Hello Lovely Friends!  Well, there is so much to talk about that I don’t know where to start.  So, I think that I will just talk about the yummy recipe that I want to share with you today rather than my ridiculous life.  Here goes. 

Who else has been lucky enough to have potlucks as part of your past or current existence?  I spent many, many, many an evening at political potlucks as I was growing up.  My dad was a party chairman in our county and a local politician for most of my childhood.  One of the best parts of that was going to the monthly potlucks.  It is not a fable that little old ladies can cook up magical food.  I have had the privilege to sample some of the best of midwestern cooking and baking.  As my boys were growing up, my husband was also a local politician and they got to experience this phenomenon themselves…and they loved it.  Nevermind that we had to sit quietly and listen to the speeches and obligatory meeting minutes etc.  We got to eat the best food and it was worth it.   

The recipe that I want to share today is reminiscent of one of the greatest (in my opinion) potluck desserts of all time….Texas Cake.  I adore Texas Cake.  I do not make it often and I have no reason for that.  Most people would say that it makes such a large cake and it is too much for everyday baking.  To that, I say, pssshhhaw.  There is never too much chocolate cake. End of story.  I think that, for me, Texas Cake has a special place at the potluck or family gathering and I don’t want to relegate it to an ordinary dessert.   

This recipe is not for Texas Cake, though.  It is for Texas Cake Cookies!!!!!  They taste just like the cake but in my warped, chocolate-fueled brain, cookies are eminently more simple and homey and comforting.  Cookies are for everyday and not just for special occasions.  I’m weird, I know.   

What makes these cookies so special is the icing so don’t skip it.  I am not a person who loves to frost cookies but this is the exception.  I have iced these with and without the addition of chopped pecans.  Both are wonderful.  To me the pecans are a part of the Texas Cake charm but some people are not into them and that is ok by me too. You may notice that in some of my pictures there are cookies made with and without pecans. I made these for a family gathering and I knew that some of my peeps do not like nuts in their cookies.  Go figure.  

Hey Everyone!  I hope that you are all surviving this craptastic winter weather.  In my neck of the woods, it has been sooooo sucky. You would know that as soon as I started a new job where I have to travel even farther every day, the weather would be ridiculous.  Well, that is what I get for living in central Illinois. I have to say that my nephew, Joe, has been my hero. We are carpooling into Springfield and he is doing the driving in his SUV.  There have already been a few days that I could not have made it in my small car, but Joe got me there and home safe and sound.

I have decided that I really don’t like winter very much anymore.  After Christmas and New Year’s are over I am pretty much done with the cold and snow.  But, Mother Nature gives not one dilly darn what I think. So, to console myself, I have been making cookies whenever I get the chance.  Baking cookies, to me, is the ultimate cozy activity. The kitchen gets all warmed up from the oven and you get to munch on cookie dough and then nice warm cookies.  Aaaahhh. I wish that I were doing that right now.

A couple of weeks ago I tried out a new combination of recipes.  I wanted to try a new butterscotch chip cookie recipe, but I also wanted chocolate.  And, awhile back I saw a recipe where someone had dipped chocolate chip cookies in melted chocolate.  I thought that the chocolate and butterscotch combination would be heavenly. I was right! Oh boy, these are good cookies.  These butterscotch chip cookies are buttery and flavorful. They are moist but still hold up when adding the chocolate and butterscotch base.  The combination is a chewy yet soft cookie on the top with a crisp and rich surprise burst of chocolate flavor underneath. These cookies have become a new favorite of mine and I hope that you will love them too.

So, this cookie starts out with a pretty basic recipe that can be used with any flavor of chips.  I have been on a quest for a while to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe and I have come to the conclusion that it does not exist.  I can find the pros and cons of all of the different recipe variations and methods. And, all of us seem to have different ideas about how a chocolate chip cookie should taste and what the consistency should be.  It is the same with any cookie that has flavored chips. I have a couple of different recipes for butterscotch chip cookies. This one works very well with the chocolate base. A cookie that is very soft would not hold up to that process.  And, I think that you really need a thicker cookie so that you have the proper cookie-to-base ratio. This one turned out perfectly. It is a nice standard recipe with one notable exception. It has a special ingredient. Drumroll please…instant coffee!  I know, amazing! Now, I am not a coffee lover, but I do occasionally use it in baking. Usually, it is paired with chocolate, but I think it works well with the butterscotch too. This recipe does require a slight amount of chilling but if you plan ahead you will have a great cookie that your friends and family will adore. 

