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Bake a Difference with OXO for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer and Dorie Greenspan’s Double – Ginger Molasses Cookies

September 20, 2016 by Renee

double-ginger-molasses-cookies-dorie-greenspan-and-cookies-for-kids-cancer-3759September marks National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and each year, OXO supports Cookies for Kids Cancer  with a Bake a Difference blogathon. OXO will donate $100 to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer (up to $100,000) for each blogger post shared for this important cause.

This year, in honor of the publication of Dorie Greenspan’s new cookbook, Dorie’s Cookies, OXO is giving bloggers like me a chance to preview one of the recipes from the book and to test out with some cool OXO products.

I am so happy to have been chosen to make the Dorie’s Double-Ginger Molasses cookies. Gingersnaps and Molasses cookies are among my favorite cookies to make each Fall. As soon as the air turns crisp, and the leaves start to change, I make my way to the kitchen to bake. Ginger and molasses embody the very essence of Fall, spicy warmth and comfort.  With a double dose of ginger,  ground and crystallized, these flavorful cookies are wonderfully chewy and delicious. They also keep very well. Which is great if you want to give some away, or you can keep them for yourself and just know they will last several days.

Here, you can see some of OXO’s awesome products in use:

With a light to guide you, OXO On Illuminating Digital Hand Mixer includes intuitive digital controls to steadily increase or decrease speed.When you’re finished, the on-board beater clip, wrap-and-secure cord, and flat, stable base allow for compact, upright storage.

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Using OXO’s Medium Silicone Spatula is an easy way to scrape the bowls clean!

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For easy scooping and consistent shaping, the Medium Cookie Scoop soft grip absorbs pressure while you squeeze to smoothly release your cookie dough. It helps you make perfect balls of dough.

These cookies are actually baked in a muffin tin and yields a crispy and chewy, muffin like cookie. We used OXO’s Non-Stick Pro 12 Cup Muffin Pan. It is made with a ceramic-reinforced, two-layer, commercial-grade coating that provides ultimate non-stick release and is scratch-, stain-, corrosion- and abrasion-resistant. It’s unique micro-textured pattern ensures even baking.

double-ginger-molasses-cookies-dorie-greenspan-and-cookies-for-kids-cancer-3752

 

Without further ado:

Double-Ginger Molasses Cookies

Recipe from Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan 

I have my friend Christine Beck, who is, like me, a Paris part-timer, to thank for this recipe.

The cookies belong to the chewy-molasses-cookie family, but they have so much flavor and so many surprises that they transcend the familiar. For starters, there’s both crystallized ginger and powdered ginger, lots of chopped dark chocolate and an optional bit of instant espresso too, which I tacked onto the recipe because I’m an incorrigible tinkerer.

I also tinkered with the way these are baked. Classic molasses cookies are scooped, molded into balls, rolled in sugar and then pressed with a fork before baking, and you can make these cookies that way. Or you can do what I do: Mold them in muffin tins, which turn out more uniformly shaped cookies that teeter on the brink of becoming gingerbread cakes.

A word on crystallized ginger: Crystallized, or candied, ginger is sliced fresh ginger that is cooked in syrup, dredged in sugar and dried. You can usually find it in the supermarket alongside other dried fruits or in the spice section. If the ginger isn’t moist and pliable, steam it before using: Put it in a strainer over a saucepan of simmering water, cover and let warm and soften for about 5 minutes; pat dry, chop and use. If you can’t find crystallized ginger, you can omit it or mix 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger with 2 teaspoons sugar and let stand for about 10 minutes, until the ginger is syrupy.

Makes about 36 cookies.

Ingredients

2¼ cups (306 grams) all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 to 2 teaspoons instant espresso, to taste (optional)

1½ teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

1½ sticks (12 tablespoons; 6 ounces; 170 grams) unsalted butter, cut into chunks, at room temperature

1⁄3 cup (67 grams) sugar

1⁄3 cup (67 grams) packed light brown sugar

1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

½ cup (120 ml) unsulfured molasses

1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1⁄3 cup (55 grams) chopped crystallized ginger or 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger mixed with 2 teaspoons sugar (see headnote)

7 ounces (200 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped chip-size

Sugar, for rolling

Method

Whisk the flour, cocoa, espresso (if using), spices, baking soda and salt together. Working with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter and both sugars together on medium-low speed for about 3 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed, until fully blended. Add the yolk and beat for 1 minute, then add the molasses and vanilla, beating until smooth. Turn off the mixer, add the dry ingredients all at once and pulse the mixer until the risk of flying flour passes. Working on low speed, mix the dough until the flour is almost but not completely incorporated. Add the crystallized ginger (or the sugared fresh ginger) and chocolate and mix until the dry ingredients disappear into the dough and the ginger and chocolate are evenly distributed. If you’ve got bits of dry ingredients on the bottom of the bowl, mix them in with a flexible spatula.

