TWD: Chocolate Oatmeal Drops

This week's recipe, Chocolate Oatmeal Drops, is a toughie to explain. Imagine cookies with the flavor and texture of brownies. Yum, right? Now mix in...oatmeal.

It's weird, it's unexpected, but it actually kind of worked. Much like other unusual couplings--french fries with milkshakes, chocolate with bacon, Taylor Swift with Jake Gyllenhaal--sometimes it's the contrasts that make the pairing work so well.

Not so much with Taylor and Jake, though. That was just weird.
[Call me, Jake.]



Ahem. Back to the cookies! They were rich, and chocolatey, and surprisingly chewy from the oatmeal. They reminded me a bit of those oatmeal no-bake cookies that have oats, chocolate, and peanut butter, and that in turn made me think that these would be awesome with some chopped up Reese's pb cups in them. Am I a baking mastermind? Quite possibly.



Other things I can tell you from experience: these are awesome...
1) as dough before being baked
2) right out of the oven
3) a few hours later
4) the next day
5) three days after that
6) defrosted from the freezer a week later

Also, four of them in a baggie fit nicely into a slipper tucked in a suitcase...you know, just in case the rest of you were hoping to travel with these and wanted to know the best way to keep them from crumbling. The ole slipper trick hasn't failed me yet. Bon appetit!

Read More...

Summary only...

Salted Caramel Bars

Jason & I are not one of those "twinny" couples who seem to belong together at first glance--in fact I think our relationship sometimes mystifies people who don't know us very well. Although I think we're pretty well matched in the important areas, it's true that we're opposite in many ways. I love to run long distances, he would be happy never standing up from his chair. He could talk politics all day long, but just the thought of that makes me want to jam earphones in my ears. He's a people person, I'm working on the title of World's Youngest Curmudgeon.

Yes, Paula Abdul, you were right all along. Opposites do attract.

We also have differing tastes in food and desserts. I'm a pure chocolate girl, but Jason's heart belongs to caramel. Chewy, buttery, rich, slips through your teeth caramel. So when I saw this recipe for Salted Caramel Bars, I knew I had to make them for him.


These bars don't have many components, but they make every ingredient count. The base is an ultra-buttery, crisp shortbread. The thick caramel layer is chewy without being sticky, and sweet without being cloying, thanks to the generous spoonful of salt in the recipe.

The best part, though, are the large sea salt flakes that are scattered on the bars just before serving, to add a crunch and a savory bite that perfectly contrasts with the caramel.


These bars really satisfied both of us. Jason loved the caramel component, I liked how easy they were to make, and we both enjoyed the crunchy salt on top. Not to mention the fact that when his mouth is full of caramel, it's harder to hold a sustained conversation about politics.

Just sayin'.





Being the chocolate advocate in the household, I actually tried to top these with chocolate ganache, but the combination of cream-filled ganache and buttery caramel meant that the layers didn't coalesce and the ganache had a tendency to slide off. I still think chocolate can be incorporated somehow--perhaps pure chocolate, drizzled on top? Dunking the bars shortbread-side first into tempered chocolate? Further experimentation is needed.

Salted Caramel Bars

Crust:
10 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg yolk, whisked
1 2/3 cups AP flour

Caramel Layer:
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
12 tbsp light corn syrup
1 tsp sea salt
4 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Sea salt flakes

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9-by-9-inch pan with parchment paper with the edges of the parchment hanging over the sides. This will make removing the bars easier.

In a large bowl combine the melted butter, sugar and salt with a fork. Add the yolk and combine with the fork. Add the flour and using your hands, combine the dough until its flaky. Transfer the dough into the parchment lined pan and press down with your hands or the bottom of a measuring cup. Refrigerate this for 30 minutes. Once chilled, bake for 27 minutes until lightly browned.

Once baked, remove and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, in a pot combine the topping ingredients; butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, salt, sugar and cream. Bring to a boil and make sure all the sugar is dissolved. Insert a candy thermometer and cook, stirring occasionally, until it reads 250 degrees F. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla extract and pour on top of the shortbread.

