Coffee, Coffee, and More Coffee

Yesterday was National Coffee Day.  I am not a huge coffee drinker.  If I do drink it, I get something like an iced latte.  Feels more like a milkshake rather than a coffee drink.  Kind of like a snack rather than a vice or a morning habit.

So, I decided to turn my coffee creation into a sweet.  No duh ( as Levi has been known to say).  These bars pack a huge jolt.  With that said, I decided to cut them into small portions.  Eat them sparingly!

Coffee Crunch Bars
adapted from here
yield: 48 pieces

ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup plus 2 Tbls. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
2 Tbls. instant espresso powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup sliced almonds

instructions:
• preheat oven to 325*.  set aside a 9 x 13" baking pan
• whisk flour, baking powder, and salt.  set aside.
• in the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until blended.
• add espresso powder and vanilla.
• add flour, in 3 additions, mixing until well combined
• stir in chocolate and almonds
• turn dough into baking pan.  spread evenly with an off set spatula.  pierce with a fork
• bake until edges are lightly browned and beginning to crisp, 45-50.  cool on a rack and after one minute,
score.
• can store in an airtight container for 5 days.

Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Roll

The kids survived the first week of school ( quite happily, I may add) and now we are on to week 2.  Thus far, I have done a pretty good job of making lunches the night before (sans the sandwich or hot food) and my goal for breakfast is to have goodies on hand, in the freezer, ready to bake off before the kids wake up.

I don't always give them something sweet in the a.m.  Once a week Eli requests "eggy sopita" lovingly coined by our nanny when Eli was oh so young.  Eggy sopita is an egg, dropped in boiling water for 4 minutes.  I then take the egg out of the water and crack open it's shell and scoop out the soft, gooey center into a heated ramekin with a tad of melted butter.  The ramekin is then put over the flame for a few minutes to finish cooking.  Add S + P, serve with "toast slices", along with some berries and this is one of those perfectly balanced meals
( when I was growing up, we didn't have a name for it, but the name "eggy sopita" is here to stay).  Isaac likes a BLD - turkey bacon, lettuce, Dijon on toasted sour dough.  And Levi likes a "push down"; a toasted whole wheat English muffin, once out of the toaster, we put a slice of cheese between the two halves and "push it down".  Other than these favorites, it is usually normal stuff like, bagels, fruit, fruit smoothies with protein powder + yogurt and sometimes, a bowl of cereal.

Today, the kids had fruit smoothies and these wonderfully easy chocolate chip cinnamon rolls.  No yeast, therefore no rising.  The wet ingredients included cottage cheese.  Cottage cheese you say!  I said the same thing and this ingredient almost deterred me from making them.  Glad I didn't follow my instincts.  These are light and delicious!

Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Roll
adapted from here
yield: 12 buns

ingredients:
cinnamon rolls
3/4 cups cottage cheese
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup sugar
4 Tbls. butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
9 oz. all-purpose flour
1 Tbls. baking powder

filling
1 1/2 tsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup mini bittersweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup toasted pecan, chopped

glaze
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp. milk
drop of vanilla

instructions:
• preheat oven to 350*.  spray a 12 capacity muffin tin.  set aside.
cinnamon rolls
• combine all wet ingredients in the bowl of a food processor.  pulse until smooth, about 10 seconds.  add the dry ingredients and pulse in short bursts until the dough clumps together.
• lightly flour your work surface ( I use a marble slab) and knead dough with the heal of your hand, 4-5 times.
• with a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 12 x 15" rectangle.
filling
• brush the dough with the melted butter, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edges.
• in a small bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients
• sprinkle the mixture over the buttered area. push the mixture into the dough(I use a piece of wax paper and lay on top of the mixture and press gently to get the goods into the dough).
• starting at the long edge, roll up the dough jelly roll style.  pinch the seams and leave the ends open
• cut 12 equal parts and set each piece in the individual muffin tins.
• bake 22 - 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown.
• let cool 5 minutes and remove from the muffin tin.  cool, slightly on wire racks.
• mix ingredients for the glaze and drizzle on top.
• mmm mmm good!

note:  if you want to make these in advance, freeze them in the muffin tins, uncooked.  once frozen, remove from muffing tin and place in a freezer bag and seal tightly.  these will last for a month in the freezer.  when ready to bake, remove from the freezer and let rest in your muffin tin while your oven is preheating.  add 5 minutes or so to the baking time!

