Truffle Brownies

Hi there! I wrote this post back in June...June 29th actually, so I am posting this 4 months to the day after the fact. Why? Because I am currently on a much needed vacation in Denver alone with my husband, where we are doing whatever we want, when we want. Ahhh, this is the life...

Truffle brownies don't sound like something I would usually gravitate toward. I'm just now learning that I really like brownies in general. I used to think I didn't. Probably becuase they are overdone and so cliche. Also, a cop-out dessert for so many who use the box kind. I'm not trying to hate on boxed brownies, but they are not very "me". Sure, Ghiradelli got me through a few sad nights when I was about 8 months pregnant and craving brownie sundae's, but usually I'm a from scratch sort of girl.

The other thing is I used to think I didn't really enjoy dense and rich chocolate desserts. I don't much care for flourless tortes or chocolate molten lava cakes. So, when I saw this recipe in Bon Appetit for this rather dense, fudgy brownie with chocolate frosting on top and ran, literally ran to the kitchen to make them right away, I was quite surprised. I thought "well, this is odd". Then as I was measuring the sugar, I began to realize that one of my favorite desserts as a teenager was always brownie sundaes. Then, another startling revelation...My favorite dessert in the world (on most days) is a big piece of chocolate cake with chocolate icing. And, I always order a chocolate shake at In-N-Out burger. And, whats that dessert I love at that restaurant? Chocolate velvet pudding cake, is it? Hey now, maybe just becuase I don't care for certain rich chocolate desserts, doesn't mean I don't like them all together. Sometimes I don't think I know myself at all!

This particular species of brownie would fall into more of the fudgy catagory with a bittersweet, rich chocolate ganache on top. The recipe calls for bittersweet chocolate to be used for both the brownie and the topping, but if you are someone who likes their chocolate desserts a little more on the sweet side, I suggest you use semi-sweet chocolate for the ganache frosting. I used walnuts but they are optional.

Truffle Brownies

adapted from Bon Appetit Magazine

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped and divided (or chips)

11 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1 cup walnuts, toasted, coarsley chopped

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Position rack in the center of the oven a preheat to 350 degrees. Line a 9x9x2 (I used a square 9" cake pan, but an 8x8 glass pyrex dish would work) with foil, leaving overhang (this is so you can lift the brownies out of the pan later for good cutting) Spray foil with nonstick vegetable spray. Combine 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate and butter in a meduim bowl. Set bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stir until chocolate and butter are melted and smooth. Alternately just combine the butter and chocolate in a glass bowl and microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between until melted. Set melted chocolate mixture aside until lukewarm, 5-10 minutes.

Whisk sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt in alarge bowl to blend. Whisk in chocolate mixture. Stir in flour, then chopped toasted walnuts. Transfer batter to prepared baking pan. Bake brownies until tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 26-28 minutes. Transfer pan to a cooling rack and let brownies cool completely. Bring cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add remaining 6 ounces chocolate to hot cream and let stand 5 minutes to soften, then whisk until melted and smooth. Pour chocolate ganache over brownie sheet in pan and spread to cover completely. Let stand at cool room temperature until topping is set, about 4 hours. Can be made 1 day ahead. cover and store at room temperature.

Using foil as aid, lift brownie sheet from pan. Fold down foil edges. Using a large sharp knife, cut brownie sheet into 25 squares, wiping knife with hot moist cloth after each cut. Arrange brownies on a platter and serve.

Makes 25 squares

The key to perfectly moist, fudgy brownies is not to overcook them. As soon as the tester comes out with moist crumbs attached, remove the pan from the oven. My brownies were not done at 26 minutes, but at 29 minutes, they were perfect. If you are using an 8x8 pyrex pan, your brownies will be thicker and will need to bake slightly longer, but make sure you check them at the 30 minute mark.

