Lemon Drop Cookies

Alot of my recipes don't turn out exactly as planned. Sometimes cookies are crispy when I thought they'd be chewy, sometimes cupcakes are dense when I thought they'd be light, and sometimes brownies are cakey when I thought they'd be fudge-y.

Thus is the curse of baking, when sampling along the way doesn't tell you much about the finished product. But these cookies were exactly what I expected - and was hoping for. They were sweet and refreshing and just the right amount of chewy. The quick roll in sugar before baking made the outside just a little crispy. They even spread how I wanted and sunk a little in the middle the way I like.
If only everything in life could come out this well.

Though my love for chocolate and peanut butter and all things fudgy remains, sometimes I like a more light, sweet taste. Lemon is the perfect choice. This recipe called for the zest of three lemons, and I got right to work.
I know, I know, no microplane zester for me. But I managed. And without any scraped knuckles as well. And ten vigorous minutes of zesting later I had three naked lemons and a whole lot of lemon rind. Mission Accomplished.
After zesting comes juicing of course, and this cute little juicer worked perfectly, and even had a little barrier to catch the seeds.
Next step in the recipe called for me to put the sugar and zest in the food processor and mix together. Being entirely too lazy to bring out the food processor at that moment, instead I used my immersion blender in a bowl. Would have been easier if I used a bigger bowl, but it worked just the same. Half this mixture was used in the batter and the rest was for rolling the dough in before baking. I had way too much at the end, so you could definitely cut down on it.
Rolling the dough balls went pretty well - sometimes I find doughs too sticky to form properly into round balls - not the case here.
Finally, a whole tray done, and in the oven.
And baked! The smell was delicious - the whole kitchen was lemony fresh. And not the pledge kind.
This is another recipe that called for egg yolks, and left me with three egg whites at the end.
No meringues for me this time...stay tuned to find out how I used them!

Tip of the Day: One large lemon will yield about 3 to 4 tablespoons of lemon juice, and 2 to 3 teaspoons of lemon zest.

Recipe: (via Oh Fransson)

1 stick unsalted butter
¼ Cup Shortening
¼ Cup Cream Cheese
3 Cups Granulated Sugar
Zest of 3 Lemons
3 Egg Yolks
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
½ tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Cream of Tartar
Dash of Salt
1¾ Cups Flour


Cream together butter, shortening and cream cheese until smooth.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine granulated sugar and lemon zest.
Add two cups of the lemon sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt to the bowl and mix well.
Add eggs yolks, lemon juice and vanilla and beat to combine.
Gradually mix in flour.
Roll dough into 1” balls, then roll in remaining sugar.
Bake 12 – 14 minutes on 300 F until just barely browned

Peanut Butter Fudge Bars

All the no-bake recipes I have seem kind of similar: rice krispies, peanut butter, chocolate. So while these peanut butter fudge bars aren't all that revolutionary, they were in fact delicious. And still a little different than these.
This recipe, which came from cookiemadness.net, makes bars that have three distinct layers, but each layer still has all of the great flavors throughout.

The bottom layer, has chocolate and peanut butter and rice krispies. The trifecta, if you will.
Mix that up together over heat with some butter, and press it into the bottom of the pan.

Next up is a layer that has butter, peanut butter and icing sugar. Why icing sugar? No idea. But it works. Trust me. Spread that evenly over the bottom layer.
After that, sprinkle some more rice krispies on top - why on top instead of mixing them in? Got me again! I wouldn't question this recipe though.
After that is the final step, which involves a chocolate and peanut butter coating for the top. This one is a little more tricky to spread, since the rice krispies you just sprinkled on top really want to mix in with the chocolate. But you can do it.
After that, just pop in into the fridge for a little while to chill, and voila, you have crispy peanut butter fudge bars. What a treat.
They were really delicious, and I happen to like mine chilled, but you could eat them at room temperature as well. A few of them separated their layers a little, and lost their tops or bottoms, but most of them stuck together pretty well. I used a 9x5" loaf pan and cut them up pretty small into little bites, but because there is no baking time to adjust, you could really use whatever pan you want - you'll just have different thicknesses of the layers.
I like mine just the way they are.

Tip of the Day: Though most recipes will call for you to melt your butter, chocolate, peanut butter - you name it - in a saucepan or in a double boiler (meaning a bowl over your saucepan), if you're careful and do it in short sessions your microwave will work just fine for this.

Recipe: (from Cookie Madness)

3.5 ounces chocolate (about a heaping 1/2 cup of chocolate chips), divided
1/2 tbsp butter plus 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies
1 cup peanut butter, divided
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup powdered sugar (to taste)

Line a 9×5 inch loaf pan with non-stick foil.

