2008 in Pictures
May you have a happy, healthy, safe, and sweet new year.
Happy New Year!
Oatmeal Cream Pies
I think I had my first Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pie when I was in junior high. My mom never bought them for us, but they were sold at school and I developed a slight addiction. (As well as to Nutty Bars and those chewy cookies with rice cereal, whatever they were called–Star something.) Anyway, The cookie was chewy and soft and the filling was super sweet and gooey and when you’re 12-years-old, what could possibly be better than that?
Well, you may remember last year when I made these, I was hoping they’d taste like the Little Debbies. And they didn’t. At all. However, I’m happy to report that my 34-year-old self is pretty damn thrilled to finally have a recipe that does. The taste, texture, and gooey-ness are all exactly as I had remembered. They’re just not as pretty.
Two recipe notes: 1. Can anyone explain to me why the recipe calls for dissolving salt into hot water when making the filling? 2. I used a small scoop and my cookies were done in seven minutes.
One totally unrelated note: Nosh With Me is now on Twitter.
Photos of the process here.
Cookie Ingredients
1 cup margarine
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups quick oats
Cream Filling Ingredients
2 teaspoons very hot water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow cream
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Preparation
- In large bowl, cream margarine, sugars, molasses, vanilla, and eggs.
- Combine flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon.
- Add to the creamed mixture; mix in the oats.
- Drop dough by TBS on ungreased sheets. (I used a small cookie scoop.)
- Bake at 350 degrees F.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes,or until just starting to brown around the edges.
- They will look moist; don’t overcook.
- While the cookies bake prepare the filling.
- In small bowl, dissolve the salt in the hot water.
- Allow this to cool.
- Combine marshmallow cream, shortning, powdered sugar, and vanilla in med bowl; mix on hi until fluffy.
- Add the cooled salt water and mix well.
- Spread filling on flat side of one cookie, press 2nd cookie on top.
Recipe from Recipe Zaar.
Peanut Butter Squares
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Chocolate and peanut butter–the two great tastes that always taste great together, right? Wrong. I know, I know, you didn’t think it was possible. Neither did I, until I made these. But they’re terrible. I mean, really, really terrible. The peanut butter base is mushy and gritty and the overall texture is just ick.
After I got over my initial disappointment, I Googled the recipe and found rave reviews which totally surprised me. Have you made these? What did you think?
Photos of the process here.
Base Ingredients
Scant 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
scant 1/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
Topping Ingredients
7 ounces milk chocolate
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Preparation
- Stir all the ingredients for the base together until smooth.
- I use the paddle attachments to my mixer, which my children love operating, but a bowl and a wooden spoon will do the job just as well.
- You will find, either way, that some of the dark brown sugar stays in rubbly but very small, lumps, but don’t worry about that.
- Press the sandy mixture into a 9-inch square brownie pan and make the surface as even as possible.
- To make the topping, melt the chocolates and butter together (in a microwave for ease, for a minute or two on medium) and spread the base.
- Put the pan in the refrigerator to set. When the chocolate has hardened, cut into small squares because, more-ish as it undeniably is, it is also very rich.
Makes approximately 48.
Recipe from How to Be Domestic Goddess via WCHS.
Gingerbread Men
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Growing up, gingerbread men cookies were something we occasionally bought at a bakery, but never made at home. Perhaps it’s because they’re associated with Christmas, and well, being Jewish, we don’t celebrate Christmas, or maybe it’s just because my mom was not much a cut out cookie kind of person. (Except for a sugar cookie recipe that I must copy next time I’m in town, that I believe came from Aunt Helen–she of mandelbrot fame.)
Anyway, on to the cookie. The original recipe calls for margarine, which I never have in my house, so I used butter. Also, I swapped out half of the regular sugar for brown sugar as I wanted a slightly chewier cookie, and I’m happy with the texture. And although the title of the original recipe calls them spicy, they aren’t. In fact, they’re just right and oh so delicious!
If you’re looking for photos of the process, sorry, there aren’t any. This recipe has molasses in it, and as we know, I hate the smell of molasses and had to work super fast and not take pictures as to not gag for longer than I had to. Seriously, it’s that gross.
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg yolk
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Preparation
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until smooth. Stir in molasses and egg yolk. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg; blend into the molasses mixture until smooth. Cover, and chill for at least one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. (Mine barely spread so I think 2 inches is very generous.)