Zucchini Muffins with Chocolate Streusel Topping

As I have mentioned in previous posts, at the beginning of each month, the G's receive a box or two of my baked treats(see original post, here).  With another school auction this past spring, I was asked to donate yet another "sweet of the month" and me being who I am,  I couldn't say NO.  So now,  both the G's and the M's get something sweet, on their doorstep each month ( sometimes even twice a month).

I needed to use up, yet, more zucchini.  I have been making a lot of tarts and baked savory dishes and was ready for something sweet.  I found this recipe for a cake (here), but changed it up a bit.  Instead of the cake, I choose to make muffins.  I was able to pack up a half a dozen muffins for each the G's and the M's and they had a nice little treat for a weekday morning breakfast.

All three of my kids ate these without one mention that there was something "green" in their muffin. I made a few extra and froze them after they were baked.  With school looming right around the corner, these are going to be a feather in my cap on those oh so very rushed mornings.   These are a win, win sweet + savory treat!

Zucchini Muffins with Chocolate Streusel Topping
yield: 22 muffins

ingredients:
muffins
1/2 cup softened butter, organic
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 cups all- purpose flour
1 1/4 cup whole wheat organic flour
2 1/4 cups, peeled, grated zucchini

streusel topping
1/2 cup sucanat
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
3/4 cup mini, bittersweet chocolate chips

instructions:
• preheat oven to 350*.  Line 2 - 12 cup capacity muffin tins with paper liners.
for the cake:
• in the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together.  add the eggs, vanilla, water, and buttermilk, mix to combine.
• in another bowl, combine both flours, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.  whisk to combine.
• add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and combine.  fold in the zucchini.
• using a 1/4 cup ice cream scooper, scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.  fill them up about 3/4 of the way to the top.
for the streusel topping
• combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly
• sprinkle mixture (about 1 tablespoon) over each muffin.
• bake in the middle of the oven for 30-35 minutes.

enjoy with a big glass of cold milk!

Giveaway Winner!

I want to thank all of you for commenting and sharing your favorite cookie recipes with me.  It was so fun reading all your comments and all your stories about cookie memories.  I wish I had a set of these wonderful measuring cups and measuring spoons for all of you, but I only have one.  And, we have a winner:

Jocelyn is the winner!  I love and adore my set of spoons and measuring cups and I know she will as well.   I am so excited to give her package of goodies.  I am including a batch of one of my FAVORITE cookie along with the white, porcelain set.  I have been making Oatmeal Cookies since I was 10 years old ( a very long time ).  Originally I only made Oatmeal - Raisin ( recipe from the back of the Quaker oats box ).  Over the years, I have created other combos and recently I have experimented with alternative flours, sugars and have added really good bittersweet chocolate to the dough.  I feel, I have come up with a winning combo.  

I love these cookies and so do my kids.  They have no idea that they are made with alternative ingredients. 

Jury is still out!  Let's see how Jocelyn feels about them!

ENJOY!!!

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

I have been wanting to test some gluten free goodies for sometime now. I have purchased ALL the various flours, sugars, sorghum, etc and it has been sitting and waiting in my extra fridge.  I finally started to test and create.

We went to my cousins for dinner the other day and she has Celiac Disease. Basically, Celiac Disease is is an autoimmune disease in which the small intestine is damaged from eating gluten and other proteins found in wheat, barley, rye and possibly oats.  Years ago, when she was first diagnosed, it was hard on her.  Now, with all the knowledge out there and all the products on the market, she eats most everything.  Going to their home, gave me the perfect excuse to try something a little new.

