As Seen on "Unique Sweets": Craftsman and Wolves

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See Dandelion Chocolates back there? Yeah, they were on the same episode.

     Unique Sweets is truthfully my favorite TV show, period. It’s on the Cooking Channel, the hipster and unconventional teenager of the Food Network, and it’s full of national gems. A spin-off of the original “Unique Eats”, this show exhibits different cafés, bakeries and restaurants in the country with crazy cool desserts and sweet treats. What’s better than offbeat confectioneries? The only thing I can think of is being in a city with so many! I’ve counted six locations in San Francisco that “Unique Sweets” has been to, talked about and aired on their show. Dynamo Donuts, which I wrote about before, happens to be one of these places. Another of these places is Craftsman and Wolves, in the Mission District. They’re known for “The Rebel Within”, which is a soft-boiled egg inside of an asiago sausage muffin. But once you walk up to their counter, you’ll see why else they’re famous and unique.

Caramelized hazelnut financier (French cake). $3.
Cashew curry and Valrhona (also French) chocolate chip cookies. $3
Chocolate croissant stack. $3.50

     Everything they make is beautiful. Look at that chocolate stack. Would I buy it for $3.50? Maybe not. I had a grand old time in there fangirling behind my camera, though.

The Rebel Within. $7

     Look at that muffin. This I might shell out 7 bucks for if just for the experience (if not for the sausage part).  Inside your asiago muffin, you get a soft-boiled egg. Whoa. What an adventure to bite into.

Savory tart: Charred eggplant purée, quinoa, smocked almonds and raisins (sic?). $5.50.
They omitted the “fromage blanc” on the little card there, but seen on their online menu.
Also, if you know that smocked is a real term, please fill me in.

     Moving left towards the cash register, we see potential lunch contenders. A garden of choices. A display of attention to detail.

Hard hitters corner. Proceed with caution.

Haute Dog: Beef frank, mustard seed croissant, salt & vinegar beet chips. $6.50.
Now they’re just getting ridiculous. Or no? Maybe it’s incredible.

“Sandwich”: Shitake, bok choy, kimchi savory cake, peanuts (sic). $8.
I’m not even sure what some of that means. Was the kimchi baked into that toast?

     There’s where the “crazy cool” comes in, sweet or not. These could just as well be life-like ceramic sculptures of very talented artists, but this is really what these lunch menu items look like. I don’t know that I would ever go for the toast set up, but I would consider the haute dog.

Coupe: Blueberry, Earl Grey. $4.50
Tart: Sweet corn, blonde chocolate, coconut, caramel. $6.50

     I would buy this spherical tart just out of curiosity on how to eat it. Seriously, how do you eat that? Is it soft and moussey? Hard and fudgy? But you have to applaud how they put these things together to make them look like bird nests. And that petal of whatever it may be.

(Mini) Black Frosting: Blackberry, vanilla, semolina, lavender. $8, $27.

(Mini) Cube Cake: Strawberry, honey, yogurt. $8, $30.

     Their cakes are also other-worldly. They change varieties every so often as well.

     I went for a morning bun, because it was “only” $4. It was nothing particularly special, but it had a nice flavor of vanilla like I was eating ice cream. Morning buns seem to be more of a west coast thing, and definitely a San Francisco thing. No crazy citrus flavors like most morning buns have, though. The center was soft and chewy and the outside was crunchy from the sugar and maybe salt coating. I don’t think you can really go wrong at Craftsman and Wolves: anything you get will be really good, or at least an experience.
     If you ever get the chance, do make it to Craftsman and Wolves. They made it to Unique Sweets for a reason. Apart from the occasional typo, they know what they’re doing. Check out their website, or better yet, their Instagram for more ridiculousness. Whether you get a Rebel Within or a bird’s nest, CAW will have something to spark your curiosity.

Editor’s note: I have since consumed six dollars worth of the Valrhona chocolate chip cookies for free (serious perks of interning for one of the best food photographers in the city). Surprisingly, I found the Valrhona chocolate to be too dark…I guess my palate hasn’t grown up as much as I thought.  Which would explain the reactions of all the adults around who fell in love with the cookies. Don’t get me wrong – apart from the chocolate, I did really enjoy the cookie. It was chewy and thick. But seriously, I could have eaten one for breakfast – so dense, so big!

