Friday, March 25, 2016

"The Best" Lemon Bars

The Best Lemon Bars - made March 13, 2016 from Your Home-Based Mom

Almost everyone I know loves lemon bars and almost every lemon bar recipe I see claims it’s “the best”. I have very jaded taste buds so I rarely go into the superlative when I’m describing something unless it really, really deserves it. It doesn’t mean it isn’t good if I don’t call it “the best”. Only that there are so many amazing recipes out there that are super fantastic that it’s hard to claim any single one recipe as “the best” of anything.

So I don’t know if this is THE best lemon bar recipe I’ve ever tried. It’s good. It’s fine. My normal go-to lemon bar recipe is also quite good and I don’t know if I would choose this one above that. The good thing is it’s not really a competition. Both are good. Both can be made easily and eaten even more easily. Crisp shortbread crust, lemony topping, sweet vanilla glaze – not much not to love here.  If you’re a lemon bar fan, give this recipe a whirl. It’s good for using up at least 1 lemon.
Oh and true confession time, I probably left this in the oven for 5 minutes longer than I should have. I was busy doing something on my computer and the time got away from me. By the time I checked on these, the top was golden brown all over and edging more towards “brown” than “golden” – eek. The good thing with lemon bars though is they’re hardy enough to withstand a few minutes’ neglect because the topping is more of a custard and not a cake to dry out. And the bottom came out a little crisp but not burnt and not crunchy-hard.  Dodged a baking bullet. Whew.

Crust
1/2 cup butter, cold
1 cup flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Filling
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons lemon juice
grated rind of 1 lemon

Glaze
3/4 cup powdered sugar
lemon juice to make soft glaze
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8 pan with foil, lightly spray with cooking spray.
  2. Cut together butter, flour and powdered sugar until mixture resembles coarse meal and press into an even layer into prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes.
  3. Mix together sugar, flour and baking powder. Add in eggs, lemon juice and lemon rind.
  4. Pour over hot, baked crust and bake for 20-25 minutes or until edges are golden brown and mixture is set.
  5. Mix together powdered sugar and enough lemon juice to make a glaze soft enough to drizzle over lemon bars while they are still warm. Glaze, let cool then cut into squares.

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Frosted Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

Frosted Cinnamon Sugar Cookies - made dough March 12, 2016, adapted from I Heart Naptime
You know how I always say that I only have 1 taste test cookie or taste test piece of whatever I make and I give the rest away? But if something is really, really good, I’ll have a second piece? Compared to all I bake, it’s relatively rare when I like something enough to have more than 1 piece of it. And that includes even my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes. A warm chocolate chip cookie 10 minutes out of the oven is the peak of culinary dessert nirvana for me but even so, I’m fine only having one cookie and no more. At least not until I make the next batch days or weeks later. But eating one after the other of something? Very rare for me. I’m a moderate; I don’t overindulge like that.

So it says something when I flag that this cookie is one of those rare ones. I honestly didn’t expect to like it as much as I did. I figured I would like the cookie well enough because it had all the right elements I look for in a good cookie: it didn’t spread, it was soft, moist and chewy and it tasted good. No, make that: it tasted great. Much as I love chocolate, when it comes to cookies, I actually prefer vanilla. I even liked the frosting. Hello, not a frosting person but I liked the frosting. Actually, I made up the frosting recipe based on modifying the original one that came with the recipe.  And I liked it paired with this cookie. The cookie would be good without the frosting but it was great with it.
I waited for the first batch to cool so I could frost the cookies, had a taste test cookie and thought “hmm, that’s really good.” Then “Wow, that’s really good.” So, although it was supposed to be a rest day, I went and did a 40-minute workout, came back and had a second cookie. There you go, that’s how much I liked this cookie.