I have been reading The Allergen-Free Bakers Handbook. I am so inspired, intrigued and excited to bake with alternative ingredients.  I am curious about this new movement for many reasons.  I have been secretly wanting to eliminate some white food products from our diet and my youngest son, Levi has bad eczema.  I have been reading that eliminated both wheat and eggs from his diet could possibly help it.  I am starting with the wheat!

Although I am ready to "develop" some of my own recipes, I am starting with a chocolate cake recipe from Helene's blog; Tartelette.  I am always super inspired when reading her blog and this cake was a wonderful opportunity for me to go outside my comfort zone and use ingredients that I wouldn't normally cook with.

Simply Good Chocolate Cake
adapted from my tartlette

ingredients:
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar or sucanat
1 cup sour cream
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 Tbls. cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 cup superfine brown rice flour
1/2 cup superfine sweet rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup millet flour
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt

instructions:
• preheat oven to 350*. line 15 muffin tins with liners.  lightly spray the inside of the cups
• in the bowl of an electric mixer, whip eggs and sugar for 2-3 minutes, until light and airy.
• turn to low and add the sour cream, melted chocolate, and butter and blend.
• slowly add the flours, cocoa powder, the gum, baking powder and salt.  mix until well combined
• divide batter, evenly into cups or vessels and bake for about 24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Layered Buttermilk Chocolate Cake

I had buttermilk, I was craving chocolate, and I wanted cake.  Donna Hay to the rescue.  I was taking a moment of solitude, reading my donna hay magazine, the 50th issue.  Low and behold, pages and pages of chocolate desserts!  What I love about her recipes, aside from the mouth watering photography, is the fact that most of the recipes have few ingredients.  And most of the ingredients line my pantry shelves.  This cake is mixed in a bowl, no mixer, no gadgets.  My favorite kind of recipe!

I sent this cake with the kids, to our neighbors, who was hosting movie night under the stars (movie projected onto the garage door; kids wrapped in blankets, sitting on beach chairs).  These nights, at Jeni's, are some of my favorite summer nights!

chocolate buttermilk layer cake
donna hay #50

ingredients:
cake
1 cup water
125g unsalted butter, chopped
35g cocoa, sifted
300g all purpose flour, sifted
1 tsp. baking soda
440g caster sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla

frosting
100g unsalted butter, room temp
500g cream cheese, room temp
320g confectioner's sugar, sifted
50g cocoa, sifted

instructions:
cake
• preheat oven to 325*.  grease two 8" round cake pans ( I didn't have round, I did this in square pans), line with parchment and grease the parchment lightly.
• place water, butter, and cocoa in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until the butter has melted.
• sift the flour, baking soda, and sugar in a bowl.  add the cocoa mixture to the dry ingredients.
• add the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla and whisk.
• divide mixture between the 2 cake pans.
• bake for 40-45 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.  allow to cool in the pans.  turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
frosting:
• while the cake is in the oven, place the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until pale and creamy.
• add the confectioner's sugar and cocoa and beat for another 6-8 minutes until really creamy.
• to assemble, slice each cake in half, horizontally.  frost between the layers and on the top.

Triple Chocolate Triangels

If you want to a crowd, a huge crowd, these are the cookies for you!  I stumbled upon this recipe last week as I was reading some of my older issues of Donna Hay Magazines.  There was a whole series of holiday cookies, that I remember reading about, but neglected to experiment with.  What I loved most about this recipe, aside from the taste, was that it had so few ingredients.  I have a feeling that this batter can be made into a plethora of combinations!