Refrigerate for 2-4 hours. Then sprinkle with the sea salt flakes and serve! If you have leftovers, keep them refrigerated because the caramel will soften and gradually lose its shape at room temperature.

Read More...

Summary only...

TWD: Peanuttiest Blondies

I'm more than a little obsessed with peanut butter--well, with nut butters in general. In my cupboards I have 4 different kinds of peanut butter and 3 other nut butters, and that's not even counting the coconut butter variations. Some might say I have a problem with nut butter consumption, but one person's problem is another person's pleasure.


I have found ways to have peanut butter in practically every meal. In the mornings before I run I have a "banana taco," a banana cut in half lengthwise and spread with a thick layer of chunky peanut butter. I like to have some with my afternoon apple, and I have been known to add a spoonful to soups or stews to give it a hearty, thick flavor. I also have a habit of running my finger around the inside of the jar and then sprinkling the peanut-butter smeared finger with chocolate chips before gnawing on it, but that's not what we're talking about today.

Today we're talking about peanut-chocolate blondies:

I don't mean to be a stickler, but if you're calling something "peanuttiest blondies" I expect to be punched in the face with peanut flavor. These were good, no doubt about it, but I thought the actual peanut taste was pretty mild, considering they had chopped peanuts, peanut butter, and I subbed some peanut flour for regular AP in the mix. I did add quite a bit of chopped chocolate to the mix, so the overall effect was of a peanuttyish chocolate chip bar.

Oh, and I think I overbaked them. I've had a fear of underbaked bar cookies ever since I created this hot mess back in July:

So I had a "better safe than sorry" policy where these bars were concerned, and they took their sweet time in the oven.


Still, these were eagerly devoured around the house and by J's students, and I found that just a thin layer of peanut butter smeared on top made them perfect for me!

Read More...

Summary only...

TWD: You're A Hot Mess, Chewy Chunky Blondies

Aaaaahhhhhh we've just moved and my entire life is in cardboard boxes. I am a woman of order and am not handling this transition well. My new kitchen, while it has potential for baking greatness, is currently a hot mess:



You know what else was a hot mess? These Chewy, Chunky Blondies:

A few weeks ago I thought I would be awesome and do some baking in advance, so I made these blondies late one night. After the recommended 40 minutes of baking, they were nowhere near done. I gave them another 10. Nope, but they were getting quite the tan in the oven. How about another 10 minutes? They had a lustrous, oven-kissed sheen and seemed to pass the knife test, so I took them out and hoped for the best.

But instead of the best, I ended up with gooey, under-baked innards. Wah-waaaah.

The truth is, these were ugly as sin but tasted pretty good! I'm a fan of the very underbaked chocolate chip cookie, and these were like that on steroids, so it kind of worked for me. I added toffee chips, toasted pecans, and coconut, and I could see these being awesome had I, you know, actually finished baking them. We still enjoyed them warm, with whipped cream:

I didn't feel like I could share them with anyone, being basically raw dough and all, so sadly most of them ended up in the trash. I'd be willing to try this recipe again, though, because it seems to have potential. I haven't been able to keep up with the TWD chatter--did this happen to anyone else, or am I a special underbaking snowflake?

Read More...

Summary only...

I Decree It Is Coconut Month + 7 Layer Bars

Halfway through emptying my third bag of shredded coconut this past week, my tiny reptilian brain began to glimpse a theme in this month's baking. Coconut-Chocolate Tiramisu. Coconut Cream Tarts. Could the common thread be red velvet cake? Licorice whips? Monkey pantaloons? No, no, and NO, that's not it...perhaps coconut? Yes!
There has been a lot of coconut desserts around the hizzy, and I for one couldn't be happier. Coconut in all of its forms is one of my favorite things. Shredded coconut is great in desserts, of course, but I also love it in oatmeal, and as a crust on shrimp or fish. And do you guys know about the amazing manna from heaven that is coconut oil? It's only the greatest baking ingredient/saute liquid/toast topper ever. I could drink the stuff and live happily ever after.

ANYHOW. I figured since I was already on a coconut roll, I should christen this month Coconut Month and go out of my way to find some coconut recipes I've been meaning to try. Coconut Month shall last through the duration of March, or until I lose interest, whichever happens first.

