Tag: recipe

Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

By: Lottie Bynum

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found this recipe on TikTok listed as “The Best Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Of All Time” and this is my version and experience of making them!

The ingredients needed are:

  • ¾ cup of butter
  • 1 cup of light brown sugar
  • ¼ cup of white sugar
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 whole egg
  • 1 tablespoon of vanilla
  • 1 ¾ cups of all purpose flour
  • ¾ teaspoon of baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips

The way I bake these cookies differs slightly from the original recipe.

Steps

  • To brown butter you can either brown it in a pot, double boiler, or put it in the microwave; I put mine in the microwave for 1-3 minutes depending on how long it takes it to brown. If you do it in the microwave like I do then make sure to check it every 15 seconds or so after the first minute to avoid it burning(I’ve burned the butter before!).
  • After that, add your brown and white sugars to the browned butter and mix. I usually do this while the butter is being browned in the microwave. I usually don’t bother measuring the exact amount because sometimes there’s a little extra sugar on the top of the cup that I don’t dust off for added sweetness!
  • Then, add the whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla! Yes it is important to add just the yolk because the cookies end up kind of lumpy if you just add an entire other egg. Yes the amount of vanilla is important too if you add more than you should of that then it’s fine everyone loves baking with vanilla.
  • After that add your flour, baking soda and salt and mix. Salt is the one ingredient I never measure because it’s honestly what you feel deep in your baking soul to add. I usually add quite a bit because it enhances the sweet flavor in my opinion. I use sea salt in the larger chunkier flakes for the vibes but also because it tastes better that way in my opinion.
  • Here is where my version of the recipe differs. My dough is still warm at this point so I usually put it in the fridge to cool for around 15 minutes before mixing in the chocolate chips, however this step is always being changed for me. Last time I added in a handful(or a few, measure with your sweet tooth!) and mixed them in while the dough is still warm and let them melt to add chocolate streaks in the dough and then refrigerated them and added the other chocolate chips afterwards! Another thought is melting some in the microwave and mixing in pre-melted chocolate chips into the dough and seeing if the taste differs any from the ones melted in the dough. Also when adding chocolate chips or whatever chocolate you add try a few different types of chocolate chips at the same time! I usually add semi-sweet and dark!
  • After mixing the chocolate chips, put them back in the fridge so that they can firm up a bit and deepen in flavor. In the original recipe you put the dough in for 30 minutes but the way I do it I put them in for another 15 or if I have the time 30 like the recipe said. I do this because they already went in the fridge to cool before adding the chocolate chips, but do whatever you would like in this step! Also note to self turn on the oven to 350 degrees during this to give it time to heat up instead of waiting for a while when you take your cookies out of the fridge.
  • After the fridge, roll the dough into balls whatever shape or size you think is right(the original recipe said 2 oz balls but I never measure!). Place the balls on a baking sheet in a pan and place them in the oven at 350 degrees and wait for around 18 minutes depending on how crispy you want them and how large or small the cookies are.
  • Now you have cookies! This recipe usually makes around 24 cookies but you can stretch them depending on how small you roll them out to be.

Cooking with Luke B: Orange Chicken

By: Luke Banar

How to make Orange Chicken. 

  • 2 Eggs
  • ¼ cup of Flower
  • ½  cup of Cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
  • 2 lb of chicken breasts
  • Oil
  • 2 Cloves of Garlic cut up
  • ½ teaspoon of Ginger 
  • ½ crushed red pepper
  • ⅔ cup of orange juice
  • 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons of sweet chili sauce
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar 
  • 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
  • Juice of half of a lemon 

In a small bowl add the eggs and beat them until they are blended and in another bowl add the ¼ cup of flower,½ cup of cornstarch,salt, and pepper. Put the chicken into the egg bowl first then take it out and cover it in the flower mixture. In a pan add some oil and heat it up to cook the chicken. After cooking place the chicken on for a couple of minutes until the chicken is light brown. After taking the chicken out, place it on a plate with paper towels to remove any excess oil. After cooking the chicken start to make the sauce. In a small pot add oil and heat it until medium. Then add garlic,ginger, and red pepper and cook it for about 2 minutes. After add orange juice, soy sauce, chili sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, and lemon juice, and bring down the heat a little bit. While it is cooking add the rest of the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of water. Slowly add into the sauce and stir for about 5 minutes. Then add the sauce onto the chicken and have it with rice. 

