Sometimes I made a dessert, and it's delicious, and it's pretty and it all get's eaten (very rarely does this not happen), but I don't run to blog about it. Instead, the pictures sit on my hard drive, the recipe wanders around in my browser history, and I never quite get the push to share them with you.
So recently while I was going through my picture files, thinking about what to share next, I figured it was time for a little fall cleaning. Now keep in mind, these weren't bad. The complete disasters in my life I
run to
share with you. These were good. Just not too exciting.
First up: Apple Pie Bars.
I made these in July. I know,
July! Remember that? Weird.
Anyway, these were a variation on these Strawberry Pie Bars. Because I'm lazy and all-around uninterested in hard work, I used a can of apple pie filling for the center. Don't knock it.
They were tasty. After about 36 hours, they started to get a little soggy, when the apple pie filling seeped in the crust and filling. They were still tasty, but they kind of needed a fork to eat, instead of just hands.
Next up: Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins.
I made these on September 4th. Ah the good old days. It was the weekend before I started school, and I had no idea what the year would bring.
Well now I know. And it's tough.
I honestly can't even remember what these muffins were like. They probably weren't bad. They probably weren't amazing either, or I doubt I would have forgotten them. I'm pretty sure those are my teeth marks, so I definitely ate one.
And finally: World Peace Cookies.
I know, I know, those of you who have heard of or made Dorie Greenspan's World Peace Cookies, are probably shocked to see them on my list of blah desserts. After all, they are said to cure international disagreements.
Ok, here's the thing. They were delicious. Really. But they weren't all that appetizing looking, and not one person at the meal I brought them to ate one, and the pictures I attempted to take just never turned out right.
So, yeah, maybe I'm a little bitter. Maybe I'll try these again someday. Maybe I should stop whining. But hey, this is my blog. If I can't do it here, where can I do it?
Ok, I'm done complaining. I'll give you all the recipes I've mentioned, for those of you that are so inspired by my description of these items that you can't wait to try them for yourself.
Tip of the Day: Oh, where to start. Practice makes perfect?
Recipes:
Apple Pie Bars: (adapted from the Field Guide to Cookies)
Crust:
6 tbsps butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Filling: 1 can apple pie filling, diced.
Streusel:
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup plus 2 tbsp flour
1/8 tsp salt
6 tbsps cold butter
Crust: cream butter and sugar together until well mixed. Add egg and mix to combine.
Gradually mix in flour, baking powder and salt.
Press into the bottom of a greased 9x13" pan, and 1/4 inch up the side.
Spread the filling evenly over the crust, stopping 1/2 inch from the edge.
Streusel: Combine sugar, flour and salt in a bowl. Cut in the butter until mix is crumbly.
Sprinkle evenly over the filling.
Bake at 350F for 35 minutes until golden brown.
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins: (via
Wikibooks)
1 3/4 cup flour
1 cup
chocolate chips3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup
cocoa1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/3 cup
oil1 tsp vanilla
Stir together the flour, chocolate chips, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
Make a well in the center, and pour in the egg, milk, oil and vanilla.
Stir until all ingredients are moistened.
Fill 12 greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full.
Bake at 400F for 20 minutes.
World Peace Cookies (
Dorie Greenspan)
11 tbsps (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, or a generous 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
Beat the butter on high until light and fluffy.
Add in the sugars, salt and vanilla and beat until mixed.
Pour in the flour, cocoa and baking soda. Cover the mixer with a damp towel and pulse for a few seconds at a time until integrated.
Continue to mix until flour is fully mixed in. The dough will be crumbly and you'll worry these cookies will never come together. Mix in the chocolate bits.
Turn the dough out on to a surface and divide in two. Form two logs of approximately 1.5 inches in diameter. Yes, I used a ruler. No, you don't have to.
Place in fridge (I used the freezer because these were hard to slice) for a couple hours.
Slice in to 1/2 inch rounds, and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Bake on 325 F for 13 minutes. Cool on baking sheet.
The dough for these is incredibly simple - just four ingredients, one of which is salt - and comes together really quickly if you have a food processor. And then - the fillings. You can go wild. Mix, match, mismatch, mismix (is that a word?) and put whatever you want in these things.
...and the other cocoa, cinnamon and more chocolate chips - you could also use chopped chocolate. (If using cocoa brush the dough with a little melted butter or oil).
After the dough is rolled into a circle and sprinkled/spread/coated with the filling of your choice, the rest is pretty simple. A pizza cutter comes in handy for slicing the circle into sixteen (sort-of) equal pieces. Then comes the fun part - rolling! Try not to lose any filling.
The rolled up cookies get brushed with egg, sprinkled with sugar (there is none in the dough) and baked.
If you can wait for them to cool before eating, then I applaud you. If not, then wait at least a few minutes so you don't burn your mouth.
