Mini Hazelnut and Cacao Nib Madeleines

These mini hazelnut and cacao nib madeleines are super tiny (1 inch by 1 1/2 inches) and so "pop-able." They are dense and moist, and have a wonderful toasted hazelnut flavor. 

Cacao nibs you ask? They are essentially raw chocolate beans that have been chopped and roasted and are ready to be processed into chocolate. They don't really taste like chocolate. Instead, they add a hint of chocolate. While I'm not into food fads, the purveyors tout their "super food" healthiness. I just think they make these madeleines look pretty. 

I think these cookies would also be great dipped in melted chocolate. Either way, they are the perfect dessert cookie perched elegantly on a saucer next to your after dinner espresso, coffee, or digestif.

Mini Hazelnut and Cacao Nib Madeleines

Yield: about 38 tiny cakes.

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray

2 room temperature extra large eggs

1/3 C granulated sugar

3 ounces all purpose flour (about 2/3 cups)

1/8 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

2 ounces (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 T cacao nibs, finely ground in a clean coffee grinder

3/4 ounces toasted ground hazelnuts 

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp confectioner's sugar

Instructions

1. Spray two 20-cavity mini madeleine pans with the nonstick cooking spray, and place them on a baking sheet.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the eggs at medium speed for one minute.
3. Add the sugar, and whip at medium high speed for 5 minutes. The mixture should be thick and pale. 
4. Sift the flour and baking powder together into a medium bowl. Whisk in the salt.
5. Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture in two batches. 
6. Add the vanilla to the butter and fold into the mixture, one half at a time. 
7. Combine the cacao nibs and hazelnuts, and fold into the batter, 1/3 at a time, completely blending. 
8. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and let the batter thicken for one hour.
9. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
10. Fit a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch plain pastry tip and fill it with the batter. Pipe the batter into the cavities of the pan, filling them. 
11. Bake for 13 minutes. 
12. Tap the pans over a cooling rack to remove the cookies to cool. 
13. Sift the powdered sugar over the cookies right before serving.
14. The cookies will keep for 3 days in an airtight container. 

Adapted from Bite-Size Desserts: Creating Mini Sweet Treats, from Cupcakes to Cobblers to Custards and Cookies.The mini cheesecake recipe in the book is amazing.

I can't believe it's already week 6 of 12 weeks of Christmas treats hosted by Brenda of Meal Planning Magic. Are you looking for treats to serve over the Christmas holidays? Check out the thumbnails below for lots of great ideas. Click on the badge to visit Brenda's site.

Carrot Bread

This carrot bread is a yeasted bread, not a quick bread, and involves a rye starter (a poolish) as well as carrots, carrot juice, and parsley. First, you mix the poolish and let it sit overnight. On baking day, the starter is mixed with bread dough, yeast, carrot juice, carrots, parsley, golden syrup, sunflower oil, salt, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds. You have to wait a couple of days, but it's worth it.

Don't you just love those orange carrot bits? Don't worry vegetable haters, you can't taste the carrot. The dominant flavors are the toasted sesame and sunflower seeds.

This recipe was chosen by Heather of Girlichef, the host and kitchen of the month for Bread Baking Babes (and one of my favorite food bloggers in the universe.. you need to follow her blog. She's a breadhead after my own heart).

Heather and the other Babes had some trouble with the amount of liquid in the original recipe. I did too and I wish I had measured the adjustments I made in the amount of water I used. I would estimate that I added about a half cup of water to the poolish, and another half cup of water to the final dough. While the dough seemed a bit sticky during the kneading process, after the bulk rise, the dough was not sticky at all. It was super easy to handle and easy to shape.

The oven spring on my loaves was amazing. I probably should have slashed the loaves. Look at how the loaves split on their own!

Carrot Bread

Adapted from Girlichef, adapted from Artisan Breads: Practical Recipes and Detailed Instructions for Baking the World's Finest Loaves.

