Halloween nonpareils

I had so much fun making my rainbow nonpareils recently!  So when I decided to start working on some Halloween treats, I decided that Halloween colored nonpareils would be just the thing to get me into the holiday spirit!

You could have so much fun with these!  Mix up the colors of the sprinkles (I had wanted to use a combination of orange, yellow, and white nonpareils but had these instead...so, in true JulieBakes fashion, stay tuned for those soon!), or the chocolates themselves.   Why not try white chocolate or dark chocolate?  Have some leftover candy melts?  Black or orange would work!  And of course, you can always make different sizes, too!

The amounts listed below are rough estimates -- half it, double it, use a bigger tray -- but should just help guide you through the process of making them!

Halloween Nonpariels

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp Halloween colored nonpareil sprinkles (mine were black, white, and orange.  Yellow, orange, and white would work nicely, too)

1/2 cup milk chocolate melting wafers

Directions:

Line an 8x8" or 9x9" pan with wax paper.
Gently pour the nonpareil sprinkles into a thin layer at the bottom of the pan.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between each.
Make sure not to burn the chocolate.
Let the chocolate cool a little so it is not HOT to the touch.

Spoon half of the chocolate into a piping bag.
Cut a small hole at the opening.

Moving quickly but carefully -- be careful to not hit the pan and move the sprinkles -- pipe little (or larger, your call) dots of chocolate onto the sprinkles, leaving a small space between them.

When the entire layer or sprinkles is covered with chocolate dots, carefully place the tray into the fridge.
Let the chocolate harden.

In the mean time, remove all the chocolate from the piping back and place it back into the bowl.

Once the candies are hard, remove them from the sprinkles and place into a ziplock bag or airtight plastic container.
Redistribute the sprinkles into a thin layer, adding more if you need (the sprinkles go a looong way, and I always end up having extras without ever adding any).

Melt the chocolate again
Repeat the steps above until all the chocolate is used up (or, frankly, you get bored...).

Nonpareils

I had the day off.  The usual activities for me on my day off are an early morning (OK, 9 a.m., but still, it's my day off....) barre class followed by errands and a walk, and then some baking.  Today I made some hand-piped milk chocolate nonpareils.  Because, really, why not?  I was just playing around in the kitchen, so I don't have exact measurements for you, but I do promise the next time I make them, I'll be sure to give measurements.  I promise!

The thing I like about these is that you can make them in different sizes; large, small, mini (like the ones I made).  And also different colors!  How cute would pale pink and white be for a baby shower for a little girl?  Orange, black, and yellow for Halloween?  Pink, red, and white for Valentine's Day?  Green and gold for St. Patty's Day?  The list could go on....and on....and on!  Or, you could play around with the chocolates you use.  I went with milk this time.  White and dark would also be tasty.  Or what about a trio?  I'm thinking those would be super cute favors for said baby shower...Or even different colored "chocolates."

Rainbow Nonpareils

Ingredients:

Chocolate, either chocolate chips or wafers such as Mercken's or Wilton Candy Melts
Rainbow nonpareil sprinkles.

Directions:

Line an 8x8" or 9x9" pan with wax paper.
Put a thin layer of nonpareils on the bottom of the pan.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between each.
Make sure not to burn the chocolate.
Let the chocolate cool a little so it is not HOT to the touch.

Spoon the chocolate into a piping bag.
Cut a small hole at the opening.

Moving quickly but carefully -- be careful not to hit the pan and move the nonpareils -- pipe little (or larger, your call) dots of chocolate onto the sprinkles, leaving a small space between them.  I made them about the size of chocolate chips.

When the entire layer of nonpareils is covered with chocolate dots, carefully place it into the fridge.
Let the chocolate harden.

In the mean time, remove all the chocolate from the piping bag and place it bag into the bowl.

Once the candies are hard, remove them from the sprinkles and place into a ziplock bag or airtight plastic container.
Redistribute the sprinkles into a thin layer.
Melt the chocolate again.

Repeat the steps above until all the chocolate is used up.
Add more sprinkles as needed.

S'mores graham cracker toffee

I'm a big fan of the saying "man plans, and g-d laughs."  It's very much the story of my life.  Like take for instance B's work schedule.  Turns out he has to travel for work this week -- and he has to leave NYC the evening of my birthday.  No worries though - we'll celebrate a day or two later when he's back and well-rested!

But I digress...back to my birthday. With a pretty stressful past week and a half, my birthday really snuck up on me this year!!  Which means I've been pretty delinquent on the "birthday treats."  But fret not - while B was busy prepping for work this weekend, I got busy in the kitchen!

I started with an easy but super tasty looking treat -- S'mores "Crack" Graham Cracker Toffee.  It's a riff on the saltine "crack" that people make (and I've been dying to make, but haven't gotten around to it yet), and very similar to the matzah candy that my mom and I make for Passover every year.  Except these have graham crackers and mini marshmallows!

I made sure to cut these into small (about one inch) squares because they're super rich answer...but in the best way possible!!

S'mores Graham Cracker Toffee
From Something Swanky

Ingredients:

Approximately 1 sleeve graham crackers (I used closer to 1.5 sleeves), enough to cover the pan in one layer
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar (I used light)
2 cups milk chocolate candy bar pieces, chopped (I used good-quality milk chocolate chips)
1 cup marshmallow bits for topping
Graham crackers crumbs, for topping

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400F.
Prepare a 10.5" by 15.5" jelly roll pan by lining it with parchment paper.
Be sure to crease the edges so that it lays flat.
Place the graham crackers on top on one layer, don't worry if there are any gaps between them.

Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium-high hear.
Mix in the brown sugar.
Bring to a boil (it should definitely be bubbling around the edge, you should not have to wonder if it's boiling).
Set a timer for 3 minutes.
Allow to boil without stirring.
After 3 minutes, remove it from the heat immediately.

Pour the mixture over the crackers.
Use a spatula to gently spread the toffee over the crackers (it's OK if they get displaced a little, but try to keep them as flat as possible).

Bake for 6 minutes.
Remove from the oven.
Sprinkle the chocolate pieces on top.
Return to the oven for 1 minute.

Spread the melted chocolate evenly across the toffee with a spatula (my mini offset spatula was the best for this).
Sprinkle marshmallow bits and graham cracker crumbs on top.
Let the pan cool to room temperature for a few minutes before placing it in the fridge.
Chill for about 30 minutes, until hardened.

Break apart to serve (I used a sharp knife to cut it into squares).
Store chilled for best taste and texture.

Tip from Something Swanky: "for easier cutting/breaking, remove toffee from the refrigerator after 10 minutes (it should be partially cooled -- the chocolate should be hardened enough that it won't be disturbed by cutting, and soft enough that it's easy to cut) and cut the toffee into small squares.  Return to the refrigerator to finish cooling and harden completely."

Peanut butter cup cupcakes

Don't get your hopes up too high, these cupcakes were made to taste like a peanut butter cup, but they don't actually have a peanut butter cup in them (just in case you were still thinking about those killer Ferraro Rocher cupcakes I made recently).

Almost everyone loves the classic combination of peanut butter and chocolate, and I thought that making it into a cupcake would be delicious!  I even topped them with two different sizes of mini peanut butter cups, for the added oomph of peanut butter cup-iness!

These cupcakes really don't even need any more of an introduction.  I strongly recommend you try them.  Now.

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes
Cupcakes assembled by yours truly.
Cupcake recipe originally from here.
Icing from here.

For the cupcakes:

8 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 oz bittersweet/semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 cup sour cream

For the icing:

3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1 tsp Kosher salt
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream

Mini peanut butter cups, for topping

Directions:

Make the cupcakes.

Preheat the oven to 350F (325 if using a nonstick pan).
Line a standard muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Combine butter, chocolate, and cocoa in a medium heat proof bowl.
Set bowl over a saucepan containing barely simmering water, and heat mixture until butter and chocolate are melted.
Whisk until smooth and combined.
(You could do this in the microwave, but this time I actually used a double boiler!)
Set aside to cool until just warm to the touch.

Whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a small bowl to combine.

Whisk eggs in another bowl.
Add sugar, vanilla, and salt until fully incorporated.
Add cooled chocolate mixture.
Whisk until combined.
Sift about 1/3 of the flour mixture over and whisk until batter is thick and fully incorporated.
Add sour cream and mix until incorporated.
Add remaining flour mixture and mix until combined.
Batter will be thick.

Bake until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.

Cool cupcakes in pan on a wire rack until they are cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes.
Place cupcakes on a wire rack.
Cool to room temperature before icing, about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, make the frosting.

Cream together the butter, peanut butter, and Kosher salt with a mixer set to high, until light and fluffy.

Add powdered sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating well between each addition.
Add heavy cream.
Once combined, taste for flavor.  Add more peanut butter as needed.

Continue to beat on high for an additional minute to incorporate air.

Place icing in a piping bag fitted with your favorite piping tip.
Pipe icing onto cupcakes, and top with mini peanut butter cups.

Ferraro Rocher cupcakes

I came up with two answers to the question "what do you do with a box of 48 Ferraro Rocher candies that your parents give you?"  Answer number one was to eat every last one of them (I'd share with B, but he isn't a fan of hazelnut), but I decided against that since I'd probably be sick to my stomach and I'm trying to not indulge too much.  Answer number two seemed to make some cupcakes with them (and eat a few along the way).  Option number two is what I went with.

I made my go-to dark chocolate cupcakes, but put a whole Ferraro Rocher candy in the center.  That sounds amazing enough on it's own, right?  But then I topped the baked cupcakes with a fluffy Nutella cloud frosting.  I could've stopped there.  I was planning on topping them with some chopped, toasted hazelnuts, but since I didn't have those on hand, I went with a mixture of toppings: I left some without anything more than the frosting, I topped some with chopped Ferraro Rocher candies, and I topped some with another whole candy!  I debated drizzling some Nutella on top, and think I might even do that before serving them (but for now the pictures are without it).

Here's the thing about these cupcakes.....they're the perfect balance of chocolatey and hazelnutty/nutella-y, without either flavor being too overpowering.  I'd venture to guess that even my non-hazelnut-loving fiancee would like these!

Dark Chocolate Ferraro Rocher Cupcakes with Nutella Cloud Frosting
Cupcakes are adapted by yours truly (based on these cupcakes), icing is from here (originally on the blog here)

I got 12 Ferraro Rocher filled cupcakes plus 5 regular cupcakes with this recipe.

