Pantry Brownies

I have been in a pre-vacation coma. I haven't even gone grocery shopping. Can you believe I'm out of ice? It's just frozen water, in case you didn't know, and I don't even have that! So of course I am out of a lot of my baking staples, but that's what makes it fun right, what can I throw together that tastes delicious? That is why I call these pantry brownies because these aren't your ordinary brownie ingredients...ok so they're pretty ordinary just not the normal amount...so I just threw everything in there. We have only 1 egg, no granulated sugar, and only 3 tablespoons of butter, so I had to improvise. I thought I might as well throw all the other little odds and ends in there that have been sitting around while I'm at it. So feel free to throw in whatever you have and substitute what you need to.

Pantry Brownies

Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup toffee bits
1/2 cup caramel bits

Directions:
1.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8x8 baking tin.

2.   In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment or in a large bowl using a hand mixer cream together brown sugar, butter, and coconut oil.

3.  Then mix in the egg, vanilla, and milk.

4.   Stir in cocoa powder until smooth.

5.  Then add flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until incorporated.

6.  Stir in what ever mix-ins you are using, for these I used white chocolate chips, toffee bits, and caramel bits.

7.   Pour batter into the prepared baking tin and bake in preheated oven for 25-35 minutes. Let cool slightly on wire rack before slicing.

Chocolate Chip Caramel Marshmallow Cookies

Cookies can make anything better. 

I was tailgating before one of our local college games, and I'm always in charge of dessert. I felt lazy that week and didn't want to actually make something so decided to go with a dessert that would let my laziness shine through, but would be impressive enough to take for a crowd. I decided on Pioneer Woman's campfire banana boats. I had seen it on a recent episode on the food network. It turned out that they were perfect for tailgating! Just throw them on the grill right after the burgers. Anyway, afterwards I had a lot of left over ingredients to throw in these cookies for mix ins.

So I had chocolate chips, caramel bits, and marshmallows, and I thought other than hoarding them on the couch and eating them right out of the bag, I had better throw them in some cookies so others could benefit. I used a cookie base from Picky Palate, but of course your favorite cookie base will work just fine. I loved the way the caramel and marshmallow melted into the cookies. Why are cookies so addictive? 

What is your favorite cookie? Send me the recipe and we'll decide on the best. (A good excuse for me to eat more cookies)

Chocolate Chip Caramel Marshmallow Cookies

Ingredients

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup almond flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup caramel bits
1 cup mini marshmallow

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a large baking sheet with a silpat liner or parchment paper.

2.  In a stand or electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and creamy. Add eggs then vanilla until well combined.

3.  In a large bowl add the flour, almond flour, baking soda and salt. Mix to combine then slowly add to wet ingredients until just combined. Add chocolate chips, caramel bits, and marshmallows until just combined.

4.  With a medium cookies scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes until edges start to turn golden brown. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Serve with a tall glass of milk.

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Reprinted from Picky Palate with a few little changes. 

The Ultimate Sticky Buns - Bon Appetit

Happy Monday everyone. I think that may be an oxymoron, unless you are retired, or just rich and don't have to work, or you get to bake for a living. Otherwise, going back to work sucks! So hopefully a little sweet treat will brighten everybody's day. Ah, I guess my day wasn't so bad, it's what you make of it I suppose.

I am lucky that my boss gets like every food magazine there is, and I benefit from this because when she is finished with them she brings them to work and leaves them on my desk. Not only is it great that I have a get away for the day and can sneak peeks at beautiful pictures and recipes during down time, but I also get great ideas and yummy recipes to try. When I saw the cover of Bon Appetit and caught my first glimpse of these heavenly sticky buns I knew I was going to have to make them. This recipe does take some time to make, it's not something that you can just throw together in a pinch. It's got a lot of inactive prep time, rising and chilling and rising again, but the good thing is you can do it a day ahead of time. I got rave reviews on these, so I would definitely make them again for a special morning. Now I'm not going to lie, this is a long list of directions. Roll with it.