Ingredients

Poolish

3/4 tsp instant yeast 

1 C water, plus more if needed

364 grams whole rye flour

Final Dough

1 cup carrot juice

2 1/2 tsp instant yeast

1 1/4 C grated carrots

1/2 C chopped parsley

823 grams bread flour

2 T plus 1 tsp golden syrup, honey, or maple syrup

All of the poolish

Additional water as needed

1/4 C sunflower oil

4 tsp sea salt

1/3 C toasted sesame seeds

3/4 C toasted sunflower seeds

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, with a dough whisk or a large spoon, mix the poolish ingredients until it is the texture of a sticky bread dough. Don't worry if you can't get it quite right, because you can adjust the hydration in the final dough. Cover the bowl with plastic and let sit at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours, until very bubbly. 
2. The next day, in the bowl of a stand mixer, place the carrot juice, yeast, carrots, parsley, flour, golden syrup, and the poolish. Mix on low speed with the dough hook for 3 minutes. If the dough is too stiff, add more water until you have a slightly sticky dough. (Note: rye behaves differently than wheat, and can make the dough feel someone gummy.)
3. Add the oil and knead for another 8 minutes. If you are having trouble incorporating the oil (if you dough seems to be sloshing around in the oil like mine did), pull the dough out of the bowl and add it back in pieces with the mixer running. It will come together and incorporate the oil.
4. Add the salt, and knead for another 7 minutes. 
5. Remove the dough from the mixer and hand knead the seeds into the dough.
6. Place the dough into an oiled bowl or dough rising bucket, cover with plastic, and allow to rise for 60 to 90 minutes, deflating it once, half way through. (See this post about "knocking back" dough). 
7. Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces and form them into balls and cover with a damp towel. Let them rest for 10 minutes.
8. Shape each ball into an oblong loaf by flattening it and rolling it up. Place each loaf, seam side down, onto a parchment lined peel or cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled. 
9. Place a baking stone in your oven and preheat it to 475 degrees F. Fill a spray bottle with water. 
10. Slide the loaves, parchment and all, onto the baking stone and mist the oven with water. After 5 minutes, spray the oven again, and lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees F. 
11. Bake for another 35 to 40 minutes, tenting the loaves with foil if they are getting too brown. 
12. Cool on a wire rack. 

Heather has a lovely crackle glaze on her loaves, but I cheated and left it off. Hop over to her site to find out more.  It is painted on the loaves prior to the second rise.


Sharing on Yeastspotting

Chicken Enchilada Soup

This chicken enchilada soup is thick and filling, and adapts all of the flavors of chicken enchiladas into a delicious and comforting soup.

While it might take a couple of hours of cooking time, this chicken enchilada soup is so easy to make, and it includes all of the ingredients you might find on an enchilada plate. This chicken enchilada soup doesn't require much attention at all, so it's perfect for a busy mom.

The French Baguette and the Un-Massachusetts Roast Beef Sandwich

French baguettes have always been my nemesis, so when I was given an opportunity to choose a recipe to bake from a new cookbook, Baking By Hand: Make the Best Artisanal Breads and Pastries Better Without a Mixer, sight unseen, I chose to make the French baguette... the one bread I have not been able to do with much success... No pressure at all.....

Tiny Homemade Pop Tarts

Wouldn't these tiny homemade Pop Tarts be so perfect for a holiday party, especially for a brunch? Actually, you could just call them tiny hand pies and serve them at a dessert table with other small mini-sized desserts such as cupcakes, cookies, mini cheesecakes, and other bite-sized desserts.

If you use store bought pie crust and jam, they are super easy to make. Any pie crust recipe will do, and you can get creative with the filling too.

