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Blondies

12 Sep

Blondies a.k.a chocolate chip cookie bars.  This recipe is from the Mrs. Fields cookbook. When we were growing up, Mrs. Fields was the shit. If Sam & I went to the mall– or my mom went without us, she would bring us back something from Mrs. Fields, usually a raspberry muffin (a recipe i have longed to recreate but haven’t found.) One of the best things about blondies, besides the taste, is how quickly they come together. If you are craving chocolate chip cookies (or dough, as it happens)  but you don’t want to bother w. the scooping of the individual cookies– which shouldn’t seem like such a chore, but sometimes does. Anyway, fast, easy, gooey, great.  By the way, I was thinking that this could also translate to a chocolate chip cookie pie…

1 cup salted butter [i used 1 cup unsalted butter, and 1/2 tsp salt]
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (9 oz)
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 300. Line an 8×8 inch pan w. foil and grease w. butter. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, soda, and salt (if using unsalted butter.) W. an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla, beat until light and fluffy.  Add flour mixture, blend on low until just combined, don’t overmix. Gently fold in choc chips and pecans w. a spoon. Put in pan. With damp hands, press down until flat across the top. Cook for 35-40 mins, until toothpick comes out clean but still soft in the middle. [I cooked mine for 33 mins, toothpick wasn’t exactly clean, but I like them gooey.] Wait until cool to cut. Another thing, blondies usually dry out more quickly than say brownies or cookies- so the fresher the better.

Granola Bars

7 Sep

Made these for a picnic at the beach (it was only a couple weeks ago- but summer beach weather feels so long ago already.)  Chewy, fruity, delicious- just sweet enough. This is an Ina recipe–and it actually pretty quick to pull together. Feel free to use any sort of dried fruit combo you want- can’t go wrong. And I added in some dark chocolate chips– b/c isn’t everything better w. some choc chips in it? As Rach perfectly put it “A great, satisfying afternoon beach snack, especially when the chocolate melts just a little and makes for the perfect gooey bite o’ bar.”

2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal (rolled, not instant)
1 cup sliced almonds (optional)
1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed (like oatmeal choc chip cookies, these don’t have a coconut taste, it just helps w. texture)
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ (i use untoasted wheatgerm- and just toasted w. the other oats)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup honey
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed (i’d leave out- but keep in if you want more sweet)
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
dried fruit- Ina does 1/2 each cup of cup apricots, pitted dates, and dried cranberries
I used– a mix of dates, figs, currents, dried cranberries, cherries, blueberries. De-pitt dates and chop. chop figs too.
And my other add in– a big handful of chocolate chunks- a cut up chocolate bar and some chips I had laying around

Preheat to 350. Butter 8×12 in baking dish (i use pyrex). Line w. parchment. Toss oatmeal, almonds (if using) and coconut (and wheatgerm if using untoasted) together and bake for 10-12 mins, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer to large mixing bowl and if using pre-toasted wheatgerm (it will say on the package), add now.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300. Put butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla and salt in small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook & stir for one minute. Then pour over oat mixture, toss to coat. Add in dried fruit. Stir. When slightly cooled add in chocolate.  Pour into prepped pan- w. wet fingers, lightly press mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. Serve at room temperature.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

30 Aug

Peter D’s easy everyday chocolate cake– topped w. Jess S.’ peanut butter frosting. The perfect combination for a housewarming gift to JJ. When gifting a cake- a couple issues come up. You either need a cake box- or some other means of transport- where the frosting won’t get messed up. and you also don’t want to end up giving your cake pan away in the process.  I also hate the idea of giving someone a cake that I haven’t sampled– not necessarily because I just need a bite, but what if it sucks?  I am also not so into the sq cake look– but as I don’t own a round cake pan- it remains the easiest route to go.  To solve all problems, I decided to put the cake  in this fish tin. Using it, as Heather pointed out, like a giant cookie cutter, I laid the tin on the cake, cut around it.. then flipped the cake upside- foil covering excess parts I didn’t want to fall out. Fish was just a bit bigger than the cake, so had to do the tail separately. With the extra bits, I made a mason jar layer cake. I thought maybe i’d have to cut out circles- but really, I just put some in- flatten it down, add a spoon of frosting, add more cake, and continue to layer.  A note about this delicious frosting: Jess S. made this a couple years ago– it was so good- it reminded me of reese’s– and i’ve been meaning to make it ever since.   Jess S. has all sorts of amazing recipes from her Grammie Viv– including this one–which was adapted by her Aunt Julie– then again by Jess herself.

Peter’s Easy Everyday Cake
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 tablespoons cocoa powder

6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup cold water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tablespoon powdered espresso

Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8×8 pan w. foil and grease w. butter. Empty first set of ingredients in large bowl. Mix. Add liquid ingredients and stir.  Pour into pan. Bake 25-30 minutes. When done, cake springs back when you gently touch w. your finger.  Cool cake on wire rack. Can lift cake out by foil- and onto rack.  Let cool completely before frosting.

