Marble Brownies

Thanks for the recipe, Mom! 

Marble Brownies

Marble Brownies

Yield: 16 Brownies

• 2/3 cup flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla
• 1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line an 8 x 8 square baking dish with aluminum foil, leaving a 1-inch overhang on all sides.  Set aside.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.  Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Add in the eggs and vanilla extract; beat until smooth.  Adjust the mixer to low; add in the flour mixture and stir until thoroughly incorporated.
4. Evenly divide the batter into two separate bowls.  Add the melted chocolate into one of the bowls, and stir until thoroughly combined.
5. Arrange the batter in the pan, alternating the chocolate and vanilla (see Fig. 1.24).  Swirl the batters together using a rubber spatula to create a marble pattern.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.  Cool completely on a wire rack.
7. To cut into squares:  remove brownies from pan by grasping the overhanging foil. Transfer to cutting board, and cut into 16 squares.

Nutella Ribbon Bars

The original recipe for Nutella Ribbon Bars recommended using a food processor to work the dough. If I actually had a KitchenAid® Martha Stewart Blue Collection 12-Cup Food Processor  (hint hint!!) maybe this cookie would have actually stayed together, instead of crumbling into oblivion.  

Nutella Ribbon Bars

Yield: 16 bars

• ¾ cup walnuts, finely chopped
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter, browned
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1½ cups rolled oats
• ¾ cup Nutella

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.  Line an 8 x 8 square baking dish with aluminum foil leaving a once inch overhang; spray with non-stick cooking spray to ensure even release.
2. Combine walnuts, flour, baking powder, salt, and brown sugar in a medium sized mixing bowl. Mix with a rubber spatula until evenly distributed.  Add in the browned butter and the vanilla extract.  Mix until smooth.  Fold in the oats.  
3. Divide dough in two.  Press one half of the dough into the bottom pan, firmly and evenly smushing with your fingertips.  Put the other half in the freezer for 5 minutes.
4. Spread the Nutella evenly over the crust in the pan (this is difficult–Nutella is thick and sticky. Maybe try heating it up for a few seconds in the microwave to make it easier to spread).
5. Sprinkle the rest of the dough over the Nutella layer, smushing the dough into pea-sized pieces as you go.
6. Bake until the top is deep golden, about 25-30 minutes.  Let cool completely on wire rack.  Remove from pan by grasping overhanging foil; transfer to a cutting board.  Cut into 16 squares.

Raisin Hermits

I wanted nothing more this morning than to curl up in a ball under my big comfy down comforter and pretend that nothing existed outside of my cocoon of sleepiness.  Instead, I had to wake up at the cold crack of dawn (otherwise known as 8 am) and wash the laundry before I started my 10 am shift.  The first of two shifts, actually, because I’m training at a real restaurant so I no longer have to be ashamed of my job.  So instead of being an actual hermit, I decided to make these cookies instead.  (I honestly have no idea why they’re called hermits–if anyone can tell me the answer I’ll send them a box of cookies as a reward.)

Raisin Hermits

Yield: 2 dozen

Raisin Hermits

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teasopon ginger
• ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup strongly brewed coffee or espresso, cooled
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Position oven racks in top and bottom thirds of the oven.  Preheat oven to 375°F.  Line baking sheets with parchment or silicone liners.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg; set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and brown sugar on medium-speed for 2-3 minutes, or until light and fluffy.  Add in the egg and the coffee; beat until smooth (this may take a while–my mixture separated at first and took about 4 minutes to come together).
4. With the mixer running on low, spoon in the flour mixture and beat until just incorporated.  Add in the raisins and walnuts.
5. Drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets, 12 per sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes, or until cookies are light golden around the edges, being sure to rotate pans from top to bottom and front to back midway through baking time.  Let rest on baking sheets for about 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Chocolate-Butterscotch No-Bakes

I am in the middle of the most hectic day of 2009! Honestly, I’m more stressed than a soccer mom with a broken mini-van.  I had to wake up early and dress all corporatey so I could commute an hour into the city for a five minute interview (for a job I don’t particularly want), and then travel another hour to get back home.  Did I mention that it’s snowing/sleeting outside? And that I couldn’t wear my snow boots because they didn’t match my Vivian Kensington look? I slipped 9 times on the way to the PATH station, and at least another 7 while I was underground! I’m lucky I didn’t eat it in front of all of New York.  Now that I’m home, I have an hour or so to bake, blog, and bitch before starting my first day at my new job (it’s a classy restaurant, with no spitting)!  Consequently, I decided to make the easiest cookie (candy?) ever.  Seriously, a four old chihuahua could make these.  And dogs don’t have opposable thumbs.

