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The Cookies that started it all…and I make friends with AI

~ stephzuniga ~ Leave a comment

So this week, we go back to the beginning- Von Stapele Cookies aka The Amsterdam Cookies aka THE cookies that started the baking journey.  It’s been almost a year (I think) that I’ve been baking cookies every week.  And it’s been a crazy year.   One major down (and some not so major ones) and lots of big ups too.  So, it’s just been life.   We skate along every day until we come to a big bump in the road, we fall down, we get back up and keep skating until the next big bump.  I can’t really complain.  This is what being alive is.

I lost my job and gained a job, I lost a lot of confidence and gained a lot of resilience.  I got to spend time not working and realised how much I was missing by constantly running from one thing to the next.  I lost someone who I loved and loved me, and I gained a new appreciation of the tiny person I made.  I grew.  I still miss what I lost, and I still grieve and wonder, “what if?”  But I’m happy.  I mean I still complain about lots of First World Problems, and still hassle the humans in my house over a range of things.  But overall, at at the risk of jinxing myself.  Things are ok.

Looking back, I had NO idea what was ahead of me.  But none of us ever do really.  A year ago, I couldn’t imagine anything changing- everything was great.  A year from now, I know things could look totally different and that’s ok.  It could be better, or it could be worse.  But it will be different.  That’s the only thing I know for sure.  Will I still be baking every week?? Who knows??

And in the spirit of Change.  I’ve tried something new-ish.  I made friends with AI- well ChatGPT and for one of the first times used ChatGPT to create a new recipe.  Well, multiple new recipes.  

Bonkers.  Game changing.  Bizarre.  

So, why now??  What happened this week? 

Full disclosure, I was inspired by the Cabaret show I went to last week hosted by Dame Chilli Rox.  Chilli or Dame Chilli happens to be the only person I’ve seen consistently every week for the past 18 years, and someone who I treasure dearly.  She’s my Pole Dancing Teacher and an absolute icon, and the person who I’ve seen once or twice a week almost every week since 2007(ish).  I’ve known her longer than my husband and seen her more regularly than almost anyone else I know.  I’ve been through relationship changes, career changes, house changes, every type of change- but I’ve taken Pole Dancing Classes with Chilli on Wednesdays at 830 for most of my adult life.  

Anyway, Chilli, who is also the Most Influential Pole Dancer in Australia and an amazing MC, hosted a show last week and in the show, she had ChatGPT come up with cocktails for people she knew in the audience.  (Mine was a Half-Assed Spritz- because I’m very bubbly, loyal, but I don’t try very hard in class.)  

Anyhoo, I was inspired to use ChatGPT to come up with cookie recipes– what a brilliant idea!  Last week’s Dulce de Leche Cookies were a huge hit– and someone said, “ooh, Banoffee pie cookies would be really good.”  I searched for recipes online but then, inspired by Chilli’s AI cocktail creations, I thought what if I asked ChatGPT for a Banoffee Cookie recipe.  AND it delivered!!!

So then, I asked Chat GPT for a recipe inspired by Dame Chilli Rox- and it delivered on that too!  

The description was amazing–

“Let’s create something as fiery, fierce, and unforgettable as Dame Chilli Rox herself — a cookie that’s spicy, sultry, and unapologetically fabulous.  

Vibe:

Think: dark chocolate for drama, chilli for her name and boldness, cinnamon for heat, and raw sugar sparkle for the glittering glam she brings to the pole.” 

 And it is!!!!  Spicy chocolate chocolate chip with glitter sprinkles!!!    Throw in a jade split and it’s Chilli in a Cookie!

ChatGPT also suggested adding Fireball Whiskey or Chilli Liqueur for an extra kick.  I might try them again and call them Chilli Rox on the Rocks.

I also asked for a recipe for Von Stapele copycat cookies… and 3 or 4 other cookies that I was inspired to create… (they may make an appearance next week!)

