RASPBERRY CREAM CHEESE BROWNIES

There is something really satisfying about making baked goods from scratch—especially those that come from prepackaged mixes at the grocery store, like brownies. It reminds me of the scene in the movie “Castaway” where Tom Hanks’ character finally succeeds in building himself a fire, and he shouts out majestically, “LOOK WHAT I HAVE CREATED!!!”
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I had never made from-scratch brownies before. When I saw this recipe, with the cream cheese filling sandwiched in the middle of two layers of brownie, I was intrigued. And the fact that there are no added chemicals (with the exception of what might be in the store-bought jam) made me happy, too. Not even bleach, because the recipe calls for unbleached AP flour.
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I thought it was a good sign when the brownie batter tasted delicious. I am writing this blog post before I have even tasted the end product…the brownies are baking as I type. But they smell delicious. I suppose I’ll delete the post if they don’t turn out :)
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RASPBERRY CREAM CHEESE BROWNIES
from the Summer 2011 Cook’s Illustrated “Entertaining” magazine:
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Makes 25 (small) brownies
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FILLING:
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
¼ cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
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BROWNIES:
2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon table salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped (I used Ghiradelli baking squares)
½ cup raspberry jam, divided (I used Smucker’s Red Raspberry Preserves)
1 ¼ cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
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1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 8-inch square baking pan with foil, allowing excess to hang over edges. Grease foil.
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2. Process cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla in food processor until smooth. Note: I used a handmixer…didn’t feel like dirtying up the food processor.
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3. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Microwave butter and chocolate in a large bowl, stirring occasionally, until smooth, about 1 minute. Whisk in ¼ cup jam and let cool slightly.
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4. Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla to chocolate mixture, stirring until combined. Whisk in flour mixture until incorporated.
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5. Microwave remaining ¼ cup jam until warm—15 to 30 seconds.
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6. Scrape half of brownie batter into prepared pan. Spread into even layer. Dollop cream cheese filling over brownie batter and spread into even layer. Dollop jam over filling and using tip of knife, gently swirl jam through filling. Spread remaining brownie batter evenly over filling.
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7. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out with a few dry crumbs attached, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan and cut into 1 ½ inch squares. Serve.

12 Treats of Christmas: #12 Santa's Cut-Out Cookies

The twelth and final treat to share is the recipe for the cookies we leave for Santa. The only sugar cookie recipe I have ever known, it has been made over and over for as long as I can remember. Before I owned a KitchenAid mixer, I used to dread the mixing that had to take place by hand...you can only go so far in this recipe with a hand-mixer. Now, making the dough is a snap! Since I already blogged the recipe here, I will share the recipe I use for the frosting. I learned to make it simply by watching my mom. The "recipe" consists of only three ingredients: powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk...although, I swear my mom used to add in some butter, too. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I'm sure she'll comment here to tell me her thoughts on that.

FROSTING FOR SUGAR COOKIES

2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
Food coloring

Begin by putting powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. Add vanilla. Add milk ONE TABLESPOON AT A TIME, until you make a nice, spreadable consistency. Frost the cookies, add some sprinkles, and allow to "dry."

DID YOU KNOW: If your cookies (these cookies or ANY type of cookie) become hard...or if you cooked them too long and didn't burn them, but they cool more crispy than you would like, put them in a container or ziplock with a slice of bread. The cookies will soften!

12 Treats of Christmas: #11 Mini Mint Kiss Pies

Oh my goodness. I’ve found a new blog to love. Just like my love of collecting cookbooks, I’ve started “collecting” cooking blogs. Who are these people who are not only talented in the kitchen, but talented behind a camera lense, too? Right now I religiously follow Pioneer Woman, Smitten Kitchen, How Sweet It Is, and Tasty Kitchen (sister blog to PW). There are many others that I know are out there and waiting, but there is just not enough time in the day. Of course, once you see them, you’ll understand what a complete amateur I am, but at least I can be your resource, right? Anyway, I was feverishly entering a blog giveaway ($250 Best Buy gift card…I’ll let you know if I win LOL) and I fell on Picky Palate and this recipe. Read the recipe below then jump on over here to see the step-by-step pictures that accompany this recipe and made me want to make Kiss Pies immediately.

