Chocolate Therapy

Sunday Morning Breakfast Casserole

2012-01-26T10:29:00.001-06:00

I've had a lot of breakfast casseroles. I'm not sure how it is in other parts of the country, but in the south I feel like just about everyone I know has their own version of a breakfast casserole. In my family we've always used my grandmother's. Her breakfast casserole has been on the table for Christmas brunch since before I was born. It's a good, no gimmicks breakfast casserole. My family doesn't like it when people throw onions or peppers in, that ruins a perfectly good casserole (though I wouldn't object to mushrooms). My grandmother does it just right. I tell you this because I want you to realize that saying a recipe is better than my grandmother's is going against my entire upbringing. I blame Paula Dean.

This casserole has potatoes in it, something not in my grandmother's, and I think those really add to the overall makeup of it. It's incredibly cheesy and rich, and absolutely amazing. Will I try to get my grandmother to start serving this? Oh goodness no. Her recipe will be in my recipe book for the rest of my life..but it will be right beside this one, and this is the one that I will be using.

As a side note, Paula Dean's cookbook The Southern Cooking Bible is fantastic. I've linked to it on Amazon, so if you're feeling in the mood to buy a new cookbook today this is a great choice!

Sunday Morning Breakfast Casserole
Recipe from Paula Dean's The Southern Cooking Bible

Ingredients

2 slices white bread (I used leftover french bread from dinner the night before. If there is any way you can do this I highly recommend it!)
1 lb breakfast sausage
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced cooked, unpeeled red potatoes
1 1/2 cups mixed shredded Cheddar & Monterey Jack cheese
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper

Directions

1. Grease a 2.5-3 quart baking dish (attractive enough to bring to the table) with butter, oil, or cooking spray. Cube the bread and place in the dish in a single even layer.
2. In a large skillet, cook the sausage, breaking it up with a spoon, until it's almost cooked through, about 5 minutes. Drain off the fat. Layer the sausage over the bread, and top with potatoes. Sprinkle the cheese on top.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, mustard powder, salt, and black pepper to taste. Pour the egg mixture over the sausage and potatoes in the casserole. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
4. When ready to cook the casserole, preheat the oven to 350. Bake the casserole until set and golden about 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Cinnamon Roll Pull Apart Bread

2012-01-18T16:20:00.002-06:00

I've come to the realization that kneading is just not my thing. I think I get the hang out if it, and the next thing you know my hands (and entire kitchen for that matter) are covered in sticky dough and flour. So, as you can imagine, it frustrates me that most of the best foods in life require this skill. I have yet to figure out the extent to which a dough hook can work for kneading. Anyone know?

But oh...this bread. It looked so incredible I had to give it a try. After making this four times I finally got the hang of kneading. The dough failed before I even got to roll it out the first time, the next two I finished but weren't quite perfect, and the last one was great. This recipe only has one minute of kneading, so a 25 percent success rate is somewhat pathetic. Oh well. None of my bread rose as much as the bread on Top with Cinnamon where I got the recipe from, but it's so darn amazing I don't even mind. First of all, pull apart bread is fun. Everyone loves fun food. Secondly, every piece is like the inside of a cinnamon roll. Sometimes I feel like the outside of cinnamon rolls are wasted bites. I just want to get to the inside, and I'm trying to quickly get the "bad" part over with. Other examples of this: pecan pinwheels, grilled cheese sandwiches, pop tarts. It's amazing the extent to which I analyze food.

It seems like there are many steps to this recipe, and don't get me wrong, there are. However, if you aren't a terrible kneader like myself, this recipe is relatively simple and made from things you probably already have on hand. The nicer pictures are of the third loaf, but by the fourth one (cell phone pictures below) I felt like a pro! Enjoy!

Cinnamon Roll Pull Apart Bread
Recipe from Top With Cinnamon
and Inspired by Joy the Baker's Cinnamon-Sugar Pull apart bread

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp dried active yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup water
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp cornstarch

1/4 cup butter, melted

For the Glaze
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
hot water

**I found the pictures of the process extremely helpful, but unfortunately I made this at night all three times, so phone pictures will have to do for now!

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attached, place the cornstarch, sugar, yeast, salt and 2 cups of flour.

Heat the milk and butter together in a small saucepan until the butter is melted. Remove from the heat and add the water. Let this cool for about a minute, then add the vanilla, and pour all the liquid into the bowl with the flour. Stir this all together until all the dry ingredients are moistened.

Start the mixer on a low speed as you add the eggs one at a time until they're just incorporated. Stop the mixer and add 1/2 cup more flour to the bowl. Mix again at low speed for about half a minute. Add 2 more tbsp of flour and mix in on medium speed until you get a smooth, slightly sticky dough (about 45 seconds).

On a work surface sprinkled with 2 tbsp of flour, knead the dough until it's not sticky (about 1 minute). Place the dough in a large, oiled bowl and cover it with cling film. Leave the dough to rise in a warm place until it's doubled in size which should take about an hour.

While the dough rises, make the filling by combining the dark brown sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch in a small bowl.

Once the dough is ready, lightly flour your work surface and gently tip the dough onto it, sprinkling a little more flour on top of the dough. Roll the dough out into roughly a 40 x 40 cm square, then brush about 2/3 of the butter over the entire surface of the dough.

Sprinkle 3/4 of the filling mixture evenly on top of the butter on the dough, then roll the dough tightly into a log.

Place the log horizontally on your work surface. Take a piece of thread and place it vertically on your work surface. With the thread still vertical, place log on top of the middle of the thread. Move the thread to the left or right, so it is still under the dough, and is 1 cm in from the end of the log. Take the ends of the thread and hold them above the log. Cross them over each other once and pull them away from each other until the thread has cut through the dough completely. **This description confused me. You are basically typing a knot over the dough and pulling it tight until it cuts through. Then you tie another knot...and another. Repeat until you've cut all the dough into 1 cm thick slices.

On a piece of baking paper, use a rolling pin to flatten each slice to 3-4 mm thick *** I used the lazy method which I like to call steam rolling. Flattened them all at once! Brush the top of each flattened slice with a little of the remaining melted butter, ans sprinkle on about 3/4 tsp of filling mixture. Place them on top of each other so you have 4-5 stacks each containing about 5 slices.

Grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Place your stacks of dough into the greased loaf pan, cover loosely with clingfilm, and leave to rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes (I preheat the oven for a few minutes, turn it off, and then put the bowl in there with the door cracked..pictures show my before and after).

Bake the bread for 25-35 minutes when it should be golden brown on top. Let it cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Meanwhile make the glaze by stirring the vanilla then the hot water, a little at a time into the powdered sugar in a small bowl until you get a slightly runny icing.

Run a butter knife around the edge of the pan and gently tip the loaf out onto the wire rack. Put the bread the right way round again and then brush with the glaze.

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

2012-01-15T17:10:00.001-06:00

A quick apology to anyone who only clicked on this post from because they wondered how on earth I managed to make tacos with only three ingredients. I realized after submitting the recipe to the food blog world that I wasn't quite clear in my short description. Unfortunately, I'm not that magical.

This may be the first main course dish I've ever posted on here (other than appetizers that I eat as entrees). I usually don't have good light when I'm fixing dinner, so my cooking is relatively absent on the blog. This is one of my favorite recipes, and I make it enough that it often sees the light of day. If there is one crockpot recipe you need in your repertoire, this is it. But truthfully, after making it once you won't even need the recipe because it's so easy.

Three ingredients, almost zero work, and the result is a juicy, flavorful shredded chicken that makes some killer tacos. I like to load my tacos up, so they look a bit messy in the pictures, but they were messy in real life too..and delicious. The messiest foods are the best foods. It's fact.

I've made the tortilla soup that you can easily put together with the leftovers and that is delicious too, but I'll save that post for a later time because I ate too much of the chicken to have leftovers this time. If you want that recipe now you can head on over to the site and check it out.

Crockpot Chicken Tacos
Recipe from Tasty Kitchen

1 envelope Taco Seasoning
6 pieces Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 jar Salsa (16 oz)

Dump everything into a crock pot and give it a little stir to blend the seasoning with the salsa. Cook on high for 4 to 6 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours. When done, the chicken should shred easily when stirred with a fork.

For tacos, serve the chicken with soft flour tortillas, lettuce, shredded cheese and sour cream. This is very versatile and can be used for enchiladas, nachos, tostadas, etc. Any leftover chicken can then be used for tortilla soup (make it the next day or freeze the chicken to use at a later time).

Espresso Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

2012-01-13T14:51:00.000-06:00

I'd usually say I don't like shortbread. In fact, under most circumstances I really, truly do not like it. I like warm, gooey cookies. Shortbread is crumbly and dry. I feel the same way about biscotti. Why on earth would you want something that looked like a delicious breadstick, but in reality is hard as a rock? Maybe my taste just isn't refined enough to drink coffee and eat biscotti. Who knows. However, this is the most gawked recipe of all time on FoodGawker, and surely the 200,000+ people who have looked at the post weren't completely out of their minds.

Though these are unmistakably shortbread, each bite seems to melt in your mouth (versus crumbling down your shirt when you take a bite). I guess maybe the shortbread I've ruled out for so long was not based off of recipes like this. I also love that these are cut into squares. I chose not to measure out the squares or cut them all that carefully, but next time I make these I think I will spend the extra 2 minutes doing that so that I can make them more uniform. A slight confession, I actually accidentally made these last night with only one stick of butter and I still liked the taste. I had one with my breakfast this morning. If cookies can still be good with an entire stick of butter missing, that says something. Enjoy!

Espresso Chocolate Chip Shortbread
from Use Real Butter

1 tbsp instant espresso powder
1 tbsp boiling water
8 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped OR 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips
confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)

Dissolve espresso powder in boiling water. Set aside to cool to tepid. Beat butter and confectioners’ sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is very smooth. Beat in vanilla and espresso, then reduce mixer speed to low and add flour, mixing only until it disappears into the dough. Don’t work the dough much once the flour is incorporated. Fold in the chopped chocolate or chips with a sturdy rubber spatula. Using the spatula, transfer dough to a gallon-size zip-loc bag. Put bag on a flat surface, leaving the top open, and roll the dough into a 9 x 10 1/2 inch rectangle that’s 1/4 inch thick. As you roll, turn the bag occasionally and lift the plastic from the dough so it doesn’t cause creases. When you get the right size and thickness, seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible, and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or for up to 2 days. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Put the plastic bag on a cutting board and slit it open. Turn the firm dough out onto the board (discard the bag) and, using a ruler as a guide and a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1 1/2-inch squares. Transfer the squares to the baking sheets and carefully prick each one twice with a fork, gently pushing the tines through the cookies until they hit the sheet (okay, I didn’t poke the cookies and they’re fine). Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point (I didn’t do that either – I bake one sheet at a time). The shortbreads will be very pale–they shouldn’t take on much color. Transfer the cookies to a rack. If you’d like, dust the cookies with confectioners’ sugar while they are still hot. Cool the cookies to room temperature before serving. Makes about 3 dozen.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

2012-01-07T12:11:00.000-06:00

I had no doubt this recipe would be delicious. Just look at the ingredients: crescents, cream cheese, sugar and cinnamon. Crescent rolls are one of those mysteriously amazing and versatile foods. What can they not work for? The other wonderful thing about this recipe is that it is ridiculously easy. No baking skills required.

These remind me of a cream cheese pastry that you might find at a bakery (sorry for ruining your New Year's resolutions). I always try to get to the cream cheese pastries in a breakfast buffet before they're all gone and you're only left with the questionable fruit ones. Now I have a whole pan of delicious cream cheese pastry! Problem solving 101. We ate them for breakfast, snack and dessert. I don't really think they taste all that much like a dessert, but my mom seems to think otherwise (we had them with ice cream..I didn't object). When I lived in France for a summer I remember going and getting pastries at 4am after the clubs closed. Who doesn't love a good croissant at 4am? Who doesn't love sopapilla cheesecake with ice cream for dessert? It works.

Enjoy!

Sopapilla Cheese
Recipe from My Yellow Umbrella

Ingredients:
-2 cans pillsbury butter crescent rolls
-2 (8oz) packages cream cheese (softened)
-1 cup sugar
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1/4 cup butter (melted)
-Cinnamon & sugar (I used about 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tbs cinnamon)

Instructions:
Unroll and spread 1 can crescent rolls on bottom of un-greased pan. Combine softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Spread mixture over crescent rolls. Unroll and spread remaining crescent rolls over mixture. Spread melted butter over the top and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

The Best Coconut Cake

2012-01-01T17:12:00.001-06:00

It's time to get serious here. This coconut cake is the BEST coconut cake that there is.

You may say, "Well it's not a real coconut cake recipe because it uses boxed cake mix." To that I respond: any cake that takes 48+ hours to make from beginning to end is homemade to me!

You also may think, "No thanks, coconut isn't for me." That means you fall into the category of the rest of my family. I made a coconut cake that I posted on here one other time and declared it amazing or something of the sort. Now I feel I just might as well delete that post. This is the one and only coconut cake recipe you will ever need. I have made it twice and served it to over 30 different people without having one person who didn't end up gushing over it.

I wouldn't have found the recipe if it weren't for my granddad. He likes to find recipes he thinks would be good and mark them for me. I must admit that I usually don't get around to them, especially when they are various sorts of fruitcakes. Sorry, granddad. But this one I thought I would give a try. It took me about two months to get around to it, but I made it a month or so ago to give my grandparents a little pick-me-up during a rough week for them. He ate two slices in the hour I visited. I think it made his month. Just one of the countless reasons baking is wonderful.

One more anecdote before I leave you to this amazing cake. My great aunt is 80+ years old. I made this cake for Christmas dessert as well, and after cleaning her plate she told me how her mom used to make coconut cake every Christmas for their family. Then she went on to say that, as good as that cake always was, she can't remember ever having a coconut cake that was this good.

Enjoy!

Coconut Cake
Recipe from Our State magazine

Filling
2 (8-ounce) cartons sour cream
2 cups sugar
1 (6-ounce) package frozen coconut, thawed

Mix above ingredients. Cover, and store in refrigerator for 24 hours

Cake
Prepare 2 layers using Duncan Hines Yellow Cake mix. When cool, divide the layers, making 4 layers. Stack, spreading filling on top of each later, including the top layer.

Frosting
1/2 pint sweetened whipped cream (I haven't measured out ingredients for my whipped cream in so long that I'm not sure what they would be, but this is just your standard whipping cream, powdered sugar mixture)
1 (6-ounce) package frozen coconut, thawed

Frost sides and top with sweetened whipped cream. Sprinkle with coconut. Cover finished cake with foil, and refrigerate for 24 hours before serving. The filling will be juicy, but that's ok.

Oreo Cupcakes

2011-12-31T18:42:00.003-06:00

It had been awhile since I made cupcakes, so the other day I sifted through my bookmarks and found this delicious recipe. There's no time an Oreo cupcake won't do the trick. It's different than a plain old chocolate or vanilla cupcake, and pleases a crowd like no other. If I had my kit of Wilton tips I'm sure these could've also come out looking really classy with the oreo on top (at least that's what I'm telling myself).

I actually made these twice in one week. Once to try for myself and then I made a tray for my family's annual holiday party. The icing is more time-consuming than a standard buttercream, but it's worth every second. It tastes to me like cookies and cream ice cream in icing form. As I was first making it I was contemplating all of the ways I could've made a better icing and spent a quarter of the time on it. Do you ever do that? I was muttering to myself how I wish I had just picked another recipe, but I hadn't even seen or tasted the final product.

When it was finished I had to pry myself away from the bowl to avoid eating it by the spoonful (something I shockingly never do with icings). It's light and airy, not too sweet, and a great complement to the cupcake itself. To me, that's the perfect cupcake. You're not trying to get a bite that's mostly icing or mostly cupcake -- you want a great big bite of both. Enjoy!

Oreo Cupcakes

Recipe from Confection Ink

For the cupcakes:

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

3/4 cups cocoa

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 package instant chocolate pudding

3 eggs

1cup sour cream

1/2 cup oil

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water (or strong brewed coffee – I would have used this but my coffee maker isn’t working!)

24 Oreo cookies, with one side twisted off and reserved for the frosting.

Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake pans.

In a large bowl whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pudding mix. Add oil, eggs sour cream and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until well blended (about 2 minutes) Continue beating while slowly adding in the boiling water. Beat about 30 seconds after adding the water.

Put the Oreo with one side twisted off cream side up and fill cupcake liners about 1/2 way. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. Let them cool completely on cooling rack.

* I had extra batter after 24 cup cakes. I made cup cake bites using mini Oreos. I also used some mini Oreos as a garnish.

For the icing:

1 cup milk

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup butter -at room temperature

1/2 cup Crisco

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

24 Oreo cookie tops -crushed

Place milk in a small saucepan. Sprinkle the flour over the milk, 1/4 cup at a time and whisk until smooth. Place the saucepan over low heat and stir constantly until the mixture becomes thick pulls into a ball. Remove from the heat and put ball into a bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the mixture and tuck around it to make sure there is no exposed parts. Refrigerate until cooled to room temperature or colder (at least 30 minutes). In a large bowl, cream the butter and Crisco. Add the cooled flour milk mixture and beat until well blended. Mix in the vanilla. With the mixer on medium speed, gradually add the sugar and then continue to beat the icing a

fter adding the sugar for an additional 10-12 minutes until noticeably whiter and creamy. Add Oreo crumbs and mix until just blended.

Healthy Deep Dish Cookie Pie

2011-12-13T13:12:00.000-06:00

Hold on to your pants, folks. This is a healthy...yes, healthy...cookie pie. I am skeptical of any delicious food that's not completely terrible for me. I have long stood by my theory that to possibly be deemed an amazing food, something has to forfeit its healthful qualifications. It's just a sad truth. Sure, some healthy foods are good, but we all know that at the end of the day cream, butter, sugar, or whatever fits with the dish would bring it up a notch.

