SHF : Rustic Apple-Cranberry Tart

It feels like it's been ages since I've actually been on time enough to do a Sugar High Friday event. Usually it can be summed up to bad timing - or, well, forgetfulness. *shrug*

This month's theme is the holidays is hosted by Cherrapeno, a blog I've just recently discovered and drooled over. ;)

After a disastrous attempt at a Nutella flourless cake on Wednesday night, I wanted something fruity. On a whim, I wound up at the Ocean Spray website, thinking, hey, at the very least, maybe I'll find a coupon for Craisins. I wound up finding this (alas, no coupons), and was thrilled to see that it could be easily put together on Thursday afternoon.

I would love to tell you lovely folks that I made my own crust. But I won't lie. Pie dough is still very intimidating, and I'll conquer that... when I get there. :) While I love the combination of the sweet apples and the tart cranberries, this is easily adjustable to any fruit combination you'd like.



Ingredients:
1 9-inch pie crust (store-bought or homemade)
21 ounces apple pie filling
1 cup cranberries, fresh or frozen, chopped
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F. Place pie crust in a 9-inch pie plate.

Combine the apples, cranberries, and cinnamon, mixing well. Spoon into pie crust. Fold eges of pastry over fruit, pleating so that crust lies relatively flat. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 400F for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F, and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until fruit is bubbly and crust is golden. Let cool a bit before serving. Makes about 8 servings.

Devil's Food Cupcakes (Christmas style)

Yay! I survived! ;)

I hope everyone reading had a fantabulous holiday, despite any mad rushing around or last-minute baking.

We had a relatively quiet Christmas. My aunt and uncle came over. Food was delicious, loud conversations ensued. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation was on all day on AMC. No matter how many times I see it, when the squirrel jumps out, I'm busting up with laughter.

The present-opening part held two good surprises for me. I've spoken in the past of wanting to get one of those vhs-to-dvd recorders, to preserve all the home movies and dance recitals and such; Dave got me one, which was a really, really big surprise. Secondly, between four gift cards, I've got about a hundred dollars worth to Barnes & Noble. :D

It's the end of the year, which means my annual 'end of the year' book. The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley, is my FAVORITE book. I've lost count how many times I've read it over the past ten years. In order to, well, make my own tradition, I decided to read it but once a year. I'm quite confident that I'll finish it before midnight on the 31st; currently on page 363, out of 876. Slightly worried, yes, but I'm still posting this before it's a week old - woohoo! ;)

Anyways, I first made these about a year and a half ago? I wanted something simple and chocolatey. And who doesn't love cupcakes? :)



(Sorry, Mel, the duck didn't fully make this picture. But Stitch did!) ;)

Ingredients:
½ cup boiling water
6 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup flour
½ + 1/8 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt

½ cup butter, softened
10 Tbsp. brown sugar
6 Tbsp. sugar
2 eggs

Directions:
In a bowl, whisk boiling water into cocoa until smooth. Add in milk and vanilla; set aside.

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a small bowl, sift flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture in batches, alternating with cocoa mixture; beginning and ending with the flour. Fill liners about halfway full.

Bake at 350F for 18-20 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Chocolate Ganache:
½ cup heavy cream
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chunks
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup

Heat the cream until boiling, then pour over chocolate, stirring to melt, adding the corn syrup. Dip each cupcake into ganache upside down to get a good coating on it.

Cheddar Scones

See, this is what happens when it's a snow day - Kristen actually posts in the blog. ;)

There's about 20 inches of the white stuff out there right now. I think snow days were much more fun as a kid. As an adult, you find yourself thinking about how much more work there'll be to do tomorrow. But as a kid, all that mattered was getting out there, building a snow slide, and staying out there for as long as your parents would let you.

Now I often refer to snow as that "dirty four-letter 's' word."

Sure, it's pretty and all - when you don't have to go out in it. We saw one plow come through - probably around 4am. This afternoon, an ambulance got stuck at the top of the street. A second one was called in, and had to back down the hill in order to get the woman to the hospital. Because one plow doing ONE trip up the street just doesn't cut it. I will get ranty if I continue on the subject of my city's obvious bias towards the downtown area and the section where the mayor lives. Hmph.

Alright, onto the scones! These are my very first ever homemade scones. My friend Steve isn't a huge fan of sweets, but is a big cheese fan. So, I offered. And it was... an experience. My dad played sous chef and cut more butter for me, and turned the water on when my hands were a big floury-buttery mess. I had visions of how Paula Deen must feel on a regular basis. ;)

Overall, for a first time, because of course I tried one, not bad. Next time? More cheese. And some cheese on the top of all of them. I found the basic recipe on AllRecipes, but altered it a bit as I went. So the recipe below is what I wound up doing.



Ingredients:
2 cups self-rising flour
3 Tbsp. butter, cold, cut into small pieces
Pinch of salt
½ cup shredded cheese
1 cup milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Sift flour and salt. Rub butter into flour lightly, until mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Stir in cheese. Make a well in the center, and pour in milk, reserving 1 tablespoon. Mix until just combined.

Knead lightly and briefly on a floured surface. Press to make a 1-inch thick round. Cut into wedges (or whatever shape happens to be easiest, in my case). Brush lightly with reserved milk. Sprinkle a bit of cheese onto the top.

Bake at 425F for 10-20 minutes, or until light brown. Let cool briefly on wire rack. Serve warm or at room-temperature.

Minty Mint Chip Brownies

This past Tuesday was round one of the annual Christmas Baking Extravaganza. I've learned over the years that it's best to space it out a bit. Do the mailables first, then locals, then Christmas desserts. It's working, for the most part.

Three out of the five mailables were all things that I've done before. Which definitely made it a bit easier. The biggest problem? Four things needed an 8" pan. Of which I own two. That was fun. :P (Solved by doubling one recipe and then stowing the first dish in the fridge to cool faster)

This one is a slightly altered recipe from one previous this year. Amelia's my twin, and when faced with uncertainty on a baked good, I suggested something minty. Thus, minty brownies.

The batter both tastes and smells delicious. Earlier in the month, I found that Nestle put out some semi-sweet chocolate and mint chips - not swirled, though. But they're pretty enough in the dark chocolate batter. I had the tiniest smidgen of one and really enjoyed the flavor, and promises were made to my dad that more would be made, in order to keep him away from these. (That sentence seems awfully disjointed.)

The picture was a last minute one, right before it was put into the box. And that is my 'tiny' (6') tree in the background. :)



Ingredients:
½ cup butter
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. peppermint extract
3/4 cup flour
1-1½ cups mint and chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8-inch baking dish.

Melt butter and chocolate. Gradually beat into sugar. Add eggs and peppermint. Gradually add flour, beating until well combined. Stir in chips. Spread in prepared pan.

Bake at 325F for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack before cutting into bars. Makes about 16.

Pumpkin Squares

If I remember correctly, this was one of the first things I made here at home after I had started baking. Possibly January 2004? That was the last time I had come home from CA in the winter before moving back here. Both my parents loved it, as did my cousin and her husband. And now this is the second year in a row where it's been requested at Thanksgiving. *shrug* Works for me!

An oatmeal cookie-esque crust with a pumpkin custard on top, it's pretty easy. I always add in spices that aren't in the recipe - allspice, nutmeg - and never seem to measure. I can't cook because I feel more confident in my boxes and measurements, but I can improvise with cinnamon and the like. Another thing we'll just chalk up to a Kristen Quirk. :)

Oh, and because I can rationalize ANY food as being good for you - pumpkin has vitamins and oats are good for lowering cholesterol. There ya go, Leslie. ;)



Ingredients:
Crust:
1 cup flour
½ cup quick-cooking oats
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup butter, softened

Filling:
15 oz. Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin
12 oz. evaporated milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. ground cloves

Topping:
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup quick-cooking oats
2 Tbsp. butter, melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.

Crust:
Beat flour, oats, brown sugar and butter in a small mixer until crumbly. Press onto bottom on an ungreased 13x9-inch baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes.

Filling:
Beat pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, eggs, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in a large mixer bowl. until smooth. Pour over crust. Bake for an additional 20 minutes.

Topping:
Combine brown sugar, oats and butter in small bowl; sprinkle over filling. Bake for an additional 15 to 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with whipped cream if desired.

Chocolate Agave Cake

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving. :) Mine was good. Except for the whole "working the next day at an ungodly hour" part. The joys of working in retail, right?