A Study in Pizza

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     We had some pizza dough. And a full fridge of perishables. You don’t need Sherlock to tell you there’s only one thing to do: homemade pizza! You could take me to the best pizza place in Italy, but I’ll still tell you that the best pizza is made in your own oven. There’s nothing better than putting a bunch of different foods all together on the same pie over any cheese of your choice, waiting fifteen minutes, and devouring it in all its melty goodness. Here is my quick mission to make some room in the fridge with an all-thing-edible pizza.

 Square shots, #nofilter. Here, we’ve used some marinara sauce that came home from a shoot, with little spots of homemade salsa that needed some usage. The hardest part of making this pizza was preparing the dough. Always, hands down.
Add the cheese: we had so much to choose from, but why choose? We’ve got some classic mozz, some four blender combo, and Vicki’s homemade Reblechon for a nice kick. Bam.
Now for the can’t-go-wrong hodge podge: mushrooms (always mushrooms), yellow and orange bell peppers, olives, caper berries. Yes. I feel like there’s never enough space on one pizza, definitely not as much as you thought there would be. How colorful…looks full to me!
Here we have it. One round, if rustic, pizza pie of leftover perfection. Doesn’t get more savorily satisfying than that.

What’s in the Pantry: Sunflower Seed Butter

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    Before Ramadan started, I got on another baking kick. It’s easy to do in this house, always equipped with ingredients and interesting foods that we’re not sure what to do with. But Ramadan can’t stop me from getting in the kitchen, either. I already tried plans for popcorn chocolate chip cookies. I was inspired by the cocoa powder in the pantry. I was feeling a classic pairing of chocolate and peanut butter, but we didn’t have peanut butter. What we did have was sunflower seed butter. Have you heard of such a thing? You may have seen it among the cookie butters in Trader Joe’s. This place clearly carries everything. I found this jar sitting in the pantry, and it seemed to be waiting for the right moment to be used. No one had opened it, so I thought I would see what I could do. It wasn’t the smoothest of nut butter, but that’s not an issue if you like texture with your chewy. Thus materialized from the kitchen and my free Saturday afternoon, my sunflower seed butter-stuffed double chocolate cookies!

     I don’t care what the back of the cocoa powder packet says – melting chocolate is always the best way to go when baking cookies and brownies. Moist, dense, and excellent.

     You could always add some cocoa powder for that extra oomph, though.

     Electric mixers! I’m all about manual labor and traditionalism, but sometimes electric mixers just give you a texture you can’t get any other way that I’ve found.

     The art of moderate-sized stuffed cookies. You have to stick a hole in the first half of dough and stick a little bit of ss butter in the center then top it off with just enough dough, so the cookies don’t get massive. These came out just right. But I’ll warn you now: it will quickly become very challenging to manipulate the dough, oily fingers or not. I had to wash my hands and restart multiple times. I guess one disadvantage of the melted chocolate is the extra stickiness of the dough when you’re working with it.

     So shadows. Much sunny. Wow. So much chocolate – but not too much! Dig right in.

Sunflower Seed Butter-Stuffed Double Chocolate Cookies
Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients

6 tablespoons butter
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 large eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder 
Peanut Butter Cookie Filling
1/2 cup sunflower seed butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Directions
In a large bowl, melt butter, bittersweet chocolate and 1 cup of chocolate chips with double boiler setup or in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until melted completely. Set aside and let cool.
In a small bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. Set aside.

In a large bowl, add sugar and eggs, beating until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla extract and melted chocolate/butter, beating for another 1-2 minutes until combined. Stir in the dry ingredients with a large spatula until thoroughly dispersed. Fold in remaining chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer while you make the peanut butter cookies. Let the dough sit in the freezer for at least 20 minutes.

Place sunflower seed butter and sugar into a medium bowl, mix to combine.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the cookie dough from the freezer. and scoop out about a teaspoon of dough placing them about 2 inches apart. Using oiled hands, make a small well in the dough. Now take about 1/2 teaspoon of the sunflower seed butter and place it in the well. Scoop another teaspoon of the cookie dough and flatten into a disk. Place this over the filled well, pinching the cookie dough layers together. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake for 9-10 minutes. Let cool for at least 10 minutes on the baking sheet. Consume rapidly.

On the Hunt: Brenda’s French Soul Food Beignets

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     Ramadan has officially commenced around the world, so it’s a good thing I ran around the SF food scene early in the game. But don’t think a month of daylight fasting will deter me from the restaurant tables; I’m already making plans to visit Candybar Dessert Lounge  *rubs hands*.

