Momofuku Compost Cookies feat. Snickers 3 Nuts!

Last winter I got the opportunity to spend a few weeks in a law firm learning about a whole new area of law and experiencing what life’s like as a lawyer.  I had a great time, mainly due to the team that I was placed with.  Just a lovely bunch of people :).  So when my supervisor casually mentioned that the last person who had been in their group had baked them some muffins before he rotated through to another team, I took that as an open invitation to try to bake and bring in some Momofuku Compost Cookies in my last week with the workgroup! :D

Even though they have been around for a while, the first time I ever heard of Momofuku Compost Cookies was via Vien’s blog and after that, I’d been itching to give them a go!

Cookie Tower, anyone? ;)

The main and fun decision to make when it comes to these cookies is your choice of salty and sweet goodies to throw into the mix!  After checking to see if anyone on the team had any allergies, I decided to use these ingredients for my first attempt:

also had some white choc chips in the fridge that I added…

I wanted something a bit crunchy so when I saw the new range of Snickers bars that had peanuts, almonds and hazelnuts, I had to pick them!  Measurement-wise, I counted them as half sweet, half salty (hope that makes sense…).

I had fun chopping them up!

Note: I doubled the traditional amount because I was optimistic that they would turn out so well that I would could bring a batch on the weekend to church as well hehe!  Thankfully they were well-received :).

OK, enough talk!  On with the recipe!

Momofuku Compost Cookies

(adapted from We Dare Food)

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup & 4 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup of your sweet goodies (chocolate, caramel and white chips)
• 1 cup of your salty goodies (pretzels & potato chips)
• 1 cup of chopped Snickers 3 Nuts bars (1/2 sweet, 1/2 salty)

Method

1. Cream the butter, both sugars and honey with an electric mixer on medium high for 2-3 minutes until fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.
2. Add eggs and vanilla extract and stir to incorporate. Increase mixing speed to medium-high and run mixer for 10 full minutes. During this time the sugar granules will dissolve, the mixture will become lighter in colour and mixture will double in size.
3. Meanwhile, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. By hand or using lowest speed of mixer, stir in the flour mixture – don’t beat it in or the cookies won’t be as tender. Stir in sweet and salty things.
5. Once well combined, wrap a the cookie dough into a number of logs (see photos below).  Chill for a few hours or until ready to bake.       ***DO NOT BAKE your cookies from room temperature or they will not hold their shape.
6. Heat the oven to 180C. Roll chilled cookie dough into small balls and place on a baking paper lined baking tray.  Make sure that there is a fair amount of space between each ball (see below).
7. Bake 10-14 minutes. While in the oven, the cookies will spread- a lot! (All ovens are different so watch the cookies, specifically the edges).
8. Cool the cookies completely on the baking tray before transferring.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 4a

Step 4b – so cool right? :)

Step 5 – doesn’t really matter what size you roll the logs into…

Step 6 – make sure there is enough space…

This was probably the main difference from other Momofuku recipes… usually people scoop them with an ice-cream scooper and then place it in the fridge.  We didn’t have any room so I just placed them in as logs and then rolled them into balls after they had chilled for a few hours.

Voila! :D

The cookies were definitely a hit, both at the workplace and at church with many people asking for the recipe :D.  They came out just the way I like my cookies – a little bit crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside :).

Enjoy!

Have a productive week everyone!  I better hit the books :D.

Random Question: If you were going to bake Compost Cookies, what salty or sweet goodies would you use?

♥ Ames

Like mother, like daughter? feat. Cacao Macarons

Whether we like it or not, there are some habits or characteristics that we’ll get from either of our parents.  Some good, some not so good haha

As I was assignmenting away two nights ago and with Mother’s Day coming up this weekend, I thought about some of the things I’ve picked up from my mum and what things set us apart… here are a few that came to mind…

Mum and I on her birthday a few years ago...

1. Great storyteller

My mum is an amazing storyteller!  She’s one of those people who can tell you all the little details of a particular scenario down to the expression that someone had on their face, all the while keeping your attention – even if it’s a story that takes 10 minutes to tell!  I, on the hand, start to get bored of my own voice after a minute or two so will probably start telling you a funny story and then half-way through, I’ll just give up and say, ‘You just had to be there!’  Need to improve in this area…

2. Procrastinator

Unfortunately, this is a habit that we’ve both trying to shake.  We were both up to the wee hours of the morning yesterday…

3. Night owl

Whereas my mum functions well at night, I’m more of a morning person.  I’d much rather sleep early to wake up early than vica versa if you know what I mean…

4. Musical

Music definitely runs on mum’s side of the family with all of her siblings and herself singing in the church choir back in Vietnam and her younger brother (my uncle) is the director of a music school in Sydney :).  Definitely glad I got her genes in this area ;).