Tiny Homemade Pop Tarts

Inspired by Tiny Food Party!: Bite-Size Recipes for Miniature Meals

Makes about 24 tarts

Ingredients

1 recipe for homemade pie dough or store bought refrigerated dough

Fruit flavored jam. I used this apricot filling recipe because I had some left over from making the Danish

Egg wash: 1 egg slightly beaten with 1/4 C milk or cream (to "glue" pastries together)

Cream for brushing pastries

Royal Icing: 1 egg white, 1 1/4 C confectioners sugar, 1 tsp vanilla

Sprinkles

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F
2. Cut the pastry into small rectangles, about 1 inch by 1 1/2 inches
3. Pipe (use a zippered sandwich bag) the filling into the center of half of the rectangles
4. Brush the egg wash around the edges and top with another piece of dough.
5. Crimp the sides with a small fork to seal.
6. Brush the pastries with cream, make tiny slits on the top, and bake for about 15 minutes.
7. Cool on a rack.
8. To make the royal icing, whip the egg white until frothy, and then add the sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, and continue to beat until smooth. Add the vanilla. 
9. Frost the centers of each tart with the royal icing and add the sprinkles. Allow the icing to harden.

I am participating in 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats hosted by Brenda of Meal Planning Magic. If' you'd like to join the party, please visit Brenda's blog for more details. 

Dry-Fried Sichuan Beans | Wok Wednesdays

Dry-fried Sichuan beans. "What is this technique?" you ask.

Lightly salted beans are cooked undisturbed on medium low heat in a small amount of oil and stirred at one minute intervals for about five to six minutes until they are slightly browned. This technique intensifies the flavor of the beans.

The beans are removed from the wok, and the ginger and pork are stir-fried, and then the beans and the rest of the ingredients are added back into the wok. Boom! Deliciousness.

After prepping the ingredients, making these beans took about eight minutes. The recipe is pretty uncomplicated, and doesn't require a huge amount of work in advance. It calls for 12 ounces of thoroughly dry green beans. To save time, I bought a 12 ounce bag of pre-washed and pre-trimmed beans that are meant to be steamed in the microwave. I know it's cheating, but I didn't have to worry about the beans being dry, which is one of the requirements of the technique. The recipe doesn't call for a lot of ingredients (ginger, soy sauce, salt, sugar, ground pork) the most difficult to find being the Sichuan preserved vegetable. Comparatively speaking, making this dish is a rather leisurely affair.

These beans were amazing and so intensely flavorful. How often do you hear that about green beans?

Want some fabulous green beans as well as other amazing, authentic stir-fried dishes? I highly recommend Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge: The Ultimate Guide to Mastery, with Authentic Recipes and Stories by Grace Young. You will find the recipe on page 233.

Would you like to wok along with us? Check out the Wok Wednesdays website as well as the Wok Wednesdays Facebook page. Grace Young her very self is there to help us all master the art of the wok.

Crusty Apple Pie

Imagine an apple pie that that is mostly crispy and crumbly crust. A pie that has just enough cinnamon apples to keep the two layers of flaky crust apart.

I'm not very practiced in pastry dough (still learning), and when I assembled this pie, I had some trouble rolling out the dough. It was a little dry, and the edges were really jagged. I mean, really jagged, kind of like a map of Sicily. Fortunately the dough was pretty forgiving, and after some patching, I had a couple of rustic circles.

The pie is baked on a baking sheet or pizza pan, not in a pie pan. I baked mine in a dark pizza pan, which resulted in a very crispy bottom crust.

This pie is really good, and the crust, which contains both butter and cream cheese, is really flaky. If you like crust, make this pie. It's kind of a galette with a top crust. I loved it.

This recipe is part of the October Avid Bakers Challenge. We are baking recipes from the King Arthur Flour website.

Crusty Apple Pie Recipe

Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

Crust Ingredients

8 1/2 ounces unbleached all purpose flour

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 ounce buttermilk powder

4 ounces cream cheese

5 ounces cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces.

