Ultimate chocolate cookies

My husband mocks me because I constantly have around 500 open tabs on my cell phone web browser.  I this an insane about of tabs to have open?  Yes.  But did you know that roughly 85-90% of them are recipes that I want to try? Or have baked but kept open so that I can write my blog post about them (I know, I know...I suck on that front!)?

One of those recipes was a cookie that I'm sure I either got an email about or saw on Instagram.  I'll get back to that cookie later on, but that cookie led me down a rabbit hole to find the original recipe, which led me to Sarah Kieffer of The Vanilla Bean Blog.  Deeper into the rabbit hole, I wanted to make like all of her recipes, and then even deeper, I ended up buying her cookbook.

The gateway cookie, so to speak, was her Pan-Banging Ginger Molasses Cookie.  I've made them a few times, they're always delish, and to say I was hooked after the first time may be the biggest understatement ever.

I currently have a bunch of her cookies in my line up to bake, but this cookie caught my eye, and I thought they'd be great in a box of holiday cookies for our doormen and friends.

These cookies live up to their name -- special cocoa powder, two types of chocolate -- they're decadent and super chocolatey, and also not super sweet.  And get this -- they're super easy to make, too!

Ultimate Chocolate Cookies

By Sarah Kieffer, of The Vanilla Bean Blog

Ingredients:

1.5 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup Ghirardelli Majestic Cocoa Powder (she said you need to use this cocoa powder.  I got mine on Amazon)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

9 Tbsp unsalted butter at room temp

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar (I used light)

3/4 tsp salt

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

5 oz Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate wafers, chopped

2 oz Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate wafers, chopped (I read this wrong when I made them and used 3 oz of milk chocolate wafers.  My mistake, but seeing as these cookies were amazing, I'm going to keep it at 3 oz going forward)

Flaky sea salt for sprinkling, if desired (I'm sure this would be AMAZING, but seeing as I was freezing my cookies to give away at a later visit, I didn't know if the salt on top would affect it, so I skipped this step)

Directions:

Adjust oven rack to middle of the oven.

Preheat oven to 400F.

Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda.

Set aside.

Cream butter in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.

Beat on medium until creamy, about 1 minute.

Add in sugars and salt.

Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.

Continue beating until smooth.

Add in dry ingredients, and beat on low until just combined.

Add in chopped chocolates and mix on low.

Use a rubber spatula to give the dough one last mix.

Form the dough into balls, about 2 Tbsp each.

Place 8 cookies on each sheet pan.

Sprinkle with flaky salt, if using.

Bake one pan at a time, rotating halfway through (oops, forgot to rotate....).

Bake the cookies until the tops are golden brown (I couldn't tell if they were golden or not, since the cookies were so dark) and the cookies are slightly puffed and starting to crinkle, 9-11 minutes (mine were perfect after 9 min).

Remove the baking sheet from the oven.

Use the back of a spatula to gently press the top of each cookie to flatten it.

Let the cookies rest on the sheet pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling.

* According to the author, the cookies are best slightly warm but can be stored at room temp for up to 3 days, and will get softer the longer they sit.

* Dough can be put in the fridge or frozen after being rolled into balls.  Take them out of the fridge when the oven preheats, or if baking from frozen they may require an extra minute of baking time.

* I decided to try freezing the cookies fresh out of the oven (after they cooled) to see if they could be baked ahead before gifting.

Ginger molasses cookies

Ok, first off the bat, let me tell you how good these cookies are!  Then, I'll get to the rest of the info.  These cookies are the perfect amount of ginger and crisp edges/chewy centers and sugary coating!  I'm not going to lie, I ate 3 of them straight out of the oven last night when I was baking them.  They're that good!

These cookies come from the genius Sarah Kieffer of the Vanilla Bean Blog.  I want to say I came across her years ago through an article (I think in the New York Times) about her "pan banging method" for chocolate chip cookies (I  made them, they're worth the hype, and if I haven't posted that yet, I'll be sure to back track and get that up soon), and later again through an email with a link to her Neapolitan cookies.  I also own her cookbook, 100 cookies.  She's a baking genius, if you want my unbiased opinion, and I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot of her recipes in the future here on JulieBakes.

