Tag Archives: dessert

Frostbitten Red Velvet Brownie Bites

Posted on by Run DMT
10

PhotobucketGrowing up with two very New York City slicker parents, there were only two desserts I can remember: NY Style Cheesecake and a some type of coffee (pronounced “cawfee”) cake.  That’s it.

It wasn’t until I started teaching in the rural and very southern small town of Dade City that I first tasted Red Velvet Cake.  Upon that first forkful, it was love at first bite.  I don’t know if it was the bright red color or the cream cheese icing that hooked me, but as far as desserts go, red velvet is still one of my favorites.

And speaking of favorites, my favorite time-waster past time of late is Pinterest, which is where I happened up this beautiful notion of Red Velvet Brownie Bites.  What the…? A brownie AND  Red Velvet?  Surely, you can’t be serious! (I am serious and don’t call me Shirley.)

Well of course, I had to give this recipe a go and it was a delicious as it sounds.  It was love at first bite (or two… or three) all over again.

 

 

Frostbitten Red Velvet Brownie Bites (Borrowed from A Farm’s Girl’s Dabble)

Ingredients for the red velvet brownies
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, diced
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips
1 ½ cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
2 Tbsp liquid red food coloring
1 cup flour
½ tsp baking powder

Ingredients for cream cheese frosting
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
4 Tbsp butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cup sifted powdered sugar
White cake sparkles

Directions for brownies
Preheat oven to 325°.

Using non-stick aluminum foil, fold a 16″ long piece of foil to a 9″x16″ strip and place in 9″x9″ metal baking pan, leaving overhang on two sides.  Repeat with another sheet of foil the same size in the opposite direction to line pan completely.

Stir butter and chocolate in heavy large saucepan over very low heat until chocolate is melted.  Remove from heat.  Whisk in sugar and then eggs one at a time.  Stir in vanilla, salt and food coloring.  Sift flour and baking powder over mixture and stir to blend well.  Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake brownies until puffed and dry-looking or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with some moist batter attached (about 30 to 35 minutes). Cool completely in pan on rack.

Directions for icing

Prepare the frosting by beating the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and lightly mix. Then add the sifted powdered sugar and beat to combine.

Using the foil as an aid, lift brownies from pan and place on cutting board.  Peel foil down away from the sides of brownies. Spread cream cheese frosting evenly over brownies.  Sprinkle with white cake sparkles. Cut into bites 1-1/4″ x 1-1/4″.  To achieve clean cuts, wipe the knife after each slice.

Yields approximately 50 brownie bites.

 

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are flinging for this week’s Friday Food Fight.  


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Peppermint Shortbread

Posted on by Run DMT
7

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Last Sunday, my mom, my sister and I held our annual Christmas cookie baking day.  For our annual cookie challenge, my electric mixer churns all day long to produce dozens of delightful treats and every year I surprise myself.

My baking has come a long way since the days of slice and bake cookies.  My friend, Chrissy, still teases me about the time I tried to pull off store-bought Snickerdoodle break-apart cookies as my own at a cookie swap.  Yep, I used to be that person.

But not these days!  Now, I’m like Betty Crocker whipping out batches of cookies and I’m certainly not intimidated to try new cookie recipes.    No more break-apart necessary!

Plus, the best part about making my own from scratch is that I know exactly what ingredients are in each batch.  There’s no hydrogenated oil or artificial flavor.  Just some sticks of good ol’ fashion butter!

Since I’m not scared to try new cookie recipes, I decided to give Publix’s Peppermint Shortbread a whirl.  This recipe was featured in the Publix’s Grape Winter 2011 magazine, which is currently on display on the kiosk at the front of the store.

Of course, Publix’s recipe called for 1 cup (2 sticks) butter because every good shortbread needs lots of butter.  However the recipe didn’t call for salt, which I thought was odd since cookies are typically made with unsalted butter.  So, I consulted Iron Chef Allan the Joy of Cooking to compare shortbread recipes.  Sure enough, Joy’s recipe stated unsalted butter and ¼ tsp of salt.

Not a difficult recipe by any means and the results are delicious!  And look at the presentation!  How pretty and festive!  I impress myself sometimes!

 

Peppermint Shortbread

Ingredients

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup sugar

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup crushed peppermint candies

1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut up

½ tsp peppermint extract

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 325.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking sheets.

In a large bowl, lightly combine the flour, sugar, salt and crushed candies.  Then, pour dry ingredients in electric mixer.  Add cut up butter and peppermint extract.  Combine on a low speed until mixture resembles fine crumbs.