Don’t overbake these! I know I say that with almost every recipe I post but seriously, don’t overbake them or they’ll be more cakey than chewy and they’ll be dry. I shaped the dough balls into thick discs instead of “balls” so that when they baked, they would stay a fairly uniform thickness. They did still dome a bit in the middle but that’s okay, the edges didn’t spread thin. Depending on your oven, I wouldn’t bake these longer than 11-13 minutes, long enough for the edges to get golden and the middles not to look shiny or raw. Let them cool completely before you spread them with frosting. They’ll be moist, chewy cinnamon-vanilla goodness.  Oh, and please, don’t use old, tired cinnamon. You know I’m talking about that bottle you’ve had in your pantry forever because you haven’t used it in awhile and there’s still some left. If you can’t remember when you bought the cinnamon and/or if you remember but it wasn’t during this decade, please go buy a new bottle. Trust me, it’s worth it.
Cookies
1 cup (8 ounces) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Frosting
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) butter, softened
2 to 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (to taste and desired consistency)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 teaspoons whole milk (to desired consistency)
additional cinnamon for sprinkling
  1. In a large bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla; mix well. Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; mix just until combined. Chill 30 minutes.
  2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  3. Roll the dough into golf-ball-size balls, flatten slightly into thick discs and space evenly on baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes (depending on the thickness of your discs) or until edges are golden and middles no longer look raw. Remove and cool completely before frosting.
  4. To make the frosting: beat together the cream cheese and butter until completely combined and no lumps remain. Add up to 2 cups powdered sugar, vanilla and a little milk. Alternately add remaining powdered sugar and additional drops of milk until desired consistency. Beat until light and fluffy.
  5. Frost cookies and sprinkle lightly with cinnamon.


Tuesday, March 15, 2016

The Classic Brownie - swirled with Nutella and topped with Ferrero Rocher

The Classic Brownie - made February 20, 2016, recipe adapted from Brownie Points by Lisa Slater
A brief break from cookie recipes (although I have more coming) to put up my latest hack on a typical (plain) brownie recipe. It’s hard for me to make a plain brownie. I value the simplicity and goodness of a perfectly fudgy brownie as much as the next person but when you’ve made as many brownies as I have, you (or I) can’t resist tinkering.
This is one of my many baking books with brownie recipes in them. I’ve gone through a fair number of them as anyone reading my blog for awhile can attest to and every now and then, I try another one so I can increase the return on my investment of having so many baking books. I’ve thinned out a fair number already but let’s face it, when you have more than a hundred – and I do – that’s still a lot.
The beauty with brownies is they’re pretty forgiving no matter what you add to them. I was doing a clean out of my pantry and needed to use up some Nutella before it expired (because, c’mon, who lets Nutella expire??) and some Ferrero Rochers that I really didn’t want calling out to me anymore. I’ve ignored their siren song for this long and it was best that they be on their way.

To “stuff” the brownie with Nutella, simply layer half the brownie batter in an even layer on the bottom of the pan and dollop Nutella generously over it. And I mean generous. Don’t be dainty; now isn’t the time. No need to try to connect the dollops but don’t let them be too far apart either. Then cover all the dollop-y Nutella goodness with the rest of the brownie batter and bake. The tricky thing will be the toothpick test may not be that useful if you hit a pocket of Nutella when you insert the toothpick. If you did it right, there’s a high probability you’ll hit the Nutella too. What I try to do is insert the toothpick at an angle so I should get some of the toothpick through the brownie itself and not just the Nutella. Timing it doesn’t hurt either but you know I never remember to do that. A few minutes before the end of the baking time, drop the chopped Ferrero Rochers on top so they can melt slightly into the brownie. You don’t want them to melt completely but they should melt just enough to adhere a bit to the top of the brownie. Cool completely, cut into small pieces, go workout then come back and have a piece of rich chocolaty, fudgy goodness.
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
6 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup Nutella
12 Ferrero Rochers, chopped into quarters
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Line a 9 x 13" baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
  3. Melt butter and sugars in medium saucepan over medium-low heat, whisking until melted and smooth. Add chopped chocolates and whisk until melted and combined.
  4. Add eggs, one at a time, whisking in each one until incorporated.
  5. Add salt and vanilla, stir to combine. Add flour and stir until just incorporated. Beat with wooden spoon until mixture is glossy. Do not overmix.
  6. Pour half of the batter into prepared pan. Dollop Nutella over batter. Cover with remaining batter.
  7. Bake 30-35 minutes until toothpick inserted near center comes out with moist crumbs, not raw batter. Sprinkle top with chopped Ferrero Rocher, return to oven for 2 minutes (turn oven off) then remove to cool on wire rack.
  8. Let cool completely then cut into squares.

