M&M Sugar Cookie Bars

Readers: You know how I said previously that you should drop everything and go make those croissants with Brie and apples? Nope. Seriously drop everything you're doing at this very second and make these. These cookie bars are like a piece of heaven. In fact, I'm convinced there is a special place in heaven carved out for people so they can eat just these. I know because I tried them and it took everything in my power not to scarf all of them down.

I made these for one of the pastor's in the town I cover. I don't believe I mentioned it previously, but I am a journalist for a weekly newspaper and I cover two local towns. The pastor has become a good friend of mine after he helped me out through a particularly rough patch in my life a few months ago. He is a very welcoming, cheerful, and comforting person. And get this. He's a total bad ass who rides a motorcycle. I bet that completely blows your perception of a religious figure right out of the water, eh? But anyway, it was his birthday earlier this week and I texted him to wish him a good one. Like I typically do, I offered to make something delicious for him, especially since he is always very generous with me, such as taking me out to lunch.

I also tossed half the batch in the refrigerator for the birthday of one of my co-workers. Killing two birds with one stone I guess. Her birthday is next week and she isn't in the office on Thursday or Friday and Tuesday night is too hectic. So I'm choosing to be smart about it!

This comes from another recipe found on Pintrest. I have enough things pinned on my baking board that I might as well start actually making some of them. Not to mention Buzz Feed has given me two ideas for a series for this blog [bite-sized treats and different kinds of cheesecake!]. They came out beautifully and are very tasty.

 

M&M Sugar Cookie Bars

Ingredients:



1 stick butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

M&Ms

 

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

 

Melt the butter in a large mixing bowl [I would say to put the butter in the microwave for two 20-second increments]. Stir in sugar. Once it is slightly cooled [around three minutes], beat in the egg and vanilla.

 

In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Stir this into the butter and sugar mixture.

 

Press into a greased eight-inch by eight-inch baking dish. Bake for approximately 15 minutes. Pull the half-cooked dough out of the oven and top the cookie with M&Ms, pressing them into the dough gently.

 

Return to the oven to bakes for an additional 10 to 12 minutes, or until the top is set and the cookies don't wiggle when you shake the pan. They should shouldbe with barely golden edges.

 

Cool completely in the pan before cutting.

 

 

Croissants With Brie

I'm going a little off the beaten path with this recipe, also found on Pintrest. I'm going for savory rather than sweet and I was blown away. These were so delicious! I don't even want to admit how many I ate! And it included one of my favorite kind of cheese, Brie. Yum. I used pre-made croissants, Pillsbury, which are the best, but you can look up a croissant recipe. I'll eventually make my own croissants.

This is also a pretty healthy snack. The weekend I made them, I brought them to my college roommate's house and her mom really liked them as well. I definitely recommend them and they are the best if they are still warm. The minute you're done reading, I'm pretty sure you should drop everything you are doing, go to the store to buy the ingredients, and make these.

Just putting the idea in your head.

 

Croissants With Brie

Ingredients:

croissants

Brie cheese

Granny Smith apples, sliced

pecans

honey

 

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

 

Roll out the entire container of croissants and separate the dough. Layer the apples, Brie, and pecans at the widest end of the croissant dough. Drizzle a bit of honey over the layers. Roll the dough into a bundle so the layers are covered.

 

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

 

Then eat them all!

 

 



Sea Salt Caramel-Stuffed Snickerdoodles

If the word caramel was not in here, this is a perfect example of alliteration. Wow. I'm a nerd. Anyway. These were an extremely fun cookie to make. Since I've become addicted to Pintrest [it's unfortunate], I have pinned many a-recipe with plans to bake them all. [It's like Pokémon! Gotta bake 'em all!] Forgive me, it was a long day at work and I think I'm a tad loopier than usual.

On to the real story. I decided that I would make cookies for everyone in my office for Christmas. This resulted in four types of cookies. I think I made over 400 cookies and I don't think my kitchen has forgiven me yet for the abuse. At least the house smelled delicious and was nice and toasty since the oven was on all day. I wanted a cookie that deviated from what I normally baked, but still have a cookie that everyone would eat. Thus, the snickerdoodle. Besides it's hilarious name, it is a very tasty cookie and very easy to make. And everyone at work loved them.