My second bit of skepticism towards this recipe was its secret ingredient: beans. I don't want beans in my cookies. That's just that. Alas, I decided I would give it a try because a healthy cookie recipe could be life-changing for me. Results? Bean Cookies-1. Sarah-0. It was great. If I had the metabolism of a 10 year old boy I would still choose a regular cookie any day of the week, but that's not the case.

My roommates thought this was just about the most groundbreaking thing I'd ever made. When college girls can justify a dessert you better watch out. I chose not to mention that there is still a good portion of brown sugar and chocolate chips in here. "Everything in moderation." It's not like we're eating celery, here. It lasted all of 24 hours (which I realize is kind of disturbing considering the blog I found it on said she got 20 servings out of it). My roommate and I decided that you could slightly taste the texture of the beans, but not enough that it was a deterrent. I probably should have processed them up a bit more before throwing them in. Anywho, if you get around to making this let me know your thoughts!

Healthy Deep Dish Cookie Pie
Recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie

2 cans white beans or garbanzos (drained and rinsed) (500g total, once drained)
1 cup quick oats
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 T canola oil
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar (Seems like a lot, but this makes a big pie. I think we got like 20 servings from it! You can try adding less, if you’re used to healthy desserts; I chose to use this much because the people to whom I served it are used to “normal” desserts. Also, white sugar will work if you don’t have brown.)
1 cup chocolate chips

Blend everything (except the chips) very well in a food processor. Mix in chips, and pour into an oiled pan (I used a 10-inch springform pan, but you can use a smaller pan if you want a really deep-dish pie.) Cook at 350F for around 35 minutes. Let stand at least 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

Cheesecake Pumpkin Pecan Pie

2011-12-05T21:39:00.000-06:00

75 percent of the time I'm a very decisive person. I like to call the shots when no one else will, and I ~~almost~~ always have some sort of opinion (bearing in mind that those opinions are not correct all the time). The other 25 percent, I'm exactly the opposite. For example, I will ponder what to order from a restaurant for as long as humanly possible. No, I'm not one of those people who sits and waits to look at a menu until the waitress' third go around. I look at it...and then look at it more...and then pick about four things I'd be happy with. This even happens at restaurants with only a few options (or really at any restaurant that includes mushrooms, feta and avocados on the same menu). I usually just open my mouth and see what comes out to the waiter or waitress. I figure that's probably what I wanted the most anyways.

This pie is for the indecisive people out there, but it doesn't require you to choose one. Hooray! The bottom layer is cheesecake. The middle layer is pumpkin pie. The top layer is pecan pie. I made this for Thanksgiving dinner #2 with my family. Like with my Thanksgiving dessert #1, I took a shortcut. I used store bought pie crust. My food processor was in Chapel Hill, so I like to say that's why I didn't go through the trouble of making the homemade crust. Truthfully, my family isn't picky when it comes to desserts, so I didn't see a need to spend the extra time (though I'm sure it would be well worth it).

All-in-all this pie came together relatively painlessly. The layers themselves are much simpler than if you made a real cheesecake, pumpkin pie or pecan pie. The best part is that people are beyond impressed with a three layer pie.

Enjoy!

Cheesecake Pumpkin Pecan Pie

Recipe from Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives

Flaky Pie Crust
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, chilled
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch chunks and frozen
1/4 cup lard or vegetable shortening, frozen
6 to 8 tablespoons ice-cold water

Cheesecake Layer
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 egg

Pumpkin Pie Layer
2 cups unsweetened fresh cooked or canned pumpkin (If using canned, strain in a fine mesh sieve for several hours to overnight, covered, in the fridge)
1 1/4 cups heavy cream (you can use evaporated milk, if you prefer)
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Pecan Pie Crunch Topping
1 1/4 cup mix of whole and coarsely chopped pecans
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons light or dark corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons melted butter

MAKE AND PARBAKE PIE SHELL:
1. Place the flour and salt in a food processor fitted with the metal chopping blade and pulse on and off until combined. Scatter the butter pieces and the shortening, in large chunks, over the flour mixture. Pulse the machine on and off until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 6 tablespoons of the ice water and process until the mixture just starts to come together. If the dough seems dry, add the remaining 2 tablespoons water as necessary. Do not allow the dough to form a ball on the blade, or the resulting crust will be tough! You want a raggedy mess of crumbly dough, with lumps of butter showing.

2. Turn the dough out onto a work surface, divide it in half, and shape each half into a disk – gently pressing each raggedy mess together, (DO NOT press into each disk or try to squeeze it together so the dough is uniform – it will come together in the refrigerator). Wrap the disks separately in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours. You will only need one disk for this recipe, so you can freeze the other disk for later use.

3. Lightly flour a large work surface. Allow the dough to soften at room temperature just until it is pliable (about 10 minutes). Place 1 disk on the floured surface and sprinkle some flour over it. Roll the dough from the center out in every direction, flouring the work surface as necessary to prevent sticking. You want a round of dough that’s about 1/4 to 1/8 inch and about 3 inches greater in diameter than the pie pan/plate you are using.

4. Transfer the crust to a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan (if you don’t use a deep-dish pan, there will be some filling left over) by rolling it loosely around the rolling pin and unrolling it carefully over the pan. Press the dough first into the bottom of the pan and then against the sides. Patch any holes or cracks with dough scraps. Trim the edges of the dough with scissors, leaving about 3/4 inch of overhang. Fold overhang over and crimp as you please. Place shell in the freezer and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

5. When oven temperature is at 400 F, remove the pie shell from the freezer and line the pie crust with a large sheet of lightly buttered aluminum foil, buttered side down, covering the edge of the crust so that it doesn’t get too brown. Fill the lined crust with pie weights, dried beans, or raw rice. Bake the pie crust for 15 minutes. Remove the weights and foil. Prick the bottom of the crust well with a fork and bake the crust for another 7 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn golden, but the crust is not fully baked. Cool the pie crust on a wire rack while you make the filling. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

DIRECTIONS FOR PIE:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in 1/4 cup sugar, then add vanilla and 1 egg. Beat mixture until smooth.

2. Pour the cream cheese mixture into the bottom of the par baked pie shell, spread evenly, then freeze for about 15 -20 minutes.

3. In the mean time, in a large bowl, combine pumpkin puree, heavy cream, 2 lightly beaten eggs, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice and salt. Mix thoroughly until uniform.

4. Remove the pie shell with cream cheese from the freezer and pour the pumpkin mixture on top of it. Cover edges of crust with aluminum foil to prevent excess browning.

5. Bake in 350 degree F oven for about 60 to 75 minutes (It really depends on your oven. In one oven I used, it took 75 minutes, in another, 60 – so keep checking for it to be sturdy, but still a tad jiggly).

6. When pie is in the oven for about 40-45 minutes, combine all the ingredients for the pecan pie topping. Set aside.

7. After pie has been in oven for 50 – 60 minutes, remove from the oven and remove silver foil around edges of crust. Sprinkle pecan pie topping evenly over top – the pumpkin pie layer will sink a bit because the pecan goo is heavy, do not worry! Place back in the oven and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and the pecan pie topping is bubbly. Let cool at room temperature, then refrigerate for several hours before serving.

8. Drizzle with melted chocolate or chocolate ganache for extra decadence!

Ham and Cheese Sliders

2011-11-29T20:21:00.000-06:00

Have you ever made a recipe, tried it, and thought, "Wow, I think I will be using this recipe for the rest of my life." No? Then make these. I've had them bookmarked for over a year. I have absolutely no idea why I hadn't gotten around to making them sooner. This past weekend was the UNC-Duke football game and we had a tailgate in my front yard. I put out a tray of the sandwiches that was quickly devoured (even with pork tenderloin sandwiches, wings, dips, etc. all around). I would have taken more pictures, but it is incredibly uncomfortable to force people to wait to eat tailgate food because you have to take pictures of the food first.

My only initial issue with these little sammies was the mayo. I like to think I hate mayonnaise. I don't actually hate it, but in my mind I dislike it unless it is on a menu as aioli. Do I love me some aioli? Yes. Do I love me some mayonnaise? Absolutely not. I read something online that said garlic was the only difference between the two. Somehow that is enough for me. So, it pained me to spread mayonnaise on every one of these sliders. Not only that, a mixture of mayonnaise and miracle whip! Being an advertising junkie, I'm used to thinking of those as two completely separate entities after the "Pick a side" campaign. Well, they work in perfect harmony here.

I made these on Saturday. I made them on Tuesday. I doubt I'll be able to wait much longer before making them again. Enjoy!

Ham and Cheese Sliders

Recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything

24 good white dinner rolls (I recommend King's Hawaiian Original, 24 ct.)

24 pieces good honey ham
24 small slices Swiss cheese (I used Havarti)
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup miracle whip

Poppy seed sauce
1 Tablespoon poppyseeds
1 1/2 Tablespoons yellow mustard
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 Tablespoon minced onion
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise and miracle whip. Spread onto both sides of the center of each roll. Place a slice of ham and a slice of Swiss inside of each roll. Close rolls and place them into a large baking dish or heavy cookie sheet. Place very close together.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the poppy seed sauce ingredients. Pour evenly over all of the sandwiches. Let sit 10 minutes or until butter sets slightly. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Uncover and cook for 2 additional minutes. Serve warm.

** sandwiches can be assembled a day ahead and kept in the fridge ready to bake.
(I did this the second time I made them and they turned out just as good.)

Pumpkin Gingersnap Parfaits

2011-11-27T20:27:00.001-06:00

I'll go ahead and admit that I picked the easiest Thanksgiving day dessert possible. My family was coming at 1pm, and I headed to the grocery store to pick up ingredients at noon. Not bad, eh? Of course, there are a few roadblocks that one might run into when procrastinating this much. For instance, every grocery store within 10 minutes was out of heavy whipping cream. I bought Reddi-Whip, and no one noticed. My easy dessert, therefore, became even easier.

I made a few changes to the recipe--mainly increasing the measurements for all of the unhealthy ingredients. Sorry. I've never been a huge pumpkin pie fan, so this is my solution. I make variations of it every year simply because I feel obligated to on Thanksgiving, but I've realized they are all just less healthy versions of the regular: pumpkin pie cheesecake, pumpkin pie parfaits, pecan cheesecake pumpkin pie, etc.

This recipe says it makes four servings, but I served seven without a problem. It's incredibly rich, so even though you'll feel like the servings look a bit shallow, it'll be the right amount. Just layer on the whipped cream and gingersnaps to gain some extra height. If you're serving more than seven I'd suggest making extra. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Gingersnap Parfaits
Recipe adapted from The Gourmand Mom

Ingredients

1 15-ounce can Pure Pumpkin
8 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Ginger
1/8 tsp Nutmeg
1 cup Heavy Cream
2 Tbsp Sugar
20 Crushed Gingersnap Cookies + a few extra whole cookies for garnishing

Directions

Crush the gingersnap cookies. Beat together the pumpkin, cream cheese, brown sugar, and spices until evenly combined. In a separate bowl, beat together the heavy cream and sugar until thickened.

To assemble the parfaits, divide half of the pumpkin mixture into four (or in my case seven) cups. Sprinkle half of the gingersnap crumbs over the pumpkin. Spoon about half of the whipped cream over the gingersnaps in the four cups. Sprinkle with the remaining gingersnap crumbs. Spoon the remaining pumpkin over the gingersnap crumbs. Top with the remaining whipped cream. Garnish each parfait with a gingersnap cookie.

Serves 4-6

Butterfinger Pie

2011-11-20T22:15:00.001-06:00

I love Butterfingers.

I don't know what they are made from, and couldn't describe the taste if I tried (buttery, maybe), but they are my perfect candy. If someone asked you what's in a Milky Way you'd be able to say chocolate, caramel and nougat (though nougat is an odd component in and of itself). But what on earth is a Butterfinger made of? Bliss, I suppose.

So here it is: world's simplest and quickest pie. In fact, this pie is so easy that I am going to have to physically restrain from purchasing Butterfingers because I would make it every time I had a candy craving. There's no need to make your own crust with a pie like this--just accept it for the ridiculously simple and delicious recipe it is. I used Light Cool Whip and 1/3 less fat cream cheese, but I'm still under no illusion that this pie is remotely good for me. Oh well. It's incredible.

Butterfinger Pie

Recipe from Food.com

Ingredients

6 (2 1/8 ounce) Butterfinger candy bars, crushed *
1 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 (12 ounce) cartons Cool Whip **
1 graham cracker crust

Directions

Mix first three ingredients together.
Put it in pie crust.
Chill.

* I used one bag of the smaller bars from the grocery store. It's around 12 oz, cant quite remember. While they were all still in their individual wrappers, I used a garlic press (first mallet-like thing I saw) to crush them. I saved three or four for the topping, and crushed those slightly less.
** I've mentioned this before, but generic brand Cool Whip is one of the few ingredients that I think works just as well when cooking. It'll save you a whopping dollar or so, which you can then use to justify Philadelphia Cream Cheese...because all cream cheeses are not created equal.

Sausage and Cheese Crescent Squares

2011-11-15T22:39:00.001-06:00

I'm a breakfast person. I wake up in the morning and immediately start pondering what I'll have to start off my day. I usually switch between fried egg sandwiches and cereal (yes, I understand that daily fried egg sandwiches aren't the healthiest choice). I know lots of people don't eat breakfast because they don't have time, or aren't hungry in the morning. I just don't get it.

So, for those of you who seem to think breakfast is dispensable or don't have enough time for it, I have the solution for you. These are easy peasy and taste like a breakfast casserole sandwich. They're too good to pass up. They also only take about 20 seconds to heat up. How can you possibly not have time for that? Crescents were on sale at Harris Teeter today, so I bought six tubes. Excessive? Nah. Be prepared for an influx of recipes using crescents as a shortcut! You just can't go wrong.

Sausage and Cheese Crescent Squares

Recipe from Pillsbury

Ingredients:

2
cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 2 cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations refrigerated seamless dough sheet
1
lb spicy or mild bulk pork sausage
1
package (8 oz) cream cheese
2
cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (8 oz)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F.

2. If using crescent rolls: Unroll 1 can of dough into 2 long rectangles. Place in ungreased 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish; press over bottom and 1/2 inch up sides to form crust. If using dough sheets: Unroll 1 can of dough. Place in ungreased 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish; press over bottom and 1/2 inch up sides to form crust.

3. In 12-inch skillet, cook sausage over medium heat, stirring frequently, until no longer pink. Remove sausage from skillet; discard drippings. To same skillet, add cream cheese. Cook over low heat until melted. Add cooked sausage; stir to coat. Spoon evenly over crust in baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese.

4. If using crescent rolls: Unroll second can of dough on work surface. Press to form 13x9-inch rectangle; firmly press perforations to seal. Carefully place over cheese. If using dough sheets: Unroll second can of dough on work surface. Press to form 13x9-inch rectangle. Carefully place over cheese.

5. Bake 21 to 26 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 15 minutes. Cut into small squares.

Artichoke and Roasted Garlic Dip

2011-10-30T23:36:00.000-05:00

As if I didn't already spend too much time looking at pictures of food, Pinterest came along and took things to a new level. This gem of a recipe is straight off of Pinterest, and oh my is it good. I think it probably is one of the more time consuming artichoke dips because of roasting the garlic and the "homemade" flatbread pieces, but it's worth it. I also didn't particularly like the brand of flatbread I bought, so I know for a fact regular chips are great with this as well. Note: there is no spinach in this artichoke dip.

I've made this dip twice already to rave reviews. It's super cheesy (in a good way), and the panko on top brings an extra little crunch. Within 5 minutes of serving it people had quickly eaten off all of the panko, and were asking for more of "that crispy stuff on top." I don't quite know how you'd go about adding more panko unless you managed to pry this dip out of everyone's hands to pop it back in the oven, but make sure you don't skimp on it.

If you're like me, you like quick dips that can be made with < 5 ingredients in under 30 minutes. This dip is not one of those. However, it's very simple and people will be begging for the recipe. It's a tradeoff. Enjoy!

Artichoke and Roasted Garlic Dip with Baked Flatbread Sticks

Recipe from Spoon Fork Bacon

Serves 5 to 7

Ingredients:
flatbread sticks:
3 sheets whole wheat flatbread, cut into 1”x4” sticks
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
artichoke dip:
1 head garlic, top sliced off
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2 green onions, thinly sliced
8 ounces marscarpone, softened
1/3 c light mayonnaise
½ cup part-skim mozzarella, shredded
¼ cup parmesan, grated
2 tablespoons hot sauce
2 teaspoon dry mustard
salt and pepper to taste

topping:
1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon parmesan, grated
1 ½ tablespoons butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Brush the strips of flatbread with the oil and sprinkle with the smoked paprika.
3. Line the strips onto two baking sheets (sprayed with nonstick cooking spray) and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until crisp and golden brown around the edges.
4. Set aside and allow to cool.
5. While the flatbread cools bring the temperature of the oven up to 375°F.
6. Place the head of garlic onto a small piece of aluminum foil, drizzle with olive and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
7. Loosely wrap the foil around the garlic and roast in the oven for about 45 minutes or until the garlic cloves have softened completely and slightly browned.
8. Carefully squeeze the clove into a bowl and discard the peel.
9. Mash the cloves into a paste and stir in the remaining dip ingredients. Season with salt and pepper.
10. Stir the mixture until fully incorporated.
11. Scoop the dip into a 3 cup baking dish of your choice and set aside.
12. In a small bowl toss together the topping ingredients and sprinkle over the dip filled ramekin.
13. Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
14. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving with whole wheat flatbread crisps.

This is from when I made it the first time at night. I liked how the flatbread sticks looked more than I liked the points.

