salted chocolate chip cookies

these delicious chocolate chip cookies amplify an unheralded hero: salt. if you've ever had a cookie, piece of cake, or other baked good and judged it "good, but not worth the sit-ups", there's a high probability that the baker was too conservative with the salt. though this recipe calls for three (!) types of sugar, i will let you in on my cheat: 3 of those packets of turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw) from your local coffee shop equals 1 T. do with this what you will.

salted chocolate chip cookies adapted from smitten kitchen
3/4 c. butter, room temperature
3 T. sugar
3 T. turbinado sugar (or sub. brown sugar)
1 heaped c. packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips
flaky salt (sea or kosher)

preheat oven to 350°. cream butter and sugars together with a mixer until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. add eggs and vanilla, beating until incorporated. beat in salt and baking soda until combined, then the flour on a low speed until just mixed. the dough will look crumbly or dry at this point. fold in the chocolate chips.

scoop cookies onto pan(about 1 1/2 T. mounds). sprinkle each with a few flakes of salt. bake for 10 minutes.

extra dough can be formed into balls and frozen on a plastic wrap-lined pan until solid, then transferred to a freezer bag. baked from the freezer they need, at most, 1 minute more baking time.

fruit dip

this is a great dip to bring to a party or serve as an appetizer. and it's so fast - it makes slicing and serving apples seem exciting. if you want to, you could add chopped almonds, walnuts or pecans, too. enjoy!

fruit dip (from allrecipes.com)
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 t. vanilla extract

mix ingredients and refrigerate for an hour before serving.

pumpkin muffins

this is a recipe shared with me by my friend joceline. her husband is convinced that he doesn't like pumpkin, but joceline decided he didn't know what he was talking about and took to making things with pumpkin in them and calling them "harvest spice". ha! so these are "harvest spice" muffins that are delicious and so... harvest spicy. by the way, her husband loves these (as does mine). (from smitten kitchen - if you don't read her already, don't miss out any longer - she's great!)

pumpkin muffins
1 1/2 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1 c. canned pumpkin (from a 15 oz. can)
1/3 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 t. cinnamon, divided
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/8 t. ground ginger
1 c. plus 1 T. sugar
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt

preheat oven to 350°. put liners in muffin cups. whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, 1 t. cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, 1 cup sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.

stir together 1 t. cinnamon and remaining 1 T. sugar in another bowl.

divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about three-fourths full), then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. bake until puffed and golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.


(the muffins are delicious, but not so photogenic... so i added a cow)

texas sheet cake

this is my favorite cake, hands-down. growing up, when my mom would ask what kind of cake i wanted for my birthday i always chose this one. i'm not a big frosting girl, but this cake and frosting - oh man. it's because there's buttermilk in both, making them not overly sweet. i'm so excited i'm making this today! i hope i can wait to eat it til tonight... it's not as good of a birthday cake with a big section missing and crumbs around the cook's mouth.

texas sheet cake from gretchen riedel
2 c. flour
2 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. oil
1 c. water
1/2 c. cocoa
1/3 c. buttermilk
2 eggs
1 t. baking soda
1 t. vanilla

preheat oven to 400. grease and flour an 11x17" cookie sheet. mix flour, sugar & salt in a large bowl, set aside. in a small saucepan, combine butter, oil, water & cocoa and bring to a low boil. pour cocoa mixture into flour mixture and stir. add remaining ingredients, mix until combined and pour into pan. bake for 20-25 minutes and spread frosting when cooled.

chocolate buttermilk frosting
1/2 c. butter
1/4 c. cocoa
1/3 c. buttermilk
4 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla
dash of salt

bring butter, cocoa & buttermilk to low boil, pour over sugar and stir to combine. add vanilla and salt and beat well. spread over cooled cake.

the ultimate chocolate chip cookie

there are so many recipes for chocolate chip cookies - how can you know which one to bake? well, let me choose for you: this one. christopher kindall, the guy who started "america's test kitchen" (and who also apparently hunts) came up with this recipe. and man is it amazing! i think the big difference is that you brown the butter. and anything with browned butter is my friend. it takes just a little longer than the regular nestle recipe, but you don't need to use a mixer with this one - score! just... trust me, they're amazing!