Mu aunt has recently been diagnosed with diabetes, so I sought out a lower-sugar dessert that everyone would enjoy. Having heard about agave nectar on a few different blogs - how it's lower on the glycemic index than even an apple - the quest began for a recipe using it. It was surprisingly harder than I had expected. Monday turned up results, though. Over at Baking Bites. (I really need to write a post-it to order myself one of the cookbooks)

The cake was SUPER easy to bring together, and I was happy to discover that agave nectar moves faster in the pouring process than honey does. The cake is very fudgey, but not as chocolatey as I had hoped. The frosting isn't very sugar-free, but I did use far less confectioners' sugar than the recipe called for. Everyone else loved it, though. Now that I think about it, I don't recall ever seeing it again after I went to bed so early. Hmm... :)



Ingredients:
2¼ cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
½ cup butter, room temperature
½ cup brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup agave nectar
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream
¼ cup milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two 9-inch round pans and line them with greased parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until light. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by agave nectar and vanilla extract.

Stir in 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by the sour cream. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture, then the milk, before stirring in the remaining flour mixture. Mix only until just combined. Divide evenly into prepared pans.

Bake at 350F for 22-28 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out dry or with some moist crumbs attached. Do not overbake. Turn cakes out onto wire cooling racks, peel off the parchment paper, and let cool completely.

Agave Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
8 oz. package cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup butter, room temperature
3 tbsp honey
¼ cup milk
2-3 cups confectioners' sugar

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat at high speed until smooth, gradually adding the confectioners' sugar until a thick and spreadable consistency is reached. More milk can be added to thin the icing, if necessary.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Alright, everyone. Try not to fall over - I'm actually updating. ;)

It feels as though I'm fighting an uphill battle in the fight against the lazy. I'm baking every weekend, but the lazy monster keeps coming up with paltry excuses from updating. Or even photographing. "It's rainy; no good light." "It's near-dark by the time I get home from work; no good light." Even worse, when the lazy monster gets in cahoots with the self-esteem gargoyle. "Oh, who's gonna care about yet another brownie recipe?"

But I'm doing good tonight. Baked yesterday, photographed a little over an hour ago, and here I am. (That and I told myself I couldn't read anymore of the book until I post this. Motivation, you come from the strangest places.)

So! I found this over at Recipe Girl and instantly fell in love. Pumpkin? In blissful union with snickerdoodles? Oh, my! You know it's gotta be something good if I'm making cookies before Christmas. ;)

And truly? These make me so ridiculously happy, it's not even funny. They're that perfect couple that, even though they're perfect, you aren't annoyed by them. You revel in their perfectness. You don't even feel that twinge of jealousy when they finish each other's sentences and get lovey-dovey.

(That last paragraph, upon re-reading, did make me raise my eyebrow in perplexedness. Have I gone off the deep end for good this time??) ;)

Anyways, divine. Everyone should make these. :)



Ingredients:
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1½ cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup pure pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cinnamon

½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. ginger
½ tsp. allspice

Directions:
Cream butter with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add sugar and pumpkin puree, and beat well. Mix in egg and vanilla.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon. Beat flour mixture into liquid mixture a little at a time until incorporated.

Cover dough with plastic and chill for at least an hour, or until dough becomes slightly firm.

Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Mix sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice in a small bowl.

Using a medium cookie scoop (1½ Tbsp.) or a large spoon, scoop out dough and roll into balls. Roll dough through the sugar/spice mix. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten slightly.

Bake at 350F for 10-14 minutes, or until slightly firm to the touch. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 3-5 dozen (depending on the size, of course)

Chocolate M&M Cookies

Whew! It seems like it's been ages, hasn't it?

Well, first, vacation was WONDERFUL. Somehow squeezed in seeing everyone that I wanted to see, as well as nearly 12 hours of driving on the way to Oregon and back to the Bay Area. Not only was it great seeing friends again, but also the food that I can't get out here! LOL I really did pack a box and mailed it to myself, full of stuff that I can't readily get over here. (Why, yes, that did include vanilla from the Ferry Marketplace Building in SF lol)

In other awesome news, last week Southwest Airlines had a big 72-hour sale, with one-way flights as low as $25. Naturally I couldn't pass that up, so come January, as a little birthday present to myself, I'll be heading out there for a few days. And Amelia mentioned those wonderful words of "road trip" and "Disneyland." Quickest way to make this little girl smile. :)

Halloween was fun. My friend Leslie has been having a Halloween party with her daughter for quite some time, and I was able to go this year. Of course I volunteered baked goods, and cookies wound up being the choice. The regular chocolate chip stand-by and this one, which is based off a recipe I used a few years back. (So out of it tonight; I do apologize lol)

I did a half batch only because it was Halloween morning that I was making these and time was limited. The recipe's quite easy, mostly one bowl (I got lazy and just mixed the flour and stuff in the actual measuring cup *shrug*. The dough is a bit on the sticky side, and very yummy, so you might want to chew some gum while making this, just to resist the dough-eating. ;)



Ingredients:
1-1/8 cups flour
¼ cup + 1 Tbsp. cocoa
½ tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
½ butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
¼ cup + 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
½ tsp. vanilla
1 egg
6 oz. M&M's

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add egg. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to butter mixture. Stir in M&M's. Place teaspoonful-sized dough at least 1-inch apart on prepared sheets.

Bake at 350F for 9-11 minutes. Let cool on sheets for two minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 3 dozen.

Vacation!

So, it's 3:20am. I've been awake for just over an hour now. Which is frightening.

But, oh, we're leaving for the airport in about an hour.

Am I dressed? Completely packed? Reasonable sane? That'd be a negative on all the fronts. ;)

It's back out to Cali and Oregon for a wedding and to visit friends and family. And food that we can't get out here. :) Super excited. But well aware that I'll probably wind up being awake for 24 hours, due to time zones and what not.

Obviously no new baking this weekend, but probably on the 24th. Maybe by then I'll be better about updating on a more regular basis lol

Take care, everyone! :)

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

Well, look at that. Something that I made on Saturday is being posted about within two days. Wow!

It's been just over a week now since I gave in and bought a new wrist brace. The tendonitis has been flaring up again, and after three or four weeks of pain, yeah, something needed to be done. Of course it's the right wrist, since my left-handed-abilities are near to non-existant. (It was a great day when I was finally able to eat my cereal left handed without spilling milk.) Work doesn't really help it very much, since again, right-handed, and sometimes it involves lifting things that are a touch on the heavy side. Oh, and the computer! My dear, sweet computer, how you pain me so! Rather, the mouse and typing. Hmph. Sometimes I really think I was made from recycled parts.

So I'm gonna keep this one on the brief side in order to keep the swelling down. These muffins? Made of win. In my search for decent pumpkin muffins, again, Peabody saves the day. Lacking Raisinets, I popped in some Craisins to boost the health values a bit more. I like 'em and the general consensus has agreed with me. As it should. ;)



Ingredients:
1-2/3 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
½ cup tightly packed brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup Craisins

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, brown sugar, sugar, spices, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a medium bowl, stir together the eggs, pumpkin, and butter. Combine into dry ingredients, beating just until moistened. Stir in Craisins.

Fill muffin cups about 3/4's full.

Bake at 350F for 20-22 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack.

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

Breakfast treat or dessert?

I figure my stomach doesn't mind what time it digests certain foods. Well, within reason, of course. It does care about spaghetti sauce an hour or so before bed. But baked goods? No biggie. For about a year during high school, all I would eat for breakfast were those horribly sweet brownies from Little Debbie. Minus the nuts, though.

Thankfully, I've improved since then. ;) (I wouldn't touch those brownies with a ten foot pole!)

The evening after I made this, my mom decided to pair it with some caramel-swirl ice cream and declared it a hit. My dad has it as his after-lunch treat. I slip a slice in before heading to work. Or an after-work snack. It's gone by this point, I should add.

Sometime last week, I came across a recipe that called for buttermilk. Which I never really have on hand. When I bought some, I couldn't find the recipe. Doh! Thankfully, Baking Bites exists. :)

The recipe comes together in a breeze, with a very light, vanilla-y batter. Instead of chocolate chips, you could always substitute dried fruits or nuts. I like it's versatility, and will definitely save this recipe for the future.