Chocolate-Butterscotch No-Bakes

Chocolate-Butterscotch No-Bakes

Yield: 2 dozen

• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup butterscotch chips
• 1 ½ cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup chopped nuts

1. Combine chocolate and butterscotch chips in a large microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, until all the chips are melted.
2. Stir in oats and nuts.
3. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto parchment paper. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up. 

Sunshine Dream Bars

I’ve kinda been in a funk these past few days. I haven’t wanted to do much of anything, least of all bake cookies that are just going to put me further into debt and make my ass grow by leaps and bounds.  While perusing a decrepit copy of Cookies, Cookies, and More Cookies from 1982 that more closely resembles a pile of rotten newspaper than a book, I discovered a bar cookie with a name so magical that it promised to rescue me from my pit of despair:  Sunshine Dream Bars.  I’ll let you know if they’re really as dreamy as they claim; these things take forever to cool and I need to get an early start tomorrow (I think they’ll make a great breakfast)! 

EDIT:  These are Adrian Brody dreamy. Heck, they’re Jim from The Office dreamy!

Sunshine Dream Bars

Yield: 36 Bars

Sunshine Dream Bars

CRUST:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• ¼ cup unsalted butter, chilled
• 2 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

FILLING:

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 eggs

TOPPING:

• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup chopped nuts

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a nonstick 9 x 13 cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Combine all ingredients for crust in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Beat on medium speed until cream cheese thoroughly incorporates into the mixture and the butter is the size of rice grains, about 3½ minutes.  Press into bottom of prepared pan.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until edges are just golden.
3. Using the same bowl, combine all ingredients and beat until smooth.  Pour filling over hot crust.
4. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla and eggs; beat until smooth. Stir in 3/4 cup of the chopped nuts.  Spoon topping over filling; smooth with a spatula. Sprinkle remaining nuts over topping.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until crust is a deep golden brown.  
5. Cool completely; cut into bars.  Store in the fridge.

Mexican Wedding Cakes

Mexican Wedding Cakes

Yield: 4 dozen

Mexican Wedding Cakes

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• Pinch of salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar, divided use
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup roasted pecans, coarsely chopped
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Stir together flour and salt. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add in 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and the vanilla extract and beat until smooth.  Stir in the flour mixture, and then the pecans.
3. Roll the mixture by teaspoonfuls into small balls. Place dough-balls on a plate and cover loosely with plastic wrap.  Place plate in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350° F. Combine remaining  powdered sugar and cinnamon in a wide, shallow bowl (I used a pie plate). Set aside.
5. Place balls onto parchment or silicone lined baking sheets, spacing 1/2 inch apart (cookies don’t really spread).  Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until pale golden.  Cool for 5 minutes on baking sheets. Carefully roll cookies in cinnamon sugar mixture until completely coated, then place on wire racks to cool completely.

After-Dinner Microwave Brownies

I made these in less than 15 minutes, including “baking” time.  Even Andrew could make these, and he doesn’t even know where all the dishes belong in the kitchen.

After-Dinner Microwave Brownies

After-Dinner Microwave Brownies

Yield: 16 brownies

• 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• ¾ cup cocoa powder
• 1½ cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Place the butter and cocoa powder in an 8-inch square microwave-safe baking dish.  Microwave on high until the butter is melted, 30 seconds to 1½ minutes, depending on the power and size of your oven.
2. Add the sugar and stir to combine.  Whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract.  Stir in the flour.  Stir in the nuts, if you are using them. Smooth the top of the batter with a spatula.
3. Microwave on high until the brownies are just set in the center, 4 to 7 minutes, depending on the power and size of your oven.  Let the brownies cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
4. Cut the brownies into 16 squares and serve immediately.

