Brown Butter Blondies

The absolute last thing I should be doing before a beach vacation is baking. I should be packing, juicing, getting a  pedicure, but instead, I made a a mouth-watering dessert.  These brown butter blondies are to-die-for. They are chewy, rich and extremely addicting.  Please try them.  You will not be disappointed. 

Brown Butter Blondies 

(FOOD 52.com)

2sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
2cups all-purpose flour
1heaping teaspoon kosher salt
2eggs
4teaspoons good-quality vanilla extract
1 3/4cups dark brown sugar
1cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan. Swirl it around a few times. It will foam and spatter. After 3 to 4 minutes, it will start to smell nutty. Don’t walk away. It’s ready when the sizzling quiets down and you see little brown bits drop to the bottom of the pan. Pour into a large bowl. Cool completely (about 30 minutes). Alternatively, if you want a blondie marbled with chocolate, cool butter for only 5 minutes and proceed with the recipe. The warm dough will melt the chocolate chips a bit.
Heat oven to 350° F. Prepare your 8 by 8-inch baking pan with butter and flour, parchment paper, or aluminum foil. Set aside.

Whisk together flour and salt. In another bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla. Set aside.
Add brown sugar to the cooled butter. Mix with a wooden spoon for about a minute.
Add egg/vanilla mixture to butter/sugar mixture. Mix until combined and shiny, about 20 seconds.
Add flour mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mixture. Mix until there are still a few pockets of flour visible. Add chocolate chips. Mix until evenly distributed and all flour pockets are gone, but be careful not to over-mix! Spoon dough into your prepared baking pan. Spread evenly with the back of your wooden spoon (it will keep its shape). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. You can’t do the toothpick test with this because it always comes out clean. Instead, look for a crispy top that's just starting to crack.

Firm slightly-browned edges. And when you press on the center, you don’t want it to feel really soft. Don't stress. You can always throw it back in later. Just know that once it's cool, it will firm up quite a bit. And once frozen, it is dreamy in all forms.

Remove from the oven. Cool completely before removing from the pan. The blondie block should pop right out (either pull out by parchment/alumninum foil or if in a greased pan, just invert onto a cutting board and carefully flip it back over). Cut into desired portion sizes. These keep for a few days at room temperature in an airtight container. Or you can freeze them for a few months.

Apple-Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

I took the girls to a "pick your own" apple orchard last weekend. The weather was perfect and we left with what seemed like a million pounds of apples and sour stomachs from eating so many of them as we picked.

 
I have been eyeing this bundt cake recipe from Southern Living for months, so I decided to give it a try.  The Cake is TO DIE FOR.  The sweet cream cheese filling and praline frosting make it rich and creamy which is offset nicely with the tart apples.  I have been eating this for breakfast and dessert so my next post will probably have to be some sort of spinach shake.

CREAM CHEESE FILLING:
1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

APPLE CAKE BATTER:
1 cup finely chopped pecans
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-4 cups peeled and finely chopped apples - I used a few different varieites

PRALINE FROSTING:
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar

Preparation
1. Prepare Filling: Beat first 3 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended and smooth. Add egg, flour, and vanilla; beat just until blended.

2. Prepare Batter: Preheat oven to 350º. Bake pecans in a shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through. Stir together 3 cups flour and next 7 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in eggs and next 3 ingredients, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in apples and pecans.

3. Spoon two-thirds of apple mixture into a greased and floured 14-cup Bundt pan. Spoon Cream Cheese Filling over apple mixture, leaving a 1-inch border around edges of pan.  Spoon remaining apple mixture over Cream Cheese Filling.

4. Bake at 350º for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 2 hours).

5. Prepare Frosting: Bring 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter, and 3 Tbsp. milk to a boil in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly; boil 1 minute, whisking constantly. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Gradually whisk in powdered sugar until smooth; stir gently 3 to 5 minutes or until mixture begins to cool and thickens slightly. Pour immediately over cooled cake.

  

  

S'mores Cheesecake

Summer is OVER. I cannot believe it. My kids have started school and the pool is closing this weekend.  Why doesn't February ever fly by like this?