Triple Chocolate Triangles
adapted from Donna Hay Magazine
yield approximately 48 triangles

ingredients:
250g unsalted butter, room temp
2 1/2 cups (440g) brown sugar
1 Tbls. vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 cups (450g) all purpose flour, sifted
1 tsp. baking powder
125g dark chocolate, chopped
125g white chocolate, chopped
125g milk chocolate, chopped
(I used more chocolate than the original recipe and I used callebaut )

instructions:
• preheat oven to 355*.  place butter, sugar + vanilla in a the bowl of an electric mixer and beat 8-10 minutes, until pale and creamy. gradually add eggs, beating until combined.  add flour and baking powder until a smooth dough forms.
• add the chocolate and mix to combine.  press the dough into a lightly greased 12" x 16" jelly roll pan, lined with parchment.
• bake 25-30 minutes until golden.  allow to cool completely and then cut into 24 squares, then cut each square into triangles.

Hazelnut macaroons + chocolate raspberry ganache

More egg whites.  I just can't throw them out.  Thus, more macaroons.  Today, hazelnut shells with chocolate-raspberry ganache.  I think I over aged my egg whites.  Is that possible?  These were not one of the more successful macaroon endeavors.  Nor were they the prettiest, hence, delicious.  The ganache was the perfect combination of bitter and sweet.  It was smooth and easy to apply to the shell of the macaroon.  This will go down as a staple ganache recipe! 


Macaroons
adapted from helene of mytartelette.com


for the shells
90 grams (about 3) egg whites (measured after aging)
25-50 grams(2 Tbls. - 1/4 cup) granulated sugar
200 grams ( 1.5 cups + 2 Tbls) powdered sugar
110 grams ( 3/4 cup) almond flour/meal (for this recipe I did 1/2 hazelnut flour - 1/2 almond flour)
1 Tbls. powdered food coloring (optional)

prep the eggs
48 hours in advance, separate the whites from the yolks and place whites in a super clean bowl.  leave at room
temperature, uncovered for at least 24 hours.  refrigerate after that.  you can use eggs that have been aging for up to 5 days.

prepare the macaroons
• if using nuts, place powdered sugar + nuts in a food processor and give them a good pulse until finely ground.  sift a few times to remove bits and pieces. ( I like bobs red meal hazelnut meal & almond meal ) if using color add it now.
• in a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam (like bubble bath), gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue (like shaving cream).  Do not over beat your meringue or it will be too dry
• add the nut mixture, give a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that falls back on itself after counting to 10.  Give quick strokes at first and then slow down.  Test a small amount on a plate;  if the tops flattens on its won you are good to go.  if there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns.
• fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (80 or 809) with the batter and pipe small mounds on to parchment lined baking sheets.  let macaroons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells.
• preheat oven to 300*.  when read to bake, bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating half way through. let cool.

prepare chocolate raspberry ganache
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 Tbls. unsalted butter, room temp
1/16 tsp. raspberry extract or raspberry oil

directions:
• melt chocolate + cream in a bowl over simmering water ( do not let water touch bottom of the bowl), stirring until smooth.  remove from heat and add the butter and extract until melted.  let stand at room temp until cooled completely and thickened.

assembly:
• match up macaroons by size and lay upside down on a cookie sheet.  put about a teaspoon of ganache on one of the macaroons and carefully press the the other macaroon on top.
• let sit in refrigerator over night.
• eat and enjoy!

Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes

This was the one of the three desserts I made for last weeks fund raiser.  I wanted little finger desserts as the food was going to be heavy appetizers.  This was a good trio; mini chocolate mascrapone cheesecakes, mini lemon bundts, and pecan tea tassies.  I have made these cheesecakes in the past (post here) and they are super delicious.  They keep well in the freezer, they are not too sweet and they are the perfect size.

The recipe doesn't call for a baked crust.  I like my cheesecake with a baked crust.  I had some brownie ends in the freezer.  I had just enough crumbs to make 48 mini cheesecakes.  After filling the 48 tart pans, I still had filling.  i decided to take my 8" spring form pan and make mama "G" a cheesecake.  I didn't have any left over crust, so I crumbled up about a 1/2 cup of graham crackers, added a tablespoon of sugar and 1 1/2 tablespoons of melted butter and made that her crust (pre-baked crust at 350* for about 10 minutes).