These cookies also involve her "pan banging" technique, which gives the cookies a crispy edge and a chewy center.  They're probably not the best cookie to bake at 9:30 p.m. in a 2 bedroom apartment with a sleeping 5.5 month old, 2.5 year old, and guest on the couch -- oops! -- but at least the guest got some of these cookies fresh out of the oven when she woke from her nap.

I plan to include these in my yearly box of cookies for the holidays for our doormen*.  It's been a trying year, for sure, and they've been fielding the majority of my "I can buy it on Amazon" mentality of the pandemic (* yes, they're also getting a monetary tip, I just think cookies plus a tip is just a nice way to do things).

Pan-Banging Ginger Molasses Cookies

By Sarah Kieffer, Vanilla Bean Blog

* The holiday version calls for a glaze.  Truth be told, I haven't tried the glaze, because the cookies are so damn good on their own they don't need anything more, but if you want yours to look festive or you'd like glaze, click on the link above for directions and ingredients.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp + 1/8 tsp salt

2 tsp ground ginger

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Pinch of cloves (I leave this out, as I don't like cloves)

12 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling

2 Tbsp mild molasses

1 egg

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Adjust an oven rack to middle position

Preheat oven to 350F

Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves (if using).

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium until creamy.

Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.

Add in the molasses, egg, and vanilla.

Mix on low to combine.

Add the flour mixture and mix on low until combined.

Remove bowl from mixer.

Using a spatula, make sure that the molasses is completely combined into the dough and that it is a uniform color.

Form the dough into 2 ounce balls.

Roll balls into granulated sugar to coat.

Put 4 balls of dough on prepared baking tray.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 8 minutes, until the cookies are puffed slightly in the center.

Lift the side of the baking sheet up about 4 inches and gently let it drop down against the oven rack (so that the edges of the cookies set and the inside falls back down).

After the cookies puff up again in about 2 minutes, repeat lifting and dropping the pan.  

Repeat 3-4 more times to create ridges around the edge of the cookie.

Bake 13-16 minutes TOTAL, until the cookies have spread out and the edges are golden brown but the centers are might  lighter and not fully cooked.

Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack.

Let cool completely before removing cookies from the pan

Churro Chex mix

Every winter, my friends on Long Island throw a huge party.  Each year, as of late, it has had a theme.  Two years ago?  It was a summer themed party (remember these Piña Colada cupcakes I made for it?), last year was Oktoberfest themed (my desserts did not match the theme at all), and this year it's Cinco de Mayo themed.  Since Cinco de Mayo themed desserts can be pretty awesome (tres leches...churro....Mexican chocolate...margarita....Yes, to all of them!), I figured it would be easy to arrive to the party with an arsenal of delicious Cinco de Mayo treats!

First up?  Churro Chex mix.  I guess technically they're muddy buddies, but I just like the sound of churro Chex Mix better.  This recipe actually came about by a serious of errors.  The recipe called for cinnamon chips.  I even had them!  See, I can't find them at my local grocery store, but they sell them at -- of all places -- the Hershey's Store in Times Square.  So if I ever find myself in that touristy area of the city, and if the line isn't too long, I pick up a bag or two.  Unless it's swamped with tourists and has a long line, in which case, I skip it.  Which is precisely what happened when I was there the past two times.  But I digress.  I had 2 bags in my cabinet, and even though it was past the "best by" date, I figured I try them.  Simply put?  They did not work.  But as they were not melting, I noticed that they were probably cinnamon flavored white chocolate chips.  So I set up with batch number two, this time using white chocolate chips and a heaping half tablespoon of cinnamon.  This time, though, the butter and white chocolate wouldn't fully combine, so instead of tossing batch number two, I poured off as much of the butter as I could.  Problem solved!  (If you don't feel like going though the task of melting -- and then disposing of -- a stick of butter, you can skip that step and look for the cheat in the recipe below).  The result is a cinnamon-y delicious addictive Chex mix!

Churro Chex Mix (aka Triple Cinnamon Chex Mix)
adapted from this recipe from Oh, Sweet Basil

Ingredients:

1 regular sized box of cinnamon chex (about 8 cups)
2 cups of white chocolate chips
1 1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon, divided
1/2 cup butter
1 cup powered sugar
1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

Place the cereal in a large bowl.
Cover 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a saucepan over medium heat, add the butter and begin to melt it down halfway.
Add the chocolate chips.
Stir until combined.
Add a heaping 1/2 Tbsp of cinnamon.
Drain any butter that is not incorporated.