The Ultimate Sticky Buns - Bon Appetit Style

Recipe Re-printed from Bon Appetit Magazine

Ingredients

Dough

2/3 cup whole milk

5 tablespoons sugar, divided

1 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (from one 1/4-ounce envelope)

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, room temperature, plus 1/2 tablespoon, melted

Topping

1 3/4 cups chopped pecans (about 8 ounces)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

3/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup honey

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon finely grated orange zest (optional)

Buns

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

All-purpose flour (for dusting)

1 large egg

Coarse sea salt (such as Maldon)

Preparation

Dough

1. Heat milk in a small saucepan over medium heat or in a microwave until an instant-read thermometer registers 110°–115°. Transfer milk to a 2-cup measuring cup; stir in 1 Tbsp. sugar. Sprinkle yeast over milk and whisk to blend. Let sit until yeast is foamy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs; whisk until smooth. Combine remaining 4 Tbsp. sugar, flour, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add milk mixture. With mixer running, add 1/2 cup room-temperature butter, 1 piece at a time, blending well between additions. Mix on medium speed for 1 minute. Knead on medium-high speed until dough is soft and silky, about 5 minutes.

2. If you don't have a stand mixer, fit your food processor with the standard chopping or dough blade. Combine remaining 4 Tbsp. sugar, flour, and salt in food processor. Pulse to blend. Add milk mixture; process until combined. With processor running, add 1/2 cup room-temperature butter, 1 piece at a time, blending well between additions. Process until dough is soft and silky, 2–3 minutes longer. Dough will be sticky but should not be greasy. If it is greasy, process for an additional 1–2 minutes.

3. Brush a medium bowl with some melted butter; place dough in bowl. Brush top of dough with remaining melted butter; cover with plastic wrap. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with plastic; chill.

4. Let dough rise in a warm, draft-free area until doubled in size, 1–1 1/2 hours (or 2–2 1/2 hours if dough has been refrigerated).

5. Chill dough for 2 hours.

Topping

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spread out nuts on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast until fragrant and slightly darkened, 10–12 minutes. Let cool completely. Set 1 1/4 cups nuts aside for buns.

2. Melt butter in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar, cream, honey, salt, and orange zest, if using. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until glaze is golden brown and glossy, 3–4 minutes. Pour 1 cup of glaze into baking pan (8x8 baking pan), tilting to coat bottom and sides. Set aside remaining glaze. Sprinkle 1/2 cup toasted pecans over bottom of baking pan and let cool.

Buns

1. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and kosher salt in a medium bowl until light and fluffy, 2–3 minutes. Set filling aside.

2. Punch down dough; transfer to a floured work surface. Lightly dust top with flour. 

3. Roll out the dough into a 12x16" rectangle about 1/4" thick. Arrange the dough on the work surface so one long side faces you. Spread the cinnamon-sugar mixture over dough, leaving a 1" plain border on the side farthest from you.

4. Sprinkle 3/4 cup chopped pecans over the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

5. Beginning with the long edge closest to you, roll dough into a log, tightening as you roll, and patting in ends if they begin to taper. Pinch together the seam where the long side meets the roll to seal. Arrange the log seam side down on the work surface.

6. Using a large knife, cut the log crosswise into 9 equal pieces. Lightly flour the knife between slices if the dough is too sticky. Turn the buns cut side up and gently pat the top to flatten slightly. If needed, reshape to form round edges by cupping lightly floured hands around each bun and gently pushing and turning them in a circular motion.

7. Place the buns in prepared pan; space them evenly apart (buns should not touch each other).

8. Loosely cover pan with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. Let buns rise in a warm, draft-free area until doubled in size, 45 minutes to 1 hour, or 1 1/2–2 hours if dough has been chilled overnight. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill buns and remaining glaze separately. Store remaining pecans airtight at room temperature.