For the cupcakes:

8 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 oz bittersweet/semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 cup sour cream

12 Ferraro Rocher candies, plus more for topping.  Additionally, you can fill more cupcakes and use additional candies

For the icing:

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened, but cool
1 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup (4 ounces) premium bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
1/3 cup Nutella
1 Tbsp milk (I used cream, since that's what I had on hand)
pinch of salt

Directions:

Make the cupcakes.

Preheat the oven to 350F (325 if using a nonstick pan).
Line a standard muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Combine butter, chocolate, and cocoa in a medium heat proof bowl.
Set bowl over a saucepan containing barely simmering water, and heat mixture until butter and chocolate are melted.
Whisk until smooth and combined.
(You could do this in the microwave, but this time I actually used a double boiler!)
Set aside to cool until just warm to the touch.

Whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a small bowl to combine.

Whisk eggs in another bowl.
Add sugar, vanilla, and salt until fully incorporated.
Add cooled chocolate mixture.
Whisk until combined.
Sift about 1/3 of the flour mixture over and whisk until batter is thick and fully incorporated.
Add sour cream, and mix until fully incorporatted.
Add remaining flour mixture and mix until combined.
Batter will be thick.

Fill 12 cupcake liners about half way full.
Place 1 unwrapped Ferraro Rocher into the center of each cupcake liner and push down.  
Don't worry if the candies aren't fully submerged, we'll get back to that in a second.
Repeat until each of the 12 cupcake liners have a candy in them.
If there are uncovered candies (all of mine were!), place a small spoonful of batter over each candy.
Don't worry if the candies are poking out, they'll get covered when they bake.

Bake until a skewer inserted into the side (remember, there's a candy in the center!) comes out clean, about 14-16 minutes.

Cool cupcakes in pan on a wire rack until they are cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes.
Place cupcakes on a wire rack.
Cool to room temperature before icing, about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, make the frosting.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the confectioners sugar and butter,
Beat on low for about 1 minute.

Add vanilla.
Beat on low until well combined.
Add the chocolate and beat on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Add the Nutella, milk (or cream), and salt.
Beat on medium-high speed for another minute.

Put into a piping bag with the piping tip of your choice.
Frost cupcakes.

Top with chopped Ferraro Rocher candies, a whole candy, hopped toasted hazelnuts, a drizzle of Nutella, sprinkles, or leave them as they are :-)

Espresso bark

I made some trays of holiday treats this year for our doormen, B's coworkers, and the baristas at my favorite coffee shop. I wanted a nice mix of candies, marshmallows, and cookies.  Which is exactly what I made!  In terms of candies, my super-awesome homemade peppermint bark made the cut (duh!), as did this (insanely easy, melt-in-your-mouth delicious) espresso bark!

This bark......Oh, this bark!  It's melt in your mouth soft but not too sweet and totally caffeinated!  It was a shame that there were so many little shards of it left on the cutting board after I cut it, so I just had to sample every.  last.  one of them.  P.S. that "it was a shame" part was dripping in sarcasm, in case you couldn't tell...

And the best part?  There are THREE ingredients.  Three.  Two different kinds of chocolate chips and roughly ground espresso beans.  And it's amazing!  I bet it would be awesome in homemade vanilla or coffee ice cream (I still haven't tried homemade ice cream....) or in chocolate chip or double chocolate cookies....which I'm totally going to have to real soon!

Espresso Bark
Adapted from The Food Poet (I changed their coffee bark to espresso bark)

Ingredients:

2 cups Extra Dark Chocolate chips
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup whole espresso beans

4 cups of water

Directions:

Pour espresso beans into a coffee grinder and grind until almost fine.  Some slightly bigger chunks are fine.  This allows for a bit more coarseness of beans for texture.

Pour water into a heavy pot.
In a double boiler, pour in the chocolate chips.
Place double boiler over heavy pot.

Cover a baking sheet with sides with a sheet of parchment paper.

Stir the chocolate chips as they begin melting.
Continue stirring them until smooth.
Remove from the heat.

Stir the ground espresso beans into the smooth chocolate until well integrated.
Spoon the chocolate-espresso mixture onto the parchment-lined sheet.  Take care to work it into the corners and try to maintain a level surface.

Place the sheet in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
Break into chunks or chop with a heavy knife.

Enjoy, and try to leave enough over to give as gifts or share with others!

Salted vanilla caramels

A few weeks ago, while cleaning the apartment, I came across (translate: had misplaced earlier, but found) an Amazon gift card that I received as a gift.  I knew I had to spend it or risk misplacing it again, so I ended up shopping and spending more than the amount on the gift card...But I gained four candy and baking cookbooks.  Four!

The first night I got them I read one from cover to cover, and placed little ripped up pieces of paper to mark the recipes I wanted to try (spoiler: there were a lot!).  One book was late to arrive, and came the other day.  This one was called "Artisan Caramels" (I'll write a different post about this book another time), and it had tons of different caramels in it.  Ones with crusts, ones with toppings, and some interesting flavored ones, too.

With Halloween right around the corner, I had a bunch of candies and candy-related things I wanted to make now.  Some caramels, I figured, would be perfect for a Halloween get together that B and I might attend.  So I started with the salted vanilla caramels, the most basic of flavors in the cookbook.

These caramels were so tasty that I ended up eating the caramel off of the spoon while I was sitting at the computer doing work.  I would've gone back for more but I had already start soaking the pot (damn!).  Clearly, I have no shame.