Jess S. Peanut Butter Frosting
I halved the recipe below- but use full amount for layer cake, cupcakes etc. Jess said sometimes she uses a bit less butter- and more PB and sometimes water instead of milk.
1 cup peanut butter (more to taste)
1 stick butter, softened, or half cup crisco
2 cups confectioner sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
milk- a couple tablespoons

Beat butter and sugar w. mixer. Add vanilla. Beat. And PB. Beat. Add a couple tablespoons of milk to thin and smooth. If you have it sitting around for a bit while your cake is cooling, and it starts to sort of stiffen- add a drop more milk and mix up and smooth out.

Banoffee Pie

14 Jun

Banoffee- like banana and toffee. Oh what deliciousness.  This is actually a British dish- invented in East Sussex at a restaurant called The Hungry Monk in 1972. But I know it from New Zealand- used to make it with my Kiwi roommates.  The recipe can vary- and I have melded a couple here- but I go w. the basic strata of crushed up cookies, dulce de leche, bananas and whipped cream. To make the dulce, you boil tins of condensed milk for a few hours. There are two ways to do this- one faster though more potentially dangerous. If you do it on your stovetop, you put the cans- (unopened!)- in a heavy saucepan covered w. water and boil 2-2.5 hours. Make sure the cans stay covered in water, will need to keep topping up. Otherwise, apparently, they can explode all over your ceiling and burn your face. The alternative is to start boiling on the stove, but then switch to the oven. They won’t explode, but it takes an extra hour.   I really don’t remember doing this whole long thing in NZ, granted it was a long time ago, so I once tried to shortcut the long boil  and it turned out a sickly sweet mess.  I’d say if you want to shortcut it, just buy a jar of dulce de leche.  The other tip is- if you are going to bother with the boiling tins- do as many tins as you can fit- and they will keep very well- unopened in the cupboard for later use.  The cookies- I used digestive biscuits- McVities- an English brand I picked up at a London store in the west village. I used about 2/3 of a 400g pack. Graham crackers could also work as a substitute.   Once the toffee is made- assembly is super fast and easy.

1- 10 oz pack of digestive biscuits.
1 stick unsalted butter
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
1 pint of heavy cream
a couple ripe bananas
instant coffee (optional)

Toffee instructions from the inventor, Ian Dowding
Find a deep saucepan or casserole that will go in the oven. Put into it as many tins as will fit. (THE TINS MUST BE UNOPENED). Cover the tins with water and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid and transfer to the oven 275 degrees. Cook for 3 ½ hours.
Lift the cans from the water, cool and store.
Stovetop: Put the tins in the deep saucepan. Cover with water. Make sure submerged at all times, will need to keep adding water. Takes 2-2.5 hours. Be careful.
To assemble the pie (Ian scoffs at cookie base and uses pastry- but I prefer the cookie route)
Crush up the biscuits. Can do this in food processor. Melt one stick of butter. In a large bowl, mix up butter and cookies, best to do with your hands, cookies get moist. Press into the bottom of a tart pan, or springform, with a removable bottom. Use your hands to make flat.  Chill in fridge- maybe half hour. Open up cans of dulce de leche. Spread about 1.5 tins into a layer on cookies. It’s pretty sweet so it doesn’t need to be super thick. Peel bananas and slice across lengthwise, cover toffee in a single layer. Whip the cream, can add a pinch of confectioner sugar and ground coffee. Spread on the bananas. I maybe used 3/4 of the whipped cream. Keep pie chilled.

The last fun thing- I had some extra ingredients- so made some mini pies in little ramekins- and also one portable pie in a small tupperware. And if you want to be like that, mason jar pies are so hot right now.

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Chocolate Chip Meringue

9 May

This is another gem from Mrs. Weiner.  I love meringues. I could eat like a hundred of these. Light, airy and best of all- chocolate chippy.  Twice I’ve had the thought that these would be prettier if I piped them through a pastry bag. While this works for plain meringues, the tip always gets clogged w. choc chips.  So don’t even bother, just spoon them out. P.S. When I was in London, I had a meringue the size of your face. True story.

2 eggs whites
8 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar (a white powder, in the spice aisle)
3/4 cups mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 250. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Beat egg whites until foamy. Add tartar. Beat 1 minute.  Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating 30 seconds between additions. Add vanilla, beat 7 minutes until stiff (mine took only like one minute b/c  my Kitchen Aid is super powered- you know it is done when you take off the whisk and the white stuff stands up on its own, like a little wave.)  Gently fold in choc chips. Spoon onto cookie sheets. Bake about 40 minutes (mine were done after 30 mins), they will look slightly golden. Turn off and leave in oven to cool. (Ina leaves hers in the oven, turned off for 4 hours, I say just leave them however long you have time for.)

Makes about 18 meringues

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