First dessert item on my agenda: 7 Layer Bars, that staple of potlucks and summer picnics, beloved because it requires the least amount of effort of any bar cookie, ever. If you've never had one, a 7-layer bar basically consists of a base of graham cracker crumbs, toasted nuts, 3 kinds of chips (butterscotch, white, chocolate) and coconut, all held together with sweetened condensed milk. I feel like this recipe is so old fashioned, it's one step away from being covered with Jell-O and shoved into a novelty fish-shaped mold.

But, despite its charmingly retro style, it seemed like the perfect recipe for this week, because 1) Duh, it's Coconut Month and 2) look at what I unearthed when I tidied my chip drawer, and by "drawer" I mean "box in the closet" because I have seriously outgrown my tiny kitchen:
Five bags of butterscotch chips! Can you believe this started out as 10 bags? They were on monster sale last year for 25 cents each (EACH! They're usually like 3 or 4 bucks apiece!) so of course, being the obsessive hoarder that I am, I had to fill my basket with cheap-o butterscotch chips, never mind that I rarely, if ever, use them, and am now stuck trying to stick them in random recipes and cursed with guilt every time I see them because there's still so many left. This recipe took a good 1/2 cup, only 9.5 cups more to go!


The bars are ooey-gooey good and so sweet they'll make your fillings hurt, but that's part of their appeal. I shared them with a staunch coconut skeptic who loved them, and although it's been a good 4 or days since they were in the house, my husband is still talking about them and sighing wistfully and dropping not-so-subtle hints as to how much he'd enjoy eating them again. Soon. To which I replied, here's a can opener and a giant box of butterscotch chips. Go forth, my son, and bless you.

Click on for the recipe...


Seven-Layer Bars

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
9 graham crackers (5 ounces), crushed
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup white chocolate chips
½ cup butterscotch chips
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and preheat to 350°F. Line a 9x9 pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray. (For thinner bars, you can use a 9x13 pan. I'm just a big pig.)

2. Spread the coconut on a baking sheet and bake until it turns a light gold color, stirring every 4 minutes to prevent burning on the edges. Set aside.

3. Melt the butter and combine with graham cracker crumbs in a small bowl. Toss with your fingers until the butter is evenly distributed. Press the crumbs evenly onto the bottom of the prepared pan.

4. In order, sprinkle the walnuts, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and coconut over the graham crumbs. Pour the condensed milk evenly over the entire dish.

5. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 25 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours.

6. Remove the bars from the pan using the foil or parchment handles and transfer to a cutting board. Using a sharp knife or bench cutter, cut into small bars.

Read More...

Summary only...

TWD: Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars

It's only January 19th and already my New Year's Resolutions are a sad crumpled heap kicked into the corner. I resolved to be a better blogger and ESPECIALLY a better blog commentor--I know I have the worst commenting karma ever and anyone who comments on this blog deserves major props and cupcakes and also apologies, because I am a loser--and not only have I not done better about commenting--sorry, sorry! Cupcakes are in the mail--but I'm also falling behind on blogging. Deep breath.

But at least this time, I have a 2 Legit excuse. I spent the long weekend up in the Bay Area, getting drenched in serious monsoon weather and eating Burmese food (where have you been all my life?) and walking around with my snooty nose in the air and my pinky out at the Fancy Food Show. You guys, food trade shows are so fun. It's a blast to be able to talk to people who are passionate about their products and sample so many squizillion delicious foods. There were trillions of truffles...

[These are from Norman Love and are hand-painted by art majors. Yes, really!]

and millions of macarons...
and beautiful brownie pops...


and cakes of both giant marshmallow...

and brie cheese.

Given the week's extracurriculars, it's only fitting that this week's TWD recipe is an "almost-candy bar," since I'm apparently on an all-candy diet. I can't quite see these as a candy bar, since they seemed more like a REALLY HEFTY bar cookie to me, but they were pretty face-rocking good.