I have been a horrible blogger, and a horrible baker/cook etc all summer, so in a ditch effort to redeem myself for months of nothing, I whipped up this S'mores Cheesecake.

The recipe is easy, but you have to make sure you start it a day ahead of when you want to serve it.  If you are a s'mores fan, pin this *&$%.  It is creamy, chocolaty and delish.

S'mores Cheesecake - Bon Appetit

INGREDIENTS:
CRUST
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (made from 9 whole crackers finely ground in processor; 1 packet)
3 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

FILLING
9 ounces high-quality milk chocolate (I used half milk choco and half dark choco), chopped
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
3 large eggs

TOPPING
1 cup sugar
2 large egg whites
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
12 large marshmallows, cut into quarters with wet kitchen scissors
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

RECIPE

FOR CRUST
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Mix crumbs and sugar in medium bowl. Add melted butter; stir until mixture is evenly moistened. Press onto bottom of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Bake until set, about 12 minutes. Remove from oven; cool. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.

FOR FILLING
Stir chocolate in top of double boiler set over barely simmering water until smooth. Remove from over water and cool to lukewarm, stirring occasionally.
Combine cream cheese, sugar, and salt in processor and blend until smooth. With motor running, add whipping cream through feed tube and process just until blended. With motor running, add melted chocolate, then add eggs 1 at a time, blending and scraping down sides after each addition until mixture is smooth. Pour batter over crust in pan.
Bake cake until outer edge is slightly puffed and cake is barely set in center (center will look shiny and move slightly when pan is gently shaken), about 55 minutes. Transfer cake to rack. Run small sharp knife around cake to loosen. Chill uncovered until cold, 8 hours or overnight. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.

FOR TOPPING
Whisk sugar, egg whites, 3 tablespoons water, cream of tartar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt to blend in large metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water; whisk constantly until sugar dissolves and mixture thickens and is hot to touch, about 3 minutes. Remove bowl from over water and stir in marshmallows (keep water simmering in saucepan). Let stand until marshmallows soften, about 3 minutes. Set bowl with mixture over simmering water; using handheld electric mixer, beat until stiff shiny peaks form, about 4 minutes. Beat in vanilla.
Scrape topping onto cheesecake. Using offset metal spatula, spread topping to edges of cake, swirling decoratively. Let stand until set, about 15 minutes.
Using kitchen torch, lightly brown topping in spots. (Or preheat broiler; place cake at least 4 inches from heat source and broil just until topping is lightly browned in spots, watching closely to avoid burning, about 2 minutes.) Chill cake until cold. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome and keep chilled. Remove pan sides. Place cake on platter.

strawberry rhubarb hand-pies

Hand pies are the perfect picnic dessert, especially for the upcoming holiday weekend!  They are easy to transport, they require zero utensils (or plates for that matter), you just grab and enjoy.  I combined a few different recipes to make these strawberry rhubarb cuties, and they were delicious!

Crust
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon fresh orange zest (optional)
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, very cold and cut into small cubes
3/4 to 1 cup buttermilk 

Rhubarb Filling
1 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries

1 cup finely chopped fresh rhubarb

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange peel

To assemble
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water
Coarse sugar


Make pie dough: Whisk together flour, zest, sugar and salt in the bottom of a large bowl. Using a pastry blender, work the butter into the flour until the biggest pieces of butter are the size of tiny peas.  Gently stir in 3/4 cup buttermilk with a rubber spatula, mixing it until a craggy mass forms. Get your hands in the bowl and knead it just two or three times to form a ball. If it doesn’t come together, add remaining 1/4 cup buttermilk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it does, then gently knead again. Divide dough in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and flatten a bit, like a disc. Chill in fridge for at least an hour or up to two days.

Make rhubarb filling: Place rhubarb , strawberries, cornstarch, orange peel and sugar in a small-to-medium saucepan with sugar and stir to combine. Cover and cook at medium-low heat for 15 minutes, no need to stir. Increase the heat to medium, remove the lid and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes, until rhubarb is broken down and ideally thick enough that if you run a spoon across the bottom of the pot, you can see a trench quickly form and disappear.  Spread mixture on a large plate in the fridge or freezer to cool quickly, then scrape into a bowl. Keep cold until needed; it will be thicker and easier to “scoop” onto the pie bases.

