against the grain.

i am a firm believer that chocolate does not have to be involved in everything.
that one can get by without it. you can curb a sweet-tooth without it.
that given the right ingredients, everything can be lovely and wonderful. it does not always have to include chocolate.
especially in banana bread.
if you have beautifully dark over ripe bananas, the elixir which they contain should be enough.
i have stated this over and over and over. things have enough sugar already and we should appreciate them for it.

then you encounter the rainy day.
that day where darkness hang over and the thoughts of being cozy enter your mind and then that little pest - chocolate - creeps in there too.
a day where you would like nothing more than to curl up with a mug of something hot and a warm hearty baked good.
a day where banana snack cake with a hint of chocolate peeking through hits the spot.
it's the day where i eat my words....for just this one moment.

now this is not an everyday cake. it's not meant to replace our favorite around here. it's meant to be brought out on only very special occasion.
like a rainy day.
today is such a day.

banana snack cake.
it's moments like these where i wish my kids were nut people - biting into a shard of a toasted pecan would be a welcomed surprise - a pleasant little crunch. and if you have some laying around, a dollop of softly whip cream on top wouldn't be the worst either.

preheat your oven to 350. spray a 8x8 pan with cooking spray. set aside.

if you want to add toasted pecans now is the time to toast them. you will add 1/2 a cup plus 3 tablespoons of pecan halves or broken chunks to a pie plate. put in the oven for 5 minutes. toss and check. if not browned enough, put back in for one minute increments till you are sastified - DO NOT LEAVE YOUR OVEN! you will forget about them and have to start over only to find out that was all you have. not that i am speaking from experience or anything....
once they are toasted, let cool and chop into smaller pieces - split into two bowls - 1/2 cup and 3 tablespoons.

add 2 eggs to your stand mixer or bowl and blend slightly. add 3 bananas or one cup of mush to eggs and blend slightly. add a 1/4 cup of canola oil and blend slightly. {are you following the trend here?} add 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract. blend. add in 1/2 a cup of white sugar and half a cup of brown. blend. now add in 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour, 3/4 cup all purpose flour - unbleached!!! - 1 tsp of baking soda and 1/2 a tsp salt. gently blend this in. add one cup of chocolate chips or chunks and your optional 1/2 cup of toasted pecans. once all incorporated scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula and give it a couple turns by hand just to make sure you get all the bits in there. pour into your prepared pan,  sprinkle the top with the reserved 3 tablespoons of toasted pecans and bake for 55 minutes, rotating the pan half way through. let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, remove from pan and serve either slightly warm or room temp.

will keep for 3 days in an airtight container but we all know it won't survive the night.
;)

a valentines treat.

valentines is a time to embrace the chocolate.
welcome it in. treasure it. enjoy it.
i adhere to this philosophy. these teachings. {and for arguments sake, because we are all friends here, i may take a dry run at the practice a week or two ahead of time - just to assimilate myself.}
anyways, valentines. chocolate. the two go hand in hand. end of story.

so why not start the day out with it? brilliant!
in a perfect world we would all wake up with perfect hair, make-up in place, tip-toe out of the house at dawn, rush out to our local patisserie and pick up the most delicately beautiful pain au chocolate {chocolate croissants.}, sneak back in, put on coffee, display them a la martha stewart, await your crew in the kitchen, smile on your face and collect our awards for mother of the year.
blah, blah, blah......

but this is not a perfect world and you are not going to sneak out to do this.
but....you can make these and place first-runner up. trust me.

rockstar.


jen's quick pain au chocolate.

1 sheet prepared puff pastry
1 pure chocolate candy bar (at least 100 grams or the equivalent in chocolate chips.}
1 egg - for an egg wash to make it all golden and shiny!

defrost your sheet of puff pastry in the fridge overnight. 
pre-heat your oven to 425.
roll it out on your cookie sheet, keeping it on the paper. cut it in four equal parts then cut each square on the diagonal into two triangles.  lift your triangles off the paper and on to your sheet - you could leave them on the paper for now if you want. place a block or two of chocolate {or pile of chips} at the longest part of the triangle and roll it gently into the pastry. curl your ends around - you want to make sure your chocolate is sealed inside. ***with puff pastry you have to work fast. if you find your pastry getting too soft toss the whole sheet in the fridge to firm up - about 5 minutes. place your croissants equally over the sheet and brush with an egg wash - lightly beat your egg in a bowl and using a pastry brush paint your pain au chocolate - then place in the fridge for 10 minutes to chill. remove and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown. if they are not golden after this time bake them for 1 minute increments till you are satisfied. pull out of oven let cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes, remove from pan, serve and take in the compliments.

