Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Mars Bar Chunk Cookies

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Last weekend was probably the most exhausting and exhilarating weekend I've had in a while!

Saturday was my first baking class with Chennai Food Guide and Crimson Chakra, and I had a blast with the 22 enthusiastic and super-fun participants who were there, ready to bake their hearts out! The day was really fun, but very tiring. The next day continued at the same pace with church and family obligations! Whew... I think I slept through most of Monday to recover from the weekend.

This morning, I woke up refreshed & raring to bake! I knew I had to get something in the oven because I could feel a craving coming on. I rummaged through my make-shift pantry and through the multitude of bags in there, and found just what I was looking for! Mars bars! Chewy, malty, chocolate-y and most importantly - caramel-y!
This recipe makes 6 giant or 8 regular sized cookies. I made giant cookies. And to make up for the fact that I was using sugar AND two whole candy bars in this recipe (well, ALMOST two bars - I did have to taste-test the candy bars to make sure they were not...umm... stale), I did substitute some of the all purpose flour with wheat flour, and added some oatmeal too. Now I don't have to feel so bad that I ate two of these giant cookies all by myself. So there!
Mars Bar Chunk Cookies
Adapted from the voices in my head
Ingredients
2 oz (55g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/8 cup granulated sugar
1 medium egg, cold
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup oatmeal
2 bars (51g each) Mars candy bars, chopped into chunks (I cut each bar into 16 pieces)

Method
1. Preheat your oven to 180C (350F) and line a baking sheet/cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpat.
2. Cream the butter along with the sugars until light.
3. Add the egg and continue to cream for about 1 minute.
4. Add the vanilla and mix well till incorporated - about 30 seconds.
5. Sift the flours, soda and salt together into the same bowl.
6. Stir just until combined and you see no traces of the dry ingredients.
7. Stir in the oatmeal and chopped candy bars.
8. Scoop the cookie dough onto the baking sheet, making sure you leave about 2 inches between each cookie.
9. Wet your fingers in clean water and slightly flatten each ball of dough. If you see any candy chunks peeking out the sides of the cookie, press them into the cookie. They tend to ooze and burn.
10. Bake for until the edges are starting to go golden brown - about 15-16 minutes for the large cookies. Reduce the time if you are making smaller cookies.
11. Transfer to a baking rack to cool & store (if you still have any left!) in an airtight jar.
I enjoyed these with a tall glass of iced tea, sitting out in my backyard. They were SO good. The cookie itself was soft, punctuated with these super chewy, caremel-y bits that WILL stick to your teeth.
OH. SO. GOOD! 

Now, that I've sufficiently satisfied your sweet tooths (teeth?), I am excited to share some news & updates with all of you!

First, you may or may not have noticed, but I have migrated to my own domain!!!! You are now visiting me in my new home, at www,theharriedcook.com! I am VERY excited about it, as you can see. If you find that silly, you'll probably be appalled that I am even more excited that I have a new email ID - marsha@theharriedcook.com. LOL :D Write to me!!!

Next up, the baking class went great and the next batch is going to happen in April! If you are in Chennai, and you are interested in getting a start in baking, you must sign up! I will announce the dates for the workshop soon on my Facebook page! :)

Finally, the calls have been rolling in! I've been getting quite a few people calling - some orders, some enquiries and even some people calling in for baking tips! Ha ha... It's been a hoot! Thanks y'all! :)

And it would be wrong if I ended this post without doing some shout outs!

A BIG thanks to Kimby of A Little Lunch for bestowing upon me 'The Versatile Blogger' award! Thanks, Kimby - I am honored and you're the best! Big hugs :)
I must add - I needed to desperately print business cards before the baking class, and my dear, sweet friend, Miss. Mouse, was such a big help - designing them for fussy ol' me who wanted 1247 changes in design, going back and forth to the printers and supporting me so much! I owe you, Miss. Mouse! I owe you big!

And I owe Mr. Mouse (a.k.a. Gecko) & Ms. Squirrel (of 'Oh Dakuwaqa!' fame - check out her cool comics!) for helping me sort out some site migration issues! You guys rock! I will bake you all a batch of these cookies!

See you all in April!

I entered these cookies in a BlogHop over at Deelicious Sweets! Here are the other entries :)
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60 comments:

elisabeth@foodandthrift said...

You are totally torturing me with the yummy droolworthy cookies, Marsha. They are so perfect, and I am craving for them. You saved that last bite for me?...not fair! I will just have to make my own. Thanks for sharing:DDD

Mary Bergfeld said...