Remove bowl from mixer.  Use your hands to bring mixture together and shape into a ball. (The warmth of your hands will soften the butter and help mixture come together.)

Divide dough into half.  On the prepared baking sheet pat each dough half into 6-inch circles about ½ inch thick.  If desired, flute the edges with a fork and prick each dough circle several times with prongs.  Cut each dough circle into 8 wedges (like a pizza) but do not separate the wedges.

Bake about 20 minutes or center appears set.  Cool on baking sheet on a wire cooling rack for 5 minutes.  Slice wedges again while warm.  Remove wedges from baking sheet and place on wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 16 wedges.

Note: The next time I make these cookies, I’ll split the dough into two loaves instead of two circles and then cut 2 inch bars into the loaves prior to baking.  By doing this, it will offer more than 16 servings, which is necessary for a Christmas cookie swap.  And speaking of Christmas cookie recipe swaps, don’t miss this one!

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Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are flinging for this week’s Friday Food Fight.  



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Pumpkin Biscotti

Posted on by Run DMT
7

PhotobucketLast Friday, I blogged about The Great Pumpkin Palooza for Thanksgiving!  This was no joke.  Iron Chef Allan and I really did bake an unbelievable amount of pumpkin goodies.  I have enough material for four more Friday Food Fights, but I’ll spare you the pumpkin, because it’s Christmas and I’m ready to move onto some peppermint goodies.

Well, maybe just one more pumpkin treat because these pumpkin biscotti were so yummy.  All right then, I’ll share one more pumpkin treat with you because it is Christmas.  And then, next week no pumpkin for you!

I found this recipe and all things pumpkin at My Baking Addiction.  The white chocolate drizzle compliments the pumpkin pie flavor nicely, however, these pumpkin biscotti have a chewy center rather than a crunchy center like most biscotti.  Perhaps it should be called Pumpkin Pie Biscotti because then you might anticipate a moist center.  That’s what she said.  Either way, this biscotti is a tasty Thanksgiving snack while sip your coffee.

 

 

Pumpkin Biscotti (from My Baking Addiction)

Ingredients
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½  tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
½ cup pumpkin puree
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp butter
1 ¼  cup nuts, coarsely chopped (I used almonds.)
White chocolate chips (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350*F.

Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl; stir well. In another bowl, combine pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla, stirring well with a wire whisk. Slowly add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. Mixture will be very crumbly.  It will gradually become moist after stirring.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add nuts. Cook, stirring constantly, until nuts are browned. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Knead or gently stir cooled nuts into dough. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 portions. Lightly flour hands and shape each portion into a 2 x 10″ long log. Place logs 3″ apart on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 24 minutes; cool logs 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 F.

After some cooling, move a loaf to a cutting board and cut diagonally into 1/2″ thick pieces. Do the same to the other loaf. The interior of each biscotti should still be just a little moist (while the exterior is nice and hard). The crust of the loaf will probably be quite hard, so use a large serrated knife such as a bread knife for this job.

Place the biscotti with a cut side facing up on a half sheet pan and bake for 8 minutes. Remove the pan and flip all the biscotti over so the other cut side is now facing up. Bake for another 7 minutes. Set all the pieces on a wire rack to cool making sure that none of the biscotti are touching each other. If the biscotti are placed too close together, they could get a little soft or soggy as they cool.

Once the biscotti have fully cooled, they can be consumed as, white chocolate dipped or drizzle with white chocolate.

For a white chocolate drizzle, melt some white chocolate chips and add the melted chocolate in a Ziploc bag.  Cut a small opening in one corner and drizzle it across the biscotti.

The biscotti tastes best during the first few days, but will keep for up to a month in a sealed air-tight container.

 

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are flinging for this week’s Friday Food Fight.  And while you’re here, feel free to toss share your cookies at The Ultimate Virtual Christmas Cookie Recipe Swap.  



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Oatmeal Craisin White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted on by Run DMT
5

Like I mentioned in my previous post, my mom, my sister and I set a date for our “Annual Marathon Christmas Cookie Baking Day” and I’ve already dog-eared some of my favorites and pinned some new ones to try on Pinterest.

Like any marathon, a baking marathon requires some training to ensure a peak performance or PB (personal best).  I made this “test batch” of Oatmeal Craisin White Chocolate Chip Cookies as a gift for my Suncoast Strider friends and they came out perfect!  Of course, when Iron Chef Allan tastes them, he’ll tell me how to improve them ask me why I didn’t make a batch for him and the girls.