Assemble pies: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line two to three baking sheets with parchment paper. Beat your remaining egg and 1 tablespoon water and keep aside with a pastry brush.

Flour your counter and start rolling your dough by pressing down lightly with the pin and moving it from the center out. Roll it a few times in one direction, lift it up and rotate it a quarter-turn. Continue to do, roll a couple times, lifting the dough and rotating it until the dough is just shy of 1/8-inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter or glass, cut dough into circles. 

Brush half the circles very, very lightly with the egg wash; these will be your bases. Cut a small vent in the other half of the circles; these will be your lids. In the center of each egg washed square, put a small dollop (2TBS) rhubarb filling. Top each filled base with a vented circle. Press outer edge of top and bottom all around to seal with your fingertips; a fork will work as well. Transfer pie to a baking sheet, spacing 1-inch apart. Brush the tops with egg wash and sprinkle generously with coarse sugar. Repeat with remaining dough, including second half from fridge, and fillings.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until puffed and golden, and even more brown at edges. Transfer to cooling racks and cool to room temperature before serving.

Blueberry Syrup

ahhhh summer, here at last!

My refrigerator is bursting with produce and the girls and I are loving it, except for some reason my lovlies are boycotting blueberries this week. Why? No idea, but I am pretty positive that they will be back in good standing sometime in the near future.

In the meantime, I had to come up with a plan for my 3+ pints of blueberries and I decided on making a blueberry syrup.  You can add the syrup to anything - pancakes, waffles, ice cream, oatmeal (i had it this morning), the possibilities are endless and the blueberry flavor makes everything sing summer.  


blueberry syrup:

Ingredients
1 1/2 pints fresh blueberries, rinsed
1 cup vanilla sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions
Combine the blueberries and vanilla sugar in a large heavy saucepan. Add 1 cup water and the lemon juice and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the mixture begins to thicken.

Remove from the heat and strain through a fine sieve. Cool to room temperature, cover and refrigerate.

Tagalongs

Bridget and I have been slacking on our posts. We are both still baking/cooking a lot, but we haven't been sharing.  Not because we are like my toddlers and HATE sharing, but because we finally have some reprieve from our awful winter and we are enjoying the summer-ish weather.

I am beyond excited for all of the summer produce to arrive at the Farmer's market, but until that happens, I will continue to survive on food comprised of Peanut Butter and Chocolate, like these amazing homemade tagalongs!

Tagalongs - Recipe from Siriously Delicious

Cookies:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt

Filling:
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt

Coating:
6 oz. milk chocolate, chopped
6 oz. semi-sweet or dark chocolate, chopped
1 tsp vegetable oil

With an electric mixer, cream butter and powdered sugar until smooth. Add vanilla and almond extract and mix. In a separate bowl, sift together flour and salt. Slowly add sifted ingredients to butter/sugar and mix until combined. Shape dough into a disc, cover in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Using a small circular cookie cutter (also lightly floured), cut out cookies and place on parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until edges just begin to turn golden. Let cool.

While cookies are cooling, with mixer combine peanut butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and a pinch of salt. Once cookies have cooled, scoop approx. 1/2 tsp of filling on top of each cookie. Using a knife, place the tip in the middle of the peanut butter, and spread down to the side of cookie. Repeat that motion as you go around the cookie. It should look slightly domed in the middle.

In a double boiler (or place a heat-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water, making sure the water does not touch the bowl), melt all chopped chocolate. Add vegetable oil and stir until you have a glossy chocolate. Using 2 forks, dip cookie into chocolate. Make sure to flip over and cover cookie completely. Lift cookie out of chocolate with one fork, using the other to scrape excess chocolate off the bottom. Repeat with each cookie and place them on foil or parchment paper. Let cookies cool at room temp and then peel off paper or foil.

Cookie Dough Peanut Butter Truffles

Egg-less cookie dough, covered in chocolate & peanut butter.  How could a small bite like this be more perfect? IT CAN'T.

