Saturday, January 05, 2013

Weekend Cooking: Wookiee Cookies and Other Galactic Recipes (The Star Wars Cookbook) by Robin Davis

Over the holiday period I was back in Adelaide spending time with family and friends and generally trying to take a little time to relax and recharge.

I went to see The Hobbit in the gold class cinema (felt very decadent having scones with jam and cream and a pot of tea while watching a movie in comfy reclining chairs), I went to the beach a few times and I went to see Les Miserables with a friend of mine. I will try to make some time to put up a few photos as we managed to make the long drive pass by more quickly by having some fun along the way!

When I was out for dinner with the friend I went to see Les Mis with, she mentioned that she had some spare copies of The Star Wars Cookbook and asked whether we would like one.

Now, I have a confession to make. I have never, ever, no-not-ever, I am not joking here....NEVER seen a full Star Wars movie from beginning to end. I have seen bits of them, and I can quote the big lines (you know..."Luke, I am your father" for example) but there was no way known we were going to be allowed to watch "that rubbish" (my mother's words) when it came out and it just hasn't happened since.  My sister hasn't seen one either, despite the fact that her five year old son is quite obsessed with the franchise! So, while I was interested in having a look at the book, I knew my nephew would love it, so I bought one home with me!

Even for someone who isn't emotionally connected to the whole Star Wars world, this was a lot of fun!

The creators of this book have taken everyday recipes and given them a Star Wars twist. Some are better than others but some of my favourite recipe titles were Wookiee Cookies, Han-burgers (simple but genius), Yoda Soda, Hoth Chocolate, Jabba Jiggles (which is green jelly with fruit in it) and more. For most of the recipes there are full page photos that feature Star Wars figurines along with the food. One of my favourite photos was for Princess Leia Danish Dos where Princess Leia is pictured among a pile of cinnamon scrolls, which are obviously reminiscent of her hairstyle The book is spiral bound, and printed on full gloss thick paper which will hopefully be easy to keep mostly clean.

The reality is that this is a kid's cookbook dressed up with Star Wars paraphernalia. The recipes are pretty easy - Wookiee Cookies are pretty much chocolate chip cookies (recipe below) - and where it is likely that a child would need assistance it is clearly marked in the recipe. At the beginning of the book there are general instructions under the headings of Be Careful - Respect the Mysteries of the Force (talking about kitchen safety),  Be Aware - Cultivate the Awareness of a Jedi. Even though it is designed for kids, I am pretty sure that there will be a ton of grown up Star Wars fans who would have a lot of fun with this.

I have seen that there is a second Star Wars cookbook out too. I just might need to take a look at it at some point.

Rating 4/5 (most of which is for the fun factor alone)

Wookiee Cookies 

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips


1. Preheat the oven to 375º

2. Put the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Stir with the wooden spoon until well mixed. Set aside.

3. Put the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in another mixing bowl. Using the electric mixer set on high speed, beat together until well blended and creamy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and stir with the wooden spoon until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips.

4. Scoop up a rounded tablespoonful of the dough and drop onto a baking sheet. Repeat until you have used up all the dough. Be sure to leave about 1 inch between the cookies because they spread as they bake.

5. Using pot holders, put the baking sheets in the oven. Bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes.

6. Again, using pot holders, remove the baking sheets from the oven. Lift the cookies from the baking sheets with a spatula, and place on cooling racks. Let cool completely.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies.


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21 comments:

  1. My husband actually has this cookbook as well! I must confess that I keep it stashed in a kitchen drawer. I don't know that we have ever baked anything from it. I will give the Wookie Cookie recipe a try. The gold class cinema you mentioned sounds fabulous!
    Rebecca @ The Key to the Gate

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  2. call it chocolate chip..call it a Wookie...I am there!!

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  3. Your theater experience sounds lovely. I can not imagine having a comfortable chair and being served tea, scones, jam and cream while watching a movie. That's fantastic.
    I have seen the star wars movies when my son was much younger. Love the wookie!