happy valentines day!
xo

 

santa's workshop.

today is the day.
teacher present day.

every year i make the presents and every year they are very well recieved. the principal of the kids school tells me that she meticulously eats the granola i give her at end of year and christmas so "it lasts her six months till the next offering." since hearing such a nice comment i decided to double her bag - cause now it's from two kids! ;)

the school my kids go to is kind of amazing with the teachers giving their all and completely loving their job and the kids. it kind of helps too that they think my kids are pretty rad. in my books, anyone who thinks that deserves a big bag of sweets!

some of what i made is from yours truly and some has been inspired from pinterest.

hot chocolate kit.

i have seen many of these around - single serving and enough for a group. i combined a few i saw into what we gave out. hot chocolate mix on the bottom, then mini chocolate chips, then mini marshmallows and finally some crushed up candy canes {i put these in a little baggie as they are for a particular taste.} and to add that something extra  some chocolate dipped wooden spoons for stirring and striped paper straws for sipping!

whole wheat pancake mix.

my secret recipe. this, my granola and my cupcakes were the first thing i started selling when i started my business. i have been handing this out for years and the recipe is off limits...sorry!!

maple granola and cranberry crunch granola.

maple granola pictured.

big hits! and again...top secret recipe. i wouldn't even give it to my mom! ha!

honey orange cranberry sauce.

in late november i made a large batch and canned it for this very purpose. to can the sauce - sterilize your jars and lids. pour warm sauce into hot jars and place in canning pot. process for 20 minutes, starting from when the water starts boiling again. perfect for christmas dinner!

hot fudge sauce.

my new secret weapon! this sauce is amazing and i will be letting you in on it in the next couple of days. come back for it - you won't be sorry!

shortbread. {not pictured.}

last year we handed out this version but this year i went plain, simple, classic. and nobody does it better than martha!!
{i did the fingers but didn't dip them.}

cranberry almond bark.

this is something i have been doing for years! like i think about 15 years. i started out using white chocolate because it definitely looks more festive but since i can't stand the stuff i have changed to milk. when this recipe was first developed it was determined by price not measurement. i knew what i wanted to spend so i mapped it out that way. a few years later i went with my dad to the store to get the ingredients and as we approached the bulk section he asked my what i needed. i answered him "$6 of chocolate melting wafers, $3 of whole unsalted almonds and $3 of cranberries." he stopped dead in his tracks, looked at me and proclaimed "that is the craziest recipe i have ever heard." in turn i said "well - that's all i want to spend." yes i could have said 1200 grams of chocolate, 200 grams of cranberries and 200 grams of almonds...but where is the fun in that? plus a girl has to budget - especially at christmas time!!!
{please don't judge the recipe by my picture...my kitchen got hot so the chocolate heated a bit causing some white colouration!! oops!}

cranberry almond bark
1200 grams choclate melting wafers or your favorite chocolate
200 grams dried cranberries
200 grams whole unsalted almonds

first toast your almonds. pre-heat the oven to 375. spread the almonds out on a tray and place in oven for 5 minutes. pull out toss on tray and place in for another 3 minutes. pull out once more and if you think they need a little more {like me but i don't know that strength of your oven!} place them in for two more minutes. remove from oven and let cool.

once they are cool melt your chocolate. place your chocolate wafers or chopped up chocolate bits into a heat proof bowl and either use a double boiler or microwave. i use the microwave. i heat it for 30 seconds, pull it out, stir it and then place back into micro. i then repeat this in 15 seconds intervals. yes this sounds horrendous but it doesn't burn your chocolate and you will be happier for it. once it's all melted add in your cranberries and almonds {you may have to upgrade to a larger bowl at this point.} then pour onto a pan covered in parchment - sides too! - then put it in a coerner of your kitchen and forget about it. let in harden. once nice and hard, lift it off the parchment slightly and smack it down. keep doing this till it breaks into your desired sized and number of pieces. bag it up and hand them out!!