I omitted the raisins (of course) and cut them into small bar shapes, which I later cut even smaller since these bad boys seemed to expand in the stomach. My only change for next time would be to not use all of the crust/topping, since I thought it was a little too thick in comparison to the fudge layer. But overall these were awesome and they're a definite make-again for me.

P.S. If anyone's interested, here are some of the candy/chocolate trends I noticed:

• Antioxidant/superfruits are still big: goji berries, pomegranates, acai, etc.
• Vegan/raw chocolate and truffles and other "good-for-you" chocolates
• Yuzu and other exotic citrus fruits
• Passionfruit! I'm really excited about this one.
• Fun texture additions like popping candy, chips, etc. I saw panko used several times
• Bacon everything. Vosges should rename their company Bacon R Us. There was even a bacon-maple marshmallow.

Read More...

Summary only...

TWD: Applesauce Spice Bars

Say hello to entry #276 in the "Not Much To Look At But Darn Tasty" category of desserts: Dorie's Applesauce Spice Bars.



I wasn't head-over-heels about making this recipe, since it seems very autumn-ish and it's still only August. More fresh berry desserts, please! However, the day after I made this, we had a beautiful overcast morning in my fair city, with cooler temperatures and a cloudy sky until after 12. Do you think this means I can now control the weather through my baking? *evil raised eyebrow*



And once again, my skepticism was misplaced, because these "bars" were great! (Don't let the name fool you, though--I thought they were much closer to an apple cake than any sort of bar. But still, apple cake! Yum!) I halved the recipe but kept the full amount of spices and frosting, so it had a great flavor and a generous topping. And OF COURSE I omitted the raisins. [See ya in hell, shriveled grapes corpses!] All in all, a great pick by Karen, and a great way to start what I hope will be a long, long fall season. Now off to summon a rainstorm with pumpkin bread...

Read More...

Summary only...

TWD: Chipster-Topped Brownies

I'm sure we were all thinking the same thing when we read the description of this week's recipe, a bar cookie that combines chocolate chip cookie dough and brownies:

"Toniiiiight is the niiiiight that two become oooone..."

Don't play coy. You were all with me on the Spice Train, right?



[And also, I'm sure you've all seen the Spice World movie, right, and currently have an awesome mental image in your head of Alan Cumming singing "3 become 1" in a parody, right? ...just me, then? Okay.]

Aaaanyhow. Brownies! Chocolate chip cookies! Two become one, indeed.

These looked pretty sexy, what with the fudgy brownie bottom and the super crispy, chocolate-studded topping. They were a little iffy in the pan (a bit cracked on top, and way past the "golden brown" stage for me) but once cut, they looked much more palatable. And also, enormous. I don't know why I physically can't cut small slices, but it's like a personal failing. Each bar must be at least 3" long. It's like my knife hand has as mind of its own.I was all ready to love these right up, because I'm a simple girl, with simple tastes, and chocolate chip cookies and plain brownies are two of my favorite things. But I think in this case, the final product was a little less than the sum of its parts. Don't get me wrong, they weren't bad, and heaven knows I ate half the pan myself, so I did enjoy them. But I guess at the end of the day, I'd rather have a really well-made cookie and a well-made brownie separately than the two baked together.
But these were a fun little experiment, and I did think the brownie layer was ooey gooey goodness. The cookie layer could have been beefed up a bit more, since all I really tasted was a crackly crust. I think the extremely long bake time was a problem--by the time the brownies were done, the cookies had been baked into oblivion.

Next time I might try baking the brownie layer a bit first, and then adding the cookie layer, so that the cookies stand a chance of retaining a bit of soft texture. And, you know, I would consider adding a touch of cinnamon or something, since they could use a little...spice. Hi-yo!

Read More...

Summary only...