*Alternately, you can melt 2 Tbsp butter with the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring inbetween, until fully incorporated.  If you do this, I would add 1 tsp of ground cinnamon instead of the heaping 1/2 Tbsp. *

Meanwhile, gently stir together the powdered sugar, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl.
Set aside.

Once the chips are all melted (and the butter drained), pour over the cereal.
Fold with a rubber spatula to coat.
Then add half of the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Continue folding to coat.
Spread out on the cookie sheet and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar mixture.
Toss to coat.

All to cool on the baking tray before packaging up (if there's any left....have I mentioned how addictive this it?!).

Rosemary, pecan, and parmesan cookies

I can see you. Through the computer. With that quizzical look. Rosemary + Parmesan, in a cookie?  She's for sure lost it this time.

But I haven't.  Nor has the creator of this cookie, Dorie Greenspan. (She's kinda like THE cookie goddess, if you don't know who she is.)  Nor has the person who recommended them to me, and told me that despite all the Thanksgiving baking I still had left to do, these cookies definitely needed to be made. 

These cookies are savory -- a savory shortbread, almost closer to a cracker, with a fine crumb (they're so crumbly, but in the best way possible) and just the teensiest hint of sweetness.  So much so that they're called -- get this -- cocktail cookies!  Not in the sense that there's booze in them (how can we make that happen?!), but in the sense that you eat them with booze.  White wine was mentioned somewhere, so was some champagne.  I could definitely get on board with that!

So yeah, these cookies.  It's probably too late for you to make them for this Thanksgiving, but Christmas is right around the corner....so is New Year's...or just any random Friday (or Tuesday) night!

A few thoughts about these cookies:

- They come together super easily!  Like all in the bowl of a food processor. No warming of the butter to room temperature.  Literally a few whirls in the food processor. That's it, people!

- Please, freshly grate your Parmesan. Don't use the stuff from the container from the grocery store.  I just feel like the freshly grated stuff is worlds better when it comes to baking.
- I'm toying with the idea of adding a few grinds of fresh black pepper next time.  I might also up the cheese just a little bit. 

- Lastly, don't be lazy like yours truly. Not wanting to take out your food processor because it's in the back of the cabinet behind a lot of other stuff is a pathetic reason to half the recipe so that you can use your mini-prep (which is way more accessible), yielding half as many delicious cookies, and just necessitating that you make another batch sooner.

Rosemary-Parmesan Shortbread Cookies
These were recommended to me by a friend, who has Dorie's new cookbook.  She even sent me pictures of the recipe from the book, but the flash got in the way, so a not-so-quick, very specific internet search yielded me the recipe linked above.

For a more crumbly texture, Dorie recommends not grating your cheese too fine.

Yields about 60 cookies

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp granualted sugar
2 tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup pecans, toasted
1/3 cup Parmesan, grated and lightly packed
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small chunks
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten

Special tools:
1.5" round cookie cutter

Instructions:

Season the sugar:
Working in a small bowl, run the sugar and rosemary together with your fingertips until the sugar turns moist, aromatic, and maybe even tinged green (mine was not green, and my fingers killed from all the mixing, so I left mine aromatic and moist, but still white)

Toast the pecans:
I did mine in a toasted at 400F.  
Watch closely, mine took about 5 minutes.  
Do not let them burn 

Prepare the dough:

Combine the flour, pecans, Parmesan, salt, and rosemary sugar in a food processor.
Pulse to blend.
Add in the pieces of cold butter.
Pulse until the mixture turns crumbly.
Slowly and gradually pulse in the beaten egg yolk.
Then continue to pulse the mixture until it turns to a moist dough that forms clumps and curds.

Roll the dough:

Turn the dough out and divide it in half.
Pat each half into a disk.
Working with one disk at a time, place the dough between two sheets of parchment paper.
Roll the dough out to a 1/4-inch thickness.
Repeat with the other half.
Without removing the parchment paper, slide both disks onto a baking sheet -- you can stack them -- and freeze for at least 1 hour.  (Freeze?  Haha.  My freezer is FULL TO THE MAX.  Literally.  I could not fit a baking sheet into it if I tried.  So I refrigerated mine overnight.)