Copycat Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies

I love recreating retro dessert snacks. I'm not sure why since I didn't eat a whole lot of them growing up, just on occasion, but they are nostalgic none the less. I hate heavily processed foods and was quite annoyed the last time I had one of these type of desserts. I don't remember when it was or even what it was (maybe a HoHo?) but I do remember it not tasting even remotely as good had when I was a child. In fact, it was kind of nasty and very fake tasting. A big disappointment for sure. Anyway, a few years back I read an article about a woman who owned a bakery and a popular item on the menu were her homemade knockoff hostess cupcakes, cute loops and all. It was then I had a eureka moment. I realized, hey, you can actually make this stuff and it would taste a thousand times better than out of a 2 year old box they sell at the grocery store! It was a big day for me. I remember thinking that If I ever had a bakery, I too, would make the hostess cupcakes (and guess what? I do make them for Sugar Me Sweet! awww) because that idea is just too charming too pass up. I have this little vision of a dessert bar at a wedding made up entirely of homemade versions of these types of desserts. Twinkies, HoHo's, Hostess Cupcakes, oatmeal cream pies, glazed hand pies, and snowballs...how cute would that be? Not to mention delicious!

I went on a retro baking frenzy yesterday and made most of what I just wrote in the last paragraph. Everything turned out excellent, much to my delight. I decided I'd share the oatmeal cream pies with you (even though I have certain friends, cough, Melissa and Shawn, that flipped for the Twinkies) because they were always my favorite growing up, and I've never made a soft cookie that actually stayed soft before these, and I think that is very interesting. Not to mention that they are sooooo good. The soft oatmeal-y cookie sandwiched between fluffy vanilla cream, I mean, how could it not be? And as a bonus, they are so simple. You could make them in 35 or so minutes from start to finish.

Copycat Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies

adapted from CDKitchen

Cookies

2 sticks margarine

3/4 cup dark brown sugar ( I used golden)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon molasses (or honey or pure maple syrup)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cup quick cooking Quaker oats

Cream Filling

4 teaspoons very hot water

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 jars (7oz) marshmallow creme, or fluff

1 cup shortening

2/3 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl or an electric mixer, cream together margarine, sugars, molasses, vanilla and eggs. In a separate bowl combine the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet. Mix in the oats.

Drop by tablespoonfuls (mine were slightly bigger dollops) onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are just starting to darken around the edges. They will still appear moist in the center. Be careful not to overcook! When cooled, the cookies should be soft and chewy.

While the cookies bake, prepare the filling. Use a small bowl to dissolve the salt in 2 teaspoons of very hot tap water.Set the solution aside to cool.

Combine marshmallow creme, shortening, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl and mix well with an electric mixer on high speed until fluffy. Add the cooled salt solution to the filling and combine with the mixer.

Assemble each cream pie by spreading the filling generously over one side of a cookie (the flat side) and press another cookie on top, making a sandwich. Repeat for the remaining cookies and filling.

Makes about 10-12 oatmeal cream pies (2 cookies to a pie)

The cookie batter does expand quite a bit in the oven, FYI. I removed the cookies from the pan when they were still warm and transferred them to a rack to cool completely flat side up. I found that you should you a thin, metal spatula to remove the cookies from the baking sheet as they are quite flexible and might break or bend if you try to scrape them off with a thicker plastic one, but even a knife might work if you are going to wing it. I like to put a generous amount of cream filling inbetween the pies. Otherwise they are too thin. This, by the way, is generally the same cream filling that gets injected into Twinkies and Hostess cupcakes. Enjoy!

Dried Cherry, Almond Scones

Scones! Oh, lovely scones! I first fell in love with you at The Brown Palace in Denver while having high tea and you still got me! OK- seriously The Brown in Denver really does make out of this world buttermilk scones served with crazy good devonshire cream and strawberry preserves. That and some black tea, with 1 sugar cube and a dash of milk and I'm in hog heaven. No where else I'd rather be. I've tried to make scones at home before using a pre made mix from King Arthur Flour. They did the job but were just not fantastic. Then, yesterday, I was watching Food Network when Anne Burell (the restaurant chef), bless her, made dried cherry almond scones. I watched as she combined the cream with the butter and flour mixture that was lightly scented by fresh lemon zest and cinnamon. I watched as she added in the dried cherries and sliced almonds, cut them into sweet triangles and dusted them generously with turbinado sugar. But what really did me in was her homemade "butter" she made to top the scones. Oh. my. gosh. I think it may actually taste better than devonshire cream. She basically whipped cream very high and longer than you do for whipped cream so as to "whip it back to butter". She drizzled in some honey and added fresh orange zest. Is everyone with me on this? These are going to be out of this world right??? Plus you can make and freeze the dough already cut out in the triangle shapes and just pop them in the oven when you are ready for a fresh scone. That's what I'm talking about.

