Biscoff Nutella Blondies

Biscoff Nutella Blondies - made May 20, 2012, recipe adapted from Great Cookies by Carole Walter

Happy Memorial Day!  Remembering our troops and expressing gratitude for their unwavering service in protecting our country today and always.

I'm still catching up from my business trip last week and this was the last thing I baked before I left.  Ever since I made the Chewy Biscoff Blondies, I've been toying with the idea of another version of Biscoff Blondies, this time with Nutella swirled in.  I adapted this recipe from Carole Walter, another cookbook author whose recipes turn out way more often than not so I've learned to rely on her baking books as well.  I upped the ante by making a crust out of Golden Oreo Cookies.  I originally bought the golden Oreos because I saw a cookie recipe I wanted to try that uses them.  I sampled a couple of the golden Oreos themselves but alas, I didn't think they measured up to their original chocolate brethren.  So I made them into a crust instead.

Sadly, this experiment wasn't as successful as I had hoped.  I was once again struck by the underbaking gods and took the blondies out too soon.  They were still good but would've been better if they had baked longer.  The Golden Oreo cookie crust also didn't work out as well as I had hoped.  Turns out if I don't like them in cookie form, I also don't care for their taste in cookie crust form.  The taste of the crust didn't go well with the biscoff/nutella combo so I will have to make these again without the crust and see how I like the two flavors mixed together.  The only saving grace is the blondie recipe seems really good so I might have to make that as is without my modifications and see how Carole Walter intended them to be.

Crust (omit crust if you don't like Golden Oreos)

1 15.5-ounce package Golden Oreos

6 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Blondies

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned in and leveled

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, divided

¾ cup lightly packed light brown sugar

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup Biscoff spread (or Speculoos Cookie Butter)

1 generous cup of Nutella, more if you’re inclined

1.      Position the shelf in the center of the oven.  Heat the oven to 350˚F.  Line a 9 x 13” baking pan with foil and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray.

2.      Process the golden Oreos in a food processor until powdery crumbs.  Transfer to mixing bowl.  Add vanilla extract to melted butter, whisk to blend, and pour over crumbs.  Blend with wooden spoon until crumbs are evenly moistened.  Pour into pan and pat into thin even layer.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool slightly.

3.      For the blondies: strain together the flour, baking soda and salt.

4.      Melt ½ cup (1 stick) of the butter in a ceramic bowl in the microwave for 1 minute or until it is almost completely melted.  Add the brown sugar, mixing well.

5.      In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the remaining ½ cup (1 stick) of butter on medium speed.  Add the granulated sugar in a steady stream and mix until lightened in color.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Blend in the tepid melted butter and brown sugar.  Beat on medium speed until thick and creamy, about 1 minute, scraping down the side of the bowl as needed.  Beat in the vanilla and biscoff.

6.      Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients in two additions, mixing only to combine.  Remove the bowl from the machine and, using a large wooden spoon or rubber spatula, drop in dollops of Nutella, taking care not to overmix or blend too much into the blondie batter.  There should be distinct swirls of nutella throughout.  Scrape the batter into the pan over the crust, using a small metal spatula to smooth the top.

7.      Bake for 28 to 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the edges just begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.  Do not overbake.  Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack.  Let stand 1 hour, then cut into 1 ¾” x 2 ½” bars.

Fudgy Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies

Triple Layer Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies - made May 20, 2012, recipes adapted from Fat Witch Brownies by Patricia Helding and Picture Perfect Cooking blog

A wee bit too fudgy

I've mentioned before that I'm indifferent to peanut butter.  Never ate it out of the jar, never had a peanut butter sandwich and if the best peanut butter cookie in the world was sitting next to me, I wouldn't bat an eyelash.  But throw some chocolate in with the peanut butter?  Now you've got my attention.  I saw this recipe for peanut butter brownies with peanut butter fudge frosting on a couple of link parties I participate in and immediately thought of how to marry it with chocolate.  Thus the Triple Layer Peanut Butter Fudge Brownie was born.  I used the Cocoa Brownie recipe from the Fat Witch Brownies cookbook but added Snickers to keep with the peanut butter theme.  Then I used Picture Perfect Cooking's Peanut Butter Brownie recipe.

