For August 19

The blog is 2 years old this week. Happy Birthday!

So today we get the freshest cookies ever - because they were made THIS MORNING. And not as in after midnight, as in 8 a.m. today. Apparently some sort of oil/sludge had gotten on the bottom of our oven so when I went to preheat it last night, smoke started billowing out. And even after I cooled it down and cleaned it as much as I could, smoke still billowed out. So I used, for the first time, the self-clean function on the oven. The good news - it heats the oven to 800+ degrees and burns everything off, so no billowing smoke afterward. The bad news - it is a 4 hour process, heats the house up like crazy, and destroys any plans you have to use the oven. Sooooo it was up early to bake today.

And here is what I baked:

Chocolate Black Pepper Cookies, from Martha Stewart's Cookies
Vanilla Pecan Squares, from Chocolate & Zucchini

Andrew Bodhi-Heart pointed out that a few weeks ago, I made the world peace cookies, which are basically chocolate and salt cookies, and now I am making chocolate and black pepper cookies. Hmmm. I didn't really notice that. Anyway, I made these once years ago, and they are an interesting and nice cookie. There is a good amount of fresh-ground black pepper in these; they call for more to be sprinkled on top, but I think there is enough in the dough itself. They are a fun and different item.

As are the vanilla pecan squares. These are almost like a very thin cake. The batter is a thick cake batter, which is poured in the pan, then pecans are placed on top, one for each (eventual) square, then baked. Almost like a biscotti, after it comes out of the oven and cools, you cut the squares, place them on a baking pan, separated, and then place them back in the (turned off) oven for 30 minutes to dry and crisp. Very interesting!
(And, for the record, I omitted the rum that the recipe calls for, and added a few drops of almond extract instead.)
OK, gotta go. Stay cool!