I had to try out these scones so I decided I would make them for Mother Day. I would give my Mom a little package of fresh scones with the scented butter on Saturday night when I'm going to see her so she could have breakfast on me the next morning. Come to think of it, if you tucked a tea cup and tea or her favorite coffee in there it would really be a great idea.

I made these last night and they looked fabulous. They smelled awesome and the texture was amazing. The crunch of the turbinado sugar on top just makes it, so don't leave it out. It's worth the four bucks to buy the bag for these scones alone. OK, so my confession is that I didn't actually eat one. I can't because I'm on this dang no sugar cleanse. However, Jeremy, a scone aficionado tried one and said they were exceptional and he didn't even have the scented butter! Plus I tore into his scone to touch the inside to inspect and it was just lovely. Cakey, light, but the outside had some body and crumbly bite. I put some already made, not yet baked ones in the freezer for me and the second I'm done with this cleanse, I'm eating one over tea! You my dear friends, thankfully don't have to wait that long.

Dried Cherry, Almond Scones
Adapted from Anne Burell

3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 lemon zested (I did about half a lemon)
pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used slightly less)
1 1/2 sticks cold butter, cut into small cubes
1 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds
1/2 cup heavy cream (I needed more like 3/4 cup)
Turbinado sugar for garnishing
Honey butter, recipe follows

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees
In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar. baking powder, lemon zest, salt and cinnamon and process to combine, just a couple seconds. Add in the butter and run the machine until the butter is distributed evenly throughout (it will look like your starting flour mixture, only a tad clumpier) Dump mixture into a bowl and add the cherries and almonds. Add the heavy cream and combine in into the butter flour mixture. Adding more cream if necessary, a tablespoon at a time until you can squeeze the dough in your fist and it holds the shape. It will be slightly crumbly, but should be able to hold together well. If it doesn't, add more cream and mix it in.

Dump the dough out onto your counter and form it into a ball. Press down on the ball of dough evenly to create a 1 inch thick disk, then cut it (like a pizza) into 6-8 equal wedges. 6 for large scones, 8 for smaller. Sprinkle each wedge generously with turbinado sugar and give it a little pat on top so it sticks to the dough better. Transfer the wedges to a parchment lined sheet pan (I didn't use parchment paper) and bake in the preheated oven for 17 to 18 minutes, turning the pan halfway through, to ensure even browning. Serve warm with honey butter.


Honey Butter

1/2 pint cold heavy cream
2 tablespoons honey
1 orange zested

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add all ingredients and whip on high speed until the cream starts to clump and turn light yellow. Continue mixing as butter forms and the buttermilk begins to separate out which will take a little longer than 10 minutes. Scrape sides and continue mixing until is one lump of butter. The butter will all clump to the mixer whisk and there will be a big puddle of buttermilk below. Place butter into a clean container or serving dish and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

These scones are light, slightly crumbly, gloriously cakey and moist when served fresh from the oven. If baked ahead of time and allowed to sit out they are more dense and crumbly and still delicious. If you want to make them ahead of time and keep them in the freezer until ready to use, just do everything, even adding the turbinado sugar on top, then place the individual wedges in a freezer zip lock bag, careful to keep a little space between each one and freeze on a flat surface. When you are ready they can go straight from the freezer onto a sheet pan and bake.