9. Arrange a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350°. Whisk egg with 1/2 tsp. water in a small bowl. Brush tops of buns with egg wash. Bake, rotating pan halfway through and tenting with foil if browning too quickly, until buns are golden brown, filling is bubbling, and an instant-read thermometer inserted into center of buns registers 185°, about 50 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes. Spoon remaining glaze over. Sprinkle 1/2 cup pecans over. Let cool in pan on a wire rack.

10. Lightly sprinkle sea salt over. Serve buns warm or at room temperature.

Whew ok I'm tired.

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

Let the cookie and candy baking begin! I love this time of year, even though most Texans would curse me when I say this, but I would love to live somewhere a little colder that gets a little snow. That trip to Colorado made me want to be somewhere that I could really enjoy the season. Can you guys believe I still haven't decorated for Christmas? The other half is not too big on the holiday spirit, but I love it. I have such a small place that we really don't have anywhere to put a tree. I need to hit up pinterest for some small space decorating ideas. I need to get something in here. 


Anyway, lets move on to this amazingly delicious cookie. It tastes just like apple cider and these are great warm. I did do one thing different, which I regret, so learn from my mistake. When I went to the grocery store to pick up the caramel squares they only had a generic brand. When I smooshed them between my fingers they were pretty hard. If you start off with a hard caramel when they cool you'll end up with hard caramel, so I chose to use the Kraft caramel bits instead because they were a lot softer. When they baked they distributed throughout the cookie, so if this is what you are going for then the caramel bits are for you, but I wanted the pool of gooey caramel to ooze out when I break them open. So just an FYI when you go to get the ingredients. Any way that you do it though, if you like apple cider, you will love these. It's like the apple cider fairy drop kicked you in the mouth. Enjoy!

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

• 1 cup softened butter 
• 1 cup granulated sugar 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1 box (7.4 oz) Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink mix - all 10 packets 
• 2 eggs 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 3 cups all purpose flour 
• 1 bag Kraft Caramels (14 oz) 

Directions 

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line cookie sheets with parchment. (You really need the parchment!) 

In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. 

With your mixer (or an energetic spoon) cream together butter, sugar, salt and all 10 packages of apple cider drink mix powder, until light and fluffy. 

Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix well. 

Gradually add flour mixture to butter/egg mixture. Mix until just combined. 

Refrigerate for about an hour. (If you're really impatient you don't have to do this, but it makes it so much easier to work with.)

When you are ready to bake, unwrap your caramels.

Scoop out cookie dough ball about the size of a walnut. (I used a rounded cookie scoop-full. My scoop holds about a Tablespoon.)

Flatten the ball of dough slightly in the palm of your hand. Press the unwrapped caramel into the center of your dough and seal the dough around it, covering it completely. Place on parchment covered cookie sheets 2 inches apart. 

Bake 12-14 minutes, or until very lightly browned around the edges. Please don't over-bake! Once the cookies are done, slide the parchment off of the baking sheet right out onto the counter. Allow cookies to partially cool on the parchment. When cookies are cool enough to be firm but still slightly warm, carefully twist off of parchment and allow to finish cooling upside down (either on the parchment or on a rack.) If you forget about them and they cool too much and stick to your parchment, put them into the freezer for a few minutes and they'll pop right off.


Recipe from Scrambled Henfruit.

Salted Caramel Apple Pie

There is nothing better than a big ol' slice of pie during the holidays. If you are like me with a love for the classics, but wanting to try something a tad bit different, this may be a yummy, caramely (yes, I make up my own words) variation of the traditional apple pie for you. This year I told myself I wanted to experiment with pies, and for the first time, make my own crust from scratch.  So far I've made a Maple-Walnut Pie, White Chocolate-Rum Pie, (Delicious, but didn't set) and this beauty here. The added caramel really ups the flavor ante. This one was really fun to make because I baked it over at my mom's house the night before Thanksgiving.  I had the other half and mom in the kitchen with me helping me with the pie and helping me with a bottle of champagne. They both helped peel, core, and slice the apples for the pie (while grumbling the whole time) while I worked on the crust and the caramel. They were great little helpers, and isn't that what the holidays are all about anyway? Hope you all had a great one!  Now it's time for Christmas cookies and candy. 