I better start baking another batch before he gets home before I eat them all.  I need all the “training” I can get.

Oatmeal Craisin White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

2/3 cup butter

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 ½ cups old-fashioned oats

1 ½ cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 – 6 ounce package Ocean Spray Craisins Original Sweetened Dried Cranberries

2/3 cup white chocolate chips
Directions

Preheat oven to 375˚F.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar together until light and fluffy.  Then, add eggs and vanilla and mix well.

In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt.  Then, add butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition.  Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes approximately 2 ½ dozen cookies.

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are flinging for this week’s Friday Food Fight.

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Do you have a favorite Christmas cookie or treat you bake and share every year?

On December 1, a few blogger friends and I will be hosting The Ultimate Virtual Christmas Cookie Recipe Swap and you‘re cordially invited!  So, dust off your favorite Christmas cookie recipes, preheat your ovens and set your timers for Thursday, December 1, when our blog hop goes live.  Then, snap some photos of your gingersnaps or whatever other tasty treats you want to share for The Ultimate Virtual Christmas Cookie Recipe Swap!

More details to digest soon!

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One Bad Mother Baker

Posted on by Run DMT
4

I’m one bad mother baker.  I got made piping skillz, yo.

Check it out.  This is the chocolate chip cookie cake I made for Allana’s class for her tenth birthday.

Iron Chef Allan was pretty impressed. But he better step off, ’cause I’m as smooth as this icing, baby and he can’t touch it.

Then on Wednesday, the kids and I baked Rolled Sugar Cookies for our neighborhood firefighters as part of our 30 Days of Giving.  We used the same vanilla butter icing and the kids each chose a color for the icing.  They did a gorgeous job decorating the cookies and they tasted pretty darn good too.

Like I said, I’m one bad mother baker.

Word.

 
Rolled Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar

1 stick unsalted butter (1 stick), softened

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Directions

Cream together sugar and butter.  The beat in vanilla, eggs, flour, baking powder and salt.

Chill the cough for 3 to 4 hours before rolling.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Use a melon baller to scoop and roll dough into 2 inch balls.  Place cookie dough on a greased on lined cookie sheet.  Bake 7 to 12 minutes. Let cookies stand for 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack to cool. Once completely cooled, decorate as desired.

 

Quick Vanilla Icing 

Ingredients

2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted

1/4 cup  (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

2 tsp vanilla

Directions

Combine in a medium bowl and beat together on a medium speed.

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Now link up to win and to see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are flinging for this week’s Friday Food Fight.


But wait!  There’s more!  The winner of our very first Friday Food Fight giveaway and proud new owner of Joy of Cooking is….

Based on last week’s linky, #11 is The Rickett Chronicles!  Congratulations! A big THANK YOU to everyone who entered a foodie photo! :-)

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Posted on by Run DMT
13

PhotobucketWhen my girlfriends and I go away for our annual beach weekend, obviously there’s a lot of drinking.  And all that drinking leads to a lot of snacking which means piles of chips and dips.  (You may recall my Velveeta dip post.)  And of course, after some salty snacks, everyone craves sweets and candy which also mean an assortment of sweets laying around the place.

To curb our midnight hour muchies, I prepared some real food, like my empanadas and black beans and rice.

But also I decided to go all out this year and make some dessert for my darling drunk friends.  When I saw Brandy’s Baking cupcakes featured on Sweet Tooth Friday, I wanted to try my hand at them.

They were a huge hit.  At least, I think they were.  I was three sheets to the wind so honestly I can’t remember if anyone enjoyed them, but I’m impressed that I remembered to take photos of the things.  They did look pretty, didn’t they?

The original cupcake recipe as presented by Brandy is made from scratch, but I’m too lazy to attempt anything like that.  Here’s my modified recipe for all the slacker bakers like me.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes
Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients
Box devil’s food cake mix
Large tub of prepared cookie dough or two tubes of prepared cookie dough.
Tub of vanilla icing
Mini-chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 cupcake/muffin pans with paper liners (24). In a large bowl, prepare the cake mix as directed on box.

Scoop batter into prepared pans. Place about 1 tsp of cookie dough into the center of each cupcake and press down lightly, making sure to cover dough with batter.  Bake for 22-24 minutes or until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in pan on rack for 5-8 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on rack.

With remaining the remaining cookie dough, round a small ball of cookie dough about 2 inches approximately the size of a teaspoon.  Place the cookie dough about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet and bake according to directions on package.