If you don't have a food processor, you can just combine all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and when you add in the bits of cold butter, just smash them throughout the dough with your fingers. It's more time consuming, but it will work. Also, if you don't have cream for the scone dough, you can substitute for half and half or buttermilk. Cream is lovely though. Also, I said it once and I'll say it again, the turbinado sugar makes this really special so I really do recommend buying it. It was in the baking aisle of my grocery store and you can use it for topping any number of baked goods, strudels and cakes or for just using in your morning coffee.

You will get such a kick out of making the butter. It tastes delicious and is a great chemistry lesson!

Thick, Chewy Granola Bars

I have basically been on a no sugar, no dairy diet, for a couple weeks now ( I already haven't been eating meat). This might come as a shock if you know me. I had my blood checked while I was in California and it didn't look good. My system was being overtaken with sugar and it was causing regular headaches and fatigue. I decided I had to get my body in check with this cleanse/detox. It is the only way to get rid my body of the sugar/yeast and stop my problems before they multiply into something worse. It's a lonely diet. It's a sad diet. No alcohol, bread of any kind, not mention pastas, tortillas and the like. No desserts, fruit, cheese, milk, eggs--I could go on but I'll stop myself. Needless to say, I have not been cooking much of anything that I'd be thrilled to share with you. The problem is I still want to post and try recipes out.

Problem solved. Well, for now anyway because I'm going to share with you this killer granola bar recipe that I made in late March and just forgot or never got around to posting before today. I really can't believe I didn't put this one up sooner because I was very pleased with the results. I read about these first on the Smitten Kitchen website, but they are originally from King Arthur Flour. It really helped to understand that homemade granola bars are not rocket science. In fact they are extremely flexible. Most all the ingredients can be swapped for another. All you are looking for is a basic proportion of chunky (nuts, dried fruit) to sticky (syrups, sugar oil or butter) and from there, everything thing else is up to you. The vanilla is optional. In fact you could use some almond extract instead if your feeling that. The cinnamon is optional. You can use no dried fruit or all dried fruit in your mix. Toss in flax seeds or sesame seeds! Seriously, make it your own. These are sweet, but not overly sweet. Chewy and thick, like the title, go figure. They are also so good and they stay chewy meaning they won't harden up on you.

Thick, Chewy Granola Bars
adapted from King Arthur Flour

1 2/3 cups quick rolled oats
1/2 to 3/4 cup granulated sugar (use more for sweeter bars, less for mildly sweet)
1/3 cup oat flour (or 1/3 cup oats, processed till finely ground in a food processor)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 to 3 cups dried fruits and nuts (*examples below)
1/3 cup peanut butter or almond butter (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tablespoon water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line an 8"x 8"x 2" pan in one direction with parchment paper, allowing it to go up the opposing sides. lightly grease the parchment paper and the exposed pan, or coat with a non-stick spray.

Stir together all the dry ingredients, including the fruit and nuts. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, melted butter or oil, liquid sweeteners and water. Toss the wet ingredients with the dry (and peanut butter, if using) until the mixture is evenly crumbly. Spread in the prepared pan, pressing them in firmly to ensure they are molded to the shape of the pan. (A piece of plastic wrap can help with this, as you press down on the back of it. Or just spray your fingers with non stick spray.)

Bake the bars for 30-40 minutes, until they're brown around the edges and don't be afraid to get a little color on the tops too. they'll still seem soft and almost under baked when you press into the center of the pan but do not worry, they'll set completely once cool.

Cool the bars in their pan completely on a cooling rack. Alternately, after about 20 minutes you can use your parchment "sling" to lift and remove the bars, and place them in their paper on the rack to cool the rest of the way. this can speed the process up.)

Once cool, use a serrated knife to cut the bars into squares. To store, wrap the bars individually in plastic wrap or stack them in an airtight container. In humid weather, it's best to store the bars in the refrigerator. They also freeze well.

*Suggestions for the nuts and fruit: Dried cranberries, cherries, apricots, raisins, shredded coconut, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, chocolate chips, walnuts, almonds, pecans, wheat germ, flax seeds, dried pineapple, dried apple...The list goes on. My mix was coconut, almonds, cashews, and dried apricots. But that's just what I had on hand at the time.