Apple Crisp Pie

2011-10-28T19:45:00.000-05:00

I always think of myself as a cake person. Some people order the pie for dessert. I don't give it a second glance. Why chose pie when you can have rich, fluffy, delicious cake and icing? It's taken awhile for me to realize that not only do I like pie, I can't get enough of it. Here's the catch: I don't like warm fruit.

I had this discussion with some people I worked with this summer. We started off on how disappointing it is to find a "hot raisin" has snuck its way into your bread pudding or cinnamon roll. We all found the term "hot raisin" and our distaste for them hilarious, but really, keep the hot raisins out of my cinnamon bread/buns/carrot cake/etc. However, somehow when you cool a fruit down everything changes for me. I eat Honey Bunches of Oats with Raisins almost daily. One of my all time favorite recipes is for cold blueberry pie. Strawberry shortcake makes me swoon, and suddenly, after 21 years of thinking otherwise (counting since birth for simplicity sake), I now absolutely love apple pie...more specifically this apple pie.

The only remotely difficult part of this recipe is peeling the apples. I'm sure some people know the trick to this, but the only trick I could think of was to purchase one of those apple peelers (a.k.a I have no shortcuts). The apples in the pie are not like spiced apples, they're more comparable to cinnamon sugar apples. The topping is also wonderful. I used a store bought crust, but I'm sure if you have some extra time and want to go the homemade route that would make this even better. This would be a perfect Thanksgiving recipe. Enjoy!

Apple Crisp Pie
Recipe from Beantown Baker

Printable Recipe
1 9-inch Pie Crust

For the Filling:
6 cups apple chunks (I used 3 cortland and 3 granny smith apples here)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp lemon juice

For the Topping:
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare dry ingredients in a large bowl, set aside. Core, peel, and slice apples. Transfer into large bowl with dry ingredients. Top off with vanilla and lemon juice. Toss to coat apples well. Set aside for 10-15 minutes while you prep the dough.

Fit your pie crust into a pie plate. You can even use store bought pie crust if you prefer. Fill pie crust with prepared apple chunks.

In a medium bowl, combine the dry topping ingredients. Pour cooled melted butter into bowl. Toss and cut until small to medium sized chunks form. Break up large chunks as needed. Using a spoon, sprinkle crumb topping over entire pie.

Cover pie loosely with foil. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 and continue baking for an additional 35 minutes. Cool and enjoy.

Funfetti Bars

2011-10-19T00:02:00.000-05:00

From my experience I've found that there are few desserts more universally liked than Funfetti Cake. Regardless of how many homemade desserts I make, anything with funfetti is guaranteed to win the crowd's vote every time. My roommate saw this recipe and immediately passed it along to me to put on my must-bake list. It combines funfetti cake mix with a few homemade touches. Easy. Brilliant. Perfect.

This is one of those recipes I think I'll make time and time again because of how quick and easy it is. I, of course, used dinosaur sprinkles, but I'm sure you could theme the extra sprinkles inside to various occasions. Maybe even throw some icing on top if you're feeling like a sugar overload. Hope you enjoy them as much as everyone in my life did!

Funfetti Cake Bars
Recipe from: Lovin' From the Oven

1 1/4 cup funfetti cake mix
3/4 cup AP flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
5 heaping tablespoons sprinkles of your choice (I used stars)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8 x 8 inch pan.
Cream both sugars, butter, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk.
Gradually mix in flour, cake mix, and baking soda until just mixed. Stir in sprinkles.
Spread batter evenly into greased pan.
Bake for 30-35 minutes until top is lightly browned and middle still jiggles slightly. Cool completely before cutting.

Cheddar Ale Spread

2011-10-12T00:36:00.001-05:00

It's amazing the number of dip recipes I have bookmarked compared with the number I have on this blog. I would say I bookmark about 75 percent of the dip recipes I come across, yet I probably only make about five percent of those. I have no idea why. I think it's possible I forget about them when my brain is either focused on dinner or desserts. Poor, poor dips. At least they win me over in the beginning.

I think it's about time I change that, though. Dip is so easy to whip up, and who doesn't love a great dip recipe? Even when people don't want dip at a party they always end up going in for at least one scoop..in my case I'm usually hooked after this point. This cheddar beer dip is nothing fancy (though calling it cheddar ale spread does move it up a notch or so), but it's a simple, solid dip recipe. I found that I liked it best when it had been refrigerated a bit, but I'd eat it either way. I also think pita chips or something of the sort would be delicious with this. Enjoy!

Cheddar Ale Spread

Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker

8 oz. cream cheese
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2½ cups shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons heavy cream
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup beer (pretty much anything but a light beer)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (I substituted 2 teaspoons dried)

Combine the cream cheese, mustard, cheddar cheese, cream, and salt in a food processor. Process for 30 seconds, add the beer, and continue processing until very smooth. Pulse in the parsley until just dispersed.

This can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You will want to take it out an hour before serving if you do refrigerate.

One of these days I'll take a food photography workshop, for now I just plop the chip in there and act like it does something for the picture!

Pecan Pie Bars

2011-09-30T09:59:00.000-05:00

I was shocked how quickly this dessert came together. Being a southerner there's really no take on pecan pie that I don't like, these bars included. I made them for my family on our beach trip this year (hence the melted ice cream in the picture two seconds after I scooped it!), and everyone loved them. Ice cream is always an essential part of dessert for my family, and while I'm not a huge ice cream and cake fan, these pecan pie pars almost demand it.

Thinking about what else to say about these to convince you they're delicious makes me want to go make them right now, so I'm going to have to cut it off here seeing that I have class in an hour. Really the only thing you might not have in your cabinet out of these ingredients is a package of pecans. So write those down on your list now and make these asap!

Chunky Pecan Pie Bars
Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker

For the Crust:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
¼ cup packed brown sugar

Filling:
3 large eggs
¾ cup corn syrup
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1¾ cups coarsely chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (or chocolate chunks in a bag!)
1½ cups chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.

2. For the crust, mix together the flour, butter and brown sugar until crumbly. Press into the baking pan and bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly brown.

3. For the filling, beat the eggs, corn syrup, sugar, butter and vanilla extract with a wire whisk. Stir in the chunks and pecans. Pour evenly over the baked crust and bake for 25-30 minutes or until set.

4. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Cool completely and cut into bars. Store in an airtight container at room temperature (or in the refrigerator if you live in a warm/humid area with no air conditioning).

Yep, I was the impatient person who cut one right out of the center before taking pictures.

Smookies

2011-09-21T01:43:00.002-05:00

So which are you wondering more right about now: what on earth is a smookie or where on earth have I been for the past two months?

For the latter of those let's just say things got hectic and unfortunately blogging took the backseat, but I'm back now (for good this time!). As for the smookies, the short answer is it's a s'more and cookie in one. I've made s'more cookies before, but these are on their own level of good. Therefore, they get their own weird name. Not to be confused with Snooki, which people will undoubtedly think you are saying when you tell them you're making smookies. I'm not sure if I want to know what a cookie named the Snooki would be. Any ideas?

The concept behind these is fairly basic. You lay out the graham crackers, drop the chilled dough on top, pull them out of the oven right before they're done to top them off with chocolate, and a few minutes later you have yourself a delicious mixture of everything you love about s'mores and everything you love about cookies. I personally don't like the graham crackers when they're not as crispy, so I like to finish these off as quickly as possible (see how I justify things?). I also now omit the cinnamon because the first time I made these everyone's initial comment was, "Is there cinnamon in these?". We all know questions pertaining to a certain ingredient that aren't followed by an "Mmm!" aren't quite the best sign. That's also coming from a cinnamonster over here, so you know it pains me to leave it out. Your call! Hope you'll enjoy them regardless!

Smookies
Recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything

11 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 ½ cups flour
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows
3 regular sized Hershey’s bars, broken into pieces
1-2 packages graham crackers, broken into squares

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line baking pans with parchment paper. I used one 11x17 pan and one 9x13 pan but you can really use any sized pans you want.

Lay out graham crackers side by side on the pans as close as possible (they should be touching). I used 16 graham cracker squares on one pan and 10 squares on another. You may have to add or remove graham crackers according to how much dough you have. If you want your cookies thicker you will use more dough and less graham crackers.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon to combine. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter with white and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixer and combine on low speed.

Fold in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour to overnight (I did one batch right away and another after chilling overnight and found there was no difference.)

Place tablespoons of dough on graham crackers about 1 – 1 ½ inches apart. I averaged about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough per graham cracker square as seen in the picture above. Press down slightly with fingertips.

Bake for 5 minutes then remove from oven to press Hershey’s bar pieces on to the top. You can place as many pieces or as little as you want depending how much chocolate flavor you want.

Bake for 5 – 7 more minutes or until dough is beginning to turn golden brown at the edges. Remove to a wire rack to cool. For clean cutting make sure cookies are completely cool and cut with a sharp knife.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

2011-07-26T11:39:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm obviously failing on getting back in the habit of a post a week. It's interesting how living in a different place changes around your schedule entirely. I'm certain that I have much more free time on my hands now than when I'm back at school, yet I can't seem to find the time to post to save my life. I honestly think it's because I'm not doing homework, so I'm not seeking sources of procrastination.

This pie is extremely easy to make, and with a little ice cream or whipped cream will absolutely appeal to any crowd you might be feeding. As you can see, my chocolate chip pie more closely resembles a chocolate pie. I guess that's what happens when you only buy chocolate chips in 72 ounce bags. I think I may have doubled what it asked for. There are certain ingredients I always do this with. Sometimes it backfires, this is not necessarily one of those times since it was still delicious, but it did change up what the pie was intended to be. Next time I'll resist temptation and stick to the recipe.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
Recipe Courtesy of A Little Bit Crunchy A Little Bit Rock n Roll

1 unbaked pie shell (*see my no-roll pie crust below)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup flour
small pinch salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate morsels (plus additional chips for drizzle)
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Beat the eggs, on high, until foamy. Beat in the flour and then both sugars. Beat in the butter. (I usually have a few small specks of butter left in the batter- this is fine and the pie will turn out great.) Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Spoon into the pie crust and bake for 55-60 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

For the topping:
Melt 1/4 cup chocolate chips. Add about a 1/2 teaspoon oil. Stir and pour into a zipper bag. Cut off a tiny corner and drizzle over the pie.

Optional:
Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Sweet Potato Pie Cookies with a Cinnamon Maple Marshmallow Filling

2011-06-29T17:29:00.004-05:00

Contrary to what my long hiatus from blogging might suggest, I am, in fact, still alive, baking and well! I've been in DC since May 16th interning in the area, but when I made the trek up here I didn't bring any of my baking supplies (what was I thinking?). Thankfully, I have now sufficiently frightened my roommate by lugging up far more chocolate chips, pans and types of cocoa powder than anyone should ever need. I don't think she knew what she was getting herself into when I asked if I could bring up some bakeware.

Anywho, this post isn't like my other posts. This post is announcing/showcasing my entry into my first baking contest ever!

These little sandwiches of deliciousness are my entry for North Carolina into the Better Homes and Gardens State Cookie Contest. The second I was asked to participate in this contest I came up with about a million different ideas of what I would make. Then I hit the problem: just because something is one of my favorite ingredients, or even a southern ingredient, does not mean it has any relation to North Carolina. We have some darn good food in North Carolina, but thinking of a dessert that was in cookie form was quite a challenge. It's probably just because I love both North Carolina and desserts so much that I'd hate to do either of them injustice.

Well, I finally arrived at the decision that I would have to make a pie in cookie form. After a bit of googling I found the Neely's recipe for sweet potato pie cookies. Apparently (according to my brother-in-law who, unlike me, actually has culinary training), North Carolina produces about 90 percent of US sweet potatoes. Who knew?! So with a few changes of my own I made sweet potato pie sandwich cookies with a maple cinnamon marshmallow filling and a cinnamon glaze on top. That's a mouthful.

Any southerner knows that the key to the perfect sweet potato casserole is a marshmallow topping, hence why I had to add that on my pie-cookies. The frosting on top has shortening in it, and something about shortening screams "southern"...maybe because we're the only ones still using it. I ended up a little pressed for time with these (read: ran to the Watergate Safeway at 5:45am to buy JetPuffed to sandwich the cookies before work), but they turned out delicious. Unfortunately it was raining for the pictures, but I like to think it was sunny in NC on the day I made them.

BHG sent me a pan for the baking (another plus for a broke college student), and let me tell you, I don't think I've ever baked with something that was so nonstick. Literally, right out of the oven these cookies could've slid from one side to the other. Goodbye parchment paper. So there we go, that is my honest to goodness endorsement, and trust me, I wouldn't give that if I didn't like it.

To close this LONG post I will ask that if you have a second, please vote for North Carolina in the cookie contest---even if you're not from NC, don't have any connection to the state, or just don't particularly like us, it would mean a lot to me to get any votes you're willing to dish out!

www.facebook.com/bhglivebetter and then go to State Cookie Contest and North Carolina.

Thanks and enjoy!

Sweet Potato Pie Cookies

Recipe adapted from Down Home with the Neelys

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mashed sweet potatoes *

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 cup chopped pecans

1 tablespoon butter melted
1 tablespoon brown sugar

*To make mashed sweet potatoes, wrap sweet potatoes in foil and place them in an oven heated to 400 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Remove from oven, peel off skin (it should slip right off), and put in food processor with the 1 tablespoon maple syrup. You'll only need 2 or 3 sweet potatoes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and adjust racks to the middle position. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. in the meantime mix the pecans with the melted butter and brown sugar and toast until glaze begins to set on pecans.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and salt.

Using a hand held mixer (I used my stand) cream together the butter, granulated sugar and the brown sugar until light and fluffy and the volume has increased. Add the egg and the vanilla and mix until incorporated. Stir in the sweet potato puree and blend until smooth. Beat in the dry ingredients in increments and combine well. Stir in the pecans.

Drop in small mounds onto the prepared cookie sheets, leaving about 2 inches of space between each cookie. Bake until the cookies are lightly golden around the edges and they spring back from the touch, about 12 minutes. Let cool completely on the cookie sheets

Maple Cinnamon Marshmallow Frosting

Recipe adapted from Sprinkle Bakes

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 7-ounce jar marshmallow fluff

1 1/2 teaspoons maple extract

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add marshmallow fluff, cinnamon and maple extract; beat until blended and smooth.

Cinnamon Frosting

Recipe adapted from Group Recipes

1/4 cup butter shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2-1/2 cups confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons milk

In a small mixing bowl, cream shortening, vanilla and cinnamon. Gradually beat in confectioners sugar. Add milk; beat until light and fluffy.

To assemble:

Wait for cookies to cool. When cool, either pipe on a tablespoon or so of frosting or spread on with a spoon or spatula. As a side note, I don't have my piping bags with me so I used a ziplock back with the tip cut off and it worked perfectly (tried and true trick). Drizzle the icing over the top of the assembled cookies with either a piping bag or spoon. The frosting may have to be slightly heated if using a spoon.

Of course it was a rainy day when I had to take the pictures!

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-05-23T21:49:00.000-05:00

Oh browned butter, where have you been all my life? I'm sure I've had browned butter in something before, not because I actually remember it, but because somewhere in my mind I've always known it was amazing. That knack had to come from somewhere. Or perhaps it just came from the fact that I like butter in every form.

I'm so devoted to my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe that it's hard for me to say this, but these cookies just might win. I'll move on before I have to retract that statement. The browned butter flavor really comes through and brings these cookies beyond the average chocolate chip cookie recipe. They are incredible. Sure, sometimes I want a run of the mill chocolate chip cookie. For that craving I'll turn to my normal recipe, but then there are times when I want to jazz it up a bit. These fit the bill.

I took the pictures a few days after I made them, something I am often forced to do after procrastination takes its toll. Does anyone else do that? I set out the cookies, brownies, etc. that I like the best and tell people not to eat them. Then I forget to take the pictures, and my favorite ones don't look nearly as nice as they did on day one. It's a bad habit. So, you'll just have to take my word that these taste a million times better than they photographed. Or, better yet, you can check out the mouthwatering pictures from Pixelated Crumb if you don't believe me.

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe from Pixelated Crumb (adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (8 3/4 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar (5 1/4 ounces)
1 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups semisweet (or bittersweet) chocolate chips or chunks
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional)
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large (18- by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.
Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.
Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet. (Smaller baking sheets can be used, but will require 3 batches.)
Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.

"The Best Coffee Cake Ever"

2011-05-13T13:13:00.001-05:00

To say I've tried a lot of coffee cakes is an understatement. In my opinion everyone is pretty keen on their mom or grandma's coffee cake recipes. But that's not to say those recipes can't be topped or at the very least tied. It's just what we're used to.

This is the quintessential coffee cake. It's loaded with butter, and the first time I made it I was sure that I had measured incorrectly because of the enormous amount of cinnamon sugar crumble on top (nope). I've made it twice, and I've been very happy both times. I vaguely remember the last one turning out a bit prettier, but the taste was still good with this one. It's hard for me to say which coffee cake is my favorite because I have so many that I love that they all start blending together. But, I can absolutely say when a coffee cake is not up to my strict, coffee-cake loving standards. Believe me, if I even remotely didn't like this cake I'd choose to banish its 3 sticks of butter from my recipe box...too bad it's great. So, here's one more coffee cake to add to the list. You can never have too many!

The Best Coffee Cake Ever
Recipe from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE:

1-½ stick Butter, Softened
2 cups Scant Sugar
3 cups Flour, Sifted
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1-¼ cup Whole Milk
3 whole Egg Whites, Beaten Until Stiff

FOR THE TOPPING:

1-½ stick Butter, Softened
¾ cups Flour
1-½ cup Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
1-½ cup Pecans, Chopped

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat egg whites and set aside.
Cream butter and sugar. Add flour mixture and milk alternately until combined. Don’t overbeat. Fold in beaten egg whites with a rubber spatula. Spread in a well-greased 9 x 13 (or LARGER!) baking pan. A cake pan with higher sides would be best.
In a separate bowl, combine topping ingredients with a pastry cutter until crumbly. Sprinkle all over the top.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until no longer jiggly. Serve warm—delicious!