the ultimate chocolate chip cookie adapted from america's test kitchen
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1 3/4 sticks butter
1/2 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 t. salt
2 t. vanilla
1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional)

preheat oven to 375 degrees. combine flour and baking soda in a bowl. mix and set aside.

melt 1 1/4 sticks butter in a pan over medium-high heat. keep stirring until butter has a dark golden brown color and a nutty aroma, about 3 minutes. remove from heat & mix in the remaining butter until melted. add the sugars, salt, and vanilla to the butter and mix well. add the egg and yolk; whisk until smooth, about 30 seconds. let it rest for 3 minutes, then whisk again for about 30 seconds, before letting it rest again. repeat the whisk/rest routine about 4 times, until you have a thick, glossy, and smooth mixture. gently stir in the flour and baking soda just until combined. stir in the chocolate and nuts.

bake for about 10 minutes, then put the baking sheet on a cooling rack and let the cookies cool on the sheets.

chocolate peppermint crinkle cookies

oh. my. land. bake these cookies and then cancel your afternoon appointments in order to pig out in peace. found this recipe at bakersroyale.com (via pioneer woman - thank you, ree!) and the picture drew me in so i included it below - why would i ever try to top that picture? these work best if you chill the dough in the refrigerator for a few hours (or up to four days - just as good!), although the cookies themselves don't keep very well after 4 days or so - not that they'll probably be around that long. these would have been great at Christmastime... but i had a newborn and can say that these are also fantastic in january. or june. or right now - go bake!

chocolate peppermint crinkle cookies adapted from bakersroyale.com
1 3/4 c. flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
½ t. salt
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. canola oil
3 T. butter, melted
2 T. corn syrup
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
2 t. vanilla
1 ½ t. peppermint extract
1 c. powdered sugar

In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Melt the chocolate in the microwave on 50 percent power for 1 minute, stir, microwave for 15 seconds more and stir, repeat until melted; set aside.
In a mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together sugar, oil, butter and corn syrup. Beat in the eggs, egg yolk, vanilla and peppermint extract. Then on low, beat in the melted chocolate. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Roll the dough into 1-1.5 inch balls. Pour powdered sugar into a bowl. Roll each cookie dough ball in sugar. Arrange cookies on baking sheet and bake 12 to 14 minutes for crisp cookies, or 10-12 minutes for a chewier cookie.

chocolate pumpkin muffins

these might be the easiest muffins you'll ever make. well... let's be honest - they're a little more like a cupcake than just a muffin. so we will call them a "cupin" and just enjoy, ok? my sister jen shared this crazy recipe with me and i could hardly believe it'd work. but it does! the other magical thing about these is that you really cannot taste the pumpkin - they just taste like moist chocolate... cupins.

chocolate pumpkin muffins/cupcakes/cupins (you decide)
1 box devil's food cake mix (any brand)
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin
3/4 c. water
1/2 c. chocolate chips and/or nuts (optional)
1/4 t. salt

combine cake mix, pumpkin, salt & water until moist (batter will be thick). mix well and stir in chips/nuts. put into muffin pan sprayed with oil - fill cups 2/3 full. bake at 350 for 25 minutes. makes 20

apple crisp

mmm... it's starting to get cooler out there. somewhere the leaves will start to slowly change colors (not here... bummer, southern california!). and apples are starting to get real cheap - heyo! time for an apple crisp recipe! i found this on the website joyofbaking.com, and only made a couple minor adjustments. so yummy and warm - and very easy. this is especially great with tart apples, like granny smiths. i love throwing in a few frozen raspberries (for color and deliciousness), but you can skip it if you don't have any. enjoy with a little vanilla ice cream... or not, you'll be happy either way!

update: this can be made gluten-free! i just put some oatmeal in the food processor and ground it up into a flour and substituted it in for the regular flour. worked like a charm!

apple crisp
topping:
1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg (if you've got it)
1/8 t. salt
6 T. butter, cubed
1/3 c. old-fashioned oats
1/3 c. chopped walnuts

filling:
6 c. (about 4) granny smiths, peeled, cored, & cubed
< 1/4 c. frozen raspberries
1 1/2 T. lemon juice
1 t. lemon zest (if you have it)
3 T. sugar

preheat to 375. spray an 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray. mix topping ingredients with fingers & set aside. toss filling ingredients in another bowl & put into baking dish. sprinkle topping evenly on top and bake 30-40 minutes, or until bubbly.