     I guess I like doughnuts; enough to find the best of the best in town according to Google. That’s probably one of a handful of things I got from my Uncle Banji – shout out for sacrificing the trans-fat-full Krispy Kremes. Brenda’s French Soul Food is a cute restaurant in the occasionally dodgy Tenderloin neighborhood, where Chef Brenda Buenviaje brought her New Orleans culture and cooking to share with San Francisco. We came for the beignets, but left with the intention of trying the shrimp and goat-cheese omelet or cornmeal-fried oyster po’boy. I’m a sucker for seafood and deep frying, so I think I could do some real damage here.

     This place gets packed. Lines out the door, and extra cozy dining rooms. This is a good sign, right? So is this one: “house rules”. They need a whole frame – I’m in. And luckily, literally. The 2pm Friday crowd was minimal, and my roommie Megan and I were seated within 5 minutes of entering.

     Check out the silverware cans and condiment buckets. True southern feel? I would think so, but I’ve yet to make it to Louisiana. What I do know is that some of these cans came from the famous Café du Monde in New Orleans. Authentic!

     Casual yet classy. Check out the mirrors on that wall. Check out the wall.

     So beignets. Megan and I were kinda in over our heads here…after some consideration, we went for a plate of traditional beignets, and a plate of Ghirardelli-stuffed beignets to split. Three beignets of each, three beignets each to consume. Totally doable, right? Maybe, but the real question is always “should it be”, isn’t it? We could barely move after enjoying the dense fried dough mounds and dark chocolate chip pockets, doused in powdered sugar.

     What exactly is a beignet, though? You could call it the French version of a doughnut, but for us, it’s closer to a “fritter”. I call it a ball or square of fried dough, that is always be covered in powdered sugar in this country. What may make it particular is the dough itself. The “choux” pastry is light and has butter, egg, and flour. Without yeast, these treats expand when steam is created from all the moisture and heat. In this traditional beignet, you can see the pocket of air. But don’t be deceived: these beignets pack a heavy punch. After one, you’re trying to calculate how you will finish the other two waiting on your plate.

     So much beignet…so little room. Here we have a lovely chocolate-stuffed beignet, where the middle is made up of Ghirardelli chocolate chips. Did I mention Ghirardelli originated in San Francisco? And this thing was chock-FULL. We instantly reevaluated our choice to order two plates among consuming our first one of these. I may have preferred shooting it than eating it – you really need to enlarge these images to get the full experience. The chocolate chips hadn’t even melted fully…there IS such a thing as too much chocolate, and I think we were in sight of a limit at Brenda’s. In any case, it was an excellent experience and I have no regrets. Only next time, I’ll be trying at least one of their different varieties: Granny Smith Apple (with honey butter!!) and Crawfish. A la prochaine, Brenda!

Food Trucks For Days

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   As literally as that modern idiom could be used. And as incomplete as that last sentence was. San Francisco is one of the best cities to be in as a foodie. It’s full of French boulangeries and pâtisseries, so in that sense it’s also the best place to transition oneself to a return to American life & cuisine from France. Vive la baguette. And vive le food truck, because there are easily 50 food trucks in San Francisco, and 50 more in the surrounding Bay Area. There are so many ways to get your food truck fix here, but one I learned about my first day here is called Off the Grid. Seriously check it out because it is super cool. They’ve created more than 30 locations in the Bay Area where 5-40 food trucks/tents will set up shop for either lunch or dinner and you can have your choice of yummy nummies. Food trucks/carts from crêpers to crème brûléers to gyrators to SPECULOOS COTTON CANDYMEN all get together to serve us, with the frequent local band playing live music on the side. Off the Grid gets it. The coolest party to date. So without further ado, let me introduce you to some noms, and how also, not all options are good options here in food-truck land.