MINI MINT KISS PIES

1 refrigerated pie crust, thawed

14 Mint Truffle Hershey Kisses

1 egg white whisked with 1 tablespoon water

Powdered sugar for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Roll out pie dough onto a lightly floured counter top.

3. Place a kiss on the pie dough and cut a 2 ½ to 3 inch circle around it with a knife (or find an appropriately sized glass and use the mouth to “cut” around the kiss. *Be strategic about where you place the kisses so that you can maximize use of your dough!

4. For first fold, bring opposite sides of circle up together (as if you’re creating a taco). Pinch the two edges around top of kiss.

5. Now, fold up the other two sides of remaining dough up to the tip of the kiss pinching edge. Now press together all touching edges (will look like a square envelope with a kiss inside.

6. Continue cutting dough around kisses until all dough is used up & repeating steps 4 & 5; you can get between 10-14 rounds cut, especially if you re-roll your scraps.

7. Brush all little “pies” with egg white wash, then sprinkle with granulated sugar.

8. Bake for 20-28 minutes or until little pies are golden. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

9. Dust each with powdered sugar and serve.

12 Treats of Christmas: #10 Cinnamon Sugar Pecans

I used to not like any type of nut at all. While I still don’t like ANY type of nut in ANY cookie (bars, sometimes; cookies—never), I have certainly expanded my horizons to include some delicious recipes that include nuts. Pecans are the main ingredient here—the highlight. And I love them. Although, I would say it might be hard to not like anything that is smothered in cinnamon and sugar!

These package up so nicely. Delicious and festive, how can you go wrong?

CINNAMON SUGAR PECANS

1 lb. pecan halves

1 egg white

1 Tablespoon water

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

2. Mix sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl; set aside.

3. In another bowl, beat egg white and water with electric mixer until frothy, but not stiff. Add pecans and mix to coat.

4. Add sugar, salt, cinnamon mixture to pecans. Mix.

5. Spread on large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

6. Package to give away, or serve in a decorative bowl.

12 Treats of Christmas: #9 French Silk Pastry Puffs

In brainstorming an easy way to make the absolutely AMAZING French Silk Pie recipe that follows into an individual treat recipe, I simply needed to determine the best crust. There are several ways one could go here—and most of them can be found in the chilled or frozen sections of the supermarket. You could use the little individual tart shells (the same ones you would use if you were making individual quiches), or you cut up a refrigerated pie crust and shape the dough into individual pie shells in a mini-muffin tin. You could easily use the Tiny Holiday Tart crust recipe in Treat #8. You could use wonton wrappers pressed into muffin tins—they bake into a tasty, thin, crispy shell—or phyllo dough, which does the same thing.

None of my ideas seemed special enough, and this French silk is very special. Then, I thought of it: Puff Pastry. Do you know why puff pastry is so delightful? It has to do with layers and layers of paper-thin pastry dough separated by butter. And when baked, the steam let off by the butter and moisture in the dough cause it to puff into rich, buttery light-as-air goodness. Now, making puff-pastry shall be left to highly trained, highly paid pastry chefs. Luckily we can buy puff pastry in the freezer section! Even more exciting for this particular recipe is that Pepperidge Farm makes Puff Pastry Shells. Perfect!! I found the vessel which shall carry the silk!

My mom introduced me to this recipe. She included it in a cookbook she wrote for me as a Christmas gift “Recipes from Mom’s Kitchen and Stories from her Heart.” Don’t your eyes just tear up at reading the title? Anyway…she notes that “this recipe for French Silk Chocolate Pie first appeared in 1951, when it won $1000 in a bake-off contest.”

FRENCH SILK CHOCOLATE PUFFS

½ cup (one stick) butter, cut into 8 equal parts

¾ cup sugar

1 square (1 ounce) UNSWEETENED chocolate, melted and cooled

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs

12 Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Shells (found in the frozen section)

Instructions:

First, prepare pastry shells as directed on package. Cool completely.