Ingredients:
1-1/3 cups flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
3/4 cup sugar
½ cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
½ cup buttermilk
3/4 cup chocolate chips

For streusel topping:
3 Tbsp. flour
½ cup brown sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
3 Tbsp. butter, cold

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch round baking pan or springform pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, then add vanilla. Add half of the flour mixture, beating until just combined. Follow with buttermilk, then remaining flour mixture, beating only until the flour is just mixed in. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread in prepared pan.

Combine flour, brown sugar, and cinnmon. Add the cold butter, using your fingers until it resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle on top of batter.

Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool completely in pan.

Nutella Ravioli

I swear, I don't fall off the face of the earth every other week or so. Sometimes I wish I could for brief moments of time, but that's a whole 'nother blog altogether. ;)

Having an 'extra' day off this week due to the paid holiday of Labour Day, I decided to make something this past Wednesday. And for some very strange reason, cookies kept coming to mind. (Something REALLY must be wrong, huh? LOL) Speaking of work, this upcoming week, Tasha and I were 'volunteered' to help out in another store. On a good note, an extra hour of pay each day since the store's an hour away. On a bad note, it means I'm back on the salesfloor, dealing with customers. Oy.

Anyways, happier things. Nutella ravioli is definitely a happy. Another recipe by the fabulous Peabody. Of course, mine didn't come out nearly as pretty. Or round. Somewhere in my semi-lost brain, spacing just didn't happen. So when they came out of the oven, it was pretty much a cookie sheet of sugar cookie dough. Oops. Yay for spatulas, right?

Oh, and the flavor? So yummy. I want to say there were somewhere between 24 and 30 cookies? There are six left. My dad's been sneaking them, I think, in an attempt to make the brownies last longer. ;)



Ingredients:
18 oz. sugar cookie dough (store-bought or home-made)
½ cup Nutella

3 Tbsp. semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 Tbsp. white chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F

Roll out cookie dough to about a ¼-inch thickness.

Using a cookie cutter or a glass dipped in flour, cut out rounds. Place about a ½ teaspoon of Nutella into the center of each round. Fold rounds over to create half moon shapes, gently sealing edges. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350F for 9-10 minutes. Remove to wire racks and cool completely.

Once cooled, melt chocolate chips in microwave for about 1 minute. Using a fork, drizzle over cookies. Repeat with the white chocolate chips.

Chai-Spiced Bars

Motivation really isn't my friend lately. Not just here, but in general life, too. There is hope, though. There are only 30 more working days until vacation. ;)

This weekend was pretty yucky as far as weather goes. We kinda got sideswiped by the remains of Tropical Storm Danny, who was nice enough to give us about five inches of rain. Have I mentioned that the only time Dave and I have to do the grocery shopping is Saturday afternoon? So that included me running through the Target parking lot, attempting to avoid the big puddles and failing miserably. But as I neared the car, a giggle came out of me, that grew into full out laughter. Just for the feeling of running through the rain like I was a kid again. And that made me happy. Despite the wet socks. (My second biggest weather-related petpeeve is wet socks. Raindrops on the glasses takes first place.)

Oh, but wait! Before I continue, there's big, earth-shattering news!

Last Thursday, I (finally?) got the drivers' permit. Yes, you may all be thoroughly shocked now. ;)

I've always said that I'd get the license before I turned 30 or before I had kids. Well, I'm about a year and a half away from that number. So my friend Leslie, after much persuasion/harassment from our group of friends, went with me to the dmv. Of course, she later told me that if I didn't go willingly then, that next week, I'd be forcibly dragged there. :) I haven't done any driving yet, but it's a HUGE step for me.

Anyways, it was grey and gloomy on Saturday, yes. So I wanted something warming. Everyone knows my love affair with chai tea, and after some searching, I came across this site and, since I had everything it needed, went for it. It's not quite as chai-y as I'd like, but they're yummy. I think that if they were to be made again, I'd cut back on the cardamom; that seems to be the most prominent taste and that's just kinda... ehh. One day I'll find a baked good that has the chai taste I desire. ;)



Ingredients:
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg
2 cups flour
½ tsp. ginger
½ tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. cloves
3/4 tsp. cardamom
¼ tsp. black pepper
Pinch of salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.

Beat butter, brown sugar, and sugar until well combined. Add egg. Sift together flour and spices; gradually add to butter mixture. Spread in prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack before cutting.

My Dad's Favorite Brownies

Whew! It's been a while since posting! First, there was a week spent with a very disagreeable stomach. You know I'm sick when I don't want to bake. Last weekend I made these brownies, but between real life and tiredness (or a moody computer), getting onto here, with the photo resized (I'm glaring at you, Micrographx) and uploaded... ugh.

As I've mentioned on here before, my dad's currently going through his fourth round of chemo. In an attempt to keep his weight at a somewhat normal number, I've learned the best way to do this is through bake goods. These brownies in particular. There's nothing fancy about them, but they're his absolute favorite of all the things I've made. And made him try. (Let's not talk about the hummus lol) I'm thinking about brownies with pomegranate juice in them, in order to get some more antioxidants in him, but until then, it's these pretty much on a weekly basis. Which I don't mind at all. :)



Ingredients:
1 cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs
3/4 cup cocoa
1 cup flour
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x13-inch pan.

Beat butter, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time. Add cocoa. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Gradually add to butter mixture. Spread onto prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.

Raspberry-Blueberry Oat Bars

I was so proud of myself on Saturday. That's when I baked these and I even took the picture the very same day. Shocking, I know. Yet here it is, Wednesday, and I'm finally getting my butt into gear and posting. Oops. And I don't think there's even a valid excuse this time, outside of plain laziness.

Things have been going very well in the meat-free department. There are definitely some challenges at times, but overall, I'm feeling positive. And I'm feeling BETTER in general, too. Which is the biggest thing, as far as I'm concerned.

This is another recipe from the Vegetarian Times website, which I've had bookmarked for quite some time. Only did a few alterations - adding some nutmeg and allspice - and swapping out the plain jam for the Queen's Blend jam from Ikea. Raspberry and blueberry. It's the best. Get thee to an Ikea to buy some. (The Daim chocolates are yum, too) :)



Ingredients:
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. allspice
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup light brown sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. almond extract
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats, divided
1 cup raspberry jam

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Coat 9-inch-square baking dish with cooking spray.

Sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.

Cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture; mix until combined. Stir in 1-3/4 cups oats.

Spread 2/3 of batter on bottom of prepared baking dish. Spread raspberry jam over the batter with back of spoon. Add remaining 1/4 cup oats to remaining batter. Crumble over top of raspberry jam.

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes, or until golden. Cool completely on wire rack before cutting into bars.

Vegan Brownies

Remember when there used to be a sense of regularity in my posting? I think summer laziness and regular life-ness seems to have kicked in.

We've hit some semblence of summer here in southeastern MA. Which means temps in the high 70s/low 80s with a bajillion percent humidity. And that for nearly every day there's a chance of "isolated thunderstorms". Jim Cantore, you're my favorite Weather Channel meterologist, but, really, I could use some change.

Speaking of change, what started out towards the end of last month as a general aversion to meat has evolved into a more vegetarian diet. Which both family and most of my friends think I'm crazy for. LOL What a big difference between CA and MA, right?

I found this recipe over at Vegetarian Times' website. I've made various vegan cupcakes before, but had yet to work with tofu. The recipe came together very quickly, which is good as I started making it 30 minutes before leaving to go see HP6 (again lol).

The end result? A very moist, very chocolate brownie with a spongey texture. My "public's" reactions have been varied. I'm the only one that thinks they're really chocolatey. My mom and Dave thinks they're more cake-like than brownie like. My dad will eat pretty much any brownie, so yay for him getting some soy protein. :) Of the three coworkers who tried them... one says too much like dark chocolate (she doesn't like dark chocolate), next said they were good, and the third loved it, giving it an A+. I think he just likes the fact that they're lower in calories, but hey, I gave him half the batch after he declared them delicious. :)

It was really hard to get a decent picture of these. It was cloudy on Sunday when I took the pictures, so natural light was not my friend then. Scarily enough, this picture is the best of the ones that were taken. lol



Ingredients:
2¼ cups natural cane sugar
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ tsp. baking powder
1½ tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup soft tofu
3/4 cup chocolate soymilk
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Combine sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.