What are you baking for the holidays? 

Salted Caramel Apple Pie

• 3 pounds mixed apples
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2/3 cups sugar
• 1/2 stick butter 
• 1 tbsp cream
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 disks dough of basic crust
• 1 large egg beaten
• coarse sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

1. Peel and core the apples; slice 1/4 inch thick; toss with lemon juice.
2. Cook sugar over medium-high heat until amber, about 10 minutes.
3. Off the heat, stir in butter and cream; add apples and cook until soft.
4. Stir in flour; let cool, then add sea salt.
5. Roll out 1 disk of dough into a 12-inch round on a floured surface; ease into a 9-inch pie plate. (or start with a store bought pie crust) 
6. Add the apples, mounding them slightly in the center.
7. Roll out the remaining dough into a 12-inch round. Lay it over the filling; press the edges of the crusts together, then fold over the overhang under itself and crimp to seal. (Feel free to do anything you'd like for the covering crust, as you can see I attempted a lattice top, need to work on that) Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse. Cut a few slits in the top crust. Chill 1 hour.
8. Place a baking sheet on the lowest oven rack and preheat to 425 for 30 minutes. Place the pie on the hot baking sheet; lower the temperature to 375.
9. Bake until golden, 1 hour to 1 hour, 10 minutes. (cover the edges with foil if they brown too quickly) Cool on a rack.

Basic Crust (Makes 2 disks dough)

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra for dusting) 
• 1/4 tsp baking powder 
• 1 tsp sugar 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 4 tbsp cold vegetable shortening, cut into pieces 
• 10 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces 

1. Pulse the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a food processor. 
2. Add the shortening and 1/3 of the butter; pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal. 
3. Add the remaining butter and pulse until it is the size of peas. 
4. Add 1/4 cup ice water and pulse a few more times. If the dough doesn't hold together when squeezed, add more ice water, 1 tbsp at a time, pulsing. 
5. Divide between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Pat into disks; wrap and chill at least 1 hour. 

I was given a little insert from a food network magazine that had 50 pies in it. Different variations of the classics. This is where I found the recipe with many delicious sounding others. 

Vanilla Bean Mascarpone Cheesecake with a Cashew Crust and Passion Fruit Caramel

(I have to apologize for the bad photo, I took this cheesecake

to a BBQ before taking any pictures and only had this meager

paper plate to work with, plus I only have a point and shoot camera.)

I have been craving cheesecake and I know the richness of mascarpone would definitely put it over the top.  We've all had that slice of cheesecake that is just a little too tart. In fact, for the longest time I didn't even think I liked cheesecake after getting too many just that way. If you haven’t tried mascarpone cheese yet, try it, it’s amazing. It’s the same consistency of cream cheese, but tastes like fresh cream, it’s so rich, and no tartness, so I knew I wanted to include it in my next cheesecake. To add to that, I’ve decided that my new favorite frosting is Cupcake Project’s, Vanilla Bean Buttercream, it tastes like melted vanilla ice cream, and you really could just eat it right of the spoon. So I thought I’d try a Vanilla Bean Cheesecake, hoping for the same result. In searching for a recipe I happened upon a new blog that I now frequent, Spache the Spatula, I found this delicious recipe there, which she adapted from Epicurious. If you’d like to see a better photo of this cheesecake, head over to her blog, she has beautiful photography. This recipe is a re-print from her blog.

This cheesecake is amazing.  It's so creamy and smooth, and that little spice in the crust is just perfect.  I think this would be a great base for all cheesecakes.  The passion fruit caramel took a little longer to caramelize for me, but it was so worth it.  You can taste a hint of tartness from the topical fruit.  My mom, who was over while I was baking, enjoyed liking the bowl she thought it was so good.  Happy baking guys.