This Week's Concoctions Ending 7/30

Here are some highlights of items that I made this week other than the "Weekly Cookie"

This past week's food theme at work was cheese. 

Bacon Mac & Cheese

This is the treat that I made for the kids book club. Thanks to Instagram (which I just discovered), I was able to get this appetizing lighting effect.

Oreo Rice Krispies

July 28: Milk Chocolate Middles

Milk Chocolate Middles

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (6.8 oz) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/8 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (5 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar plus an extra cup for rolling
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup toasted and finely chopped pecans
24 milk chocolate candies, such as Hershey's Kisses
4 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Have ready two ungreased baking sheets.
2. In a medium-size bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Gradually add 3/4 cup of the confectioners' sugar. Continue beating on medium speed until smooth, and then beat in the vanilla and egg yolk. By hand, stir in the flour mixture and the pecans.
4. Wrap about 1 tablespoon of dough around each chocolate candy, making sure to cover the candy completely. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over or dip the tops of the dough balls in cinnamon sugar. Arrange on the baking sheets about 2 1/2 inches apart. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Place a wire rack over foil or waxed paper and transfer the cookies to the rack. While the cookies are still warm, sprinkle the tops with the remaining confectioners' sugar and let the remaining fall on the paper, reserving it for later. When the cookies are cool, reroll the cookies in the reserved confectioners' sugar.

Adding the confectioners' sugar

Adding the egg yolk and vanilla

Adding the flour mixture

Adding the pecans

(Hershey Kiss is inside)

This step of sprinkling sugar on them while they were warm was unnecessary

Thoughts: Confectioners' sugar is not my favorite because it gets everywhere! But other than that, this was an ok cookie to make although I would skip the sprinkling of powdered sugar on the warm cookies due to the fact that you reroll them in the sugar once they are cool. Patrick didn't like this cookie at all and I only ate half of one. I don't know whether we tried them before they had completely cooled or what, but they were mushy.

This Week's Concoctions Ending 7/23

Here are some highlights of items that I made this week other than the "Weekly Cookie"

These are banana pudding squares. It was for the kids book club that mentioned bananas. It has a crumb bottom, a layer of bananas, banana pudding and cool whip on top (not pictured).

This is from Betty Crocker. It was super easy to make and very good!

BBQ Chicken Fajitas

This is a candy bar pudding pie. It has cut up Three Musketeers, Snickers and Milk Ways on the bottom and then pudding on the top. I think it would've looked better if I had used chocolate pudding, but I only had vanilla and I didn't feel like going to the store. Maybe one day I will able to make my own pie crust successfully...

This is a flu-curing Clementine smoothie. It has 2 clementines, a banana, lemon juice, almond extract and milk. It also called for an avocado, but that sounded unappetizing. However, this smoothie was not very good. Patrick thought adding some vanilla protein powder would make it better but it made it worse.

As part of our vegetable share, we have been getting a lot of beets so I have made several different dishes. I had a half jar of pesto so....

Pesto Roasted Beets

On a side note, this week I made chili. I was out of chili powder, but I noticed that I had a jar of chipotle chili powder. I made the substitution and it was so hot (I generally don't eat a lot of hot foods). I sat there eating it with a box of Kleenex.

July 21: Double Trouble Chocolate and Potato Chip Cookies

Double Trouble Chocolate and Potato Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup (4.5 oz) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon plus an extra pinch of salt
6 tablespoons (3 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup crushed salted potato chips (about 2 1/2 oz by weight)
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate mini chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Have ready two ungreased baking sheets.
2. In a medium-size bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter and both sugars at medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium; add the egg and vanilla and beat for about 30 seconds, or until incorporated. By hand or with the lowest speed of the mixer, add the flour mixture and stir until fully blended. Stir in the potato chips and chocolate chips.
4. Drop tablespoonfuls of dough about 2 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake one sheet at a time for 13-14 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool on the baking sheets for about 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Dry Ingredients

Addition of vanilla and egg

Addition of flour

Addition of potato chips and chocolate chips

Before....

and After.

Thoughts: 13-14 minutes is too long. I put them in for about 11-12 minutes and they still browned nicely. These cookies were very good; although Patrick would've preferred them without the potato chips. I didn't really taste the chips but it was a saltier cookie.