I suggest you dice up the fruit and nuts that you add to make eating the bars easier. These are definitely not low cal, but they are delicious and probably a lot better for you than all the preservative crap in the store bought ones. Just so you know these don't taste anything like the store bought ones. These are leaps and bounds better and to quote Martha, that's a good thing.

Butterscotch Rice Crispy Treats

The weekend of February 30th (2 weekends ago) I made 4 batches of rice crispy treats.

It started out innocent enough. I read about a recipe for salted brown butter crispy treats that I just had to try and since the rice crispy cereal box was so huge I thought what the hay, let's make a couple different versions, play around, see if I can make the best rice crispy treat this side of the Hudson. I don't know why I just said that. Anyway, I wound up making 3 batches the first night and another the next night when the other batches were gone. Meaning, we ate them ALL.

I gotta tell you after all my experimenting I think the secret to a great crispy treat is to put it in an 8x8 pan instead of the 9x13 pan because then they are plumper and taller. And, the other secret, in the words of my "friend" Deb, is to put a bit more (coughdouble) the amount of butter and then upping the marshamllow to cereal ratio. Either adding less cereal (like 2 cups less) if using the classic recipe or just do it the way I like it and don't measure just dump more marshmallow in the pot and stop adding cereal when it looks to be not very dry. Actually, it should look gloopy and wet. That way the cereal will absorb all the marshmallow and butter and will remain chewy and not dry out as fast. Have you ever had a rice crispy treat the day after you made it? Its like biting into a rock and it cuts the roof of your mouth up like captain crunch cereal. Not these...

Ok, now the salted brown butter rice crispy treats that I originally set out to make were indeed good but my beef with them was they tasted like the normal treats with maybe a bit more depth of flavor. A deeper flavor if you will-but not different enough to make me want to toast my butter everytime. If you want to try them, just double the butter for the classic rice crispy treats and toast it over medium low heat, it will foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Then you add the marshamallows and melt, then add a heaping 1/4 teaspoon of coarse sea salt. Stir it in, then add the cereal and press into the pan. Maybe I didn't use enough salt? I dunno but I didn't taste it.

My favorite treat were the butterscotch ones! My husbands were the plain orginial ones...of course. But I knew that would be the case going in. He likes classic tastes when it comes to dessert. He did notice however, that by upping the marshamllow to cereal ratio and the addition of more butter made them SO much better. Oh, the butterscotch ones though! let me tell you about those. You see for years now I have been buying butterscotch rice crispy treats from this man named Greg who runs a catering company out here called Fireside Catering. He has a stand at the farmers market every Saturday during the Summer and I almost without fail buy one (or two) of his butterscotch crispy treats becuase they are heaven. It's kind of sad though because my treat tasted exactly like his. Exactly. I would be very, very surprised if his recipe differed from mine in any way. I say it was sad because even though I really wanted to know how to make these for some time, now that I do, it will no longer be a novelty waiting for the farmers market so I can get my fix. Sad also thinking of the pounds I will surely gain from making these anytime I want. Scary.


Butterscotch Rice Crispy Treats


1 stick unsalted butter

1 10-ounce bag of marshmallows (I like the big ones over the small)

Half an 11oz bag of butterscotch chips (next to chocolate chips)

4 1/2 cups Rice Krispies cereal


In a large pot melt butter over medium low heat. Add the marshmallows, stirring occasionally until they melt. Add the butterscotch chips and stir until melted, then, off the heat stir in the cereal until combined. Spray an 8x8 pyrex dish with cooking oil or butter it, then add the cereal mixture. Spray your fingertips with the oil (so they don't stick) and pat down on the cereal until it is even. Let sit until cool, at least an hour, cut into squares and eat.

makes 9 thick squares


I like these best after they have sat for a couple hours at least or even the next day. They are chewier than if you were to just eat them right away and that is just the way I like them. If I were to do this again, I would probably add some more marshmallows in the pot and then up the cereal amount to 5 cups because they would have been prettier just a bit taller in the pan.