I found this recipe 2 weeks ago and I am on batch #3. Apparently I missed the memo on the fact that swimsuit season is now HERE.  Ug, I should be doing lunges instead of trying to win the "I'm going to need an entire new wardrobe because I have eaten so many cookie dough truffles" contest.

You can switch up your dough by adding in different flavored chips, dried fruit, nutella - whatever you want.  The possibilities are endless and thankfully for me, so is the stretch in my elastic-waist pants.

Kitchen Sink Cookies

Chris and I have fallen in love with these cookies.  They have a little bit of everything, making the cookies and the dough irresistible and giving them the appropriate name, kitchen sink.  I adapted  them from a recipe from the Sono baking company cookbook changing the recipe a couple of times to find the perfect combination. I substituted greek yogurt for (some of the) butter and found that using a combination of bread and all-purpose flour gives them the perfect density.  Substitute pecans, walnuts, white chocolate chips for chocolate chips or butterscotch chips to make your ideal cookie!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup bread flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup butter unsalted, at room temp
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
8 tablespoons greek yogurt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
6 ounces chocolate chips
6 ounces butterscotch chips
1 cup raisins
1 cup old-fashioned oats

In a medium bowl whisk flours, baking soda, salt and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with nonstick silicone baking mats.

In a standing mixer with a paddle attachment beat the butter with brown and granulated sugars on med-high, until light and fluffy. Add 8 tablespoons of greek yogurt and egg, scraping down the side after it is mixed in. Add vanilla extract. Turn the mixer to low, add flour mixture.  Fold in chocolate and butterscotch chips, coconut, raisins and oats.

Using a small ice-cream scoop, scoop dough on to prepared baking sheets. Bake, rotating half way through, for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

confetti cupcakes

Cupcakes & Sprinkles - that combo can make anyone happy - even a Wisconsinite who hasn't seen the sun in 5 months, who hasn't worn pants with a waist in weeks and who is ready to burn her down coat, huge winter boots and 5 million hats, just so she doesn't have to wear them for another day.

Yep, these cupcakes made me happy, however, they did not help me out at all with my pants problem.  

CUPCAKES (From Sally's Baking Addiction)

1 and 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
3/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter in the microwave. Whisk in sugar and chill in the refrigerator for 1 minute. Stir in egg, yogurt, milk, and vanilla extract until combined. Slowly mix in dry ingredients until no lumps remain. Batter will be thick. Slowly stir in sprinkles, but do not over mix because the sprinkles will bleed their color.

Divide batter among 12 cupcake liners (or 24 mini) and bake for up to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Bake for 8-9 minutes if making mini cupcakes. Allow to cool.

For the frosting, I used my favorite buttercream recipe (It is always the same people!!)

Buttercream Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
2 tsp almond extract
4-5 cups of powdered sugar, sifted
2-5 tbsp heavy whipping cream

Beat the butter and salt until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in the almond and 2 tbsp of heavy whipping cream. Sift the sugar and then add cup by cup until you have reached the desired sweetness. Beat the frosting 15-20 minutes. Add more cream as needed.

Store cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days and in the refrigerator up to 5.

buttercream topped sugar cookies

Well, I tried to be healthier like Bridget and it lasted a day.  I guess I could blame it on the fact that I needed to bring a treat in to Franny's school, or that it is Valentine's day and we should all get a free pass.  Whatever the reason for my failure, I am so glad that "failure" = buttercream covered cookies.

Directions:

Take your favorite sugar cookie recipe, shape to your desire, bake and and slather  it with buttercream (see recipe below).  

* Put more buttercream than you think you should on top of the cookie.  You will not regret it.

Buttercream Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp almond extract
4-5 cups of powdered sugar, sifted
2-5 tbsp heavy whipping cream

Beat the butter and salt until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and 2 tbsp of heavy whipping cream. Sift the sugar and then add cup by cup until you have reached the desired sweetness. Beat the frosting 15-20 minutes.  Add more cream as needed.

Happy Heart Day!!!!

Classic Snickerdoodle

I love fancy.  and I can love fussy. BUT, I do not believe that fancy & fussy = better, especially when it comes to desserts.

