May 8, 2020
Compost Cookies
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Compost Cookies
compost cookies
In retrospect (even though it’s only been what, three weeks?) my name, bidsbakesbread, suggests I will only be sharing my bread here, which turns out is slightly misleading. My description does read “Treats. Yoga. Coffee”, so I guess it’s not too much of a surprise that you’re getting something sweet. Rather than bore you with a slightly different picture of the same bread as last time, I decided to share my baking adventure this week: homemade compost cookies, thought up by the brilliant Christina Tosi of Milk Bar.
I had been craving something salty AND sweet, and these cookies ticked all of the boxes. The addition of ground coffee also turned out to be a great way to keep me from eating all of the dough, as coffee beans are easy to confuse with chocolate chips, and I took a spoonful of what was supposed to be delicious cookie dough and chocolate only to find several coffee beans. Lesson learned.
I chilled the dough for a few hours in the bowl, then scooped (using 1/4 cup rather than 1/3 cup because cookies the size of my face seemed very overwhelming) and baked them after yoga. I cut the baking time down to 15 minutes to account for the smaller cookie size, and when all was said and done I ended up with a perfect two dozen cookies.
Pairs well with a bottle of Serbian rosé and your choice of Harry Potter film.
compost cookies
click here for recipe
Momofuku's Compost Cookie
I've just baked them and think you should too!
My personal fav is to add doritos and potato chips...I've added tim tams too. They're delicious, forgiving...and FUN!
tx Seánan
Recipe
Momofuku Milk Bar Compost Cookie Recipe
1/2 cup Butter 1/2 cup Sugar 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar 1/2 Tbsp Corn Syrup 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract 1 Large Eggs 3/4 + 2 Tbsp cups AP Flour 1 tsp Baking Powder 1/2 tsp Baking Soda 1 tsp Kosher Salt 3/4 cups of your favorite baking ingredients 3/4 cups your favorite snack foods
In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugars and corn syrup on medium high for 2-3 minutes until fluffy and pale yellow in color. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.
On a lower speed, add eggs and vanilla to incorporate. Increase mixing speed to medium-high and start a timer for 10 minutes. During this time the sugar granules will fully dissolve, the mixture will become an almost pale white color and your creamed mixture will double in size.
When time is up, on a lower speed, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix 45-60 sec just until your dough comes together and all remnants of dry ingredients have incorporated. Do not walk away from your mixer during this time or you will risk over mixing the dough. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.
On same low speed, add in the hodgepodge of your favorite baking ingredients and mix for 30-45 sec until they evenly mix into the dough. Add in your favorite snack foods last, paddling again on low speed until they are just incorporated.
Using a 6oz ice cream scoop, portion cookie dough onto a parchment lined sheetpan.
Wrap scooped cookie dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or up to 1 week.
DO NOT BAKE your cookies from room temperature or they will not hold their shape.
Heat the conventional oven to 400F. (350F in a convection oven)
When the oven reads 400F, arrange your chilled cookie dough balls on a parchment or silpat-lined sheetpan a minimum of 4″ apart in any direction.
Bake 9-11 min. While in the oven, the cookies will puff, crackle and spread.
At 9 min the cookies should be browned on the edges and just beginning to brown towards the center. Leave the cookies in the oven for the additional minutes if these colors don’t match up and your cookies stills seem pale and doughy on the surface.
Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pan before transferring to a plate or an airtight container or tin for storage. At room temp, cookies will keep fresh 5 days. In the freezer, cookies will keep fresh 1 month
Never judge a bake by it's name!
You know the saying, "Never judge a book by it's cover", well the same could go by a bake's name!
After reading 'Pear Shaped' by Stella Newman (yes, it's another chick lit book) I was intrigued by Compost cookies. Compost cookies are mentioned a few times throughout the book so I decided to Google it. Yes, they sound disgusting, yes they include crisps, pretzels, biscuits etc. I thought they sounded disgusting, but I had to try them. Now, I'm not a coffee person at all (I can't handle it!) so I made three batches: plain, little hint of coffee and the last batch would be a dream for any coffee addict! The plain one tasted so nice. I couldn't eat a whole batch of them (and quite frankly, the diet will be jumping for joy at this) and I don't want to think of the calories in them.
After Googling for a recipe I found two. As it's an American recipe they include ingredients only found in America (Graham crackers, which even with two American stores in the area I could not find). Therefore I've substituted some ingredients for UK foods. Another problem with an American recipe is the quantities. Luckily I've invested in measuring cups which are the same as the American quantities (good old Marks and Spencer!). I also missed out on a few ingredients (peanut butter chips & a health bar because who wants a health bar in a cookie?!). My coffee grounds were orignally chocolate coffee beans which added to the chocolate flavour.
I prefer my cookies more biscuit like so I over cooked them and they are yummy, although I do wonder what they'll taste like cooked at the normal time.
Try them - you'll never look back!
Happy baking and enjoy :-)
Momofuku Milk Bar
Click the pic for a link to their website! :)
Location: 251 E. 13th Street (on the corner of 13th and 2nd Avenue) *There are three locations - this one is in East Village. There are ones in Midtown and the Upper West Side that I've never been to.
Hours: 9:00 AM - 12:00 AM, every day
Have you ever wondered what heaven tastes like? You can find it in a caramel-y, buttery, sugary slice of Crack Pie at Momofoku Milk Bar. It is literally one of the best desserts I have ever had in my life, and I think I've had my fair share of airy chocolate mousses and creamy creme brulee.