 Here’s the crowd for the Sunday afternoon “Picnic at the Presidio”. Blankets, folding chairs and even those shade-maker tents. It was surprisingly steamy that day.
Here is “Fins on the Hoof”, the food truck I selected for my lunch of poutine. I was first introduced to poutine in its birthplace of Québec, right in Québec city during a high school trip. Our tour guide accurately described it to us as “French fries covered with gravy and topped with squeaky cheese”. Probably like you, I thought this sounded absolutely nasty. But I also thought I would never know for sure, so I decided to try the big signature dish of Québec. I’m glad I did because it’s awesome!! Simple and squeaky. So when I saw the traditional québecois poutine at this truck I was sold.
I will definitely be coming back for the lamb burger and salmon/egg salad sandwich though!
This truck had a long line of tickets and a longer line of people – both waiting to order and waiting for their food.
So this poutine…I’m not sure if it’s my developed palate or the particular overload of salt, but I did not love the poutine like I thought I would, and I was very sad. It doesn’t look like the gravy is plentiful, but that’s because it’s busy pooling up (down?) at the bottom of the aluminum container. Not all the fries were hot, and the cheese wasn’t all that squeaky. BTW the squeaky cheese refers to cheese curds! With all that plus the superbly over-salted gravy, I was not impressed by the poutine 😦 Goodbye $9. Did I mention food trucks are expensive?
SO to make up for my disappointing poutine experience, I got myself some more francophoney food at the Crème Brûlée Cart. They do in fact have a store which I stumbled across in the Mission District recently – but I think they make most of their money from their OtG gigs and their middle-of-the-street tents in the Mission and elsewhere.
Check out these flavors. The Crème Brûlée Cart goes all out with the toppings: cookie crumble, caramel, S’MORES. I went all out too, with “The Godfather”: chocolate crème brûlée, “midnight cookie crumble” on top, all covered in caramel sauce. Danggg!

It may have been better with hot fudge sauce, or a component of warmth. It was all kinda gooey and cold, but that’s to be expected.
I have a lot of work to do if I want to get around this food truck scene. Updates to come.

On the Hunt: Dynamo Doughnuts

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     One morning I was inspired to google “best doughnuts in San Francisco”, and what it came up with was less than disappointing. Among the 2-3 different sites and opinions I received, Dynamo Donuts was a unanimous choice among doughnut eaters. They’re known for their wacky flavors and ingredient combinations. And of course, their prices are just as hipster as their options (apparently hipsters have money now? Completely different subject). Normally these rings go for $2 each or more, but past a certain time in the day, they present their “twofer” deal where they’ll give you two, so they can get rid of as many fresh doughnuts as possible. So you can go in the morning, where they’ll have probably around 10 flavors for $2+ each, or you can go in the afternoon, when they’ll have 4 flavors for half the price. I say it’s a win-win.

     That’s what was left around maybe 3pm? Minus one, because I took the last of it.

     I picked lemon sichuan because I love all things lemony, and the cashier suggested something like “hibiscus heart beet”. I’d hoped he knew what he was talking about.

     I guess he did know. I was pleasantly surprised by the pink cake of the doughnut that could only have come from the ingredients. It was a nice combination of chocolate and natural sweeteners – again, from the ingredients, and not too much sugar. It was nice and simple. Particularly good for those who prefer their desserts less sweet.

     Then came my lemon. I’ve yet to ever go wrong with lemon. My favorite part about this doughnut was how it was “filled”. Instead of taking a whole doughnut and piping it, at Dynamo they form doughnuts halves and then place ample filling in between before frying away. GENIUS. Look at that space. No crowding of room, no cream oozing out of your bite and onto your shirt before you can get to it. The flavor was just as good: I guess the powder was supposed to be spicy, like a sort of pepper. So, definitely a healthier route than powdered sugar. But it was a very mild sourness, nothing too extreme. On the inside was the perfect lemon curd: not too sweet, and not overpowered by sour. Brought me back to my British jam days…mm lemon curd!

     Dynamo itself is a cool place. I’m finding that so many places in San Francisco where baking goes down, the kitchen is in plain view for all to see. Of course, not much happens in the afternoon…at all. But here’s where the magic happens. On the other side of the counter are chairs and places to sit and enjoy your high end coffee and doughnuts. In the back there’s a nice outdoor patio area where I hid.

     And here is my super shady picture of the store front. I passed by Dynamo almost twice when I went looking for it. The front is the counter that your walk up to, modest and quiet. But I’m sure in the morning there’s a line down the block! I wanted to document this, so I crossed the street with my big camera around my neck and hid behind this tree so as not to be seen by the guy working there taking a picture of this place without previously mentioning it. In hindsight, I clearly should have said something, and he definitely saw me. Then there was this guy parking his car. So I thought I’d leave this photo here to tell more of a story than to illustrate the unique store front of Dynamo…
     There you have it! Hipster doughnuts in the hipster part of town: Dynamo Donut + Coffee in Mission. If you’re in the area, definitely check them out!

