Halloween Recipes
Halloween’s almost here which means it’s time for some spooky treats! Haven’t decided what to make yet? Here are some suggestions from Halloweens past to get your started:
Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting
Maple Chocolate Chip Shortbread
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When this month’s Bon Appetit showed up in my mailbox, I knew I was in heaven. There are a ton of maple recipes in this issue–maple cake, maple apple pie (going to try that one for Thanksgiving), and maple shortbread. Most of these recipes call for maple sugar, and having never heard of such a thing, I did some research which prepared me for the crazy price of a tiny bag of the sugar. I need to tell my coworkers they are eating gold or something, and they better like it because I doubled the recipe!
Not only is the shortbread made with the maple sugar, there is maple syrup brushed on the top, and more maple sugar sprinkled on top of that, giving it a nice crunch. The cookies themselves are chewy and buttery, and not cloyingly sweet like you might expect. They’re a nice change from traditional shortbread, and I have a feeling it’s only a matter of time before someone subs out the chocolate chips with bacon.
Ingredients
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus additional for pan
7 tablespoons finely ground maple sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup (about) bittersweet chocolate chips
2 teaspoons pure maple syrup, preferably Grade B (I used Grade A)
Bon Appetit note: If maple sugar is coarse, grind it in a food processor until it resembles granulated sugar.
Preparation
Preheat oven to 300°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. (I used a regular cake pan.) Using electric mixer, beat room-temperature butter, 6 tablespoons maple sugar, and coarse salt in large bowl until light and fluffy and sugar is dissolved. Add flour and beat just until blended. Pat dough evenly onto bottom of prepared pan. Press chocolate chips into dough in random pattern, spacing chips 1/2 inch apart (chips should show). Brush dough with maple syrup and sprinkle evenly with remaining 1 tablespoon maple sugar.
Bake shortbread until golden brown and firm to touch, about 55 minutes. Transfer pan to rack and cool shortbread 10 minutes. Gently push tart pan bottom up, releasing shortbread. (Or double-flip out of the cake pan onto a cutting board like I did.) Cut warm shortbread into 16 wedges. Cool shortbread wedges completely and serve.
Recipe from Bon Appetit.
Salted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
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I think the first time I ever baked with fleur de sel was when I made Dorie Greenspan’s World Peace Cookies, and I was immediately hooked. Since then, I’ve made a slew of other salty-sweet recipes, including the super popular NY Times chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Then David Lebovitz‘s salted butter chocolate chip cookie recipe showed up in my Google Reader, and I knew it had to be made. David’s recipe uses ingredients you already have on hand–no need for special flour or gigantic chocolate pieces–and since the fleur de sel is mixed in rather than sprinkled on top, you get little bites with a salty crunch. Mmmm! If you’re a fan of fleur de sel in sweets, this is a must-make recipe!
Photos of the process.
Ingredients
4 ounces (115g) salted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup packed (110g) dark or light brown sugar
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup (180g) flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt or kosher salt
1 1/3 cups (200g) coarsely chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (I used milk chocolate chips)
1 cup toasted nuts, coarsely chopped (I omitted these)
Preparation
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or by hand, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar just until smooth and creamy.
- Beat in the egg and the vanilla.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Stir the flour mixture into the beaten butter until combined, then mix in the chopped chocolate (including any chocolate dust) and the chopped nuts.
- Cover and chill the batter until firm. (David suggest letting it chill overnight, but I only waited a few hours.)
- To bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Form the cookie dough into rounds about the size of a large unshelled walnut. Place the mounds evenly spaced apart on the baking sheets, and press down the tops to flatten them so they are no longer domed and the dough is even.
- Bake the cookies for ten minutes, rotating the baking sheet midway during baking, until the cookies look about set, but are not browned.
- Remove from the oven and quickly tap the top of each with a spatula, then return to the oven for two to five more minutes, until the tops of the cookies are light golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cookies cool.
Recipe from David Lebovitz.
Salted Chocolate Cookies with Chocolate Chips and Caramel Bits
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As I may have mentioned, I finally found those Kraft caramel bits at Target and have been wanting to use them. I knew I would make something salty-sweet, and a quick Google search later, I came across this recipe. Chocolate cookie, sea salt, chocolate chips, and caramel. Um, HELLO.
These cookies taste as good as they sound. Chocolaty with a hint of salt (in fact, I would add more next time), chewy, and full of caramel pieces. I do have to admit they are better served warm, but that’s what the microwave is for, right?
Ingredients
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon course sea salt
1 cup chocolate chips
8 caramels, chopped into fours (I used about 3/4 cup Kraft Caramel Bits)
Photos of the process.
Preparation
Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until fluffy. Add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and mix until combined.
Fold in caramel pieces and chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough for 4-6 hours (or more). When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350, roll into balls and set on baking sheet. (Note: refrigerating is the most important part. If you don’t refrigerate, when the cookies go into the oven, the caramel pieces will sink to the bottom and stick to the cookie sheet.)
Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Let cool completely. Don’t move the cookies to a cooking rack; either eat them or let them cool.
Recipe adapted from How Sweet It Is.
Smores Cookie Bars
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Over the last couple of years, and especially when I was out of work, I started taking after my dad and stocking up on certain items when they’re on sale. This easily explains why I have about a million bars of soap as well as a lifetime supply of Glad Press N Seal (best stuff ever!). Anyway, sometime at the beginning of summer, I noticed graham crackers and marshmallow creme on sale. Not a big fan of the creme, I bought and figured I’d use it to make fudge or something. Well, that something turned into these bars.
The original recipe calls for these to be made in an 8×8″ pan and cut into 16 bars. We have way more than 16 people at my office, so I knew this was one recipe that needed to be doubled. (You’re welcome Evan!) The bars were easy to pull together and taste incredible. I was on the fence about them the night I baked them, but the following day they won my heart. A soft, chewy cookie, a layer of chocolate, a layer of marshmallow, and topped with another cookie.
Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 (1.55 oz. each) milk chocolate candy bars
1 cup marshmallow creme
Preparation
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 8-inch square baking pan.
Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt; add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Press half of dough into prepared pan.
Arrange chocolate bars over dough, breaking as needed to fit. Spread with marshmallow creme. Patch together pieces of remaining dough over marshmallow; carefully press to form a layer.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.
Recipe adapted from Hershey’s.