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. Frost or decorate when cool.
Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com.
Apple Pie
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My dad is a huge fan of Costco’s apple pie. (Hey, don’t knock it till you try it.) He mentioned that recently they changed their recipe, because the pies just don’t taste the same anymore. So, I decided I would find a recipe that had all of the characteristics of the pie he likes (not too tart, not too sweet, double crust, and a gooey inside), and make it myself. While this specific recipe calls for Granny Smith apples, I added some Fujis to cut down on the tartness.
I scoured the Internet and came across a recipe with over 1800 reviews and a five-star rating and knew I had to give it a go. And it is now safe to say this is my family’s new favorite apple pie recipe. The difference between this pie and others I’ve made is in the preparation–the filling ingredients are boiled which creates a gooey goodness that I could easily eat by the spoonful. The filling is then poured onto the pie, over the lattice crust, and the gooey goodness seeps in the cracks and covers the apples. Sounds weird, but trust me, it works.
For the crust, I found a simple shortening recipe (I know some of you are butter purists, sorry) that was easy to work with and baked up flaky. As you can see from my pictures, I lack the technical skill and patience it takes to make a proper lattice crust, but it still tastes good, ugly strips and all. Also, those of you paying close attention to the pictures may have noticed I used a cake pan. I am ashamed to admit I do not own a pie dish, but the 8″ cake pan worked out just fine.
Photos of the process here.
Crust Ingredients (I doubled it so I could make a top and bottom crust.)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening, chilled (I used butter flavor Crisco)
3 tablespoons ice water
Crust Preparation
- Whisk the flour and salt together in a medium size bowl. With a pastry blender, cut in the cold shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water over flour.
- Toss mixture with a fork to moisten, adding more water a few drops at a time until the dough comes together.
- Gently gather dough particles together into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling.
- Roll out dough, and put in a pie plate. Fill with desired filling and bake.
Filling Ingredients
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced
Cinnamon (the recipe doesn’t call for it, but I like it in my pies)
Filling Preparation
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
- Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work of crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
- Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.
Crust recipe from All Recipes. Filling recipe from All Recipes.
Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
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Last year we spent Thanksgiving in Texas with family, which includes my cousin and his wife whom have been vegan for years. So the challenge was to find a vegan recipe that would not only wow the vegans, but the non-vegans as well.
This recipe definitely did just that, and these goodies have now become a regular addition to our Thanksgiving meal. The muffins are soft, moist, and flavorful and the common reaction is, “These are so good, I never would have guessed they were vegan!”
Happy Thanksgiving!
Photos of the process here.
Ingredients
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup pureed pumpkin (fresh or from a can)
1 tablespoon soy yogurt
1/2 cup soymilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons molasses
Preparation
Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease muffin tins with vegetable shortening or spray on oil.
Sift together dry ingredients (flour through cloves). In a separate bowl, wisk together wet ingredients (pumpkin through molasses). Pour wet into dry and combine. Fill muffin tins 2/3 of the way. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Recipe from Post Punk Kitchen.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
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So, there are chocolate chip cookies, then there are these chocolate chip cookies. Throw away your other recipes, because you won’t need them after trying this one. Seriously. This is the best chocolate chip cookie I have ever made, and my coworkers seem to agree. After bringing them into work, I received an email from one of my favorite guinea pigs which said, “OMG, those cookies are good!” in 72-inch purple and pink font. Point taken.
These cookies are crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, 
have a rich caramely flavor because of the brown sugar, and the sea salt sprinkled on top is just the perfect addition. And even though they are the size of your head, you still get chocolate in every bite thanks to the fèves (chocolate discs). Because I’m not a fan of dark chocolate (and not ashamed to admit so), I used milk chocolate ones, which I found at Surfas, my local commercial kitchen supply store. (Just search fèves on their website.) These specific chocolates are kinda pricey, so you could always just use the largest chocolate chips you can find and they will still taste just as good.
And finally, just a note that I used all-purpose flour in place of the bread flour.
Ingredients
2 cups minus 2 tablespoons
(8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)
Sea salt
Preparation
- Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
- Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
- Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.
Yields 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.
Recipe from The New York Times, via Smitten Kitchen.
Contest–Win a Silicone Brioche Mold
As I mentioned in the previous post, the folks at KaTom were kind enough to give me 
a silicone brioche mold to give away to a lucky Nosh With Me reader!