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Dark Chocolate Cookies

Dark Chocolate Cookies - made dough February 6, 2016 from Milk & Cookies by Tina Casaceli
I've been back to baking once a week for work, bringing in treats every Monday morning. It's always Monday since I only have time to bake on the weekends. It's much easier then, especially with cookies since I can make the cookie dough at my leisure (typically Saturdays after my workout), freeze it and bake off the dough on Sunday night.

This was a nicely chocolaty cookie, especially when you use the good cocoa like Pernigotti. The dough is easy to work with and portion off into dough balls. I like to press chocolate chips on the outside of each dough ball to make sure you get some extra chocolate goodness in each cookie.

As always, don't overbake the cookies. Time them since it's hard to tell by appearance alone with chocolate cookies whether they're done or not. I can usually get a good sense of done-ness by evaluating the middle of the cookies. As long as the middles are still raw-looking and shiny, the cookies aren't done. But you don't want them completely puffed up and cracked either or that means they're overbaked. Let cool completely for the complete fudgy goodness (as opposed to warm chocolate mushiness).

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (3/4 ounce) Dutch process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter
3/4 cup (5 ounces) granulated sugar
3/4 cup (5 ounces) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (9 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
  1. Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl; set aside.
  2. Cream the butter in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beating for about 3 minutes or until light and creamy. Gradually add the granulated sugar then the brown sugar, baking until very light and creamy.
  3. Combine the eggs with the vanilla. Add the egg mixture in two parts and beat to incorporate, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition. 
  4. Gradually add the reserved dry ingredients, beating just until streaky. Remove the bowl from the mixer and scrape the paddle clean. Add the chocolate chips and incorporate with a wooden spoon; do not overmix.
  5. Portion into golf-ball-size dough balls and chill or freeze, covered, for several hours or overnight. 
  6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space dough balls 2 inches apart.
  7. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until middles no longer look raw or shiny. Remove from oven, let cool for 2 minutes then, using a metal spatula, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin(et) Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin(et) Chocolate Chip Cookies - made dough February 13, 2016, adapted from Being Spiffy
My nieces hosted us at their new apartment for a Valentine's Day lunch last month and, of course, I had to ask, "what do you want me to bring for dessert?" I thought they might ask for some decadent brownie or lava cake or apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream.
To my surprise, they both wanted oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. And to my dismay, they asked for the cookies to be made with raisins. Raisins. OMG, who are these people and did they learn nothing from me? I despise raisins. The only thing I dislike more than raisins are raisins in cookies. They're mushy and too sweet. They're grapes gone wrinkly. I mean, they're raisins.
But try as I might, it's hard to get rid of 22 years of unconditional love. The raisins tested those boundaries, let me tell you. But in the end, I conceded. Sort of.
I honestly had every intention of adding raisins (shudder) to the batter. Really. Except when I went to Target to pick up the aforementioned wrinkled grapes, I couldn't find any. They weren't in the baking aisle and I had no concept of where else they could possibly be. And, conveniently, there was no Target employee milling around who I could ask. Really. But in the candy aisle, I did find a package of Raisinets. Needless to say, I've never bought Raisinets (why would I?). But they were chocolate-covered raisins and that seemed close enough.
So I tried out this recipe, added chopped up Hershey kisses (you can use any chocolate chips or chocolate chunks), divided the dough in half and added the Raisinets to one half. I kept the other half pure and raisin(et)-free. It was genius. I loved these cookies with just the chocolate chunks. They were crisp at the edges and satisfyingly moist and chewy in the middle. I can't tell you what the Raisinet half tasted like but my nieces and one of their boyfriends affirmed my "genius" assessment and said they were delicious. Whew. My love for them remains intact. But let's not get that close to testing those boundaries again.