Position your oven rack to the center of your oven.
Preheat to 350F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.
Have your cookie cutter on hand.

Cut the cookies:
Working with one slab of dough at a time, peel away the top sheet of parchment paper.
Use the cookie cutter to cut out as many circles as you can.
Transfer them to the prepared baking sheet.
Leave about 1 inch between cookies.
Combine the scraps from both portions of dough.
Re-roll the dough.
Freeze and repeat the process with the remaining dough.
Always make sure that you start with a cool baking sheet.

Bake the cookies, for about 15 minutes, or once they turn golden and have set.
Rotate your baking sheet 180 degrees halfway through the baking time.
Once done, let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 3 minutes and then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
Bake the remaining cookies.

To store:
If wrapped well, the rolled out dough can be frozen and stored for up to 2 months.
Simply cut out the dough and bake directly from the freezer.
Baked cookies can be kept in a covered container for up to 1 week at room temperature.

Serve with a crisp glass of white wine or champagne.  (or the whole bottle....this is a no judgement zone!)

Pumpkin spice candied nuts

At my grandfather's 90th birthday (!!) celebration last night, my aunt (who hosts Thanksgiving) asked me if I was baking anything for Thanksgiving.  Of course, the answer was yes!  I asked her what she wants, and I heard the most beautiful words ever: "you have free reign."  As in I can bake whatever I want!  And what's even more, my cousin (whom I love dearly, and we will all miss at Thanksgiving dinner) with the nut allergy won't be there, I can really bake anything!

Like these nuts.

OK, OK, they don't technically fall under "baking," however they do go in the oven, so they are technically baked.

I had been toying with the idea of making some pumpkin spice candied nuts for a while.  But as you probably know, I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin spice.  And when I came home and got ready to bake them, the pumpkin spice mix I thought I had at home was nowhere to be seen.  So with that little snafu (combined with the fact that my Trader Joe's was out of pumpkin spice, too!) as my disdain for pumpkin spice flavors, I made these candied nuts with a combination of spices found in pumpkin spice, but not all of them.  Which is fine for me, since the missing spices are actually the spices I don't like in pumpkin spice flavored foods and drinks.

I chose to package these nuts in a clear cube box (meant for cupcakes).  With a nice bow and cute hanging tag, they'd be a perfect holiday hostess gift...or gift for the pumpkin spice lover in your life!

Pumpkin Spice Candied Nuts
Adapted from these candied cinnamon sugar nuts

Ingredients:

6 cups of nuts (I used mixed nuts.  I wanted to make sure to have some pecans in it, since I think pumpkin pie and pecan pie are synonymous with Thanksgiving.  After devouring half the recipe, B and I decided that the pecans were the best part.  No one would fault you if you went ALL pecans or half pecans and half other nuts.)
2 egg whites
2 Tbsp water
2 cups granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp salt

Optional (if you want to really make them "pumpkin spice"-y):

pinch of ground allspice
pinch of ground cloves

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300F.
Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.
Spray with non-stick spray (if using parchment paper).
Set aside.

Mix nuts in a large bowl.
Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and water on medium-high speed until still peaks form, about 4-5 minutes.
Add the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt.
Stir until well combined.

Pour sugar mixture over nuts.
Stir to coat completely.
Spread nuts over the baking sheets.
Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

Allow to cool completely.
Enjoy.

Store nuts at room temperature, covered.

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.

Tiki party mix

For B's birthday, I decided I'd throw together a little impromptu tiki party on our roof deck.  Although it wasn't really that impromptu -- I had put A LOT of thought into almost every detail.  Pineapples, palm trees, and flamingos adorned most everything, and the color theme was mainly pink, yellow, and green to reflect those things. Matching sprinkles.  Pineapple and shark ceramic glasses (but no actual tiki glasses...go figure!).  Ok, so maybe more casual than impromptu. Poor word choice, Julie!

I let my creative juices flow in terms of decor (floating flamingo drink holders, leis, and mini beach balls) and desserts/baking (pina colada marshmallows, pineapple and palm tree chocolate lollipops), and let my trusty friend Trader Joe do most of the catering (I went with tropical/Polynesian themed foods -- coconut shrimp, scallion pancakes, mini meatballs, chicken lemongrass spring rolls, edamame, shrimp toasts -- but ended up serving only about half of those things). B, my resident bartender extraordinaire, mixed up his signature pineapple and mezcal cocktail, among others!  One more place I let my creativity shine through?  This tropical themed snack mix!