Cinnamon Buns

2011-05-02T18:46:00.019-05:00

I just love an easy recipe. Maybe that's why I keep coming back to Christie's plethora of frozen bread dough recipes over at Southern Plate. I've had my eye on these cinnamon buns for awhile now, but my infatuation with pizza bread from frozen bread dough made me more than a little wary to subject myself to a new obsession (maybe I should refrain from using words containing the word "fat" when talking about my favorite foods?).

I've now made them twice in three days--at least I know myself well.

But, it's exam time and having food around the house is essential while studying. I don't do libraries because I get too distracted by all the studious people around me. I like to take a power nap break when I get tired, and I want to eat when I get bored (I'm a bored eater if there ever was one). Not that I can't do both of those in the library, but I'm sure I'm the type of person who would wake up sleep talking, so I'd rather not disturb the peace. I am two exams away from freedom, and then I'll be heading up to DC for the summer. Hopefully living in a dorm again won't hurt my cooking too much! Anywho, make these. They are wonderful.

Cinnamon Buns

Recipe from Southern Plate

1 loaf frozen white bread dough (such as Rhode’s)

Filling:

1/4 C butter or margarine, softened

1 C brown sugar, packed

3 T ground cinnamon

Icing:

3 ounce cream cheese, softened

1/4 C butter or margarine, softened

1 1/2 C confectioner’s sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Place loaf of dough on plate and let sit at room temperature until thawed. Once thawed, roll out onto floured surface to a size of about nine inches by sixteen inches. Spread 1/4 C margarine over dough.

In small bowl mix together brown sugar and 3 T cinnamon. Sprinkle over top of cinnamon roll, stopping about 1/2 an inch away from the sides so it will seal. Carefully roll up cinnamon roll into a log and press lightly to seal. Slice into one inch slices with serrated knife. Place in greased 9×13 inch pan and cover with cling wrap. Place in warm spot and allow to rise until doubled in size. Remove cling wrap and bake at 400 for about 15 minutes, or until done.

Icing: Mix all ingredients together and beat with electric mixer until creamy. Spread over cinnamon rolls.

I tried to be creative and get more angles, but apparently creativity isn't my strong suit when I'm running on two hours of sleep. Note to self: ripping a cinnamon bun apart doesn't look nearly as appealing on camera as in person.

Chocolate Banana Bread

2011-04-25T10:39:00.001-05:00

I'm sorry to put up two banana posts in a row, but the bananas I used for the monkey bread went a long way (..that and the fact that I never get sick of baking with bananas). I thought this chocolate banana bread was great. I always get my hopes up with chocolate banana bread because I just feel like it has such promise. It's the same as when I add chocolate chips to banana bread recipes -- how could it be anything but amazing? Alas, all banana bread recipes are not created equal. I've had many letdowns, but this one is far from a disappointment.

The oil makes it incredibly moist, and the chocolate flavor is rich, but not over the top. It also stayed good for multiple days which is always a plus in my book. Something about eating chocolate for breakfast starts my day off right. Maybe it just kicks my usual 11am chocolate craving before it happens? Regardless, this bread is the best chocolate banana bread I've ever made. I don't know which recipe is better to use up those old bananas considering I'm pretty smitten with both of my recent banana posts. I guess you'll just have to buy more bananas. It's healthy, right?

Chocolate Banana Bread Serves 8-12
Recipe from Evil Shinanigans

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 egg yolk
3 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup very strong coffee, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
Heat the oven to 350 F and prepare 1 10-inch loaf pan (or 6 mini-loaf pans) with non-stick spray.

In a medium bowl cream together the sugar and oil until smooth. The mixture will be slightly crumbly. Add in the eggs and egg yolk and mix until lighter in color, about three minutes.

Add the mashed banana and stir to combine. Sift the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder into the bowl and mix until most of the dry ingredients are moist. Stir in the coffee and vanilla and mix until all the dry ingredients are moist. The batter will have some small lumps.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans and bake for 45 to 55 minutes for a single loaf, 35 to 45 for smaller loafs, or until the center springs back when gently pressed. Cool for thirty minutes in the pan before turning out on a rack to cool completely.

These pictures aren't great, but you'll have to trust me about this bread!

Banana Monkey Bread

2011-04-16T17:18:00.005-05:00

I'm not sure which bothers me more--posting things that didn't turn out quite right or taking a two week break from blogging altogether because I refuse to take pictures of anything I didn't love. Pretty much any time I disappear from the blogosphere you can bet that I'm struggling with this dilemma. Thankfully today I have a recipe that was much easier than any of my unpostable (made up word) mistakes over the past few weeks, and it's delicious!

With exams right around the corner, my diet will almost certainly be composed of Coke Zero, pizza bread and sweets (why can't I eat like a normal girl?). This banana monkey bread works for breakfast, but I can also see it fitting into many other categories. Dress it up and it's dessert. It definitely works as a late night snack, and it would be a lovely addition to any brunch. This is one of those recipes you want to have around because it's just that easy. Thank you for being patient with my busy self as junior year winds down. More posts to come!

Banana Monkey Bread
Makes 4 ramekins
Recipe from Pinch of Yum

Pillsbury Grands Biscuits (4)
Bananas (2-3)
White chocolate chips
Cinnamon and sugar

Directions

1. Cut biscuits into 1-inch cubes. Slice bananas. Combine and coat with cinnamon and sugar.
2. Arrange in greased ramekins and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
3. Melt white chocolate; spoon over tops

*I used five biscuits because that's what came in the container (and why would I want one extra plain biscuit when I could have it covered in cinnamon sugar instead?). The bananas I had around were on the large side, so I only used two. For the white chocolate I just melted a cube of white melting chocolate, but I'd say melt about 1/4 cup if you are using chips. Lastly, I used about 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon for the cinnamon sugar.

Also, my ramekins are a bit thicker than some others, so I needed about 3-4 more minutes of cooking. I also realized that filling them up quite as high as I did is just a mess waiting to happen, and since none of you probably want to clean cinnamon sugar from the bottom of your oven I'd suggest putting the ramekins on a pan before baking.

Only I would decide to take pictures the same day as tornadoes are going through NC. Sorry for the dreary backdrop!

Tuxedo Cake

2011-03-29T09:46:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally got around to making a cake and this one is a winner. I don't usually have time to make cakes, mainly because I'm such a perfectionist that I'll spend hours making sure the icing is just right or the layers are perfectly aligned. After making this one I am reminded of another reason: cakes are dangerously addictive (I had a piece for breakfast every day that it was around our house). But I was also reminded of what a hit they are and how they are almost always well worth the effort they take to prepare.

This cake is honestly one of the best I've had in awhile (maybe ever). The layers kept their moisture even four days later, and the flavor on day four was just as incredible as day one. While the process is a bit time consuming, there is no part of this recipe that is overly challenging. The best part about that is that the appearance is so beautiful people will assume it either a) is professionally made or b) took considerably more effort than it actually did.

I could go on for hours, but to sum it all up I'll just say that this cake is a must-try. Everyone loved it. I loved it. I miss it already. I wish I had a piece now. Would it be excessive to make this fancy of a cake twice within a week?

Tuxedo Cake

Recipe from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
For the cake:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups water
1 cup canola oil
4 cups sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 tbsp. vanilla extract

For the frosting:
4 cups chilled heavy whipping cream
1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

For the chocolate topping:
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup heavy whipping cream
¼ cup light corn syrup
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
To make the cake layers, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line three 9-inch round cake pans (or two 10-inch round cake pans) with parchment paper. Butter and flour the inside edges of the pan, shaking out the excess flour.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, water and canola oil; heat until the butter is melted. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, cocoa powder, and flour; whisk to blend. Pour the melted butter mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, then whisk in the buttermilk. Add the baking soda, salt and vanilla to the bowl and whisk just until incorporated. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool in the pans for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of each cake layer and invert onto a wire cooling rack. Allow the cake layers to cool completely before frosting, at least 2 hours.

To make the frosting, add the heavy cream to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whip on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and continue to whip until thoroughly combined and stiff peaks form. Be careful not to over-beat!

To assemble the cake, place one cake layer on a cake platter and spread a layer of the whipped cream frosting over the top. Top with a second cake layer, more frosting (and the third cake layer, if using). Frost the top and sides of the assembled cake. Refrigerate until the frosting has stabilized, at least 1 hour.

To make the chocolate glaze, place the chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit 1-2 minutes. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and homogenous. Blend in the corn syrup and vanilla. Pour the glaze into a pitcher or measuring cup and let cool for 10 minutes. (Do not let the glaze cool longer or it may become difficult to pour over the cake.) Slowly pour the glaze over the cake, ensuring that the top is covered and the glaze drips over the sides.

Refrigerate the cake until the glaze is set and the whipped cream frosting is firm, at least 1 hour. Slice with a long, sharp knife, wiping the blade clean between slices.

Yellow Cake Oatmeal Pecan Cookies

2011-03-21T17:52:00.002-05:00

Once again, I have broken my camera. I really should not be allowed to have electronics. I like to say that I always get the duds, so of course they end up breaking, but truthfully, it's probably just me. I won't go into my long, unfortunate past with cameras, phones, computer issues, etc., but I honestly don't think I did anything wrong to cause this one to bite the dust. The others, maybe. I feel like every camera I get is just a "lens error" waiting to happen. Luckily, I've already solicited a few friends to loan me cameras until I save up to buy a new one. Hopefully I won't get too much more behind on posting in the meantime.

These cookies are incredibly easy to make (boxed cake mix), and I have never seen a cookie with this long of a shelf life. I used to eat them all the time when I was little, and found the recipe in a family friend's cookbook. It was originally from my grandma (if she reads this she'll be embarrassed that I'm calling a cake mix recipe an original), but somehow despite the simplicity of the recipe she still always managed to make them even better than mine turned out. I love the pecans with the yellow cake, and these are great because they are so small you can grab one or two and get your cookie fix. I'll salvage some new food pictures soon and post them as soon as I can!

Yellow Cake Oatmeal Pecan Cookies
(I have no idea what the real name is, so a descriptive name will have to do!)
Yield: 5 dozen

1 package yellow cake mix
2 cups quick cooking oats, uncooked
1 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine cake mix, oats and sugar in a large bowl. Combine oil and eggs. Add to dry ingredients, stirring well. Stir in pecans and vanilla. Drop dough by small rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Chocolate Eclair Cake

2011-03-09T17:53:00.004-06:00

Is it odd that until a week ago I had never heard of or tried eclair cake (yes, those two need to be separated in my book because I have an awful memory)? I thought this was some new, brilliant concept, but after sharing the cake with friends I realized almost all of them had tried some form of eclair cake in their lives.

Well, basically now I know that this cake is still brilliant, but definitely not new. It's also incredibly easy to make. I think I've said that about pretty much all of my recent posts, but this is what happens when I don't have time to bake. The good news is, my birthday is Monday and I plan on making myself a dessert that's a bit more fancy. It's my 21st, so I'd say that's deserving of something good. Any suggestions?

For the eclair cake, I chose to make homemade chocolate icing instead of using store-bought . I didn't have any store-bought laying around anyways, so I figured mixing up a batch of this was just as easy. It was delicious. The graham crackers lose all of their crunch, but keep all of their flavor. What you end up with is a creamy, dreamy eclair-tasting cake. I wish I had taken prettier pictures, but as you can imagine eclair cake isn't the most photogenic of cakes. If you can stand to keep something this good in your fridge for 24 hours without touching it, you have to put this on your to-make list!

Chocolate Eclair Cake
Recipe from Baking Junkie

1 Box graham crackers (not all will be used)
2 large boxes (5.1 oz) vanilla instant pudding
2 ½ cups skim milk
16 oz reduced fat or fat free cool whip
1 container chocolate frosting
Line the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan with graham crackers. You will need to break some up to fit the edges. In a medium sized bowl combine pudding, milk and cool whip. Spread half the pudding mixture over the graham crackers. Cover with another layer of graham crackers, the remaining pudding mixture, and top with final layer of graham crackers. Remove aluminum top of frosting and place in microwave for 45-60 seconds, until it becomes melted and thin. Pour over top of cake. Refrigerate for 12 hours before serving.

Chocolate Frosting*
1/2 stick butter
1 1/2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
2/3 c sugar
5 oz evaporated milk
dash salt
1 t vanilla
Melt butter w/ chocolate in sauce pan – add sugar then milk and salt. Boil for 5 minutes or so. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Let cool a bit then pour over Eclair Cake.

*If you choose to sub out the store bought variety.

Breakfast Pizza

2011-03-02T00:45:00.006-06:00

I know what you're thinking: this looks nothing like a breakfast pizza. You're right. It's more like a breakfast casserole the way I made it. I felt like I couldn't justify using 12 eggs for something I was just making on a whim, so I halved the recipe and used an 8x8 pan. I posted it anyways because in hindsight I'm not sure why those extra six eggs were so precious to me. So here is my first tip for the "pizza": make the full version. It wasn't really a problem that I made it smaller, but I also halved the bacon and I immediately decided that was a poor decision. I actually wouldn't have skimped on it, but I used the majority of my bacon stash for bacon chocolate chip cookies the night before.

But as for the breakfast pizza, I love how easily it came together. I have been reheating little squares of it for snacks here and there over the past few days. I'm used to grabbing a square of brownie or a cookie (healthy, right?), but it's a nice change of pace to actually have some real food to munch on. It's also good because I'm trying to wean myself off of the pizza sticks I wrote about a few weeks ago. I kept making them over and over again, and I think I was beginning to develop a slight addiction. One last tip is that I used mostly mozzarella for these because that's what I had on hand, but I think sharp cheddar is the most flavorful so that's probably your best bet.

I promise this will be the last post from Southern Plate for a few weeks. I just can't get enough of her recipes. Nothing fancy, no hard to find ingredients, no completely unnecessary steps that you can't figure out how on earth make that much of a difference–she's just a true home cook. I love it. I promise you'll feel the same way if you take a look around her site.

Bacon Breakfast Pizza

Recipe from Southern Plate

1- 8 count can crescent roll dough
3 cups shredded hash browns (can used cubed)
dozen eggs
1 cup shredded cheddar
6 slices bacon (more or less, depending on what you have on hand)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Optional: Other toppings of your choice. Examples are: Onions, mushrooms, other meats, other vegetables, etc

Cook bacon and set aside. Spray a 9×13 inch pan with cooking spray. Place crescent roll dough in the bottom of the pan, pinching seams together to seal. Spread frozen hash browns over dough. Salt and pepper to taste (I start with 1/2 tsp of each). Beat all eggs in a bowl and pour over hash browns. Sprinkle crumbled bacon over. Place in oven at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes, or until set in center. Sprinkle cheese over top and return to oven just until melted. Serve warm.

Peanut Butter Fudge Iced Brownies

2011-02-21T21:54:00.007-06:00

As promised, here is the amazing icing recipe I fell in love with a few weeks ago. I honestly wish this icing came standard with all brownies. I must confess that I used boxed brownies for the base, but it didn't matter in this case. I'm all for going the homemade route, but I don't see any reason not to take a shortcut on the brownies when the icing is the star of the show here anyways. I'm somewhat picky about my boxed brownie mix, and I'm definitely partial to Ghirardelli brownies. The Baked brownies are my favorite homemade. However, you could put both in front of me, and I would spend hours trying to decide which I liked better. Then again, you could also put a random batch of the cheap stuff in front of me and I'd most likely enjoy that too.

If you have time and feel up to it, by all means make the homemade brownies. But I'm telling you now, this icing will be just as impressive and just as good regardless of whether you put it on cheapo brand brownies, Ghirardelli or homemade. I'm still swamped so can't write much, but I figure you all come here first and foremost for the food! I couldn't pry myself away from these. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Fudge Iced Brownies

Recipe from: A Southern Plate

1 box brownie mix, prepared according to package directions*
1-1/2 cups sugar
7 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoos shortening
2 tablespoons margarine
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

Prepare brownies according to package directions and allow to cool completely before beginning icing.

To make icing: In heavy saucepot combine the sugar, milk, shortening, margarine, and salt. Bring to a rolling boil while stirring constantly. Once it reaches a rolling boil stop stirring and let boil for two minutes or until it reaches soft ball stage (I don’t use a thermometer, I just let it boil for two minutes). Remove from heat and quickly stir in the vanilla and peanut butter. Beat until smooth and quickly spread over the brownies.

*This recipe works fine for a 9×13 or 8×8. If making an 8×8 pan of brownies, I’d still use this same amount of icing and just let it be thicker.

Pizza Sticks

2011-02-13T12:33:00.012-06:00

You know those charts that show a breakdown of what people think about by parts of their brains–I'm pretty sure mine would have a giant section for food. I may be the only person who struggles with this, but I always feel somewhat conflicted when anyone asks me about my favorite food. I think I've written about this before, so as you can tell the struggle is big! While I thoroughly enjoy my daily bowl of cereal, and I don't think it gets much better than a grilled PB&B sandwich, there are other foods I adore as well: eggs benedict, funfetti cake with rainbow chip icing, a fresh toasted bagel loaded with cream cheese, milkshakes, croissandwiches (is that weird?), etc.

But the other issue is that I never want to list off something that's too normal. Pizza is too normal. I hate admitting that it's one of my top foods because that's everyone's answer. But favorite food or not, pizza didn't get so popular for being average. And yes, I do realize normal people never put this much thought into the "What's your favorite food?" question. Not surprisingly I've gone over this dilemma with many friends and family members, none of whom seem to understand.