In a small mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in chocolate and vanilla until well-blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating with an electric mixer at medium speed, for FIVE MINUTES after EACH addition. Chill.

Just before you plan to serve the finished product, pipe equal amounts of filling into each pastry shell. While not necessary, you might garnish by drizzling with chocolate or a dollop of whipped cream.

NOTES:

• You may substitute 1 tablespoon oil mixed with 3 tablespoons baking cocoa if you don't have any unsweetened squares. We have done this many times and the outcome is equally delightful every time!
• If you want to make this into a pie, bake your favorite pie crust recipe (or store-bought) and fill it with the prepared filling.

12 Treats of Christmas: #8 Tiny Holiday Tarts

This recipe came from a friend of mine who also enjoys cooking and baking—probably as much as I do. She included these cute little tarts in the tin of treats that she gave our family, and then was generous enough to share the recipe with me. I haven’t had a chance to try making them yet, but I did taste the Pecan Pie Filling version and the Brownie-Nut Filling version. On the copy of the recipe there were a couple of other fillings that sounded interesting, so I am including them, too!

TINY HOLIDAY TARTS
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 3-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
Desired Filling

In a small mixer bowl beat together butter and cream cheese. Stir in flour. Cover and chill about 1 hour or until easy to handle. Shape into 1 inch balls. Press onto the bottom and up sides of un-greased mini-muffin cups (1 ¾ inch). Fill each with 1 rounded teaspoon of filling. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until done. Cool slightly in pan. Remove and cool well. Makes 24.
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Pecan Pie Filling: Beat together 1 egg, ¾ cup packed brown sugar; 1 tablespoon melted butter or margarine, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in ½ cup coarsely chopped pecans.
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Brownie-Nut Filling: In a small saucepan heat and stir ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces and 2 tablespoons butter or margarine over low heat until melted. Remove from heat. Stir in 1/3 cup sugar, 1 beaten egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Place a whole filbert or peanut in each pastry. Top with 1 rounded teaspoon chocolate mixture.
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Almond-Raspberry Filling: Divide ¼ cup red raspberry preserves among pastries (about ½ teaspoon each). Beat together 1 egg, ½ cup sugar, and ½ cup almond paste (crumbled). Spoon 1 level teaspoon of the almond mixture over the preserves. Sprinkle with coarsely chopped sliced almonds. If desired, drizzle cooled baked tarts with additional raspberry preserves.
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Pumpkin-Sour Cream Filling: Beat together 1 egg, ½ cup canned pumpkin, 1/3 cup sugar, ¼ cup dairy sour cream, 1 tablespoon milk, and ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice. If desired, pipe or dollop whipped cream on cooled baked tarts. This one would be fun to serve at Thanksgiving time!

12 Treats of Christmas: #7 Brown Sugar Shortbread

Here was the coolest part about making these cookies. Within 2 minutes of finding the recipe, I was making them. I did not have to make a special trip to the store for an ingredient I needed. Yippee!! These cookies appeared in the Taste of Home’s Best-Loved Cookies & Candies 2010 magazine. I had barely had it day before MANY pages were “dog-eared” with recipes I planned to try.

These crisp, buttery cookies have three ingredients: butter, brown sugar, and AP flour (all-purpose, in case you were wondering). How bad can that be? (Did I just sound like Ina Garten? I hope not. She kind of annoys me.)

Anyway—the whole family loved these shortbreads, including my husband, who is not much of a sweets/cookies eater.

BROWN SUGAR SHORTBREAD

1 cup butter, softened (Yay for the “soften” button on the microwave…best invention ever!)

½ cup packed brown sugar

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually stir in flour and mix well (I used the KitchenAid for this recipe).

NOTE: The dough will be really crumbly. The magazine did not mention how crumbly it would be, and I was concerned I had made a mistake. Now…Ina Garten (who annoys me) did have something valuable to say the other day, and it totally related to this recipe: sometimes the water content in butter is lower, making dough (like shortbread dough) not come together. She says to add just a touch (droplets, people) of water to help your dough out. Had I watched that episode before I made this recipe, I would have tried the water trick.

2. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 3 minutes.

3. Pat (I rolled) into a 1/3” thick rectangle measuring 11” x 8”.

4. Cut into strips 2” x 1” strips. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Prick with a fork. (NOTE: Instead of strips, I just used a biscuit cutter and made circles.)

5. Bake at 300 degrees for 25 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack.

12 Treats of Christmas: #6 Oh Henry Bars

The copy of the recipe I have for these treats came from my choir teacher, in her handwriting--you know--back before blogs, email, google searches, etc. Back when a recipe was shared on a recipe card. Even as far back as high school I was already collecting recipes. I don't remember exactly when or where my choir teacher would have served these to me, but I have held on to that recipe card for about 19 years, so that tells you how good these are.

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I love these, but apparently corn syrup is bad for you. I grew up in the middle of corn fields, so I understand the importance of purchasing and cooking with corn syrup every now and then. It's important to keep the corn farmers in business.

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On the subject of Oh Henry Bars...guessing they're supposed to taste like an Oh Henry! candy bar. I’ve never had one, and have never seen one in real life, so I don’t know if that is true. You can research Oh Henry! bars, because you’ve got too much time on your hands, and you’ll find that they have peanuts in them. No peanuts in this recipe--peanut butter? Yes. Peanuts? No. And that’s just fine with me, because these are perfect just the way they are.

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Now go and make yourself some. Or make your neighbors some. Or make your students some and see if they ask for the recipe…in which case you should write out by hand to make them feel special.

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OH HENRY BARS

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2 cups oatmeal

¼ c. corn syrup

1 stick butter or margarine

½ c. brown sugar

4 oz. chocolate chips

2 tablespoons peanut butter

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1. Cream corn syrup, butter, and brown sugar together.

2. Add oatmeal, mix thoroughly. Try not to eat the whole bowl of batter now…but you definitely should taste it!

3. Spread mixture in 8 x 8 pan…or double every ingredient and throw it in a 9x13.

4. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes—make sure you bake until bubbling around the edges. If you don’t bake it long enough, the bars fall apart. Keep an eye and don’t be afraid to go a minute or two over the 10 minute mark.

5. Cool.

6. Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter together. If you’re doing it in the microwave, make sure to stir frequently.

7. Spread chocolate/peanut butter mixture over the top of the oatmeal crust.

8. Cool until set.

I like to keep the bars refrigeratated until I’m going to cut them. This helps the bars not fall apart or crumble.

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A nice way to serve them (because they’re kind of gooey when room temperature) would be to cut them up when they’re really cool and place them in individual cupcake papers on a serving tray.

12 Treats of Christmas: #5 Praline-Graham Crackers

Super easy, super yummy—Christmastime or anytime. My mom gave me this recipe—back in June 2007 (not that my memory is so awesome...that's the date of her email). Every time I take these treats to a gathering, they go very quickly!

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For a Christmas treat, break apart in a “rustic” fashion (not every piece the same size, some rough edges, etc) like you would with brittle or bark. Then package the pieces in a holiday back and tie with festive ribbon!

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PRALINE-GRAHAM CRACKERS

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1 box regular graham crackers

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine

1 ½ cups brown sugar

2 cups chopped pecans

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1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line a 15x10x1 inch cookie sheet (regular-sized) with aluminum foil. This isn’t mandatory, but will certainly help with clean up. By the way—your cookie sheet needs a lip (jelly roll, sheet cake pan)—NOT the type of cookie sheet that is completely flat with no “edge.”

3. Place graham crackers in a single layer on cookie sheet—as many as will fit.

4. Boil the butter, sugar and pecans for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

5. Spread on crackers. Bake 10 minutes.

6. Allow to cool, break apart.

12 Treats of Christmas: #4 Individual Oreo Cheesecakes

I look forward to receiving the Kraft Food & Family magazine each quarter. While I don’t find the most gourmet of recipes, I certainly have found many that become regulars in my cooking repertoire. The recipes are always family friendly, low prep time and very easy to accomplish—even with a 10 month old climbing on you.