TWD: Caramel Crunch Bars

These Caramel Crunch Bars are like the Clark Kent of baked goods. Mild in manner, mundane in appearance, but put them in a telephone booth...okay, the analogy kind of breaks down after awhile. But my point remains: these simple little bars are spectacular.
From the description and procedure, I was expecting these to be kind of like a bar cookie. Instead, they seemed almost like a candy, like that saltine toffee you make where you pour boiled butter and sugar over crackers and then bake it. They had that same crunch, and the same caramelized brown sugar and butter flavor. Only better, because they also had chocolate and cinnamon and toffee (oh my).
I made a half batch to save our waistlines, and half of me--the half ruled by my taste buds--regretted it, while the other half--that doesn't want to buy a new, larger wardrobe--was profoundly grateful. This was one of those baked goods that I could have easily eaten in a day. Break off a corner here or there, have some while making dinner...gone in a flash! So addicting.
These were awesome by themselves, but they were absolutely outrageous when used to make ice cream sandwiches. I paired them with a homemade salted butter caramel ice cream. The caramels blended perfectly, and the salt in the ice cream helped balance out the sweetness. The ice cream had chunks of salted butter toffee folded into it, to add more crunch and texture. [Stay tuned, ice cream recipe coming later this week in another post.]
Well played, Clark Kent Bars. Well played indeed.

Read More...

Summary only...

Tuesdays with Elizabeth: Soft Granola Bars

Hi folks! I'm taking a pass on this week's Tuesday with Dorie (dimpled plum cake) because I've been out of town the past few days. Actually, I'm still away, but thanks to the magic of the internets (and good old-fashioned voodoo), I can still keep my Tuesday rendezvous with you all.

So what's so important that I can't drop everything to make a plum cake? How about...this?

That, my friends, is a tiny little hill known as Half Dome, located in Yosemite National Park. By the time you read this, I will have hiked up to the top of that rock (17 miles round-trip), including a final ascent that is so steep you have to pull yourself up using hand cables. Should be awesome! Check later posts for updates and mucho whining!

Knowing the hike is going to be taxing, I decided to make myself a small granola bar to provide a little energy:

I was all set to wrap up my giant granola bar o' power, until I realized it wouldn't fit in my hydration pack. D'oh! So I followed Plan B: cutting the huge granola slab into about 20 smaller (but still substantial!) granola bars. Let me tell you, these homemade granola bars are awesome. They're soft and chewy, with a good amount of crunch provided by toasted, salted nuts.

Granola as far as the eye can see!

I'd like to dedicate these granola bars to my kitchen sink, because it seems that I included everything but the sink in these babies. There's oats, wheat germ, flax seeds, coconut, almonds, macadamia nuts, peanut butter, dried cranberries, raspberries, apricots, goji berries, and much more, with a sprinkling of mini chocolate chips to finish it off.
It sounds busy, and it kind of is, but in the best way, where every bite is different from the one before. One might have a lot of tangy dried apricots, while the next bite is full of rich, salty macadamia nuts and coconut. You can bet I'm making room in my hiking pack for these bad boys!

Soft Granola Bars
Yields 16-20 good-sized bars

2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup chopped nuts--I used toasted, salted almonds and macadamias
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
4 tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp kosher salt
8 oz dried fruit--I used a mix of 4-5 different kinds
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips

Line a 9x13 pan with waxed paper and spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix the oats, wheat germ, flax seeds and coconut together and spread them out on a baking sheet (and add your nuts if you are not using toasted nuts). Toast them for 10-12 minutes, stirring after every 2 minutes, until the oats are golden and smell toasted, but not burned.

In a large bowl, combine the chopped nuts, dried fruit, and toasted oats mixture.

In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, honey, vanilla, salt, and peanut butter. Stirring constantly, allow the butter and sugar to melt, and bring the mixture to a simmer.

Carefully pour the hot sugar syrup over the oat mixture in the bowl, and stir very well until the ingredients are well-combined. Scrape the hot granola into the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer. Sprinkle the top with the miniature chocolate chips.

Take another piece of waxed paper, spray it with nonstick spray, and press it, sprayed side down, on top of the granola. You need to really compact the granola so that it will stick together. I placed another 9x13 pan on top of my granola and put 10 lb dumbbells in it to do the work for me, but you could just press really hard with your hands, or use a few heavy cookbooks.

Allow the bars to cool completely, at least 2-3 hours. To serve, pull up on the waxed paper to remove them from the pan. Peel the paper off, and cut them into bars or squares. Wrap them individually in cling wrap to prevent them from sticking together.

Read More...

Summary only...