Real Tales of San Francisco

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The Golden Gate Bridge. I guess it’s officially orange?!

     If my others forms of social media have yet to update thee, I have made it across the country to the Golden State for the first time since I was seven years old for a martial arts convention. Yay! California is big, and San Francisco is crazy: Crazy landscape, crazy weather, crazy people and crazy food. For the next ten weeks, I will be eating my way around as much of the city as I can while photo assisting, food styling, baristaing and fasting during Ramadan (hmm…we’ll get to that later).
     So I’m gonna pull a Joy the Baker on this one – sometimes food bloggers think their readers are interested in their lives outside of food. So here’s a couple of picture of non-food to go along with this life update. Enjoy these while I get my important/food life together with finishing my French blog and putting together some first SF posts for y’all.

Palm trees? Must be Cali.
Colorful houses and electric bus wires. All the buses in San Francisco are zero emission.
ZEERO.
Pretty sure that’s Alcatraz…
So many Prii (note the Transamerica pyramid in the distance)

Providence Food and Travels Abroad

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     Last week, Jake and I got to spend some time in Providence, Rhode Island! I love love Providence, and there are too many restaurants to eat the same thing twice. Walking down Westminster we found “Teriyaki and Korean House”. What really caught our attention was the “moffle” advertised on the window. The Moffle: a combination of Belgian waffle and the Japanese rice cake mochi. Of course we had to try it. I was tempted to eat one for lunch, but we went with a seafood fried rice first.

Fish cakez
And kimchi

     Then came the moffle, with fresh berries and vanilla ice cream. Indeed a Belgian waffle infused with a mochi middle. Not as crisp of an outside as we were warned, but the chewy center was texture enough. With cinnamon and sugar flavoring the mochi, my sweet tooth was plenty satisfied.

Oh right, with whipped cream and syrup, too.

     Ok, all. The moment you’ve all been waiting for is here…voici le lien pour mon nouveau blog français! Non? A soon-to-be-filled French Food on Photos can be found on that link, showcasing all things eaten in Aix-en-Provence and beyond for the next three and change months. In the meantime, stay warm and make some roulade!

Pumpkin Cake

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Check out this pumpkin cake I made in the middle of January! Worth the off-season timing.
Eggs, sugar butter
Add the pumpkin
Dry ingredients…
Voila!

Martha Stewart’s Pumpkin Spice Cake (With Honey Cream Cheese Frosting)

Ingredients

  • For the Cake

    • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
    • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
    • 2 teaspoons baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice (or 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/8 teaspoon each allspice and cloves)
    • 2 large eggs
    • 1 1/2 cups sugar
    • 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin puree

  • For the Honey Frosting

    • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, very soft
    • 1 bar (8 ounces) regular (or reduced-fat) cream cheese, very soft
    • 1/4 cup honey

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin-pie spice. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, butter, and pumpkin puree until combined. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture, and mix gently until smooth.
  3. Turn batter into prepared pan, and smooth top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake 10 minutes in pan, then turn out of pan, and cool completely, right side up, on a rack.
  4. Make Honey Frosting: In a medium bowl, whisk butter, cream cheese, and honey until smooth.
  5. Spread top of cooled cake with honey frosting. Cut cake into squares to serve.

Cook’s Note

You can also use a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan: Increase baking time by 25 to 30 minutes (tent loaf with foil if it browns too quickly).

Found here

Cookie Graveyard

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     I must get back into the blogroove while I can on break. To attempt to make up for three months of inactivity, I shall share some cookie etc recipe gems for your entertainment during the dreary month of January.
     In October, I had a free Friday to myself, and of course I opted to spend it in the empty kitchen. Three hours of oven time resulted in brown butter cookies, apple spice cookies and pumpkin muffins! Wooo!
     Why get back into the groove, you ask? Oh, you didn’t…one would assume it to be so I can more successfully keep writing during school for the coming semester. But what you didn’t assume was that I’ll be spending the next semester in the south of France (insert positive exclamation of choice here). So that’s cool. Be on the lookout for the latest url before I leave in two weeks. In the meantime, bake some out of season nummies.