And with B out of town this week, and Halloween right around the corner, my goal is to make one new flavor of caramels each day this week...wish me luck, since I'm on the schedule at work for 44.5 hours this week and making caramels is quite time intensive... 

Salted Vanilla Caramels

From "Artisan Caramels"

Ingredients:

4 cups heavy cream

4 cups sugar

3/4 cup unsalted butter

2 cups light corn syrup

1 Tbsp vanilla

1 Tbsp coarse sea salt 

Directions:

Spray a jelly roll pan (17.5" x 12.5") pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, making sure you get the sides as well as the bottom of the pan. 

Using a clean, dry paper towel, wipe off the excess. 

Trim a piece of parchment paper so that it covers the bottom of the pan, leaving a 2" overhand over either the handles or the sides.  

Spray the parchment paper again with a light layer of cooking spray and wipe the excess off. 

Set aside. 

Combine the cream, sugar, butter, and corn syrup in a 8-quart stock pot. 

Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Be careful -- it can bubble over very quickly if you aren't paying attention. 

Cook over medium-high heat, and continue to stir until a candy thermometer reaches 248 degrees.  This takes about 45 minutes.  

Remove from the heat and very quickly stir in the vanilla and sea salt. 

Pour the caramel into the prepared pan. 

Let it cool completely before cutting.  This takes about 8 hours. 

Remove caramel from the pan. 

Remove parchment paper.  

Cut into squares. 
Top with sea salt.

Wrap caramels in either cello wrappers or parchment squares.  Wrapped caramels have a shelf life of about 3 weeks; those wrapped in parchment tend to get stale faster.

Espresso bark.....and exciting news from the JulieBakes kitchen!

I feel the need to sugar-coat (no pun intended, I swear!) the news I'm about to share with you.  It's kinda big.  And it's going to be bittersweet -- sad for the next few weeks, but exciting overall -- so in order to make the news slightly less harsh, I made you some espresso bark to lessen the blow.

I've been wanting to make this for a long time.  I even bought the chocolate wafers once and let them expire, having not made this bark.  But I bought them for a second time and was determined to make this for you guys.  And the added bonus?  The caffeine level is up there....which I'll need for the second part of this blog post.

And this bark is easy, delicious, and so pretty.  Plus, it's a nice peace offering for blog readers about to read some possibly upsetting news (right?!).  And it's a great hostess gift if you need one.  Easy is a huge key right now, since washing dishes is annoying, and time isn't quite as free as it used to be.

See, in just a few weeks the JulieBakes kitchen will be packing itself up* (* I've yet to actually find a way to have my kitchen pack itself up, so I'm forced to pack it -- as well as the rest of my apartment that I've lived in for almost TEN years!! -- up....hence my need for caffeine!) and moving downtown.  I'm really excited for the move, but in the meantime, my baking time of the past has been replaced with packing time.  So while I am going to be baking a lot less over the next few weeks, I promise I will still be gracing your email and Facebook feeds with some baked goods...and rest assured that once I'm settled in the new place, the baked goods will be flowing once again!

So, now that I've ripped that band-aid off and delivered the news, back to this bark.  Two layers of chocolate, one spiked with espresso, chocolate wafers, and chocolate covered coffee beans.....well, you can just imagine how delicious this is.

So pass me another piece of this bark and another roll of packing tape, and let's get this party started....

Espresso Bark 
From Tutti Dolci

Ingredients:

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 tsp instant espresso (she recommended Starbucks Via, I used my trusted Cafe Bustelo, which I thought was delicious), consider upping the instant espresso to closer to 1.5 tsp, like I did
12 chocolate wafers (I ended up using about 10 and a half)
8 oz white chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup chocolate covered espresso beans, halved (I left the smaller ones whole)

Directions:

Line a 7 x 11 inch baking dish with parchment paper (I used an 8x8 inch pan, because, well I don't have a 7x11 pan.....square inch wise, mine was a bit smaller, so it was fine :-))

Cut chocolate covered espresso beans in half, leaving smaller ones whole.
Set aside.

Place semisweet chocolate and instant espresso in a double boiler or heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water.
Slowly melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally, until glossy and smooth.
(Alternately, you can melt the semisweet chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, in 30 second increments, until smooth and glossy....then add espresso and stir until smooth.)

Pour melted chocolate into prepared pan and spread with an offset spatula into an even layer.
Top with a single later of chocolate wafers (if necessary, cut wafers in half to fit).
Chill in the fridge until set, about 25 minutes.
Remove pan from fridge and leave at room temperature while melting white chocolate.

Place white chocolate in a double boiler or a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water (I don't recommend doing this in the microwave, as I find that microwaved white chocolate doesn't melt to smoothly).
Slowly melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally, until glossy and smooth.
Pour melted white chocolate over the wafer layer.
Carefully spread it with an offset spatula into an even layer.
Sprinkle with chocolate covered espresso beans.
Chill in the fridge until completely set, about 1 hour.

Carefully lift the parchement paper out of the pan.
Place bark on a cutting board.
Trim away any ragged edges.
Use a sharp knife to cut into squares (or triangles, or "break" it into ragged pieces, like I remember bark having).
Store leftovers (if any) in an airtight container at room temperature.