To enter the contest, simply tell me something–anything–about yourself. I like to know a little about my blog readers.
Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, November 23. One winner will be selected at random on Monday, November 24 and contacted by email shortly thereafter. Please note this contest is only open to residents of the U.S. and Canada.
Brioche
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When the kind folks at KaTom Restaurant Supply offered to send me a silicone brioche mold to test out, I of course said YES! (Note: They also sent me one to give away, so stay tuned for your chance to win it later this week.) This recipe was a learning experience for me, as I have never a) made a yeast bread or b) baked with a silicone mold.
As you can (or actually, can’t tell from the picture), I chose to do the brioche à tête (think round knob on the top of the loaf); my skills are obviously lacking. Also, I dumped in some mini chocolate chips (1/2 cup? 3/4 cup?), because I figured they couldn’t hurt. I mean, I like challah with chocolate chips, so what’s not to like about brioche with chocolate chips, right?
The recipe itself wasn’t difficult, there’s just lots of do this and wait, then do this and wait some more. And the recipe instructions were kind of vague at times (e.g., Fold it over several times, making it pliable without becoming too soft. What exactly is too soft?) I wasn’t thrilled with the flavor, but then again, I rarely eat brioche plain, usually it’s used for French toast and drenched in syrup. I’ll probably bring it in to my office guinea pigs tomorrow and see what they say.
On a positive note, the silicone mold is really cool. I didn’t have to grease it, and the brioche just popped right out. And it was super easy to clean–there wasn’t even a crumb, which is always a plus!
Photos of the process here.
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Unrelated to the recipe, Nosh With Me is now on Twitter. Feel free to follow.
Ingredients
3 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 packet active dry yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter
Preparation
- Pace 2 cups of the flour, the yeast, water, sugar, and eggs into a bowl and whisk until smooth. Cover the mixture and let it sit for 45 minutes
- Add the remaining 1 cup of flour, the salt, and beat with electric mixer for 45 minutes.
- On a loured surface, flatten the butter into a rectangle about 1/4-inch thick with the heel of your hand or on a rolling pin. Fold it over several times, making it pliable without becoming too soft. Add the butter to the dough and beat until it’s fully incorporated.
- Cover the dough and allow it to rise for 1 hour.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold it over several times. Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover, and refrigerate it overnight. The chilled dough will be less sticky.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and quickly form it into a round loaf. Place loaf into the brioche pan. Cover with a light cloth and allow it to rise for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until it’s doubled and is crowned over.
- Beat the egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of water, and brush all exposed surfaces with the egg wash.
- Bake in a preheated 375 degree F (190 degree C) oven until it’s oglden brown, about 45-50 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cool it in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool completely on a rack.
For a classic topknot, cut off an egg sized piece of the dough when it is removed from the refrigerator, allow it to rise separately in a small bowl, and add it to the top of the main loaf just before baking.
Recipe (sans chocolate chips) from the brioche mold packaging.
Aunt Helen’s Mandelbrot
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Use a wooden spoon and lots of elbow grease were the words of advice I received from Aunt Helen when she heard I was going to make her mandelbrot recipe. Do not use a 
mixer, she reminded me. So with wooden spoon and mixing bowl at the ready, I made mandelbrot. However, before I give you the recipe, here are two important bits of history:
1. My grandma Freda (my mom’s mom) died before I was born and I am named after her. (In Judaism, you name babies after people who are deceased, as a way of keeping their memory alive.) Anyway, my grandma’s sister, Helen, was very close to my mom, and consequently, was like a grandmother to my sister and me. We’d celebrate holidays together, and every year on our birthdays, Aunt Helen would give us a batch of her homemade mandelbrot (with nuts for my parents, with chocolate chips for my sister and me). When I was 11, we moved out to California and Aunt Helen continued to bake the mandelbrot, shipping it to us across the country. Sure, there were a lot of crumbs, but it was always still delicious. To this day, Aunt Helen still mails us mandelbrot on our birthdays.
Of course, this recipe was passed down to my mom, and now, to me. The only difference between their batches and mine is theirs have a lot more burned pieces, although I do believe that’s by choice.