I have to say, sometimes I impress myself!  I went with traditional tropical and Polynesian flavors - coconut, mango, pineapple, macadamia, and banana (I was thinking about adding in some sesame sticks for a salty component, but decided to leave them out). Talk about addictive!  I'm so glad I made a huge batch!!

Tiki Snack Mix
A JulieBakes Original!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup roasted coconut chips
1/2 cup banana chips
1 cup dried baby sweet pineapple (unsweetened), cut into 1/4s (larger rings cut into 1/6s)
1/4 cup lightly sweetened coconut strips, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1/2 cup dried unsweetened mango, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup roasted macadamia nuts (I used unsalted, but salted would be good, too.).

Directions:

Cut dried fruit into the sizes mentioned above.
Add them all to a gallon sized zip lock bag.
Shake up until well mixed.

Add to the serving bowl of your choice (I used a plastic coconut drink holder to keep with the theme).
Extra snack mix (if there should even be any), can be stored in the ziplock bag.

Red velvet cookies and cream muddy buddies

I was late to the muddy buddy party.  By decades.  Then the other day, while assembling goodies for my sister as part of a post-surgery recuperation package, I stumbled across cookies and cream muddy buddies. And I bought them. And proceeded to eat nearly a third of the bag on my subway ride home (and then toss the remainder of the bag in the nearest garbage can. Self control is clearly not my strong point.). Needless to say, I was hooked.

Lately the shelves have been stocked with fun and interesting flavored Oreos (case in point: cinnamon bun, red velvet, "filled cupcake"), and in my post-Valentine's day brain, I started thinking up muddy buddy flavors of my own.  Like red velvet cookies and cream!  Conveniently, I had purchased packages of all three new (techniically red velvet was available last year, seasonally) flavors, but had only cracked open the cinnamon bun ones to try (they're delicious, and I'm already working on a recipe for those!).  I had originally planned to dip the red velvet ones in white chocolate for Valentine's Day, but lost track of time, and so they were just sitting around.

These buddy buddies are delicious!  I loved the red velvet flavor mixed with the cream cheese flavor (from the filling) and the hint of vanilla from the coating.  Absolute perfection!  At least I won't have to worry too much about self control, since I will be shipping (most) of these off to work with B tomorrow!

Red Velvet Cookies & Cream Muddy Buddies
Adapted from this recipe

Ingredients:

6 cups chex cereal (I used corn)
12 oz white almond bark (I used white vanilla CandiQuik)
20 Red Velvet Oreos
1/2 cup powdered sugar (I ended up needing a little more)

Directions:

Put cereal in a large bowl.

Process the Oreos in a food processor until fine (my preferred method) or place in a sealed ziplock bag and crush with a rolling pin.

Melt CandiQuik (or almond bark) in it's tray (or a microwave safe bowl) and microwave in 30 second increments.
Stir.
Continue microwaving and stirring every 30 seconds until completely melted.

Pour melted CandiQuik/almond bark over cereal.
Stir carefully to coat it.

Immediately add the ground Oreos.
Toss/Stir to coat.
Next, toss on the powdered sugar and mix until coated.

I placed mine on a wax paper lined baking sheet so that the CandiQuik could dry.
I felt mine needed a little more powdered sugar, to I added 1 Tbsp at a time until all of the muddy buddies were coated in powdered sugar.

Champagne marshmallows

2016 has been a crazy year, and it's only January 4th. B and I rang in 2016 with some friends at a delicious and decadent Peking duck dinner at one of our favorite restaurants before heading back to our place for dessert and champagne. After the clock struck midnight, we headed over to a local bar that was closing after that night.

Two days later, B and I headed out for a staycation at a nearby hotel....literally around the corner from our apartment.  It was an opportunity for us to 'get away' for a little before work consumes us over the next few months.  It also happens to be where he proposed (and I (of course) said yes!)!!

So two days into the new year and we were newly engaged!  Big things happening in 2016!

