I have chosen my first cook book to bake through and blog about. Here it is….BAKED New Frontiers In Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. These two men opened a bakery in Brooklyn, New York in January 2005 and released this cook book in 2008. I first noticed this cookbook a year or so ago, when surfing the internet for brownie recipes. I found the BAKED Brownie recipe and had to purchase the book. When I finally received it, I ripped open the box and started pouring through every recipe and drooling over every picture. Then I stumbled upon their Monster Cookie recipe (page 145). I had tried monster cookies before, a friend of mine used to make them. I remember that her recipe used to make a ton of cookies and she had to hand mix it in a ginormous bowl because a stand mixer was too small. Thankfully she never shared her version with me or I probably wouldn’t have dove right in and made these gems. Mmmm, oatmeal, peanut butter, chocolate chips, and M & M’s. I have made these so many times now that this is the most requested cookie from friends and family. The only thing that I do differently from BAKED is that I add 12 ounces of M & M’s and 12 ounces of chocolate chips. If I have the extra time I chop up chocolate to use instead of the chips, I like this a lot, but I don’t always have the few moments needed to get out the chefs knife and chop away. I am sure I will say this quite a few times between now and the end of this book… I highly recommend purchasing a copy for your own library. So far, I have loved everything that I have made.

I use a scoop to make the dough balls uniform in shape and size. If you have never tried using a scoop, run to the nearest kitchen store and buy one, you will love it!! One of my favorites to use is Oxo Good Grips Cookie Scoop in the 3 tablespoon size.

Just out of the oven. Mmmm, so yummy looking.

Cooling off on the wire rack, waiting to be eaten or stored for later consumption.