Delivered all the desserts to the fund raiser, then headed over to the "G's" and gave them their goodies.  I left a few of everything behind, because had I not done so, I probably would have been locked out of the house.

Check out my post from last October to get the recipe for these delicious cheesecakes.

Rugelah 101

Monday is Yom Kippur and I am baking loads of stuff for my friends 100 person "break fast". This will be one of many desserts I am doing for her. Rugelah is a great treat for a crowd. For one thing, the recipe makes lots of cookies and two; they easily freeze prior to baking. I like to line them up on a cookie sheet and flash freeze them. Once frozen, I throw in a container or a zip loc and stick them in the freezer. When you are ready to make them, just pull them out, set them on your parchment lined cookie sheet, brush with egg wash or milk, sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar and bake.

I have been using an old family favorite recipe for years. I wanted to mix it up a little and try something new. I found a few recipes that use cream cheese in the dough (which mine does as well) so I decided to use one and I played with the ingredients just a little. I love Rose Levy Beranbaum. I decided to try her recipe from the Rose's Christmas Cookie book. I made the crust in advance, rolled it out and put in the fridge until I was ready to assemble.

I do like to create my own fillings. I made some with apricot preserves, currants & pecans. The other filling was raspberry preserves, mini chocolate chips and walnuts.

These are better than good. I have loved this book for 25 years!

Beyond Brownies

I knew these were going to be good right when I looked at the recipe. Another winning bar recipe from my guy Nick (Malgieri). Sooooooooooo good!

The same day we were going to friends for breakfast (challah bread pudding), we were also seeing other friends for dinner. I totally overbooked us. What was I thinking? This was more socializing in one day than I usually do over a two week period!

Regardless, I had to bring treats. I wanted something I could do the day before and the Pecan, Coconut Chocolate Chunk Bars. These were somewhat similar to the dream bars that I make yet with a twist.

These melted in your mouth. They are the perfect balance between sweet, salty, crunchy, soft. Mmmm Mmmm good!

This is yet another recipe from my bible; The Modern Baker.

Chocolate Hazelnut Tart

The end of the summer means cramming all that is possible into a 3 day weekend. For us, returning from vacation, my days were filled with stocking the fridge, meal planning for the week, returning to packing lunches (yuck) and lots and lots laundry. We did manage to say yes to one labor day invite. Which means, I was forced to add one more thing to my list of chores; cook for a crowd.

As you all know (for those of you whom even bother to read my blog. I believe there is one or two of you) I love The Modern Baker. Thus far, everything I have made from this great big book of everything scrumptious is wonderful. The chocolate hazelnut tart is no exception.

I opted to make the sweet crust, and with his suggestion, opted to add ground almonds to the dry ingredients. This dough really came together nicely and was easy to assemble. After sitting in the fridge for 2 hours, I attempted to roll it out, however it was a little on the wet side. I decided to press it into the tart pan and it turned out great.

The recipe has orange zest in the ganache. I still have a a small bag of candied orange peels in my freezer. I decided to chop some up and add them to the top of the tart which complimented the toasted hazelnuts.

The tart is super rich, but got rave reviews.

Chocolate Pound Cake

I received an email the other day that our school community wants to provide lunch for all the teachers next week. They were reaching out for volunteers to help that day as well as contribute food. We are going to be out of town, but I couldn't not make something.

I am trying to use up the things in my fridge, that will no doubt turn green while we are away. I had just enough sour cream to make this cake. For the life of me, I can't remember where this recipe came from and as I write this, I am searching for the recipe in my recipe files on my desk top. I know I am overwhelmed with trying to pack for 5, but am I losing it here? I just made the cake yesterday and had the recipe that I had printed directly from my computer?!

I baked the cake in the morning and then when it was cool, sliced it and wrapped it for freezing. I dropped it off at my neighbors house as she so graciously offered to bring it to school for me. Whether we are in town or not, the Salzman family has to show our school and our teachers that we appreciate all that they do.