I”m VERY pleased with how they’ve turned out (they look and smell very credible!) and it was super fun creating a recipe of my own(-ish).  Who knows, this could be the next evolution of my baking.  Creating recipes not just baking from recipes… I mean, I don’t know if I trust AI for everything all the time but it’s fun to try!


Dirty Chai and Macarons.

~ stephzuniga ~ Leave a comment

Happy December!

I can’t believe it’s nearly the end of the year. Christmas carols are playing, the tree is decorated, the turkey and ham are ordered and I’ve been reading Christmas Cookie recipes.

My experience with Christmas cookies has been mixed at best. There was one time when I baked them as a child- but forgot the sugar in the sugar cookie recipe, and wound up with cut out Christmas trees and stars that tasted like cardboard. As an adult, I find that cut out cookies are a lot of effort for very little reward. Sugar cookies aren’t amazing. Sugar cookies that a toddler or 5 year old has decorated are– worse. So when I think about baking cookies this Christmas, I can’t say that Sugar cookies are high on my agenda.

What is on the menu? Spicy cookies. Flavourful cookies. Cookies that make your mouth happy. Cookies like these Dirty Chai Earthquake Cookies. They have coffee and all the spices and flavours of a dirty chai latte- but rolled in two types of sugar and baked in the oven. AND they’re pretty good. What makes them Christmassy- the spices. They taste like a chai tea- and they have that gingery, cinnamony, clovey goodness that feels like Christmas.

I also made Soft Chocolate Chip cookies– just in case the Dirty Chai vibes were divisive. Chocolate chip cookies are always a crowd pleaser and these are are more soft and pillowy than crunchy. They weren’t quite what I was after… I was hoping they’d be closer to the OG Keebler Elf Soft Batch cookies that I used to eat bags of as a kid. I used to bring them back to Australia, and then suddenly they were gone. Discontinued in a cruel twist of fate. Their familiar and comforting red bag no longer on the supermarket shelves in the US, or anywhere on the internet. And the internet wasn’t happy. I wasn’t the only one that missed Soft Batch cookies. Articles were written. Blogs were posted. Apparently, Keebler has brought them back in a yellow package- but I’m sceptical. I will try this recipe for Mock Batch Cookies in the next few weeks just to see how close it is to my memories!

I also had the absolute pleasure of having my friend, Feliken, over today to make macarons. Ok, full disclosure. She made them and I watched. Macarons are not for the faint hearted. They’re not for the type of baker that forgets to put sugar in sugar cookies. In short, kids- do not try macarons at home. Or do, but it’s hard work. Feliken made it look super easy and they turned out really well. But they are a lot of work, a lot of steps, and they’re pretty fickle little things.

In short, I was in awe of her. The patience, the consistency, the level of detail, so many steps.

Ah-mazing. And they tasted soooooo good too. Am I inspired to try them on my own??? No. I’m a bigger fan of cookies that are simple and hard to get wrong. I mean any recipe with more than 4 steps, or more than 4 different action verbs and I’m lost. Dump everything in a bowl. Yes. Separate eggs, mix, add, whip, pipe, pop, wait, bake, cool, scrape, pipe, smush. I’m lost. Those poor little macarons wouldn’t stand a chance with me. But Feliken is a master at them! And it was great to see a master at work!

He Runs, I Cookie

~ stephzuniga ~ Leave a comment

So, I’m currently in the midst of figuring out my next career move. I absolutely loved my last job and now that it’s over, I have a lot of choices to make and a lot of paths to explore.

While I continue to figure it out, I’m baking.

This week’s cookies are Red Velvet Chocolate Crackle Cookies by Donna Hay. I LOVE Donna Hay. I had nearly every issues of her magazine and I LOVE her cookbooks. These cookies are yum! I brought them to a BBQ on Sunday, and they were a hit. So, I baked another batch today. As I mentioned last week, I’m building up a bit of a cookie fan club. One batch isn’t enough to last the week, and since I’m currently funemployed, I have time to bake cookies twice a week.

I also baked the world famous Neiman Marcus Cookies. If you haven’t heard of these cookies, there’s a whole urban myth/legend about a woman who paid $250 for the recipe because she liked the cookies so much.