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  4. How fun! I love the recipe titles. Now you *know* I'm going to have to track these down. :)

    Your holiday trip sounds wonderful.

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  5. Hey, I have never watched a Star Wars film either, but am CONSTANTLY exposed to "that rubbish". My older son loves it and everything remotely related. He might enjoy this cook book. Will have a look for it.

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  6. What a cute idea for the young Star Wars fan. I always enjoyed cooking with my sons when they were young guys, this would have been so much fun.

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  7. That cookbook is hilarious. I saw it at the Sci-Fi Museum here and could not stop laughing (Hoth Chocolate - snicker). I had no idea there were people who hadn't seen any of the Star Wars movies! I have never managed to stay awake for any of the more recent ones - but I loved the original trilogy.

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  8. haha, this is such a great idea for a cookbook. I might need to get a copy.

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  9. Marg - what fun. I have a Star Wars obsessed nephew. It would be great if you had time to link it in to My Favourite Cookbooks (you'll find the link in a sidebar on Carole's chatter). Happy New Year

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  10. I have never been much of a Star Wars fan, but I do remember going to a theater (nothing like your gold class one!) with my aunt to see one of them. As a side note, I often call my Golden Retriever a wookie since he looks and often "talks" like one!

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  11. Drinking a pot of tea while watching the Hobbit sounds amazing. What a perfect movie for that kind of setting.

    And I just love that a Star Wars cook book exists...

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  12. How fun! My son would have loved this back in the day. I love the idea of drinking tea and enjoying scones while movie watching. I wonder if you loved Les Miz or The Hobbit?

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  13. That does look like a really fun cookbook! Have a fantastic weekend :)

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  14. I had a friend send me a copy of this last year. Fun book! We have these sandwich cutters that look like cookie cutters only deeper that are Star Wars ships and we used them as cookie cutters over Christmas and made Star Wars Christmas cookies. It was a lot of fun and led to some silliness as we decorated them.

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  15. Ooh I've been thinking of buying this for a friend who is a massive Star Wars nerd, I think I might have to now, it seems like a lot of fun.

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  16. I have never seen Star Wars either. I tried to watch it on TV once but that rabbit looking thing with the floppy ears was quite annoying! The cookies look delicious though!

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  17. How fun! I have never seen Star Wars either, though even I can quote some lines!

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  18. This sounds like a fun book - Jabba Jiggles. I'm not really a baker I must admit but perhaps I could overcome my inability to partake of a Wookie Cookie.
    Lynn :D

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  19. Something you might find interesting , http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00hcr67

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  20. Deep Space Wookiee Cookies

    Ingredients:

    2 1/4 cups organic Spelt flour
    1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa
    1/3 cup granulated sugar
    1 tsp ground cinnamon
    1/2 tsp baking powder
    1/2 tsp baking soda
    1/2 tsp salt

    3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
    2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
    2 xlg eggs, beaten
    1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
    1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate, chopped*
    1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

    * A bar is best, refrigerate before cutting;
    chocolate chips may be substituted.

    Directions:

    Preheat oven to 375º. Lightly oil 2 cookie sheets and set aside.

    In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa, granulated sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir well and set aside.

    In a large mixing bowl, add butter and brown sugar. Using an electric mixer, beat together until well-blended and creamy (about 3 min.).

    Add beaten eggs and vanilla; continue beating ingredients until well blended.

    Add flour mixture and stir well with a large spoon to combine. Fold in chocolate pieces and chopped walnuts just until evenly distributed.

    Drop scoops of dough (about 1 well-rounded tbsp) onto cookie sheet, leaving at least 1/2 inch space between the scoops.

    When cookie sheets are full, bake until golden brown (about 12 min.).

    Remove cookies from cookie sheet and place on cooling rack.

    Continue drop/bake steps until all dough is used (or refrigerate for later use).

    Makes about 2 1/2 dozen Wookiee-friendly cookies.

    Notes:
    1) Include 1 tsp organic orange oil for delicate chocolate-orange flavored cookies.
    2) Grapeseed oil is a good cookie sheet lubricant.

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