This Week's Concoctions Ending 7/16

Here are some highlights of items that I made this week other than the "Weekly Cookie"

 All of the main ingredients were from our fruit and vegetable shares.

We received a quart of blackberries which we overheard would be best used if it was consumed within the next 24 hours. So I made the blackberry cobbler that night for the kids book club the next day.

Blackberry Cobbler

We got 3 pounds of fava beans. I had never really seen what they looked like or much about them other than the references in "Silence of the Lambs". They came in pods that were furry inside with only maybe 3-4 beans/pod. I boiled them for a minute and then had to peel off the outer layer of the bean which yielded the green bean seen below. The taste was pretty meh.

Fava Bean Pesto Pasta

We got 2 pounds of sweet cherries. I had a hard time finding a recipe that I liked...I initially wanted to make a pie with a premade crust and most of the ones that I found were calling for either a can of cherry pie filling or double crusts. I really liked this cake.

Sweet Cherry Pound Cake

July 13: Pork and Beans Bars

Pork and Beans Bars

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups (6 oz) all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 generous cup (10 oz can) baked beans with pork
2/3 cup raisins (optional)
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line a 9x13 metal baking pan with nonstick foil or just spray it with flour-added baking spray.
2. Mix the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and granulated sugar together in a medium-size bowl; set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, beat the sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla, and beans. As you beat, mash the beans up with the mixer -- you'll have a few whole beans, but that's okay because they add character to the bars. Add the flour mixture gradually and stir until it is incorporated. Stir in the raisins (if using). Spread the mixture in the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely in the pan. Cut into 24 squares and dust with confectioners' sugar.

Thoughts: I know that the name may turn some heads, but the taste is pretty much like a spice cake. The only exception is that you might be biting into a bean not a raisin. I ended up putting it in the oven for a little longer than 30 minutes...maybe 40 minutes. I used the whole 10 oz can of pork and beans. Patrick was not crazy about this one and I thought it was just ok. When I brought it into work, my co-worker and I decided to call it spice cake instead of the real title so people would try it!

This Week's Concoctions Ending 7/9

Here are some highlights of items that I made this week other than the "Weekly Cookie"


This is one of my favorite veggie recipes. It uses brown sugar, onions and chicken broth.

Collard Greens

I made these for a co-worker's birthday. She wanted strawberry buttercream frosting, but since it's a pain to make, I cheated. I used a can of buttercream frosting and bought one of those new frosting creation mixes (strawberry shortcake).

Strawberry Cupcakes

Couscous Confetti Salad

I made this dish for "Healthy Week" at work, even though I don't know how healthy it is based on the amount of couscous. It also has eggplant, zucchini, red and yellow peppers with a red wine mustard vinaigrette. I was supposed to grill the vegetables but it looked like it was about to rain so I just baked them in the oven for 24 minutes, flipping halfways. I think grilling them would've made them less soggy.

July 7: Triple Chocolate Bites

Triple Chocolate Bites

Ingredients:
8 tablespoons (4 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened natural or Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (3.4 oz) all-purpose flour
4 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1.2 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, room temperature
Lightly sweetened whipped cream or topping (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line an 8 inch square metal pan with nonstick foil.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter and confectioners' sugar on medium speed until creamy. Beat in the cocoa powder and salt, then add the flour and stir until mixed. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 8 minutes.
3. Combine the milk, bittersweet, and unsweetened chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at 50% power, stirring at 1 minute intervals, until the chocolate is fully melted; set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until well mixed and smooth. Stir in the slightly cooled melted chocolate, then beat in the egg. Spread over the chocolate crust and bake for 20-22 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 1 hour, then chill for 3 hours, or until very cold. When ready to serve, lift from the pan, set on a cutting board, and cut into 64 squares. Serve in mini cupcake liners with a dot of whipped cream if desired.

Addition of cocoa powder and salt

Addition of flour

Before the oven...

After the oven...

Before the oven...

After the oven...

Thoughts: I didn't screw up the melting of the chocolate so I'm considering this a success! We thought these would have more of a brownie taste, but they were ehh....ok. The bottom layer was very bland and the chocolate layer mostly tasted like the cream cheese and Hershey's chocolate (not a particularly bad thing).