2. Mandelbrot (aka mandelbrodt or mandel bread) is a twice baked cookie made with oil. In Yiddish, mandel means almond (or according to Aunt Helen, nut) and brot means bread. Traditionally, it is made with nuts and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. I however, prefer it sans nuts and with chocolate chips. It’s often described as Jewish biscotti but to me, it’s a lot thicker and crumbles quite easily. And there’s no right or wrong time to eat mandelbrot–I’ve been known to have a few pieces for breakfast while other people enjoy dunking it in coffee for dessert.
Photos of the process here.
Ingredients
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup oil
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips
Preparation
- Mix eggs and sugar with a wooden spoon. Add vanilla and mix.
- Mix the flour, salt, and baking together. Add to the egg mixture, alternating with the oil, four times.
- Add chocolate chips and mix. Batter will be stiff. (She’s not kidding, it’s stiff!)
- Refrigerate overnight, or at least three hours. (Aunt Helen recommended overnight.)
- Roll into four logs, approximately 1 1/2″ in diameter.
- Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes, remove from oven, and immediately slice into 1″ pieces. (Both my mom and Aunt Helen said it’s very important to not let the logs cool because they will crack when you slice them.)
- Place cookies on their side on cookie sheet and bake 10-15 minutes more.
Recipe from Aunt Helen.
Tarantula Cookies
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These cookies are the biggest pain the butt ever. EVER EVER EVER. And it’s quite safe to say I will never make them again. Not only am I unhappy with the way they turned out (UGLY), they took forever and were super messy. And as an added bonus, I’m pretty sure I’ll be finding jimmies and broken spider limbs all over my kitchen for the next month. I’m bringing them into the office tomorrow, so I’ll let you know my coworkers’ reactions.
Happy Halloween!
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugaar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 bag (8 ounces) thin, short pretzel sticks
1 large bag (11 1/2 ounces) milk chocolate chips
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Chocolate sprinkles
Small red candies
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well blended.
- Gradually add the flour mixture and cocoa powder. Beat to form a smooth dough.
- Roll a tablespoon-sized ball of dough, and place it on a baking sheet. Arrange eight pretzel sticks around the ball like spokes on a wheel. Press the tips of the pretzel sticks firmly into the dough ball. Continue with the rest of the pretzels and dough.
- Bake until cookies start to brown around edges, about 7-10 minutes.
- Lift the cookies from the baking sheets with a spatula, and place on wire cooling racks. Let cool completely. Place the racks on sheets of aluminium foil or waxed paper.
- In a double boiler (or the microwave), melt the chocolate chips with vegetable oil.
- Pour the melted chocolate over each cookie. Coat with chocolate sprinkles. Press in two red candy eyes on the front of the head. Eeek!
Recipe from Epicurious.
M&M Cookies
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Did you miss me? I still can’t believe it’s been a month since I’ve posted a recipe here, especially considering I’ve been baking like a crazy person lately. Unfortunately it was just tried and true recipes as I didn’t want to experiment for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur break-the-fast desserts. Speaking of Rosh Hashana, my mom bought a Costco-sized bag of M&Ms to fill candy dishes with when we had 40 (!!) people for dinner at our house for the holiday. Fortunately for me, there was a ton of candy left and I took it home so I could make these cookies.
As a kid, I always loved the chewy, buttery M&M cookies from the bakery. While these do not live up to my childhood memories, they are good nonetheless and I know my coworkers will gobble them up in no time tomorrow.
Photos of the process here.
Ingredients
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups candy-coated milk chocolate pieces
Preparation
- In a large bowl, mix sugar, eggs, shortening, and vanilla thoroughly. Add flour, salt, and baking soda to creamed mixture. Blend well. Add 3/4 cup of M&M candies.
- Drop dough by teaspoonful onto cookie sheet. Slightly push a few candies on top of each dough ball with remaining candies.
- Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 9 to 11 minutes, to your liking.
Recipe adapted from All Recipes.
Burger Bites
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At least once a week, someone will email or ask me if I have any easy recipes they can do with their kids. Because really, who better to ask than a 34-year-old single woman with no children, right?
But I digress. Here is that recipe. The thing to keep in mind while making these is DON’T WASTE TIME. If you don’t follow Jenn’s instructions precisely, the buns won’t stick to the burgers. (Er, the Nilla Wafers won’t stick to the peppermint patties.) You’ve been warned.
Photos of the process here.
Ingredients
1 bag peppermint patties
1 box Nilla Wafers
1/2 cup shredded coconut
2 drops green food coloring
sesame seeds
water
Preparation
First put 24 Nilla Wafers “round side” down, on a cookie sheet. Then top them with a peppermint patty. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set aside 24 more Nilla Wafers to act as the top of the “bun.”
