Sesame Seed & Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

So there is an explanation why Sam and I have been doing a little less cooking…we’ve been busy packing!

Our exciting news is that we’ve sold our condo, and we’ve bought a new home!  We’re still staying put in Washington, DC- but we’re moving to a new neighborhood.  The best part is- our kitchen is getting bigger & brighter!  We’re both very excited for improved photos, how far we’ve come since the start of the blog!

We’ve been packing and trying to clean out our cupboards the last couple of weeks, so we have less to move.  One of the things I had made were these “clean-out the cupboards” chocolate chunk cookies.  They’re a little different- a bit of a nutty flavor from the sesame seeds, and a little extra salt from the soy sauce (yes, you read that correctly).  But they were delicious and soft, not just straight from the oven, but also the next day for an afternoon snack with some tea.

What do you like to eat when you’re packing up and moving?  Any ideas of what should be our first home-cooked meal in the new house?

Sesame Seed & Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Adapted from: Joy the Baker

1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp soy sauce
2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 3 oz dark chocolate bars, broken into small chunks
2 tbsp sesame seeds

Set up the stand mixer with the paddle attachment, and beat together the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.  Then add the egg and egg yolk, and beat until fluffy for about a minute.  Next, beat in the vanilla and soy sauce.  Then, add in all of the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda and salt.  Beat all of the ingredients until they are mixed well, about 3 minutes.  Lastly, add the chocolate and sesame seeds, and fold together with a spatula.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes.

Once you’re read to bake them, preheat the oven to 350ºF.  Spray the baking sheet with cooking spray.  Then scoop out a tablespoon of the dough, roll it into a ball and place it onto the cookie sheet.  Continue to do this until you run out of room on the cookie sheet, or the dough.

Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned on the edges.  Remove them from the oven, let them cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, and then transfer them to a wire rack.  Enjoy!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

If you take away all of the commercial hype about Valentine’s Day, I think it can be quite a nice day.  Take a few moments to spread some love!

I hope you called your friends and family to tell them that you love them!  Wore socks with pink and red hearts, and enjoy some delicious chocolates!

This was a perfect recipe- it had 2 servings (so there were no seconds to worry about)!  Although if Sam wasn’t going to eat his portion, I was willing to “take one for the team” and eat it for breakfast tomorrow…with some ice cream on top!

Lots of love and hugs to all of our readers- thank you so much for sticking around!!!

Next up- Lobster & Bacon Mac ‘n Cheese!  Double yum!

Chocolate Mini Lavas
Adapted from: A Meandering Mango

pinch of butter
2 tbsp sifted flour + 1 tsp flour
2 eggs
1 1/2 tbsp powdered sugar + 1 tbsp more for decoration
1 tsp half and half (or milk)
3.5 oz dark chocolate*
1 tsp espresso, ground
1 tsp vanilla
scoop of vanilla ice cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 425ºF.  While the oven is heating up grease 2 small ramekins (size: 4 oz) with butter.  Then dust the inside of the ramekins with 1 tsp of flour (1/2 tsp for each ramekin).

Add the eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer.  Slowly, add the powdered sugar while mixing the ingredients.

In a double boiler, melt your chocolate and add the half and half.  Once the chocolate is melted, add the ground espresso.  Mix it well before adding it to the egg-sugar mixture.  While mixing the chocolate-egg-sugar mixture, add the vanilla.  Finally, slowly add the flour.  Once all of the ingredients are mixed together, divide the mixture between the ramekins.

Bake for 7 minutes.  Remove from the oven, and allow them to rest for about 5-10 minutes.  Then tip them out of the ramekins onto your serving dish.  Sift some powdered sugar on top for decoration.  Feel free to add a scoop of vanilla ice cream with this delicious treat!

*We used a fair trade Costa Rican chocolate- 71% Cacao Dark Chocolate; try using the best you can find*