in the buckwheat flour and 1 1/2 cups of warmed milk.

3. Cover and allow to stand in a warm place for 2 hours.

4. Stir in the all-purpose flour and the remaining 1/2 cup of milk until smooth.

5. Add the egg yolks, remaining sugar, and salt.

6. Mix well, cover, and allow to stand in a warm place for 1 hour.

7. Refrigerate overnight. The batter should be thick and have bubbles all over the surface.

8. Whip the cream until soft peaks form when the beater is raised and fold into the batter.

9. Beat egg white until soft peaks form and fold into the batter.You will have about 8 cups of batter.

10. Pour scant 2 T of batter onto a hot griddle, lightly greased with the clarified butter between each batch. Cook until puffed and golden, about 1 1/2 minutes. Turn and cook the other side for 30 seconds or until lightly browned.

11. Place in the oven for 10 minutes to finish cooking the inside of the blini. Makes about 70 blini.

Matt Lewis' (Baked) Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 2/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and baking soda together; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together until smooth and creamy. Scrape down bowl and add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Mixture will look light and fluffy. Add vanilla and beat for 5 seconds.
3. Add the flour mixture, bit by bit, mixing after each addition.
4. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Cover the bowl tightly and put in the fridge for several hours (Baked suggests 6; I did 2 and they were still delicious).
6. Preheat the oven to 375 F degrees.
7. If you want big cookies, use an ice cream scoop to scoop out 2-tablespoon sized balls. If you want smaller ones, use two teaspoons (one to scoop the dough and one to release it). Use your hands to shape into perfect balls and erase any imperfections. Place on prepared baking sheets, leaving at least 1 inch between cookies. Bake for 10-12 minutes for smaller cookies, 12-14 minutes for larger cookies. Make sure to rotate pans at the halfway mark to ensure even baking. They're done when the edges are golden and the tops are just starting to lose their shine.
8. Remove pan from oven and cool on wire rack. They are great warm, but you could also let them cool, if you're so inclined.
9. These babies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Doubt they'll last that long though.

Next door neighbors, Carol Goldenberg, Carrot Cake

3 C grated raw Carrots
Chopped Walnuts
Ground Walnuts
1 can crushed Pineapple

Mix

2 C sugar
1-1/2 C vegetable oil
4 Eggs
3 tsp Cinnamon
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
2-1/2 tsp Vanilla
2 C Flour

-Add Carrots & Walnuts

-Bake in greased & floured pan 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes

This will make more approximately 1 cake and another ½ of a cake


Cream Cheese Icing

Room Temperature: 1 8oz Cream Cheese

1 stick of Butter
1 lb Confectioner Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla

Beat together adding the Sugar a little at a time until you reach the right consistency.

Pichet Ong's Banana Bread

1/3 cup (78g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
1 cup (155g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup (85g) honey
1/2 cup (72g)packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (228g) mashed ripe banana,dotted with black spots all over, from the freezer (or baby bananas)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup (130g) plain whole milk yogurt or sour cream
1 cup (155g) chocolate chips (semisweet or bittersweet), optional (I used about 1/2 cup)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly butter an 8.5 x 4.5 inch loaf pan, set aside.

Sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda and set aside.

Put the butter, honey, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon in a mixer bowl, and beat with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, add the bananas and vanila and beat on medium speed until the mixture looks lumpy, about 1 minutes.

Reduce the speed to medium low and beat in the egg until well incorporated. Turn the speed to low, and gradually add in the sifted flour mixture. Mix just until no trace of flour remains, about 10 second. Taking note not to overmix the flour. Add in the yogurt, and mix until the batter has only a few remaining white streaks about 5 second. If you like, stop the mixer and mix in the yogurt by hand instead. Gently fold in the chocolate chips, if desired. (I sprinkle the chocolate chips on the batter after it has been poured into the pan.They will sink slightly into the batter after baked)

Transfer the batter into the greased pan and bake in the center of the oven for 40 minutes or until the tester inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then unmold and cool completely on rack.

Pichet Ong's Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 1/3 cups (4 ounces/113 grams) finely shredded Unsweetened dried coconut
• 2 cups (11 ounces/310 grams) all purpose flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup (8 ounces/226 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon (6 ounces/169 grams) packed dark brown sugar
• ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons (6 ounces/169 grams) sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2½ cups (11 7/8 ounces/336 grams) bittersweet pistoles or

• bittersweet chocolate chips, or roughly chopped bittersweet chocolate (see Notes)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F.

2. Spread the coconut on a large rimmed baking sheet and bake until golden brown and fragrant, about 7 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.

3. Sift together the flour and baking powder and set aside.

4. Put the butter, both sugars, the salt, and cooled toasted coconut into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the machine running, add the eggs one at a time, and then add the vanilla. Turn the mixer speed to low and add half the flout mixture. When incorporated, add the remaining flour and mix until no traces of flour remain. Stir in the chocolate chips. If you have time, cover the dough tightly and chill for at least 2 hours, or up to 3 days, before baking.

5. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

6. Scoop the cookie dough into 1-inch balls and put 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake until brown and crisp, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Notes

CHEF’S TIP: Creaming the butter with the coconut maximizes the cookies’ distinctive nuttiness, which provides a great backdrop for the rich, deep flavor of bittersweet chocolate. Be sure to use unsweetened coconut here—not only does it taste much better than the sweetened variety, it also makes these cookies crumbly and crisp.

Pistoles, which are flat rounds of chocolate, are a convenient proxy for chopped chocolate, and I often use them in brownies and chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate chips can be used in cookies but are not good for melting.

Whatever its form, all chocolate keeps well in a dark, cool place at room temperature for up to 6 months. Keep it away from spices and other strong aromatics in your pantry, as chocolate readily absorbs different scents. If you are buying in bulk, wrap the chocolate tightly and store in the freezer for up to one year. Finally, if your chocolate develops pale creamy-white spots, what is called “bloom,” don’t worry: it’s not spoiled, and the spots will disappear when the chocolate is melted.