cream cheese frosting

sorry for the delay in posts; i think our cross-country road trip (and my energy being sucked up by a little tater tot - third trimester, baby!) put me back a few paces. but i'll make it up to you... right now. with this simple frosting. from heaven, via my buddy kristin. we had friends over for lunch the other day, so i defrosted a frozen zucchini bread, but wanted to make it... more desserty? dessertier? anywho, tried out this recipe and wham-o! we had a winner :) you can cut this recipe in half, but even more exciting: it freezes really well. dangerously handy, eh?

cream cheese frosting
1 c. butter
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 (8 oz.) cream cheese
~ 1 T. milk, as desired

blend first four ingredients well. slowly add splashes of milk to reach desired thickness (or don't add any - your call!).

hot fuuuuuudge

oh my land. heavens to betsy. for pete's sake. you will say all of these things when you try this hot fudge recipe shared with me by dear katherine (whose mom has passed on some amazing cooking skills to her daugther!). this is simple to make, but drizzle it over even plain vanilla ice cream and your guests will be impressed. also, unless you're serving 10 or 12 people, cut this recipe in half.

hot fudge
4 oz. (4 cubes) unsweetened bakers chocolate
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. cocoa
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 c. cream

melt bakers chocolate and butter in a pot over medium heat, stirring often. once melted add cocoa, sugar & vanilla and stir. mix in cream and stir until smooth. serve warm. (will keep well in refrigerator)

blackberry cobbler

extra fourth of july posting! as a special treat to celebrate our independence, i decided to use a simple recipe from thepioneerwoman.com (have you read her blog? get right on that). it's yummy, gooey and mighty easy. it calls for self-rising flour, but i have no interest or cabinet space to buy another bag of flour, so i've included a substitute recipe for that at the bottom of the post.

blackberry cobbler
1 stick butter
1 1/4 c. sugar
1 c. self-rising flour
1 c. milk
2 c. blackberries (frozen or fresh)

rinse and pat dry blackberries. butter a baking dish. melt butter in a microwavable dish. pour 1 cup of sugar and flour into a mixing bowl, whisking in milk. mix well. pour in melted butter and whisk it all well together. pour the batter into the buttered baking dish. sprinkle blackberries over the top of the batter, distributing evenly. sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar over the top. bake at 350 for 1 hour, or until golden and bubbly.

self-rising flour
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. baking powder

booya!

zucchini bread

oh, summer. the sunburns, the lemonade, the baseball, the out-of-control zucchini plants. got one of those plants? well, us city folk are jealous - send some zukes our way! and then we can happily make zucchini bread using this super recipe from kristin (whom i receive zucchinis from, as well). you can serve this as a dessert or enjoy it for breakfast (or whenever the heck you choose, frankly). the recipe calls for 2 cups shredded zucchini, and just to give you perspective, i grated (via food processor - ahhh) one foot-long zucchini and got 4 cups from it.
kristin taught me that you can freeze the extra grated goodness - let's hear it for not wasting! feel free to omit the ginger, clove, nuts, or chocolate chips... but why would you do that to yourself?!


zucchini bread
3 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 c. oil
2 t. vanilla
3 c. flour (i mix whole wheat & a.p.)
2 1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
3 t. cinnamon
1 t. salt
1 c. nuts (i used walnuts)
1 t. ginger
1 t. clove
2 c. shredded zucchini
1 c. chocolate chips (i used a generous cup)

preheat oven to 350 & grease two small loaf pans. beat the eggs in a large bowl. add sugar, oil & vanilla & stir. add flour, powder, soda, cinnamon, salt, nuts, ginger, & clove and stir - mixture will be thick. add zucchini & chocolate chips, stir. divide into pans and bake for 35-40 minutes.

caramel chip bars

warning: this is naughty. there, i said it. but what i'm also saying is: decadent. my sister amy shared this recipe and i figure that i need to put some recipes for bars on here. it's the midwestern thing to do.

