6.25.2009

S'more Cookies!


The past week or so, I have been craving marshmallows like none other. Lucky for me, we have an entire bag of both regular and minis. Unfortunately for me, we all know that marshmallows are not the healthiest snack on the block and thus I have made myself not indulge on the craving. I think it all started when I was talking to my newly appointed partner to decide on what we would cook with our kids during our playshop (Now that the school year is over, I am a step-up supervisor for a summer day camp). We had both decided that we would make "ice cream in a bag" with a type of cookie or something to go with it. Maybe even a s'more bake of some sort? Well later that day I came home to my trusty laptop and began my research. Sure, there were s'more bars out there but they required marshmallow fluff...which we didn't have since we had already given our shopping list to our coordinators and they had bought us a bunch of marshmallows. (wait, can you make marshmallow fluff at home? hmm...I'm going to have to look into that...) Either way, I found this yummy looking recipe over at Cookie Madness for s'more cookies. And that is where the fun began...

You see, this past week, Chicago has been in the middle of a major heat wave with mid-90's temps and the heat index well above that. Mixed with the fact that our apt does not have air and that baking requires a hot stove...well, I'm sure you can get the picture, runny dough, melting chocolate, just to name a few. The dough was not as stiff as cookie dough normally is (which I'm thinking the extreme heat was a factor though I do intend to make another batch with a little extra flour and/or some baking powder), they turned out alright visually despite their odd shapes due to them not wanting to cool on the sheet because it was just that hot inside our kitchen and me trying to transfer them to a wire rack. I then took them to our small group meeting and everyone loved them.


S'more Cookies
by Cookie Madness


3/4 cup softened butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup graham crackers
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used mini chips)
1 cup mini marshmallows (I used slightly more than a cup)
2 Hershey bars, chopped up

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

In a stand mixer, combine the butter and sugars until fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla until combined. Add the flour, graham crackers, salt, and baking soda, and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoon onto cookie sheets (I didn't use parchment, and one tray of cookies stuck a bit to the sheet, but the other was fine, so you may want to use parchment just in case). Bake for 8 minutes, and remove from the oven. Push 3 to 4 marshmallows and a few pieces of hershey bar into each cookies. Return to the oven and bake an additional 3-4 minutes until fully cooked. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

6.23.2009

Cilantro Lime Chicken (Tacos)

It wasn't until this past year when I realized that Brad loved the flavor of cilantro as much as I did. The problem was, that we would buy a stalk of cilantro to cook with but because of various reasons, we would hardly use the entire bundle before it would go bad. Fortunately for us, when we moved into our new apartment, there was a place for a little garden in the back. Enter the cilantro plant. At first we didn't think it would make it but boy were we wrong. About a month ago, I had tried making cilantro lime chicken but I wasn't that impressed. However, this past Sunday, I tried again and I would most definitely consider it a success, as does Brad. I looked online for different recipes but ended up just splicing and putting a couple together after looking at different marinating times and random hard to find ingredients. Brad and I have both eaten this chicken by itself with white rice or cut up to make tacos. Our favorite version just happens to be the tacos.

Cilantro Lime Chicken
  • 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • zest of 1 lime, plus juice
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoon fresh cilantro
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cilantro
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  1. Mix olive oil and seasonings together
  2. Place chicken in either a shallow dish or ziploc bag and pour marinade over chicken. Let chicken marinate for 30-45 minutes.
  3. On pre-heated grill or skillet, cook chicken until internal temperatures reach 160. (Don't be afraid to take it off the heat around 150-155 degrees. The chicken will continue to cook internally for a couple minutes and the inner temperature will rise).
  4. If desired, let chicken set for a couple minutes before cutting into strips for tacos.