First, make the peanut butter layer and spread as the bottom layer.  Then make the brownie layer, stir in the chopped up Snickers and spread over the peanut butter layer.  Bake.  The two layers combined made for a thick brownie so this was a little tricky.  You don't want to overbake it but you don't really want to underbake it too much.  You want fudgy, not raw.  The challenge is the edges and corners will always bake first so while they might be done, the middle could still be raw.  Or the middle would be perfect but the corners would be dry.  For thick brownies, it's just a risk I have to take.  The frosting is more like a penuche.  It sets very quickly so top it immediately over the brownies and smooth.

As for the end results - hmm, I think I liked this better in concept than in my execution.  As mentioned, the risk with thick brownies is baking them properly.  I baked these for over 40 minutes and a toothpick poked in the corners and edges came out completely clean and one inserted near the middle came out with very moist crumbs.  I thought that would be the right time to take them out but turns out I was wrong and most of the middle was still too underdone.  The Snickers also added to the gooeyness but if your brownie is already gooey by itself, more goo isn't necessarily mouth-watering.  It wasn't bad but it could've been better.  I also might've screwed up the frosting somehow as it hardened and was crumbly.  I think it would've been better if it was a bit creamier like a more traditional frosting.  The ironic part?  Remember I said I didn't like peanut butter by itself?  Well, the peanut butter layer on the bottom was the best layer of the three!  LOL.  I might have to make it by itself after all.

Peanut Butter Layer

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

Fudgy Brownie layer

12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

¾ cup unbleached flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup Snickers, chopped into small chunks (add more if you wish)

1.     Line a 9-inch x 9-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.  Preheat the oven to 350˚F.

2.     For the peanut butter layer: sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  In a large bowl, beat the peanut butter, butter, and sugars with an electric mixer until fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time and the vanilla and mix until combined thoroughly.  Add the flour mixture a little at a time until it is mixed well.  Spread the batter in the pan, smoothing the top.

3.     For the brownie layer: in a ceramic mixing bowl, cut the butter into chunks and melt in the microwave for 1 minute.  Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

4.     Add the cocoa powder and sugar to the butter and whisk until well blended.  Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each until the mixture is smooth and shiny.  Add the vanilla and whisk until mixed well.

5.     Measure the flour and salt and sift together into the batter.  Mix the batter gently until well combined and no trace of the dry ingredients remains.  Add Snickers.

6.     Spread the batter evenly over the peanut butter layer and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean or with only crumbs, not batter, on it. (Watch this carefully - depending on the thickness of your brownie, it might need more baking time.)

7.     Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for 1 hour.  Make frosting as directed below.

Peanut Butter Frosting

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

7 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons shortening

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1.     Combine the sugar, milk, shortening, butter, and salt in a medium heavy saucepan.  Bring to a rolling boil while stirring constantly. 

2.     Once it reaches a boil, let it cook for 2 minutes without stirring.  Remove from heat; immediately add vanilla and peanut butter. 

3.     Beat until smooth and quickly spread on the brownies.  Let the brownies cool completely before cutting.

     

My Go-To recipe for Banana Bread

Banana Bread - made lots and lots of times

(Note: I'm traveling for work this week so no baking is coming out of my kitchen at the moment.  So I'm reverting to posting one of my oldest standby recipes.)

One of the things I've been making a lot lately is banana bread.  I haven't blogged about it because I already have the recipe up.  Every time I've tried a different recipe, no one in my extended family likes it as much as this recipe.  In my original blog post, I posted the recipe as it was given to me.  The directions are sparse but not difficult to follow.  I thought I'd resurrect it and just detail out more of what I actually do for anyone who hasn't made banana bread ad naseum.

Good banana bread takes a little planning ahead because you have to buy the bananas well in advance and give them plenty of time to ripen.  And ripen.  Then let them ripen some more.  If you like your bananas mushy-ripe and can still eat them in its natural state, your bananas aren't ripe enough for banana bread.  I let them ripen to the point where I personally can't eat them because they're overly mushy.  Then they're ready.  I also like to mash them by hand so I end up with some chunks of bananas.  If you use a food processor or mixer to mash your bananas, they'll be more finely pureed.  I like my mashed bananas for banana bread a little chunky so they'll make it that way in the baked bread itself and be like a little bit of a fried banana inside of the bread.

This recipe, doubled from the original version, makes 4 mini loaves and 1 standard size loaf.

