Oh Yes I Did: Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies

Two words: sugar cookies.

Two more words: cinnamon rolls.

One question: can they be combined?



Oh, yeahhhhh.



This recipe-slash-BEST-IDEA-EVER comes courtesy of Jenny at Picky Palate. The second I saw it I bookmarked the page and returned regularly to drool, plan, and plot my way into making these cookies.



The idea couldn't be simpler. Take some sugar cookie dough and roll it out into a thin-ish sheet. (Mine worked best when it was about 1/4-inch thick.) Spread on some softened butter--I'm sorry, but it must be done--and then sprinkle liberally with brown sugar and cinnamon. Treat these babies like the cinnamon rolls they aspire to be!

Roll the dough, slice it into thick rounds, then bake it up. The cookies blossom into soft, sweet rounds with crisp edges and moist middles, with a buttery cinnamon swirl threaded throughout.



And did I mention the finishing touch? A drizzle of cream cheese icing, with a touch of vanilla or lemon, to complete the resemblance to cinnamon rolls, no yeast dough required.



I made these with leftover sugar cookie dough, and it's just about the best use for leftover dough I can imagine. The dough was fairly stiff and meant to be used to make precise cutout cookies. I suspect a soft dough that makes those pillowy round sugar cookies would work even better. If you'd like a recipe for the sugar cookies themselves, I'll refer you to the source at Picky Palate for further enlightenment.

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Salted Fudge Brownies: Happy Valentine's Day to YOU

Fresh on the heels of the salted caramel bars, I'm back with another dessert guaranteed to raise your blood pressure and lower your life expectancy.

I promise, they're worth it.




Salted Fudge Brownies are my Valentine to those of you who, like me, can never get a brownie fudgy enough. It could be half-raw and oozing in the middle, and I'll think, "It's pretty good…but can't it get more fudgy?!"



These babies finally answer that question: NO. They cannot possibly be more fudgy. They're decadent and dense and loaded with chocolate flavor. The only thing that saves them from being chocolate overkill is the generous portion of salt in the batter, which cuts through the richness of the chocolate. But the real star is the flaked sea salt on top, that add the occasional crunch and pop of pure salty bliss.



I gifted these to a few friends as an early Valentine's present, and I do believe it's the best idea I've ever had. Everyone loved them. Of course, you don’t have to cut them into heart shapes, but if you do, I have it on good authority that the resulting brownie scraps make a delightful mid-morning snack. If you're in to that kind of thing.

Happy early Valentine's Day, Fudge-o-holics!


Salted Fudge Brownies

6 oz (1.5 sticks) Butter
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
3 whole eggs, room temperature
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp large-flaked sea salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Press a piece of foil inside a 9x9 pan, and spray the foil with cooking spray.

2. Melt the butter with the unsweetened chocolate in the microwave, stirring occasionally, until the butter and chocolate are entirely melted. Whisk to combine.

3. Add the sugar and cocoa powder and whisk until they're incorporated. At this point the mixture will look grainy and not very appetizing. Add the eggs one at a time, being sure to whisk well after each addition. With each egg added, the mixture will get smoother and shinier, and after all 3 have been added and the batter has been well-mixed, the graininess should be gone.

4. Add the vanilla extract, then stir in the flour and fine sea salt until any dry streaks disappear.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the remaining large-flaked sea salt over the top of the brownies.

6. Bake for about 35 minutes, until the edge is set but the center is still a bit soft and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out coated with a little of the batter. Cool at room temperature in the pan for about an hour, then refrigerate just until they are firm. Lift the brownies from the pan and remove foil. Cut the brownies into 12 or 16 squares, or use a cookie cutter to make shapes.

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TWD: Nutty Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake

I'm a little late posting this amazing bundt cake I made over the weekend, but I have a good excuse. Her name is Madeline, and she is verrrrrry distracting.

My niece is visiting for a few days, and we've had a swell time getting to know each other better. Madeline's likes include Olivia the Piglet, swinging, knocking down her wooden giraffe, and playing hide-and-seek. Her dislikes include going to bed on time, sun in her eyes, dirty hands, and, until recently, my baking.