Earlier this year :)

5. Doesn’t like to cook

Heresy, right?  Well before my mum married my dad, she rarely cooked and thankfully for her, my dad was/is a pretty good cook having worked in many a Chinese restaurant when he first came out to Australia.  Having been married for over 25 years now, she has a number of amazing dishes under her belt and lots of different cooking techniques, however, she’d still rather stay out of the kitchen if possible.  Me? I’d love to cook if I had the time :P.

6. Teacher

Runs in our blood.  ‘Nuff said.

7. Sweets

Sadly, my mum developed Type 2 diabetes around the time she had me so my dad and I are always trying to keep the sweets away from her… including these lovely macarons that I got as a gift from my first official photography gig last night:

Cacao Macarons *drool*

Apparently, her diabetes is hereditary so I have to make sure I don’t overdose on the sugar and have to forsake these lovelies forever…

French Vanilla - love the colours!! (pls excuse my thumb)

Pistachio (regular flavour) and Burnt Orange (seasonal flavour)

My dad had never had macarons before so I had the Burnt Orange and French Vanilla and let him have the rest… he really liked them hehe and so did I ;).  The delicate shells cracks the moment you bite into them and the ganache was smooth and packed with flavour.  I had the Burnt Orange after having put it in the fridge and tasted just as good if not better than the French Vanilla which I had on the way home hehe!

Cacao has a number of different locations and items can be bought online as well!  Interesting fact: Their macarons are gluten free and Cacao won Melbourne’s Best Macaron in 2010!

Gift for your mum, maybe? :)

I know that not everyone has their mum by their side or perhaps like my dad’s mum (my grandma) they have passed away and Mother’s Day is more sad than happy.  However, I think that no matter where our mums may be, there are things about them that make them unique and special to us… and that’s something we can all celebrate!

Q: What characteristics or habits have you inherited from your mother? Or what characteristics or habits did you WISH you had inherited from your mother?

♥ Ames

a lesson from my dad

When we celebrated my dad’s birthday last year…

He told me stories of his childhood and the kind of life he lived when he first came to Australia.  I let him muse about how fast time flies.  He recounted the days when he used to live near Bondi Beach before moving to Melbourne, working long hours at different jobs in various restaurants, in the fish markets, in car factories… And he taught me an old Chinese phrase of how in life, we’ll all encounter ‘the sweet, the sour, the bitter and the spicy’…  (it sounds much better in Cantonese hehe)

I said my life seems so easy compared to all his experiences but he said there’s no need to compare because I have or will have my own ‘sweet, sour, bitter and spicy’ moments…

The sweet: moments that bring a smile to your face and make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside

The sour: moments that make you screw up your face in disbelieve at what has just happened

The bitter: moments that leave you feeling depressed or moments you’d rather not face up to

The spicy: moments that make you sweat or cry uncontrollably

I guess my life has been peppered with a bit of each kind of flavour recently.  And that’s ok.  That’s life.  It’s making me stronger.  It’s like that saying: whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.

– posted June 23, 2010

It’s hard to put into words what my dad means to me.  His encouragement, his love, his wisdom, his integrity, his generosity, his faith and prayers have all shaped the person I am today.  Love you, Dad!

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Of course Father’s Day wouldn’t be the same without some good food hehehe… we had a lovely spread at church which left me quite bloated but I thought I’d share the recipe that was my mum’s pride and joy today (mainly because it was so easy to make and pretty to look at).

Butter Biscuits

(originally ‘burnt butter biscuits’ but I don’t think she burnt the butter)

Makes about 70 of the size above

Ingredients

• 125 grams of butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• vanilla essence (up to you how much you use)
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups of self-raising flour
• glazed cherries (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to moderate heat (180°C)
2. Heat butter in saucepan until melted (or light brown if you want to burn it slightly), add sugar and beat.
3. Beat egg in a separate bowl and then add gradually to the butter sugar mixture.
4. Add sifted flour, mix well.
5. Roll into small balls, flatten and press a glazed cherry on each
6. Bake for 15 mins or until golden brown.
7. Eat and be merry!

♥ Ames