3 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups mashed bananas

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees F.  Lightly spray a standard size loaf pan and 4 mini loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
3. Cream butter in the large bowl of a freestanding electric mixer until smooth and creamy, about 1-2 minutes.  Add the sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating until incorporated with the butter.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating for 10-15 seconds after each addition until fully incorporated into the batter.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to keep the batter even-textured.
4. Alternately add the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the buttermilk in 2 additions.  Do not overbeat.
5. Add the mashed bananas, mixing thoroughly until blended, about 30 seconds.  Finish mixing by hand.  Pour batter into prepared pans, dividing evenly.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until loaves are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.  Insert the toothpick in the "wettest" part of the top to test for doneness.
7. Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 5 minutes then loosen the loaves with a small spatula and invert onto another cooling rack.  Re-invert right side up and cool completely.

 

Snickerdoodle Cake

Butter+Sugar+Cinnamon=Cake - made May 11, 2012 from Baking Style by Lisa Yockelson

I can't resist a sugar-cinnamon cake, or what in my mind, I dub a snickerdoodle cake.  I was meeting my cousins for dinner last weekend and I had to have a non-chocolate offering for my nephew, Vanilla King.  This seemed like a good contender to try out, especially since I was short on time after work and this looked quick to put together.  The recipe calls for half-and-half but I always just buy whole milk and heavy cream and make my own half-and-half by literally using half milk and half cream when half-and-half is needed because that's what half-and-half is anyway.  This way, whether a recipe calls for whole milk, heavy cream or half-and-half, I've got all my bases covered.

If you like snickerdoodles, you'll like this cake.  I loved the cinnamon sugar topping and the cake was moist.  I (once again) inadvertently underbaked it a tad although in my defense, it wasn't so deliberate this time.  The toothpick came out clean when I tested the cake but in hindsight, it had the slight glisten of wetness although no batter or crumbs clung to it.  I should've baked it for at least 40 minutes instead of taking it out at 35.  That dry-cake paranoia struck again.  Doesn't matter though as I would definitely make this cake again and will have a second chance at baking it properly.  It still turned out pretty well.  If you want a little extra decadence, while the cake is hot out of the oven, brush a thin layer of butter over it then sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar topping over the melted butter.  Yowsa.

You can tell from the picture it's underbaked but the moistness also came from the melted butter I put on top

2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

½ pound unsalted butter, softened

1 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons half and half (I used 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole milk and the same amount of heavy cream)

Cinnamon Sugar Topping

½ cup granulated sugar blended with 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1.     Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2.     Line a 9 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.

3.     Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon onto a sheet of waxed paper.

4.     Cream the butter in the large bowl of an electric mixer on moderate speed for 3 minutes.  Add the sugar in 2 additions, beating for 2 minutes after each portion is added.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing only until incorporated.  Blend in the vanilla extract.  On low speed, alternately add the sifted mixture in 3 additions and the half-and-half in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the sifted mixture.  Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula.  Beat the batter on moderately high speed for 30 seconds. 

5.     Spoon and scrape the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top.

6.     Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until risen, set, and a toothpick inserted 1-2 inches from the center withdraws clean.  Cool the cake in the pan on a cooling rack for 5 minutes.  Sprinkle half of the cinnamon sugar topping evenly over the surface of the cake.  The first sprinkling will cause the surface to darken as it absorbs the mixture because the cake is emitting warmth.  Let the cake rest for 30 minutes, then sprinkle the remaining topping on the surface of the cake.  Cut into squares and serve.  Store in an airtight cake keeper.

A Gentle Banana Cake

A Gentle Banana Cake - made May 11, 2012 from Baking Style by Lisa Yockelson

I've been amassing bananas lately and they've been ripening faster than I can eat them.  Or else I deliberately don't eat them so I can have overripe bananas that I "have" to make into baked goods.  I'm still on the hunt for a banana cake similar to my favorite from Icing on the Cake so I always optimistically try new recipes for it.  So it should come as no surprise that, like a kid with a new toy, I went back to the same cookbook for my next banana cake experiment.