1 cup butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 3.4-ounce package vanilla instant pudding mix
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups flour
3 cups oatmeal
1 cup chocolate chips (mini, regular or chunks)
1 cup Raisinets
  1. On the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugars. Add vanilla pudding mix and beat until combined.
  2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just incorporated.
  3. Add in dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Add oatmeal, chocolate chips and Raisinets, mixing with a wooden spoon.
  4. Portion into golf-ball-size dough balls, cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight.
  5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  6. Evenly space frozen dough balls on baking sheets and bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden and middles are no longer shiny or raw-looking. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Another Great Brownie

Another Great Brownie - made February 6, 2016, recipe modified from Milk & Cookies by Tina Casaceli
This was actually the name of the recipe and isn't a judgment or endorsement on my part. I could've sworn I'd already made this but I tend to feel that way about most brownie recipes in baking books I own because chances are, I've looked at them and planned to make them for so long, I could half (or wholly) convince myself I had when I hadn't.
So just to remove all doubt, I went ahead and made them. I tend to prefer my brownies on the chewy-fudgy side. These were certainly fudgy but the addition of baking powder made them a little lighter than the dense chewy brownie texture that I prefer. They weren't exactly cakey but had more of a soft texture, bordering on mousse without being a mousse. Hard to explain but you'll get what I mean if you make these.

A couple of things to note, depending on how picky you are about brownies. I'm pretty much as picky as you can get. So I feel compelled to point out that this had more of an espresso flavor than I had counted on. Normally the addition of a bit of coffee or espresso to chocolate helps amp up the chocolate flavor. This did that but was slightly also bold on the espresso. Not a bad thing if you like coffee but if you don't, I'd suggest cutting back on the amount of espresso powder.

Lastly, and this is purely a personal preference thing, I'm not sure I like the chocolate chips in the brownie itself. If the texture had been more dense-chewy, I think I wouldn't have minded the chips but since it was a softer texture, the chocolate chips provided more of a contrast than I liked. Not a bad thing for some but for me, sometimes I just want the pure unadulterated chewiness of a plain fudgy brownie. With all that, you might think I didn't like this brownie. I did. I'm just picky.
2 1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
3.5-ounce bar of bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
1/2 + 1/8 cup all-purpose flour, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup + 1/8 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips for mixing in
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. In the top half of a double boiler set over hot, barely simmering water, combine 2 1/3 cups chocolate chips, bittersweet chocolate and butter. Whisk until melted and smooth; set aside to cool slightly.
  3. In a separate bowl, combine 1/2 cup flour, baking powder and salt; whisk together.
  4. In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, sugar, espresso powder and vanilla. Stir until barely combined. Add melted chocolate mixture then flour mixture. Stir until smooth and glossy. 
  5. Toss remaining 1/8 cup flour with 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips until chips are coated. Add to brownie batter and stir to combine.
  6. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 15 minutes then turn pan and lower heat to 325 degrees. Bake another 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs.
  7. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Chocolate Chip Graham Cracker Cookies

Chocolate Chip Graham Cracker Cookies - made dough February 6, 2016 from My Baking Addiction
Now that the never-ending month of No-Sugar January is over, I did feel "safe" in venturing back to baking once a week for work. I actually had made Averie's Chocolate Chip Cookies (milk chocolate) and Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies (semisweet chocolate) for my nieces and for work on the last day of January but since I already knew what those recipes tasted like and because I had baked them on January 31 to take into work February 1, I didn't eat any. (Hold, please, while I straighten my halo.). Resisting was initially harder than I thought because what was better than a warm chocolate chip cookie 10 minutes out of the oven? That's right, nothing. Except I couldn't eat any when I baked them because January had hours left to go at that time and I hadn't gone into sugar-deprivation mode for eternity only to blow it on the last day. So I didn't. The next day when I brought the cookies into work, it was February and technically I could have had one then but since they weren't 10 minutes out of the oven, I resisted. I wanted to make the next time I had sugar worth my while.