caramel chip bars
1/2 c. butter
32 caramels (the little square individually-wrapped ones, obviously unwrap them)
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (18 oz.) package yellow cake mix
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1 c. white chocolate chips
1 (1.5 oz.) heath bar, chopped

in a large saucepan, combine butter, caramel and milk; stir over medium-low heat until smooth. cool. in mixing bowl, combine cake mix, oil, eggs; mix well. stir in chips and heath (dough will be stiff). press 3/4 into greased 9x13". bake at 350 for 15 minutes. cool for 10 minutes.
pour caramel mix over crust. drop remaining dough by spoonfuls into caramel. bake for 25-30 minutes or until edges are golden brown. cool for 10 minutes; run knife around edge of pan. cool 40 minutes longer; cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or until serving. when you cut to serve, cut fairly small as these are rich!

oatmeal cookies

oooh doggie, these are some good cookies. and they have oatmeal in them, so surely they're healthy. right? anyone? these are good just with chocolate chips in them. or without, i suppose, if you're into that sort of thing (why on earth are you into that sort of thing?). i have two favorite ways to make this recipe. first, substituting half the chocolate chips for butterscotch chips - that's what's in the pictures. second, i love adding about 1/3 c. dried cranberries and 1 t. cinnamon (i think that makes these cookies even healthier, right? i mean, that's practically granola). below i'm just writing the basic, but add what you will!


oatmeal cookies
1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. butter
2 eggs
2 c. flour
2 c. oatmeal (old-fashioned)
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
2 T. milk
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. salt
1 c. chocolate chips (optional)

cream butter & sugar together. add eggs & beat well. add the rest of the ingredients & mix well. bake at 350 for about 10 minutes.

cinnamon-sugar cookies

as james & his former roommates used to say, "it's sooo sim-po!". this is a very simple recipe with very simple, delicate flavors. i don't really understand how these are different than snickerdoodles (are they? help a sister out here), but whatever! again, so sim-po. and they got a stamp of approval from a friend who used to work at mrs. field's - surely that means something!

cinnamon-sugar cookies adapted from everyday food
2 3/4 c. flour
2 t. cream of tartar
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 2/3 c. sugar, plus 1/4 c. for topping
1 c. butter, softened
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1 t. cinnamon

preheat oven to 350. mix flour, tartar, soda & salt, set aside. in mixer, cream butter & 1 2/3 c. sugar until light. add egg & vanilla and beat. add flour mixture and beat, until dough comes together when squeezed (it'll appear dry). make topping, i.e. sugar & cinnamon. shape dough (about 1 T. each rolled into a ball, rolled in topping & flattened). bake until bottoms are golden brown, about 10 minutes.

bread pudding

this is the first of many recipes that will inevitably be added to this blog that come from my dear friend kristin. kristin is probably the person from whom i've learned the most about cooking, other than my mother, and at least half of my recipes are from her, i think. this one is a winner, for sure! and such a great use of your stale bread. (even cheap stale bread, including aging hot dog buns, works well here) enjoy!

bread pudding
7 slices day-old bread
2 T. melted butter
3 eggs, beaten
2 c. milk, half & half, or any mixture of the two
3/4 c. sugar (white or brown)
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. vanilla

preheat to 350. rip bread into small pieces and put into an 8x8". drizzle butter over bread. in medium bowl combine remaining ingredients. beat until well mixed. pour over bread, lightly push down with a fork until it's covered and soaking. bake for 45 minutes, until top springs back when tapped.

** photo courtesy of kelsey ramos at frugalnosh.com **

holy toledo cupcakes

when my friend joy (actually, my cousin-in-law joy) shared this with me, it was in a small pile of recipes she thought i might like. i don't think it had a real name, but she did mention that it was her husband joe's favorite. so i thought i'd give it a try. and that is why they are now named "holy toledo!" cupcakes - they're that good.

holy toledo cupcakes
mix & set aside:
1 (8 oz.) cream cheese
1 egg
1/3 c. sugar
1/8 t. salt
1 (6 oz.) package chocolate chips

in another bowl, mix:
1 1/2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. cocoa
1 t. baking soda
1 c. water
1/2 c. oil
1 T. vinegar
1 t. vanilla

put liners in cupcake pan. fill halfway with batter (will be runny), top with heaping teaspoon of filling. bake at 350 for 20 minutes.