cinnamon stars.

these were something i saw on pinterest and had to do them ourselves. each one of our packages will have one of these with them as well. and did you see the ribbon? it was such a score from pick your plum - merry christmas from the gronick family - personalized ribbon? yes please!

our tags.

i love christmas cards. i love the design and the sentiment behind them. what i can never do  is bear to part with them so i thought if i turned them into something else and spread their cheer that would be awesome. so i came up with this - using the covers of old cards as new tags for our gifts.
perfectly festive and to quote mooseletoe... so perfectly perfect.

what are the teachers on your list getting this year?

happy holidays from us to you!

xoxo

christmas truffles.

growing up we always indulged in holiday baking {kind of hard not to when your dad owns restaurants and your mom is a caterer}. there were points where the kitchen counter could not be seen for the abundance of ingredients and one would wonder how such delicacies could be created from such chaos.

fast forward 15 years and not much has changed. we still create an abundance of baking every year. we still create in chaos. sometimes the ingredients change with the times, the trends, the market. but some classics stick with us...these are such gems.

i remember absentmindedly scooping, rolling, dipping and placing trays and trays of these as we all gathered around the kitchen counter and gabbed about the goings ons - who was going out with who, who was fighting with who, who wanted to do what, who wanted what for christmas....you know - teenage stuff. and through all this, before you knew it, trays of these truffles had been made and no one really remember how we got from point A to point B. they were then wrapped up in cellophane or placed in pretty boxes and put in the fridge for when the occasion deemed them necessary. or they were eaten on the spot while the conversation between mother and daughters continued....that special moment when the walls were dropped, conflict left the building and laughter was let in.

this year i decided to add these to our givings as they are so simple and yet so special at the same time. i can't wait till the day i can have that same experience with my kids.

that's the magic of christmas.

chocolate truffles.
one recipe chocolate ganache - well chilled
a baking tray covered with parchment
a glass of warm water
a melon baller, optional, or teaspoon toppings, any of the following:
icing sugar
cocoa
sprinkles
finely chopped toasted nuts
toasted coconut

create one recipe of my chocolate ganache. make sure it is well chilled. in small bowls place desired toppings - one with icing sugar, one with cocoa, one with toasted coconut etc... . with your melon baller or a teaspoon, which has been dipped in your glass of warm water, scoop out a small ball of the ganache {about the size of a quarter maybe a little bigger - one bite}, roll it between your hands to create a smooth ball, put in the bowl of your choice, coat with topping, remove with a fork - by lifting it out not spearing it - place on tray and repeat. **icing sugar balls need two dips - i have found the first layer tends to get soaked up by the chocolate. once all the ganache is used, place your trays in the fridge to firm up the truffles. keep refrigerated until ready to use - remove from fridge 30 minutes before serving.

**if you notice that your chocolate is getting too soft during the balling stage, place your bowl back in the fridge and run your hands under cold water. wait about 5 minutes and the resume.

**to toast coconut: pre-heat your oven to about 300. place your coconut on a tray or cake pan. place in the oven for no longer than 5 mins {maybe shorted depending on your oven}. toss and let cool.

**for the nuts do the same at the coconut just have your temperature at 350.

one has to post about chocolate at christmas.

sooo...the other day i went to my trusty food log here on the good old blog only to see that i did not have chocolate ganache listed! how can that be?? i was shocked so i decided to do something about it.

make this today or tomorrow and check back on friday...i'm going to show you what to do with it!

what would christmas be without a chocolate post?

chocolate ganache
8 oz good quality semi-sweet, milk or dark chocolate
1 cup of whipping/heavy cream
peppermint or orange extract {optional}

chop up your chocolate into fairly small pieces. place in a heatproof bowl. heat your cream on the stove until just boiling {tip: do not put on heat and then go outside to perfect your photography skills for said post...just saying} pour hot cream over chopped chocolate, let sit for one minute then, starting in the center, stir cream into chocolate till shiny and smooth and no more cream in visible. **if using extract now would be the time to add it - i would start with 1/4 teaspoon at a time and do it to taste...peppermint extract is super strong, i don't remember about the orange. to be on the safe side taste as you go! set aside and let cool till firm. {you can stick it in the fridge just let it get set out in room temp, cover with plastic wrap making sure the wrap is right on the chocolate mix then chill till needed.}

let them eat cake. {chocolate pumpkin graveyard layer cake}

halloween is fast approaching and we only put our decorations out last night.
yep.
we are about a week behind.

