I have decided to try both watermarking all of my photos and titling the occasional photo. I am not sure yet that I am sold on either–I would love to hear your opinion! Is the small watermark in the lower left corner distracting to you? What about the title across the top of the photo above? Part of me prefers food pics that stand on their own, with no embellishments. Part of me likes the branding that comes with a watermark, although I agree that it is questionable how much it deters copyright violations. As far as titling goes, there is some evidence to show that pictures are more likely to be pinned with a title. What do you think? Do you like the instant identification of the food? Does it make you more likely to pin the post (provided you are a Pinterest user in the first place)?
On to Chocolate Party! The theme this month is coffee, which I love, love, LOVE. With chocolate. With vanilla. In desserts. In mochas. Just not plain. (I am shuddering inside at the thought of that bitter water!) As much as I like traditional mochas, what I really like is white chocolate with coffee. Yes white chocolate is unctuously sweet–but bitter coffee is what cuts that unctuous sweet perfectly, creating a yummy marriage of flavors. And it really works in these cookies. The original recipe is from Joy the Baker and my tweaks are fairly minor, like subbing whole wheat flour and increasing the vanilla. My in laws happened to be visiting and all 3 of us swooned over these cookies. The kids were in bed and did not get any (before this writing) and John does not care for coffee flavored desserts.
His loss.
If you want to participate in Chocolate Party, just make a recipe with chocolate (any color!) and coffee. Follow these rules, and then link up below:
1.) Blog about your chocolate treat. Your recipe must include the two ingredients we choose. It can be a simple no bake treat or a sophisticated layer cake, the complexity level of the recipe is totally up to you.
2.) Include a link back to a monthly round-up or the Chocolate Party page. Optional, add the Chocolate Party logo in your blog post or on your sidebar.
3.) Your recipe must be published during the current month. Please do not link old recipes, they will be deleted.
And here is the linky:
- 1 cup AP flour
- 1¼ cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 t baking soda
- 1 t fine sea salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 3 T instant espresso powder
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 t pure vanilla extract
- 1 t ground vanilla beans (or substitute paste or more extract)
- 5 oz white chocolate chunks (I prefer to chop a high quality white chocolate bar up--I like Green & Black's)
- vanilla salt for topping the cookies
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- Beat the butter until creamy, preferably in a stand mixer. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and add the espresso powder. Beat to incorporate. Add the sugars and beat on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the egg and egg yolk and beat to incorporate. Add the vanilla extract and ground vanilla beans. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Add the white chocolate chunks, including any "shrapnel" from chopping the white chocolate, and mix just until evenly incorporated.
- Cover the dough with wax paper, pressing down to create an airtight seal, and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days (for longer storage, also cover your bowl with an airtight lid or plastic wrap).
- When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat (if baking all of the cookies at once, line 2 cookie sheets, but I like to bake them off day by day). Scoop 2-3 tablespoon sized balls of dough onto the cookie sheet, 6 cookies to a sheet. Bake for about 11-12 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. If you are baking 2 sheets at once, bake in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and rotate the sheets halfway through baking.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container.
As always…
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I don’t think that watermarking takes away from your photo. Stand alone photos are lovely, but some times I want to know where the photo came from so I can track down the blog.
As for detering copyright violators it’s a toss up. I know that may people who are looking for a quick pic to use wont use a watermarked photo as there own. However if they are motivated they can easily crop it out. Many photogrpahers I know put their watermarks in hard to crop out spots and make sure that it covers both light and dark areas so that it can’t be edited. However that hasn’t stopped some companies who have taken the photos anyway. There are paided services that you can add meta data to your photos and tracks it anywhere on the internet.
Anyway, your cookies look deliecious.
Just what I need: Big, delicious cookies to brighten my day!!!
Great cookies! I was super happy about the special ingredient this month. Love coffee and chocolate.
Wow…I’ve never thought to put coffee in a cookie before….but how delicious and chewy these look! I always put a small stamp with my blog name in the corner. I think your photos look great!
These look so yummy!
I don’t watermark my images because for the watermark to be useful it needs to be somewhere vital to the image.
I don’t think your watermark or title takes away from the image at all, Gorgeous Pic 🙂
2 dozen please!!!
I think the watermarks look great! I don’t have them on my blog photos but don’t mind them on others’! You know…aside from white chocolate mochas from Starbucks, I can’t say that I’ve ever experienced the beauty that is white chocolate and coffee together in any other form! These cookies sound great though…and they look so chewy!
I’m not bothered by watermarking or titles. I don’t do it, but really that’s a function of not having the time more than anything. I *do* think that having the title on your photo is helpful on Pinterest and other social media.
These sound so, so delicious. I am a big fan of coffee and chocolate together. Funnily enough, I never liked white chocolate until I tried Green & Black’s. It’s so different from the saccharine sweet white chocolate that you get packaged under cheaper brand names. Thanks for this lovely recipe. Cannot wait to try these!
Coooookieeeee! These sound fantastic, Laura!
Mmmmmmm….white chocolate and coffee in a cookie. Who couldn’t resist!?! Thanks for bringing it to the chocolate party!
I like adding text to some of my photos as I tend to shoot very simple setups. A little text sometimes is a nice embellishment! Plus, supposedly Pinners love text on photos 😉
These cookies look to be exactly what I want in a cookie: big and chewy, and I bet the bitterness of the espresso counters the sweetness of the cookie nicely! Love it 🙂