Combine applesauce, tofu, soymilk, and vanilla in food processor, and process until well blended. Add tofu mixture to dry ingredients, and mix well. Scrape batter into prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 45 minutes, or until batter is set and top is dry. Cool in pan; cut into bars and serve.

Pizookie!

Another post that's been in the making for, well, a few days. :)

Me and Amelia's Harry Potter/Rent vacation was quite awesome. Lots of fun and a whole lot of laughs. 'Rent' just blew me away, and we were able to get autographs after the show (including those of Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal - woohoo!!). We also got to know Boston Commons extremely well. To put it lightly. ;) Seriously, it was so good to hang out with a friend that can finish your sentences. Huzzah! Now the next thing to look forward to is my trip to CA in October. Where we're hoping to see 'Rent' in San Francisco. :D

Onto the baked goods. I knew that when Amelia was out here that I wanted to make Pizookies. Pizookies are from BJ's Brewhouse & Restaurant, and they're a personal-size deep dish cookie, fresh from the oven and topped with vanilla ice cream. The cookies come in chocolate chip, macadamia, peanut butter, oatmeal raisin, and an oreo-style. They are DELICIOUS. Really, you should go get one. Or if you're on the east coast and the closest one is in Ohio, you should make this recipe. :)

For the cookie part, I just used the basic Toll House cookie recipe and halved it. The bake time varies a bit depending on how thick the dough is inside the ramekin. The two smaller ones that we made were fine at 25 minutes, but the larger, about-an-inch-thick should have stayed in probably for another 8-10 minutes. Either way, they were still good. Even the one reheated in the microwave the next day.



Ingredients:
1-1/8 cups flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
½ tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 cup chocolate chips (white, semi-sweet, milk - makes no difference)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F.

Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add egg. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to butter mixture. Stir in chips.

Fill four ramekins with about half an inch of dough on the bottom. (If making a thicker cookie, do adjust the baking time.) Place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 375F for about 18 minutes. Remove from oven and place ramekins on potholders or napkins. Top each cookie with ice cream and ENJOY.

Baklava Bites

Let's see... what have I done since the last post?

-Cleaned. Really, I did. Even found stuff that I completely forgot about.
-Read. 2½ books.
-Made brownies for my dad.

Umm... I'm drawing a blank. But I'm sure I must've done something fun and creative and productive somewhere along the way. :D

Hmm.

The first time I ever tried Baklava was in Epcot's Moroccan pavilion, back in 2004. I fell in love with it. The spices, the sticky-gooey-ness of the honey, everything. I've had some elsewhere since then, but surprisingly enough, Epcot's remains the best. (Then again, the places I had it weren't exactly um... let's just say there was a bit of a culture clash, to put it nicely)

I think I have to backpedal a bit more. The other night, I dreamed of puff pastry. I don't have much experience with it, yet I bought two sheets the next day at the store. Now it's Friday night and I'm wondering what to do with it.

In walks a favorite blog - Baking Bites... well, if a blog could walk... never mind. That's neither here nor there. After some deliberation, I went out and bought honey.

I followed the directions nearly to a T. I just minused the walnuts since my dad can't eat them. But the results were still delicious. And, oh, how yummy it made the house smell! I had a hard time putting them together as Nicole did, so I made a ravioli-type shape with them. Which leads me to all kinds of ideas of what I can do with puff pastry and ravioli shapes. :)

Oh, and my favorite part? The bite-sized-ness. It was quite easy to eat, well, five of them before dinner. ;)



Ingredients:
16-oz puff pastry, room temperature
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp. each ground cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and allspice
Pinch salt
¼ cup honey
2 Tbsp. butter, melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl stir together walnuts, sugar, spices and salt until well mixed. Add in melted butter and honey and stir well. Set aside.

Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. If you are dealing with two sheets, aim to get two 8×10-inch rectangles about 1/8-inch thick, or slightly thicker. If you are dealing with just one sheet, simply roll it out into a large rectangle, or a 16×10-inch, if you can get it.

Use a sharp knife or a pizza cutter to cut pastry into approx 2×4-inch strips (cut pastry in half, or quarters when dealing with a large sheet, then divide into strips.). Place 1 tbsp filling on one end of each strip, then fold the pastry over to make a pocket. Press pastry together to seal. If necessary, dampen fingers with water before sealing edges. Place the bites on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake at 375F for about 20 minutes, until pastries are puffed and golden. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Pastries can be served fresh from the oven or at room temperature.

Corn Muffins

Well, here we are, the eighth of July. My friend Amelia comes out here from CA in exactly a week from now. The weather is finally starting to act a bit more summery. (Hey, look, it's real sunshine! And, oh my goodness, blue skies!) I'm supposed to be cleaning, and, well, I'm sitting in front of the computer while reading a book. Again. I really have made some progress, though. It just doesn't look like it. :)

While wandering in Stop & Shop's "Natural Food" section, I came across Bob's Red Mill's yellow cornmeal. Obviously it was a sign of the baking gods that I should finally attempt to make corn muffins for the very first time.

I came into liking corn muffins and cornbread rather late in life. I believe it was at Dave's Aunty Vicky's where I first truly enjoyed cornbread. And since then, I've been a believer. ;)

The recipe I went with is from Gale Gand, found over at the Food Network website. It is super-duper simple, with everything done right in one bowl. Upon tasting, I did the celebratory "I made corn muffins for the first time and they didn't suck" dance. :) I think I'd like them to be a little bit sweeter, but other than that, I'm really pleased in how they came out.

Now, maybe I should work on a bit more cleaning. Maybe.



Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup yellow cornmeal
¼ cup sugar
1½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
2 eggs
¼ cup milk
8 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 8-12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, then 1/3 of the melted butter, and stir gently just until incorporated. Repeat with the remaining dry ingredients and melted butter, being careful not to over-mix; there may be a little flour not mixed in at the end. Use an ice-cream scoop or large spoon to fill the muffin cups half full.

Bake at 350F for about 15 minutes, or until risen, light golden brown, and firm to the touch. Let cool at least 15 minutes in the pan.

The Unphotographables: Strawberry Cream Bars

See, I've been bad about posting again. So now I'm making myself do this now, because I can't have breakfast until I finally get my butt in gear and post about these. :)

Last Saturday, I really had no clue what to make. But I knew it would be fruity. It was the first really good day out of the entire month of June. (Yeah, June missed the memo that traditionally the weather should be sunny and a bit warmer. We had rain and grey for like 24 days of the month.) Saturday was beautiful. I even wore shorts and successfully blinded some people, I'm sure. I take after the English/Irish side of my family and am very fair-skinned. Besides, skin cancer is ugly.

Anyways, beautiful day. I always wear sunscreen on my face, else I get a bajillion freckles. I wore a tank top for the first time all year. This is one of those moments where if you had just a little inkling of what the afternoon had in store, it would've been fabulous. You can see where this is going, right? Dave and I went to play miniature golf. He won, as usual. But this time there was a consolation prize of sorts: the first sunburn of the year. Across the shoulds, back of the neck, top of the back. But good news - the legs have kept their traditional white color. :)

(Maybe I shouldn't post before breakfast. Obviously more chatty.)

I wanted something with minimal oven time and nothing was appealing. Somewhere in my head, a lightbulb flashed on. A bar, reminiscent of my Strawberry Kiwi Cream Tart. But only with strawberries and no vanilla pudding. Thus, this recipe was born.

I've found in the past that Martha Stewart's graham cracker crust doesn't always hold well together. So I upped the butter to 4 tablespoons, versus her 3. Yet this time, it was like sand. Thus, no picture because every time I try cut a nice slice out, it's a big mess.

But the taste? Vanilla cream cheese with strawberry slices? Oh, yum. I'm almost kinda glad they don't travel well. That means more for me. Just go to the fridge with a spoon and I'm a happy girl. Maybe I should have that for breakfast. :)

Ingredients:
(your favorite graham cracker crust for an 8-inch baking pan)

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
¼ cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup strawberry slices

Directions:
Once graham cracker crust of your choice is cooled and ready to be filled....

Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Spread over cooled crust. Top with strawberry slices. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

Caramel Delight Brownies

I've been such a bad blogger these days. I don't know what it is, some kind of funk of sorts, I guess. The weather here certainly isn't helping. It's officially summer today, and what do I see when I look out the window? Grey. Rain. Wind. I wonder if we've even hit 75 yet this year. This is definitely making me miss CA. But, hey, at least this time the recipe's being posted within 36 hours of it being made. That's something of an accomplishment, yes?