i have really felt like that lately.
like i am a week behind and cannot catch up.
like it's all passing me by in fast motion and i am stuck in slow-motion land forgetting how long tasks actually take. over-scheduling my days and falling further and further behind. and not axing things because i want to get them done. completed.

but i am burnt out.

what i need is cake.
a cake day.
a day where we make a cake, decorate it and sit around and eat it and laugh and have a good time.
i need to forget about all the things i want to do - project life, sewing projects, tv room project, wrapping christmas present {yes you read that right.}, house decorating finishing touches.
i need to forget about all this and cut a big wedge of cake and sit there and enjoy every mouthful.
right down to the last bite.
that's what i need.
now.

and making it a halloween cake is the icing on the cake.
:)

i love cake days.

chocolate pumpkin graveyard layer cake.
this cake has pure pumpkin in it {read about roasting your own pumpkin here}. tastes delicious and doesn't make you feel ssoooo guilty as you cut yourself another wedge! because lets face facts - you ARE going to enjoy a second slice!!


1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup home roasted or canned real pumpkin (not pie filling)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup unsalted butter - softened
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 large eggs and one egg yolk

milano or monaco cookies
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
old fashioned butercream {recipe follows}
bittersweet chocolate glaze {recipe follows.}

Pre-heat oven to 375'F.
butter and line with parchment {butter your parchment as well} two round cake pans - 8inch or 9.
Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir the buttermilk, pumpkin and vanilla extract together in a small bowl.
In an electric mixer beat together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and the yolk and beat until well incorporated. Reduce mixer speed and alternately beat in flour mix and buttermilk mix in thirds.
evenly distribute batter between pans. {i weigh my pans.} tap lightly on counter to release air bubbles, place in oven and bake for about 35 mins or until tester inserted in middle comes out clean.
Remove from oven, place on cooling rack and cool in tray for 10 mins. Remove from pans and let cool completely before icing.
Keep at room temp in a air-tight container for up to 2 days (best) or refrigerate for up to 5 days but bring to room temp before serving.

old-fashioned buttercream icing

3/4 pounds of unsalted butter - softened {the butter from above makes this portion slightly shy of 3/4 of a pound....that's okay.}

500 grams sifted icing sugar

6 to 9 tablespoons milk

3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

gel food colouring

in an electric mixer blend butter till all nice and creamy. scrape down sides of bowl. in little bits, start adding icing sugar and blend after each addition. also start adding milk as well. when all incorporated add vanilla extract. keep tasting along the way for desired sweetness and consistency. once perfected tint away to your heart desires!

i tinted orange for this - obviously.

Bittersweet chocolate glaze
4 oz bittersweet chocolate - chopped
1 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp light corn syrup
1/2 cup heavy cream

Place chocolate, butter and corn syrup in a heatsafe bowl. Heat the heavy cream over low to medium heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and pour over chocolate mixture. Let stand for 3 minutes. Stir gently with a whisk until all the components are blended and smooth. Let stand for 3 - 5 minutes to thicken.

to assemble this cake:
use some of the orange icing for the center. then make sure you do a crumb coat - take a small portion of the icing and spread a thin layer over the outside to seal in the crumbs. let set for about 15 minutes {in the fridge if you can.} then ice the rest of the cake concentrating more on the sides. then add the glaze. test it by seeing if it coats the back of a spoon with out too much run off. pour right in the center of the cake and let it organically run over the sides {you can give it a little push here or there.}.

the cookies:
melt some chocolate in a bowl in the microwave in 15 second increments, stirring between times. once melted pour into a parchment cone or ziplock baggie with the corner cut. pipe out your lettering and let set.

once glaze is set on cake insert your "tombstones" into the cake. your cemetery is complete!

