Celebrations and a Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Happy May!
I've been a busy bee lately and only because there has been so much celebrating to do!
At the B&B, we've been packed this month! Lots of visitors, lots of fun, and lots of FOOD! On the work end there was also lots of celebrating too!
Lauren came to visit! We planned a weekend of gluttony to kick start a month of detoxing before my birthday (spoiler alert, this post was drafted weeks ago and the detox is not going well. Surprise, surprise.).
We started off our day with treatsies from Albemarle Bakery - their chocolate and bacon, egg, and cheese croissants.
Then we headed to Nellysford to visit Bold Rock Cidery for a tasting of their new offerings!
We packed a picnic!
On our way back from Nellysford we stopped by a roadside stand that had the most COLORFUL flowers, so I just dumped out all of the money in my wallet and left with these beauties.
And as per tradition with any visitor, there was most definitely a Sunday morning stop at Ace Biscuit and BBQ! We went all out and each left with two biscuits - the scrambled egg and breakfast sausage and the brisket biscuit for me. YUM YUM!
Meanwhile at work...
Our chef had a birthday! We snuck in a little early and made funfetti pancakes and bacon for breakfast, goulash for lunch, and ice cream cake for dessert!!! I'm only getting warmed up folks. I brought and am now keeping a griddle at work, so just imagine how much grilled cheese is getting made daily. The office smells like bacon and butter ALL DAY LONG. It's glorious.
And we had a Celebration for our Midlothian store to welcome all of their full time employees at The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond! (One of the most beautiful hotels I've ever been in!)
Zach's been our division support and has been on the road a lot, so he's been racking up frequent flier miles at the bed and breakfast. In honor of his patronage, I want to share with you all our all-time-favorite recipe for thick, gooey chocolate chip cookies. I don't want to say they're the best, because any cookie monster knows there are at least 4 different genres of chocolate chip cookies... but these are the best in their class.
It's important to know that the secret to success in this recipe is going to be freezing the cookie dough, so make sure you plan ahead! I make a big batch so I can pop a few in the oven as soon as visitors tell me they're on their way!
You Will Need:
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
Grind oats in a food processor or blender until fine.
Combine the ground oats with the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
Cream together the butter, sugars, vanilla, and lemon juice in a standing mixer with a paddle attachment.
Add the eggs and mix until smooth.
Stir in the dry mixture and blend well.
Add the chocolate chips and nuts to the dough and mix by hand until ingredients are evenly incorporated.
Using a 1/4 cup cookie scoop, portion cookies onto a tray lined with parchment. Freeze cookies for at least an hour before baking or placing in a freezer bag (freezing them first keeps them from sticking together when you put them all in a bag).
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove cookies from freezer just before baking and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper about 2 inches apart. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until cookies are light brown and soft in the middle.
Store in a sealed container when cooled to keep them super soft!
Zac's favorite way to eat these cookies?
Zach's been our division support and has been on the road a lot, so he's been racking up frequent flier miles at the bed and breakfast. In honor of his patronage, I want to share with you all our all-time-favorite recipe for thick, gooey chocolate chip cookies. I don't want to say they're the best, because any cookie monster knows there are at least 4 different genres of chocolate chip cookies... but these are the best in their class.
It's important to know that the secret to success in this recipe is going to be freezing the cookie dough, so make sure you plan ahead! I make a big batch so I can pop a few in the oven as soon as visitors tell me they're on their way!
You Will Need:
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
Grind oats in a food processor or blender until fine.
Combine the ground oats with the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
Cream together the butter, sugars, vanilla, and lemon juice in a standing mixer with a paddle attachment.
Add the eggs and mix until smooth.
Stir in the dry mixture and blend well.
Add the chocolate chips and nuts to the dough and mix by hand until ingredients are evenly incorporated.
Using a 1/4 cup cookie scoop, portion cookies onto a tray lined with parchment. Freeze cookies for at least an hour before baking or placing in a freezer bag (freezing them first keeps them from sticking together when you put them all in a bag).
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove cookies from freezer just before baking and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper about 2 inches apart. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until cookies are light brown and soft in the middle.
Store in a sealed container when cooled to keep them super soft!
Zac's favorite way to eat these cookies?
Smart kid.
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