Well, hello there...

by Terese

I always hated the days when I would wake up late for something. You'd have to leave dirty, unshowered and tired. People would be waiting for you. There would be no parking and no matter what you did for the first little bit you would be behind. And then there's the excused. "I swear my alarm didn't go off. My car wasn't starting. I got lost." Most mean I couldn't get it together in time.

That is how I feel. Like I woke up late for the blog and, while I swear I showered, I have some catching up to do. "But I was moving all of July. And then brother Christopher and fiance Anne moved back. And then job happened. Did I mention my camera battery died and because of said move the charger was packed in a unknown box?" So sorry.

A simple bar may not be an extremely exciting way to make my entrance, but I will have you know that after the wedding in a couple weeks I will have wonderful pictures to share. And its not to say that there hasn't been baking going on. I have bananas everywhere. All the time. Not kidding, they take over my freezer. There have been plenty of banana breads and cupcakes, trials for the wedding cupcake recipes! And muffins being made to try and use up 2 foot long zucchinis.

There are so many things going on right now. Schools are starting, fall foods are here, Christopher and Anne are getting married (!) and I happened to have just started a different job. Its like my own personal back to school... without homework. The one thing that I miss the most about mornings at home is breakfast. I'm lucky if I remember to put some dry cereal in a bag before I leave. Even easier are the 2 dollar Lara bars I am consuming on an almost daily basis lately. 2 dollars everyday?! That's like 14 dollars a week! And I'm broke! (Reason I took this different job that makes me miss breakfast...) So, to counteract my 2 dollar a day habit I decided to make my own breakfast bars to take with me. Not very pretty or extravagant. Practical. Cheap and mucho grande delicious.

I give you Oatmeal with Brown Sugar and Raisins Bars. Whole wheat and with a little apple in there. They were super easy and took literally 15 minutes. The inspiration was from the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Bars that blogger Baking Bites made a while back. But I wanted something to count as a healthy breakfast even with a whole cup of sugar in it. That's where the whole wheat flour came in and some applesauce in place of part of the butter. Now I can bring my favorite breakfast with me to enjoy with coffee while I take my break.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal with Brown Sugar and Raisin Bars

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon both nutmeg and ginger
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8 in pan or line with parchment paper. Mix together the flour, sugars, baking soda, salt and spices. Make a well in the center and add the egg, applesauce, vanilla and melted butter. Stir until its all moistened together. Add the oats and raisins and stir until combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread out evenly with spatula or hands. Bake for 22-24 min. You want them to look like oatmeal raisin cookies, light golden brown.

Blonde Brownies

by Anne


I rarely revisit a recipe without making a couple changes- either adding something new or switching up proportions. So when I went looking for a good "standby" blonde brownie recipe, I was expecting to experiment with a few different versions before I finally stumbled upon a keeper. Well, little did I know that this recipe is (almost) perfect as is.

Everything about the recipe is easy - the ingredient list is short, assembly simple, and final product delicious. I have no idea how many times I've made these guys - and as long as I cook them long enough (I've been tempted to pull them out early because they smell so darn good) they're great. They really just taste like chocolate chip cookie bars, but then again, isn't that true of all blondies?

So...just preheat your oven to 350, grab a mixing bowl, and cream the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in two cups of self-rising flour. I suppose you could use all purpose flour, AND add baking soda, AND add salt, but the magic (it is magic, right?) of self-rising flour is part of what makes this recipe so much fun- and so easy. Stir chocolate chips- nuts too, if you want- into the batter.

Grease and flour a 9 x 13 baking dish. Use butter and flour, please. Pretty please. The only time I've ever screwed this recipe up was when I was too lazy to butter and flour the pan. I used a generic cooking spray and wow, I've never regretted anything so much (no, not really). But it was bad, really bad. And while my fiance ate his fair share of them to make me feel better, his "Oh, these aren't THAT bad" comments reaffirmed once and for all that cooking spray is not an appropriate substitute for butter.

Pour the batter into the pan (it will be a bit thick, so be sure to spread it around) and sprinkle with sea salt. Well, the sea salt is technically optional, but I highly encourage it.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes (at least). It's easy to under-bake these guys, so poke 'em with a toothpick in a few places to make sure they're done. Let them cool for about 10 minutes (if you can wait that long), chop them up and enjoy! I'm sure they'd be great all crumbled up and served over ice cream- but I've never had 'em around long enough to try.