Melt 1 1/2 oz chocolate with 1/2 tablespoon of butter.

Stir in 1/2 cup of peanut butter. Add in 1 cup cereal.

Spread in bottom of lined pan and chill for 15 minutes.

Melt the remaining 1 stick of butter and salt together.

Stir in remaining 1/2 cup peanut butter. Stir in powdered sugar to taste.

Pour a little less than half of the peanut butter mixture over the chocolate crispy mixture. Sprinkle remaining ½ cup of cereal on top, pressing it gently into mixture.

Melt remaining 2 oz chocolate. Add to remaining peanut butter mixture and carefully spread over Rice Krispies.

Chill until firm, then cut into cubes.

Black and White Cake

When I peered into my fridge to find inspiration for a last-minute birthday cake, I found a little bit of leftover vanilla frosting and a container of chocolate ganache. So I set out to recreate one of my favorite snacks: the black-and-white cookie. In cake form, of course.
A couple months ago I used Paula Deen's 1,2,3,4 cake recipe, and converted the three-layer cake to a two layer one. This time, I needed even more math, to turn it into a one-layer dessert.

I don't like math.

After I managed all my calculations, I baked up the cake in one 9-inch round pan. All was looking good, until I turned it over onto the cooling rack.
Oh no! I'm missing some cake!

Found it....
Since I couldn't quite reattach this part of the cake...I just ate it. So I flipped the cake back over and hoped nobody would notice. After the cake had cooled to room temperature, I stuck it in the fridge for a few minutes to make it easier to frost. This way there would be less crumbs mixing with the frosting.

To create the black-and-white look, I placed a piece of scotch tape all the way down the center of the cake before starting the chocolate frosting. I microwaved the ganache for a few seconds before spreading so it covered the cake easily.

After peeling off the tape, I went for the vanilla (also microwaved), this time a little more carefully without my tape guideline.

The only thing that was left then was to clean off the plate! Black-and-White Cookie Cake - here I come!

Tip of the Day: Use a damp paper towel or cloth to clean off the edge of a plate before serving (or photographing). If its just for you - or family - you can always use a finger!

Chocolate Raspberry Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

I'm always looking for interesting cake recipes - batters I can pour into one pan and just stick in the oven. As much as I love cookies, I don't love the constant in and out of cookie sheets in my tiny oven. This cake caught my eye. A chocolate bundt cake with a raspberry cream cheese filling. Sounds perfect.
First thing I did was to make up the cream cheese filling. Cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and chocolate chips - I had to resist from eating it all right there.
Next came the chocolate cake mix, which was thick and heavy and also passed the finger-lickin good test. I poured half the batter into the bundt pan, and then spooned the cream cheese filling on top, being careful not to let it touch the sides of the pan. I didn't end up using all the filling, since it looked like alot already. Then came the raspberries. Those also lost a few to sampling!On top of that went the remaining batter. This was one heavy cake. It was a workout just getting it into the oven, but I managed. And when it came out....it was worth it. The cake was thick and dense - almost more like a brownie than a cake - and the filling was delicious. However I did regret not using all the filling, I would have enjoyed more of it. I certainly liked what there was of it.
Tip of the Day: Fresh fruit usually works the best in baked goods, but frozen and thawed works when your berry of choice is out of season.

Recipe: (from RecipeZaar)

Cake:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
2 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa
2 tsps baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Filling:
12 ounces cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup chocolate chips (I used 3/4 cup mini)
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries

Cake:
Beat eggs and sugar together until pale yellow.
Beat in melted butter, vanilla, milk and water.
Gradually mix in flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt.

Filling:
Beat together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour half the cake batter into a greased bundt or tube pan.
Drop spoonfuls of filling over cake batter, not touching the sides. Sprinkle with raspberries.
Top with remaining cake batter.

Bake at 375 for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Top with sifted powdered sugar, if desired.

Leftover Egg Whites = Meringues!

I know I left you on a cliffhanger with that last post, everybody wondering what was going to happen to those egg whites.

Well I'll leave you in the dark no longer! When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, when life gives you egg whites...make meringues!

I had four egg whites remaining...Exactly the amount my favorite chocolate chip meringue recipe called for.I think it was fate. This recipe I've used before on Passover, since it's wheat free!

Tip of the Day: When baking anything, including meringues, make sure you let your oven heat up completely before putting your cake or cookies in. Newer ovens will beep when hot, and for older version give it 10 to 15 minutes before starting.