Earlier in the year, probably March or so, Leslie at work brought in a cookbook that the local vocational school made, creating recipes that used Girl Scout cookies. I came across a brownie recipe that used nuts, marshmallows, and the Caramel Delights. Of course I copied that one down (the cheesecake one, too!) :)

Fastforward to yesterday morning, where I again noticed the unopened box of cookies languishing in the cabinet. Which put me in mind of a brownie recipe I discovered over at Cookie Baker Lynn - simply called Seduction Brownies. Hmm... what girl isn't going to be interested in that, right? Go look at the pictures; they're gorgeous. A fabulous sounding brownie plus my favorite of the GS cookies? Oh, yes, a match made in sugar heaven. :)

I had one when it was still a bit warm from the oven. Ohhh.... mouthgasm. That's the best word I could come up with. At least once I had the power of speech again. The cookie isn't overwhelmingly strong, but every now and then, you'll get a bite with a bit of coconut or caramel. Mmmm... *blissful smile*



Ingredients:
½ cup butter
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1 cup chopped Caramel Delights

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8-inch baking dish.

Melt butter and chocolate together in a medium saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and beat into sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Gradually add flour. Fold in cookie pieces. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake at 325F for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool completely on wire rack before cutting into bars. Makes between 16 and 24.

Chai Snickerdoodles

I have been so horrendously lazy this week when it comes to posting. I made these on Saturday. And here we are, Thursday evening. It's just every time that I tried posting, something came up. Of course, sometimes that something was Jeopardy or talking to a friend, but you get what I mean.

So! These have been on the "to make" list for nearly two years. Yep, posted on Baking Bites just over two years ago. Oops. The fact that they're cookies is probably part of the reason why they've been on there so long, I'm sure. But they sounded really good on Saturday, a counterpart to the muffins that, well, failed miserably. (Honestly, it was like a chemistry experiment gone horribly wrong. I don't know what happened - hey, kinda like in chemistry!)

I didn't like these on the first day, but my dad loved 'em. I found them to be much better, softer and more flavorful, on day two. And they've been munched on at work this week, too. So, I'd say a success overall. :)



Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. ground cardamom
¼ tsp. ground allspice
½ cup butter, soft
1 large egg
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp. cream of tartar
½ tsp. baking soda

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine sugar and spices; remove half a cup of this mixture and place in a medium-sized, shallow dish or bowl.

Add butter to bowl and cream with sugar mixture until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, cream of tartar, and baking soda. Gradually add to sugar mixture and stir until fully incorporated.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls and roll in reserved sugar-spice mixture. Place on baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between balls to allow for spreading.

Bake at 350F for about 12 minutes, until edges are firm to the touch, but not quite browned. Cool for 3-5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about two dozen cookies.

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

I think sometimes it's very obvious what fruits are on sale at the grocery store. :) This week it was both blueberries and strawberries. We'll see what gets made next.

For some reason, I'm having a hard time coming up with what to write on here tonight. I was lazy last night and didn't post. And now it's Monday night, Jeopardy's on, and I'm just kinda eh on everything. Post-vacation downtime? I don't know. And I still owe somewhat of a post on that. Yikes.

Since I'm not coming up with anything remotely entertaining, I'll just talk about the recipe. Originally found at Culinary in the Desert, I altered it a bit for those unfortunate folk who do not like coconut. (Those weirdos lol) The addition of the flour in the crust was different, but I don't feel that it made too much difference compared to a regular graham cracker crust.

Reviews are mixed on this one. I really liked it, and even Dave and my dad ate it. Gina did not, Leslie has never had blueberries before and didn't want to try. Marcos took home the three that didn't get eaten. *shrug* I liked 'em quite well, so that counts the most, since I am the girl with the blog. ;)



Ingredients:
4 Tbsp. butter, softened
1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup flour
1/3 cup sugar

6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
½ tsp. vanilla
1 cup blueberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Combine graham cracker crumbs, flour, and sugar; cut in butter using pastry blender. Press onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until light golden brown.

Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Pour batter over hot crust. Scatter blueberries on top.

Bake at 350F for 18-22 minutes, or until center is nearly set. Let cool on wire rack before refrigerating. Makes about 16 bars.

Peanut Butter Nutella-Swirled Brownies

I'm ba-ack! :)

Vacation was AMAZING. I am so going on a cruise again, that's for sure. Alaska was beautiful, and, trust me, we have the pictures to prove it. Between Dave and I, we wound up with just over 1200 pictures. Don't worry, I will not be posting them all. In fact, I need a break from organizing photos, so it'll be a few days before any of those get posted.

The food? Oh, man. I tried valiantly to balance out my fruit/veggie consumption with my dessert consumption. I think I was mostly successful. Definitely didn't have to worry about this girl getting scurvy. I kept a notebook with what I ate (including the many new things that I tried), but that's in the other room at the moment, and.. yeah, I'm a bit lazy tonight.

Yesterday morning didn't start out in its usual way. I overslept, didn't wake up until 10:30a. So right there, only one baked good would be made. Which would be good... if only I knew what I was going to make.

I have no idea how I found it, but I wound up at The Craving Chronicles where this recipe was posted. And having read that it was a "forgiving recipe", I decided to alter things around a bit. Theresa mentioned that she found them too sweet, so I dropped the sugar down a bit, and added a bit more Nutella, because, truly, is there such a thing as too much Nutella? I think not.

Overall? It's a dense brownie that has a variety of flavors. LOL I taste more of the peanut butter, while Dave and my mom taste more Nutella. *shrug* I guess it could be a sort of a surprise brownie? Or one of those "choose your own adventure" brownies? LOL (I was never a fan of those books, though. Hmm.)



Ingredients:
½ cup butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
½ cup flour
½ cup cocoa
¼ tsp. baking powder
Pinch of salt
¼ cup peanut butter
½ cup Nutella

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Beat butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Sift together dry ingredients before gradually adding to butter mixture.

Put peanut butter and Nutella in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for about 30 seconds, until they're easily stirrable. Fold into brownies. Spread in prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

Vacation!

Cutting things down to the wire? No, not this girl. LOL Yet here I am, 3am, and I'm sitting in front of the computer. LOL Our flight leaves at 6am.

So, yes, just a quick post that there won't be much going on here until the 23rd or so. Thankfully there's internet access on the boat, so I won't start to get twitchy from extended lack of internet. ;)

Take care! :)

Nutty Brownies

Alright. Slightly more relaxed tonight than I was when I posted yesterday. This is a good thing. My "to-do" post-it notes are still floating about the computer, as well as two "to buy" post-its as well. I'm making progress. Seriously. I do need to remember to pay the credit card bill before we leave, though. LOL Another post-it. :)

So my second birthday treat of this week is for Tasha. I think I've mentioned on here before the girl that didn't like cheesecake? Yeah, that's Tasha. But don't worry, I brought her over to the yum side after all. Thank you Nutella and lemon cheesecake bars. ;) Her birthday isn't until the 9th, but since tomorrow's my last day of work before leaving, she gets hers a bit early. I'm sure there won't be any complaints about that.

Anyways, her request was super-duper simple: brownies with walnuts. I didn't have to do search for any recipes, just went with the stand-by small-batch brownie recipe and we were good to go.

I did manage to get a picture of these, since I've been lazy tonight. Still in the baking dish, still not cut, I really like this picture. And not bad for such horrible lighting. (Blue skies, sunshine? I miss you. Please come back.)



Ingredients:
1 cup flour
½ cup cocoa power
3/4 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1½ cups sugar
3/4 cups butter, melted
2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup walnuts

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Beat butter and sugar until smooth, then add vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Gradually add dry ingredients. Stir in most of the walnut pieces. Spread in prepared pan. Sprinkle with remainder of walnuts.

Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool completely before cutting into brownies.

Vanilla Cream Blondies

So we're T-minus like 3½ days until vacation, and I feel like all I'm doing is rushing around. Granted, some of it is my own doing, because somehow that always happens that way.

Back in March - maybe? - I decided that I needed to read fifty books BEFORE vacation. That way, ya know, I wouldn't fall behind and what not. Yesterday I finished A Homemade Life by the lovely Molly of Orangette, and that was number forty-eight. So I have between now and Thursday night to read two more books. I think I can do it.