Rolo cupcakes

I'm obsessed with those bags of mini candies they have now.....Miniature versions of classic candies that come unwrapped in bags -- which means they are easily addictive (unwrapping those snack sized candies really puts a damper on how quickly you can shove them in your mouth) and utterly adorable because they're mini, and, well, you know how I feel about all things mini.

So for my friend's bar's 3rd birthday party, I decided I'd bake up a few cupcakes for my friend and our trivia team (I LOVE bar trivia, and how fun that the birthday party coincides with trivia night?!).  I had bought a bag of mini Rolos candies to make cupcakes with, and I figured this was the perfect time to make them!

I made dark chocolate cupcakes, and put a Rolo in each before baking.  Then, I topped each with homemade caramel buttercream, a caramel drizzle, and finished with another mini Rolo on top!

I have to say, these turned out pretty darn cute.....and tasty!

Rolo Cupcakes

Dark chocolate cupcakes 

from Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:

8 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used semisweet since the store didn't have bittersweet.  They're basically the same thing anyway).
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup sour cream

12-18 mini Rolos for cupcakes, plus an additional 12-18 to top the cupcakes (or full sized for stuffing in the cupcakes, if you feel like unwrapping them all....I used mini for both)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F (325F if using a nonstick pan).
Line standard-sized muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Combine butter, chocolate, and cocoa in a medium heat proof bowl.
Set bowl over saucepan containing barely simmering water, and heat mixture until butter and chocolate are melted.
Whisk until smooth and combined.
(...or you could microwave the mixture at 50% powder, stirring every 30 seconds, until completely melted.  Which is exactly what I did.)
Set aside to cool until just warm to touch.

Whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a small bowl to combine.

Whisk eggs in another bowl to combine.
Add sugar, vanilla, and salt until fully incorporated.
Add cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until combined.
Sift about 1/3 of the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined.
Whisk in sour cream until combined.
Sift the remaining flour mixture over and whisk until batter is thick and fully incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners.
Place one Rolo, upside down, into batter.  Do not press in, just make sure that the top is flush with the top of the batter.
Bake until a skewer inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.

Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on a wire rack until they are cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes.
Place cupcakes on a wire rack.
Cool to room temperature before icing, about 30 minutes.

Caramel Buttercream 

adapted from here

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter, softened
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup caramel topping, plus more for drizzling
1 pound powdered sugar (about 4 cups), more as needed to thicken icing for piping
2-4 Tbsp cream or milk

Directions:

Cream butter until fluffy.

Add in vanilla extract and 1/2 cup caramel topping.
Add 2 cups powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
Add in the rest of the caramel topping.
Add in the remaining 2 cups of powdered sugar.
Add in 2 tablespoons of cream and beat on high.
If icing is still too thin add a bit more powdered sugar, and if it's too thick, add in some more milk or cream.

Assembly

When the cupcakes are cool, pipe on the icing.  I use a piping bag with a large tip.
Drizzle with caramel topping (I find that putting it in a small squeeze bottle makes the drizzling easier and prettier).

Top with a mini Rolo candy.  
Keep refrigerated until 30 minutes before serving.

Triple peanut butter chewy dark chocolate cookies

The majority of my life is spent making rationale, logical, evidence-based decisions.  I do it in my work life, for sure.  And mostly in my personal life, too (there are a few -- a very, very few -- times when I throw caution to the wind and just "do" [which is usually followed by buyer's remorse, but nice new shoes....but I digress]).  Tonight, however, was not one of those nights.

I got out of work at a decent hour.  Met my sisters for dinner, and we were even able to move our plans earlier.  Took some food to go for B, ran an errand, and dropped the food off at his place (he's working on a huge project now, but I knew he needed to eat!).  Then I got home, a little after 9 p.m., and did I stop for a second and relax?  Nope.  Did I hop in the shower?  Nope (that was later on).  I made some cookie dough and baked some cookies!  Which normally wouldn't have been too insane, but I do have to be at work at 8 a.m. tomorrow and that does mean that I have to leave my apartment a little before 6:30 a.m.  But again, here I am going off on a tangent...

Let me tell you about these cookies.  I used the chewy dark chocolate cookie base from one of the most amazing cookies ever, these Chewy Chocolate Cookies with White Chocolate Chips.  But then I didn't stop there, I decided to mix things up a bit.  And thus the Triple Peanut Butter Chewy Dark Chocolate Cookies were born!  I added 3 different kinds of peanut butter goodness to these cookies: Reese's Pieces, Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, AND Peanut Butter Chips!  They were AMAZING!!

Triple Peanut Butter Chewy Dark Chocolate Cookies
Based on these amazing cookies

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cup Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder (I used Hershey's)
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup Reese's Pieces
1/2 cup mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (they come unwrapped in a bag)
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease cookie sheet (or line with parchment paper).

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition.
Add the salt and vanilla.

In another bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, and baking soda.
Gradually add to the butter mixture.
Fold in the peanut butter cups, pieces, and chips.
Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes until fluffy but still soft.
Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Halloween treat #2: Halloween bark

I made Halloween bark last week.  I loved it because (a) it was easy, (b) I could make it any way I wanted, (c) it was super cute, and (d) well, it came out totally adorable!

The best, best, best part of this?  There isn't really even a recipe.  Just grab some chocolate, candies of your choosing, and some candy eyes.  That's it!  (P.S. I totally didn't come up with this, and there is an official "recipe" found here...but I just winged it a bit.)

