Some nights you just need a cookie. I mean right now. Immediately. And that is why I am so happy that I recently discovered cookie bars. Because on those nights that you just need a cookie right away, you didn’t think ahead to soften butter to room temperature, nor do you have time to let dough chill. Enter the amazing cookie bar. Specifically a chocolate chip cookie bar with salted caramel sauce swirled inside and sprinkled with sea salt. Sounds complicated, right? It is not at all!! Especially if you have some caramel sauce leftover from making these brownies. Just melt some butter (no waiting for butter to soften in this recipe!) and mix it with sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add in the dry ingredients and chocolate chips, and you are ready to go! There is no chilling this dough, just plop it right into the pan. Well there is one little extra step, but I promise it is worth the time because it involves caramel! Press half the dough into the pan and then pour caramel sauce all over it. Then you dollop the cookie dough in little scoops over the top (it looks so cute!) and lightly press it down. Sprinkle everything with some fleur de sel, and that’s it! In about 30 minutes, warm gooey cookie bars are ready for almost immediate consumption! Now I will say that the texture changes a lot as these sit. The bars firm up and become like actual cookies. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with sneaking a square (or two) of the warm bars when they are still doughy and gooey! …
Raspberry Dark Chocolate Scones
Let’s talk about scones. Buttery, tender, delicious scones. I’ve eaten my fair share of them, but I had never actually made scones. So I decided to change that this past weekend. I had some gorgeous raspberries just begging to be made into a delicious breakfast, and this recipe seemed like the perfect way to use them up and try out a new pastry! I did not have white chocolate on hand, so I decided to use dark chocolate instead. A little chocolate with breakfast is always a good thing – my grandfather taught me that!
So back to scones. I’ve seen them made on TV a thousand times. They always make it look so pretty and neat. Let me tell you, my prebaked scones were pretty (because when is butter and sugar and flour not pretty?), but they sure weren’t neat! This dough is really wet! The recipe warned that the dough would be “slightly unmanageable” and it wasn’t kidding. I felt like I was working with slightly dry muffin batter rather than dough! But the recipe also mentions that “not adding additional flour results in tender scones”, and I certainly wanted my scones to be tender. So when it was time to form the dough into a circle and cut it into scones, I turned my dough out onto a floured silicone mat, which really helps with the dough not sticking. I also floured my hands very well, and just tried to to work the dough as little as possible. It was a bit messy getting these scones onto the cookie sheet, but once I did it was totally worth it! The baked scones are so light and tender. There is chocolate and raspberry in every bite, with just a hint of sweetness. So I’d say my first venture into scones was a success, although I can’t wait to practice more with other recipes! I see pumpkin scones in my future……
Pretzel Sandwich Buns
It seems like pretzel buns are everywhere these days, and I love it! Even Wendy’s has embraced the pretzel bun…not sure that I will be sampling that anytime soon. But whenever I see a sandwich on pretzel bread at a real restaurant I get really excited. So I decided that I needed to make some at home! Great decision. These pretzel buns were so good!! Crusty and salty on the outside, chewy and doughy on the inside – a perfect roll for any sandwich, or even to eat plain. We made jalapeno burgers to put on our pretzel buns. Burgers and pumpkin beer to watch the first Notre Dame football game of the season – perfection! …
Salted Caramel Brownies
This week calls for brownies. The holiday weekend is over. Summer is over. The streets of NYC are packed again with everyone back to school and back to work. Yep, definitely need some brownies this week. And while we’re at it, might as well add a salted caramel drizzle on top. Just because. The week is looking up already.
This recipe is from the one and only Ina Garten. I’ve been dying to make these since I saw them on her show. The brownie is rich and fudgy, the caramel swirl is so sweet and buttery, and the flaked sea salt on top just ties the whole thing together. They are nothing short of amazing! I’m not sure why she calls specifically for Hershey’s chocolate chips in the recipe, but who am I to argue with Ina? I made TheBetterHalf go buy that exact brand for me, and in true NYC fashion it took him 3 grocery stores to find them. All in the name of brownies. The only change I made to the recipe is adding 2 teaspoons of instant coffee instead of the 1 ½ tablespoons that Ina calls for. Coffee brings out the chocolate flavor in baked goods but I didn’t want to actually taste coffee in my brownies, so I reduced the amount. Everything else was perfect – these brownies so good! …
Cornmeal Bread
Labor day weekend is here! I always have such mixed emotions about this weekend – the end of summer is sad, but I LOVE fall. It is my absolute favorite season. I can’t wait for cooler temperatures, gorgeous fall leaves, and pumpkin everything! TheBetterHalf can’t wait for Notre Dame football to start (tomorrow!). But I will enjoy this one last summer weekend 🙂 I always love to bake bread when I have a little extra time on the weekends. If you are the same, I have a great recipe for you to try this long weekend! The name is kind of confusing – this is NOT corn bread. It is a fluffy yeast bread with cornmeal in the dough. It is very similar to white sandwich bread, but the cornmeal gives it a nice texture and flavor. There is just a hint of sweetness from some dark brown sugar, which I always love in my bread. We have been eating this bread all week for sandwiches and toast and have been loving it! The recipe comes from a great little bread cookbook that my aunt gave me, Beard on Bread. I have made so many delicious breads from this book. Hope you have a great long weekend, and Go Irish! …
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