I have been baking!

I just haven't been posting. How boring, I know. But once again, finals time is here. And anyone who knows me knows finals time means baking time. Last week I made lemon poppy muffins. I would have posted but the recipe I created based on a bunch of different ideas came out slightly too dry and, in my opinion, not sweet enough. Almost a failure, except that they were good! Just not good enough to be called lemon-poppy muffins on my blog.

Tonight, instead of reviewing slides for my in-class presentation of the psychosocial and cognitive effects of chronic illness, particularly heart disease and sickle cell anemia, I am baking simple chocolate cookies. So super simple that I whipped up the dough in 5 minutes, and now it's sitting in the fridge to chill for 30 while I write this post..err.. I mean... work on slides?

Here's the recipe. I'll recap how they came out when they're done, at about 9 pm.

6 T softened butter
2 T oil
1 1/4 c sugar
1 egg
splash vanilla
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/2 c cocoa
1/4 c cream cheese

In a bowl, cream butter, oil, and sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Beat well. Add all the dry ingredients. Continue to beat. Finally, slowly stir in cream cheese. You can leave it in swirls or fully incorporate it. It's up to you. Toss dough into a container and stick in the fridge for 30 min to chill. 10 min before it's done chillin, preheat oven to 325.

When your dough is chilled and your oven is preheated (or almost there), start scooping. With a regular table spoon, scoop some dough into the palm of your hand, and shape into a ball. I fit about 18 cookies on each tray; the balls don't spread too much, I could have fit more, but I was experimenting. You could probably fit about 24 on each tray. If you want, roll each ball in confectioners sugar. I didn't but I thought about it when they were done.

Bake for 18 minutes on 325 convection. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack.

I have to admit, yesterday, I wasn't so into these. But they got better with a day! The texture is very nice-- somewhere between brownie and cookie. Slightly chewy, slightly dense. Real good.