Multi-Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies - Guest Chef

Here's another winner from my dear friend John Lansford. I really wish he lived closer to me. 

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I made a batch of Multi-Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies today and took them to the restaurant we eat at on Sunday. The manager came out and said "if you never make another kind of cookie again, please keep making these!" Our waitress and several others also came over and claimed these cookies were great!

Here's the recipe. It makes a very rich, chocolaty cookie with a brownie like texture, and a hint of mint flavoring.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup cocoa
1 lg pkg of instant chocolate pudding
8 oz semisweet chocolate
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tbs creme de menthe
3 cups chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Mix the flour, salt, baking soda, cocoa and pudding mix together in a separate bowl, and set aside.

Melt the semi sweet and unsweetened chocolate together with the butter and stir until well mixed. Add the brown sugar and stir. Add the eggs one at a time and beat into the mixture. Mix the vanilla and creme de menthe into the mixture.

Gradually add the flour mixture into the batter and stir until combined, then add the chocolate chips. 

Using a teaspoon, drop portions of the batter onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, and bake for about 10-12 minutes or the cookies are firm. The batter will be very stiff, so you may need to use two spoons, one to scrape it off the other.

This recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Haven't been cooking a lot lately...

...can you tell?

I've been very busy with my work, so I have enlisted the three kids to each cook twice a week. That just leaves me Sundays to cook. It's been a real blessing for me getting more stuff done, but it's taken a toll on this blog! Never fear, i will continue to add new things as they're created, but with the kids cooking, it's been a lot of repeats and bad-for-you chicken nugget nights.

Just wanted to check in. I haven't forgotten about you! :)

French Toast

Merrick made his first dinner for the family the other night. He made french toast! Our church has a food pantry that receives day-old bread from Panera, and often they have more bread than they can give out to food pantry clients in the week, so we take some home. This is the best kind of bread for french toast - not necessarily Panera, but any kind of bread that is a few days old - starting to get a little dry, but not crispy. We like white bread best for french toast, but wheat bread also makes very good french toast - just has a different flavor. Old hot dog, hamburger, or other buns also make great french toast!

Ingredients:
bread
eggs
milk
sugar
salt
cinnamon (optional)
vanilla (optional)
butter (for frying)

It's really pretty hard to mess up french toast. I use about 1 egg for every cup of milk, so for our family, I usually crack 3 eggs and add about 3 cups of milk. I throw in a bit of sugar (maybe up to a tablespoon) and a pinch of salt. Sometimes for fun, I'll add a bit of cinnamon (1/2 tsp or so) and some vanilla extract (1/2 tsp or so). These aren't really necessary, as just plain old french toast tastes great, too.

Beat the eggs and add the milk, then add any other ingredients if you wish. Preheat a large skillet or frying pan (I like to use an electric griddle) and run a stick of butter over the hot pan to get a bit of butter everywhere. Then dunk a piece of bread into the egg/milk mixture. Be sure it's completely covered, but don't leave it in there very long, or it will start to fall apart. Quick and gentle is the key here. Then take the bread out and put it on the hot pan. Fry for a few minutes until it starts to brown, then turn over to fry the other side.

Most folks like to eat it with butter and syrup. I happen to prefer butter & powdered sugar. Some even like brown sugar! Be creative! Enjoy! :)