Which is better, Moe’s or Chipotle?

By: Clark Kinney

Around 2-3 years ago, the Mexican chain, Chipotle opened a location in Sumter. Sumter already housed a similar Mexican-type restaurant in Moe’s Southwest Grill, so this raised a question and a big debate: Moe’s or Chipotle? 

I am going to tackle this debate from a little different angle than some people may expect if you don’t know me. You see, I am kinda a nutrition nerd and I know thar’s kinda weird but it’s true. I track how many grams of protein, carbs, and fats I eat, and I look to have more protein than carbs and fats in almost every meal and at these restaurants I can get pretty close to doing so. Let’s break this thing down. With Chipotle, I know exactly what I’m getting, I can look up on their website the complete nutrition of my exact order so I know what I’m putting in my body. With Moe’s it’s kinda a guessing game with nutrition because they don’t make it so easy for you to find their nutritional information; in fact, I’ve never found it, I’ve just used what other people have estimated which could be correct or not. Here are my normal orders for both:

Chipotle-bowl with white rice, no beans, double steak, one serving chicken, medium salsa, corn pico, and lettuce

Moe’s- bowl with southwest rice, double white meat chicken, one serving steak, queso, corn, raw onion, Moe’s sauce, and poblano crema (don’t knock it until you try it)

The prices of both vary greatly and this is always due to my extra, extra (triple) meat. At both places, the person making my bowl tells the person ringing me up what I ordered and they tell them something different every time, so the prices very greatly. Sometimes it’s $15 and sometimes it’s up to $30 and I don’t know which one is technically right, so I don’t argue and just pay for whatever they say. With that being said, price doesn’t really play a role in this debate; however, the taste does. At Chipotle, my order taste the same every time and it’s great. At Moe’s, my order is sometimes fire and makes me wanna slap Coach Rip (Editor’s note: assault) in the face, and other times, it’s not as good. I also just feel better after eating Chipotle because I know exactly what’s in it and what I ate. 

In my opinion, Chipotle is better than Moe’s due to its consistency and nutrition, but Moe’s is still very good. 

Cooking with Luke B

By: Luke Banar

How to make a homemade Crunchwrap supreme

Ingredients 

  • One pound of ground beef
  • Shredded cheese 
  • Taco seasoning 
  • Toppings like lettuce,tomatoes,and sour cream

First you need to cook the pound of ground beef for a couple of minutes. Make sure to chop up any big pieces so that it cooks evenly. Stir it around and add in the taco seasoning.  Once the ground beef is brown and fully cooked you need to drain the excess fat off. Set the meat off to the side and set out tortillas flat. Next you need to add the toppings on the tortillas. First lay down a layer of meat but not too much because the tortilla will need to be folded. Next add some sour cream, cheese, and  thinly sliced lettuce and tomatoes. You can add any hot sauce that you would like or any other toppings. Next you need to fold up the tortillas just like a Crunchwrap. If there are too many toppings inside to fold it up then you might have to take some out because you do not want any toppings coming out of the Crunchwrap. Once you have your folded up Crunchwraps you need to fry the outside of them. Pour some oil onto the pan and heat it up until when you put a drop of water on it the water pops. Then you need two spatulas to place the Crunchwrap on the pan until it is browned enough then flip it on the other side until it is also brown. Make sure the oil is hot enough or the oil will not fry the tortilla it will only soak into the tortilla and taste bad. Then they are ready to serve. You can also add additional toppings on top of the Crunchwrap if there is not enough inside.