Chocolate Halloween Bark
From Just A Taste

Ingredients:

3 cups buttersweet chocolate chips
2 cups assorted candy, cut into bite sized pieces and some left whole.  I used:
     Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, cut into quarters (easiest to do if they're cold)
     Kit-Kats, left whole
     Peanut Butter M&Ms
     Candy eyes (I bought mine years ago online, but you can buy them at Michael's)

Directions:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring until smooth.  If using the microwave, do it in 30 second bursts, to make sure you don't burn the chocolate.

Pour the chocolate onto the parchment paper and spread it into an even layer with a spatula.  It should be about 1/4-inch thick.
Sprinkle the candy on top of the chocolate.
Place the baking sheet in the fridge to chill for 30-45 minutes until the chocolate has fully hardened.

Remove from the fridge.
Carefully slide it onto a cutting board.
Cut the bark into irregularly shaped pieces.
Serve immediately, or store in an air-tight container in a cool place.

Halloween treat #1: Candy corn marshmallows

I wanted to give you one fun Halloween-y treat each full week in the month of October.  I was super excited when I came up with this adorable little treat...a riff on a Halloween candy.

I can barely hold it in....I made....wait for it....Candy Corn Marshmallows!!  Now, before I go any further, I need to tell you that while they look like candy corns, they don't taste like candy corns.  Partially because I think candy corns are sickeningly sweet, partially because I don't love the taste of candy corns, and partially because I wouldn't even know where to start in terms of flavoring the marshmallows.

I took a short cut....I made one batch of regular marshmallows, and then took out some plain white marshmallow batter, added some yellow food coloring and then removed some yellow marshmallow batter, and then added some red food coloring to make orange batter, and lastly removed that and placed it in the pan.  Unfortunately, I didn't make enough yellow batter and some of the marshmallows had thinner sections of yellow (I chose not to photograph those marshmallows).  Next time, I might make 1.5 times the marshmallow batter and then use a slightly larger pan to make them.

I have to say, even though I am biased, that they're pretty darn cute!

Candy Corn Marshmallows
Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:

1 cup water, divided

3 Tbsp. + 1 1/2 tsp. unflavored powdered gelatin (3 envelopes – envelope is 1/4 oz. each, for 3/4 oz. total)

2 cups granulated white sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 tsp. fine salt

2 tsp. pure vanilla or vanilla bean paste

Yellow and red food coloring

For the coating:

1.5 cups of confectioners sugar
1 cup corn starch

Directions:

Spray a 9x9 or 7x11 inch baking pan and line with parchment paper (Recommendation: cut to fit flat on the bottom, with the edges of the paper over-hanging the sides. The ends are fine just sprayed.)

In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, pour in 1/2 cup of the water and sprinkle the gelatin over.

Let stand.

In a medium saucepan over high heat, stir together the sugar, corn syrup, salt and the remaining 1/2 cup of water.

Stir until sugar dissolves and mixture begins to boil.

Stop stirring and once mixture comes to a rolling boil, continue boiling for 1 minute.

Remove from the heat. (Recommendation: the original recipe said that they like to carefully pour mixture into a 2-cup glass measuring cup, to make it easier to pour into mixer.  I did this and found it extremely helpful!).

The mixture is very, very, very hot.  Be extremely careful!

Turn the mixer to low and mix the gelatin a bit to loosen.
Very slowly and carefully add the hot sugar mixture by pouring it gently down the side of the bowl.
Continue to mix on low until all the sugar mixture is added.

Turn the mixer to high and whip the mixture for 10 to 12 minutes until the marshmallow batter almost triples in size and becomes very thick.
If you have a smaller mixer bowl, you may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently to avoid the batter overflowing as it grows.
Stop the mixer, add the vanilla, and then whip briefly to combine.  When I added the vanilla, mine thinned out a bit.  Just an FYI.

Remove 1/3 of the marshmallow batter and place the mixture into the prepared baking pan (a silicone bowl scraper works like a charm for this).
Turn the mixer on again and add yellow food coloring until desired color.
While the mixer is going, use a spatula or bench scraper to spread the white marshmallow evenly in the pan, pushing it down into the corners.
Work quickly, as the marshmallow becomes more difficult to manipulate as it begins to set.

Remove 1/2 of the remaining yellow marshmallow batter and place the mixture into the prepared baking pan on top of the white marshmallow (a silicone bowl scraper works like a charm for this).
Turn the mixer on again and add red food coloring until desired orange color.
While the mixer is going, use a spatula or bench scraper to spread the white marshmallow evenly in the pan, pushing it down into the corners.
Work quickly, as the marshmallow becomes more difficult to manipulate as it begins to set.

Remove remaining orange marshmallow batter and place the mixture into the prepared baking pan on top of the yellow marshmallow (a silicone bowl scraper works like a charm for this)..
Work quickly, as the marshmallow becomes more difficult to manipulate as it begins to set.

Spray a sheet of plastic wrap liberally with cooking spray and lay it across the top of the marshmallow, sprayed side down.
Using you fingers, smooth the plastic wrap on top of the marshmallows a bit to seal it smoothly and tightly against the mixture.
(I did this between the white and yellow layers but found that it took too long and made is slightly harder for the marshmallow layer to stick to the one beneath it, so I skipped it when I added the yellow marshmallow.)