1 1/2 to 2 ounces ice water

Filling Ingredients

1/2 C sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon mixed together

1 1/4 pounds apples (I used Granny Smith), cored, peeled, and halved, and thinly sliced

2 tsp lemon juice

1 ounce salted butter, cut into small cubes

Sparkling sugar and milk for glazing

Instructions

1. In a food processor, add the flour, cream cheese, salt, and buttermilk powder. Pulse about 8 times.
2. Add the butter pieces and pulse a few more times. You should still see butter pieces.
3. Dump the dough out onto your work surface and sprinkle with some of the water and press the dough together to see if it is enough to hold the dough together. Add more water, a little at a time, until the dough just holds together.
4. Divide the dough into a 9 ounce piece and a 10 ounce piece. Form each piece into a disk, wrap each in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours. 
5. When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 425 F.
6. Lay a piece of parchment on your work surface and roll out the larger piece of dough to a 13 inch circle on top of the parchment. Move the dough, parchment and all, to a pizza pan or rimmed baking sheet.
7. Toss the apple slices in the lemon juice to keep them from browning.
8. Spread the sugar/cinnamon mixture on top of the dough circle.
9. Arrange the apples on top of the cinnamon sugar.
10. Dot the top of the apples with the butter.
11. Roll the second piece of dough out into a 12 inch circle. Lift the dough and place it on top of the apples.
12. Fold the bottom dough edges over the top piece and crimp them together.
13. Brush the dough with milk or cream, and sprinkle the top with sparkling sugar.
14. Cut holes or slits in the top dough.
15. Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes, and then lower the temperature to 375 degrees F. Bake for an additional 25 to 35 minutes. The pie will be done when the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling.
16. Cool on a rack in the pan for at least an hour before slicing. 

Danish Braid with Apricot and Confectioner's Cream Filling | TWD

Seriously easy-to-make apricot and confectioner's cream Danish pastry. The pastry itself has the richness of laminated dough without all of the work, and the fillings are made in a microwave. Even better, you can make the dough and fillings a couple of days in advance and keep them in the refrigerator.

This bread was rich, buttery, and flakey and filled with the tartness of apricots and the sweetness of confectioner's cream.

Based on the easiness of preparing the ingredients and the tastiness of the finished product, I will be making this one again and again.

While this bread is called a braid, the look is created by cutting the rolled out dough and crossing strips of it over each other. Easy.

This recipe comes from Baking with Julia: Savor the Joys of Baking with America's Best Bakers by Dorie Greenspan. 

Danish Braid with Apricot and Confectioner's Cream Filling

Danish Pastry

Ingredients

1/8 C water

1 1/4 tsp instant yeast (I used SAF Gold)

1/4 C room temperature milk

1/2 large egg, room temperature (How much is half and egg? Whisk the egg and then put it into a measuring cup. Use half.)

1/8 C sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 C unbleached all purpose flour 

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch slices

Instructions

1. Whisk the water, yeast, milk, egg, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. Put the flour into the bowl of a food processor with the metal blade. Add the butter and pulse 8 to 10 times, until the butter is cut into 1/2 inch pieces. 
3. Add the flour and butter mixture to the yeast mixture, and stir gently with a dough scraper or rubber spatula until just combined. 
4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight and up to 4 days. 
5. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface, dust it with flour, and pat it into a square. Roll it into an 8 inch square. 
6. Fold the dough into thirds, like a letter. 
7. Roll it and fold it again two more times, wrap it with plastic wrap, and chill it for 30 minutes to 2 days. 

Confectioner's Cream

Ingredients

1 C heavy cream

1 1/2 T cornstarch

2 T sugar

1 large egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. Using a 1 quart glass measuring cup, whisk the cream, cornstarch, and sugar together. 
2. Microwave the ingredients for 1 minute. Stir and microwave for 2 to 3 minutes more, one minute at a time until it boils and slightly thickens. 
3. Mix the egg yolk and vanilla. Add a bit of the hot cream to temper the egg, and then add the egg to the cream mixture. Whisk very well, and then microwave for another 30 seconds. Whisk again. The cream should be thickened. 
4. Cover the top of the cream with plastic wrap and cool to room temperature. 
5. Refrigerate up to 3 days.