Which I did with these cookies. Since I had skipped having anything from two of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes, I decided to try a new one. This recipe intrigued me as a new twist to a classic cookie. This one was bolstered by graham cracker crumbs which I found to be an intriguing concept. Instead of the 2 1/4 cups flour like a standard Tollhouse recipe, this substituted 1 1/2 cups of the flour with graham cracker crumbs.
I thought the cookies would be more graham cracker flavored and be akin to a s'more base without the marshmallow. Surprisingly, it wasn't. Instead it was like a regular chocolate chip cookie, a bit more "mealy" or robust in texture (thought not quite as chewy as an oatmeal cookie) but only very slightly and I could hardly taste the graham cracker flavor at all. It was still a good cookie though and one I wouldn't mind making again. It makes for a moist cookie but of course, only if you don't overbake it.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until creamy and no butter lumps remain.
  2. Blend in the vanilla and egg until well combined.
  3. In a separate bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add to the butter mixture until just combined.
  4. Stir in the chocolate chips with a wooden spoon. Portion out dough into golf-ball-size dough balls, cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight.
  5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  6. Evenly space frozen dough balls on baking sheet and bake for 7-10 minutes or until edges are golden brown and middles no longer look raw or shiny. Do not overbake.
  7. Transfer cookies to wire rack and let cool completely.

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Ultimate Brownies and What to do, What to do

Ultimate Brownies - made December 18, 2015 from Handle the Heat
You might have noticed that I haven’t blogged in awhile. I was going at a fast clip over the holidays and was even almost caught up on posting the recipes I’d tried out leading up to Christmas. I even had about 7 restaurant reviews to write up and post before the new year. But I…..didn’t.


Part of that was because I ran out of time and once the new year hit, so did one of our busiest times at work. As in, I was heads down working, day after day, even through the weekends, with deadline upon deadline crashing down. Until about a week ago when all the deadlines and deliverables had been met. Then it was time to go back to my “normal job” which had piled up during this time of darkness. (Insert drama queen here.) I’m finally pulling myself out of the abyss to emerge into some normalcy.
But the other part of why I’ve been so blog-quiet is I was struggling with whether to keep on with the blog at all. It’s something I’ve been doing for almost 6 ½ years and although the last year and a half has been somewhat of a struggle to keep up with it as well as actually bake, I’ve managed. This time was different because it wasn’t just about the time but a confluence of other events: cutting back on sugar, trying to eat healthier, trying to lose weight, running out of new types of things to bake so I kept falling back on similar gamuts of cookies, cakes and brownies. And it was starting to get not-fun. I had always promised myself that if it wasn’t fun anymore, I wasn’t going to keep doing it. Life is short and all.
A big part of that is I really was cutting back on sugar. In fact, for the month of January, I gave up added sugar entirely (fruit is still okay). It was part of the annual “hey, let’s tackle those last 10 15 pounds again” goal. So if I was giving up sugar, I would feel like a complete hypocrite if I kept posting dessert recipes where sugar abounds.  Might as well ‘fess up what it really means is “here, YOU eat it but I’m not going to.” And that’s not who I am. Hence, the blog silence.


The other main reason I haven’t posted is I was really, really, really reluctant to cut the cord on my blog. Yeah, I know I don’t have the same verve for it that I did 6 ½ years ago or in the time since but did that mean I was ready to give it up completely? Maybe. Sort of. Not really. Okay, I just don’t know. And until I decided, I didn’t know what to post. Frankly I still don’t know. On the one hand, I haven’t baked for the entire month of January. I haven’t eaten sugar in January. I also lost 5 pounds in January. On the other hand, I feel like a piece of me is missing and not just the 5 lbs I lost. I haven’t done what I love and that’s to bake. Honestly, at this point, I don’t even miss the sugar or eating baked goods. But I do miss baking. I know. I’m weird that way.
So I still don’t know what I’ll be doing about my blog. I may post once in a blue moon or I may go through fits of baking and blog every day. Who knows? Until I decide, here’s the last thing I meant to put up in 2015. A month late but still worth making….if you’re eating sugar. And chocolate. It’s perhaps fitting that if this is my last blog post (I just don’t know!), that I “go out” on a brownie note. Because I love thick, fudgy-moist, chocolaty brownies. And that’s what this is. Enjoy.
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup (94 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. In the top half of a double boiler set over hot, barely simmering water, melted chocolate chips, butter and unsweetened chocolate together, whisking until completely melted and smooth. Let cool slightly.
  3. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed until light and thick, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract. Stir in the cooled chocolate mixture with a rubber spatula. Add the flour and salt, folding gently until combined.
  4. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake until a tester comes out with moist crumbs still attached, 35 to 40 minutes. Do not overbake. Let cool to room temperature. Serve at room temperature or chilled.