Flourless Chocolate Cookies

I had a business meeting at a fancy hotel recently. They had a tray of assorted desserts and treats displayed and some of them were gluten free. I typically never try the hotel catered desserts and was not especially drawn to those that were gluten free, but I tried these small flourless chocolate cookies they had out as someone else was raving about them.

OH-MY-GOODNESS - they were decadent. I had two of them (yikes) and set out that evening to discover a recipe to try to create them myself. This version tasted pretty darn similar, but they baked flatter than the ones I had tried.

The batter was very silky and filled with chocolate pieces. I used yummy Guittard chocolate discs so the pieces were larger than typically chocolate chips.

I put Maldon sea salt flakes on some of the cookies and they were definitely my favorites. I'd sprinkle more of them with sea salt next time before baking them. 

I made these on Super Bowl Sunday for an easy to grab dessert treat, but they were so yummy and there were so many of them that I couldn't keep them around the house. I packaged them up to gift to a few people and take to my colleagues to enjoy.

Lemon Bars with Olive Oil and Sea Salt

I love the classic lemon bar, but this particular New York Times recipe was unique and I love anything with sea salt. They definitely have a richer and more complex flavor and the sea salt sprinkled on top sure brings it out. They are very rich in flavor and texture though, so I cut mine into little bit size squares and loaded them with flaky Maldon sea salt.

The one cautionary advice with these is to make them on a not so humid day.  The olive oil in the recipe makes them softer and likely to break down much easier on a warmer day. However, sunny summer days just seem the right time to make a bright lemony dessert. So, bake away and turn the A/C on.

Salted Caramels

I have to be careful what I sign up for. But, when I sign up for something, I will give it my all.  This is one example of that.  Knowing I like to bake and cook, a fellow parent at school asks if I would like to make something homemade for the teachers (ALL the teachers and faculty in the school).  I later found out that this was 55 people. So, I thought little caramels would be easy.  Make the caramels, pour them in a pan and cut them up. Easy, right?  Well, the "Easy Salted Caramels" recipe that I sourced from Pinterest seemed so, but the overall process to create enough to make cute little baggies of 5 caramels for each faculty member was more arduous than I thought.  Luckily, I had the help of my cousin staying with us and my amazing husband. 

We made over 300 of these sweet little caramels.  The recipe below is for one batch, but we made 4-6 batches total. 

Here is the water and corn syrup boiling. 

Then we added the butter and heavy cream and continued cooking. 

Once our caramel reached about 245 degrees, we poured it out onto a baking sheet covered with parchment. We left some edges to the parchment and it easily came off the baking sheet to be able to cut.  We placed it on a measure sheet and cut them into (almost) equally sized pieces.  The tough part was just keeping it from sticking to the parchment.  

Because we were packaging them for gifts, we cut several pieces of waxed paper and wrapped the caramels individually, which took some time, but looked very nice. We packaged five or more in cellophane bags to give as gifts. The teachers loved them and we also enjoyed a few ourselves :-)

Recipe for Salted Caramels

From Inspired Taste (Adapted from Jacques Pepin)

Yields 35-40 caramels

Ingredients:

1/2 C. unsalted butter (1 stick)

1/2 C. heavy cream

3 T. water

1/2 C. light corn syrup

1 C. granulated sugar

1/2 t. flaked sea salt (I used Maldon)

Directions:

Lightly oil a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan then measure and cut a piece of parchment paper that will fit inside the pan and come up the sides by at least 1 inch. Next, lightly oil the parchment paper and place into the pan. Set the pan aside.

Cut butter into 8 pieces then combine with heavy cream in a small microwave-safe bowl. Heat in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes until hot and butter has melted. Set aside, we will use this later. I don't have a microwave, so we melted the butter in the heavy cream on the stove.

1. In a small saucepan combine the water and corn syrup. Then, add the sugar, but try your best not to splatter the sugar up the sides of the pan. Now, use a spoon to gently stir the sugar into the water and corn syrup, just moistening the sugar.
2. Heat over medium heat until the sugar has come to a boil. Then, cover with a lid for 1 minute. This adds steam/moisture to the pan, so any sugar that may have stuck to the sides of the pan melts and falls back into the boiling sugar.
3. Remove lid then attach a candy thermometer to the side of the saucepan. Then, cook sugar for 5 to 10 minutes, until the sugar reaches a temperature of 320 degrees F (160 degrees C). At this temperature, the sugar will take on a light amber color around the edges of the pan.

1. he moment the sugar reaches 320 degrees F (160 degrees C), carefully pour about a sixth of the butter and cream mixture then stir, using the base of the candy thermometer to incorporate it. Repeat with the remaining cream and butter (adding a sixth of it at a time then stirring). The sugar will bubble violently as you add the butter and cream - so do this carefully and slowly to prevent the mixture from bubbling over the sides of the saucepan.
2. By adding the cream and butter, the temperature will drop. Now, continue cooking for another 5 to 10 minutes, until the caramel reaches a temperature of 240 degrees F (115 degrees C). This will create a soft caramel, if you want slightly harder caramels, bring the temperature closer to 245 degrees F (118 degrees C).

1. The moment the caramel reaches your desired temperature, pour into the prepared loaf pan. Cool 20 to 30 minutes then scatter the salt over the caramel. Then, let the caramel cool 3 1/2 hours.
2. Unmold the caramel. If the caramel is too soft to work with, place into the refrigerator 30 to 45 minutes to firm up. Then, use a large sharp knife to cut into your desired shape. You may want to run the knife under hot water periodically to be able to cut the caramel easily. We like to cut into 1-inch by 1/2-inch rectangles.

1. Wrap caramels in plastic wrap or waxed paper and enjoy immediately, or you can refrigerate or freeze for enjoying later.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt

I had a container to return to a friend that had so sweetly made us a meal when I had surgery. I was going to return the container nice and clean, but just couldn't bear to return it empty - void of anything to thank them for their nice gesture. So, I made these amazing cookies that I had spotted on Pinterest and wanted to try.

I absolutely love the combination of savory and sweet and these cookies were wonderfully chewy with the crunchy salt to bring out the flavor of the dark chocolate even more. Plus, with browning the butter to make the cookie dough, it gives this hint of a nutty flavor in the cookie. What an amazing way to class up the regular old chocolate chip cookie. I followed this recipe from Rustic Brooklyn and used dark chocolate chunks instead of chocolate chips and Maldon seat salt to sprinkle on top.

Recipe for Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt

Adapted from Rustic Brooklyn

Ingredients

1 cup (2  sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg + 1 egg yolk

2 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chunks

1/2 tbsp coarse sea salt for sprinkling (like Maldon)

Directions

1. To brown butter, heat 1 stick of  butter in a pan over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking and swirling the pan constantly until the butter is dark golden brown with brown flecks on the bottom of the pan, and you can smell a nutty aroma.  Pour it into a bowl and allow to cool completely.

2. Mix the other stick of butter with the brown sugar and granulated sugar  on medium speed for a few minutes.

3. Add the vanilla to the mixer. 

4. Slowly add the brown butter, then mix on medium speed for another 2 minutes.

5. Add the egg and egg yolk and mix.

6. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda.  Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low until the flour is just incorporated.

7. Add chocolate chips and mix for a few seconds.

8. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, then cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

9. Line cookie sheets with  parchment paper and place dough 2 inches apart.

10. Sprinkle each ball with some sea salt.

11. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through.