Leave the marshmallow to set at room temperature for at least 3 hours or, even better, overnight.
The marshmallow will be too sticky and soft to cut if you try too soon.

Mix together the coating ingredients in a bowl.

When marshmallows are ready, grab the edges of the parchment and lift the marshmallows from the pan.
Remove the plastic wrap from the top and fold down the parchment on the sides.
Using a pizza cutter or a large knife, cut the slab into 1x1 inch squares.
I also made a few triangles to make them look even more like candy corns.
Roll each of the freshly cut marshmallow squares in the coating mixture.
Put them on a baking sheet to dry slightly before packaging them up (about 30 – 45 minutes).

Peanut butter monster cookie bars

About ten days ago -- actually, MORE THAN TEN WHOLE DAYS AGO!! -- I decided to make some peanut butter monster cookie bars.  I just felt like having a yummy, chunky bar to bite into.  But just one.  I wanted to be good on my diet, so I planned to give most of them away (and for once, I succeeded!!).

I thought I had written a blog post on these already -- I had definitely talked about them enough on facebook, but alas, there is no post here.

So, without much ado, but definitely much belated, here are these delicious (and easy!!) Peanut Butter Monster Cookie Bars!

Peanut Butter Monster Cookie Bars
From Averie Cooks

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (heaping) creamy peanut butter (the original recipe says to skip homemade or natural since they're too runny, but I used Skippy natural and it worked just fine)
1 cup flour
1 cup peanut butter M&Ms, plus a few extra for the top
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, chunks, or a combination (I used a mixture)
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/3 cup toffee bits

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line an 8x8" pan with foil.
Spray foil-lined pan with cooking spray.
Set aside.

In a large, microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter.
I did mine on 30 second intervals, to make sure it didn't get too hot.
Let cool for a few minutes, so that you don't scramble the eggs when you add them.
Add the egg, brown sugar, and vanilla.
Whisk until smooth.

Add the peanut butter, and with a whisk, incorporate until smooth.
Add the flour and stir until just combined, being sure not to overmix.
Add the add-ins (M&Ms, chips and chunks, and toffee bits).
Fold until incorporated.

Pour the batter into the pan.
With a spatula, smooth the top to make it flat.
Place a few of the peanut butter M&Ms on top, since it'll make them look extra pretty :)

Bake for about 24 minutes, or until the top is set.
Inserting a toothpick in the center is a good way to check -- it should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs.  If there is batter, they are undercooked and need to bake longer.
Allow them to cool in the pan for at least a half hour, before cutting them.

Monster brownies

I worked late on Tuesday.  I have a the day off on Wednesday and scheduled a dentist appointment smack in the middle of the day (in Westchester).  And on top of all of that, I decided that Wednesday (well technically starting in the morning) would be the perfect time to do a 1-day juice cleanse (after I baked these brownies late Tuesday night).  The brownies spent all of Wednesday taunting me from the kitchen counter as I photographed them while drinking a slew of fruit-and-veggie only cold pressed juices.

So what do I decide to do?  Bake something extremely decadent.  Because there's nothing like deciding to do a 1-day juice cleanse to make me want to bake something extremely gluttonous...like Monster Brownies with chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, mini M&Ms, and chopped Oreos!!  And then bring them to the dentist's, because there's nothing better to bring to a dentist than a sugar-loaded baked treat, right?

I actually saw the recipe for Monster Brownies a while ago, and thought that they'd be great to use those leftover chips and toppings I have around the apartment.  For this batch I used leftover Oreos from the Oreo pops I made for my friend's bar's 2nd birthday.  Leftover peanut butter chips from the cookies I made for the baby shower in January.  And some leftover chocolate chips from those other brownies I made last month.  And then I added some extra mini M&Ms that I had bought for another cookie but still hadn't ever gotten around to making...

Monster Brownies
From Bake or Break

Ingredients:

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used semisweet)
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups total of your favorite add-ins (chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, M&Ms, nuts, pretzels, crushed cookies, coconut, chopped candy bar, etc.) -- I ended up using 1/2 cup each of mini M&Ms, peanut butter chips, and chocolate chips.  Instead of measuring out the chopped Oreos, I just cut 7 double stuffed Oreos roughly into 9 pieces.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Grease a 9 x 13" pan.  I used a spray.
Line the pan with parchment or aluminum foil, leaving about a 2" hangover on both short ends.  I also did another piece of parchment paper perpendicular to that one.
Grease the lining.  Again, I used a spray.

Place chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl.
Microwave in 30 second intervals until butter has melted and chocolate melts when stirred.
Stir until smooth.
Set aside to cool slightly.

Whisk together floud, baking powder, and salt.
Set aside.

Beat sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla until combined.
Add the chocolate-butter mixture, mixing until combined.
Gradually add flour mixture, and mix until just combined.
Stir in add-ins.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evently.
Bake 25-30 minutes, or until set and a pick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs.

Allow to cool in pan for about 10 minutes.
Using the overhanging liner, lift brownies out of the pan.
Cool completely before cutting into bars (really follow the directions -- let them cool completely).