I'm not sure why she calls it a "gentle" banana cake and I should probably read the prologue before the recipe to find out.  She does have some interesting names for some of the recipes.  I like how this one turned out.  It was cakey, had great banana flavor and was perfectly complemented by the cream cheese frosting.  It's not quite as fluffy in texture as Icing on the Cake's banana cake but I feel like I'm getting darn close.  It's also possible that I underbaked it just a trifle.  If I had baked it a few minutes longer, it might've achieved a fluffier texture.  I can't abide dry cakes so I'm paranoid about overbaking.  Either way, this one was pretty good.

2 2/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon unsifted bleached cake flour

½ cup unsifted bleached all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ pound unsalted butter, softened

2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 ½ cups coarsely mashed ripe bananas (about 3 large bananas)

2/3 cup plus 4 tablespoons buttermilk

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese

8 tablespoons butter (1 stick or ¼ lb), cut into tablespoon-sized chunks

4 ¾ cups confectioners’ sugar sifted with 1/8 teaspoon salt

2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1.     Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Line a 9 x 13 pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.

2.     Sift the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper.

3.     Cream the butter in the large bowl of a freestanding electric mixer on moderate speed for 4 minutes.  Add the sugar in 3 additions, beating for 1 minute after each portion is added.  Beat in the whole eggs, one at a time.  Blend in the egg yolks and vanilla extract.  Blend in the mashed bananas.  On low speed, alternately add the sifted mixture in 3 additions with the buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the sifted mixture.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

4.     Spoon and scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

5.     Bake for 40 minutes or until risen, set and a wooden toothpick inserted about 2 inches from the center of the cake comes out clean.  Cool the cake completely in the pan on a wire rack.

6.     Make the frosting: beat the cream cheese and butter in the large bowl of a freestanding electric mixer on moderately low speed for 3 minutes or until very smooth but not lightened.  Beat in half of the confectioners’ sugar-salt mixture and the vanilla extract.  Add the remaining confectioners’ sugar-salt mixture in 2 additions, beating until incorporated.  Beat on moderate speed for 1 minute, raise speed to high and beat for 2 minutes longer, or until quite creamy. 

7.     Spread the frosting on top of the cake.  Let the frosting set for 1 hour before cutting the cake into squares for serving.

 

Brownie "Sandwiches"

Brownie Rounds Sandwiched with Salted Caramel - made May 10, 2012

These are so easy I almost didn't blog about them.  Take your favorite brownie recipe (just please either don't use a mix or don't tell me if you did, ha - I used this one), bake it in a slightly larger pan than the original recipe calls for, i.e. for a brownie recipe calling for an 8 x 8" pan, use a 9 x 9" pan, making sure you line the pan first with foil so you can lift the brownies out of the pan intact.  The goal is to have a thin brownie. Note: I hardly ever say that but when you're going to make brownie sandwiches, you don't want the sandwich halves to be too thick or the finished product will be difficult to eat.

Get a small cookie cutter, either round, oval, square or rectangle and cut out the brownie shapes.  Make sure the brownies are completely cool.  These also work best with brownies that don't bake a thick top crust so it's easier to cut out the shapes without any top crust crumbling.  Sandwich the pieces with salted caramel or your favorite filling.  The challenge with the caramel is it often oozes out between the pieces.  I solved the messy issue by putting the sandwiched brownies in mini muffin cups.  It isn't the prettiest dessert I've made but fudgy brownies and oozing caramel - really, who's going to complain?

   

Lemon Cake with Lemony Sugar Wash

Lemon Cake with Lemony Sugar Wash - made May 10, 2012 from Baking Style by Lisa Yockelson

Although lemons generally ripen in winter, lemon desserts always remind me of summer.  Our weather is heating up and we're finally kicking winter to the curb.  Last year, my lemon tree produced zero lemons.  It started out promisingly enough, had a lot of blossoms and even started growing uber-tiny lemons barely beyond blossom stage.  Then the bugs, the soil, the wind or something said "Psych!" and killed off any growth except new leaves.  Now my lemon tree is in its 2nd year and this time, it looks like at least a few lemons might survive to ripen.  I count at least 3 that are on their way to a healthy size and although they look more like limes right now since they're still green, I'm hopeful they'll morph into ripe lemons at some point.  Not to mention this year's army of uber-tiny lemons again just barely past blossom stage but I'm not going to hold my breath yet on those.  Fool me once....