These are drool worthy and I probably should wear a bib when I sample them. Nicely done! But then it always is :-). Have a great day. Blessings...Mary;

Galexicupcakes said...

OMG..these cookies are looking mighy delicious!! I want one right now!! lol...Marsha, your killing my diet! I wonder how well cookies can travel from India to NY?? lol...xo Jackie

TastyGalaxy.com said...

These cookies look delicious! Those candy bits inside look fabulous.

Three Cookies said...

These cookies sound awesome.

I've heard the importance of constantly tasting when cooking (and to some extent baking). Its good that you tasted to ensure the ingredients were of acceptable quality - things you have to do:) 

Catherine said...

Oh My!! These look wonderful. They look rich and delicious. Blessings my dear, Catherine xo

Sprigs of Rosemary said...

So this is health food, right?

theharriedcook said...

LOL :D Sorry to do this to you! You are doing so great on your diet :) These cookies are seriously sinful and I advise you to stay away from them! :) Thanks for stopping by!

theharriedcook said...

Wow! That means a lot coming from you, Mary :) I am so glad you like them! Thanks for stopping by!

theharriedcook said...

Can you imagine what these did to my diet? LOL :) I actually think these cookies will travel quite well! But whether they'll make it into the box is another question :) Thanks, Jackie!

theharriedcook said...

Don't they? I love those ooey gooey bits... Thank you so much for stopping by! :) 

theharriedcook said...

Ah! Finally someone who understands the importance of quality control! Yes - the things I have to do! :D Hehehe... Thanks for stopping by & leaving a comment :)

theharriedcook said...

Thank you, Catherine... They were both of those things! Thanks for stopping by :)

theharriedcook said...

Mais oui!! Didn't you notice the large amount of oatmeal and the whole wheat flour too! Of course it's health food! :p Thanks for stopping by!

2 sisters recipes said...

mars candy bars in a cookie - ohhh Marsha you are a Genius!  Thanks for sharing!

Ayeesha Riaz said...

I  love the look of oozing mars bar from the cookie, this looks irresistible.

Biren @ Roti n Rice said...

You had a test taste of the Mars bars to make sure they weren't stale? Haha...I am totally convinced! But seriously, those cookies look really good. Probably hard to stop at one cookie :)

Nami | Just One Cookbook said...

Hi Marsha!  Congrats on your successful first baking class (wish I was there!) and the new domain site!  Whoo hooo!  I'm really happy for you!  Perfect time to indulge yourself with eat these delicious cookies... :-)  Going to update my blogroll now. ;-)

Kimby said...

Marsha, that's exciting news about your domain name -- way to go!  Glad you took some time to rest up in between your adventures and hard work.  These cookies sounded like the perfect treat to celebrate your accomplishments! :)

ping kay said...

Oh! Oh! I need these so badly! And trust me to have bags of cherry ripes instead of mars bars ... tomorrow is supermarket day! No prizes for guessing what I'm buying :) (What diet?)
So happy to hear of the fun you had at cooking class ... wish I could be there. 

Kitchen Belleicious said...

excuse me while i go get something to dry off my keyboard as i just drooled all over it! These look insane!

Devaki @Weavethousandflavors said...

Let me just say I LOVE the voives in your head - it brings you to such devilish deliciousness that I say yessss PLEASE!! Those have to be the most delectable cookies I've seen in a long time :) Well done dearie!

chow! Devaki @ weavethousandflavors

Kim Bee said...

Marry me, seriously, marry me!!! I cannot stop staring. These are amazing.

Deelicious Sweets said...

Wow, this cookie is amazing!  I would totally make the giant cookies as well :)

theharriedcook said...

Ha ha :) Thank you! So glad you like it :) Thanks for stopping by!

theharriedcook said...

Thank you so much! :) And thanks for stopping by!

theharriedcook said...

He he he... The things I have to do to ensure a good baked product! :) Thanks Biren... you're right! Hard to stop once you start on these :) Thanks for stopping by!

theharriedcook said...

Thank you, Nami! I am pretty excited about all of it :) Thanks a ton for all your support... Hugs... Thanks for stopping by!

theharriedcook said...

Thank you, Kimby! I totally appreciate your support :) And yes, I so needed that day to sleep it off... And the cookies were good! Thanks for stopping by!

theharriedcook said...

LOL :D hehe... Go wild in the supermarket, Ping! :) Thanks for the support & encouragement :) Hugs

theharriedcook said...