The reason I bring this up is that I've been on a pizza appetizer kick recently. This one is by far the best of them all. In fact, it may be one of my favorite things I've ever made and posted on this blog. I declared yesterday a baking day and made three things. Everything was good, but I think this pizza overshadowed the others. I kept it simple with just cheese, pepperoni, sauce and minced garlic. Many of you may omit the garlic for the sake of your breath or because you don't think it's necessary, but that may have been my favorite part of the bread. The whole thing comes together so easily that I have a feeling I will be making it a lot in the future. After just now eating two pieces (to serve as inspiration for this post, of course) I can also say that it reheats fantastically. Two posts in a row from A Southern Plate, and I've got another on the way that I'm equally obsessed with. Thank you, Christy Jordan!

Pizza Sticks

Recipe from Southern Plate

1 Loaf frozen bread dough, thawed*
1 Jar Pizza sauce (some for bread some for dipping)
1-2 Cups Mozzarella
Your favorite toppings (Be creative and make this for your family’s taste!)*

*This is best when you only use a few toppings because they stay inside the sandwich better

*I happened to have a batch of regular (unfrozen) pizza dough on hand and that worked well too!

Thaw bread dough completely. Roll out on floured surface until it is a rectangle approximately 14 inches wide by eight or ten inches tall (this is just to give you an idea, just eyeball it and you’ll be fine). Spread with 1/3-1/2 cup pizza sauce. Sprinkle with pizza toppings and cheese. Wet the edges and fold up sides and ends to seal into a loaf. Place seam side down in a lightly greased baking dish and lightly spray top of loaf with cooking spray. Cover with cling wrap and place in warm place to allow to rise for 1-2 hours, or until doubled.

Remove plastic wrap and place in 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly and then slice in 1-1/2 inch segments and serve with the remaining pizza sauce.

My amateur photography skills and limited plate options made it tricky to do justice to this. Think giant calzone.

Banana Crumb Cake

2011-02-09T23:58:00.002-06:00

I'll start by apologizing for two things. First, I can't believe it's been over two weeks since my last post! Time flies when you're having fun...or just when you're so busy that you haven't had time to go to the grocery store to buy sugar and bake. But even though my life just got exponentially busier I promise I'll be better about keeping up with my posting. I have a ton of recipes I love, but I don't love the pictures I've taken of the final products so they fall into the abyss that is my iPhoto collection. I've decided there's no use keeping a good recipe from you, bad picture or not. That brings me to my second apology: banana crumb cake.

I sincerely apologize for keeping this cake all to myself (and those who live in my vicinity) these past few weeks. It's not like in the 15 times I've made it in the past month that I couldn't photograph it again to get decent pictures. So, here it is – my new obsession. I have ditched every other banana recipe I thought I was loyal to for this delicious, easy cake. It's become a house favorite in such an extreme way that last time I made it I made two 9 x 13-inch pans of it because I knew we'd go through the first so quickly. Yes, 9 x 13 in just a little over 24 hours. Four college girls.

My favorite part is the brown sugar topping/filling. It's the perfect touch to add to the cake's otherwise simplistic flavor. I admit that I've never met a crumb topping I didn't like, but this one, with this recipe, is just perfect. I ate my usual peanut butter and banana sandwich today and honestly was upset with myself for wasting a banana that could have gone into this cake. I can't decide which is worse, the fact that I combine bananas with mass amounts of peanut butter and call it lunch, or the fact that I now combine bananas with mass amounts of sugar and call it breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Banana Crumb Cake
Recipe from Christy Jordan's Southern Plate

Ingredients

3 bananas, peeled
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine - I used butter
1 cup milk
1 cup chopped nuts, optional - I opted out
2 cups self rising flour*
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crumb topping
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine - Still used butter
! cup brown sugar (dark or light)
1 cup flour (self-rising or all-purpose, whatever you have on hand)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray two 8 x 8 inch pans with cooking spray (or one 9 x 13-inch).Place the bananas in a large bowl and add the sugar. Mix until the bananas are liquefied. Add the margarine and mix until creamed together with the banana mixture. Add the remaining ingredients and blend well.
In a medium bowl, combine all the topping ingredients. Cut together with a long-tined fork until well-blended. Pour one quarter of the batter into each pan and top with 1/4 of the crumb mixture (or half of the batter/topping into the pan if you are using the 9 x 13-inch). Pour the remaining batter over and top with the remaining crumb mixture. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve from the pan.

*If you don't have self-rising flour you can make your own! Add 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt for each cup of all-purpose flour.

Giant Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-01-24T20:05:00.005-06:00

I will refer to these cookies from now on as the quarter-pounder cookies. It's a dangerous thing for cookies this good to even exist. Not that I ever think twice about eating a quarter-pound burger. I'm a bring on the half-pounder kind of girl. That's not really a good thing, but hey, what can ya do? I like food. However, a quarter-pounder cookie? I'm in heaven, but to be honest even I found it difficult to eat a whole one of these. I don't think I have ever had a problem eating a whole cookie in my entire life. Again, this is not really a good thing. Maybe with these it's because their presence alone is overwhelming.

I wrote a few days ago about my love for giant muffins and cupcakes...well, here's a shocker: cookies also fall into that category. Chocoholics, you must make these now. I have a feeling these are going to be my new go-to cookie recipe. I won't even begin to list the reasons having a go-to cookie this large is a terrible, terrible thing–that's pretty self-explanatory. I can only imagine how good these would be heated up and served with vanilla ice cream. Is it acceptable to start making all cookies four ounces?

Giant Double Chocolate Cookies
Recipe from Annie's Eats

Yield: 12 very large cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cubed
1¼ cup sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup dark cocoa powder
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. coarse salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Blend in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix in the cocoa powder until well blended. Add the flour, salt and baking powder to the bowl and mix on low speed just until incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula. Transfer the dough to a work surface and knead briefly by hand to be sure the ingredients are well combined.

Divide the dough into 4 ounce portions (or divide into 12 equal pieces). Roll each portion of dough into a ball and flatten just slightly into a disc. Place on the prepared baking sheets, a few inches apart. Bake 16-20 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Blueberry Muffins

2011-01-17T16:44:00.004-06:00

I doubt I will ever stop trying new blueberry muffin recipes. I'm on an eternal search for a recipe that makes blueberry muffins like the ones you can find at coffee shops and bakeries. Sadly, the recipes I've tried have never compared. They're great, but I want the big honkin', this will keep me full for hours muffin. I'm sure it helps that bakeries make their muffins twice the normal size. Same thing with Costco cupcakes and muffins. Is there a reason they make them as large as a small child's head? No. Do we appreciate that they make 4,000 calorie cupcakes and muffins? Yes.

Ok, ok. 4,000 may be a bit of an exaggeration.

But I found something the other day that might shed some light on how bakeries do it. It's called a crown pan, and it creates those giant muffin tops (in more ways than one) that bakery muffins are marked by. I may be a little behind in learning this is the trick, but I think I will make this my next baking purchase. Has anyone ever tried this kind of pan?

All of that may seem like I'm inferring that these muffins aren't great, or that I wasn't completely satisfied with them. That is definitely not the case. I really liked these. The lemon zest in the batter and the sugar sprinkled on top are what really set these apart from some of the more standard recipes. They are very light and not surprisingly didn't last long in my house. Until I find my dream muffin, looks like I'll stick with these. I'm ok with that, but if anyone has a great blueberry muffin recipe feel free to share!

Blueberry Muffins
Recipe from: The Guy Who Cooks

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1 cups + 2 Tbsp white granulated sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract/emulsion (or 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon zest)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sour cream (or yogurt)
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (all stems removed)

Directions:

1.) Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees and grease muffin pan or line with 12 muffins cups.
2.) In a separate side bowl mix the flour, salt, and baking soda.
3.) In your mixing bowl beat the eggs and sugar until evenly combined, about 1 minute. Continue beating and slowly pour in the melted butter and mix until well combined.
4.) Add in extracts and mix until evenly combined.
5.) Add the flour, salt and baking soda mixture alternatively with the sour cream (or yogurt) and mix until just combined (a few dry specs of flour is ok).
6.) With a spatula fold in blueberries.
7.) Pour batter into muffin cups about 3/4 full and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
8.) With five minutes left, sprinkle the sparkling sugar on the tops of the muffins and bake for another 5 minutes (so that means a 20 minute bake time in total).
9.) Take out of oven and allow to cool in the muffin pan for five minutes. Remove to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
10.) Enjoy! (note: as with most baked goods, these are even better the next day)

Hot Chocolate on a Stick

2011-01-11T12:11:00.004-06:00

It's snowing here today...actually, let me correct myself. Last night it snowed, today everything has turned into ice. All classes before 11 a.m. were canceled this morning, but I had one at 11 that I couldn't miss. Unfortunately grace is not something I possess in any significant quantity, so I really shouldn't go outside in conditions like this. I didn't factor in the ice when I opened my front door, so proceeded to fall down all of the front steps and tumble over the side of the steps into the bushes. Just one of those days I guess!

But the cold made me think of these delicious hot chocolate sticks I made around Christmas. I never posted them because time slipped away and they are pictured next to a "ho ho ho" mug. With this weather I've decided these are a necessary (and easy) thing to have around. Once they're finished you just heat up a glass of milk and stir them right in. Voila! Rich, velvety hot chocolate in seconds. My brother preferred to eat them plain (he didn't understand why I had taken perfectly good fudge and deemed it "Hot Chocolate on a Stick"). Truthfully it is fudge on a stick. I'll take it either way.

Hot Chocolate on a Stick
Recipe from What's Megan Making (originally from King Arthur Flour)

½ cup heavy cream

14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk (1 1/4 cups)
3 cups (18 oz) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (chopped chocolate bars or chips)
3/4 cup (4 oz) unsweetened baking chocolate
wooden sticks

Line an 8" x 8" pan with parchment paper. Heat the cream and condensed milk over low heat until steaming. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate; allow it to gently melt. After about 10 minutes, return the chocolate mixture to low heat to completely melt the chocolate. Whisk vigorously until the mixture is thick and shiny. At this point you could ddd a few drops of flavoring oil (such as hazelnut, coffee, or vanilla). Pour the chocolate mixture into the pan; shake the pan gently to level. Sprinkle with cocoa, if desired. Set aside overnight to slowly harden.

Run a knife around the edge of the pan and turn out onto a clean cutting surface. Slice into 1 ¼" cubes (or size desired for serving). Heat a knife in hot water and wipe dry before each cut, for smoothest cuts. Stick a wooden stick into the center of each block. Roll in cocoa or crushed peppermint candy, if desired. Wrap in waxed paper, parchment, or plastic wrap to store. (I'm storing mine in a tupperware in the freezer, with layers separated by waxed paper) These will keep at room temperature 3-4 days, in the fridge about 10 days, in the freezer up to 30 days.

Yield: about 3 dozen blocks.

Mint Chocolate Chip Brownies

2011-01-03T13:57:00.009-06:00

I have a confession to make.

I have never once made a New Year's resolution. Why? Well, there are a few reasons. One is that I know I would break it if I had one. For example, let's say I made the logical resolution to eat healthier. For most people that would entail less desserts, and that means I really couldn't do it. I will say that I plan on eating more fruits and veggies in addition to desserts, but who doesn't have that goal?

Thankfully, I get myself over to the gym to work off all the sweets I consume. Between my two favorite classes, cycling and boot camp, I burn enough calories that I feel I always deserve to eat whatever my heart desires. The problem is that I feel this way even when I don't work out. Hard day? You deserve cake. Bad test? You deserve a bigger slice of cake. Great test? Go ahead and eat the whole cake.

Don't get me wrong, I commend everyone who has pledged to get healthier in 2011. I'm all for feeling great about yourself and your body! But for all of you who haven't sworn off sweets these brownies will make you glad you have chosen to keep chocolate in your life. For the rest of you, bookmark this recipe, it's a keeper.

I'm used to thick, chewy brownies, which these are not. These are light, almost airy, but they are incredibly moist. I wish I knew the science of food a bit better so I could figure out what makes them this way. I'm sure Alton Brown would be able to tell me. I served them warm with ice cream, but they are still amazing when cooled. The mint chips give the brownies a Thin Mint flavor that I love. I have family members who don't like mint (?!), so I may try some variations in the future. Happy New Year everyone, here's to a great 2011!

Mint Chocolate Brownies

Recipe from My Baking Addiction , adapted from: GoodLife {eats}

Ingredients
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup dark cocoa powder {I used Hershey’s Special Dark}
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup dark chocolate mint chips; divided use

Method
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment and spray with non-stick cooking spray; set aside.
2. Set a medium sized saucepan over medium heat and warm the butter until melted. Add the granulated sugar and stir well. Remove pan from heat and whisk in the cocoa powder.
3. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs and vanilla. Pour the chocolate mixture into the bowl and whisk in with the eggs and vanilla until well combined. Gently stir in the flour and salt; do not beat or over mix. Fold in 3/4 cup of mint chocolate chips.
4. Pour batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth top with an offset spatula. Evenly distribute the remaining 1/4 of mint chocolate chips across the top of the brownies.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes. Take care not to over bake. Cool completely.

French Breakfast Puffs

2010-12-29T11:53:00.010-06:00

My brother asked me the other day if I ever got tired of receiving cookbooks for Christmas. This year may have been a record: eight cookbooks. I guess he thought that was a little excessive, but I honestly never get tired of them. I love reading through each and every page and finding recipes to try out. The best part is that you never grow out of a good cookbook. A great recipe 50 years ago is most likely a great recipe now (with the exception of recipes from the jello mold phase that my grandmother attempts to bring back from time to time). Cookbooks are timeless.

I've been wanting The Pioneer Woman Cooks for a long time now. I got it this Christmas, and I am already obsessed. There is nothing fancy about the cookbook, but it's good. In fact, it's great. I'm at the beach this week with family and friends, and there are 19 of us to feed. What better time to break out the new cookbooks? I started by making these breakfast puffs because there's a bakery in town that makes something very similar. They're called doughnut muffins at the bakery, but that doesn't matter because french breakfast puffs have now replaced doughnut muffins for all of us. These are not light and airy like the name "puff" might imply, but the incredible flavor works well with the dense centers. I would compare them to the consistency of a poundcake. The 19 people who ate these will all vouch that they are delicious. The only issue I ran into was that there weren't enough to go around. That's not an issue at all, though. Batch number two is on the way!

French Breakfast Puffs
Recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Puffs:
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 cup milk

Coating:
1/2 pound (2 sticks butter)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.
In a separate large bowl, cream together the sugar and shortening.
Add the eggs and mix again.
Alternate adding one-third of the flour mixture and one-third of the milk to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.
Fill the muffin cups two-thirds full.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden. Remove the muffins from the pan and set aside.
To make the coating, melt the butter in a bowl or glass pan. In a separate container, combine the sugar and cinnamon.
Dip the warm muffins in the butter, coating thoroughly...
Then roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Also: after cooling completely, puffs can be frozen in plastic bags and reheated later.

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake

2010-12-28T12:46:00.006-06:00

Red velvet is hands down my all time favorite cake. It is the perfect cake: rich, moist, vibrant, flavorful, elegant, filling, impressive...the list goes on. But then I read a funny quote in Virginia Will's Bon Appetit, Ya'll that said red velvet is "the Dolly Parton of cakes–she's a little bit tacky, but you love her." It made me laugh because as many times as I've eaten or made red velvet cake, I've never once thought of the red color as even slightly tacky. This is coming from someone who grew up eating key lime pie that was sea foam green, though. That's natural, right? But I'll give her that one, two whole containers of red food coloring definitely qualify this cake as tacky. Good thing we love it anyways.

I spend months trying to decide what I'll make for Christmas dessert. I probably have bookmarked at least 15 possible recipes by the time Christmas season actually arrives. This particular recipe appeared on Tastespotting in the beginning of December, and there was no question in my mind that it would be making an appearance at Christmas dinner. I made pumpkin spice cheesecake for Thanksgiving, so I wasn't going to choose another cheesecake. But cheesecake inside a cake is a different story. This cheesecake cake not only tops the list of my holiday dessert picks, but it is also one of my favorite cakes I have ever eaten period. If you are like me and try to add cream cheese to just about anything, this is the ultimate recipe for you. The cheesecake layer is cold and rich with a slight lemon tinge that gives it a different taste than the regular cream cheese frosting. The cake is perfect, too. It's a rich red color (I hate it when red velvet cakes are pink), and the flavor is strong enough not to be taken over by the cheesecake layer.

I've mentioned before that we eat a lot in my family. By the time dessert gets around it is expected that you will feel full to the point of bursting. I made this Christmas night, so as usual I ran into the problem of poor lighting for pictures. To solve this problem I tried to cut small pieces for my 16 person Christmas dinner so that I could have a piece to photograph the next day. Never in my life have I had so much opposition to the serving size. Everyone wanted seconds. Bookmark this recipe, and bring it out when you want to impress a crowd!

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake
Recipe from Beantown Baker
(previously from Erin's Food Files, cake and frosting adapted from Apple A Day, originally adapted from Saveur cheesecake adapted from Martha Stewart)
Serves 12-16
Printable Recipe

Cheesecake
1 1/4 pounds bar cream cheese (20 oz), room temperature
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest, plus 1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp coarse salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream

Cake
2 1/2 cup cake flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 Tbsp (1 oz.) red food coloring
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp white distilled vinegar

Frosting
12 oz. cream cheese, softened
12 oz. butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cup confectioners' sugar

Decorations
1 bar white or dark chocolate (Optional for decoration)

Make the cheesecake
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Set a kettle of water to boil. Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese on medium until fluffy, scraping down side of bowl. Gradually add sugar, beating until fluffy. Beat in lemon zest and juice, and salt. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down side of bowl after each addition. Beat in sour cream.