Blonde Brownies (adapted from about.com):

• 2 cups brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (6 oz) butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups self-rising flour
  
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, cream together brown sugar and margarine; beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Stir in flour, chocolate morsels. Spread in greased and floured 9 x 13-inch pan and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

by Anne


A while ago I decided to jump on the whoopie pie bandwagon. And since my friends haven’t complained (yet) about the occasional whoopie-pie-instead-of-cupcakes-for-dessert, I’ll consider myself relatively successful.

Indeed, it only took a few aesthetically unappetizing yet still edible attempts to settle on a fairly foolproof recipe. (My fiancée was kind enough to eat those first few batches without too much complaining- thanks honey!) Since then, I’ve used variations of mixes and flavors to make a few different batches: chocolate with vanilla filling, vanilla with chocolate filling, and red velvet with cream cheese filling. I’m still considering myself a novice when it comes to flavor and technique, so stay tuned for more exotic concoctions!

These red velvet whoopie pies were probably the most popular batch so far. And I can’t stress how easy they are to make. The premise is simple: use a box cake mix, and follow the recipe on the back (usually a couple of eggs, some oil, etc.) Don’t add the water- you need the batter to be thick so it doesn’t turn into a thin sheet of cake when you bake ‘em. Add one box of instant pudding mix and ¼ cup self-rising flour to the batter and mix it until all ingredients are incorporated (usually a couple minutes in my mixer). The consistency should be thick, closer to cookie dough than cake mix.

Grease a cookie sheet and drop spoonfuls of batter on the sheet (be sure to give these guys plenty of room, they’ll grow in the oven). Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees. I usually get a few batches of whoopie pies from each mix, though I make mine a bit on the small side…the first attempt was disastrously pancake-sized.

The filling is similarly simple. I use a recipe adapted from the “Marshmallow Fluff” website*, though I usually end up adding more powdered sugar and/or butter to the mix, depending on how much I need. For these red velvet guys, I decided to experiment with a cream cheese marshmallow filling, which was later likened to "Dunkaroo" frosting by a pleased dinner guest.


The substitution was easy, I simply used cream cheese in lieu of butter, and then played around with the vanilla and powdered sugar until I was satisfied. Oh, and the original fluff recipe calls for only half a jar. Yeah right. There’s no way I’m going to (a) only use half a jar of fluff – I need way more than that to get the right whoopie pie-to-filling ratio, and (b) measure out half a jar. I’m lucky if I get all the fluff off my spatula and mixing bowl when I’m done, I can’t fathom intentionally dirtying another dish in the measuring process.

Assembly is pretty self explanatory, but here are a few pointers:

1. DO match up your tops and bottoms according to size before you start in on the sticky filling process. No one wants a disproportionate whoopie pie, and you certainly don't want to start in on this endeavor after your hands are covered in fluff.
2. DON’T stack your whoopie pies, especially when they’re still warm. The pies will stick to each other, then pull apart and look far less pretty than originally intended.
3. DO, dust them with powered sugar. Especially if you don’t follow pointer #2. They’ll look pretty and you can hide any imperfections.
4. DON’T eat them all in one sitting. You’ll feel sick. Trust me (and my fiancée) on this one, please.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies:

• 1 box red velvet cake mix
• 1 box instant pudding (I used vanilla, but feel free to experiment with flavors!)
  
• 1/4 cup self-rising flour
• Eggs (use quantity listed on box)
• Oil (ditto)

Mix all ingredients in electric mixer until batter is thick and not (too) lumpy. Drop spoonfuls of batter onto greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until pies are done. Use a toothpick to test, if necessary.

Cream Cheese Marshmallow Fluff Filling
(adapted from Marshmallow Fluff):

• 1 jar Marshmallow Fluff
• 1+ cups powdered sugar
• 1+ teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2+ block cream cheese

Mix all ingredients in electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add more sugar, cream cheese, or vanilla to taste. Spread onto cooled whoopie pies.

* In case you need another reason to love the company that brought you fluffernutters, check out the Fluff Jingles, as sung by the Flufferettes, or this rockin' ad about the causal relationship between consuming fluffernutters and making mad skateboarding moves. Anyone know where I can get one of those fluffernutter helmets?

Homemade Pop Tarts

by Anne


While packing up my apartment in Chicago – for an impending move to the Twin Cities- I happened upon one of these guys:

My fiancé’s pop tart container. Now, I’m pretty sure I haven’t had a pop tart since I was in high school, but the second I saw this too cute and totally unnecessary pink piece of plastic, a domestic frenzy hit. I needed to make homemade pop tarts. And they needed to be pink. With uber-cheery rainbow sprinkles.