Apricot Filling

Ingredients

1 C dried apricots

1 C water

1 C sugar

2 T lemon juice

1/2 tsp almond extract

Instructions

1. In a 1 quart glass measuring cup, stir the apricots, water, and sugar together. 
2. Microwave for about 10 minutes, stirring about every 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Place the ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth.
4. Add the lemon juice and extract and pulse.
5. Scrape the ingredients into a small container, cool, and refrigerate for up to a week.

To assemble the bread:

Ingredients

All of the pastry dough

Apricot filling

Confectioner's Cream filling

One egg white, whisked

Pearl or sparkling sugar

Sliced almonds

Instructions

1. On a piece of parchment, roll the dough into a 10 by 14 inch rectangle.
2. Mark the dough with a knife or dough scraper lengthwise to divide it into thirds. Don't cut all of the way through. 
3. Place a layer of the apricot filling down the center. You won't use all of the filling. 
4. Place a layer of the Confectioner's Cream on top of the apricot filling. Again, you will have leftover filling.
5. Using a knife, cut each outside third of the dough on a slant to create about 14 strips. 
6. Fold them alternatively over each other, brush with the egg white, sprinkle with the sugar, and add the almonds.
7. Cover with plastic wrap and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 
8. Let it rise for about 30 to 40 minutes, remove the plastic wrap, and bake the pastry for about 20 minutes, until golden brown. 
9. Cool on a rack. 

What is TWD? Tuesdays with Dorie! Check out the TWD website for more variations on this recipe. 

Iced Apple Drop Cookies

Iced Apple Drop Cookies with lots of apple flavor....

These apple cookies are super soft and full of apple flavor. They contain fresh apple, dried apple, apple jelly, apple juice, and boiled apple cider.

To quote one of my colleagues at work,  "Those things are dangerous."

My little five year old grandson spent the night last night (oh how I love having him spend the night!) and ate three of them for dessert (he skipped the freezer drawer full of ice cream novelties that we keep on hand for his visits...  Note to parents: that's what grandparents do....).

Iced Apple Drop Cookies Recipe

Makes about 30 cookies. Slightly Adapted from the All American Cookie Book by Nancy Baggett.

Ingredients

1 1/2 C peeled and finely chopped apples

1/4 C finely chopped dried apples

1/4 C apple jelly

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

2 C (9 ounces) all purpose unbleached white flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, slightly soft 

3/4 C packed light brown sugar

1 large egg yolk

2/3 C powdered sugar

1/2 tsp light corn syrup

2-3 drops vanilla

1 tsp boiled cider (optional)

Apple juice to thin the icing

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place a rack in the middle.
2. Line three baking sheets with parchment.
3. In a 3 quart saucepan, cook the apples, apple jelly, cinnamon, and nutmeg over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Pour the mixture into a bowl and let it cool. 
4. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together, and set aside.
5. In the bowl of a stand mixture, beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the egg yolk and beat until incorporated.
6. Beat in half of the flour mixture on low until just incorporated. 
7. Add the cooled apple mixture and mix. 
8. Remove the bowl from the mixer and mix in the rest of the flour mixture with a spatula until just incorporated. 
9. Using a 2-Tablespoon Cookie Scoop or a coffee scoop, drop the batter onto the parchment lined baking sheets, about 2 1/2 inches apart, about 10 cookies per baking sheet. Slightly flatten the cookies with oiled hands. 
10. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for about 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned. 
11. Cool on the pan for about 2 minutes on a rack, and then move the cookies to a rack with a spatula and cool completely. 
12. Mix the powdered sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, optional boiled cider, and enough apple juice to make a glaze. 
13. Place the icing into a plastic bag and snip a tiny hole in the corner. Drizzle the icing over the cookies as pictured. 
14. Store the cookies in an airtight container for about 5 days. 