happy halloween!!!

finding that thing called common ground.

 
so.....
as many of you know i love to bake. L O V E  I T.
don't love the calories so much...but i love to create and see what comes of it.
there is only one problem - and that's the people i bake for.
around here we have one that will eat most things, one that will eat almost nothing and two that will eat everything.
if it has berries or apples - just for the husband and me. do you know how many things i have wanted to make like this but couldn't bring myself to knowing us two would have to polish it off???
with nuts...maybe coop will partake - aydan, no way.

but then i made this.
and i got a yum from her lips. A YUM!!!
i almost fainted.
no. joking.

so i made it again. and another yum came out of those rosy puckers.
sometimes you luck out the first time - like spotting a shooting star. but round two usually you get a strike out.
and i got ANOTHER hit!!!!
i found a common ground that doesn't feel like you are eating a generic child's sweet. score.

so happy about that. so happy.
and now i want to share it with you.
i hope you get a yum as well.

my instagram teaser photo.

oatmeal peanut butter chocolate toffee bar
adapted from marta writes

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), at room temperature
1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup quick oats
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups dark or semisweet chocolate chips
a scant 1/2 cup skor toffee baking pieces (or in he states - Hershey's Heath brand)

Heat the oven to 350°. butter a 9x13 baking pan and line a strip of parchment paper so that the ends extend over the edges of the pan by at least 2 inches. butter parchment.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, peanut butter, sugar, and egg yolk on medium-high speed until the mixture is smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary. Add the flour, oats, and salt and beat the mixture on low until the ingredients are just blended, about 30 seconds.

Press the mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake the crust until it is golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes (be careful not to overbake).

Remove the pan from the oven and scatter the chocolate chips evenly over the crust. Return the pan to the oven for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the pan again and, using a small offset spatula, spread the chocolate evenly over the crust.

Sprinkle the toffee pieces over the chocolate, gently pressing them into place with the back of a large spoon. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool until the chocolate has set, about 2 hours. Using the tip of a knife or offset spatula gently loosen the chocolate from the pan and grab the edges of the parchment  , lift the dessert from the pan, then cut it into squares. For maximum freshness, store the bars in the refrigerator.

it was so good i made it two ways.

 

you know when you have the craving for a really good cookie?
i have been having those lately. like really bad.
but i wanted something different. something you don't see everyday.
i was taken back to a cookie i made in the summer and remembered how much i really did enjoy them and i can't believe i haven't let you in on the secret till now.

while i was wiping up a batch, june clever style, i was thinking about what types of variation i could make for these. what else would work here.....nuts? yes. marshmallows? without a doubt. graham crackers crumbs? heavenly. all really good candidates but.......then i saw it and remembered a thunk i had thunk before.....coconut.

i had spied this recipe from the {full sized} everyday food magazine my mom brought out in the summer. this magazine is packed full of spring/summer style foods that i WILL be sharing with you in the upcoming months......get ready to channel your inner foodie.......you will thank me.
but for today i will treat you with the one for black bottom cookies.

my only criticism about this is i don't think they tested it before releasing it to hounds. or maybe they make it in a deluxe convection oven and forget that us not-so-swanky-upper-west-side-new-yorkers may not have one of those contraptions. for me the middle didn't seem to get cooked as the outside started to get to brown. on my second batch i figured it out - i added 5 minutes of baking time, turned off the oven and left them in there as the oven cooled. done. cooked. phew! problem solved.

here you go.......and make both so you can compare. also i think chopped pecans would be AWESOME with some sprinkled over the top for good measure and cause it would look so darn pretty!

black bottom cookies
adapted from everyday food.