Liddabit Sweets Candy Cookbook

This year, I bought myself a Valentine's Day present. Well, actually two.  The day after Valentine's Day, while B was working, I treated myself to a a bowl of Ramen at Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop at the new (and awesome) Gotham West Market.  Then, I walked into The Brooklyn Kitchen (a cute kitchen-y store with supplies and food...and they even have classes!), and stumbled across some delicious sounding (albeit expensive) chocolate bars from a place called "Liddabit Sweets."  I debated buying one, until I saw the "Liddabit Sweets Candy Cookbook" just next to them, a little further back.  The old adage "Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day; teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime," popped into my head.  Why buy ONE candy bar when I could learn how to make them, and a whole bunch of them, at that!

Let me tell you one thing: this cookbook has tons of recipes!  Literally, tons.  On quick count, I counted 70!  They have recipes ranging from homemade nonpareils to marshmallows to caramels to homemade candy bars.  Some of the recipes that I want to try just from skimming the book include, but are most definitely not limited to: salted soft chocolate (similar to a Tootsie Roll), cherry cordials, peanut butter & jelly cups, gumdrops, beer and pretzel caramels, salt water taffy, nougat, marzipan, and about 8 different candy bars...just to name a few!!!

I see a lot of candy in my (and your!) future...

Superbowl football lollipops

Although I made football cookies for the Superbowl, I didn't want to stop there (that post will be up soon).  So I pulled out my football chocolate lollipop mold that I bought 2 years ago when I had a Superbowl party, and decided to make some lollipops!  I also had a helmet lollipop mold, but decided that with the colors of the teams this year, it would be difficult to get chocolates some of those colors (bright lime green?!  I actually think I saw Wilton Candy Melts in that color once, but I didn't buy them...and didn't have time now...and couldn't dye white chocolate that color).  Luckily for me, I had white, dark, and milk chocolate here...and footballs are brown!  So I made some dark chocolate footballs and some milk chocolate footballs, and did the detailing in white chocolate.

Usually, when I detail chocolate lollipops, I do the detailing in the mold first, let it dry, and then fill in the rest/background afterwards.  However, this mold was a little different, and the cavities for the detailing were convex instead of concave (translation: they didn't have a little cavity to fill), so I made solid lollipops and then waited until the lollipops were hardened, removed them from the mold, and did the white "laces" detailing then.

I think that they turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself!

Salted bourbon caramels

The other night B and I were cooking and I had said I had OCD.  Not the obsessive handwashing, checking-the-lights-500-times-before-leaving-the-apartment, super-duper-cleanly type of OCD (which there is nothing wrong with, it's just not me....just ask people who have seen the inside of my apartment lately, with it's intensely "organized chaos").  I should've specified better, I have cooking-and-baking OCD.  The I-won't-serve-something-to-others-the-first-time-I-make-them-and-must-make-a-test-batch-first, the I-won't-stop-until-the-recipe-is-just-right, and the you-said-dice-the-onion-and-so-I-will-dice-it-until-they-are-all-uniform-size-and-shape types of ODC.

So now that you know that, it should not come as a surprise that tonight I made my third batch of caramels in 6 days.  That's a batch of caramels every other day, on average!

First were the classic caramels.  They were delicious and a bit chewy, but a bit thinner than I had hoped, due to a smaller batch and a too-big pan.  So they second time, I made espresso caramels, from the same website as the classic caramels, but I'm pretty sure they got slightly overcooked.  They were more of a sucking-candy consistency; crunchy and not all that chewy, but still get-stuck-in-your teeth good like caramels.  So this time I decided to try a different recipe altogether, and made these Salted Bourbon Caramels.  I figured I'd try the recipe as is, even though I'm not a lover of bourbon, because caramels can be oh so temperamental.  Oh, and I still had some leftover bourbon from when I made those Pecan Potato Chip Cupcakes.

Now I have to say, the salted bourbon caramels were gooooood, even though I don't love bourbon.  But, I did think about adjusting them a little; maybe upping the vanilla and removing the bourbon altogether.  The bourbon flavor was kinda mild, so if you're a bourbon lover, I might up the bourbon a little.  See, this is where my cooking-and-baking OCD rears it's ugly head....

Just an FYI, these caramels are soft and chewy, and a little bit sticky, so I highly advise that you coat the knife with some cooking spray before cutting them.  I even wrapped mine in some wax paper so that they held their shape, since they were a bit soft.

Salted Bourbon Caramels

Ingredients:

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2 Tbsp bourbon

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp kosher salt

flaky sea salt

Wax paper, to wrap candies

 

Directions:

 

Lightly spray an 8x8 inch pan with vegetable oil (I used by 9x9 inch pan, and sprayed with Pam).

Line with parchment both ways, and spray the parchment.

Set aside.

 

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup.

Bring to a boil, gently stirring to dissolve the sugar.

 

Once the mixture reaches a boil, let it cook relatively undisturbed (swirl occasionally) until it is a deep amber-brown.

This takes about 10 minutes, give or take a few.

 

Remove from the heat and add the sweetened condensed milk and butter.

It will bubble furiously AND STEAM (oh, did it steam!  I got a mild steam burn from it, so be uber careful), so whisk and be careful!

Whisk until it is completely smooth again, then return to medium-low heat.

 

Cook, whisking continuously, until the candy thermometer registers 240 F.

Remove from heat and whisk in bourbon, vanilla, and ½ tsp salt.

Whisk until smooth, then pour into your prepared pan.

 

Liberally sprinkle sea salt over the top, and let cool before cutting and wrapping in wax paper.
I highly advise coating the knife in cooking spray before cutting them, since they are a bit sticky and soft.