Chocolate Chip Cherry Muffins

One of my favorite things to do while I was living in New York City was to go out for brunch on the weekends. Brunch in NYC can be quite the affair. Crowds line up outside of their favorite neighborhood spots and are willing to wait for hours as long as they get to have their go-to eggs benedict or banana pancakes. We lived on the upper east side and we spent many Saturdays and Sundays at Sarabeth's sipping on mimosas and enjoying baskets of their famed muffins and homemade jams...Ah, how I miss those brunches!

I had some bing cherries that I needed to use and some leftover chocolate chips from my Toffee and Chocolate Chip Cookies so I thought what better way than to make chocolate chip cherry muffins for the weekend. Now I don't know if I would say that these are as good as Sarabeth's, but I bet that it had something to do with the company (my old roomies) and the NYC hustle and bustle of the city that made Sarabeth's muffins seem so tasty at the time. So neither of us might be having a New York City brunch this weekend, but make these muffins and have some eggs benedict and I assure you that you will be so very happy that you did.

 You Will Need:

• 1/3 cup cane sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup diced bing cherries, de-stemmed and pit removed
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Here We Go:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• In a small bowl, combine the flour, cane sugar, baking powder and salt
• In another bowl, whisk the egg, milk, oil and extract
• Pour wet mixture into dry ingredients just until moistened
• Gently fold in cherries and chocolate chips
• Fill paper-lined muffin cups or greased muffin pan half-way full
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean

Makes 9 Muffins

Happy Feasting!

The "Perfect" Chocolate Chip Cookie

Who doesn't love a chocolate chip cookie? The smell of chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven is pretty hard to beat. I have searched far and wide for the "perfect" chocolate chip cookie recipe. Up until now, I was pretty positive that no one could beat the Nestle Toll House recipe that is on the back of the chocolate chip bag. I promise you, though, that these cookies have done it! This recipe from Smitten Kitchen (Originally adapted from AllRecipes.com) is unreal. These cookies are moist, chewy in the middle and when you take your first bite you get that "perfect" crunch that you had been hoping for. So here it is people, the "perfect" choc-o-chip cookie!

You Will Need:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Here We Go:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F
• Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper
• Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
• In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended
• Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy and mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended
• Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon

• Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets
• Cookies should be about 3 inches apart
• Bake for 13-15 minutes if your cookies are larger, or 10-12 minutes for smaller cookies
• I would check the cookies after 10 minutes just to be sure you don't overcook them!
• Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.



Makes 2 1/2 Dozen
Happy Feasting!