Cut parchment paper in a circle and line the bottom of the cheesecake pan. Wrap bottom half of pan in foil. Pour in filling; place in a roasting pan. Pour in boiling water to come halfway up side of springform. Bake until just set in center, about 45 minutes. Remove pan from water; let cool 20 minutes. Run a paring knife around edge; let cool completely. Cover; chill overnight, then wrap in plastic wrap and freeze.

Make the cake
Preheat oven to 350°. Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa, and salt into a medium bowl.

Beat eggs, oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla, and vinegar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until well combined. Add dry ingredients and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.

Divide batter evenly between 2 greased and floured 9" round cake pans and bake 25-30 minutes, rotating halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean. Let cakes cool 5 minutes, then invert each onto a plate, then invert again onto a cooling rack. Let cakes cool completely, then level.

Make the Frosting
Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until combined. Add sugar and beat until frosting is light and fluffy, 5–7 minutes.

Assembly
Place bottom layer on cake stand. Remove cheesecake from freezer, unwrap, and remove from metal bottom, then peel off parchment paper. Place cheesecake layer on top of the bottom layer of the red velvet cake.

If the cheesecake is wider than the cake, and it is necessary to to trim it, wait approximately 10 minutes for the cheesecake to soften, then trim it with a knife. Place top layer of cake on top of the cheesecake, and coat with a generous layer of the cream cheese frosting to act as the crumb coat. Be careful not to get any red velvet crumbs in the bowl of frosting!

Refrigerate approximately 30 minutes, then frost with as much of the remaining frosting as necessary.

Top with shaved white chocolate and/or shaved dark chocolate. Refrigerate until ready to serve. (This cake doesn't have to stay in the fridge until IMMEDIATELY before serving, so don't worry if you have a 30 minute lapse between the refrigerator and serving.)

Had to take this one at night. Pardon the tacky wallpaper and bad lighting!

Oatmeal Raisin Pecan Cookies

2010-12-27T17:47:00.000-06:00

Regardless of how health-conscious I’ve been all semester once break hits it’s time to eat. It would be an understatement to say my family likes to do it big during the holidays. From when I came back home on December 20 until today, we have had some sort of large meal every day. Whether it’s a big Christmas party for all of our family friends or one of our four Christmas meals, there has been enough food around my house to feed a small army (which is good because when my whole family is together we literally have a small army to feed).

Christmas is when you just have to toss in the towel and say, to heck with it, I’m going to eat and I’m going to eat a lot. I will cook every waking hour for days straight and be more relaxed than I’ve been in months. I guess entertaining is in my blood. There’s nothing better than seeing all the hard work pay off with a room full of happy people. One of these days I’ll start posting all of my cooking recipes to add to the sweets and baked goods. Despite the blog’s name I actually love to cook, I just haven’t quite figured out how to get the lighting right at night when most of the meals are served.

Ok, now I'll get to the recipes. I didn’t take pictures of everything I made, but I’ll post the ones I did. I knew I had to bake these oatmeal raisin pecan cookies after the review said they were some of the best oatmeal raisin cookies ever. That’s all I need to read to bookmark a recipe. It's way too hard to judge recipes without a review. I want someone to tell me what they thought when they made it. I loved these cookies. They may not have been the best oatmeal raisin cookies I’ve ever had, but they are definitely top three (and I’ve had a lot). I love the addition of pecans, and I also love that they’re nice and thick. They’re not the moistest cookies ever, but they’re chewy so I’m willing to let that slide. My whole family loved these, and I will most certainly be making them again soon!

Oatmeal Raisin Pecan Cookies

Recipe from Jonesing for..

Based on the recipe from Ina Garten’s “Back to Basics”
Ina always calls for extra-large eggs in her recipes which frankly, I never have. I read somewhere that an extra-large egg usually has 1-2 tsp. more weight than a large, so to make up the difference I’ll crack an extra egg, scramble it up, and add in the difference. Or you could, yknow, just buy extra-large eggs.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Ingredients

8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. kosher salt
3 cups old-fashioned oats (not quick cooking)
1½ cups raisins
1½ cups pecans, toasted and roughly chopped

Directions

1.) Preheat oven to 350° F. Line 3-4 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2.) In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer with a large mixing bowl), beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Turn the mixer down to low and add the eggs one at a time, letting each one completely incorporate before adding the next. Stir in the vanilla extract.
3.) In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. With the mixer running on low, add the dry ingredients a little at a time. Stir in the oats, raisins, and pecans at the end until just combined.
4.) Using a large cookie scoop, drop 3 Tbsp. sized mounds of dough onto sheet pans about 2 inches apart. Slightly wet your hand with cold water and press lightly down on cookies to flatten. Bake 14-16 minutes or until lightly browned. For chewier cookies, let cool completely on sheet pans. For crisper cookies, transfer cookies from sheet pan to cooling rack after about 5 minutes.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

2010-12-19T16:25:00.001-06:00

There wasn't a doubt in my mind I would love these cookies. After all, the only thing better than one delicious cookie is when it's doubled and you add filling to the equation. The recipe said they were similar to Do-si-dos, but the cookie part is much softer than the Girl Scout cookies. This is a definite plus in my book. The texture is more comparable to an oatmeal cream pie (and who doesn't love those?). I made these before exams and put them in little bags to bring to my family and friends. Well, I definitely should not have kept the bags in my room because apparently peanut butter sandwich cookies and studying are a great combination.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Recipe from Rara Bakes

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup flour
1 cup oatmeal

3 Tbsp butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar
3 Tbsp milk

Cream together butter, peanut butter, and sugars. Add egg and vanilla. Mix well.

Add baking soda, salt, baking powder, and flour. Stir. Fold in oatmeal.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a baking sheet. Flatten balls with a fork. I suggest only cooking 9 at a time because these cookies spread quite a bit (they are meant to be thin).

Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes or until edges lightly brown. Let cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute, then move cookies to a cooling rack.

In a small bowl, cream together remaining butter and peanut butter. Add powdered sugar and stir until no lumps remain. Add in milk and stir until smooth.

Spread frosting inbetween two cookies and make sandwiches with them. Serve with a glass of milk!

Chocolate Banana Marble Bread

2010-12-13T09:46:00.002-06:00

Banana bread is my weakness. I've mastered the skill of resisting cookies, cakes, candy and just about every other sweet (when I want to, that is), but banana bread I just can't seem to keep myself away from. I think this is because I can't figure out what category to place it in. Is it breakfast? Dessert? Snack?

I've decided banana bread fits in all of those categories, and that is my issue. I just eat it all day. I've been studying so much for finals recently that this is even worse because I have a tendency to find myself in the kitchen when I'm bored, and when is anyone ever not bored studying?

I made this banana bread a few days ago, and at first I was not happy with it at all. It required too many bowls for my liking, and the "room temperature" directions test my patience. But, then I tasted it. And then I made it again. And then again. I have made it three times since last week. Truthfully one time I had to run errands and left it in the oven for too long, but it should say something about it that I threw that one away and made a new one the next day. It's great. I should have known considering I've never doubted the incredible combination of chocolate and bananas. I think the best thing to do for this recipe is start with all of the measuring and separating things out into bowls FIRST. I realize normal people always do this, but I tend to do a recipe as I read it. Not surprisingly this has come back to bite me many times..one of which was the first time I made this recipe when I poured all of the batter in before the chocolate. The pictures were taken round #1, but needless to say the swirling was much better round #2 and #3.

Chocolate Banana Marble Bread
Recipe from a 1/2 food blog

2 large or 3 medium very ripe bananas, at room temperature
1/4 cup (2ounces) sour cream, at room temperature – feel free to use cream or buttermilk!
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups sifted plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup (1 ounce) unsifted unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) boiling water, plus more if needed
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened (65° to 68°F)
3/4 cup (7 ounces) sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten

Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F and position an oven rack in the center. Lightly coat the loaf pan with melted butter or high-heat canola-oil spray and line it with a piece of parchment paper that extends 1 inch beyond the long edge of both sides of the pan. Peel the bananas and place them in the bowl of the food processor. Process to a smooth puree. (Alternately, mash them in a bowl using a fork.) Measure out 1 cup of the puree and transfer it to a medium bowl, discarding the rest of the puree or saving it for another use. Add the sour cream and vanilla and whisk just until blended. Set aside.
Use a fine-mesh strainer to sift the flour, baking soda and baking powder together into a medium bowl. Whisk to blend well. Set aside. Place the cocoa powder in the small bowl. Pour the boiling water over the cocoa and stir until it forms a smooth paste – it should run thickly off the spoon. If it is too thick, add another tablespoon of boiling water and stir again. Set aside.
Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of the stand mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until the butter is very light, almost white in color, 4 to 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula. Turn the mixer to medium speed and add the eggs, 1 tablespoon at a time, completely blending in each addition before adding the next. About halfway through the eggs, turn off the mixer and scrape down the bowl with the spatula, then continue adding the rest of the eggs. Scrape down the bowl again.
With the mixer running on the lowest speed, add one-third of the flour mixture. Just as it is barely blended and you can still see a few patches of flour, add half the banana mixture. Repeat with the remaining flour and banana mixtures ending with the flour. Scrape down the bowl and finish blending the batter by hand.
Transfer half of the batter to the second medium bowl. Add the cocoa paste and, using the rubber spatula, gently but thoroughly blend it into the batter.
Drop alternating spoonfuls of dark and light batters into the prepared pan, then marbleize by using a spoon to gently turn the batter over in 3 places down the length of the pan.
Bake the banana bread for 55 to 65 minutes, until firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. When cool, remove from the pan, peel off the parchment paper, and cut slices by sawing gently with a serrated knife.
Makes 1 Loaf

Pizza Puffs

2010-12-06T13:26:00.001-06:00

Twice, recently, I have baked and taken pictures of food that I have already posted at other times without realizing it. Not sure how this keeps happening–it's not like I have hundreds of posts on here. One time I even did it with my favorite cookie recipe. I make them all the time! How did I somehow convince myself that the most recent batch was different? I have no idea. I think I may be losing my mind.

My most recent repeat was with this delicious blueberry muffin recipe. I meant to separate the pizza puffs and the appetizer recipe below here with the blueberry muffins so that I could change up courses a bit. I took a set of new pictures and everything. But it's on here! I guess it's ok since at least that means you all can still make these muffins (they are single-handedly getting me through exams).

But, I guess I'll carry on with the appetizer trend. These pepperoni pizza puffs are awesome. They are also without a doubt the easiest thing I've made recently. I had a big bag in the fridge that I just finished off for lunch today. Make sure to serve them warm with some marinara sauce on the side. You can whip these up in literally no time at all, and I guarantee they will be a crowd-pleaser!

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs
Recipe from The Family Kitchen

3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 1/4 cup Italian Cheese blend
4 ounces Pepperoni Mini’s (or regularly-sized pepperoni, chopped)
1 cup your favorite marinara for dipping
2 Tablespoons fresh basil, thyme, or italian parsely, chopped

Grease a mini muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients together, stirring until completely mixed. Spoon into the prepared mini-muffin cups. Bake in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh chopped herbs, and serve with warm marinara for dipping.

*I put a tablespoon of Italian seasoning in the batter so that I didn't have to go buy fresh herbs.

Maybe should use nicer marinara than Ragu next time?

Ham and Cheese Pretzel Bites

2010-11-30T13:35:00.000-06:00

Tailgate food. Can anyone ever get enough? I know I can't. I could eat appetizers every meal for the rest of my life and be perfectly happy. I would also be 400 lbs..but still happy. Something about bite-sized foods always gets me. I'll sit there and eat 10 mini pigs in a blanket without ever thinking I've had 3 full hotdogs worth. Whoops.

This weekend was the Duke-UNC football game. I've mentioned before how my brother and I are UNC fans (he's a 2009 grad), and the rest of my family is full of Duke fans. This year the game happened to fall on Thanksgiving weekend, and it was at Duke. This meant I was forced to tailgate with the enemy since I was home for break anyways. Truthfully, I didn't mind because I have been bookmarking tailgate recipes all year just dying for a chance to make them. It's not that I couldn't come to a UNC tailgate with a batch of mini hotdogs in hand...but it is.

So, when my mom told me we were having a big tailgate I immediately started listing off the items I planned to make. I ended up limiting it to buffalo chicken dip (since I have never made anything that receives as amazing of a reaction as this always does), caramelized onion dip and mini homemade pretzels stuffed with ham and cheese. We of course brought many other things as well, but those were my addition. I'll stop rambling now and get to this recipe because these were GREAT! Simple, delicious and awesome for a tailgate. We served them with honey mustard which was especially good. And on top of everything, they have yeast...still conquering my fear of yeast one recipe at a time. I see a great friendship in our future.

Oh, and UNC won. Go heels!

Ham and Cheese Pretzel Bites

Recipe from Pennies on a Platter

Yield: 48 bites

1 package (1/4 oz) active dry yeast (or instant yeast)
2 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon packed brown sugar, divided
1/4 cup warm water (110-115˚F)
1 cup warm milk (110-115˚F)
2 1/2 to 3 cups flour
1/2 cup finely chopped ham (about 3 ounces)
1/2 cup shredded cheese of choice (I used cheddar)
6 cups water
4 teaspoons baking soda
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1-2 Tablespoons coarse salt

Combine the yeast, 1 tsp brown sugar, and warm water in a large bowl. Set aside until foamy, 5-8 minutes. (If using the instant yeast, you can skip this step and just add it to the flour.) In another bowl, stir together the remaining 2 Tbsp brown sugar and warm milk until dissolved.

Add 2 1/2 cups flour and milk mixture to the yeast. Stir with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms. Add the remaining flour as needed. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead a few times, forming a smooth ball.

Brush the inside of a large clean bowl with olive oil. Transfer the dough to the bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm, draft free area for about 2 hours, until dough has doubled in size and bubbles appear on the surface.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 4 equal pieces. Lightly dust your hands and rolling pin with flour. Roll one of the four sections into a 12×4-inch rectangle. With the long side facing you, gently press 1/4 of the ham and cheese into the bottom third of the dough, and roll as tightly as possible, starting with the end that has the filling. Cut into 12 1-inch pieces and transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Repeat with remaining 3 portions of the dough.

Let rest, uncovered, at room temperature for 30 minutes. (Again, if using instant yeast you may choose to skip this step as it only requires one rise.) Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400˚F.

Bring 6 cups of water to a boil. Add the baking soda and reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Boil pretzels in batches, cooking about 20 seconds each, turning once. They should be slightly puffed. Use a slotted spoon to transfer them back to the baking sheets.

Bake until puffed and golden-brown, about 15 minutes.

Brush warm pretzel bites with melted butter and sprinkle with salt. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Buffalo Chip Cookies

2010-11-25T21:31:00.001-06:00

There's a little coffee shop on UNC's campus that I frequently stop in before a night of studying at the library. For as long as I can remember I have had an extreme aversion to the library, so I always reward myself for going with a frozen drink or cookie (or both). I avoided the library for the first two months of school, but then my class schedule caught up with me and doing work at my desk just wasn't cutting it. As you can imagine, this cookie/frappuccino habit is not so good when going multiple nights per week.

In the five days leading up to Thanksgiving break I worked on a group project a total of 30 hours. 30 hours! And that is on top of my full class schedule and all other homework. What in the world are these teachers thinking? Anyway, I became a frequent coffee shop visitor to get my cookie and caffeine fix before work time. I've seen the shop's buffalo chip cookie a few times, but had never actually tried it. I think theirs is pretty similar to this one: coconut, chocolate chips, pecans, oats. Lots of ingredients but so worth it. My week of studying left me wanting to make a batch of these at home (that didn't cost me $2 a cookie), so after some research this is the recipe I decided on.

I never read through entire recipes as much as I should. Therefore, when I started putting the ingredients into the bowl to make these cookies I had no idea the GIANT batch of dough it made. Not only did it deplete my ingredient stash, it also broke my spatula. It's a good thing they turned out so well. I do think there are probably great buffalo chip recipes that aren't so ingredient-heavy, but these are great. I just need to remember to cut the recipe in half next time, for my spatula's sake.

Buffalo Chip Cookies
Recipe from CD Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 cup margarine or butter
1 cup shortening
1 box dark brown sugar
4 eggs
2 cups white granulate sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups oatmeal
1 (6-ounce) package of chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecan or walnuts
2 cups Rice Krispies cereal
1 cup coconut (optional) *I used it

Directions:

In a very large bowl, cream butter and shortening. Add brown sugar, eggs, white sugar and vanilla. Sift and add flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add oatmeal, then stir in the chocolate chips, nuts, Rice Krispies and coconut. Use a large measuring spoon (approximately 1/4 cup) for batter per cookie. Put on an ungreased cookie sheet (9 cookies to 1 sheet). Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Let cool 3 minutes before removing from baking sheet.

Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls

2010-11-15T22:35:00.004-06:00

At long last, I worked up the courage to try a recipe with yeast. Thank goodness because I don't know how I could have survived another day without these cinnamon rolls. I'm not sure what scared me off from yeast my whole life. Kneading, maybe? I now know my mixer handles that part. I honestly didn't even know what yeast looked like. How can you be terrified of something you've never even seen? I pictured something along the lines of baking soda or baking powder. That's a negative.

But the funny part about it is that some of my favorite things (read: carbs, carbs, carbs) require yeast. I don't know what I was thinking not at least attempting a recipe with it before now. I must admit I'm still a little scared of active yeast since it requires "warm" water. The use of the word warm throws me off. Warm is subjective in my book. I'll just save that one for another day.