I will post the recipe when I get back (provided I can find it!)

Have a good week and a safe Labor day!

Cocoa Banana Muffins

I had the ugliest, yuckiest bananas one has ever seen. I left them in the fridge all week and they really couldn't sit another day. They were going to start growing stuff. After making the babka recipe, I wanted to make more from The Modern Baker. Nick (Malgieri) had a recipe for Cocoa Banana Muffins and they were the perfect solution for my ugly, mushy bananas.

These were delicious. They were light (sour cream in the base of the batter), not too sweet and perfectly chocolaty. The only change I made to the recipe was I added about a handful, handful and a half - of good chocolate chips.

Everyone should run out and buy this book. It is a keeper!

Babka for Breakfast!

I wanted to experiment more with my new fav book, The Modern Baker. He has tons of breads and quick breads and I guess I was in the mood to work with yeast. I decided to make the Chocolate Babka. I do not make much bread, but I want to master it. This was a good place to start.

You see, although bread seems daunting, it really isn't. What bread requires is a lot of time. But not the kind of time that makes you a slave to the kitchen. The ingredients get thrown into the kitchen aid mixer. You either use the paddle attachment or the dough hook. Once the dough forms a ball slap it onto a floured surface, lightly knead it and then put it in a well oiled bowl. Let it rise. Then you go through the steps of the recipe.

The babka called for 6 egg yolks. Therefore I had tons of egg whites left over. I also had some egg yolks left over from something else I baked this past week (can't remember what). Friday night I had made a big dinner and I had had some roasted potatoes left over. I thought a Spanish omelet for breakfast the next morning would a good solution in not wasting the left over potatoes. When I mentioned "Spanish omelet" to Eli, he became obsessed. I told him that Dad and I lived on them when we traveled through Spain (especially in the South on the beaches in Nerja), prior to him coming into our lives. I made it from memory. Memory worked. I served it with some salsa and everyone was happy.

Bread is fun. I want to make more. This was good, not perfect. I think not perfect because of me, not because of the recipe. Eli and Mitch liked it. Levi likes anything with sugar. Again, Isaac would have preferred a bag of french fries!

Chocolate Buttermilk Pancakes

Once again, I had some buttermilk on hand. I wanted to make more scones (already made two batches), but wasn't in the mood. The solution...Pancakes! Chocolate, Chocolate chip pancakes.

I found the recipe on the Gourmet website. The batter looked good enough to eat. It was dense and thick, almost fudge-like. Of course, Eli loved these. Again, Isaac would have preferred a bacon sandwich (turkey or soy bacon on toasted french bread with arugula!).

Lots of left over egg whites!

I have wasted way too many left over egg whites in the past few months and I wasn't about to do it again.

After my ice cream bonanza last week, I found myself left with 6 egg whites. I have been wanting to make meringues and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so. Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home To Yours seemed to have a few good recipes. I ended up choosing the Cocoa Almond Meringues. As you all know, I love chocolate, so this was the obvious choice. Plus, it was something super easy and I could whip them up before starting dinner. These are really the lazy mans cookie. After baking at a certain temperature, you pop the oven down 100 or so degrees and they sit in there for 1 hour. The perfect end of the day task for someone as obsessed with baking as myself.

Everyone loved them except Isaac. He is somewhat hard to please. He sometimes prefers a bag of Doritos to a cookie. Too bad, I don't keep that crap in the house, because if I did, it would be all he would eat.

Daring Bakers- Choco-Pies

My boys love Choco-Pies. Asaph, Isaac's friend, is Korean and Isaac has fallen in love with all of the Korean snack foods; Choco-Pies, Seaweed sheets, some of the candies and more. Whenever Asaph and Isaac have plans, Asaph's mom never comes empty handed. She always comes with one or two boxes of Choco-pies.