For the cookies you will need 1 ½ cups softened butter, 2 cups packed brown sugar, 1 cup granulated sugar, 2 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks, 2 tablespoons vanilla extract, 2 teaspoons powdered instant espresso, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 4 teaspoons cornstarch, 4 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 3 – 4 cups butterscotch chips (depending on how chunky you like your cookies).  If you are not a coffee lover, don’t worry. You won’t really taste the espresso. It just adds a little oomph to the butterscotch flavor. For the base, you will need 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 cup butterscotch baking chips and 2 teaspoons of coconut oil.  

Add the butter and both sugars to a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer.  Cream together until well combined and slightly fluffy.

Add the eggs and egg yolks and vanilla.  Beat until well mixed. Gradually add the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, salt, and espresso powder.  Mix until all the dry ingredients are incorporated with no streaks of flour but don’t overmix. Stir in the butterscotch chips.

Cover the dough and chill for 2 – 3 hours.  You can also make the dough a day ahead if you are pressed for baking time.  Just be prepared for dough-tasting, sneaky fingers to abscond with a bit of it.  At least that is what happens at my house. Now, if you are in a huge hurry you can put the dough in the freezer for about an hour.  I have done this, and it works pretty well too.

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.   

Drop the dough by tall mounds.  Use about 2 tablespoons per cookie.  The tall mounds enable the cookie to stay thick and not spread too much.  This will help them hold together when you add the chocolate base.  

Bake for 9 – 11 minutes.  You want the bottom edges to be very slightly brown and the middles to be soft and puffy.   Don’t over bake or the cookies will be dry. Cool the cookies for a few minutes on the baking sheets and then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.  Once they have cooled sufficiently you can place them on parchment to await the chocolate bottom process.

Once all are cooled, place 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips and 1 cup butterscotch chips and 2 teaspoons of coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave on 50% power until melted. Stir at least every minute. Mine took about 5 minutes but watch closely so that you don’t burn it. Allow the chocolate to cool for a couple of minutes. 

Place clean parchment paper on baking sheets or on the counter. Drop 1 – 2 teaspoons of the chocolate mixture on the parchment. If your cookies are rather large you will need more chocolate but if the cookies stayed in more upright little mounds you may only need 1 teaspoon.  Use your chocolate intuition here. I did a test with 2 cookies on a small baking sheet and placed them in the freezer for a couple of minutes to make sure that my measurement and method was right before proceeding with the whole batch. Place a cookie on a mound of melted chocolate and gently press down turning the cookie counterclockwise (or clockwise) until the chocolate has been squished and spread to the cookie’s edge.   Once the cookies are all chocolate-bottomed, you will need to let them set up for an hour or so depending on how warm your kitchen is. Just plan ahead. If your chocolate-bottomed cookies are on a baking sheet you can place them in the freezer for just a few minutes to speed up the setting process.

Once the chocolate has set, carefully peel the cookies from the parchment paper. 

Get yourself a big old glass of cold milk and enjoy.  These cookies are so buttery and delicious with a satisfying chocolatey snap. I had rave reviews when I took them to work.  Love to you all!

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Butterscotch Surprise Cookies

These butterscotch chip cookies are buttery and flavorful.  They are moist but still hold up when adding the chocolate and butterscotch mixture base.  The combination is a chewy yet soft cookie on the top with a crisp and rich surprise burst of chocolate flavor underneath.