I know. I KNOW. The last time I baked for her, I made a mini cake for her 1-year birthday. This was pretty much the reaction I got. Completely underwhelmed. So of course I was anxious to make a good impression this time around.
I brought out a secret weapon: a rich chocolate ganache glaze atop the cake, with more available to serve on the side.

I also tried to be generous with the flavors, using brown sugar, lots of bittersweet chocolate chunks, and fresh-grated cinnamon in the bundt's swirly layers. After all, 20-month olds are well known to have finely developed palates.


I think my strategy worked, because all of us--toddler included--loved this cake! This is the second Dorie bundt cake the has completely blown me away (the first being the Double Apple Bundt Cake).

It was rich, it was moist, it was flavorful, with the tang of sour cream and orange zest, and the thick swirl of chocolate, brown sugar, and cinnamon. This is a cake dainty enough to be served in small slices with tea, but delicious enough to be eaten out of the hand standing over the sink. Not that I would know that from experience.

This is a keeper and a make-again (and again, and again) for sure. In fact, I might be making it sooner rather than later, because her highness was none too pleased to find out the cake's completely eaten:

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TWD: Double Apple Bundt Cake, Drenched in Deliciousness

If you were around these parts for last week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, you may recall some apple-pickin' shenanigans that resulted in a half-bushel of apples taking up residence in my kitchen. Yes, my friends, they are still with us. [looks guiltily in the direction of the kitchen, overflowing with apples] Fortunately I've had a few more opportunities to bake with them, including this week's stellar recipe, Double Apple Bundt Cake.


This was actually the second apple bundt cake I've made in a week. The first was a variation on the Paris Hilton of internet apple cake recipes (surely that is a real category?), Mom's Apple Cake from Smitten Kitchen. Friends, I was not impressed. That particular cake has garnered over 500 fawning comments but I think Dorie's apple cake is much, much better. Maybe the Smitten Kitchen cake is not meant to be a bundt. I do not know. What I DO know is that I'm bummed I brought that gross cake to a potluck earlier this week instead of this other, far superior one! Superior, you say? Superior, indeed:


If you are wondering why my apple bundt cake looks drenched in deliciousness, it's because I made a brown sugar frosting for it. You might think the cake is moist enough, tasty enough, flavorful enough, sweet enough on its own, and it does not need a brown sugar frosting. You would be wrong. Fact: there is no apple cake that cannot be improved by a brown sugar frosting.

Especially a frosting that is thick and fudgy, with caramelized brown sugar notes, a hint of vanilla and maple, and a punch of salt in every bite. No, really. Check out this salt:


I didn't use salt in the frosting itself, but I sprinkled a large-grained sea salt liberally on top of the frosting. I wanted not just the flavor, but the texture of the salt to come through. I'm in love with this flaky sea salt and the way it pops in your mouth. I think a noticeable hit of salt is so necessary, especially in a dessert like this that could easily tip into the cloyingly sweet category.


I used my new favorite thing, Maldon Sea Salt. It's a great all-purpose large-flake sea salt that is perfect for finishing dishes (salted caramels, anyone?) because it keeps its texture well and crunches in the mouth. It's not wet (those moist sea salts creep me out) and it's reasonably priced--I got mine for about $6 total from saltworks. (I have no relationship with them at all, I just thought it was a monster steal and I'm in love, I'm in love and I don't care who knows it!)

Another exciting product going into this cake?


Okay, so fresh nutmeg is not exactly breaking news. BUT did you know you can buy it super-cheap at Cost Plus? 99 cents for about 8 nutmegs! (...nutmeg nuts? nutmeg megs? nutmeg seed pods? What do you call those??) Thus concludes today's Cheap Ingredient Shopping with Liz segment. Next week: vanilla pods on ebay!


So yes, if you were able to read between the lines of my product-bedazzled ramblings, this cake was phenomenal. I loved the way the grated apples melted into the cake, the extra apple kick from the apple butter, and the way it stayed so moist and flavorful day after day. It seems to keep getting better the longer it sits on the counter. I used plump dried cranberries and cinnamon pecans in the cake, and both of those were wonderful additions as well. I know I can sometimes be harsh on recipes (it's only because I love!) but I truly can't imagine improving on this.

The recipe will be posted on Lynne of Honey Muffin's blog, and the brown sugar frosting recipe is below.