1 cup of unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the pan.
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1) preheat oven to 350 degrees. lightly butter an 8-inch square baking dish and line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides. butter the parchment and set the dish aside.
2) in a large bowl, whisk together the butter and sugars until smooth. add the eggs and vanilla. whisk together till incorporated. add the flour and salt, stirring until just moistened. transfer half of the batter to another bowl and add in the cocoa and chocolate ships until well combined.
3) place chocolate mixture into prepared dish and spread out with a rubber or an offset spatula to smooth top. transfer plain batter on top of chocolate and again smooth out the top. bake until top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean - about 35 minutes. ***this is where i found i had to then turn off the oven and leave the cookie in there for about another 20 minutes or so to make sure the center was cooked - your oven may vary and you might not have to do this step. let cool completely in dish on a wire rack before cutting it into the 24 bars. store in an airtight container, at room temperature, up to 3 days. they also freeze beautifully.

coconut version:

1. i swapped out the unsalted butter for salted. i may do this for the original version next time as well {yes here will definitely be a next time!} i like a bit of salty in my chocolate chip cookies - love the contrast.
2. then add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of the coconut. that's about it.

more notes on the subject.......

the original recipe called for 1 1/4 cups of chocolate chips and i scaled it back to 3/4 cups. for us it was enough but by all means pump it back up again.

for a nuts version: i would use the same ratio for the coconut or if you were using the pumped up version just make sure you have 1/2 cups of nuts in there. also before you pop it in the oven, sprinkle it with chopped nuts or whole halves decoratively. baking time does not adjust.

for a s'mores style: you would swap in half a cup of graham cracker crumbs for half a cup of the flour in step 1, and in the last 5 minutes of baking time, sprinkle mini marshmallows over the top and pop it back in the oven. could even throw on the broiler when it's done to get a toast on the mallows.

chocolate crackles.

for years when making cookies for cookie exchanges i always made mexican wedding cakes. i could make them in my sleep. then one year i was sick of them. sick and tired. don't get me wrong they are delicious little snowballs of butter pecan goodness that melt in your mouth and bring forth an involuntary "yuummm" from you lips but i wanted to branch out - spread my wings. so one year i did just that. armed with the new holiday martha cookie magazine {was new out that year - an old friend now} i got comfy and devoured the contents.

after dog-earing many and many a page, and going back and forth more than once, i settled on these gems here. they still portray the sense of  snowball but the centers are rich chocolatey goodness that will make you swoon - you heard me, swoon. they are made so they are the perfect bite. the perfect night cap. these have now become the norm for christmas for the past 4 years - a few new treasures accompanying them on the plate as well - and i wonder if next year i will dream of them or decide to replace them with another. only time will tell. for right now though, you will find me snuggled into the corner of the couch enjoying the glow of the christmas tree, crackle in hand.

chocolate crackles.

adapted slightly from martha stewart.

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped.
2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped.
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dutch-processed cocoa powder.
2 teaspoons baking powder.
1/4 teaspoon salt.
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature.
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar.
2 large eggs, room temperature.
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
1/3 cup whole milk.
1 cup granulated sugar.
1 cup icing sugar.

1) melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over simmering water {double-boiler}, stirring till smooth. set aside and let cool. sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl.
2) with an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. mix in eggs and vanilla, and then the melted chocolate. reduce speed to low; mix in flour mixture in two parts alternating with the milk. divide dough into 4 parts, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours.
3) preheat oven to 350 degrees. divide dough into one inch balls. roll in sugar to coat then in icing sugar to coat and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment about 2 inches apart.
4) bake until the surfaces crack, about 14 minutes, rotating the pans half way through. let cool on wire racks. cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in air-tight containers at room temperature up to 3 days. makes 5 dozen.

chocolate dipped pecan shortbread.

well it is that time of year again..teacher present time!!! and since i like to go that extra mile in the holidays we are baking our gifts this year. so right now - much to my husbands dismay but if i manage my time he won't know - my kitchen is a disaster but we have been busy little elves! i will put up all the different recipes we are using throughout this week.

today we are making chocolate-dipped pecan shortbread. yum!! not much more to say - the name really says it all. how can you think about this? if someone offered you a cookie with this name would you hesitate lunging for it? yeah, no, you would not. so this is my gift to you. now go and make your sense happy.

go one now. go.

chocolate-dipped pecan shortbread.