The girls and I made these snickerdoodles this week.  Nothing fancy and nothing fussy, but they tasted just like they always do...soft & chewy, buttery, with a hint of cinnamon.  YUM


Snickerdoodle Cookie (Martha Stewart's Cookie Book)

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1 cups (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs

- – -
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Put butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.

Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into 20 (1 3/4-inch) balls; roll in cinnamon sugar. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

Chocolate Chunk Blondies

Big news this weekend.....I came in second in our Village Chili Cook-off! I know, I am kind of a big deal now, but I promise to not let this new found fame go to my head.

I used B's Bison Chili Recipe found here, and substituted chipotle chili powder for the ancho powder. DELICIOUS!

Today, I have moved on to sweeter endeavors and made these yummy chocolate chunk blondies from Ina Garten's Fool Proof.  You probably have everything to make them in your pantry, so try them tonight.

Ingredients
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
1 1/4 pounds semisweet chocolate chunks, such as Nestle's



Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour an 8 x 12 x 2 inch baking pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on high speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time, and mix well, scraping down the bowl. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and with the mixer still on low, slowly add flour mixture to the butter mixture. Fold the walnuts and chocolate chunks in with a rubber spatula.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30 minutes exactly. Don't overbake! A toothpick may not come out clean. Cool completely in the pan and cut into bars.

Chocolate Cherry Scones

Happy New Year everyone!
2013 is long gone and 2014 is off to a frigid start.  The forecasted high for Monday is -11. Needless to say we are spending a lot of time indoors, eating to stay warm.

Bridget gave me Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery Cookbook for a hostess gift (thanks B!!) and I made these chocolate/cherry scones for New Years day bunch.  The scones turned out delicious - they were moist and sweet enough to be served as a dessert.  

I love these scones.  I love Thomas Keller. I love wool socks. I love hot coffee and somehow, despite my headaches over the past few weeks, I still love champagne!!

*** This recipe takes some advance prep. Cherries need to be refrigerated over night.    

 

Chocolate Cherry Scones
(Bouchon Bakery Cookbook)

MACERATED CHERRIES

1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbs + 2 tsp of Kirsch (optional)

1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup dried tart cherries

SCONES
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
9 Tbs cold, unsalted butter
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chocolate chips

CHERRY GLAZE

3/4 cup powdered sugar
5 Tbs reserved strained cherry syrup
2 Tbs heavy cream

To make the macerated cherries, combine water, sugar, and Kirsch in a small sauce pan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Stir in the cherries and return to a simmer, then remove from the heat, add vanilla and let cool. Transfer the cherries and their liquid to a covered container and refrigerate overnight.

To make the scones, Set a mesh strainer over a measuring cup and drain the cherries. Reserve 2-3 tablespoons of the liquid for the glaze.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and Kosher salt in a large bowl. Cut the butter into tiny pieces and add it to the flour mixture with the paddle attachment until the whole mixture is crumbly and evenly combined. Pour in the cream and mix together with a wooden spoon, or with your hands, if it's easier, as the batter will be thick and heavy.

Next, add the chocolate chips and drained cherries, then transfer the dough to covered container and refrigerate for at least an hour. 

Remove the dough from the fridge and using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter into 12 balls. Set the balls on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and then put the whole cookie sheet in the freezer for at least 2 hours but overnight is preferred.  

Remove cookie sheet from the freezer and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until tops are golden brown. 

While the scones are baking, whisk together the powdered sugar and 2-3 tablespoons of reserved cherry syrup in a small bowl. Slowly add the cream, and add any additional cherry syrup to maintain the consistency of the glaze, or to add more flavor.  When the scones are finished baking, take them out of the oven an immediately brush them with several coats of glaze. Cool completely and enjoy!!!

Chocolate Nutella and Sea Salt Fudge

Rewind to a month ago, I would spend the girls' nap time working out, cleaning, sewing, stalking people on Facebook, you know the usual stuff. For the past week, my "nap times" have solely consisted of baking, baking some more and then "testing" all of the baked goods.  Yesterday I made peanut butter blossoms (an oldie but a goodie) and I took a stab at making a new treat, Chocolate Nutella & Sea Salt Fudge.
Yes, it does taste as amazing as you would imagine.  