In the meantime, my mom's lemon tree in her backyard, older and more prolific, supplies me with the lemons I need for baking.  As a matter of fact, I'm going to have to search for more and more lemon recipes because she's got a ton.  Fortunately, lemon cake is usually a sure bet and once again, I hit Baking Style for a recipe.  Now I've rhapsodized about Lisa Yockelson's brownie recipes but I should also mention her pound-cake-type recipes are also bomb (like how I incorporated the new slang there??).  Rarely have they not turned out.  In fact I can't remember when one of her pound cake recipes has ever failed me.  And this doesn't either.  If you like lemon and have fresh lemons to use, make this cake.  It has the perfect pound cake texture and brushing it with the lemon-sugar wash ensures great lemon flavor and moistness.  You can make it more summery by serving it with fresh berries as well but it also holds its own perfectly plain.  Let picnic cake season begin.

2 tablespoons finely grated lemon peel

2 ½ teaspoons lemon extract

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 cups unsifted bleached all-purpose flour

1 cup unsifted bleached cake flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon salt

½ pound plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 ½ cups superfine sugar (I used regular granulated sugar)

1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, sifted

6 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1 cup heavy cream

1.      Preheat the oven to 325°F.

2.      Combine the lemon peel, lemon extract, and lemon juice in a small mixing bowl.  Set aside.

3.      Lightly spray a 10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray and coat with flour, tapping out the excess.  (This makes a lot of batter so if your Bundt pan can't hold it all, put the excess batter in small ramekins and bake those as well.)

4.      Sift the flours, baking powder and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper and set aside.

5.      Cream the butter in the large bowl of a freestanding electric mixer on moderate speed for 4 minutes.  Add the superfine (or granulated) sugar in 4 additions, beating for 1 minute after each portion is added.  Add the confectioners’ sugar and beat for 45 seconds.  Beat in the whole eggs, one at a time, mixing for about 20 seconds after each addition to combine.  Add the egg yolks and beat for 30 seconds longer.  Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula.  Blend in the lemon peel and extract mixture.  On low speed, alternately add the sifted mixture in 3 additions with the heavy cream in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl thoroughly with a rubber spatula after each addition.  Beat the batter on moderately high speed for 1 minute.

6.      Pour and scrape the batter into the prepared baking pan.  Smooth the top.

7.     Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until risen, set, and a toothpick inserted into the cake withdraws clean.  Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes.  Loosen with a narrow spatula and invert onto a serving plate.  Spoon the lemony sugar wash all over the cake, including the sides, giving time for the liquid to absorb before you spoon more over the cake.  Cool completely.

Lemony Sugar Wash

½ cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1.     Combine the sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan and heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved.  Spoon over warm cake.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies - made May 5, 2012 from Michelle's Tasty Creations blog

It's been crazy busy lately and I haven't been home much so it's been hard to bake and blog in the same week.  I made the cookie dough for this last week, in anticipation of this being a busy week this week, and baked them off to give in goodie bags for my coworkers at our team dinner earlier this week.  I got the recipe from another blogger (click on the recipe title above for the original recipe) and wanted to make it because hers looked so good.  I've been baking long enough that I can tell from a picture if a recipe's going to be good (usually).  From Michelle's picture, I thought this would be moist and chewy and they wouldn't spread very much.

I was right on all counts although mine didn't turn out how I thought they would based on the other picture.  Mine didn't look as "smooth" as hers.  But they didn't spread too much, they were moist and they were chewy. The key for any peanut butter cookie (or most cookies, come to think of it) is to underbake them.  With peanut butter, you want to retain something close to that peanut butter texture but in cookie form.  The oatmeal wasn't very pronounced in these cookies but the peanut butter and chocolate chips make an impression.  Thumbs up.

 

Chewy Brownies - throw some Snickers in there

Chewy Brownies - made May 5, 2012 from Absolutely Chocolate by the editors of Fine Cooking

My niece and one of her friends ended up visiting me last week and besides having Chinese food for lunch with my parents, watching the Avengers and having the best cheesesteaks in town at a local restaurant for dinner, we also baked our desserts at my place.  As is tradition, I give my niece the choice of what she would want to have that could be found on my blog.  She narrowed her choices down to three then gave her friend final decision rights amongst the three.  He picked the Bruleed Banana Split I made a couple of weeks ago.  Being me, I kept the spirit of the dessert but used a different brownie recipe.  Actually I thought I was trying a new one but it turns out I had already made this recipe and not too long ago at that.  Oh well.