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Not too many people I know don’t like cheesecake. I thought I didn’t for the longest time. But then I tried it, and I do like it the flavor, but it’s so rich that paying $7 for a slice in a restaurant seems foolish if I can only eat a couple of bites. So that’s what makes this recipe perfect—the cheesecakes are only as big as a cupcake. You still only need a couple of bites, but it probably costs about $7 to make the whole recipe--12 individual cheesecakes.

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You could probably make these cupcake-sized cheesecakes into mini-muffin-sized bites, making sure to adjust your cooking time for the smaller size.

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INDIVIDUAL OREO CHEESECAKES

Muffin liners – I prefer the foil ones for this recipe

3 packages (8 oz each) softened cream cheese (regular OR 1/3 less fat)

¾ cup sugar

3 eggs

12 Oreo cookies

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1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Place liners in regular-sized muffin tin.
3. Set an Oreo cookie on the bottom of each liner.
4. Beat together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
5. Add the eggs, ONE AT A TIME, and mix until just blended after each addition.
6. Spoon over each cookie, dividing the cheese mixture equally among the 12 spots.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the center is almost set.
8. Cool completely, then refrigerate 1 hour or overnight.
9. To decorate: drizzle melted Baker’s chocolate, add a mini-oreo, drizzle with raspberry topping…the possibilities are endless.

12 Treats of Christmas: #3 Mini Peanut Blossoms

Peanut Blossom cookies are probably my all-time favorite cookie. And they seem to make quite a few appearances on Christmas cookie plates--but those appearances quickly turn to DISappearances. They are the first to go if offered along side other cookie varieties. Now, while having been my all time favorite for years, I have always been perplexed by how to eat the regular-sized Peanut Blossom cookie. In order to get a taste of chocolate with each bite, one must be very strategic when taking bites. And eating only part of the Hershey's Kiss (which is not a graceful process) can make it dislodge from its base, fall onto the floor...and well, the whole thing is just problematic. You might try to include the entire kiss with your first bite, but then not only is that quite a mouthful, but subsequent bites are much less appealing-- after all the whole point of the cookie is the combination.

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Did you know? Freda Smith from Gibsonburg, Ohio introduced the world to the first peanut butter blossoms in the 1957 Pillsbury Bakeoff contest. I would like to win that contest.

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Anyway, I was delighted to find the "Hershey's Easy Baking" cookbook while at the Hershey Park in Hershey, Pennsylvania. And while I didn't purchase the cookbook because of this recipe, I was also delighted to find that a recipe within has solved all of my Peanut Blossom problems with the MINI Peanut Blossom cookie. Prior to this recipe, I did not know that mini Hershey's Kisses existed. They do! And they're smaller than regular kisses, but larger than chocolate chips. They're tweens. Maybe these should be called Peanut Blossom Tweens.
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Regardless...here ya go! Perfect combo. Perfect-sized bite.
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MINI PEANUT BLOSSOMS

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Additional granulated sugar
1 package Hershey's MINI kisses
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1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Beat peanut butter and shortening in a large bowl until well-combined.
3. Add both sugars; beat well.
4. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; beat until fluffy.
5. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl; gradually add to peanut butter mixture, beating until well-blended after each addition.
6. Shape into 1/2-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on cookie sheet.
7. Bake 5-6 minutes or until set. Immediately press Mini Kiss into center of each cookie.
8. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Makes about 14 dozen...that's not a typo: FOURTEEN dozen...but each one is only a bite!

12 Treats of Christmas: #2 Razz-Ma-Tazz Bars

Wow! Each year our cleaning lady brings us Christmas cookies and treats on the last cleaning she does before the holiday. Usually when she comes, I can’t wait to get home to see our house all clean, all at the same time. On Treat Day, however, I can’t wait to get home because I know the treats are waiting! Thankfully, she shares the recipes! You, too, will fall in love with this raspberry-y, almond-y, white chocolate-y concoction!

