As I’m sure most of you have noticed I appear to have lost my mojo. I currently am working on 3 blog posts all of which sit open on my computer serving as a collection of anti-ego fodder that I can reread every hour or so to remind myself that I’m lucky to have a real job cause writing ain’t ever gonna pay the bills. The only way to rectify this current state of bloggers slump is a good old fashion cooking post. When easy blogging is needed nothing (sort of mommy blogging) is easier than posting a macro setting enhanced shot of food and calling it a day. I’ve chosen to also take out some insurance in the form of chocolate – how can you people not love my blog when I offer big pornographic images of dark sugary goodness? A nice side benefit to this post is that it serves as a big “I told you so” to all of the haters who called out my cookie making skills.
As a birthday gift my mom signed me up for a year of Bon Appetit and this month’s issue focuses on green cooking including an entire section on baking with whole grains (which, technically I believe is brown cooking). Those of you who grew up in a household where sneaking fiber into your diet was not considered a top priority might not know that baking with whole wheat flour is a great way to make your cookies, cakes and pastries as card board-y as possible. If you like a hearty corrugated snack followed by a good bowl movement then whole grain baking is for you. I, however, was somewhat skeptical of whole grain’s ability to deliver on the bon to my appetite until I came across the recipe for whole wheat s’more cookies.
I’m a huge fan of the s’more and am easily tempted into s’more flavored snack items all of which have always disappointed. S’more poptarts? Cloying. The S’more candy bar? Down right icky. Some might argue that since real s’mores require one to merely stack store bottom items one on top of the other in a (obviously slightly disturbing) Semi-Homemade fashion that seeking out a s’more substitute is the height of laziness. Conversely spending roughly an hour and $20 on recreating this treat might be seen as foolishly complicated. I’m a riddle.
I substituted a half milk half plain yogurt mixture for the buttermilk that the original recipe called for mostly because neither of the 3 markets that I passed on my way home had buttermilk in stock and there was no way in hell I was going to dreaded Key Food for one damn item. As I started stirring ingredients together I realized that, likely due to somewhat unrestrained late night munching, my chocolate chip supply was running dangerously low. I ran across the street to the bodega that saves my life on a daily basis but while they did stock candied walnuts and jumbo sized jars of marshmallow fluff and Jiffy blueberry muffin mix there wasn’t a chocolate chip in sight. I briefly considered substituting a bag of Kissables but ultimately decided that the festive colors would probably be considered an affront to brown baking. I realize that here I am admitting to skimping on chocolate, the exact ingredient that I used as a lure only 2 paragraphs ago but come on, you’re already half done with the post you might as well see this thing out.
Whole Wheat S’More Cookies
(Adapted from Bon Appetit)
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 ½ cups packed dark brown sugar
1 ½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp baking soda
2 large eggs
¼ cup plain yogurt
¼ cup milk
1 tablespoon dark molasses
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
½ cup melted butter
1 ½ cups chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows (left out over night so they’re a bit dried out)
¾ cups chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat. Whisk flour, sugar, salt and baking soda in a large bowl. Whisk eggs, yogurt, milk, molasses and vanilla in medium bowl, whisk in butter. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients stirring until dough is evenly moistened. Stir in chocolate chips, marshmallows and nuts.
Drop cookies by the tablespoon onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake cookies until dry to the touch but still soft, about 15 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool.
I was pretty happy with this recipe though the cookies turned out a bit ugly mostly because many of the marshmallows (especially those on the bottom of the cookies) melted. Surprisingly they didn’t stick to the silpat or the parchment. This was my first silpat baking experience (another gift from mom) and I expected to be blown away but I didn’t notice any difference in final product. The silpat is still a welcome addition to my kitchen since it’s easily reusable and thus doesn’t require me to trek out to the cake supply store for restocking purposes.
The s’more cookie recipe promised that the combination of whole wheat flour and chopped walnuts would somehow magically combine to create an oscar worthy graham cracker performance and I have to admit that as the cookies baked my house did begin to smell distinctly graham-y. However, the taste of the cookies was not particularly reminiscent of dessert around the campfire. Don’t get me wrong, they were solidly in the yummy category and I think you could very easily use them to sneak whole grains into your average white bread loving American child but s’mores they ain’t.