Brown Sugar Frosting
Adapted from King Arthur Flour's brown sugar frosting

5 tablespoons (2 1/2 ounces) butter
1/2 cup (3 1/4 ounces) firmly packed brown sugar (light or dark)
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) cream
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 tsp maple extract
hefty pinch of salt

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar and cook, stirring, until the sugar melts. It might look separated, but that's okay. Stir in the cream, and it should all come together. Bring the mixture to a boil, then pour it into a mixing bowl to cool for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, stir in the confectioners' sugar, salt, maple extract, and vanilla. Beat well--I beat for about 30-45 seconds. If the mixture appears too thin, add more confectioners' sugar, if it's too thick, add a spoonful of hot water. Be aware that it sets up QUICKLY. Pour it over the cake while it's still warm. Know that it's hard to go back and correct mistakes because it starts setting and crusting soon after being poured, so one option is to put it in a large Ziploc bag and cut off a corner. Pipe the frosting over the top so it drips down where you want it to. Sprinkle any toppings on right away.

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TWD: Burnt Sugar Ice Cream

I have just 3 letters to describe this week's TWD pick, Burnt Sugar Ice Cream.

O.M.G.

Now obviously, this stands for
Oh-so-delicious
Mind-blowingly
Good
Or, judging by the tasty puddle rapidly forming underneath all my ice cream scoops, despite hours of chilling and lightening-quick scooping, it stands for
Outrageously
Melty &
Guzzle-able

Yes, we absolutely loved this ice cream. I am usually lukewarm about ice cream (pun?) but even I couldn't stop eating this...and then licking the bowl...and finally the lid of the ice cream container. The deeply caramelized flavor was fabulous, but more than that, I loved the soft texture that stayed smooth for days, unlike most other homemade ice cream recipes that get rock-hard. In honor of its awesomeness, I made some sugar decorations to gussy up the plain bowls.

[And hey! Remember when I made sugar corkscrews? Well, I recently made a short video showing how it's done. In just two and a half minutes you can learn how too, if you're so inclined. The video is here. And now back to your regularly scheduled programming...]

The husband has had at least one helping a day, under the guise of market research. (So far we have discovered that it's equally good on its own, with warm cookies, and as part of an ice cream float. However, I fear more research is needed.) This will definitely be a recipe we'll come back to again and again. You could say we're
Obsessed,
Majorly Smitten, &
Ga-ga
over it.

Want to make this ice cream? Of course you do! Becky has the recipe over on her blog.

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Tuesdays with Mommie III: Swedish Visiting Cake, Bork Bork Bork!

You loved her in Tuesdays with Mommie: Linzer Sables.

You laughed with her and cried with her in the sequel, Tuesdays with Mommie II: Chocolate Souffles.

Now prepare to give her your heart and your stomach in the third installment in this trilogy, Tuesdays with Mommie III: Swedish Visiting Cake Bork Bork BORK!

That's right, I'm up in San Jose visiting my parents again, and I talked my mom into baking with me once more. (And how perfect is it that it was a VISITING cake that we made for our visit?) For cooking inspiration, we looked to the Ultimate Swedish Chef:

Only we're hardcore, so we took our lustrous mustaches and cooking implements and gave it a little more of a Swedish Iron Chef spin:

I don't want to trash talk my momma too much, but she was not so excited about making this cake. (Okay, we were not so excited about it.) Let's face it, it doesn't sound too glamorous. The ingredient list is plain, and even the name is fairly modest. It just doesn't have that decadent appeal we look for in a dessert. Even after it was baked, it still looked unassuming.

But the taste? The taste! MERCIFUL HEAVENS, THE TASTE. This cake was phenomenal! We omitted the almonds on the top so it got its flavor from the lemon zest, which was a perfect accompaniment to the fresh strawberries and strawberry-orange sauce. It was light, and moist, with a beautiful sugar crust and a gorgeous texture. We. loved. this. cake.

This is a good cake, as the Swedes would say, "god kaka." [Um, can that be right? Is google translate pranking me?] What an awesome way to end an awesome visit. For the recipe, visit Nancy's blog--she also usually bakes different sized batches and includes the measurements and conversions, which is supremely useful. Bork bork bork!

