Momofuko Compost Cookies

Back in October we had Iron Chef Chips and I was tasked to make a dessert utilizing the "secret" ingredient chips. Well, I tried a lot of recipes before I eventually settled on the Ice Cream Chipped Pie. One of the recipes I tried is this Momofuko Compost Cookie from Plumpie Cooks. It was actually a pretty big hit amongst my co-workers, but I didn't feel it tasted a lot like chips. However, it was a very tasty cookie. I enjoyed the saltiness that the chip brought to the cookie as well as the combination of reese's peanut butter chips and the variety of chocolate chips. Plus the fun thing about making momofuko compost cookies is you can use a variety of ingredients from oats to rice krispies to ritz crackers. It's all up to you and what you like as far as what to include in the cookie. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 Tbsp corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup graham flour (optional)
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp Kosher salt
1 cup oats
2 1/2 cups your favorite baking ingredients (options: chocolate chips, other flavored chips, Rollos, Cocoa Krispies, m&m’s, reese’s peanut butter cups)
1 1/2 cups your favorite snack foods (options: chips, pretzels, yogurt covered pretzels, ritz crackers, etc.)

Set your oven to pre-heat at 375 degrees. Take a medium bowl and combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Take out your standing mixer with the paddle hook, and beat the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup for two minutes until fluffy and pale yellow in color. Then add in your eggs and vanilla and mix. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as you see fit. Mix for an additional 5 to 10 minutes until the mixture becomes a pale color and kind of doubles in size.  Slowly add in the flour mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together being careful not to over-mix. On low speed, add in your favorite ingredients that you will be using; chip, chocolate chips, reese's peanut butter chips, pretzels, etc. Beat until it is just incorporated. Take out your baking sheets and line with parchment paper. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out the dough onto the sheets.

Once your cookies are portioned onto you baking sheets wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour or up to one week. According to Plumpie Cooks; if you bake the cookies while they are at room temperature they will not set properly in the oven. Pre-heat your oven to 375. Remove the plastic wrap and bake for 9 to 12 minutes. You may want to turn the baking sheet half way thru the cooking process to ensure even cooking. Around 9 minutes the edges of the cookies will start to brown; let them bake a couple minutes longer especially if they still look doughy in the center. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Iron Chef Chips: Ice Cream Chipped Pie

In my opinion; Iron Chef events should be all about trying new recipes.  I don't think it's much fun to make a recipe that you've made over and over and over. For this Iron Chef; we had 2 months to find and try some recipes. Well, I found many recipes, but tried about 7 of them. I really couldn't find something that wowed me until the very last recipe. I came across this Ice Cream Chip Pie recipe, and had a feeling that it could be a winner. Well, I wasn't very confident it would be a winner, but I thought it would at least be pretty darn good. I was right on both counts; it wasn't a winner but it was pretty darn good.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup crushed lightly salted potato chips
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup Breyers Snickers ice cream, very soft
8 large, unbroken, lightly salted potato chips
1 pint Haagen-Dazs Dulce de Leche ice cream, very soft
1/4 cup chocolate chips

First take crush the potato chips using a rolling pin and then combine the chips and the melted butter in a medium bowl; and then press the chips in a pie plate. Freeze for 10 minutes to set the crust. Take the softened snickers ice cream and spread over the potato chip crust. This isn't necessary, but place the potato chips around the crust to form a petal like look.  Then, freeze the ice cream for 10 minutes. Remove the pie from the freezer and then spread the dulche de leche ice cream over the snickers. Freeze for 45 minutes. Melt the chocolate ice cream and then sprinkle over the pie. Freeze overnight. Enjoy!!!

Iron Chef Chips

A couple things we learned from Iron Chef Chips; a. space out when we eat each course; b. chips as a main ingredient really isn’t so bad; c. be sure to check with your fellow course partner to make sure you both aren’t making the same thing; d. make smaller portions; and e. Just Dance is a great way to break up the courses! Overall, I have to say that Iron Chef Chips was a really big hit! I, for one, was extremely nervous about this secret ingredient. But, I really had nothing to worry about. And, even though our main courses were both Frito Pies they ended up being very different. Overall, I think this was a big success, and congrats to Chelyen and Kim for their wins! Now, on to the dishes that were served:

We started out with Greta’s Roasted Tomatoes and Chips Bruschetta. It smelled divine, and tasted exceptional, too. Perhaps it wasn’t the most chip-tasting appetizer served, but it was really flavorful and had a nice garlic kick to it.

Greta's Roasted Tomato and Chip Bruschetta

Next up was Laura’s Zucchini Chips. Afterall, this Iron Chef was all about repurposing the main ingredient. Laura certainly tried to go that route with zucchini chips. She was a bit disappointed that the zucchini didn’t crisp up more, but overall they tasted great. Plus, serving zucchini chips with an onion dip is never a bad thing.

Laura's Zucchini Chips

The last appetizer round went to Cara’s tofu dish. She wanted to do something fun and interesting with her recipe. And, I definitely think she succeeded. I would say you either liked Cara’s dish or you didn’t…in other words, if you like Tofu then you loved her recipe. If you don’t like Tofu, well, you probably weren’t a fan of this one. It sounds like Cara may host the next Iron Chef in January! So, we will definitely look forward to that.

Cara's Chip Tofu

Now, onto the 2 main courses; Chelyen was up first, and she served a Frito Chili Pie in a bag of Fritos. Chelyen’s chili was a family recipe, and it was a big hit amongst our crowd. She served it in a bag of freshly opened bag of Fritos.

Chelyen's Frito Chili Pie

It maybe wasn’t the best use of repurposing chips, but her presentation and taste were certainly wow factors! She served it with cheese and onions were optional. Doan, on the other hand, made her Frito Pie with chicken and crushed fritos. It had a nice kick to it and served with avocados, cheese, and sour cream took it to the next level.

Doan's Frito Pie Casserole

Onwards to the desserts; both Kim and I thought we might have a decent shot at winning this particular iron chef. After-all who doesn’t like sweet and salty flavors? Well, Kim was up first; and she served a Peanut Butter Chip Cookie Bomb. Chips were not only incorporated in her cookie, but it was also mixed into the whipped cream that she made from scratch. She served it with Hershey syrup and it was simply divine!!! In my opinion, it was one of the best desserts served in a long time!

Kim's Peanut Butter Chip Cookie Bomb

Since everyone was pretty full, we decided to take a break from eating the next dessert and instead played a couple rounds of Just Dance. It was quite a lot of fun! I’m glad we decided to break for some dancing otherwise I don’t think anyone would have been able to eat my Ice Cream Chipped Pie.

Emily's Ice Cream Chipped Pie

The chips were incorporated into a pie crust and served with snickers and dulce de leche ice cream. I received good feedback from everyone, so I think it was a hit.

We will certainly look forward to our next Iron Chef, though, no ingredient has been set. Ideas, anyone? Till next time.