Recipe courtesy Lauren Chattman, Mom’s Big Book of Cookies

Lemon Drop Cookies

Lemon Drop Cookies

Lemon Drop Cookies

Yield: 30 cookies

Cookies:

• 1¾ cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 stick  unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• Zest of one lemon, finely grated
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup plain yogurt

Glaze:

• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Zest of one lemon, cut into inch long curls

1. Place oven racks in top and bottom thirds of the oven. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone liners.
2. Sift cake flour, baking soda and salt together; set aside.
3. Cream butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 1 minute.  Add in the sugars, lemon zest, and lemon extract.  Beat until smooth, about 2-3 minutes.  Add egg; beat for 1 minute.
4. Using a rubber spatula, stir in half of the flour mixture.  Stir in the yogurt, and then the remaining flour.
5. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie, with 15 cookies on each sheet.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until barely golden, being sure to rotate sheets from top to bottom and front to back half-way through baking time.
6. While cookies are baking, whisk together confectioners sugar and lemon zest until smooth.  Cover tightly.
7. Immediately after cookies come out of the oven, spoon glaze over the tops of each cookie and place one or two lemon curls on top.  Carefully remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Cinnamon Sugar Bites

I’ve been listening to Texas country music for the past 4 hours.  All I want to do is hang out at the beach, eat tacos, toss back a couple of cervazas and maybe eat a few Mexican Wedding Cake cookies.  But I’m in New Jersey.  And it’s the middle of January.  The closest I’m getting to a beach is my bathroom. I have a couple of tacos from Qdoba, but they’re not quite right.  I start work in half an hour, so beer is kinda out of the question.  Maybe if I could get my hands on some of those powdery bites of deliciousness, I can hold out for a few more months. Does anyone have a Mexican Wedding I can attend? (or an authentic recipe–preferably handed down from your great-great-abuela.  While your at it, I would do just about anything for some homemade tamales.)

Cinnamon Sugar Bites

Yield: About 40 cookies

Cinnamon Sugar Bites

• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1¼ cups granulated sugar
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup sugar (sanding or granulated) for rolling cookies
• ½ rounded teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350°.  Line baking sheets with parchment or silicone liners.
2. Sift flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar together.  Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about two minutes.  Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, and mix a little bit more. Add in the egg yolks (this is the best way to use up the yolks from all the meringue cookies you’ve made), vanilla extract, and salt.  Mix until smooth, about 30 seconds.
4. Turn the mixer to low; add in the flour mixture a little at a time. Mix until dough just comes together.
5. Combine sanding sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. 
6. Portion out dough by tablespoonfuls; roll dough into little balls (about an inch in diameter).  Roll each ball in cinnamon sugar mixture, coating evenly. Place dough balls on baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches on each side for expansion.  Bake for 16 minutes, or until cookies are crackly but still soft on top. Remove immediately to wire racks to cool completely.

Daredevil Thumbprints

Hooray! There’s another salmonella outbreak, and this time it’s being spread by peanut butter.  You wouldn’t think that peanut butter (and peanut pastes–blech!) could be carriers of terrifying gut-wrenching bacteria.  Tomatoes and toys made in china, yes. But a delicious spread made from innocent legumes ? No way. 

“In pets, as in people, salmonella can cause lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea and bloody diarrhea. Pets also can be carries (spc.) of the bacteria with no visible symptoms…”  These sound like some pretty serious symptoms.  No one likes to poop out blood, so a peanut-butter product recall of over 125 products has been issued.  I just bought four pounds of Skippy from BJ’s.  I am not going to defile the memory of Mr. George Washington Carver and throw out perfectly good peanut butter on the off chance that it could possibly kill me (or at least make me very uncomfortable).

I decided to laugh in the face of danger (or at least giggle a little) by making these delicious peanut-buttery treats.  You too can be as brave/reckless as Evel Knievel.  All you need to do to unlock your inner daredevil is to make these delicious peanut-butter thumbprints.

Daredevil Thumbprints

Daredevil Thumbprints

Yield: 48 Cookies

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 2 cups flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup honey
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup peanut butter (is there salmonella in there?)
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• Any flavor jelly

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silicone liners.
2. In a medium sized shiny saucepan, brown butter over medium heat.  Set aside
3. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.
4. In an stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together brown butter, honey, and sugars on medium speed until well-combined.  Add in the peanut butter, eggs, and vanilla extract; beat until smooth.  Adjust the mixer to low; slowly add in the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated.  Place dough in the fridge for at least 10 minutes to firm up.
5. Spoon out dough by heaping teaspoons, roll into balls. Place dough balls onto baking sheets leaving 3 inches in between each to allow for spreading.  Smush each ball down using a small measuring spoon, leaving an indentation.  Bake cookies for 11-14 minutes, or until golden brown.  Let cookies rest for 5 minutes on baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
6. Spoon jelly (strawberry rocks!) into indentations.  Eat and see if you die of salmonella.