Naturally, when I opened up the Daring Bakers July Challenge, I got excited. It had all the elements of a choco pie; cookie based, marshmallow and chocolate glaze. I knew my kids would enjoy eating these, however I also knew I would enjoy making them.

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

Mallows(Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)

Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website

• 3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter

• 3 eggs, whisked together

• Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows

• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.

2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.

3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.

4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.

5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.

6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.

8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.

9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.

10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.

11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.

12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.

13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.

Homemade marshmallows:

• 1/4 cup water

• 1/4 cup light corn syrup

• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar

• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin

• 2 tablespoons cold water

• 2 egg whites , room temperature

• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.

2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.

3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.

4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.

5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.

6. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate glaze:

• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate

• 2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

1. Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.

There were many pros and cons to this recipe. The pros; the dough was very easy to work with. Hence, next time, I would roll out the dough, put on parchement and store in the fridge for a while. It got a little too elastic. Might have something to do with the heat this past week. With that aside, I would pre-roll and let set for awhile. I have never made marshmallows with egg whites before. I am really excited to use this recipe again. I want to make my own s'mores with a chocolate truffle filling on top of graham crackers. Another use for this perfect concotion, it's the perfect meringue for cupcakes. I love, love, love this filling. The cons; the cookie was a little dry, the glaze was flat. I think I have just gotten spoiled with my tempering machine. I vow, from this day forward, to not top anything with chocolate unless it is tempered!

I made two versions. I made one that replicated at Choco-Pie. Two cookies with marshmallow cream sandwiched between, covered in glaze. And one version exactly as the recipe calls for. The vote in our home was the single cookie version. I have to agree with my kids!

Milan Cookies

• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened

• 2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar

• 7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)

• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract

• 2 tablespoons lemon extract

• 1 1/2 cups (187.5grams/ 6.61 oz) all purpose flour

• Cookie filling, recipe follows

Cookie filling:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream

• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

• 1 orange, zested

1. In a mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and the sugar.

2. Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.

3. Add the flour and mix until just well mixed.

4. With a small (1/4-inch) plain tip, pipe 1-inch sections of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches apart as they spread.

5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan.

6. While waiting for the cookies to cool, in a small saucepan over medium flame, scald cream.

7. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well.

8. Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools).

9. Spread a thin amount of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie while the filling is still soft and press the flat side of a second cookie on top.

10. Repeat with the remainder of the cookies.

This recipe was a HUGE waste of my time. Didn't like these one bit and everyone in our house agreed. The cookies were mushy and chewy. The glaze was so so. And if you piped these the way she suggest (1"), you end up with cookies the size of half your pinky finger. In my opinion, these were not worth the trouble.

The Beach and Brownies

Before school ended for the school year, we planned a beach day with Cassidy, Gracie and Jessie G. We scheduled it for the first week of summer.

We packed a picnic, I baked some brownies and we loaded up the car with all the beach gear and set off for a really fun, casual, easy day.

I pulled out my 125 Cookie book and selected a not so complicated brownie recipe. The recipe called for semi-sweet chocolate bits, but I substituted both white chocolate and bittersweet chocolate. These are must for anyone's repertoire!

Ingredients:

6 Tbl. unsalted butter
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
3/4 C. plus 2 Tbl. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1 C. pus 2 Tbl. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 C. chocolate chips (your preference)
I used both white and bittersweet chocolate

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325*. Butter an 8x8x2-inch pan

2. Put the butter, unsweetened chocolate and 2 Tbl. water in large heatproof bowl set over, but not touching, a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

3. Stir flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.

4. Beat eggs and sugar until lightened in color. Add vanilla. Add chocolate mixture, blending until incorporated. Add the flour mixture. Stir in the chips. Spread the batter, evenly, in the prepared pan.

5. Bake for about 30-35 minutes (mine were perfect at 30 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for about 1 1/2 hours. Cut and enjoy.

These would also be great with nuts!

The weather was perfect, the company was perfect and their was no one on the beach, but us!