Put your coconut in a bowl with a sealed lid, or a ziplock bag works fine too. Add the food coloring and couple of drops of water while you’re at it. Seal the container and shake til you get a nice “tinting” of green - looks like lettuce, get it?
Now put your topped Nilla Wafer/open faced patties in the oven for only about 1-1/2 minutes, check them to see that they are glossy and not totally melted - just “melty.”
Take them out of the oven and IMMEDIATELY top with tinted coconut.
Then IMMEDIATELY put the burger “tops” on, pushing a bit to secure them to the patty. I can’t stress this step enough. You have to act quickly and not let the chocolate melt, or there will be no stickage. There’s a lot of IMMEDIATELY goin’ on here, and for good reason, once this thing cools you are outta luck. Work quickly, it’s only to your benefit.
Now here’s where the burger really takes shape. Get a small bowl of water and brush a few drops of water on the top of the bun. (Or use clean fingers.) Then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Now these things REALLY LOOK like burgers.
Recipe from my friend and fellow blogger, Jenn.
Marshmallow Crunch Brownie Bars
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Wow.
That one word basically sums up these brownies. They are amazing and gooey and crunchy and moist and could easily translate to, “I’m sorry I was a shmuck,” “I love you,” “Will you marry me,” “I think you’re cool and can’t wait until our next date,” or in this case, “I obviously like my coworkers.” Who knew brownies could be so expressive?
Keep in mind, the deliciousness does come at a price–these are a bit time consuming and dirty a lot of bowls, but they are so worth it in the end! What could be better than a brownie topped with marshmallows topped with melted peanut butter and chocolate with Rice Krispies mixed in?
Brownie Ingredients
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2/3 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 ¼ cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
Topping Ingredients
7 ounces mini marshmallows
1 ½ cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup Jif peanut butter
1 TBSP unsalted butter
1 ½ cups Rice Krispies
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.
In a medium saucepan, melt the chocolate, butter, and ¾ cup of the semisweet chocolate chips on medium heat. Stir occasionally while melting. Set aside and cool for 5 minutes. In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, place the eggs and whisk thoroughly. Add in the sugar and vanilla. Stir the melted ingredients into the egg mixture, mixing well. Stir in the dry sifted ingredients and mix well. Fold in the remaining ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and even with a spatula. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the corner of the pan comes out with moist crumbs.
Remove the brownies from the oven, and immediately sprinkle the marshmallows over them. Return the pan to the oven for 3 more minutes.
While the brownies are baking, place the chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter in a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until melted. Remove from heat, add the cereal,and mix well. Allow this to cool for 3 minutes or so.
Spread the mixture evenly over the marshmallow layer. Refrigerate until chilled before cutting.
Makes 12 3×3-inch bars. (I cut them a lot smaller and easily got a few dozen bars.)
Recipe from Culinary Concoctions.
Chocolate Chip Cupcakes/Muffins/Cookies
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I would probably call these “Blondies with Chocolate Chips” but who am I to change a recipe title? Don’t let the name fool you–aside from the fact they are baked in cupcake tins, they are nothing like a cupcake–they are buttery and chewy like a blondie. And they are quite delicious. So much in fact, one of my coworkers said these may be his new favorite and ranked them up there with cake balls. I know!
As you can see from the picture, mine are ugly. I omitted the nuts in the topping so I was left with a goopy chocolate chip mixture (which tastes delicious just looks sort of blah). Also, I was out of mini chips so I had to use regular size and I think they are entirely too large for the petite size of the cupcake/muffin/cookie. All that aside, I’d still eat them. In fact, I uh, may have had a few.
Photos of the process here.
Cupcake Ingedients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cupcake Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°. Line miniature muffin pans and coat with cooking spray.
Beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add vanilla extract and mix well. Add egg and beat until blended.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to butter mixture, mixing just until combined.
Spoon about 1 & 1/2 teaspoons batter into each muffin cup. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Topping Ingredients
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping Preparation
Beat brown sugar, egg, and salt until blended. Stir in chocolate chips, pecans, and vanilla.
After cupcakes have been baked, spoon topping mixture over each cupcake. Bake for 8-10 more minutes.
Makes about 3 dozen cupcakes.
Recipe from Bake or Break.