Chocolate Chip Orange Muffins

Sometimes you just have to bake! I was really really craving something small and sweet but didn't want to venture out into the world. I felt good when I saw a lot of social distancing while shopping the other day but then I drove by the beach...sigh... And naturally I didn't pick up any snackies because I was saving money. Guess I have to make some! I had everything on hand for Chocolate Chip Orange Muffins from the 1971's edition of Hershey's 1934 Cookbook.

Easy recipe and only make a dozen. Nice! So many older baking recipes make lots to share. Not being in a sharing situation I appreciate a single family recipe. I used a mix of semi-sweet and bitter-sweet chocolate chips and my last mandarin orange.

I know I took a picture of the ingredients. I set everything out all pretty, a nice pile of chocolate chips, a cute mandarin orange...I have no idea what happened to it. It disappeared! So let's jump to step 2: milk, egg, and oil added to the flour mix.

Best step, adding the chocolate chips! The orange zest adds a nice, bright touch of color.

I used baking liners because I'm that kind of person. I planned on giving some away and storing some so liners just make it easier. Easier for clean up as well. The recipe said 12 muffins so that's what I did. The dough only filled the liners halfway, less than what I would normally do.

They are so cute! Naturally they did not get as big as the muffins nowadays, we are bigger muffin people now.

These smell so good...

Yes, I took them out of the liners for pictures.

I had to sample one just out of the oven (who doesn't love a warm muffin?!) and was less than impressed. The chocolate was good but overall the muffin was bland. So, I took a few pictures, separated them to give away, and sat down to watch tv and think about my sewing pile. The next morning I was feeling a bit peckish. I'm not much of a breakfast person but the muffin seemed just the right amount. Wow! What a difference a night makes. These taste so much better after cooling off completely. A nice light hint of orange. I think milk chocolate chips would actually taste better.

My Rating: Good! A nice little muffin!

Friends and Family Rating: "These are delicious. I ate them all..." "My son loved the muffins! My friend said they were the best she ever had."

Chocolate Chip Squares

Well...I had to take a little a break but I am back! And what better way to start again than with a classic with a twist.

This recipe was taken from the 1963 Cookies (all kinds) put out by Wisconsin Power and Light. I love the comments next to each recipe. "---make and eat"...Okay!

 All the ingredients are pretty standard. Lots of brown sugar! I love how both the egg yolks and egg whites are used. I am usually stuck with one or the other left over with nothing to use it in.

 Everything came together pretty easy peasy. You have to love an entire layer of pure chocolate!

 Cookie layer, chocolate layer, brown sugar meringue layer. I was not certain about that final layer.

It baked up beautifully! You must let it cool completely in the pan before cutting otherwise it just falls apart. It is still delicious but it will not cut. You will have blobs and not squares. See the example below:

Letting it cool creates perfect chocolate squares!

 This was an easy, delicious recipe. It is great if you are looking for something just a little bit different but with common ingredients. It is very sweet! (Remember all that brown sugar?) I cut it into smaller squares for myself but let my friends cut their own. Obviously some people can handle more sugar.

My Rating: Keeper! I will definitely be making this again.

Friends and Family Rating: "Delicious!" "Yes, I am eating the meringue. The pan is empty! What am I suppose to do?"

Brown and Whites

My office was complaining about the lack of cookies so I caved in. 

This great pamphlet was published in 1964 in celebration of of the Rawleigh Company's 75th anniversary.

One issue with using cookbooks put out by companies is that you cannot always find all the ingredients. I could not find the cocoa mix so I used a hot chocolate mix I had lying around.

 All other ingredients were on hand. Looks like a regular chocolate chip cookie recipe.

 The batter was very thick and difficult to mix in the nuts and chocolate. I managed somehow.

 Aren't they cute?!

 Half the cookies were rolled in powdered sugar and the other half were rolled in the hot chocolate mix

 They looked really pretty all laid out.

 Chocolate cookie goodness!

All in all these were not bad cookies but I didn't think they were anything special. They were a very dense cookies and did not spread at all in the oven. I loved the idea of rolling the cookies in chocolate! The hot chocolate mix crisped up a bit on the hot cookies but, sadly, didn't add much to them.

My Rating: Just okay

Friends and Family Rating: "Yum!" "Why is there only one left?"

Jubilee Jumbles

I am not the only one fascinated by old recipes. Gold Medal Flour published this cooking pamphlet in 1955 in honor of their 75th anniversary. It claims that it is 'A treasury of favorite recipes modernized by Betty Crocker'  and it is filled with recipes, advertisements, and random facts from 1880 to 1955.

 My poor copy is starting to fall apart. With so many recipes to choose from I decided to star with the first one, Jubilee Jumbles!

It is a basic cookie recipe which states you can add walnuts, shredded coconut, dates, raisins, or chocolate chips. Naturally, I chose chocolate chips. I am excited about the burnt butter glaze!

Simple ingredients. Yum...chocolate chips...

They looked yummy even before baking. I may or may not have snacked on a few chips. (I love parchment paper!)

Adding the burnt butter glaze made it just perfect.

The recipe went together very easily. It is a simple one. It tasted good but pretty basic and nothing special. My friends went nuts over them. I think we must have different was of rating food or they were just very excited at the thought of free cookies. I am interested trying the recipe with other ingredients or even a mixture of them. The glaze was delicious!

My Rating: Good but plain

Friends and Family Rating: "Delicious!"