Gather the dough into a ball, flatten it and wrap it in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Getting ready to bake: Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat it to 350 degrees F. Butter or spray regular muffin tins or, if making free-form cookies, line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Have a medium cookie scoop at hand. Alternatively, you can use a rounded tablespoonful of dough for each cookie. If you’re using tins, find a jar or glass that fits into them and can be used to flatten the dough; cover the bottom in plastic wrap. Spoon some sugar into a wide shallow bowl.

For each cookie, mold a scoop or spoonful of dough into a ball between your palms, then turn it in the sugar to coat and put in a muffin cup or on a baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between each ball of dough. If using tins, use the jar or glass to flatten each ball until it almost reaches the sides of the cup. If it’s free- form, press to flatten to about 1⁄2 inch thick.

Bake the cookies for about 13 minutes, rotating the tins or sheets top to bottom and front to back after 7 minutes. The cookies should be lightly set around the edges and softer in the center. Transfer the tins or sheets to racks and let the cookies rest for 15 minutes before unmolding them and/or placing them on racks to cool completely.

If you’re baking in batches, make certain to start with cool tins or baking sheets.

Playing Around:

Ginger-Chocolate Ganache

To make a ganache that you can use to finish the cookies, bring 2⁄3 cup heavy cream and four 1⁄4-inch-thick slices of fresh ginger to a boil in a small saucepan. Turn off the heat, cover the pan and allow the cream to infuse for 20 minutes. Return the cream to the boil, then remove the ginger and pour half of the cream over 6 ounces finely chopped bittersweet chocolate. Wait for 30 seconds, stir gently and then stir in the remainder of the cream. Dip the top or one side of each cookie in the chocolate and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Chill for 20 minutes to set the chocolate. Bring the cookies to room temperature before serving.

Storing

You can refrigerate the dough for up to 3 days. You can also scoop out the dough, shape into balls and freeze the balls on baking sheets; when they’re firm, pack them airtight and keep frozen for up to 2 months. Remove the dough from the freezer and let the balls sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes, then roll in sugar and bake. The baked cookies can be kept in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 4 days. They’ll get a little drier and a little less chewy, but that will make them even better for dunking.

 

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Enjoy!

 

THE FINE PRINT: COOKIES FOR KIDS’ CANCER IS A RECOGNIZED 501C(3) PUBLIC CHARITY DULY INCORPORATED UNDER THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY. YOUR DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE TO THE FULLEST EXTENT ALLOWABLE BY LAW. 100% OF PROCEEDS RAISED BY COOKIES FOR KIDS’ CANCER FUND PEDIATRIC CANCER RESEARCH.
– OXO WILL BE DONATING $100 TO COOKIES FOR KIDS’ CANCER FOR EACH BLOG POST DEDICATED TO THIS CAMPAIGN (UP TO A $100,000 COMMITMENT*.)
– *IN 2016, OXO WILL DONATE UP TO $100,000 TO COOKIES FOR KIDS’ CANCER THROUGH PRODUCT PROCEEDS, BAKE SALE MATCHES AND OTHER FUNDRAISING EFFORTS
– I received the above products for participation in this campaign. 

Filed Under: Eat, Kitchen Sink, Desserts, Kitchen Gear & Gadgets, Product Reviews Tagged With: Cookies, Cookies For Kid's Cancer, Ginger, Molasses, OXO, chocolate

The Viking 5-ply Everyday Pan

May 3, 2015 by Renee

Viking Everyday Pan-2When you cook often, like I do, at some point you will find that your pot cupboard begins to expand. You begin collecting vessels for every type of situation- skillets, sauté pans, Dutch ovens, sauce pans, stock pots, fajita pans, comals, griddles etc. You get the point.  But, not only do you find that you own not one of each item but several of each do you then say- “Whoa, that’s a lot of cookware! Do I really need all of these pans?”

Well, no, of course not. Having one good everyday pan can actually replace several.  A pan such as the new Viking 5-ply Everyday Pan with its heat resistant handles and its 3.4-quart capacity would be a good choice.

Like all good cookware, a good pan needs to do a few things particularly well; heat evenly, be balanced and comfortable to handle, make transfers to the oven easily and steadily-not shaky, and to keep food and heat contained it must have a tight-fitting lid.

