• 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled (or browned butter)
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar (or dark brown sugar)
• ½ cup semi-sweet or white chocolate chips
• ¼-½ cup chopped, toasted walnuts

1. Melt butter and set aside to cool.
2. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment or foil.
3. Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.
4. In a large bowl, whisk the melted butter, egg and vanilla together.
5. Stir in the brown sugar until smooth, smearing any clumps against the side of the bowl.
6. Stir in the flour mixture, walnuts and chocolate chips until thoroughly combined.
7. Using level tablespoon of dough each time, roll dough into balls and place on cookie sheets about 2 ½ inches apart.
8. Bake, one tray at a time, until edges are golden and centers are just set, 11-13 minutes. Do not overbake.
9. Cool the cookies on baking sheets for 5 min., then transfer to a wire rack or serve warm.

Filling  

• 1 quart fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled
• 10 ounces rhubarb, cut into ½-inch chunks
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Biscuit Topping  

• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (5 ounces)
• 3 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
• ¼ cup sugar plus 2 teaspoons
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon table salt
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the fruit filling ingredients together in a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. Place the pie plate on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the fruit releases its liquid and is hot and bubbling around the edges, 20 to 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, whisk the flour, cornmeal, ¼ cup of the sugar, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl; set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, butter, and vanilla together; set aside. In a third small bowl, mix the remaining 2 teaspoons sugar with the cinnamon; set aside.
3. When the filling is ready, stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined and no pockets of flour remain. Remove the cobbler filling from the oven and stir. Pinch off 8 equal pieces of the biscuit dough and arrange them on top of the hot filling, spaced ½ inch apart. Sprinkle the tops of the biscuits with the cinnamon sugar.
4. Continue to bake the cobbler until the biscuits are golden brown on top and cooked through and the filling is again hot and bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool the cobbler on a wire rack for 15 minutes before serving.

Filling  

• ½ teaspoon cornstarch
• 4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 ½ pounds Granny Smith apples (about 3 medium), peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes (about 4 cups)
• 1 ½ pounds Golden Delicious apples (about 3 medium), peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes (about 4 cups)
• 2/3cup granulated sugar
• Pinch table salt
• Pinch ground cinnamon
• Pinch ground nutmeg

Topping:

• ¾ cup dry quick-cooking oats
• ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp light butter, melted (such as Land O Lakes)
• ¼ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• ½ tsp salt

Oven at 350 degrees, cook for ~55-60 minutes or until it starts to turn brown.

For pie shell:

• 1 uncooked pie shell (frozen pre-made, frozen dough, make it yourself, whatever you want)

For crumble topping:

• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 tbsp butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
• 1 tbsp margarine, cut into ½-inch pieces
• ½ cup untoasted pecans or walnuts

For fruit filling:

• 3 large or 4 medium Gala and/or Jonah Gold apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (~2 lbs)
• ½ cup frozen (not thawed) cranberries
• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Equipment:

• 9 ½-inch glass deep-dish pie plate (6-cup capacity)

Make crumble topping: 

Coarsely chop a bit more than ½ cup of walnuts in food processor by pulsing 5 times with Chop function. Set nuts aside in small bowl. Add flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt to food processor – use Stir function. Add in butter with Mix function until large clumps form, then Stir in chopped nuts. Chill until ready to use.

Make fruit filling: 

Stir together apples, cranberries, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and lemon juice in a large bowl.

Assemble pie: 

Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in lower third.

Transfer fruit filling to pie shell. Loosely cover with foil and bake until apples droop slightly, about 35 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Sprinkle crumble topping over filling and bake, uncovered, until crumble is browned, filling is bubbling, and apples are tender, 40-55 minutes more. Cool completely, 2 to 3 hours.

Dark chocolate cupcakes from recipe, with no changes. I follow Cooks Illustrated almost religiously; they have never done me wrong with a recipe. It’s worth the $35/year subscription.

The batter came out with the consistency of chocolate mousse and I wanted to eat it right then!

Frosted using Wilton Star Tip #1M. I’ve never used the star tip before, but I was inspired by the cupcakes I see at cupcakeries with the huge mound of frosting swirled in the middle. I’m not a fan of too much frosting to cover up the taste of a cupcake, especially considering the quality ingredients that went into this cupcake. The frosting is a faint pale pink because I accidentally dropped a drop magenta food coloring into the frosting.