I had wanted to make champagne marshmallows for New Year's Eve but time totally got away from me. So with some leftover Veuve Cliquot (I'm so fancy; and photo-ops with a split of Piper, too!), I made some belated New Year's and Happy Engagement Champagne Marshmallows!

Now -- before you ask -- let me answer a few questions.  First off, no, I will not be making my own wedding cake.  And no, I will not be making 170 (or more) fancy cupcakes for our wedding party, either!

But chances are that as it gets more stressful planning the wedding, I will be baking a lot more.  So at least that's a benefit to you.  Like these champagne marshmallows.  I made them as a celebratory treat.  Because, besides the fact that I drank close to a bottle of Prosecco over our staycation and the celebratory dinner we had with my parents and sisters the following night, champagne is the epitome of celebration!

Champagne Marshmallows 
Forever adapted from the world's easiest and most delicious marshmallow recipe

The recipe makes "24 1+ inch square marshmallows" from a 7x11 inch pan.  I used a 9x9 inch pan and got 36 1+ inch square marshmallows.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup champagne

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

1.5 cups confectioner's 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 the champagne.
Run the mixer a few times to  release some of the bubbles.
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.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan (a silicone bowl scraper works like a charm for this) and use a spatula or bench scraper to spread the 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.

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.

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.

Whisk together the corn starch and confectioner's sugar 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 1- × 1-inch squares.
Roll each of the freshly cut marshmallow squares into the corn starch-confectioner's sugar mixture.

Gingerbread marshmallows

After making that batch of fluffy peppermint swirl marshmallows the other day, I set out to make another festive holiday-flavored marshmallows.  But what flavor?  Thoughts of egg nog danced in my head (I must've seen them online somewhere), and cinnamon is always tasty, too, but then poof! as if a baking lightening bolt hit me, I thought Gingerbread!  And thus, that's what I made.

I doctored up two recipes and came up with my own.  These are super gingery spiced, but I think in the future I may try to get some molasses into the marshmallows, to give it that real authentic gingerbread flavor.  Not that there's anything wrong with these -- they have a pop of ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg (I left out cloves.  I hate cloves.  But I put them in the recipe below because if you love cloves, or want that real gingerbread flavor, I most definitely won't hold it against you!).

I keep getting the fluffiest marshmallows with this (base) recipe, and end up cutting them into squares that are over 2" cubes, so when it came to these gingerbread marshmallows, and the fact that I wanted to cut them with a cookie cutter (shaped marshmallows -- could I get any cuter?!), I ended up using a larger pan to get flatter marshmallows -- and they were STILL fluffy.  But the final product is so cute!

Gingerbread Marshmallows
adapted from this recipe, and my go-to marshmallow recipe

For the Marshmallows:

1 cup water, divided
3 Tbsp + 1 1/2 tsp unflavored powdered gelatin (3 x 1/4 oz envelopes)
2 cups granulated white sugar
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 tsp fine salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (in a pinch, pre-ground works, which is what I used)
pinch of cloves (I left these out, but for the real gingerbread flavor, I'd use them)

For the coating:

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup corn starch

Directions:

Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking pan, and line the bottom with parchment paper.
In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, pour in 1/2 cup of water and sprinkle the gelatin on top.
Let stand.

In a medium sauce pain over high heat, stir together the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup of water.
Stir until sugar dissolves and mixture begins to boil.
Stop stirring once the mixture comes to a rolling boil.
Continue boiling for 1 minute.

Remove from the heat.
CAREFULLY pour the hot mixture into a 2-cup glass measuring cup.

Turn the mixer to low and mix he gelatin a bit to loosen it.
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 mixture to high and whip the mixture for 2 minutes.
Then, add the dry spices.
Continue whipping until almost tripled in size, about 8-10 more minutes.
If you have a smaller mixer bowl, you may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently to avoid the batter from overflowing as it grown.
Stop the mixer, add the vanilla, and then whip briefly to combine.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan.
Use a spatula or bench scraper to spread the marshmallow evenly into the pan, pushing it down into the corners.
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, spayed side down.
Using your fingers, smooth the plastic wrap on top of the marshmallows a bit to seal it smoothly and tightly against the mixture.

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.

When ready to cut the marshmallows, mix the coating ingredients in a bowl.

When the marshmallows are ready, grab the edges of the parchment and life the marshmallow from the pan.