Oh, and it must be able to go into the dishwasher. That is my one pet-peeve with the multitude of anodized aluminum cookware that I currently own. I am not supposed to put it in the dishwasher. But at some point over the years I did, and now, 20 plus years later, I am starting to replace it piece by piece with ones that actually can go into the dishwasher-just so I won’t have the nagging guilt of putting it in the dishwasher when it’s not supposed to! (Not really, but that’s a good excuse!)

After sautéing vegetables, braising a filet of beef and frying a few chicken cutlets in this new pan, I am happy to say that it does all of those things well. It heats evenly, maintains its heat and at 3″ deep, you can wilt a full bag of spinach in one batch.

Viking Everyday Pan-1

It’s also my new go-to pan for making mussels!
Viking Everyday Pan-3

The price tag is hefty though- around $300. But, if you consider the costs of all the pans it replaces, then you might be able to justify the expense. Liken it to having one good chef’s knife in your arsenal of kitchen tools. And of course, you might want to consider a larger capacity pan if you are cooking regularly for several people. Otherwise, if you are looking to replace a few saute pans and skillets, the Viking 5-ply Everyday Pan would be a good option to choose. Plus it has a lifetime warranty and it’s made in the USA.

 

Disclosure: I received the Viking 5-ply Everyday Pan to review at home. The thoughts and opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Kitchen Sink, Kitchen Gear & Gadgets Tagged With: Viking, cookware

T-Fal OptiGrill Review

September 29, 2013 by Renee

Normally we don’t like having a separate gadget for every different job in the kitchen. But in the case of the T-Fal OptiGrill, we are so glad to have this additional appliance. The T-Fal OptiGrill is the first and only indoor grill with Precision Grilling Technology. This means that the grill has special sensors that automatically determines the thickness of the food and it will grill it to perfection.

This really is an “intelligent” appliance.

TFal OptiGrill-1860

There are six different cooking options to choose from- burgers, poultry, sandwiches, sausage/pork, red meat and fish as well as an option to cook manually (great for fruits and vegetables) or to cook from frozen. This last option is awesome and is a lifesaver some nights!

You can actually take chicken straight from the freezer and grill it- and it will cook- thoroughly.  This makes it an incredible tool for making dinner on a busy weeknight when we haven’t had a chance to pull anything out ahead of time. (Which is more often than not!)

The one downfall of this is having to season the chicken once it has been cooked (or cooked partway), but it gave us the idea to preseason, or marinate and freeze individual portions of chicken to grill later.

Here, I had two massive chicken breasts that were frozen together- and they actually cooked all the way through- even though they were an uneven thickness.

TFal OptiGrill-1864TFal OptiGrill-1866

The amount of smoke that I usually produce when cooking steaks, usually sets off the smoke detectors but with the OptiGrill, it was significantly less. A Cooking Level Indicator lights up and changes color to indicate when your food has reached your ideal temperature: Yellow for Rare; Orange for Medium; Red for Well Done. Once it has reached the temperature you chose, it will beep. And you know it’s done!

Our steaks turned out perfectly Medium. (This was also a great time to try out Grass fed beef versus grain fed, but that’s another story for another time. Can you tell which is which?)

TFal OptiGrill-1867 TFal OptiGrill-1869 TFal OptiGrill-1877Perfect!

When we made burgers, they cooked in about 7 minutes flat and were actually done before we had even finished baking the French fries!  Need to work on our timing with that.  But, the best part is that all the unnecessary fat dripped into the extra-large tray, making this a much healthier dinner, without sacrificing taste. The burgers also weren’t dry and retained much of their juiciness because we could choose what level of cooking we wanted without guessing when they would be finished.

TFal OptiGrill-1859

 Look at all that grease!

The extra large, nonstick grill plates enable you to easily cook for several people at once and they are removable so you can put them and the drip tray right into the dishwasher for easy clean-up.

Since receiving the OptiGrill, we have used it on several occasions. We even grilled sausages to accompany breakfast this weekend. Because of its versatility for use and easy care, I think this is one appliance that will have a permanent home on my counter top. I’m looking forward to making some sandwiches on this soon too!

The T-Fal OptiGrill is priced at $179 and is a great option for those who do not have space for a traditional grill or those who love the convenience of an indoor grill. It’s currently only available online but they expect to be in retail locations soon.

 

Disclosure: We received a T-Fal OptiGrill to test at home. All opinions are our own and we were not compensated in any other way for our review.

 

If you want to check them out on Social Media, you can follow them here:

www.facebook.com/optigrill

www.twitter.com/tfaloptigrill

www.youtube.com/optigrill

https://plus.google.com/u/0/100373006917375787518/about

www.pinterest.com/optigrill

Filed Under: Kitchen Sink, Kitchen Gear & Gadgets, Product Reviews Tagged With: Indoor Grill, OptiGrill, Product Review, T-Fal

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