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THE MOUNDS BROWNIE. YES, IN ALL CAPS.

It's April, so Coconut Month may technically be over, but that doesn't mean I have to quit the white stuff cold turkey, does it?


This past week I made a recipe I've been dreaming up in my head for awhile now: the Mounds Brownie. (Similar recipes may exist, but I couldn't find one that sounded good to me, so this is my own beautiful Frankenbrownie.) The Mounds brownie consists of two layers of moist, fudgy, supremely chocolatey brownies sandwiching a gooey coconut filling. If you're more of an Almond Joy person, you could easily top it with a layer of chocolate frosting and a generous sprinkle of toasted slivered almonds.
This is my very favorite kind of brownie: it's so fudgy it seems almost underdone in the center, but it has a beautiful crackly top from the cocoa. On its own it may be almost too rich and chocolately, but in this context, with the coconut filling, I think its intense flavor and texture add to the candy bar-like appeal.

The coconut layer in the center is simply shredded coconut mixed with condensed milk and a generous pinch of salt (to keep it from being too sweet...riiiiiight...). It stays moist and a bit gooey, especially when it mixes with the fudgy brownie. Because the decadent texture is so important to these brownies, please, please don't overbake them. Only YOU can prevent dry pastries.


And just in case these don't seem deadly enough on their own, I have it on good authority (ie, my stomach's) that they are insanely good when topped with a spoonful of warm, oozing dulce de leche. I think I know a few bakers who might have some leftover dulce de leche that should be put to good use...


Mounds Brownies

For the brownies:
5 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick) cut into quarters
3 tablespoons good-quality cocoa powder
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (5 oz) all-purpose flour

For the coconut filling:
2 cups shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
Hefty pinch of salt

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 pan with aluminum foil, and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray. In a small bowl, stir together the coconut and the condensed milk until the coconut is evenly moistened, and set aside for now.

2. Melt the chocolates with the butter in the microwave, stirring after every 45 seconds to prevent overheating. (You could also use a double boiler if you're old-school.) Once melted, whisk in cocoa until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt until combined, about 15 seconds. Whisk warm chocolate mixture into egg mixture; then stir in flour with wooden spoon until just combined.

4. Pour approximately half of the brownie mixture into prepared pan, spread it into the corners and spread it into an even layer. Spread the coconut layer on top--I've found that this is easiest to do by spooning portions of it over the entire pan, and then smoothing the spoonfuls together. Don't apply too much pressure, or it will sink into the brownie layer. Once the coconut is fairly evenly spread, pour the rest of the brownie batter over it, and spread it into an even layer on top.

5. Bake the brownies until they are slightly puffed and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a small amount of sticky crumbs clinging to it, about 35 minutes. If in doubt, err on the side of underbaking them.

These are bonkers when served warm, with caramel sauce or vanilla ice cream.

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Me + Rick Katz's Brownies = True Love

It is fitting that we made these brownies the week of Valentine's day, because I am in love with them.
Yes, I said it.
And I'll say it again: LOVE.
Inanimate objects, you say? Psh. Details.

Now I know my husband reads this blog, so it might get a little awkward around the house, but that's a small price to pay for a brownie this good.


In the eternal debate of cakey vs fudgy brownies, I have always fallen on the side of the fudgy folks. The gooier, the better. And you can't get much gooier than this:

These were really, truly, outrageously good if you're a fudgy brownie fanatic like myself. I don't know how they held their shape so well when cut, because they seemed to melt into pure chocolate bliss as soon as I bit into them.

I added some hazelnut paste and chopped hazelnuts, which turned out to be a good call. I think the brownies needed some kind of crunch to break up the gooey texture a bit. I couldn't really taste the hazelnut paste in the brownie part, though, so next time I'll double it so it has a chance against all of that chocolate. (Really, though, I can't believe it's only 6 ounces. Tastes like 60!)

My husband has taking to having a nightly bowl of vanilla ice cream, topped with a warm hazelnut brownie, and I have taken to stealing bites of it every night. People, I swear to you, this is the closest thing to heaven on earth you will find.

In fact, this might be more than plain love. This might be Princess Bride-style twu wuv, which as we all know, will fowow you foweveh. So tweasure your wuv! I know I'm treasuring mine several times a day.

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