 

Sea Salt Caramel-Stuffed Cookies

Ingredients:

[cinnamon sugar coating]

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

[dough]

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, softened [as always, you can use salted]

2 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cream of tarter

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

5 packages of Rolo candies [I used around two bags of mini Rolos and I doubled the recipe]

coarse sea salt

 

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. For the cinnamon sugar, combine the 1/4 cup of sugar and tablespoon of cinnamon in a shallow dish and set aside. [As you go, you may need to make more.]

 

In a large bowl, beat the 1 1/2 cup of sugar and butter at a medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

 

Sift flour, cream of tarter, baking soda, and salt into mixing bowl. [I don't own a sifter any more so I used two mesh colanders. My mother's idea and it's brilliant.] With the mixer on low, mix until thoroughly combined.

 

Working with one tablespoon of dough at a time, place a single Rolo inside the dough and roll into a ball. Roll dough balls in the cinnamon sugar mix and place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the dough balls with sea salt.

 

Bake for seven to eight minutes. The cookies should look raw between the cracks and seem underdone. [Trust me, they aren't.] Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for five minutes and transfer to a cooling rack. Then dig in!

 

 

 

I probably made around 100 of these. Needless to say, it was a good thing I did.



Brownies/Brownie Cupcakes

This is similar to my cheesecake brownie recipe. Actually, it's exactly the same, just without the cheesecake part. You can do it two ways, making an actual pan of brownies or making them into mini cupcakes. I'm a big fan of making brownies. I used to make them a lot because my ex and his father loved to eat them.

Nothing beat the time my mother's dog jumped up and ate half of them. That was a disaster and a half. As I'm sure many of you know, it's very bad for dogs to eat chocolate. We got lucky because our dog is okay.

 

Brownies/Brownie Cupcakes

Ingredients:

[brownies]

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 cups sugar

1 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a bowl, add cocoa powder and melted butter. Whisk until combined. Add sugar and mix together. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix together. Add the four eggs and mix until combined.

 

Grease a nine inch by 13 inch pan and add batter or a mini muffin tin.

 

Bake for 20 minutes. Stick a skewer in them and make sure it comes out clean.

 

 

 

I don't have a picture of the brownies in a pan, but I'm sure you can imagine how they look. Square. Enjoy!

 

Cheesecake Brownies

Now these I love making. It's definitely a labor of love and a pain in my butt. But they are fun to make and very delicious. Though I've never been able to replicate the first time I made them. I can never get them to marble properly...

Once, I made them for my ex's father for Father's Day and forgot to add another cup of flour. This resulted in me having to mix in the cheesecake layer. They ended up being very delicious still. I made these for Christmas this year. The girls I work with at the office like when I make these.

But they take up a lot of ingredients. Once I doubled the recipe and used up a dozen eggs. I couldn't tell if my mother was impressed or annoyed. But in my defense, I did buy another dozen. I always double the cheesecake part because there is never enough to cover the brownies.

 

Cheesecake Brownies

Ingredients:

[brownies]

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 cups sugar

1 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

[topping]

2 packages cream cheese

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a bowl, add cocoa powder and melted butter. Whisk until combined. Add sugar and mix together. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix together. Add the four eggs and mix until combined.

 

Grease a nine inch by 13 inch pan and add batter.

 

In a separate bowl, whip cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, vanilla, and eggs until smooth. Spread the cream cheese layer evenly over the brownie batter. Using a knife, marble the brownie and cream cheese mixture.

 

Bake for 40 minutes. [I would really just keep an eye on it. Stick a skewer in to make sure it comes out clean.]

 

 

 

 

 





These are really delicious but very rich, so I would be careful how many you eat! For an added kick of chocolate, you can add chocolate chips. I like to do that because it gives it a bit more.

Irish Soda Bread

In honor of St. Patrick's Day and to celebrate my heritage, I decided to make Irish Soda Bread for the people at work for tomorrow. Not only am I excited about this recipe because I absolutely love Irish Soda Bread, but I also whipped out my beautiful mixer from Christmas. I can't believe that it's the first time I'm using it but I haven't baked a lot since Christmas.