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter - soft.
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg - room temp.
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1 cup pecan halves (use all the broken ones and bits - save the nice one for spiced nuts! also you can use hazelnuts for this cookie.)
chocolate for melting.

pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

beat butter on medium speed with sugar until light and fluffy. add egg. beat until incorporated - don't forget to scrape down the sides! add vanilla; mix. sprinkle in baking powder and salt; mix. then with mixer on low fold in flour.

meanwhile toast your nuts in pre-heated oven for 8 minutes.

process your nuts till they are little bits - not too little though, you want to identify them. fold them into the batter and with wet hands roll out twelve balls and place on cookie sheet and press down into disks. bake for 15 minutes. remove, place on wire rack and cool completely.

to melt chocolate:
place a heat proof bowl over a pot of simmering water. place your chocolate in the bowl and allow to melt, stirring occasionally, until it's all smooth. remove promptly. dip each cookie in chocolate then place on a cookie covered in parchment. allow to cool and then eat!

**to make these cookies party-size still make your twelve balls then split each of those in half to get twenty-four balls. reduce your baking time to 8 to 10 minutes and keep an eye on them until done to your liking!

making whoopie.

since the big move money has been a little tight around here so luxuries, such as magazines, have fallen by the wayside {goodbye monthly rachael ray}. but, like every year, i go against the grain and get the halloween martha. i just had too. even when the husband spied it, the first thing out of his mouth was "seems someone won the lottery." i rolled my eyes and told him, in my best impersonation of becky bloomwood, "but i get it every year and just think of all the ideas we will get from it - we are actually saving money!". he shot me a little grin, patted me on the back and went to pour over the deliciously photographed and styled pages with the kids.

aydan and me had gone over all the editions we already have + the new one earlier that day and had settled on what we wanted to accomplish for this halloween - her gaze fell upon the costume idea for little miss monstrous and completely fell in love {goodbye bat-girl}. then her eyes settled on the good thing section where the whoopie pies were featured in beautiful little take-home bags and her eyes lite up,she looked at me hopefully and asked ever so sweetly, "can we make these for my class? please?" and how could i resist! she got me - hook, line, stinker.

i had never made these before but have heard about them through all the usual nooks and crannies so i was quite excited to add them to my roster. they were actually quite easy. i had trouble with the portioning - as i always seem to - but in the end we had enough for the class {+ a few for the test subjects} and i only needed to make a double batch of the originally called for amount of icing. not too shabby. one tip - do not base the flavour of your product on tasting the cake part on it's own - you will think you did something wrong. wait patiently {not my forte} and try the finished assembled product and you will be blown away. i am giving us all a sweets break before i tackle the chocolate pumpkin version i have been brewing up in my noggin - sure to knock our socks off! ohh and possibly a red velvet contender for christmas.......

so we made the pies and we made tags and she took them into class. and she was a hit. i'll do anything to help her be a hit.

halloween whoopie pies

via martha stewart.

for these it calls for unsweetened cocoa powder. regular not dutch-processed. i only had the dutch kind so i used it anyways but i also added the baking soda...a decision i wouldn't do again. i found it had a slight taste to it and have since found out that if you do have to use dutch cocoa instead of the regular leave out the baking soda altogether. also it asks you to drop the mix by the tablespoon full on the pan but i found this to be a bit messy and also to make them uneven and a little too rustic for my tastes. i know this is an extra step and something else to clean but, for batch 2, i stuffed mine into a piping bag (it didn't all fit - i did it two times, got a little messy) with no tip insert and piped them onto my parchment. this batch yielded much smoother tops and i was able to portion it out a lot better.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature + an extra cup on hand just in case you need to make a double batch of the icing.
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup icing sugar, sift over bowl
orange nonpareils, jimmies or sanding sugar, for decorating

1 - preheat oven to 375 degrees. in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder (remember to sift into bowl to remove lumps), baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
2 - with an electric mixer on medium beat 1/2 cup of the butter and the brown sugar until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. add egg; beat until smooth - remember to stop and scrape down the bowl as you go. with the mixer on low, alternately add the flour mix and the applesauce, beginning and ending with the flour mix. mix until just smooth.
3 - stuff half your mix into a piping bag and pipe tablespoons full, 2 inches apart, on to 2 cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. {instead of using the piping bag, you can drop the mixture by the spoonful on the parchment keeping the spacing the same}. bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cookie comes out clean, 10 to 14 minutes. immediately transfer cookies to wire rack; let cool completely.
4 - meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat the vanilla and remaining butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. gradually add icing sugar, beating until smooth. (if you want to add colour to your filling do so now).
5 - spread bottom half of the cookies with 1 tablespoon of filling each; sandwich with remaining cookie, pressing gently so filling reaches edges {i found that i needed more than this per cookie therefor i had to make a second batch of filling}. coat exposed filling with nonpareils or jimmies. let set for 15 minutes. cookies can be stored in an airtight container up to 2 days at room temperature.

