Hogwarts Confections: The Ravenclaw Cookie

You know that Mr. C and I are gigantic nerds. Dungeon and Dragons nerds. Joss Whedon nerds. The list goes on and on. The one fandom I'm surprised I haven't touched upon here is Harry Potter. We both, of course, grew up with the books. I have a love/hate relationship with Ms. Rowling - I loved her first four books. I hated that she killed off my favourite characters. Did it really have to be Sirius, Lupin, and Fred? Seriously, JK, you should have just totally manned up and killed off Harry. The little snotrag totally had it coming.

Mr. C is still devoted. He's actually re-reading the entire series before we go see the final film. He's excited. Me? I know I'm just going to end up bawling my eyes out. I had to hide the final book in the freezer while reading it, but I can't do that to a movie. How am I going to get through it, you ask? Cookies. Lots and lots of cookies.

We were commissioned by the Vancouver Yule Ball to do some fundraising for them in the form of yummy things. We were happy to oblige. Thus began my journey to transform each house in Hogwarts into a delicious cookie. The first one I tackled was Ravenclaw. They're the brainiacs of the school - you know that kid who sits in the front of the classroom and asks contrived questions just to mess with your professor? Yeah, total Ravenclaw. 
Don't get me wrong. Ravenclaws are pretty cool. Just look at Luna Lovegood. Who wouldn't want to hang with that chick? Also, Kenneth Branagh Gilderoy Lockhart. Need I say more? 

Now, let's get down to the good part. The cookie. Any treat based on this Hogwarts house needed a bit of wit to it, so we adapted the famous New York Times aged chocolate chip cookies for the task. Instead of regular old boring chocolate chips, we spiked the dough with sliced almonds and butterscotch. To hold true to the house colours, we also added some lovely local dried blueberries to the mix. 
These cookies may look unassuming, but, very much like it's Hogwarts' namesake, it packs a smart punch. The slight tartness of the blueberries balances perfectly with the sweetness of the butterscotch. The almonds add another dimensional crunch to it all. The aging process gives all these flavours the perfect pillow to lay out on. Perfection is what Ravenclaw strives for. Perfection is what we've given them.

The Ravenclaw Cookie adapted from the New York Times
Makes about 2 dozen cookies
2 cups (minus 2 tablespoons) cake/pastry flour1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup dried blueberries
1 cup thinly sliced almonds
3/4 cup butterscotch chips

1) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and coarse salt. Set aside.

2) Cream together you sugars and butter well - for about five minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well after each addition. Add and mix in the vanilla extract. Sift your dry ingredients into your wet ones and, with a wooden spoon, stir until everything just begins to come together. Add your blueberries, almonds, and butterscotch chips and stir until everything is incorporated.

3) Wrap your dough well in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 24 to 36 hours - don't skip this step! It's what really makes this cookie special. After aging, drop down walnut sized balls of dough onto your cookie mat and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Enjoy.