Take in how beautiful it is! And how well it matches the kitchen. Hopefully my kitchen will match it too when I move out. Anyway, this is the first time I made Irish Soda Bread. The first time I ever had it was in eighth-grade when my English teacher brought it in. I have never had better Irish Soda Bread since then. My mom posted this recipe on my Facebook wall the other day when I had mentioned that I wanted to make some for work and myself [since no one but me eats it in my house].

Though next time I make it, I will definitely cut the recipe in half. It's a bit too much to handle for the mixer, even the five and one-half quart mixer. It's a very heavy and sticky dough and puts a strain on the mixer. I don't need to break it after only using once...

 

Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients:

8 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons sea salt, extra fine [apparently this is a thing but regular salt is fine]
4 tablespoons of caraway seeds, whole [I only used three]
4 oz butter, unsalted
4 cups raisins
3 cups buttermilk [you can buy it or make it yourself with milk and lemon juice]
2 eggs
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda

Instructions:
Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and caraway seeds. Cut butter into flour mixture [you can use a pastry cutter, which I have, a fork, or a mixer]. Mix in raisins.

Whisk together buttermilk, eggs, and baking soda. Combine mixtures until dough is moist throughout. [I had a problem here. Not all of the dough was moist and it was a pain in the butt.]

Divide into four equal size round portions. Shape the dough, but do not knead it. [The dough will be sticky, but don't use too much flour to make it easier to work with.] Place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet [or a lightly greased sheet]. Cut a cross on the top, at least halfway into the dough. [Mine don't look like crosses...]

Bake at 375 degrees F for 35 to 45 minutes. Bread should have a crust. Push to make sure it resists pressure and check to see if the bottom is brown. [You can also check it it's done by putting a skewer in it and having it come out clean. I did both.]

Leave loaves to cool for five minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer them to a cooling for at least 10 minutes before cutting.

Serve with butter and a cup of tea! That's what I did while listening to Irish music! Earl Grey if you please! If only I had fancy tea cups...

 



Happy St. Patrick's Day!


Chocolate Chiffon Pie

This recipe is another one of my semi-spectacular failures. It wasn't an exact failure, but, like the caramel chocolate shortbread, it wasn't exactly a success either.

I ended up burning my crust a bit and screwing up the filling and had to make it a second time. Lesson learned. My chocolate chiffon pie came out okay, but I don't know if I'll make it again. It's kind of a pain in the butt to make but who knows. Maybe the second time is a charm?

Chocolate Chiffon Pie

Ingredients:

[nut base]

2 cups shelled Brazil nuts

4 tablespoons granulated sugar

4 teaspoons melted butter

[filling]

1 cup milk

2 teaspoons powdered gelatin

1/2 generous cup superfine sugar [regular sugar is fine]

2 eggs, separated

8 oz semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup heavy cream

 

Instructions:

To make the base, process the whole Brazil nuts in a food processor until finely ground. [You'll really want a food processor for this. At the time, I didn't have one and had to use the blender. It was a pain in the butt.] Add the sugar and melted butter and process briefly to coming. Tip the mixture into a 9 inch round tart pan and press it onto the base and side with a spoon. [You're going to want to get a loose-bottomed tart pan for this and any other tart/pie you make. Trust me, you'll thank me later when your tart/pie doesn't fall apart when you cut it or try to take it out of the pan.] Bake in a pre-heated oven, 400 degrees F, for eight to 10 minutes, or until light golden brown. Let cool. [Mine was more of a dark brown. Don't let that happen.]

 

Pour the milk into a bowl and sprinkle over the gelatin. Let it soften for two minutes, then set over a pan of gently simmering water. Stir in half of the superfine sugar, both egg yolks, and all of the chocolate. Stir constantly over low heat for four to five minutes until the gelatin has dissolved and the chocolate has melted. Remove from the heat and beat until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract, wrap, and let chill in the refrigerator for 45 to 60 minutes until starting to set.

 

Whip the cream until it is stiff, then fold all but three table spoons into the chocolate mixture [to decorate]. Whisk the egg whites in a separate, clean, grease-free bowl until soft peaks form. Add two teaspoons of the remaining sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form. Fold in the remaining sugar, the fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Pour the filling into the pastry shell and let chill in the refrigerator for three hours.

 

 

Not awful, but maybe next time I'll have better luck.