Milk Bar is one restaurant in a group of award-winning restaurants owned by chef-founder David Chang. (The others are Momofuku Noodle bar, Momofuku Ssam Bar, Brooker & Dax, Ma Peche, Momofuku Ko, and Momofuku Seiobo. Which are all supposed to be awesome, but which I've not had the privilege to visit.)
I don't quite remember how I stumbled upon crack pie. I think I had heard some segment on it on the Food Network or Travel Channel, or something of the like. Either way, I knew that I had to try it the moment that I had laid my eyes on the name on the menu. I paid $5.25 for the slice and never looked back. It was absolutely wonderful (though it is one of those things where you eat just one slice and then feel like napping for the rest of the day), perhaps a little bit too much on the sweet side, but awesome nonetheless.
There is something wonderful and magical about a combination of sugar, oats and butter (I have never been one to shy away from an oatmeal cookie). You'll never forget that first bite of crack pie: it's euphoric. You'll feel like your hands can't shove the pie fast enough in your mouth. You'll want to buy a second slice and devour that one too, but if you're a poor college student like me, the lightness of your wallet will be a bit of a deterrent. 5 bucks is ok, but once it gets to be more than 10, I'm a little bit reluctant.
If you're still craving sweets but don't feel like shelling out another $5, you should definitely try their Compost Cookies. Eat first, enjoy the salty-sweet goodness, smile and then look at the label. You will be knocked off your socks. Along with the regular list of cookie ingredients, you will also find chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, graham crackers, ground coffee...and brace yourselves, pretzels and potato chips!
Yeah. I was surprised too. You'd never know it if you didn't take a peek at the list of ingredients. Don't be scared though - they are delicious. They're $1.85 each and 3 for $5.
If you're not feeling so adventurous as to have potato chips in your cookies, you could always go for their blueberry & cream, corn, cornflake marshmallow and confetti cookies (which are sugar cookies with sprinkles in the batter).
Milk Bar also has some pretty unique ice cream flavors. The red velvet may have a funny hue, but it tastes just like any red velvet cake. There's also green apple-cheddar, which I personally haven't tried, but have heard many mixed reviews about. The general consensus is that it's a little too cheesy and not apple-y enough.
If you want to have your mind blown by a brain ninja, try their cereal milk soft-serve ice cream and ask for the corn flake crunch. It literally tastes like cereal milk. One of my favorite parts of eating cereal, especially sweet cereal, is drinking the milk after the cereal is all gone. This ice cream tastes like what's left in the bowl after eating a nice bowl of frosted corn flakes. The first time I tried it, I had to stop for a minute and let my brain process what I had just eaten. I was tasting cereal milk, but it was ice cream! I had a minute of "cannot compute". It. was. awesome. And $4.50 a pop.
It's true that the prices at Milk Bar are a bit steep, but if you're looking to really treat yourself every once in a while (and don't mind the occasional line out the door, it's a really small space with about 4 spaces at a counter inside), Milk Bar is waiting for you with open arms and a slice of crack pie.
Compost Cookies
In NYC anything Momofuku is considered a staple of the food scene. I have never actually frequented Momofuku Milk Bar which perhaps is why I was so curious about these very cookies (fondly referred to by Patrick as 'Garbage Cookies'... compost and garbage are NOT the same thing...). Also, they just sounded FUN and I wanted something unique for a parting gift to a pal at work. They served their purpose and were devoured. These cookies have EVERYTHING in them. The texture is amazing and the flavors end up being complex and confusing because you taste a little bit of everything. All flavors complimented wonderfully and were totally delicious. Once you have the ingredients you want to use the prep is actually quite easy. It's a one-bowl recipe! Definitely play the guessing game for ingredients with someone who tries them. Almost nobody here was even close.
Reading up on these cookies beforehand helped me tremendously. I will note my changes up here and have attached the link to the actual recipe. If you read Christina Tosi's inspiration for these cookies she basically says, use what you have in the pantry that you wouldn't necessarily have thought would be great in cookies, such as potato chips. I used the ingredients suggested in the recipe for the most part but I think it would have been fun to add some cereal, Rice Krispies or I saw a recipe where someone subbed in Cap'n Crunch which I think would also be fun. My goal for the cookies was a salty sweet combo which this recipe nails right on the head. Also, these cookies are HUGE (only four to a baking sheet) which for whatever reason, makes them impressive. Everyone walks by and says, 'ooh wow! those are HUGE!' like they're so much more interesting because they're big! Little did they know, they actually ARE super interesting cookies.
CHANGES I MADE:
My store did not have mini butterscotch chips, only mini chocolate chips. I used mini chocolate chips and the regular sized butterscotch chips. If this happens to you, go a little light on the butterscotch chips as I think they overpowered a bit... which actually was really tasty but if you want a better balance, go a little lighter with the regular size.
For glucose, I substituted 1 Tbs of light corn syrup
For the graham crust, I skimped that recipe quite a bit. I measured out the appropriate amount of grahams, melted 1 T of butter and mixed them together and called it a quick graham crust. It worked fine. I didn't add any sugar because it seemed to me there was already plenty of sugar in the recipe. If you have graham crust on hand then go for it and use it, otherwise, don't work too hard making one.
Mini-pretzels - I just used thin normal sized pretzels because my store also didn't have minis. They broke up nicely when stirred and it worked just fine. Mini ones would be adorable but don't fear if you can't find them.
For the potato chips I used generic brand ruffles and they were fantastic.
And that was it! I promise these are a crowd pleaser and worth the many many calories that are in them.