Stir-Fried Cumin Scented Beef with Vegetables | Wok Wednesdays

This Stir-fried beef with vegetables is, according to Grace Young, the award winning author of The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen, The Breath of a Wok, and Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, a representative Hunan-style stir fry. She also says it involves an advanced stir-frying technique called jau yau, which means "passing through oil." 

Bite sized pieces of meat, poultry, or fish are briefly blanched (in this case 15 seconds) in hot oil prior to stir-frying. You kind of do this acrobatic where you bring the hot oil to about 280 degrees F, add the beef, fry for 15 seconds, and then pull the beef out with a skimmer and drain it on paper towels. 

At this point, you pour off the oil, rinse the wok, and commence the stir-fry. 

Did you notice above that I said Grace Young refers to this technique as "advanced?" I'm feeling pretty smug at this point because I pulled this off. With a guest for dinner. The first time I tried it. Did someone say "advanced?" 

This dish includes flank steak, carrots, cauliflower, scallions, garlic, and cherry tomatoes. It's really tasty. Just saying. Take it from someone who is "advanced." 

I am participating in Wok Wednesdays. We have a Facebook page too for non bloggers to participate. Twice a month we stir-fry a recipe from Grace Young's Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge. So far, every recipe I've tried from this book has been flawless. Order the book. This recipe is on page 74. 

You can also find the recipe >here<. 

Toffee Candy, Butterscotch, and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Trust me, you have to try these toffee candy, butterscotch, and chocolate chip cookies.They only take about 10 minutes to mix and then another few hours in the refrigerator to get ready to be sliced and baked.

Chocolate Truffle Cookies with a Crackle Crust

These chocolate truffle cookies are packed with chocolate.

Three dozen cookies comprised of over a pound of bittersweet chocolate, two cups of bittersweet chocolate chips, and three tablespoons of cocoa powder. I was inspired to make these cookies after coming home from a visit to Seattle.

Outside of cities in California, Seattle is the is probably the city I have visited the most. Behind Seattle? Chicago, Portland, and Dublin. So much world, so little time. You know you love a city when you can't quite remember how many times you've been there.

This trip was all about good friends and good food. I spent the weekend with a sweet friend and colleague who relocated to a suburb north of the city. Being a southern California native, I love to visit such a "foresty" place.

Next up, Mr. Kitchen joined me for a few days in the city. The highlight was having dinner with a dear, dear friend. You know those friends that you don't see for 30 years and then it's like you haven't missed a beat? That's him. What a treat. I can't begin to tell you how special it was... the sweetest thing.

The last time I was in Seattle was 2008, and I will say that the city proper seems a little more hardened. There are parts of the city that are a little more seedy than I remember, and the fish doesn't seem to be flying in the Market.

What is the same? The food, the walkability of the city, and just the gorgeousness of the place.

In Seattle, the iconic chef is, of course, Tom Douglas, and on this trip we visited Lola's and the Dahlia Lounge (where I had the best grilled cheese and tomato soup ever!). Next to the Dahlia Lounge is the Dahlia Bakery. It's really a very small shop but filled with some amazing baked goods. And of course, because I can't help myself, I have the cookbook. 

What to make in honor of this trip? These Tom Douglas Chocolate Truffle Cookies. They seemed like the perfect way to celebrate our trip.