Luckily, one of my fiancé’s sisters and her pastry-loving boyfriend were coming over for dinner. They’re always up for a good culinary experiment, and I knew they would appreciate the silliness that is homemade pop tarts.

Initially, I had hopes of making a vodka pie crust, as I’ve read that the extra moisture from the alcohol makes the whole precarious mixing/chilling/assembling process much easier. And, of course, the vodka will bake off in the oven to reveal a delicious flaky crust. Alas, we’ve had a few parties lately and there was no vodka to be had. So, I turned to the next best thing (not really): vinegar. Apple cider vinegar to be exact. It has the same “extra moisture without a sloppy crust” properties as vodka, and it’s cheap to boot!

After whipping up the pie crust, I got to work on the strawberry filling. First, I grabbed some frozen strawberries and strawberry syrup- left over from a failed attempt at one of Emeril’s strawberry pies. (By the way, I’m still annoyed with you, Emeril). Then, I threw those in the food processor with a couple of tablespoons of strawberry jam.

After the dough had chilled, I rolled it out, and cut it into 3 x 5 rectangles- I used an index card to ensure (well, let’s say “attempt”) accuracy. I lined up all the pop tart tops and bottoms on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, and started the assembly. First, I beat an egg in a small bowl and brushed the edges of the pop tarts. Then, I scooped about a tablespoon of filling on to a “bottom” and- logically- covered the “bottom” with a “top.” I secured the sides by pressing down the edges with a fork. I also poked a few holes in the top of the pop tart, since I had (irrational?) fears of pop tarts exploding in my oven. After assembling all the tops and bottoms into lovely little pop tarts, the dough was quite soft, so I threw them in the freezer. After about 10 minutes, I grabbed the cookie sheets, compulsively trimmed the edges of the pop tarts with a knife, and tossed ‘em in the oven.

After the little guys had baked and chilled and I had (again, somewhat compulsively) poked them flat with a toothpick, I made some royal icing. I knew that I wanted the icing to be bright pink, so I used some neon pink food coloring (thanks Mom!). I made the icing a bit on the thick side, since pop tarts are notorious for having a well-defined icing edge. After gently spreading the icing on with a round-edge icing knife, I added some rainbow jimmies, and put the pop tarts in the refrigerator so the icing would set.


The verdict? Ridiculously silly but delicious. The pie crust was far fancier than Kellogg’s pop tart dough, and the icing had more flavor. It was affectionately compared to doughnut icing by the aforementioned pastry-loving dinner guest, and the whole ensemble was fondly likened to “tasty cartoon food” by my initially-suspicious-of-homemade-pop-tarts fiancé. I believe he ate three of them in one sitting.

For the sake of full disclosure, I’d have to admit that the filling was a bit blah. There wasn’t enough of it after the pie crust/pop tart had puffed up in the oven- though it was annoyingly spilling out of the sides during assembly. The flavor wasn’t spectacular either, so next time I’ll probably use more fresh fruit and skip the jam. And I’ll probably try to inject more filling after the pop tarts have baked, since I can’t seem to think of a different solution to that problem.


Pie Crust (from Bon Appetit):

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes*
• 8 tablespoons (or more) ice water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 egg, beaten**

Blend flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter and process until coarse meal forms. Add 8 tablespoons ice water and cider vinegar; blend until moist clumps form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough together. Turn dough out onto work surface; divide dough in half. Form each half into ball and flatten into disk. Wrap disks separately in plastic; refrigerate at least 1 hour. Bake at 350 degree for about 15-20 minutes.***

*I only had salted butter, so I just cut down the salt in the recipe

**You’ll need the egg for assembly.

***This time and temperature is for the pop tarts. If you plan to use this pie crust recipe for an actual pie, you may need to increase baking time.


Filling:

Hmmm. It’s tough to describe. Basically, I used the some leftover filling that never set from this pie. I wouldn’t recommend it. But if you’re really that set on trying it, make the filling (strawberries, sugar, vanilla, water, brandy) and skip the corn starch- just in case your filling actually sets. Add 2 tablespoons strawberry jam.


Icing (adapted from Joy of Baking):

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoons meringue powder
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Food coloring

Combine sugar and meringue powder in a medium size bowl. Add water, vanilla, and food coloring and beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form (at least 5 minutes). Continue to add sugar or water to reach desired consistency. The icing should be thick, but spreadable.

Welcome!

Just you wait- this blog will make the people talk a lot . . . about broccoli and chocolate. A very happy pair!