Back to the point: these rolls are incredible. They are light and fluffy with an incredible glaze over the top. They are also pretty easy to make. Most cinnamon rolls are thick and filling. I can't tell you how many times I've passed the IKEA cinnamon rolls or the Cinnabon stand and resisted because I just couldn't think of a justification for eating one. I can definitely justify these. They taste light, therefore they are light. Right? Whether you are conquering irrational yeast fears or not, these rolls are a must-make!

Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze
Recipe From My Kitchen Cafe

*Note: to make these rolls ahead of time, once the rolls are formed and placed on the baking sheet, immediately cover them with lightly greased plastic wrap and refrigerate them; do not let them rise. Refrigerate overnight, up to 16 hours. Let the rolls sit at room temperature, covered, until they have doubled in size about 3-4 hours and then uncover and bake as directed. The rolls can also be frozen at the same point as mentioned above (cover with a layer of greased plastic wrap and a top layer of tin foil). They will need to sit at room temperature for 9-11 hours to defrost and rise before baking.

Makes 12 rolls
Rolls:
¾ cup buttermilk, warm (I pour the buttermilk in a glass liquid measuring cup and microwave for 1 minute on 50% power)
6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
3 large eggs
4 ¼ cups (21 ¼ ounces) flour
¼ cup (1 ¾ ounces) sugar
2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
Filling:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Glaze (or use the delicious cream cheese frosting from this recipe):
1 ½ cups (6 ounces) confectioners sugar
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons buttermilk or milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
For the dough, whisk the warmed buttermilk and butter together in a large liquid measuring cup. Combine 4 cups of flour, sugar, yeast and salt together in a standing mixer fitted with dough hook (or you can use a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon or electric handheld mixer). With the mixer on low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and eggs and mix until the dough comes together, about 2 minutes. Increase the mixer to medium speed and knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes (knead for 15-18 minutes by hand). If after 5 minutes of kneading, the dough is still overly sticky, add 1/4 cup flour 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough clears the sides of the bowl but has a slight tacky feel when pressed between your fingertips. (See this tutorial for a visual.)
Place the dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl and cover the top tightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled, around 2 to 2 ½ hours, depending on the warmth of your kitchen.
Meanwhile, lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking dish (if doubling the recipe, I’ve found using a large rimmed baking sheet, 11X17-inches, works great). In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together. Set aside.
When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a lightly floured counter (I use my trusty roul’pat for this step) and press it into a 16 by 12-inch rectangle (if you have doubled the recipe, split the dough in half and roll out one half at a time). Gently brush the softened butter over the rectangle, using an offset spatula or rubber spatula. Sprinkle on the brown sugar mixture, leaving a 1/2-inch border along the top and bottom edges. Lightly use the palms of your hands to press the brown sugar mixture into the butter, adhering it to the dough.
Lift the longest edge closest to you and begin rolling the dough into a tight log. Pinch the seam closed and roll the log so it is seam side down. Gently stretch the log to be 18 inches in length with an even diameter all the way throughout and pat the ends to even them up.
Using a serrated knife, slice the log into 12 evenly sized rolls (or more if you like your rolls thinner). Arrange the rolls cut side down on the prepared baking pan and cover with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let the rolls rise in a warm place until doubled, 1 to 1 ½ hours.
Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes, until the rolls are lightly golden on top and cooked through but not overly browned.
While the rolls are baking, mix the softened cream cheese and buttermilk together until smooth. Add the vanilla and mix. Whisk in the confectioner’s sugar. Add additional milk or buttermilk one teaspoon at a time until desired glaze consistency is reached. It should be thick yet pourable. Drizzle the warm rolls with the glaze.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

2010-11-07T16:36:00.001-06:00

Well, I can officially say school has taken over my life. There is always a point in the year where you can stop hoping for any slight break in the chaos that might have existed before. That point is here. Whenever I call my mom to complain about all that I have to do, she likes to tell me I can get used to it because that's how life is. I guess there's only so many times I can tell her I've figured out my teachers' secret ploy to pick the same due dates for everything. Still, where's the optimism when I need it?

I kept on looking at the blog over the past few weeks and getting mad at myself for not having posted since the pumpkin cream cheese muffins. I was so excited they made #1 on Foodbuzz and how did I thank everyone who buzzed them...went on a three-week hiatus. My sincerest apologies, you can thank school for that one. This weekend I decided that since the workload showed no signs of slowing, I might as well just indulge in some chocolate therapy. After all, my blog isn't named that for nothing. So I spent Friday and Saturday baking things I had on my list of must-bakes.

To start, I made these chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake bars. Do I even need to tell you they were amazing? They come together relatively quickly despite having three parts. Everyone who tried these loved them–even the people who normally don't like cheesecake (weird that those people exist, I know). Thankfully, I practiced excellent restraint and sent the majority of these over to my boyfriend's house where I doubt they will make it past tonight. It's a good thing I've got people like that around because I have a good feeling they wouldn't have lasted past tonight at my house either!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

from BeantownBaker.com

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 Tbsp butter, melted
2/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Cookie Dough:
5 Tbsp butter, room temp.
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp coarse salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour
1 cup chocolate chips

Cheesecake Filling:
10 oz. cream cheese, room temp.
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325.

For the crust:
Grease a 8x8 pan with butter, line pan with parchment paper and butter the paper, leaving enough to extend over the sides.

Crush graham crackers into crumbs to make 1 & 1/2 cups. Add to butter and stir until crumbs are moistened. Stir in chocolate chips.

Press crust mixture into bottom of pan. Bake for 6 minutes. Set pan on wire rack to cool.

For cookie dough:

Using mixer and the paddle attachment, mix butter, brown sugar, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract at medium speed until smooth. Adjust mixer speed to low and add flour. Mix just until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Set aside.

For cheesecake:
Using mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla extract, beating just until blended.

Pour batter into cooled, baked crust. Drop cookie dough by teaspoonfuls over the top of the filling.

Bake about 30 minutes, or until set. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Place in the refrigerator to chill several hours.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

2010-10-18T11:23:00.004-05:00

It wasn't until freshman year of college that I realized what an amazing ingredient pumpkin is. I have never been a big fan of pumpkin pie, and I think this must have always scared me off from ever trying anything else with pumpkin. It's really a shame I went through so much of my life without it. Then came that fateful care package to my freshman year roommate with a freshly made loaf of pumpkin bread. This was one of those loaves with a perfectly cooked inside but a gooey sugary crust on top. It was all over from there. I went pumpkin crazy and haven't looked back since. It just goes to show that the best friendships start over food. She shared. I love pumpkin bread. We're now best friends. Wonderful how those things work out, isn't it?

Now to these muffins. I don't know where to begin. I'm a harsh critic of all of my baked goods. I rarely will say I love something, but the second I tried one of these I not only loved them, I was in love with them. So were all of my roommates. They are incredible. There's nothing I would change about this recipe. The muffin itself is amazing enough to evoke the "Oh my god" reaction. Then you get a bite with cream cheese and all that love is taken up a notch. Helllloo fall. Best muffins ever.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Recipe from Annie's Eats
Yield: 24 muffins
Ingredients:
For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
For the muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
1¼ cups vegetable oil
For the topping:
½ cup sugar
5 tbsp. flour
1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Directions:
To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1½-inches in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil. Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours.
To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.
To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.
To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons). Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.
Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving. (It may be hard to resist immediate consumption, but the cream cheese filling gets very hot!)

Peanut Butter, Banana and Honey Cookies

2010-10-13T14:51:00.003-05:00

What is it about peanut butter that gets me every time? I actually am pretty moderate with the amount of peanut butter I put on sandwiches. I also have odd issues with eating peanut butter straight from the jar (after all, who wants peanut butter cookies made from peanut butter I've double-dipped in?). If I was making a peanut butter sandwich for anyone else, you better believe I'd slather on at least an inch of peanut butter. But for myself, I try to stay in the serving size. It's one of those things that when I take a step back and examine I wonder what on earth is going through my mind. I make wimpy little peanut butter sandwiches, and then turn right around and use a disgusting amount of peanut butter in baking. Must be one of those out of sight out of mind things. It's measured and in the batter...why bother thinking about anything but it's oh-so-delicious flavor after that point?

As if I hadn't made it clear enough how much I love pb&b sandwiches, and how much I love them in cupcake form, the peanut butter gods have come down and given me pbb&h cookies! The best part: they only use one overripe banana. That means no more disappointment because you have one or two overripe bananas and all banana breads call for three or more. These cookies are easy, tasty and addictive.

Peanut Butter, Banana, and Honey Cookies
Recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod
1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large ripe banana, mashed (about 1 cup)
2 cups old fashioned oats
Peanut Butter Honey Glaze:
3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon honey
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter and sugars, mix until smooth. Add peanut butter, honey, vanilla extract, and egg. Combine until smooth. Next, add the banana and mix until combined.
3. Slowly add in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the oats.
4. Drop cookie dough by heaping tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets that have been lined with parchment paper or Silcone baking mats. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12-15 minutes or until golden. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks.
5. To make the glaze-combine peanut butter, powdered sugar, milk, and honey in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth. If it is too thick or thin, adjust by adding more milk or powdered sugar. Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies.
Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies

Banana Brunch Cake

2010-10-11T22:46:00.001-05:00

One of these days, I'm going to figure out what grocery stores actually do with past-their-prime bananas instead of pondering it all the time. I kid you not, last night I was laying in bed thinking about this question. What is wrong with me? For now I'll pretend that's the first time it's ever crossed my mind.

I buy bananas all the time. My issue is that not only do I love them baked into just about anything, I also like them on sandwiches, plain, on cereal, in peanut butter, etc. So basically not only am I always buying bananas, I am also always running out of bananas to serve both these purposes.

I found this recipe the other day and decided it was worth saving some bananas to make. I think cream cheese enhances pretty much anything (anybody else a fan of cream cheese in their scrambled eggs?). I've found so many banana recipes I love that it's rare for me to find something new I want to try. This bread is extremely moist. It's not as flavorful as I was anticipating, but it was still delicious. Also, if I could figure out a way to just bake a huge batch of this crust I would in a heartbeat. It is hands down the best part of this bread. The weird thing was that I couldn't really taste the cream cheese in the bread. I don't know why this would be considering there is a huge line of it smack dab in the center of the cake. It wasn't so bad because it still tasted great, but I might try to figure out some way to bring out that flavor a little more. This is a great way to change up the usual banana bread routine (or if you're like me, to change up the usual banana and peanut butter cupcake routine). Enjoy!

Banana Brunch Cake
Recipe from Lemons and Lavender, originally from Dining By Design: Stylish Recipes-Savory Settings
Yield: 12 to 16 servings

For the cake:
Nonstick cooking spray
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
3 cups plus 1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon nutmeg, divided
3 eggs
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons hot water
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 medium-sized ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup chopped pecans

For the topping:
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 defrees F. Coat a 10-inch tube or bundt pan with the cooking spray.

Combine the cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon of the flour and 1/2 teaspoon of the nutmeg in a medium bowl. Beat until smooth. Add 1 of the eggs, beating to mix.

Cream 1/2 cup softened butter in a large bowl, gradually adding 1 1/2 cups sugar. Beat well. Add the remaining 2 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Whisk the baking soda and hot water in a small measuring cup. Mix into the butter mixture.

Combine the remaining 3 cups flour, the baking powder, salt, remaining 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a bowl. Mix, alternating with the orange juice, into the butter mixture. Mix in the vanilla, bananas and pecans.

Spoon 1 1/2 to 2 cups of batter into the tube pan and make a slight well in the center. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the banana batter. Spoon the remaining banana batter over the cream cheese mixture.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Brush with the melted butter. Mix together 1 tablespoon sugar and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Sprinkle over the cake.

Look at that crust! Mmm.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes

2010-10-10T22:14:00.002-05:00

What does it say about me that I was excited to post this recipe so I could make more "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" references? I since have decided I don't need to go on about my love of the peanut butter jelly time song again, and I most certainly don't need to remind anyone of how much I love peanut butter. I mean, if you can't figure that out within one minute of looking at my blog I don't know what to tell you. Knowing myself and my massive peanut butter obsession, these cupcakes seemed right up alley. I usually pick peanut butter and banana over peanut butter and jelly, but I don't discriminate. If jelly wants a turn, jelly can have a turn! And who wouldn't love a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in cupcake form?

I'll be honest, these did not turn out how I'd hoped and it was a major let down. Usually if I don't love something I don't post it on the blog. I never understand why people do that. I get on Tastespotting, see something that looks amazing, then read the whole post only to find out they hated it. So now you're thinking, well, if you just posted this recipe you are doing the same thing. Here's where this is different: I had a few days where nothing I baked turned out well. Naturally I blamed it on the oven, but it could very well have been me. I'll never admit to that completely, I'm just putting it out there as a possibility. Regardless, I don't think it is these cupcake's fault they turned out too dry. Considering how awesome the reviews were where I found this recipe I think it's worth giving the cupcakes the benefit of the doubt. I feel even stronger about this because this batter was to die for. I do realize a lot of the tasteless ingredients are what make the difference once the cupcakes are in the oven, but really, it was incredible. I'd love if someone else would give this recipe a try and let me know how you like it! Please please prove me wrong.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes
-Recipe from Sing for Your Supper, adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter (believe it or not, I used reduced fat and you totally CAN’T tell a difference!)
3 large eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
1 cup chopped peanuts
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup jam (your favorite flavor- I use plum)
Peanut Butter Frosting (recipe below)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cream butter, peanut butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.
Reduce speed to low. Mix in the sour cream, vanilla, milk and peanuts. Add dry ingredients slowly. Scrape sides of bowl. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.
Bake cupcakes until testers inserted into centers come out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks. Cupcakes will keep, covered, for up to 3 days. Makes approx. 18 cupcakes.
Peanut Butter Frosting
-adapted from Martha Stewart Cupcakes
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream the butter, peanut butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar. Stir in the vanilla. Use immediately or refrigerate until needed.

To assemble:

When cupcakes are cooled, using a small paring knife, cut out a small hole in the top of each cupcake; discard crumbs. Fill a piping bag fitted with a round tip (I used a Wilton #12) with the jam. Insert the tip into the center of the cupcake and squeeze the jam inside (you’ll want to apply a decent amount of pressure) until the hole is filled. Repeat until all the cupcakes are filled. Pipe or spread the peanut butter frosting on each cupcake (I used a star tip). Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Oreo Cookie Cookies

2010-10-03T20:57:00.001-05:00

Cookies in cookies..now there's a concept. When I first saw this recipe I was a little skeptical. I think Oreos have a really distinctive taste, and I was unsure whether that would work combined with semi-sweet chocolate chips. Nevertheless I trust every cookie recipe on Sugar Cooking, so I went out to the store to buy some Oreos.

Apparently Nabisco has been on its Oreo creating A game recently because there are a ton of new amazing Oreo products. I really meant to buy just plain double stuffed Oreos, but then I saw the new Oreos that are Golden Oreo on one side, Chocolate on the other and double stuffed in the middle. Were they reading my mind? I grabbed that package (even though I knew those wouldn't work for these cookies) and then I saw something even more amazing, Oreo Blizzard Oreos. Get out of my head Nabisco! Or, actually, please stay in it because I'm in heaven. This kind of goes along with the cookies in cookies concept. An Oreo blizzard has Oreos in it, so how can Oreos become Oreo blizzard flavored? I swapped packages.

I don't know how they did it, but they did. And they were incredible. It wasn't until a few days later that I remembered I meant to make these cookies and had already eaten half of my blizzard Oreos. I really can't be trusted at the grocery store. So today I was driving back from lunch and pulled into a gas station to quickly buy a package of Oreos before I forgot again. I also knew the gas station, despite pricing Oreos at $5 a package, wouldn't have the tempting variety.

Now that I finally tried this recipe I know for sure that cookies in cookies really works. I thought they were great. My roommate liked them even more. They're soft and chewy but packed with Oreo pieces and chocolate chips. Definitely a winner. I think I would probably make plain chocolate chip cookies over these, but it never hurts to add a little pizzaz to the ordinary cookie recipe!

Oreo Cookie Cookies
Recipe - Makes 20 - 30 cookies*
Recipe from Sugar Cooking (Adapted from AllRecipes)
Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
20 oreos, crushed

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended.
Add in the crushed oreos. Beat on low speed for just a few seconds to break up the oreos in the dough.
Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.*
Bake for 13 to 16 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.**

"Better Than Crack Brownies"

2010-09-23T18:53:00.002-05:00

As always, I pick my recipes largely based on the way they are described. So the "better than crack brownies" obviously caught my eye. But really, who thinks up these names? I guess parents have an alternate name for these when serving them to their kids?

Anyways, basically after trying these brownies I came to the conclusion that not only are these brownies (supposedly) better than crack, I'm pretty sure they are so much better that these little suckers could put crack dealers out of business (for the sake of staying on this metaphor). Although I'm a peanut butter/chocolate maniac, I never include the nuts on any recipe. For this one I gave in and put the peanuts in. I also added some Reese's peanut butter chips. I just can't even describe how good these are. I'm at a loss for words. Maybe that's how whoever made up this recipe decided to name them better than crack brownies..these are so good they couldn't think of anything comparable? Not worth thinking about because all you should be thinking now is when can I get into the kitchen to make these.

Better-Than-Crack Brownies

Recipe from How Sweet It Is

1 batch brownies

1/2 cup salted peanuts (if don’t have salted, add sea salt)

1 cup chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups

1 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

1 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 tablespoon butter

1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies Cereal

Mix brownies according to directions, and bake for 20-25 minutes in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Remove and top with peanuts and peanut butter cups, and bake for 4-6 minutes more.

While they are finishing baking, melt chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter. Stir in cereal. Remove brownies from oven and evenly pour chocolate mixture over top.

Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

Key Lime Pie Ice Cream

2010-09-22T14:14:00.000-05:00

I know this is something most people have never given much thought to, but I personally have always had serious issues with key lime pie ice cream. I absolutely love key lime pie and every time I see it as a flavor somewhere I always get a sample (I've told you how I'm the sampling queen before, right?). Time after time I end up disappointed. For me, the best part about key lime pie is the tartness, and this is the part that most ice creams leave out. I know it's difficult to do "tart" in ice cream, why not just turn it into a sorbet? Sorbets are tart. Ice creams are creamy. I get it.

But, I don't want sorbet. I want rich, creamy ice cream that can somehow be tart at the same time. So demanding.

All I have to say now is, once again, I am so glad I follow the Sugar Cooking blog. She found the easiest and most amazing key lime pie ice cream in Cooking Light. Not sure how I missed this recipe since I read Cooking Light like it's my job, but I did. This ice cream tastes exactly like key lime pie. It also was by far the easiest ice cream recipe I have ever made...which means this recipe may have been a dangerous discovery. All you have to do is whisk together the ingredients, throw them in the ice cream maker and freeze them for an hour afterward. Why can't all ice cream be this easy? I'll stop myself here so I don't go on for too long about how amazing it is. Just make it and see for yourself!

Key Lime Pie Ice Cream
Recipe from Sugar Cooking (Adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup bottled Key lime juice (such as Nellie and Joe's)
1/2 cup whipping cream
Dash of salt
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (I used fat free)
6 graham crackers (1 1/2 cookie sheets), coarsely crushed, divided
Key lime wedges (optional)

Directions: Combine first 5 ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Pour mixture into freezer can of an ice-cream freezer, and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Stir 1/3 cup graham crackers into ice cream. Spoon ice cream into a freezer-safe container, and cover and freeze for 1 hour or until firm. Sprinkle each serving with 1 teaspoon graham crackers. Garnish with lime wedges, if desired.

Truffle Brownies

2010-09-13T17:03:00.001-05:00

After over a month, my life has finally calmed down a bit. Hope at least a few of you didn't lose faith in me posting! To be honest, I've been baking up a storm recently. I just haven't had time to photograph anything. For rush I made sugar cookies in the shape of the Greek Alpha, Delta and Pi and decorated them with royal icing. That was my first time experimenting with royal icing and the test batch turned out amazing. The real batch, eh, not so much. Isn't that always the way it goes? But, of course, I picked out the better ones for the actual rounds and refused to bring over the rest. I also made my favorite cookie cake, which is actually on here, but I definitely need to post it again. It's my first or second post ever, and I tried to make it Halloween themed which was a big fail. I remember at the time wondering why Tastespotting turned me down. Ha! It's pretty embarrassing.

Today, I made truffle brownies. The name really says it all. These are so deliciously rich... almost to the extent that I would advise you not to make them for anyone who is not a chocoholic as they probably will be way too much. For those of you who could not possibly ever eat anything too chocolatey (like me), make these now! They are extremely easy, but because of cooling times do take a little longer than the average brownie. Luckily, when it comes to awesome desserts I manage to find the tiny shred of patience that fails to appear in traffic/while I'm on hold/during class lectures/etc. As always, I opted out of the nuts.

Truffle Brownies

Recipe from First Look, Then Cook

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), chopped, divided
11 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup walnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 9x9x2-inch metal baking pan with foil, leaving overhang. Spray foil with nonstick vegetable oil spray. Combine 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate and butter in medium metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water and stir until chocolate and butter are melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water and cool chocolate mixture until lukewarm, 5 to 10 minutes.
Whisk sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt in large bowl to blend. Whisk in chocolate mixture. Stir in flour, then chopped toasted walnuts. Transfer batter to prepared baking pan. Bake brownies until tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 26 to 28 minutes. Transfer pan to cooling rack and let brownies cool completely.
Bring cream to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat. Add remaining 6 ounces chocolate to hot cream and let stand 5 minutes to soften, then whisk until melted and smooth. Pour chocolate ganache over brownie sheet in pan and spread to cover completely. Let stand at cool room temperature until topping is set, about 4 hours. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and store at room temperature.
Using foil as aid, lift brownie sheet from pan. Fold down foil edges. Using large sharp knife, cut brownie sheet into 25 squares, wiping knife with hot moist cloth after each cut. Arrange brownies on platter and serve.

Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

2010-09-02T21:11:00.001-05:00

Ok, ok, these sound exactly like a million things I've made before, don't they? Well, they kind of are. That doesn't mean they aren't delicious! The last time I tried banana cupcakes with peanut butter frosting it was a completely different recipe, and as I remember it, a bit more complicated. These were so easy. I put half the batter in a mini muffin pan and made baby cupcakes. Who doesn't love a mini cupcake? All the flavor and less guilt, so who cares if you eat three or four?

Rush starts tomorrow, and I know I wont be able to post for a few days. It'll be about 12 hours at the sorority house tomorrow, and then Saturday I'm driving to Atlanta for the kickoff game. Go Heels! (We don't need to discuss anything in the news that is going on with our players.) Sunday it's back to rush. Oh boy.

Good news, though, after rush I've got a whole list of recipes to try out. For now....peanut butter and bananas. Nope, I'll never get tired of the combination.

Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe from First Look, Then Cook

Cupcakes

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 very ripe large bananas, peeled
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk

Frosting

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 8-ounce package light cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (do not use old-fashioned or freshly ground)
Chopped lightly salted roasted peanuts (optional)

Preparation

Cupcakes

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 12 standard (1/3-cup) muffin cups with paper liners. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Mash bananas with fork in another medium bowl until smooth. Mix sour cream and vanilla into bananas.
Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and egg yolk and beat until well blended. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with banana-sour cream mixture in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating just until blended after each addition. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups (generous 1/4 cup for each).
Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center of each comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to rack and let cool completely.

Frosting

Sift powdered sugar into large bowl. Add cream cheese, butter, and peanut butter. Using electric mixer, beat mixture until smooth. Spread frosting over top of cupcakes, dividing equally. Sprinkle lightly with chopped peanuts, if desired. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.
Makes 12 cupcakes.

Jelly Roll Pancakes

2010-08-27T09:05:00.001-05:00

The end of summer is hands down the busiest time of the year for me. I always feel like there just aren't enough hours in the day to fit everything in (actually, I feel this way year-round). Between moving into my new house and sorority rush practice for hours on end every day, unfortunately baking had to take the backseat. But trust me, I would much rather be baking. I had to squeeze in a little time to bake some cookies the other day because I just couldn't stand not being able to grab something sweet on my way out the door. I think it's safe to say I am addicted to baked goods.

This post isn't for the cookies, though, because unfortunately my camera is dead and the two pictures of cookies that I managed to take before it died are still on there. I've talked about my issues with moving and losing things before, well, the camera charger is currently m.i.a. I had pictures on my computer from some pancakes I made a while back, so I figured I might as well post them.

These pancakes are nothing like regular pancakes. They are sweeter and have a completely different texture. I don't exactly know why they are called jelly roll pancakes, but if I had to guess I'd say it's because their texture allows them to roll up perfectly without breaking. This means you can put whatever goodies you'd like inside and roll them all up into pancake burrito. Yummm. I ate mine with honey and bananas, but I really wish I had some whipped cream and chocolate chips for them. These were good, but I definitely prefer regular pancakes. In my opinion you just can't beat a plain buttermilk pancake with syrup. The best thing I can compare these to would be a thicker version of a crepe.

Jelly Roll Pancakes
Recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything
4 eggs
3 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

Beat eggs with a fork until well blended. Add milk and vanilla. Beat with a fork until well blended.

Keep beating as you add the flour, sugar, and salt. Try and get it as smooth as you can. Melt a little butter in a pan and cook the batter as you would regular pancakes. Serve with butter, powdered sugar, syrup, jam, or Nutella.

S'mores bars

2010-08-07T08:51:00.000-05:00

S'mores are good in basically any form. I love s'mores cookies, s'mores ice cream, plain old s'mores and now these bars can be added to the list. There is a crust on the top and bottom, and in-between is a layer of Hershey's followed by a layer of marshmallow fluff. I don't have much time to write a post, so I'm keeping it short and sweet. These bars are quite tasty. I thought they were a 7 out of 10, but my brother thought they were practically the best thing I've ever made. That just proves all taste buds are different. These are best right out of the oven (I took the pictures a few days after so they don't look quite as warm and gooey). I'm leaving to be a counselor at camp for a week in an hour so I wanted to put up a new recipe before I left! Enjoy!

Smores Bars

Recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 king-sized Hershey's milk chocolate bars (if you want a more subtle chocolate flavor use regular sized chocolate bars; enough to fit)
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (7 1/2 oz jar)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.

3. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. 2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick. Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff. This part can be tricky. I made little disks with the dough and formed them into a sheet on some parchment paper then transferred it over. Spread it around gently.

4. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Makes 16 cookie bars.

Blueberry Boy Bait

2010-08-01T19:12:00.001-05:00

Blueberry boy bait--what a name. When I first saw this recipe on someone's site I thought it was funny since it just looked like your run of the mill blueberry coffee cake. I really wouldn't have chosen this recipe over any of the others if it hadn't been for the name. Not surprisingly, it is really good.

I've always thought girls had it rough when it comes to the sweets department. We get cravings for the most insanely sweet/chocolatey/rich things out there, but find no sympathy from our male counterparts when we try to explain them. I don't know why it is that I can't resist a good cookie, but could turn down a hamburger in a second. I love hamburgers. I love steak. I love big, greasy sandwiches and fries...but I don't crave them. Those are the foods that males crave. What do I crave? Sweets. So blueberry boy bait stuck out because usually boys aren't drawn to sweets. The official consensus from all the "boys" in my life was that this was great. Was it the one dessert that they just couldn't resist? Nope.

I ate this for breakfast and dessert..and snacks throughout the day. I see anything short of pound cake with blueberries in it as breakfast-worthy. This cake isn't exactly like a coffee cake, though. I'd say it's a mix between coffee cake and regular yellow cake. The cinnamon sugar on top is delicious, and the cake is moist and flavorful. I brought it on my family beach trip this week and there's only a piece or two left. Wonder whether it's the boys or girls who are eating the most?

Blueberry Boy Bait
Recipe from Momofuku for 2

2 cups plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
16 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, do not defrost first as it tends to muddle in the batter)
*I doubled the amount of blueberries here.

Topping
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (do not defrost)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 13 by 9-inch baking pan. (I lined a 9×9 inch pan with parchment paper)
Whisk two cups flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. With electric mixer, beat butter and sugars on medium-high speed until fluffy, about two minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just incorporated and scraping down bowl. Reduce speed to medium and beat in one-third of flour mixture until incorporated; beat in half of milk. Beat in half of remaining flour mixture, then remaining milk, and finally remaining flour mixture. Toss blueberries with remaining one teaspoon flour. Using rubber spatula, gently fold in blueberries. Spread batter into prepared pan.
For the topping:
Scatter blueberries over top of batter. Stir sugar and cinnamon together in small bowl and sprinkle over batter. Bake until toothpick inserted in centre of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan 20 minutes, then turn out and place on serving platter (topping side up). Serve warm or at room temperature. (Cake can be stored in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.)

Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies

2010-08-01T18:45:00.002-05:00

Recently it's been increasingly difficult to make good cookies in my house. This happens often in North Carolina summers since we get 100 degree weather paired with 100% humidity (not a great combination for baking). Ahh, the south. My house gets warm too because we have a porch that is closed in, but doesn't have any AC. We leave the door to it open for my dog so she can go through it to the backyard. It's fine 320 days a year, but let me tell you, on a hot day it makes for a miserably hot house. Still, everyone loves cookies (including me) and I feel like batch of cookies around the house is a must in summer..or any other time of the year! I hate when batches spread too much, but I'm willing to take a chance with the humidity all in the name of cookies.

In my house, we've got a house divided on a number of different things. There are obvious things, like my Duke fan parents and two siblings who attended Duke versus my brother and I, UNC kids to the core. There are also other minor things, mostly these deal with food. Coconut is one of those foods. It used to be my mom against the house. She would choose a coconut cake over just about anything else, but nobody else liked it one bit. Then I realized coconut really just sweetens things up and that's always a plus in my book. So now it's me and my mom against the house. That's why whenever possible I love recipes like this that sneak in coconut in a subtle way. Coconut makes these cookies chewy and sweet. They are the perfect summer cookie. Because my house was an oven the day I made them, they didn't turn out exactly how I wanted, but the taste is great.

Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies
Recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 ½ cups white sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of one large lime, finely minced
3 tbsp lime juice
½ cup unsweetened toasted coconut
½ cup sugar for rolling cookies

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. If you haven't already toasted your coconut just put a layer of coconut on a cookie sheet and bake it at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes. Watch out. It goes from white to burnt really quick if you aren't watching closely.
2. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. Using a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and very fluffy.
4. Beat in egg, vanilla extract, lime juice and lime zest.
5. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients and toasted coconut.
6. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and roll in sugar. Place on lined cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. I made mine too big and they ran together. These do spread quite a bit.
7. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned.
8. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

Honey-Glazed Spago Corn Bread

2010-07-27T00:32:00.002-05:00

First, I want to apologize for the one, not-so-great picture here. I was in a rush and just took the picture quickly before taking the whole batch to the beach. Little did I know, this cornbread would be unbelievably good. Corn bread this good deserves amazing pictures, but unfortunately my point and shoot camera doesn't quite do it justice (especially under rushed conditions).

I rarely like corn bread. I think regular bread is far superior and almost always choose that out of a bread assortment at a restaurant. Corn bread is dry, too grainy and falls apart into a million pieces when you try to take a bite. (Guess that's why people always eat it over a bowl of chili.)

Well, maybe all the other cornbread is. This corn bread is so moist it's almost like a cake. It's got the slight grainy texture that comes from corn meal, but in this case it's just the right texture. I used corn meal from a mill in North Carolina so I actually ended up triple sifting it to make sure all the fresh corn pieces were out (the recipe requires double sifting). Other than the sifting, the whole recipe is a breeze. The best part about this bread is the honey butter glaze. Each bite melts in your mouth. It almost seems too good to accompany just a plain ol' meal (hence why I grabbed ~~little~~ pieces throughout the day). Once again, Sherry Yard's book is proving to be fantastic. Your family, friends, etc. will love you for making this.

Honey-Glazed Spago Corn Bread
Recipe from Sherry Yard's Desserts By The Yard
Ingredients
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cake flour
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature
3 ounces (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk
1/2 cup buttermilk

For the glaze:
3 ounces (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup water

1. Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-x-13-inch baking pan with aluminum foil and spray the foil with pan spray.
2. Sift together the cornmeal, all purpose flour, cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt 2 times. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs. Melt the butter and immediately whisk into the eggs in a slow stream. Whisk in the oil, milk, and buttermilk. Whisk in the dry ingredients just until combined.
4. Scrape the batter into the pan and bake for 30 minutes. Rotate the pan from front to back and continue to bake for 10 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
5. Make the glaze: while the corn bread is baking, melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the honey and water and whisk until blended.
6. When the cornbread is done, remove from the oven and poke holes all over the bread, about 1/2-inch apart, with a toothpick. Brush with the glaze and allow to cool.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

2010-07-19T23:17:00.005-05:00

I don't really have the right words to describe these cupcakes. It comes as no surprise that these are some of the best cupcakes I've ever tasted. Just look at how they are made: a chocolate chip cupcake stuffed with cookie dough, mini chocolate chips, cookie frosting and to top it all off, another cookie on top. How could you go wrong with that combination?

Well, being the cookie monster that I am (and having friends that are extremely similar) I decided to take this to the next level and make the cupcakes cookie monster cupcakes. It just seemed fitting for this recipe. I brought them to my friend's 20th birthday and they were a hit. After the first bite the birthday girl took she said, "Oh god, I think I'm going to end up having five more of these before the end of the night." Along with being one of the most delicious things I've ever made, they are also one of my favorite things because they were so cute! Tell me you can look at them without smiling...

That's what I thought.

You know those times when you want to make something better than all of the other recipes? A time when brownies just won't suffice because you really want to impress people. Well, this is when these cupcakes come in. These will blow people out of the water. I decorated them two different ways since cookie monster cupcakes obviously don't work for every crowd. I liked both of the finished products, so take your pick! You'll be happy.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes
Recipe from Annies Eats
Yield:24 cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips (semisweet or bittersweet)
For the filling:
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tbsp. light brown sugar, packed
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
7 oz. sweetened condensed milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
For the frosting:
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
3½ cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ tsp. salt
3 tbsp. milk
2½ tsp. vanilla extract
For decoration:
Tiny chocolate chip cookies
Mini chocolate chips

Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners (24 total). In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and brown sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir together to blend. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl on low speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, mixing each addition just until incorporated. Blend in the vanilla. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the cookie dough filling, combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture has firmed up a bit, about an hour.
To fill the cupcakes, cut a cone-shaped portion out of the center of each cupcake. Fill each hole with a chunk of the chilled cookie dough mixture.
To make the frosting, beat together the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until creamy. Mix in the confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Beat in the flour and salt. Mix in the milk and vanilla extract until smooth and well blended.
Frost the filled cupcakes as desired, sprinkling with mini chocolate chips and topping with mini chocolate chip cookies for decoration.

*For the cookie monster version:
White Chocolate Melting Disks
Semisweet Chocolate Chips
Chocolate Chip Crumbles

Dye frosting blue. Pick a frosting tip and use it to create a textured (fur-like) look on the cupcakes. Place semi-sweet chocolate chips, one-by-one, over an open flame for less than a second. Place on the flat side of a white chocolate disk. Repeat, placing two eyes on each cupcake. For the mouth, crumble up chocolate chip cookies and place in an organized fashion below the eyes. I think this looks better than using a half cookie for a normal mouth (after all, when was the cookie monster ever neat!).