Author: Wench Sherry

Ingredients

For the Cookies

• 1 1/2 cups butter softened
• 2 cups brown sugar packed
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs large
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp powdered instant espresso
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 4 tsp cornstarch
• 4 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 – 4 cups butterscotch baking chips

For the Base

• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup butterscotch baking chips
• 2 tsp coconut oil

Instructions

• Add the butter and both sugars to a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer.  Cream together until well combined and slightly fluffy.
• Add the eggs and egg yolks and vanilla.  Beat until well mixed.
• Gradually add the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, salt and espresso powder.  Mix until all the dry ingredients are incorporated with no streaks of flour but don’t over mix.
• Stir in the butterscotch chips.
• Cover the dough and chill for 2 – 3 hours.
• When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Drop the dough by tall mounds.  Use about 2 tablespoons per cookie.
• Bake for 9 – 11 minutes.  You want the bottom edges to be very slightly brown and the middles to be soft and puffy.   Don’t over bake or the cookies will be dry. Cool the cookies for a few minutes on the baking sheets and then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.  Once they have cooled sufficiently you can place them on parchment to await the chocolate bottom process.
• Once all are cooled, place 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips and 1 cup butterscotch chips and 2 teaspoons of coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave on 50% power until melted. Stir at least every minute. Allow the chocolate to cool for a couple of minutes.
  
• Place clean parchment paper on baking sheets or on the counter.  Drop 1 – 2 teaspoons of the chocolate mixture on the parchment.
• Place a cookie on a mound of melted chocolate and gently press down turning the cookie counterclockwise (or clockwise) until the chocolate has been squished and spread to the cookie’s edge.
• Allow the chocolate to set up on the counter or place the cookies in the freezer for a few minutes to speed things up.
• Once the chocolate has set, carefully peel the cookies from the parchment paper.

Hey Everyone!  Well, here I am again, apologizing for being away and neglecting my kitchen visitors.  I do have a pretty good excuse, though. Well, it is an okay excuse. You see, I have not had the time to devote to writing posts because I have started a new job.  Yep! I finally made the extremely frightening leap to search for, apply, interview and accept a new position. All of those things happened within the last 3 months.  Let me tell you, I have been all sorts of messed up. I knew that I needed more income, so I started looking around and applied for a few positions. But I think that in the back of my mind I did not expect to get anywhere.  I have applied for positions kind of randomly before but did not even get an interview. So, when I was offered the position, I was caught off guard. It is an amazing opportunity and I was, of course, thrilled to get the offer but I was/am terrified to make such drastic changes.  I was/am also devastated to leave my old position. I had been at Illinois College for nearly 13 years. That school is my alma mater and I watched my sons graduate from there. I literally cried at my desk at IC for days while performing my duties. But I pulled on my big girl panties (figuratively) and I started at my new position right after New Year’s.  It has been good so far! It is a very different atmosphere and my duties are centered around budgets rather than the wide variety of tasks that I had at IC. I am learning and adjusting. One of the biggest adjustments is the travel time. I was already driving about 50 minutes each way to work and now I have added another 30 or so to that. Yeah, that’s right.  I am on the road for about 3 hours a day. Ugh. And, I am one of those irritating people who has trouble sitting still. Talk about misery. So, the point to this story is to explain that my time has been monopolized lately with preparing to leave my old job, preparing to start a new job, learning a new job, adjusting my morning and evening routines, and trying to fit in a daily workout somewhere.  I just have not taken the time to write up any recipes for you all. I am about to remedy that situation.

So, with all of this upheaval, I have been in serious need of comfort and stability and normalcy.  What I really needed was my mom but since she can’t be here with me, I turned to my big sisters and food of course. During the holidays we made all of the great old family recipes and traditional cookies and candies.  That helped immensely. Because it was something that had not changed – and hopefully never will. I needed that. When I started thinking of my next recipe to share with all of you my mind immediately went to the dishes that reminded me of a happy time in the past.  This is one of those recipes for sure.

