This Week's Concoctions Ending 9/24

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

We went to a friend's house for the football game on Sunday and I brought this as dessert. It was supposed to be a pumpkin swirl cheesecake brownies but I modified it because I was dumping tablespoons of filling over the brownies and was finding that I was going to have a lot leftover so I decided to make it a layer and then add the reserve brownie batter as a topping I guess. As you can see it, it came out looking like a result of some kind of gastrointestinal distress. I overcooked the brownies so the bottom layer is a little tough.

There was a tailgating/party food theme at work last week so I decided to use my beanpot again. These are Texas Cowboy Beans. It is a mix of ground beef, beans (pinto, white, kidney), ketchup, onion, and BBQ sauce.

September 22: Apple Chunk with White Chocolate Cookies

Apple Chunk with White Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup (4.5 oz) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 tablespoons (4 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1 large egg
2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon maple flavoring
3/4 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats (not instant)
1/2 cup finely chopped green apple, such as Granny Smith
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
1/4 cup raisins
2 oz white chocolate

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line 2 baking sheets with nonstick foil or parchment paper.
2. Mix the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a small bowl; 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 on medium speed until creamy. Beat in the applesauce. Continue beating on medium speed, scraping the bowl often. Add the egg, maple syrup, vanilla, and maple flavoring; continue beating until well mixed. By hand, stir in the flour mixture until incorporated. Stir in the oats, apple, walnuts, and raisins.
4. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls of dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake one sheet at a time for 10-13 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned. Let cool completely on a wire rack set over some paper towels. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the white chocolate at 50% power, stirring every 30 seconds. Drizzle the white chocolate over the cookies.

I know you can't see the label but I bought...imitation maple flavoring! I know I'm ashamed too. It's the only thing the store had.

Dry ingredients

Addition of applesauce

Addition of syrup, maple flavoring, egg and vanilla

Addition of the dry ingredients

Addition of raisins and oats

Addition of apple

Addition of walnuts

Clearly drizzling is not a talent of mine!

Thoughts: I hate recipes that include drizzling. I now have tools to make it easier but honestly I was lazy and just wanted to get it over with. I didn't have pure maple syrup so I just used store bought syrup (it has maple in it, right?). Other than that, it was pretty easy. I used about 1/2 of a Granny Smith apple. I baked them for 11 minutes and they come out pretty soft. It only yielded about 20. It tastes like a spice cookie. We both liked it.

This Week's Concoctions Ending 9/17

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

Another co-worker's birthday....box white cake with store bought strawberry frosting.

Other than that I haven't made anything else, but I anticipate on making more things this week because I actually have quite a bit of time!

September 14: Red, White and Blue Bars

Red, White and Blue Bars

Ingredients:
8 tablespoons (4 oz) unsalted butter
2 cups white chocolate chips
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (4.5 oz) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup seedless raspberry preserves or pie filling
1/4 cup blueberry preserves or pie filling
1/4 cup sliced almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 325 and place a rack in the center. Line a 9-inch square metal pan with nonstick foil.
2. Melt the butter in a medium-size, microwave-safe bowl on high for 1 minute; stir. Add 1 cup of chips; let stand. Do not stir.
3. With a handheld electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the eggs in a large mixer bowl until foamy. Add the sugar; beat until light and lemon colored, about 3 minutes. Stir in the white chip mixture and then stir in the flour, salt, and almond extract.
4. Spread about 2/3 of the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges. Let cool slightly in the pan. Soften the preserves in separate small, microwave-safe bowls or cups at 50% power for 5-10 seconds, then spread over the baked crust, spreading half of the crust with raspberry and the other half with blueberry.
5. Stir the remaining white chips into the reserved batter and drop spoonfuls of batter over the jam, spreading gently to cover it. The jam will still show through a bit. Sprinkle the almonds over the top. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the edges are browned. Let cool completely in the pan, and then chill briefly (for about an hour) so that you can make a cleaner cut when slicing. Lift the bars from the pan and set on a cutting board. Carefully cut along the center seam where the berry toppings meet, then cut each half into 12 bars.

