Chocolate Mint Pi(e)s!

Hey y'all, it's Pi(e) day! That's right, March 14, 3.14, the day when nerds and geeks mark the glory that is mathematics - and also pastry. Since the most digits of pi I have memorized are in fact... 3.14 - I can't quite claim geekdom. But pastry... pastry I can do!

My Everything Cookies

It's true, I've come out of my blog semi-retirement laziness to share these cookies with you. Because these cookies - they are my everything*. And they have everything in them. No, really, try me.

The look on some people's faces when I listed the things I'd crammed inside these cookies was comical. But one bite, and pretty much everyone I encountered was a convert. So what's in 'em? Well there's chocolate - dark and white. There are potato chips, pretzels, oats, a touch of honey and crushed up cookies. There you have it. 

Banana Chocolate Muffins

I have no problem with bananas. Fresh bananas, that is. But turn them into ice cream, muffins, bread, cake or cookies and I won't go near them. The problem is, that in my exceptionally warm apartment, any fresh bananas I buy turn from ripe to way past ripe in less than 24 hours. And when faced with overripe bananas... well baking is usually the way to go. So I thought, how do I mask the bananas as much as possible? With chocolate!

Five-ingredient peanut butter and chocolate cookies

Sometimes I come across a recipe so simple and so easy that I can't understand why I haven't made it before. This is the case with these cookies. Five ingredients, naturally gluten free, no special techniques or tools needed, and totally delicious and cute looking. What was I waiting for?

Chocolate Dinosaur Brownie Cookies

OK, yours don't have to be dinosaur shaped. But that's what really made them for me. It's been a long time since I've made roll and cut cookies, probably because they're more work than drop cookies and I'm lazy. But they're also more fun than drop or bar cookies, and when my roommate brought me a set of dinosaur and farm animal cookie cutters, and then I came across this recipe for brownie roll out cookies in my new Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, I knew it was meant to be.

 

Chocolate Gelt Cookies

Sure, Chanuka/Hanukkah is all about the frying, but that doesn't mean the only desserts you can serve all week are dripping with oil. Chocolate gelt - another traditional symbol of the holiday -
are just as cute when part of some cute sugar cookies. And they're less likely to melt in your hands!

Chocolate-Dipped Potato Chip Cookies

I've always had a thing for sweet and salty. That's why chocolate-covered pretzels are one of my favorite snacks - homemade or bought. So when I stumbled across a few recipes lately for cookies filled with crushed potato chips, I knew making them wouldn't be far off. And thank goodness I didn't wait too long.

Vegan Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes

I'm not a vegan. Not even close. But I do run out of eggs sometimes, and I do like to stretch my baking horizons. These vegan chocolate cupcakes are easy and delicious - you won't miss eggs or milk - or even butter - at all!

No-bake Oatmeal Coconut Bars

This probably won't come as a groundbreaking statement to most of you, but it is hot. With temperatures passing 90 F almost every day, and without the advanced modern technology of... air conditioning, I'm not jumping to turn the oven on. But, my sweet tooth hasn't waned with the rising temperatures, so no-bake recipes have major appeal. And this bar cookie with oatmeal, coconut and chocolate fits the bill perfectly. 

Cherry Brownie Bites

I bought a few new pans several months ago, and I'm really loving them. Especially my little mini square pan - there's something extra adorable about tiny square baked goods. And when those baked goods are rich chocolate brownies studded with flecks of dried cherry - all the better.

Chocolate Financiers - Gluten free and Passover friendly!

I have started and abandoned at least three posts over the past couple weeks. Inevitably - life: school, work, friends, errands, laundry - gets in the way. And now - now it's almost Passover! As the four hours I spent cleaning yesterday can attest, the yearly tradition of removing any products with flour from your home - and baked goods! - is almost here. So while I have tons more flour-packed goodies to share with you, the next couple weeks Baking and Mistaking is going gluten free! And there's no better place to start than these delicious chocolate financiers. 

Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints

Do you ever see a picture of a cookie and you just have to have it? Well that's what happened when I spotted these "Sandies by the Sea" in a recent issue of Cook's Country. But I wasn't really happy with any part of the recipe, more just the inspiration, so I set about to create my own, delicious, version.

Cookie Dough-Filled Brownie Cups

Special occasions call for special desserts. So when my cousin Esther got engaged a couple weeks ago, I set out to create something special.... and certainly indulgent. And what is more indulgent than a giant brownie stuffed with cookie dough? Nothing, that's what.

Chocolate Orange Mousse Tart

There are some pairings that are totally natural: peanut butter and jelly, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy. For me, I'm pretty partial to chocolate and orange. There's something about the bright citrus taste that pares well with the rich, dark, flavor of chocolate - which is why I was more than happy when we whipped up these chocolate orange tartlets in pastry school.

Triple Chocolate Cream Scones

Before last week, I had never made scones before. In fact, I'm not even sure I'd even eaten a scone. In my mind, scones were a dry, stale pastry that people with no imagination ate along side their latte at Starbucks. Now don't ask me where that mental image came from, I haven't the slightest clue. But either way: scones! Light, fluffy, rich, delicious scones. And if that weren't enough, I threw in three types of chocolate as well.

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

Well here it is - the first full post - recipe and all - from pastry school. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about sharing some bread recipes, but we've moved on to cookies and well...how could I resist. These are chocolate almond biscotti, and while I never thought I was a big biscotti fan, these are exceptionally tasty.

Marbled Coconut Bread and adapting

There are still a whole bunch of delicious recipes I have to share with you from my pre-move days, but I wanted to tell you about this one first. A simple, homey and uncomplicated cake, this marbled coconut bread is the first thing I have baked in my newly adopted kitchen, a place that is, well...not without restrictions.

Chocolate Muffins - Three Ways

I made a batch of chocolate muffins a few weeks ago. Or...did I make three? Well, I mixed up one big bowl, divided it in to three, and went to town. Each third of the dough got its own fun mix-in. Can you guess what they were?


First up - crystallized ginger! Ginger and chocolate are a fun combination, the spice of the ginger playing well with the richness of the chocolate. I find people either love or hate ginger, so make sure you know which you're dealing with when making these muffins.

Peanut Butter Rice Krispie-Topped Brownies

So I've moved halfway around the world, started pastry school...and baked nothing. We are supposed to begin the actual baking portion of the course today, with bread, so that should be interesting. And even though I haven't baked anything in the past week, as promised I am here to deliver on what I stand behind as the most delicious dessert of 2011 (still in competition with this key lime tart, but as they are so different I shall allow them to remain on a pedestal together). I present to you: Peanut Butter Rice Krispie-Topped Brownies. OK, so I'm not good at naming. 

Cookie Dough Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Bars

Remember the Lime Strawberry Cheesecake I shared a few weeks ago. I teased then that it was not the only cheesecake I made for the holiday of Shavuot. And indeed it was not, because sharing the spotlight was this jam-packed, sinfully delicious slab of cheesecake. That's right: cookie dough, peanut butter cup cheesecake bars.