Bay Leaf Snickerdoodles

Aromas and complimentary flavors are ties to comfort. Cinnamon has a way but the wonder is long gone. Vanilla is ubiquitous. No need to rest on those laurels any longer.

Broken Bay Leaf Snickerdoodle

The scent of bay leaves cooked with rice is quite nice. It adds a depth of flavor to savory dishes that we all have tasted but can't quite describe. Always a supporting cast member that allows the whole company to shine. What happens when it becomes the star in a cookie?

Pulverized Bay Leaf

Snickerdoodles are simple. Aside from butter and sugar, the driving flavors are cinnamon in the coating and vanilla extract in the base dough. Grinding dry bay leaves into a powder to do a swap was the easy part.

Bay Leaf Rum Extract

The bay extract required a little patience. 125ml of white rum and 12 dried bay leaves got a pressure infusion treatment in a cream whipper then sat for 2 months. The final flavor was quite medicinal, bay leaf bitters.

Ground Bay Leaf Sugar Coating

With the flavor agents sorted, one for one swaps were all that was necessary to execute the recipe.

Bay Leaf Snickerdoodle

The aroma immediately after baking was buttery with a clear floral note. The flavor of the cookie was well... indescribably good.

Sumac Snickerdoodle

Next time you bake think twice about reaching for cinnamon or vanilla. Use a spice that you enjoy in a completely different context. There's a whole world of flavors out there waiting to be rediscovered in your favorite comfort food. 

As always, please share your investigations to keep the ideas bouncing.

Leftover Chicken Stuffing Gougeres

Stale bread hanging around often becomes breadcrumbs. If a little ambition takes hold, stuffing or dressing isn't far from reach. Leftover stuffing breadcrumbs were inevitable...

Chicken Crackling Topped Stuffing Gougere

A flavorful breading makes all the sense in the world and you've already made that connection. Water is to stock as flour is to stuffing breadcrumbs. Why not treat them as a flavor concentrate to enhance a savory baked good? I couldn't help but test gougeres, AKA cheese puffs.

For the pate a choux, I replaced one third of the flour with processed pan dried leftover chicken stuffing. The use of stock instead of water also needed to happen. Cheese was cut in half in efforts to allow the chicken flavor to come through. 

Leftover Chicken Stuffing = Beautiful Breadcrumbs

Prior to baking off the cheese puffs, I wanted to add a crunch factor. Topping them with the breadcrumbs was my first thought, but I knew they would probably burn. I figured a little fat is all I needed to temper the heat. A tiny piece of leftover chicken skin over the middle of the crumbs was the answer. The crumbs were basted by the slow release of fat from the skin as it crisped up. In the end, a beautiful crackling was a perfect compliment to what I would describe as an amazing chicken pot pie gougere.

Cooking is all about getting the most out of the ingredients you have on hand. Leftovers are no exception. Phoenix food.

As always, please share your investigations to keep the ideas bouncing...