Addition of sugar

Addition of chocolate mix

Addition of flour

Meanwhile while it was baking...

....

Raspberry on left, blueberry on right

Before the oven

and after

Thoughts: So after the disaster of the chocolate truffle cookies, I tried these instead. Very straightforward recipe...nothing complicated. I baked them for 28 minutes. I'm not crazy about fruity-jam things but they were ok. I think I liked the blueberry side more. Patrick didn't get a chance to try them before I took them to work.

September 13: Chocolate Truffle Cookies

Chocolate Truffle Cookies

Ingredients:

6 1/2 oz good quality dark chocolate, chopped
2 large egg whites, room temperature
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup granulated sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick foil.
2. Melt the chocolate: Put the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat on 50% power for 1 minute. Stir well. Repeat, heating at 50% power and stirring at 30-second intervals until smooth. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or in a large, preferably metal, mixing bowl using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks just start to form. Beat in the vanilla. Add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high, until glossy. With a rubber scraper, fold in the melted chocolate. Using a heaping teaspoon, drop batter 2 1/2 inches apart on one of the prepared baking sheets. Bake one sheet at a time for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies appear set. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 2 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate hardened to the side of the bowl...an omen to what was to come?

AHH!

Thoughts: Obviously a complete freakin' disaster. I have no idea what happened. My first guess would be that the peaks weren't stiff enough before adding the rest of the ingredients. Maybe the chocolate didn't cool enough, maybe the eggs weren't at room temperature? I don't know but I threw the whole thing out.

This Week's Concoctions Ending 9/10

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

It was one of my co-worker's birthdays this week so she requested an all chocolate creation. The cupcakes include a cake mix, sour cream, and cinnamon. The frosting is store bought.

We got invited to a football party this weekend and I couldn't go due to work but I wanted to still make something to send with my husband. These are Butterfinger Rice Krispy Treats. The rice krispy layer includes melted candy corn, peanut butter, marshmallows, and rice krispies. The topping is melted chocolate chips and Butterfinger pieces.

September 6: Payroll Bars

Payroll Bars

Ingredients:

Crust
6 tablespoons (3 oz) unsalted butter
1 (18.25 oz) box yellow cake mix
1 large egg

Filling
3 cups miniature marshmallows
4 tablespoons (2 oz) unsalted butter
2 cups peanut butter chips
2/3 cup light corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups salted peanuts
2 cups crispy rice cereal, such as Rice Krispies

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line a 9x13 metal pan with nonstick foil, or line it with regular foil and spray the foil with flour-added baking spray.
2. Make the crust: In a small microwave-safe bowl, microwave the butter on high for 30 seconds, or until melted. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, mix the cake mix, melted butter, and egg at medium speed to make a dough. Press the dough into the prepared pan and bake for 12-18 minutes.
3. Make the filling: Sprinkle the marshmallows evenly over the baked dough and return the pan to the oven for 5 minutes to melt the marshmallows. In a large (3 qt) saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and add the peanut butter chips and corn syrup. Stir until melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla, peanuts, and cereal. Drop blobs of the cereal mixture over the marshmallows, spreading gently to cover. Let cool completely, then chill until very cold so the bars will be easier to slice. Grasp the foil, lift from the pan, set on a cutting board, and use a chef's knife trim the edges. Cut the bars into squares.

Crust Ingredients

Filling Ingredients

Addition of peanut butter chips and light corn syrup

Addition of vanilla

Addition of peanuts

Addition of rice krispies

Thoughts: It was another straightforward recipe. I used a cake mix that was 15.25 oz and 1 bag of peanut butter chips that equaled 1 2/3 cups instead of 2. I baked the crust for 13 minutes. We both thought it was just ok.