Chocolate Truffle Cookies With a Crackle Crust

Makes about 36 to 40 3 1/2 inch diameter cookies

Ingredients

205 grams all-purpose flour
20 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
567 grams bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1⁄2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 1⁄4 cups sugar
6 large eggs at room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Generous 2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Sift the flour, cocoa, and baking powder together. Stir in the salt and set aside. 
3. Melt the chopped chocolate in a double boiler until melted. Allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes. 
4. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment and cream on medium speed until well combined. 
5. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing on medium speed until the eggs are incorporated. 
6. Increase the speed to high and beat for a few minutes until the mixture is very light and pale.
7. Add the melted chocolate and the vanilla extract and mix just until combined. 
8. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the dry ingredients using a rubber spatula. Fold in the chocolate chips.
9. Set up several baking sheets with parchment paper and start scooping the cookies as soon as you finish making the batter. Use an ice cream scoop but pack the scoop only about three- quarters full. 
10. Scoop the batter onto the baking sheets, placing the cookies about 2 inches apart. Flatten each mound of dough slightly with your hand or an off-set spatula.
11. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time in the center of the oven, until they are evenly cracked all over the tops and are softly set, about 14 minutes, rotating the pan about halfway through the baking time. 
12. Remove the pan from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Allow the cookies to cool completely before removing them from the baking sheets with a metal spatula. 

This is the second week of Twelve Weeks of Christmas Treats created by Brenda of Meal Planning Magic. Each week we post recipes for treats that would be perfect for a holiday party table. We also have a Pinterest board that you can follow to get great ideas for your holiday dessert table. (If you are a blogger and would like to bake along, here is a >link< with information about participating).

Potato Onion Dill Bread

This Potato Onion Dill Bread smells amazing when it is baking, a lot like a twice baked potato.

This bread is incredibly moist and makes the best garlic cheese toast ever. Imagine a twice baked potato... except it's bread. See the chunks of potato in there?

This dough was really wet...  94% hydration. Add in potato flour, potatoes, and onions, and you have a pretty touchy dough when it comes to holding its shape. So far, 80% hydration has been my limit before I can no longer get surface tension and slash the dough. I've been really spoiled with the breads I've been making lately, so I was a little too confident in my approach to this one.

Don't get me wrong. This bread is absolutely wonderful. The crumb is perfect. It's just that the shape of the bread isn't quite what I wanted. I'd actually like to try baking this in a the long clay baker I have... or maybe I should just keep working on getting the loaves to be more round.

Or... I could just say I meant it to be this shape! That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Potato Onion Dill Bread Recipe

Ingredients

57 grams (by weight) warm water (105 to 115 degrees F) 

1 tsp active dry yeast

450 grams unbleached bread flour

40 grams potato flour or potato flakes (not potato starch)

12 grams Kosher salt

1 tsp dill seed

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

369 grams room temperature water

100 grams red potato, simmered, diced into 1/4 inch pieces, and cooled

70 grams sweet onion, cut into 1/4 inch pieces

Instructions

1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let stand for 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Whisk all of the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer together. 
3. Add the yeast/water mixture, the rest of the water, and then stir the ingredients with a large spoon or a dough whisk.
4. Knead on low with the dough hook for about 5 minutes. 
5. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it sit for 20 minutes. 
6. Add the potatoes and onions, and fold the dough over them a few times to incorporate. 
7. Knead for one minute. 
8. Scrape the dough into an oiled bowl or bucket, cover, and allow to rise until doubled, about 90 minutes. 
9. Lightly flour a work surface and turn the dough out onto it. Divide the dough in half and lightly flour the top of each piece. 
10. Flour two small bannetons or towel lined bowls with brown rice flour. 
11. Form each piece into a ball, without deflating the dough, and place each into a bowl, seam side up. Cover with oil sprayed plastic wrap.
12. Allow to rise for about 45 minutes, until just less than doubled.
13. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F with two covered Dutch ovens heating in the oven. 
14. When the dough is ready, remove the Dutch ovens from the oven.
15. Place parchment over the dough, and turn the dough over so that the parchment is on the bottom.  Remove the bowl/towel, from the top of the dough. Lift the dough round, parchment and all, and place it gently into the Dutch oven. Cover, and place it in the oven. (At this point, you can slash the dough, carefully). 
16. Repeat with the second loaf.
17. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the tops from the Dutch ovens, lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees F and bake another 15 minutes, until the dough reaches an internal temperature of about 210 degrees F.
18. Cool the loaves completely on a wire rack. 

Adapted from Amy's Bread.