Once the cookies are golden brown, remove cookie sheet from oven and let cool on a rack for about 5 minutes.  Then, gently remove cookies from cookie sheet and set on rack to cool completely before decorating cupcakes.

Fill piping bag with vanilla icing to frost the cupcakes.  Add a small swirl of icing and sprinkle with mini-chocolate chip cookie.  Finish cupcake by adding a small chocolate chip cookie.

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are serving for this week’s Friday Food Fight.


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Sorry, Ice Cream. I’m Dreaming of a Different Dessert

Posted on by Run DMT
14

PhotobucketI stumbled upon some tickets for a prescreening of Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer, but the girls and I arrived late to the AMC Theater at Westshore Plaza (which seems to be the story of my life these days) and no more seats were available.  For Allana and Emmalynn, it was becoming the NOT, NOT bummer summer.

Of course, my girls were heartbroken, but like any good parent slacker mom, I bribed my children with ice cream to help heal their pain.  However, it’s been a while since we’ve eaten ice cream at Westshore Plaza because the Tanya and Matt’s Ice Creamiest stand that once stood in the food court is now a cell phone kiosk.  Fantastic.

Feeling like I had failed my children twice in one evening, I had to devise another plan to redeem myself.  As we exited the mall, Allana spotted a sort of ice cream looking shop.  This frozen yogurt Evos looking, trendy wannabe TCBY would do the trick.

The bright and fresh appearance of Pinkberry was mirrored by the assortment of fresh fruit toppings.

Although, there were only a few flavors of frozen yogurts to choose from, each flavor was more flavorful than the one before it.  Allana loved the mango frozen yogurt and topped hers with Fruity Pebbles, which was like a small serving of an oxymoron.

Emmalynn ordered organic gummi bears with her mango yogurt.  I chose the salted caramel with chocolate chips, which made my treat taste like a chocolate covered pretzel.


As far as portion sizes, Pinkberry offered a mini size (3 oz serving) which I was tickled pink over it because it’s the perfect and appropriate serving size.  Many frozen treat shops offer this portion as a kid’s size, which is only available to children 12 and under.  Therefore, I truly appreciated the opportunity to select the smallest size and I also appreciated the caloric content listed on the menu, which reminded me not to overindulge.   But even if I did, this low calorie real non-fat, hormone-free milk made with live and active cultures yogurt would help make me feel less guilty about it.

With a quick pop into Pinkberry, I had redeemed myself in my girls’ eyes.  For me, this healthy recovery was a sweet deal.  Unfortunately, ever since our visit, the girls and I’ve been dreaming of a different dessert. Sorry, ice cream.  W’re on our way to P-I-N-K-B-E-R-R-Y.

 

And thanks to the Pinkberry website, I have this song stuck in my head too.  But that’s all right.  It’s almost as sweet as the frozen yogurt.

 

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are serving for this week’s Friday Food Fight.



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PhotoStory Friday

If I Knew You Were Coming, I’d've Baked a Peep Cake

Posted on by Run DMT
21

The cake I baked for Easter wasn’t homemade, natural, organic, gluten free, sugar free, or even low fat.

 

Shamefully, I used a box of Better Crocker yellow cake mix to form two 8 inch round cakes, two packages of yellow Peeps, two tubs of chocolate icing and a bag of milk chocolate chips to create this sunflower Peep cake .  Nope, there was nothing healthy about it and it was damn good.  In fact, it was so good that I ate a slice for lunch the next day.

After I finished this cake, my oldest daughter suggested I pipe on some green icing to make a stem and a leaf on the side of the cake which was such a cute idea, but I was too lazy to mess with icing and a piping bag.  I’ll try that the next time I make this cute Peep cake.

Also, I think next time I make this cake, I’ll use white icing, white chocolate chips and pink or purple Peeps so the cake has a brighter springtime Easter flavor appearance.

 

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Now link up and see what treats If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are serving for this week’s Friday Food Fight.


 

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PhotoStory Friday

A Bootiful Masterpiece

Posted on by Run DMT
39

At our Moms on the Go Halloween party, Allana proudly posed for a picture with a cupcake that she cleverly designed all by herself.  While the other children simply smeared on icing and sprinkled a few toppings on their cupcakes, Allana created a bootiful masterpiece.  With a dab of vanilla icing, she created a small ghost.  She added two sprinkles for the eyes and another for its mouth.  The candy corn represents a tombstone in a graveyard.  Isn’t it spootacular?

 

Bootiful1

 

Bootiful2