He he he :) Thank you so much! I am so glad you like it :) Thanks for stopping by!

theharriedcook said...

Ha ha - I thought you might like these :) All your posts do this to me! I am afraid to even read some of your posts because I might put on weight just from looking at the pictures! LOL :D I am glad you like these :) Thanks for stopping by!

theharriedcook said...

Yep - those voices are pretty insane! Thanks so much for your kind words, Devaki! I am so glad you like them :) Thanks for stopping by!

C&C Cakery said...

I had to look up what a Mars Bar was (I don't think we have them up here - maybe it's an American/Hershey's thing). Holy moly. I don't even know what chocolate nougat is, but it seriously belongs in a cookie like this. Love it!

Melissa Placzek said...

oh wow! these look too yummy!

~Melissa

theharriedcook said...

Giant is the way to go! :) Thanks for stopping by...

theharriedcook said...

I honestly though Mars bars were available everywhere! I don't live in America, but it is available everywhere in  India, where I live... Where do you live? You're right though - this candy bar totally belongs in a cookie! Thanks for stopping by! :)

theharriedcook said...

Thank you, Melissa!

Alana said...

Well HELLOOOOOO! These are positively drool-worthy. I like your addition of oatmeal, they look so textured and ooooozy!

Baker Street said...

Congratulations on your award. I love mars and adding chunks in cookies is just a wonderful idea. 

The Café Sucré Farine said...

I bet the neighbors could hear you exclaiming the delight of these cookies as you sat on your porch and sipped tea! Yum, they look delish!

Jill Colonna said...

You're on a roll, Marsha!  Congrats on your own domain, the baking class, the orders, the awards, the fame...
No wonder!  Hey, we're both talking about mars today ;-)  These melted oozy bits in your cookies are sheer torture to look at on screen. I'm trying to grab one from here but bit too far!

Briarrose said...

Now that is a cookie to brighten any day.  Fabulous job.

Mary said...

These are positively evil cookies and I totally wish that I had one here now! Congrats on the new domain!

Adora said...

Not an entirely naughty cookie. At least there's oatmeal and whole wheat flour in it.  I won't be guilty making this. They look so good. 

Erin said...

Congrats on your own domain!  I love Mars Bars, I want these cookies now!  Glad your cooking class went well, sounds like it would be lots of fun!

Carolyn Jung said...

A candy bar and cookie all in one? I truly have died and gone to heaven. Oh my, these look good!

Gina said...

We must have been on the same cookie wavelength, lol.  I haven't had a mars bar in way too long.  Sounds like so much fun your class, even though it was tiring.  So glad the calls are coming in for you too, way to go.  New cards too, sounds like you will need a secretary to start answering all those calls that will be coming in.  Hope you are having a great week.
-Gina-

Katerina said...

These voices are really good lol! The cookies look absolutely delicious! Very crunchy and well baked!

Priya Sreeram said...

can those voices occupy my mind space pretty please ???? lol; loved it marsha- bookmarking it !

Gerry @ Foodness Gracious said...

I love Mars Bars..I love cookies...I love you.... just sayin'  ;)
Take care..

Lizzy Do said...

CONGRATS on your new domain! And I'm loving this idea for cookies...chocolate and caramel???? YES, I want two for me, too!!! Yummy! And I'm totally with you about a taste or two for quality control :)

Gourmantine said...

Congrats with your first baking class. It must be exiting to lead one, and 22 participants?! Wow, that's really a lot!

AlchemyInTheKitchen said...

Your class sounds like fun, Marsha. I'm surprised you have the energy to get up and bake the next day though! However, I think when something goes really well, like your class, it can be very energising and inspiring. The cookies are certainly inspired. I am guilty of carrying out taste tests on chololate ingredients too :) and often have to adjust the quantities in my intended recipe. Lovely cookies and super photos.

Erin @ Making Memories said...

Oh yum.  These just look like heaven!

Magic of Spice said...

Congrats on all of your successes sweetie, and the award! These cookies are too wonderful...dangerous even :)

Stew McGregor said...

I simply cannot stop staring at your cookies. Those are beyond my ingredients. I wish you can share the recipe too if that's not too much to ask.
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Beau said...

Hello, I was wondering if it's ok to use plain flour instead of all purpose flour :)

Beau said...

sorry also can I use plain flour instead of whole wheat flour?

theharriedcook said...

Sure! all purpose flour is the same as plain flour. And plain flour can be used in the place of wheat flour in many recipes. It will definitely work in this one! Hope the cookies turn out great :))

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