I mean they were good- but not sure I could charge $250 for them.

Some people have told me I could into the baking business- I mean, it’s not going to happen but it’s a fun idea. I’d have to bake a LOT of cookies to be self-sustaining, so I don’t see it in the future– but I do kind of like the idea of calling them, “He Runs, I Cookie…”

Until next week!

C is for Cookie…

~ stephzuniga ~ Leave a comment


“Today, me will live in the moment, unless it is unpleasant. In which case me will eat a cookie.”

 – Cookie Monster

So I’ve been on a cookie baking binge over the past few weeks- or maybe even months. Actually, I can trace it back to July.

My friend, Jinx (not her actual real name, but her real pole name) went to Europe and brought back THE best cookie I’ve ever tasted in my life. It’s from Van Stapele, a bakery in Amsterdam, that only does one thing. These cookies. And they’re life changing. They’re also, unfortunately, only in Amsterdam. So, I did what any normal obsessed person would do and googled the recipe.

Of course, being a world famous cookie house, it wasn’t online. But there were loads of copycats which gave me plenty of fodder for my re-creation attempts.

Now, a smart, conscientious blogger would have made careful notes about what she baked, how it turned out and where the recipe came from. But that’s not me so please don’t ask which recipe was the best. (From memory, it was these or these but don’t quote me.).

I trialled a couple of different recipes before moving on to OTHER cookies. Chocolate Chip, Compost, Playdate, Snoop Dogg’s PB Chocolate Chip Cookies (Thomas was NOT a fan), Oatmeal raisin (by request), Mexican icebox, Coconut Sugar (bland!) and then I found them.

After weeks of searching, I’ve found the perfect cookie.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies from the NY Times.

I’m obsessed. I’ve made one batch this week, and because they are amazing I have a second bath ready to bake for tomorrow. These cookies are amazing.

I have to make a second batch, because I’ve gotten into a bit of a pattern. The people in my life now expect that I’ll turn up places with cookies. Tuesday at the gym, Wednesday nights at Pole Class. All of this cookie trialling has led to a lot of cookies. Far more than three people can eat, so I share them. And they must be better than ok, beacuse now people look forward to them, request flavours and are generally, a bit disappointed when I run out of cookies and they don’t get one. So, I’m making two batches of these- and also starting a list (or at least trying to be better) to record my cookie exploits.

So, join me on my baking journey!

Coming up next Sunday….. Apples for Jam!

Aside ~ ~ stephzuniga ~ 2 Comments

Thanks to the randomness of the “Close your eyes and point” methodology, I’ve now chosen the cookbook for next week.  Apples for Jam by Tessa Kiros.

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This book is absolutely gorgeous, given to me by lovely friends as a birthday gift (I think?).  The pictures are beautiful and it’s a fairly thick book with recipes organised by- wait for it- colours!  Red, Orange, Yellow, Pink, Green, Gold, White, Brown, Monochrome, Striped and Multicolour!  Very cool- and some very yummy sounding recipes– although I have to make a HUGE confession….. I’ve never cooked anything out of this book…. in fact, that might be a catch phrase that becomes increasingly common as the Blog goes on.

So, for my first attempt to cook using this book, we have the following options on pages 7, 33, 69, 87, 101….

p.7- Sorry guys, this is where the table of contents lives….

p.33- Meat Lasagne- the second page of the recipe- one of the Runner’s favourite meals….

p.69- Quince Jam- this recipe needs 2kg of Quince.  I’m not sure where people even buy a single quince, let alone 2kg of quinces…. I think I’ll leave the quince jam to Maggie Beer.

p.87- Roast rack of pork with fennel and honey- Hello Sunshine!!!  Have I mentioned that I LOVE pork?

p.101- Orange juice and olive oil cake with pine nuts…. ooh that doesn’t sound half bad!

Stay tuned, and feel free to weigh in with your two cents…..  and yes, I will need some volunteers to help us eat this time.