Cinnamon Apple Cookies
Makes around 30 small cookies
From bakeperfectcookies.com

 
Ingredients
¾ cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 ½ cup shredded apples (one very large apple or 2 smallish apples)

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 ½ cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. salt

1 cup chopped nuts

2 Tbs. sugar


2 tsp. cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a large bowl cream the sugar and butter.  Once creamed, add the egg followed by the shredded apple.  Stir in the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mix the baking powder, flour, cinnamon and salt.  Add to the wet batter, one half at a time.  Finally, fold in the nuts.

On a large baking sheet drop a tablespoon size of batter, no more than 12 cookies to a sheet.

Sometimes it is easier to stick the batter in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.  This allows for less sticky measuring and scooping of the dough.

It is essential to bake these cookies for a full 14 minutes.  The tops will be golden.  Mushy-in-the-middle apple cookies are no good!  As long as the tops are a light gold, the cookies are fully done.

While the first batch of cookies are baking, combine the remaining sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. When the first cookies come out of the oven, sprinkle the tops with the sugar-cinnamon mix.  The warmth of the freshly basked cookies allows the sugar-cinnamon mix to stick. Let the cookies sit for a minute then transfer them to a cooling rack.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 24 cookies
Inspired by Joy the Baker

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking soda.  Set aside.
Start by browning the butter.  In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat.  Once the butter has melted completely, it will begin to foam and froth as it cooks.  The butter will also crackle and pop.  That’s the water cooking out of the butter.  Swirl the pan occasionally, and keep an eye on the melted butter.  The butter will become very fragrant and brown bits will begin to form at the bottom of the pan.  Once the bits are an amber brown, immediately remove pan from the heat and pour browned butter (bits and all) into a small bowl.  Leaving the butter in the pan will burn it.  Allow butter to cool for 20 minutes.
Wooo photo skills
In a large bowl, add the browned butter to the brown sugar.  Cream until light and fluffy.  Add the vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.
Add the granulated sugar and cream for 2 minutes, until well incorporated.  Add the egg and egg yolk and beat for 1 minute more.

 Add the flour mixture, a third at a time. Use a spatula to fold in chocolate chips.

Chill dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Place racks in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Scoop dough by the two tablespoonful onto prepared sheets.  Be sure to leave about 2-inches of space between each cookie.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until cookies are golden brown.  Remove from the oven and allow to rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes.  Serve warm or allow to cool completely.
Pumpkin Spice Muffins
Makes 12 large muffins
From The Pioneer Woman

1 cup All-purpose Flour

1/2 cup Sugar
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1-1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Ground Ginger
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Salt
4 Tablespoons Butter, cut into pieces
1 cup (heaping) Pumpkin Puree
1/2 cup Evaporated Milk (or other milk)
1 whole Egg
1-1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
1/2 cup Golden Raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously grease a muffin tin.

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Cut in butter with two knives or a pastry blender until it is fully incorporated. In a separate bowl, mix together pumpkin, evaporated milk, egg, and vanilla. Pour pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. Add raisins. Fold gently until mixture is just combined

Chocolate always helps

Pour into a greased muffin pan—batter hardly ever fills all twelve unless you keep it down to 1/2 full. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon-sugar-nutmeg mixture over the top of each unbaked muffin.
Bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove and allow to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350F.
In a large bowl cream the sugar and butter.  Once creamed, add the egg followed by the shredded apple.  Stir in the vanilla.
In a separate bowl, mix the baking powder, flour, cinnamon and salt.  Add to the wet batter, one half at a time.  Finally, fold in the nuts.
On a large baking sheet drop a tablespoon size of batter, no more than 12 cookies to a sheet.  Sometimes it is easier to stick the batter in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.  This allows for less sticky measuring and scooping of the dough.
It is essential to bake these cookies for a full 14 minutes.  The tops will be golden.  Mushy-in-the-middle apple cookies are no good!  As long as the tops are a light gold, the cookies are fully done.
While the first batch of cookies are baking, combine the remaining sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.  When the first cookies come out of the oven, sprinkle the tops with the sugar-cinnamon mix.  The warmth of the freshly basked cookies allows the sugar-cinnamon mix to stick! (yum!)
Let the cookies sit for a minute then transfer them to a cooling rack.
– See more at: http://bakeperfectcookies.com/how-to-make-cinnamon-apple-cookies/#sthash.YP2H6xlR.dpuf
¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 ½ cup shredded apples (one very large apple or 2 smallish apples)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ cups flour, white unbleached
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts (note: I measure the nuts after I chop them)
2 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
– See more at: http://bakeperfectcookies.com/how-to-make-cinnamon-apple-cookies/#sthash.YP2H6xlR.dpuf
¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 ½ cup shredded apples (one very large apple or 2 smallish apples)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ cups flour, white unbleached
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts (note: I measure the nuts after I chop them)
2 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
– See more at: http://bakeperfectcookies.com/how-to-make-cinnamon-apple-cookies/#sthash.YP2H6xlR.dpufdfdfd
¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 ½ cup shredded apples (one very large apple or 2 smallish apples)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ cups flour, white unbleached
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts (note: I measure the nuts after I chop them)
2 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
– See more at: http://bakeperfectcookies.com/how-to-make-cinnamon-apple-cookies/#sthash.YP2H6xlR.dpuf
¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 ½ cup shredded apples (one very large apple or 2 smallish apples)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ cups flour, white unbleached
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts (note: I measure the nuts after I chop them)
2 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
– See more at: http://bakeperfectcookies.com/how-to-make-cinnamon-apple-cookies/#sthash.YP2H6xlR.dpuf

¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 ½ cup shredded apples (one very large apple or 2 smallish apples)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ cups flour, white unbleached
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts (note: I measure the nuts after I chop them)
2 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
– See more at: http://bakeperfectcookies.com/how-to-make-cinnamon-apple-cookies/#sthash.YP2H6xlR.dpuf

¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 ½ cup shredded apples (one very large apple or 2 smallish apples)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ cups flour, white unbleached
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts (note: I measure the nuts after I chop them)
2 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
– See more at: http://bakeperfectcookies.com/how-to-make-cinnamon-apple-cookies/#sthash.YP2H6xlR.dpuf

¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 ½ cup shredded apples (one very large apple or 2 smallish apples)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ cups flour, white unbleached
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts (note: I measure the nuts after I chop them)
2 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
– See more at: http://bakeperfectcookies.com/how-to-make-cinnamon-apple-cookies/#sthash.YP2H6xlR.dpuf

¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 ½ cup shredded apples (one very large apple or 2 smallish apples)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ cups flour, white unbleached
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts (note: I measure the nuts after I chop them)
2 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
– See more at: http://bakeperfectcookies.com/how-to-make-cinnamon-apple-cookies/#sthash.YP2H6xlR.dpuf
¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 ½ cup shredded apples (one very large apple or 2 smallish apples)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ cups flour, white unbleached
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts (note: I measure the nuts after I chop them)
2 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
– See more at: http://bakeperfectcookies.com/how-to-make-cinnamon-apple-cookies/#sthash.YP2H6xlR.dpuf

¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 ½ cup shredded apples (one very large apple or 2 smallish apples)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ cups flour, white unbleached
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts (note: I measure the nuts after I chop them)
2 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
– See more at: http://bakeperfectcookies.com/how-to-make-cinnamon-apple-cookies/#sthash.YP2H6xlR.dpuf

¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 ½ cup shredded apples (one very large apple or 2 smallish apples)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ cups flour, white unbleached
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts (note: I measure the nuts after I chop them)
2 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
– See more at: http://bakeperfectcookies.com/how-to-make-cinnamon-apple-cookies/#sthash.YP2H6xlR.dpuf

¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 ½ cup shredded apples (one very large apple or 2 smallish apples)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ cups flour, white unbleached
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts (note: I measure the nuts after I chop them)
2 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
– See more at: http://bakeperfectcookies.com/how-to-make-cinnamon-apple-cookies/#sthash.YP2H6xlR.dpuf

¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 ½ cup shredded apples (one very large apple or 2 smallish apples)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ cups flour, white unbleached
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts (note: I measure the nuts after I chop them)
2 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
– See more at: http://bakeperfectcookies.com/how-to-make-cinnamon-apple-cookies/#sthash.YP2H6xlR.dpuf

¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 ½ cup shredded apples (one very large apple or 2 smallish apples)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ cups flour, white unbleached
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts (note: I measure the nuts after I chop them)
2 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
– See more at: http://bakeperfectcookies.com/how-to-make-cinnamon-apple-cookies/#sthash.YP2H6xlR.dpuf
¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 ½ cup shredded apples (one very large apple or 2 smallish apples)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ cups flour, white unbleached
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts (note: I measure the nuts after I chop them)
2 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
– See more at: http://bakeperfectcookies.com/how-to-make-cinnamon-apple-cookies/#sthash.YP2H6xlR.dpuf