We had leftover brownie batter once I'd made the individual brownies in ramekins for the base of our bruleed banana splits so I used my mini square pan to make little brownies and we stuck a chopped-up square Snickers in the middle of each just because.  The brownies were satisfyingly fudgy and chewy.  The recipe in the link is the original version if you just want a pan of plain brownies but you can also get creative with it and make it the base for your own banana split or adorn it with Snickers, Rolos, peanut butter cups and anything else you deem appropriate.  You really can't go wrong with a nice, fudgy brownie (well, you can if you overbake it so.....don't :)).


   

Chewy Biscoff Blondies

Chewy Biscoff Blondies - made May 4, 2012 from The Traveling Spoon's blog

I love biscoff cookies and they're about the only thing I'll eat on an airplane (you can keep the peanuts and pretzels, thanks).  Then I heard about biscoff spread buzzing in the foodie blogosphere so I had to look into that too.  I found the biscoff knockoff at Trader Joe's called Speculoos Cookie Butter Spread.  According to the amazon reviews, it was close to the original biscoff spread so I thought I'd try it before "the real thing" since it was cheaper (almost $9 for a jar of biscoff spread from amazon - ouch).  I saw this recipe from The Traveling Spoon's blog so it seemed like a good contender for my first foray into baking with biscoff spread.  Her picture looked so incredibly yummy.

I did modify the recipe slightly (modifications included below).  Unlike the average cookie butter fan, I didn't have any problem not eating the spread right out of the jar.  I have enough vices and didn't want to pick up another one (side note to all nutella lovers: much as I like baking with nutella, I don't eat nutella "straight" out of the jar either).  Which means I had a full jar to work with so I increased the amount of cookie butter to 1/3 cup to put into the blondies.  Mine turned out pretty well but I think I could've used more cookie butter for a more pronounced biscoff taste so I'm suggesting 1/2 cup below with an increase in coconut oil for more liquid.  They weren't dry but they weren't as gooey as I would've liked so I would probably shave a minute off the baking time as well.  But otherwise, this was a great blondie.

4 generous Tablespoons coconut oil (I got mine from amazon but saw later that Trader Joe's also carries this)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Biscoff Spread or Speculoos Cookie Butter
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 - 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8-inch baking pan with foil and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt coconut oil, Biscoff spread, and brown sugar until just combined. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside. Stir egg and vanilla into the cooled Biscoff mixture, until just blended. Add the dry ingredients and stir until smooth. The mixture will be very thick. Fold in chocolate chips.

Transfer mixture into the prepared pan, spreading evenly with a small offset metal spatula. Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges just begin to brown. Cool in pan on a wire rack.

 

Chocolate Cake with Warm Chocolate Frosting

Chocolate Cake with With Chocolate Frosting - made May 2, 2012 from Baking Style by Lisa Yockelson

Do you need an easy cake to make when you're short on time?  Got a last-minute request to feed a crowd?  Have a chocolate craving that needs instant gratification?  Then make this cake.  It has very basic ingredients and should only take you 30 minutes from start to finish.  Really.  Maybe 35 minutes but that would be if you're moving slowly.  You can mix up the batter while your oven is preheating and while the cake is baking, you can make the frosting.  Heck, you even have time to wash your mixing bowl and baking utensils and tidy up your kitchen while the cake is in the oven for 20 minutes.  And since you spread the frosting on the cake 2 minutes after the cake comes out of the oven, there isn't even any cooling time involved.  30 minutes stand between you and sinking your teeth into a slice of warm chocolate cake with fudgy icing melting over it.  It's the perfect cake to make on a weeknight after work which is exactly what I did.

When it cools, the frosting sets and since it's baked in a 9 x 13 pan, it's very easy to cut into squares, package up and take to work (or wherever) to give away, which is also what I did.  Easiest way to fit in baking during a busy week and get a chocolate fix.  Another winning recipe from Baking Style.  I suspect I will be hawking the glories of this book often in the coming days.