Remove the plastic wrap from the top.
Take a small handful of coating mixture and spread over the top of the marshmallow slab.
Using a pizza cutter or large knife, cut the slab into 1 x 1 inch squares, or use a small cookie cutter.
Roll each cut marshmallow into the coating mixture.
Lay them on a baking sheet to dry slightly before packaging them up (about 30-45 minutes)

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!

Peppermint marshmallows

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  Nothing compares to a homemade marshmallow!  I used to be afraid of them, afraid to make them that is, until I came across one recipe.  One life altering recipe.  And you know what happened the other day when I went to get it?  It had disappeared -- the original blog where I found it gave me one of those error messages.  But then I realized something -- it's a good thing I type out all the recipes that I make on the blog (P.S. as of this morning the original site was back up and running....phew!).

Here's the thing.  This recipe is INSANELY easy.  No candy thermometer.  Just "boil for one minute."  I kid you not.  So.  Easy!

And adaptable.  Like these peppermint marshmallows I made last night.  I took a plain vanilla marshmallow recipe and made it a red-swirled fluffy peppermint marshmallow.  I even piped a little bit of the leftovers into a mini ice cream cone and made a super cute treat.  But I digress....fluffy pepperminty marshmallow pillows of deliciousness.  Make yourself a cup of hot cocoa and dig in!

Peppermint Marshmallows
Adapted by yours truly from this recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup of water, divided
3 envelopes unflavored powdered gelatin (3 Tbsp + 1.5 Tbsp)
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 tsp fine salt
1 tsp peppermint extract (I used an organic peppermint oil that I had on hand)
5 - 10 drops red food coloring

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup corn starch

Directions:

Spray a 9x9" pan with cooking spray.
Line with parchment paper.

In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, pour in 1/2 cup water.
Sprinkle gelatin on top.
Let stand.

In a medium saucepan over high heat, stir together the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and remaining 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 heat.
Carefully pour mixture into a 2-cup measuring cup.

Turn the mixer to low.
Mix the gelatin to loosen a bit.
Very slowly and carefully add the hot 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.
Whip the mixture for 10-12 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.
Stop the mixer.
Add the peppermint.
Whip briefly to combine.
Taste the mixture -- if it's not minty enough for your taste, continue adding peppermint, 1/4 tsp at a time, until you reach the level of mintiness that you want.

If you want yours to look like mine, add 5 drops of red food coloring over the top of the mixture in different places.
Turn the mixer on for a few seconds to incorporate the coloring.
It will look pink but still have some sections that are white.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan.  I used a rubber spatula for this.
Use the spatula or a bench scraper to spread the 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.

Drop 1 drop of red food coloring in each of the corners and one in the center.  
Using a knife, or even your finger, quickly swirl the red drops into the marshmallow batter to get awesome red swirls (seen above).

Spray a sheet of plastic wrap liberally with cooking spray and lay it across the top of the marshmallows, sprayed side down.
Using your fingers, smooth the plastic wrap on top of the marshmallows to seal it smoothly and tightly against the mixture.

Leave the marshmallows to set at room temperature for at least 3 hours (can sit overnight).
They'll be too sticky and soft to cut if you try too soon.

Mix together the corn starch and powdered sugar.
Sprinkle some liberally onto a cutting board.
Remove the plastic wrap and flip the marshmallows onto the prepared board.
Rub more powdered sugar-corn starch mixture on top of the slab of marshmallow.

Using a pizza cutter or large knife, cut the slab into 1 x 1 inch squares.
Roll each in the powdered sugar-corn starch mixture.
Shake off excess coating and allow to dry slightly before packaging them up.

I think they're super cute tied up in a bag with a mini candy cane attached.  But that's just me ;-)

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.

Salted caramel popcorn

I can't be the only one who has had one of these moments in the kitchen.  You're following a recipe to a T and then all of a sudden you have an 'oh crap' (I usually use a different four-letter word) moment.  Where you fear something has gone terribly wrong (and it usually has)?  Like the burning caramel in the bottom of the pot.  Well in this case, it was what I thought was burnt caramel and actually wasn't (or maybe it was?  As compared to the popcorn in the original post, my caramel is way darker).  But I ended up pouring some of what I thought was burnt caramel out, and my popcorn didn't get totally and completely covered in delicious salted caramel. Which is actually ok.  But I was more impressed with my disaster-averted.