Also on my "Kristen put too much on her plate" list is my own little tradition with friends. For their birthday, they get their own request of a baked good. Whatever they want (within some reason, however; something that's easily portable is a must), and they don't have to share it with anyone if they don't want to. Pretty good deal, right? Except here, all of a sudden, I have three friends with birthdays between May 1st and May 9th. Thank goodness Rachel (the May 1st birthday) said that she'll take hers after my vacation. (Seriously. Thank you lol) So that leaves me with Marcos (tomorrow) and Tasha (Saturday).

Marcos' first request was something with bananas. Um, nope, sorry. LOL I don't like bananas. At all. Taste, texture - ugh. Yuck. So after much deliberation and harassment, he went with something with vanilla. Works.

I had the idea of cream cheese blondies, but could never find anything that really clicked. The recipe I did eventually find (after two days of searching) was over at Group Recipes. I played around with the quantity of vanilla, pretty much adding a bit at a time, until I felt there was enough vanilla-ness. :)

The result? A blondie that's dense yet almost cake-like at the same time, with a vanilla flavor that really makes me question whether I really want to bring these to work tomorrow or not. Just kidding. I promise I'll bring them in. Really. ;)

(They're already packed in a box, thus no picture. But I really wish I had a chance - and better lighting - since the swirls came out so nicely this time!)

Edited to add: So the blondies? They were all gone before 3pm. And supposedly Marcos shared them. ;) I think that has to be a new record. LOL


Ingredients:
9 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2½ tsp. vanilla
1-2/3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt

6 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
2 Tbsp. flour
1 egg
3-4 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8-inch baking pan.

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until well combined. Gradually add dry ingredients. Spread half of the batter onto the bottom of prepared pan.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, butter, flour, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Spoon 2/3's of cream cheese mixture on top of blondie batter and spread evenly. Gently top with remaining blondie batter. Drop small dollops of cream cheese on top and gently swirl.

Bake at 325F for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out nearly clean. Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

Peanut Butter Marbled Brownies

To begin, I must say this: Yay for the 200th post! :D

So our big vacation is creeping steadily closer. And while I'm thrilled with the "only so-and-so many working days left!" countdown, I am starting to get a bit nervous.

Oh, did I mention where we were going? For Dave's mom's 60th birthday, his dad decided to take the family on a cruise. An Alaskan cruise. (Have I mentioned how glad I am to be part of this family? Just kidding lol) We fly out on May 8th, for two days in Vancouver (haven't been there yet; heck, haven't been to Canada either!), then a seven day cruise through the southern part of Alaska, two days in Denali National Forest, and then what winds up being a day and a half in Fairbanks. We get back here on the 21st. I am super-duper excited. So many new places and all the food! I was looking at the cruise website and their sample menus. *jaw drops* Holy moly.

But I am nervous, though. I'm not a big fan of boats. I've been on two in my entire life (those dinner/dance cruise-around-the-harbour kinds in Norfolk, VA, and up in Boston), and those were okay. They were big enough. So I'm sure I'll be fine. But still, I wouldn't be me if I weren't a bit wary of it.

Anyways, that has nothing to do with these brownies, but I couldn't come up with anything else to say. :D (It was a long day at work today, can you tell?)

So. Brownies. I poked through the cabinet and discovered I still had some of the Nestle's Swirled morsels. When nothing came up on my usual blogs, I decided to go the Nestle website. These won mostly because it involved the same temperature as the strawberry lime bars.

They remind me a great deal of those Peanut Butter Munchies from January. PB and I got along well enough. But these I have no qualms about bringing to work or sharing with my dad. Besides, there are still some of the pomegranate chocolate cupcakes; everyone else can have those and these, and I'll have my lime bars. ;)



Ingredients:
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1-2/3 cups packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp. water
10-oz. Nestle's Peanut Butter/Chocolate Swirled morsels, divided
½ cup creamy peanut butter
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 13x9-inch baking pan.

Whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl; set aside.

Beat butter, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture alternately with water. Stir in 1 cup morsels. Spread in prepared pan.

Combine peanut butter and granulated sugar medium, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, or until it reaches a pourable consistency. Stir until smooth. Drop mixture by teaspoonful over batter in pan. Swirl into brownie batter with back of a spoon. Sprinkle with remaining morsels.

Bake at 350F for 23-28 minutes, or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out still slightly sticky. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Strawberry Lime Bars

Last week, when Johanna told me it was in the 90s in the San Jose area, I told her to send me some. Because, frankly, spring really hadn't felt like it arrived yet. Yeah, some low 60s here and there, but that's it.

Until she sent me some warm weather. It hit 87F here, folks. Probably about 84F by the water where I am. It's about freakin' time. :D

So, having seen the forecast, I knew I wanted something summery. And I'm sure you can imagine where this is going. The Lime Monster snuck in the back door when I let the dog out. ;)

These are pretty much the exact same thing as last year's Strawberry Lemon Bars, which tasted just like strawberry lemonade. And, hey, amazingly enough, these taste like strawberry limeaid. (Hmm... wonder if I could do this with cherries? Mmmm, cherry limemade...)

Usually I bring a good portion of the baked goodies to work to share with my friends. I don't know if these are going to make it there. LOL Can you tell sometimes that I'm an only child? ;)



Ingredients:
Crust:
7/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
Pinch of salt
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Lime Filling:
2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1½ Tbsp. flour
¼ cup lime juice
2 tsp lime zest, from 2 limes
2 Tbsp milk
Pinch of salt

Strawberry Puree:
1 cup chopped strawberries
1–2 Tbsp. granulated sugar, depending on how sweet the berries are

Directions:
Mix the chopped strawberries with sugar and set aside to macerate for about 30 minutes.

Mix flour, confectioners' sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Add the pieces of butter and, using a pastry blender or your hands, mix until it's a pale yellow and looks like coarse cornmeal. Line an 8x8 baking pan with a sheet of parchment. Press crust mixture into an even ¼-inch thick layer and about ½-inch up the sides. Chill in fridge for 30 minutes.

Blend the strawberries in a food processor (for a few seconds) or mash with a fork until there are no large chunks. Cook over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes until thickened. Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350F and bake crust for 20 minutes, until golden brown.

For filling: Whisk the eggs, sugar, flour and salt in a bowl until the sugar dissolves. Then whisk in the lime juice, zest, and milk.

Reduce the oven temp to 325F.

Pour the filling into the crust. Drop spoonfuls of the strawberry mixture on the surface. Use spoon or knife to swirl the strawberries through the filling.

Bake at 325F for about 20-22 minutes, or until the filling feels firm when touched lightly. Cool to room temperature, and dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Cooking to Combat Cancer 3 : Mini Pomegranate Chocolate Cupakes

I am very, very happy to see that Chris from Mele Cotte is once again hosting the Cooking to Combat Cancer blog event. The first one was my very first blog event. That and like so many others, cancer hits close to home.

My dad's currently going through round number four of chemo. He started it earlier in the month, and is starting to hit the not so fun stage of the side affects. Extreme tiredness and vertigo seem to be the big ones right now. And trouble hearing, oddly enough. It's harder on me, personally, this time, since during the previous rounds, I was still out in California. But when it gets hard, I always have baking and books to distract me. ;)

We all know how wonderful pomegranates are. Not just taste-wise, but also their benefits towards health. High in antioxidants, vitamin B5 and vitamin C. While most studies have mentioned it's use in heart disease, there are clinical trials going on now for its effects on prostate cancer.

For my dad, I figured this would be an easy way to get him something that's high in antioxidants. We all know chemo greatly weakens the immune system, so any extra help has got to be good, right? And if it's bite-sized and involving chocolate, my dad's likely to be there. :)

The cupcake itself is vegan, and the cream cheese frosting can easily be converted just by using non-dairy cream cheese. So it's a win-win for all, I think. Definitely use the straight up pomegranate juice, not the combination of flavors or anything made from concentrate, as the flavor will be stronger. (POM brand would be excellent; same with Whole Foods' brand.) The cream cheese provides a nice contrast in flavor, plus, hey, there's calcium! ;)

Oh! I used the recipe on this without halfing it at all. I wound up with 24 mini cupcakes and 12 regular sized. So, feel free to half it or third it, whatever, to make the amount you want.



Ingredients:
1½ cups flour
1 cup sugar
¼ cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 cup pomegranate juice
½ cup boiling water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 Tbsp. vinegar
½ Tbsp. vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 24 mini muffin cups with paper liners.

Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together into a mixing bowl, leaving a well in the center.

Combine pomegranate juice and boiling water in a measuring cup, stirring to combine. Add vegetable oil, vinegar, and vanilla to the cup. Pour into mixing bowl, beating until combined. Batter will be thin. Fill paper liners about halfway full.

Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.


Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. milk
1½-2 cups confectioners' sugar

Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add vanilla and milk. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating until combined. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes before using.

Vanilla Marble Blondies

As many people will attest, the Kitchen Aid mixer is like the Ultimate of the Kitchen Appliances. Mine answers to the name of HG (short for Holy Grail; we don't want to be uppity, after all). I discovered something this weekend, however.

HG has a sidekick. Yep. The KA Handmixer. A birthday present, the as yet unnamed buddy, proved his/her worth with this recipe. Any suggestions on a name? HG, Jr seems a little... simplistic. I think the handmixer needs its own identity. A superhero cape would be pushing it, though. HG gets that first. ;)

Anyways, this is my other weekend baked good. I can't remember how long ago I found this at the Domestic Goddess blog. And I kept putting it off and putting it off, and I could just hit myself over the head for doing that.

Oh my god. The batters by themselves were awesome, but together? What a marriage made in heaven. I really need too work through that list a bit faster. :)



Ingredients:
Blondie Base:
1/3 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
6 oz white chocolate, chopped
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt

Cheesecake Top:
8 oz. cream cheese, well softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
¼ teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment and set aside.

Over a pot of simmering water start to melt butter. Add white chocolate and stir until melted. Allow to cool to room temperature.

In a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip eggs until creamy. Add sugar and vanilla and continue to whip until pale and thick. Reduce speed to medium and add cooled, melted white chocolate.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt and stir into egg mixture, by hand. Set aside.

Whisk together cheesecake batter ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Dollop into pan along with blondie batter, then swirl together with a knife or spatula.

Bake at 350F for 40-45 minutes, or until edges are slightly puffed and center is just set. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Spiced Brownie

This weekend was all about that ever-growing "to make" list. I keep discovering all these delicious looking treats, bookmarking them, and then, well, the cycle repeats. :) But this weekend, not only did one on the list get made, but TWO! That have been languishing for quite some time.

Thie first one comes from Smitten Kitchen, who acquired it from the Baked: New Frontiers in Baking cookbook. I really liked the idea of a spicier brownie, but knew that the chipotle would not go over well with my parents. That, and, well, there wasn't any in the spice 'rack'. I did up the cinnamon quantity a wee bit, though.

My dad felt he sould do a taste test... for "quality control," of course. "It's like a cake, but fudgier," was his commentary. Then he wanted another piece. And then another. This is good, though. If I can keep him eating through/despite the chemo, it'll definitely be helpful.

So my thoughts? I'm adoring these. For once, something with cardamom DOESN'T taste citrus-y. It compliments the chocolate and the cinnamon, and it is just fabulous. I'll make these again in the "full" version. (I did a half-batch, just in case.) :)

Oh, and I'm posting the full version, and minusing what I didn't include. So it's easier for my future reference. LOL



Ingredients:
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. dark unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. cardamom
11 ounces dark chocolate (60 to 72% cacao), coarsely chopped
1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tsp. instant espresso powder
1½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9x13 baking pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and cardamom.

Put the chocolate, butter, and instant espresso powder in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be room temperature.

Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.

Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a spatula (not a whisk), fold the flour mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake at 350F in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it. Let the brownies cool completely, before cutting into squares.

Strawberry-Kiwi Cream Tart

This is one of my favorite recipes. Not only because it's so super-duper easy, but it's also one of the first recipes that I ever put together myself. And it's versatile. I prefer the strawberry/kiwi combination, but you could do whatever the season calls for. A few years ago I made an apple variant, with cinnamon and nutmeg, and mmm! Just as good.

Another plus? Only 6-8 minutes in the oven, and that's it. Perfect for the warmer weather.

Do make sure to grease the tart pan (I forgot this time). It still came out easily enough, but it wasn't the prettiest slice at first. :)

(Oh, and Dave gets credit for this picture) :D



Ingredients:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
½ cup sugar
8 Tbsp. butter, melted

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
¼ cup sugar
1½ tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. almond extract
1 4-oz. package vanilla pudding

1 or 2 kiwis, sliced
1 cup strawberry slices

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 9- or 10-inch tart pan.

Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter; press onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 6-8 minutes. Let cool on wire rack.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and almond extract until smooth and combined. Spread over cooled crust.

Make pudding according to package instructions. Pour over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate for at least 10-15 minutes. Decorate with fruit as desired.

Chocolate Layer Cake

Confession time: before yesterday, I had never made a layer cake today.

Yeah, there was the "helping" as a kid when my mom was baking, but at six, how much help can a kid be? Other than licking the beaters afterwards, of course. And once I started baking, out in CA, I never made layer cakes because so often it was just me and my roommate, or me and Dave. So, thus, my layer cake virginity is no more.

My family, for the most part, loves chocolate. So when it was official family would be coming over for Easter, chocolate cake was a must. Hershey's website was most helpful for the cake recipe, but, alas, when standing in front of the confectioners' sugar at the grocery store, I got lazy and went with the pre-made frosting. *cringes* I know, I know.

I did get creative, though. Vanilla frosting between the layers, then covered in chocolate frosting. And everyone loved it, enough to bring home some for later. :)



Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1½ tsp. baking powder
1½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup boiling water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two 9-inch round baking pans.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, applesauce, and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes, or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

Lemon Cheesecake Bars

Alright, not to toot my own horn here, but honestly, I really feel that I outdid myself on these babies.

Backstory: I asked my friends at work what they wanted for baked goods this week, since I didn't really have anything set in mind. Tasha suggested cheesecake bars, since she loved the Nutella ones. Mind you, this is the girl that says she doesn't like cheesecake (What the duck?!). I've maintained from that day that I'd bring her over to the cheesecake side. And this might be the winning step.

Shockingly enough, it's a Martha Stewart recipe. Martha and I have had our, ahem, disagreements in the past, so it's a big deal that this recipe turned out as well as it did. And I would very much like to try this with lime juice next time. Mmmm... lime. ;) The only change I made is to up the amount of lemon juice, because I really want a stronger flavor than the previous bars.



Ingredients:
8 graham crackers, crushed
2 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. butter, melted

16 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
3-4 Tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8-inch baking pan.

Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter. Press onto the bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

While the crust is baking, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and lemon juice, beating until combined. Pour over hot crust.

Bake at 325F for 30-35 minutes, or until center is nearly set. Let cool completely (or overnight) before cutting into bars.

Simple Peanut Butter Cookies

When I woke up yesterday morning, I only knew of one thing that I was going to be baking. This wasn't it.

I started poking around my usual fave blogs for inspiration, and somehow peanut butter came to mind. I guess me and PB are having some good times right now. And, not surprisingly, I found myself over at Cookie Madness, browsing through the peanut butter section. Simplicity was the goal, since I'm so ehh on cookie-making still. So when I found this recipe, I just halved everything and went from there. I wound up with about a dozen normal-sized cookies and one larger heart-shaped cookie for Dave. :)

Oh, and the taste? There are five cookies left. That pretty much sums it up, right?



Ingredients:
¼ cup butter, softened
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
½ cup peanut butter
1 egg
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup flour

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Beat butter and sugars until creamy. Beat in peanut butter and egg, followed by the salt, baking soda, and vanilla. Gradually add flour.

Form dough into 1-inch balls, placing them 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Use a fork to create criss-cross marks on the top.

Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly golden around the edges. Let sit on pan for a few minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Peach Oatmeal Bars

Everyone has one of those cabinets where, no matter how hard you try, things just seem to get lost in there for some time, right? Right?? Comfort me here, okay? :)

So in an attempt to find something completely unrelated to baking, it was discovered that I still possessed a jar of peach preserves from Harry and David. They weren't there too long. Darcy (Dave's older sister) sent us a gift box from H&D for Christmas. So, they were still good. I bookmarked this recipe from Vegetarian Times probably around that same time, and somehow the two met in my mind in a moment that could only be described as fateful luck. :D

The recipe came together like a dream, with my only change being the addition of some nutmeg and ginger, figuring it would compliment the peach preserves. Which, yes, it did. When I took the pictures for this post, admittedly, I ate two of the display models afterwards. But what good models they were! ;)



Ingredients:
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup light brown sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. almond extract
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats, divided
1 cup peach preserves/jam

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking dish.

Sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in large bowl; set aside.

Cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts until smooth. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; mix until combined. Stir in 1-3/4 cups oats. Spread 2/3 of batter on bottom of prepared baking dish. Spread peach jam over the batter with back of spoon. Add remaining 1/4 cup oats to remaining batter. Crumble over top of raspberry jam.

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes, or until golden. Cool completely on wire rack, before cutting into bars.

Brickle Bars

As evidenced before, Dave loves cookies using the Heath Toffee and Chocolate Bits. These can and will be gone in no time. I offered to make something similar for him as a treat, but in bar form. I still can't trust myself not to overdose on cookie dough. When I feel that I can face the dough without devouring so much, then I shall make the cookies again. :)

This is based off an older Snickerdoodle blondie recipe, with the only main difference being the addition of the Heath bits. I think they taste wonderful. The brown sugar is very evident and the toffee flavor goes wonderful. Dave says it tastes like there's raisins in it. *shrug* Makes no sense to me. They're yummy as far as I'm concerned.



Ingredients:
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. salt
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup butter, room temperature
1 egg
½ Tbsp. vanilla
½ cup Heath Toffee and Chocolate Bits

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar for 3-5 minutes. Add in the egg, then vanilla, beating until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in Heath Bits. Spread evenly in prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool completely on wire rack before cutting into bars.

4. Bake 25-30 minutes

Nutella Cheesecake Bars (with a Brownie Crust)

After baking the previous recipe yesterday, I came to two unfortunate realizations:

1. I had like a quarter cup of brown sugar left.
2. There's no more vanilla.

Hmph. This does not make for a happy Kristen. So Dave's baked good was put on hold until next week. And it brings me to my "to try" folder on here.

Lemon Mascarpone Blondies... nope. Missing some key ingredients. Cinnamon Blueberry Cake... I only have strawberries. Wait, wait - ooh! Alpineberry's Nutella Cheesecake Brownies! No vanilla and no brown sugar needed - woohoo!

After the incident that shall only be referred to as Exploding Butter, I just set the cream cheese on top of the still-lit stove for a bit. Probably should've left it there longer, but time was ticking as it's prone to do, thus my cheesecake layer isn't as pretty as Alpineberry's. It's okay, though. It's still deliciously rich, with Nutella in both the brownie layer and the cheesecake layer. And, really, who's going to argue with that? :D

(Oh, and I now have more brown sugar and some vanilla to hold me over until the good vanilla gets here lol)



Ingredients:
Brownie Layer:
10 Tbsp. butter, melted and slightly cooled
¼ cup Nutella
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
¼ cup natural cocoa powder

Cheesecake layer:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened at room temp.
3 Tbsp. sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup Nutella

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Grease a 9-inch baking dish.

For brownie layer:
Combine butter, Nutella, eggs, and sugar in a large bowl, mixing well. Sift in flour and cocoa powder, and mix until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Set aside.

For cheesecake layer:
Mix the cream cheese, sugar, eggs and Nutella until well combined. Pour over brownie batter.

Bake at 325F for 40-45 minutes, or until the cheesecake looks set. Allow to cool completely in the pan before cutting.

Updated: PB Blondies with Chocolate Chips

So, sadly, my cupcakes the other didn't turn out the way I had planned. The taste that I was aiming for was faint, and the texture on the top was just... odd. It's back to the drawing board on that one.

This is an update post on a recipe I made a while back. Amelia's birthday is coming up, and this was her birthday request. The original was thought up during a 'cake break' at work. Aww, I miss cake breaks!

Anyways, the recipe is really simple, just a basic blondie with peanut butter and chocolate chips. Like a thicker cookie bar, if you use the recipe off the bag of Nestle's chips. :)

(No picture as the lasagna's almost ready! lol)

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup peanut butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8-inch baking dish.

Cream butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add flour mix to the butter mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.

Bake at 325F for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack before cutting into bars.

Brownies with Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting

The other day, my mom comes up to me in a store, holding a jar of The Peanut Butter Co.'s Dark Chocolate Dreams (don't worry, we paid much less for it lol), saying that I should make brownies with it, like the Nutella ones that she so loves. I wanted to do something slightly different, thus this post and recipe. Based on this recipe, I switched out the unsweetened chocolate and then, obviously, used the peanut butter as the frosting.

If you make this, definitely don't overbeat, as I wound up with that kind of light crust on the top of the brownies, particularly on the edges. They do taste moister on the second day, and I actually liked them better then.

I'm curious about their other peanut butters. Anyone else use them? The cinnamon sounds particularly intriguing. Could this be the end of my love/hate relationship with peanut butter? *suspenseful music* Find out next time!

(Not really; I was just going for the dramatics. I've got something else planned for my next baking, and I'll even give a hint. It involves a soda that originated in Chicago in 1919.) :)



Ingredients:
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
1 cup Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter
Chocolate chips and nuts, if desired

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.

Melt chocolate and butter together, either on stove or in microwave. Let cool for at least 5 minutes.

Beat chocolate mixture with sugar. Add egg, vanilla, and salt. Gradually add flour, but do not overmix. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

Once out of oven for 15 minutes, spread the chocolate peanut butter on top, sprinkling with chocolate chips or nuts, if desired. Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

Key Lime Coconut Blondies

Did everyone remember to change their clocks? (At least, those that do.) Normally the spring forward doesn't bother me, but I didn't get to go to bed as early as I liked. Thus six hours of sleep does not make for a happy Kristen. And this is dangerous, posting this now, seeing as my eyes are painful, but I've been procrastinating. Again.

Oh! Good news - my dad's home from the hospital. He was sprung loose on my best friend's birthday, coincidentally the day before his own. Also good - the weather this weekend.

After the six inches of snow last Monday, 60F weather was a very nice surprise on Saturday. Too bad there's more snow in the forecast for tomorrow. Poo. Anyways, when I woke up on Saturday, the sun was shining, the snow was melting, and I wanted something summery. And you know where that led to.

Found at one of my favorite blogs, Culinary Concoctions by Peabody, this is my second attempt at this recipe. The first time probably didn't even get blogged about because I was lacking coconut and it just wasn't a good thing. This time, all the ingredients were in the house. Woohoo!

---Okay, an email later, I'm back. Seriously, the procrastination is at an all new level tonight. So, where was I?

Alright. The recipe. Comes together really easily. Is a very dense blondie, almost bordering on a cake-like quality. The only thing I would change is upping the lime quantity, but that's just me and the Lime Monster talking. :)



Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup cake flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. baking soda
2 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
3 Tbsp. key lime juice
3/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Whisk together flour, cake flour baking powder, salt, and baking soda; set aside.

Beat brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, followed by the key lime juice. Gradually add the flour mixture, beating just until combined. Stir in shredded coconut. Spread in prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack before cutting into bars.

Raspberry-Swirled Lime Cheesecake Bars

In order to keep myself busy yesterday afternoon, and when my recipe search gave me nothing that appealed, the infamous Lime Monster appeared. (You may remember good ol' LM - the reappearance usually signals intense lime cravings that sometimes border on obsessive and tend to drive others crazy.) From there, the wheel started turning.

Lime, lime. What can I do with that key lime juice? I've got blueberries in the fridge, no raspberries, though. And some cream cheese that really should get used. Wait! Lime juice, cream cheese... raspberry preserves! Swirled through, all pretty-like! And with a chocolate crust! Because I think it'd be contrasting and pretty. :)

Thus, this recipe was born.

And did the Lime Monster approve? Yes, indeed. The raspberry is a sweetness that cuts through that delicious tartness. And while the chocolate crust wasn't as dark as I imagined, it still works. :)



Ingredients:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup plus ¼ cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1/3 cup butter, melted

16 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1½ Tbsp. flour
3 Tbsp. key lime juice
2 eggs
1/3 cup raspberry preserves

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8-inch baking dish.

Mix together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cocoa, and butter. Press onto bottom of the pan.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, and lime juice until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time. Pour over crust. Drop dollops of raspberry preserves into batter, using a knife to swirl through.

Bake at 325F for 40 minutes, or until center is set. Cool on wire rack. Refrigerate for at least four hours before cutting and serving.