I definitely licked the spoon, and bowl clean.

Chocolate Nutella & Sea Salt Fudge
1 Tbs butter for greasing the pan
1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 oz high quality bittersweet 60% chocolate chips
1 cup Nutella, room temperature
3 Tbs unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp sea salt

Grease the bottom and sides of a 8x8 inch baking pan.  Line the pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overlap on the sides.

In a medium glass bowl, stir together sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, chocolate chips, Nutella and butter. Form a double boiler by setting the bowl over a medium pot of gently simmering water. The water level should be low enough that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water.  Stir until the chocolate chips are melted and the mixture is smooth, 5 to 7 minutes.
Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan, spread the top smooth with a spatula and sprinkle with sea salt. Refrigerate until the fudge is firm, at least 2 hours.

Once the fudge is chilled, run a knife under hot water, dry it off, and run it around the edges of the pan to loosen the fudge.  Using the overhanging parchment paper, lift the fudge out. Peel off the parchment paper. Cut the fudge into 3/4 inch squares.  Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container or wrapped well in plastic wrap and foil.

Candy Cane Kiss Cookies

I made this cookie for the first time yesterday and it is already a favorite with my girls. They are bite-sized, colorful and buttery with a peppermint kiss. What more could you ask for in a Christmas cookie?! 

This easy (and very quick) recipe is from Sally's Baking Addiction. Her blog has some amazing looking cookies on it right now!

Ingredients
10 Tbs unsalted butter, softened to room temp
1 cup granulated sugar
2 egg yolks (room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 and 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
sprinkles
24 Candy Cane Hershey Kisses

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside. Using a hand-held or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed for 5 full minutes, scraping down the sides and the bottom as necessary. Add the egg yolks and vanilla, beating on medium-high until fully combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary. In a medium bowl, toss the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients on low speed until fully combined. The dough will be very thick. If the dough is extremely sticky, chill for at least 45 minutes.

Roll dough into balls, a little less than 1 Tablespoon of dough each. The dough may seem dry, but the warmth of your hands will allow it to come together in a ball. Roll into assorted sprinkles and bake for 8-10 minutes. The cookies will look very, very under baked. That's what you need. Do not over bake. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes. Press a Hershey Kiss into the center and immediately put the cookie sheet into the freezer for 5 minutes. Doing this will prevent the kiss from melting. Cookies remain fresh tightly covered at room temperature for 1 week.

White-Chocolate Cherry Shortbread

Going to bed last night, I vowed not to eat sweets during the upcoming week. Now I find myself trying to determine what goes into the category of "sweet".   Do snacks like chocolate covered raisins, frozen yogurt, hot chocolate and granola count as a sweet?  Not in my book.  

Some people might say that it gets trickier when trying to decide if items such as gingerbread and shortbread are sweets, but once again, I have decided NO, they are not.  I wouldn't count whole wheat bread or 9 grain or even white bread as a sweet, so why would shortbread or gingerbread be a sweet?! 

With this rationale, I had zero guilt when I made (and ate) these delicious White-Chocolate Cherry Shortbread cookies today. 

White-Chocolate Cherry Shortbread

(recipe - Better Homes & Gardens)

Ingredients
1/2 cup of maraschino cherries, drained and finely chopped
2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of sugar
1 cup of cold butter
12 ounces of white chocolate baking squares with cocoa butter, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon of almond extract
2 drops red food coloring (optional)
2 teaspoons of shortening
White nonpareils and/or red edible glitter (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spread cherries on paper towels to drain well.
In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in drained cherries and 4 ounces (2/3 cup) of the chopped chocolate. Stir in almond extract and, if desired, food coloring. Knead mixture until it forms a smooth ball.

Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Using the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in sugar, flatten balls to 1-1/2-inch rounds.
Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until centers are set. Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheet. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.

In a small saucepan, combine remaining 8 ounces white chocolate and the shortening. Cook and stir over low heat until melted. Dip half of each cookie into chocolate, allowing excess to drip off. If desired, roll dipped edge in nonpareils and/or edible glitter. Place cookies on waxed paper until chocolate is set.