But let me get back to this salted caramel popcorn.  Because first, it's the best combination of salty and sweet.  And secondly, it's really easy (as long as you don't burn the caramel)!

I ended up seeing mimi popcorn kernels on the shelf at the supermarket and I decided that they would probably be the best for caramel popcorn since their surface area to popcorn ratio was high -- meaning more caramel per kernel for a better bite. B thought that I had overthought the popcorn size, but I guess that's the science nerd in me coming out.  Plus, he got a tastier popcorn so I really don't think anyone lost out on this deal!

Salted Caramel Popcorn
From Cookies & Cups

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels (about 16 cups popped corn)
1 cup salted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1.5-2 tsp kosher or sea salt, divided
2 cups of nuts, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300F.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
Set aside.

Pop popcorn kernels using air popper into a large bowl (I don't have an air popper, and popping it the old fashioned way in a pan with a little bit of oil worked nicely...just move it to a bowl before proceeding).
If using nuts, add them here.

In a small sauce pan, melt the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and 1 tsp of salt together of medium heat.
Bring to a boil.
Boil for 4 minutes without stirring.

Pour caramel mixture over popcorn.
Stir to coat evenly.

Pour popcorn onto lined pan.
Sprinkle remaining salt on top (I skipped this part).
Place pan in the oven.
Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Allow popcorn to cool on a parchment lined counter.

Scotcheroo bites

As someone who has been blogging about my baking for nearly four years (JulieBakes' birthday is 10/16!!), I've read a lot of other food blogs to find the best recipes to make for you guys. Lately, there have been lots of Scotcheroo recipes. Which is funny because I had never really heard of tem before, but once I started reading them, I realized they were the same as the 'peanut chews' we get as gifts at work sometimes (and which I cannot, for the life of me, stop eating, no matter how diet unfriendly they are).  So I knew I kinda had to make them.  It was only a matter of time...

Scotcheroos are usually made into bars, like Rice Krispie treats, and are topped with a milk chocolate or a milk chocolate-butterscotch topping.  Then I saw this recipe for what they called Scotcheroo Millionaire Nuggets. Or basically a Scotcheroo truffle - the peanut butter-Rice Krispie mixture is shaped into balls and allowed to harden before being dipped in the same chocolately topping as is used on the bars.  And I even made some like that.  But because I don't love butterscotch and because I found a caramel flavored milk chocolate, I used a mixture of regular and caramel milk chocolate, but it ended up being too soft and started melting the minute B held one to take a bite.  So instead I drizzled some of the bites with the chocolate mixture to add some delicious flavor but to also make them less messy to eat!  But honestly, it's because I personally prefer them sans chocolate (which is weird for me, a self-proclaimed chocoholic!).

I have to say that these are so tasty that I was snacking on them all day while I baked some other treats for you!

Scotcheroo Millionaire Nuggets
From Oh, Sweet Basil

Ingredients:

1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
4 cups Rice Krispies cereal (Mine were a bit runny, so I added an extra 1/2 cup of cereal)
6 oz milk chocolate (or 12 oz if not using butterscotch, see below)
6 oz butterscotch chips

Directions:

In a sauce pan over medium heat, pour in the corn syrup and sugar.
Allow to cool, stirring occasionally, until clear and the sugar is totally dissolved.
Add the peanut butter and stir until smooth.

In a large bowl, add the cereal and pour the peanut butter mixture in.
Gently fold to combine.
Set aside for 5-10 minutes to cool (or a bit longer, hot sticky peanut butter syrup stuck on your hands is not pleasant....trust me!).

Lay wax paper or parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
Begin rolling the cereal-peanut butter mixture into balls.
Set aside on cookie sheet to cool entirely.

Meanwhile, in a glass measuring up or bowl, melt the chocolate and butterscotch (if using) until smooth.

One at a time, drop the balls into the chocolate mixture.
Using a fork, roll it around to coat it and then lift it out, tapping the sides gently to allow excess chocolate to drip off.
Place on cookie sheet.
Repeat until all are coated in chocolate.
Store in a cool place to allow the chocolate to harden.

Store in airtight containers (if they last that long!!!).