Now, you all know how I love my chocolate.   It is my very favorite flavor of anything. But, especially pie.  I am not a fruit pie lover. I like it but I don’t love it. I do love any kind of chocolate pie.  My very favorite is just a nice plain old chocolate cream pie. Nothing fancy but very rich and creamy and dark and delicious.  My mom would occasionally make chocolate pies and her pies were good. I like mine to be a little darker chocolate than she made. She loved dark chocolate too, but my dad does not, so she made the lighter version.  This recipe is quite simple. I used a pre-made refrigerated pie crust this time, but you could totally use a frozen shell or a homemade. I want to try to make a pie crust with lard. I received a cookbook for Christmas that has a lard-based recipe and it intrigues me.  I know some of you are thinking “eeeewww” but let’s not judge it too hastily. Afterall, it is what my grandmothers used. I admit that there is something very unappetizing about the name…. lard. Yeah, not an appealing word. But I plan on giving it a whirl and I will let you know how it turns out.  So, enough about the crust. That is not the best thing about this pie. The best thing is the creamy, dreamy splendiferous filling. It is to die for…trust me. I made this pie this time for a family dinner. So, I am ashamed to admit, I do not have pictures of the pie after it was cut. It was a thing of beauty though.  I served it with some whipped topping and no other adornment. Mmmmmm.

For this glorious pie you will need a pie crust which can be refrigerated or frozen or homemade.  Whatever the type, it will need to be baked according to the directions and cooled completely.  You will also need 3 cups of whole milk, 4 large eggs (yolks only), 6 ½ ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 ½ cups sugar, ¼ cup cornstarch and ¼ teaspoon salt.

My recipe says to go by weight for the chocolate.  The bars that I used were measured in weight so I just estimated how much I would need.  I used 1 ½ bars and then ½ of another section of the remaining bar. Does that make sense?  Anyway, it won’t matter that much if you are over or under a little bit. Don’t bother with getting the kitchen scale or anything. And, you can use semi-sweet or milk chocolate if you would prefer. You do you.

You don’t need to bake this pie once it is filled so no need to preheat the oven after you have your crust ready.

In a medium saucepan whisk together the sugar, salt and cornstarch.  Pour in the egg yolks and milk and whisk again. Place this on medium heat and stir constantly until the mixture comes to a boil.  Keep stirring and watch it closely. You want for the mixture to become thick like a custard or pudding. In this picture you can see how it coats the spoon well.  This will happen all of the sudden so don’t walk away. It seems like it will never thicken and then, WHAMO, there it is.

As soon as it reaches that point and starts to boil remove it from the heat.  Add in the chopped chocolate, butter and vanilla. Stir until the chocolate and butter are melted completely.  This is a crappy picture, I know, but you get the idea.

Pour the pudding mixture into the pie crust.  My crust held all of the pudding but if your does not then just fill to the top and save the rest to eat plain.  Or, eat it all out the pan while still warm while no one is watching. I’m not saying that I have ever done that and there is no evidence otherwise.  Just saying… Chill for at least 4 hours or until it is set up. Don’t rush it. You want for you slices to stay intact. But, if they don’t so what. It will still be delicious. 

Serve slices of this magnificent, dreamy, smooth dark chocolate cream pie with whipped cream or maybe some caramel or butterscotch ice cream topping.  Raspberries or strawberries in a syrupy sauce would be great too. The possibilities are endless, and your loved ones will adore you. Enjoy!

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Perfect Chocolate Pie

Serve slices of this magnificent, dreamy, smooth dark chocolate cream pie with whipped cream or maybe some caramel or butterscotch ice cream topping.  Raspberries or strawberries in a syrupy sauce would be great too. The possibilities are endless, and your loved ones will adore you. Enjoy!

Prep Time15 mins

Chilling Time4 hrs

Author: Wench Sherry

Ingredients

• 1 regular or deep dish pie crust baked and cooled completely
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 3 cups whole milk
• 6 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoons butter

Instructions

• In a medium saucepan whisk together the sugar, salt and cornstarch.
• Pour in the egg yolks and milk and whisk again.
• Place this on medium heat and stir constantly until the mixture come to a boil.  Keep stirring and watch it closely. You want for the mixture to become thick like a custard or pudding.
• As soon as it thickens and starts to boil remove it from the heat.  Add in the chopped chocolate, butter and vanilla. Stir until the chocolate and butter are melted completely.
• Pour the pudding mixture into the pie crust.
• Chill for at least 4 hours or until it is set up.