I'd definitely love to try these again with more variations - different jams, maybe a chocolate ganache, raisins or other dried fruits, and if I'm baking for others even some chopped nuts.
Sounds great, right? Right. But unfortunately me, in my naivete, used margarine instead of butter, which, is a big no-no. Apparently its something in science with the words protein and clarified and particles and things like that - but it didn't work.
So I bow my head in shame, and I'll just have to try these again soon with real butter. Overall, these were a good cookie - just nothing exceptional. I'll post the recipe below for those of you who want to try, otherwise I can always count on these.
Start out, like I did, with a loaf of challah bread (or another similar bread). I cut it in to sort of cubes.
Then, in a sort of baked french toast way, you make the liquid it soaks in. This one has melted butter, eggs, milk, vanilla and sugar. Sounds healthy, right? And that's before the chocolate is added.
So after layering the challah and chocolate chips, I pour the mixture on top and let it sit to absorb before I bake it, about ten minutes.
We let it bake uncovered for the last ten minutes to get a little brown, and then let it cool.
Overall, my first foray in to bread pudding was good, except I wouldn't really call this dessert. Minus the copious amounts of chocolate in this recipe, it's more of a breakfast/brunch food than dessert. I wouldn't really want this after a big meal - it's dense and eggy and bready - and while I'm not sure if those last two are real words, I think you know what I mean. Right?
These are double chocolate raspberry bars - basically everything good in life in one bar.
If there's anything I'm more obsessed with than raspberry it's bar cookies - all the individuality of a cookie, without the rolling and dropping and scooping. And without the multiple batches. Seriously people, bar cookies are the way to go.
So much so that I bought a bar cookie cookbook recently, but more on that later.
Back to these now. The recipe called for them to be made in a 10x15 inch pan, which, though I do have, was entirely too much cookie for me, especially since I have this strange predilection for traveling on mass transit with baked goods. 
So instead I took 3/4 of the recipe, which worked out pretty well considering my limited math skills. Unless these were supposed to be entirely different and I didn't know, because sometimes I'm pretty sure that 1/2 plus 1/2 is 2. Then again, sometimes I'm not.
Tip of the Day: When you half, third, triple or eighth a recipe - it's important to know which ingredients need to be exact and which don't. A little less or more oats or chocolate chips won't be crucial, but your baking powder or soda should be exact.
I made these in July. I know, July! Remember that? Weird.
Anyway, these were a variation on these Strawberry Pie Bars. Because I'm lazy and all-around uninterested in hard work, I used a can of apple pie filling for the center. Don't knock it.
They were tasty. After about 36 hours, they started to get a little soggy, when the apple pie filling seeped in the crust and filling. They were still tasty, but they kind of needed a fork to eat, instead of just hands.
So when I made cupcakes to bring to the office a few weeks ago, I frosted them half in chocolate, and half in vanilla.
And every single chocolate cupcake was gone before even one vanilla was taken. Of course soon after that, every single vanilla cupcake was gone too. Hmmmm.
If I'd mixed the chocolate chips in to the batter, these would be chocolate chip cupcakes, but because they're only in the middle, they're chocolate filled? Right? Work with me here.
Ah look, hidden filling! Of course anything would be hidden by the time I frosted them.
You can't tell though, right?
This recipe has basically two parts - the batter, that goes in the muffin tins first, and is baked for ten minutes - then the filling, which is added to the half-baked cupcakes and then they're returned to the oven.
Now, the original recipe called for chopped walnuts, which of course I omitted, but I caved and added some chopped almonds (all we had in the house!) to 4 out of the 12 cupcakes. That is 4 less I couldn't eat.
These were pretty interesting and different- very heavy and dense - cookie like when you expect a cupcake, but great flavor overall.
Tip of the Day: The quality of your chocolate (chips) can make all the difference in a recipe. Just as they say with wine, don't bake with chocolate you wouldn't want to eat. I recommend Trader Joe's semi-sweet chocolate chips for relatively inexpensive quality.
Also in your future - these cookies. Because you're going to make them soon. It's the right thing to do. And all you need is these few ingredients:
Like marble cake, marble cookies start with a basic dough that you split, making half into chocolate and leaving the other half vanilla. Add some oats and chocolate chips and we're ready to form the cookies. After two hours of refrigeration that is.
If you're anything like me, the instructions "swirl one tablespoon of each dough together," will make you nervous, looking for more detailed instructions. Don't fret. Do it however you want. At first I made little ropes of each dough and twirled them around each other, but by the end I had one hand in each bowl and just smashed together whatever I had. Go crazy!
These bake up relatively quickly - and you don't want to leave them in too long or the different color doughs will no longer be discernible.
Now just grab a tall glass of milk, and dig in.
Tip of the Day: Recipes generally call for either baking soda or baking powder - but be careful, they're not the same. If you have soda, but need powder, use 1 part soda to 2 parts cream of tartar to replace. If you have powder but need soda, use twice as much, but omit the salt.
