When I am gifted something like a candy bar I always think how can I make this into a cookie? Cookies currently are my favorite thing to bake. I like that I can make a giant cookie and then cut and freeze it and it is sort of the stir-fry of baking. Once you have a great batter and have confidence in your ingredients then you just are only limited by your imagination (and/or a mean case of diabetes). Most people only have an angel and a devil on either shoulder while I have a fat girl that gives me hints when I bake. She says things like, "really just one 2 cups of chocolate chunks, the texture of the cookie will be ruined and uneven, double it!"
My mother in law got me the best Easter basket a Grand Marnier chocolate bar by Turin and a Barnes and Nobles gift card. Oooh! I am so excited! Grand Marnier is so good and has made some of my favorite alcoholic drinks taste divine! My favorite drink (and was my wedding drink) is Cosmo Royale and Cosmos done well are great. With the Barnes and Nobles gift card I got a variety of books including one about how to make pretty cookies (I make sturdy good tasting cookies but they are not pretty) and others related to art/photography/and sewing.
I used the Barnes and Nobles card and now I have been thinking what to do with that candy bar! And the easy way out would probably need to get a whole lot more candy bars and taste the candy bar to see what is going to go well with the chocolate. I actually was inspired not to use the candy bar. I just ate two squares and therefore I keep leaving less and less chocolate for the cookies. Perhaps I will do something like the Hershey Peanut Butter Blossoms (ie a cookie batter then you press in the chocolate) but orangey with the with future Grand Marnier chocolate bars by Turnin. But the below is my experiment that was inspired by the Grand Marnier chocolate bar by Turnin.
I found out in my experiment that Grand Marnier cannot exactly compete with dark chocolate's tones. When you mix Grand Marnier with dark chocolate it needed a little Orange Extract to kick it up. I realized that dark chocolate bars are expensive plus Grand Marnier and orange extract. While running errands my husband gave me about $7.00 to go into the store to get the heavy whipping cream. He though I would come back with $4.00 and in fact it cost $6.99 for a quart of Heavy Whipping Cream. So this is a very rich dessert and that is before sinking any teeth into the cookie. This is a great limited edition cookie and people seemed to love my cookies. It is fun and nice addition to the spring/summer mix. So this is not exactly a cost saving cookie but it is really worth the money and there will be no waste not, want not here!
How Grand Marnier! Cookies
(Doubled recipe)
Ingredients:
4.5 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups (4 sticks) butter softened
1.5 cups granulated sugar
1.5 cups packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons Grand Marnier
2 teaspoons Orange Extract
4 eggs
Chocolate Ganache with Orange Panache Recipe (below)
Chocolate Ganache With Orange Panache!
my variation of Chocolate Ganache's from page 82 of Whoopie Pies; Dozen of mix 'em, match 'em, Eat 'em up recipes
by Sarah Billingsley and Amy Treadwill. 
Ingredients:
24 oz
chopped dark chocolate1.5 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons of Orange extract
3 teaspoons of Grand Marnier
1.) In a large heatproof bowl place the chocolate.
5.) Add in the Orange extract and the Grand Marnier when it is cooler.
6.) A.) Allow the mixture to rest at room temperature until firm enough to spread which is about 2 hours
OR
B.) Place the mixture in the refrigerator for 30 minutes stirring every 10 minutes until firm enough to spread.
7.) Put the Ganache to the side
8.) Sift together: flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium sized batter bowl
. Put aside.
cream the butter, Grand Marnier, brown sugar and granulated sugar together.10.) Beat the egg mixture with a fork to break up the egg. Add the eggs one at a time to the mixture of creamed butter/Grand Marnier/brown sugar/sugar. Make sure in between eggs to beat the mixture well.
11.) Stir in the Chocolate Ganache with Orange Panache into the mixture. Make sure that the stand mixer spreads the ganache through out the mixture by using a flat spatula to scrap down the sides.
12.) Add the sifted dry ingredient slowly folding it into the wet mixture. Run until the dough is mixed thoroughly.
12.) Add the sifted dry ingredient slowly folding it into the wet mixture. Run until the dough is mixed thoroughly.
Tips: If the mixture is uneven: fold the mixture by hand if necessary to mix the bottom part of the dough with the top layer. If necessary then run the mixer again.
13.)Cover the cookie dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate in the mixing bowl for about 20 minutes.
14.) After 20 minutes preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Form the cookies and bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden.
(Tip: I got three Giant cookies out of this recipe plus 4 large sized cookies. I feel this recipe is better with the Giant cookies pan because the dough is very sticky! I added for this event red sprinkles for Memorial day. I baked the cookie for about 20 minutes at 350 degree Fahrenheit)
(Tip: I got three Giant cookies out of this recipe plus 4 large sized cookies. I feel this recipe is better with the Giant cookies pan because the dough is very sticky! I added for this event red sprinkles for Memorial day. I baked the cookie for about 20 minutes at 350 degree Fahrenheit)