2 cups cake flour

2 cups granulated sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ pound unsalted butter, cut into chunks

¼ cup unsweetened alkalized cocoa powder, sifted to get rid of any lumps

1 cup water

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Chocolate Frosting

3 ¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

Large pinch of salt

¼ pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

6 tablespoons milk

1 cup chopped toasted pecans, optional

1.     Preheat oven to 400°F.  Line a 9 x 13” baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.

2.     Sift the cake flour, sugar, and salt into the large bowl of a freestanding electric mixer.

3.     Combine the buttermilk and baking soda and set aside.

4.     Combine the butter, cocoa powder and water in a heavy medium saucepan over moderate heat and bring to a boil, whisking together as the mixture approaches a boil.  Pour the boiling mixture over the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl and beat on low speed to combine.  Add the buttermilk-baking soda mixture, the eggs and vanilla extract.  Blend well, scraping down the sides of the bowl to keep the batter even-textured.  The batter will be thin.  Strain through a fine-mesh sieve if necessary to get rid of any lumps.

5.     Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes or until risen, set and a toothpick in the center withdraws clean.

6.     While the cake is baking, prepare the frosting: sift the confectioners’ sugar and salt together to a large mixing bowl.  In a small bowl, whisk the melted butter and melted chocolate together until blended.    Blend in the vanilla extract.  Pour the chocolate mixture over the confectioners’ sugar, add the milk and beat on low speed for 1 to 2 minutes, or until just combined and smooth, using a handheld electric mixer.  Blend in the pecans by hand, if using.  Use immediately by spreading over the warm cake, 2 minutes after you take the cake out of the oven.

 

Cinnamon Buttermilk Butter Dips

Cinnamon Buttermilk Butter Dips - made April 29, 2012 from Baking Style by Lisa Yockelson

Now that I'm done with my baking challenge, I'm feeling a bit more freedom to choose whatever recipe I want to make next.  I was going to come up with another challenge to give myself some structure but I've decided to back off on that for now.  I've had enough structure lately.  Time to cut loose and just bake whatever I feel like baking.  I have pins on pinterest that I want to make at some point so I'm amassing recipes from other foodie bloggers as well.  But I also couldn't resist going back to Baking Style, which was the reason for coming up with my baking challenge in the first place.  Now that I've had a chance to go through the whole book, I have to say this could end up being one of my favorite baking books.  Not that I don't already have a lot of "favorites" to the point that I could redefine the word.  But similar to her other book, Baking by Flavor, this has a nice variety of recipes with many different flavors as the focal points.  Plus I know how trustworthy her recipes usually are, aka they turn out great 99 times out of 100.  The 100th time I always figure I did something wrong and need to try again.

This is what they looked like plain, pre-butter dip and cinnamon sugar rolling

This recipe is one of the 99.  These were like little cinnamon cakes when left plain and almost like cakey cinnamon sugar doughnuts when dipped in melted butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar.  In other words, really good.  And they're easy to make.  I used small muffin tins, both square and round, to bake the batch in and they were a nice size for a bite-size snack.  Heck, even my parents liked them and you know how they feel about sugared stuff ("don't make it too sweet" - these weren't).  If you've got a brunch coming up, this is a perfect accompaniment instead of the usual muffins or doughnuts.  If you make these small, just watch the baking time carefully and take them out when a toothpick inserted in the biggest one comes out with moist crumbs.  You get the moist, cakey texture only if these aren't overbaked. 

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

¾ cup buttermilk

Dip

1 cup sugar

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cardamom, optional

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled but still warm

1.      Preheat oven to 375°F.  Lightly spray the insides of a 12-cup muffin tin or a 24-cup mini muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.

2.      Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg onto a sheet of waxed paper.

3.      Cream the butter in the large bowl of a stand mixer on moderate speed for 3 minutes.  Add the sugar in two additions, beating for 1 minute after each portion is added.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing for 30 seconds after each addition.  Blend in the vanilla extract.  On low speed, alternately add the sifted ingredients in 3 additions with the buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the sifted mixture.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

4.      Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, dividing evenly among them.

5.      Bake the muffins for 18 to 20 minutes or until nicely risen, set and a toothpick withdraws clean. 

6.      While the muffins are baking, prepare the butter, sugar and spice dip by thoroughly whisking the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom (if using) in a small, deep mixing bowl.  Place the melted butter in a small, deep bowl.

7.      Cool the muffins in the pans on racks for 5 minutes.  Remove the muffins to other cooling racks.  Dip the muffin tops into the melted butter to coat well, then into the topping  to enrobe in the sugar and spice mixture.  Serve warm or at room temperature.