makes 12 sandwich cookies.

for a good cause.

the number one reason for keeping chocolate chip cookie pucks in your freezer? so you can pull them out, pop them in the oven {still frozen!!!} while you are eating dinner and enjoy a warm chocolate chip cookie - with a scoop of ice cream if you are that lucky - after dinner.

on a cold fall night? are you kidding me? best dessert in town!

i have been following along { okay...obsessing really} with jaime oliver's new series on the food network - 30 minute meals. now it is quite similar to rachael ray's but just without all the butter and cream, more fresh herbs and more ingredients you are likely to find in your kitchen. i have done one meal plan of his already - jerk chicken in 30 minutes and it was lovely! the husband was skeptical you could make jerk in 30 but i think he was also impressed. this meal also introduced me to my new favorite was to make rice and i will be sharing that with you all shortly.

okay so enough yammering! go and make your self some cookies! make the dough, bake some off for an after-school treat then place some dough, pucked, in the freezer and thinking in the 30 minute meals way, bake off some cookies while having dinner so you can bite into a warm gooey cookie to round out dinner time.

what are you waiting for? why are you still reading? go on, go! now!

halloween cookie bar.

fall is upon us and with that in my mind comes desserts and cooking with pumpkin. now i can make a mean pumpkin pie {praised highly by shirley which made me feel like i had won a prestigious award thank you very much!} but i feel a bit sorry for the pie as it has been slightly cast aside. pumpkin pie. check. now what? i have been spreading my wings and actually have come to realize that the last pumpkin pie was made years ago and i believe it was the one shirley tried.

this year is no exception. with thanksgiving this weekend, pumpkin's everywhere and halloween on the horizon the scent of desserts are in the air. literally. i smell sweet desserts everywhere. or maybe i am thinking about them so much that i have convinced myself? well anyway, anyone close to me is benefiting as i am having this overwhelming urge to test, bake and savour.

with halloween looming {and me off the hook for thanksgiving} the kids and me pulled out our collection of martha's halloween magazines to make our list of crafts and sweet we are going to tackle. while flipping i came across a recipe i can't believe has ever escaped my gaze and that i have never made. well this couldn't go on any further. so...i made it and it was worth every bite!

of course with every recipe there is some tweaking and this was no exception. although i adore martha's recipes, this one i liked more for the concept and changed it to how i thought it was better suited. generally i tweak her recipe's as i find she doesn't like some things as sweet as i do or she uses ginger too much for my tastes. in this recipe i liked the richness that the pumpkin offered but changed around a few things and i think the results were top shelf.

i posted this picture on facebook of it right out of the oven, still in the pan and cooling and was flooded with requests for the recipe. so ladies...here you go!!

halloween {pumpkin chocolate chip} cookie bar.

adapted slightly from martha stewart.

these are so wonderful and casual i am snacking on one right now as i write this and you should go and make some now!! c'mon go and get ready!! i'll wait!

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
3/4 tsp of ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice {as close as possible}
1/8 tsp ground cloves {as close as possible}
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup of salted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree {not pumpkin pie filling!}
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
6 ounces m&m's because they are the best but you can use other coated chocolate candy if you want!

1) pre-heat your oven to 350. lightly butter & line the bottom and side of a 9x13 inch baking dish with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides.
2)whisk together flour, spice, baking soda and salt.
3) beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. beat in egg and vanilla, then the pumpkin puree {mix may appear curdled}. reduce speed to low and beat in flour mix until just combined. fold in chocolate chips.
4) spread batter in pan. sprinkle evenly with m&m's. bake, rotating pan halfway through, until the edges begin to pull away from the side of pan and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs, 35 to 40 minutes. let cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
5) using parchment overhang, lift cookie bar from pan. peel off parchment and use a serrated knife to cut into 24 squares.