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RAZZ-MA-TAZZ BARS

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

2 cups ( 12oz pkg.) white chocolate chips - divided

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds

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1. Grease and sugar 9" square baking pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Melt butter in a medium-sized microwave safe bowl; stir.

3. Add 1 cup of the white chocolate chips; let stand. Do not stir.

4. Beat eggs in a large mixing bowl until foamy.

5. Add sugar; beat until light lemon colored, about 5 minutes. Note: do NOT skip this step, or even decrease the 5 minutes to 4 or 3. The bars will come out heavier and gooier. I know from experience. While the flavor is not affected, if you follow the directions precisely, the bars taste all the more heavenly!

6. Add the chocolate chip butter mixture to the beaten egg mixture. Stir until combined.

7. Add flour, salt, and almond extract; mix at low speed until combined.

8. Spread 2/3 of batter into prepared pan.

9. Bake 15 to 17 min. or until light gold brown around edges. Don't be afraid to wait until golden brown around edges. Each time I have made this recipe, I have had to increase this cooking time anywhere from 2 – 5 minutes. When done, remove to cooling rack.

10. While you’re waiting, toast the almond slices. I use my toaster oven…but you really have to watch and check—I have allowed the almonds to go beyond toast stage on a couple of occasions…and almonds aren’t cheap! You can also use a dry frying pan—toast the almonds over medium heat, stirring frequently, again keeping a close watch. Set aside.

11. Heat jam in small bowl in microwave for 30 seconds; stir.

12. Spread jam over warm crust.

13. Stir remaining white chocolate chips into remaining batter. Drop spoonfuls of batter over jam.

14. Sprinkle with sliced almonds.

15. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until edges are brown. Cool. Cut into bars.

16. You can easily make a double batch and use a 9x13" pan!

12 Treats of Christmas: Treat #1 Two-Second Turtles

So it's the Christmas season and you've agreed to be part of a cookie exchange. But you have three kids (OK, you really have two kids plus a husband, but who's counting anyway), a dog, a full-time job, and you haven't done any Christmas shopping yet. This shall be your go-to recipe.

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I've seen many variations and various ingredient substitutions, but this EXACT combo is still my favorite. The most difficult part of this recipe is unwrapping each Rolo candy. And these will freeze very well in a Ziplock bag after they have been cooled completely.

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Ingredients

Equal numbers of the following:

Rolos candies (chocolate covered caramel)

Snyder's Butter Snaps (the square shaped grid-looking pretzels)

Pecan Halves

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Decide the number of treats you wish to make and purchase ingredients accordingly. I wouldn't recommend substituting caramel Hershey's kisses--the caramel is runnier than Rolo. Anyway....

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Instructions

Preheat your oven to a very low temperature --200 - 250 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpat. Lay out as many pretzels as will fit. Place a Rolo on top of each pretzel. Put pan in oven for just a few minutes. You only want to soften...NOT melt. When the Rolo chocolate starts to glisten, remove from oven and press a pecan half into each Rolo. If the Rolo doesn't "give" easily, toss the cookie sheet back into the oven for one or two more minutes. Allow to cool completely.

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Now, try not to eat them all at once!

Petite Vanilla Scones

I have been searching for a good scone recipe. Actually, I’ve come across many recipes, have even ripped them out of cooking magazines or printed them from the web, but have never tried any of them. Thank God the first one I tried was the perfect scone recipe. I do not think I will EVER EVER EVER try another. Luckily, I didn’t even have to search for this one. It found me because I subscribe to this blog. And you should, too. I want the Pioneer Woman’s cookbook. But I want a lot of things. Mostly these scones.

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Long before I found this recipe I had already developed my Starbucks' Petite Vanilla Scone addiction. I introduced them to my mom. She's addicted, too, but doesn't live by Starbucks. Too bad for her (but good for her waistline). We think they taste like the best sugar cookie ever--except in the form of a thick, soft biscuit and covered with vanilla-bean-flecked glazed yumminess.

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And then I found the recipe. Or it found me. And I gathered all the ingredients and let the magic in my kitchen happen. My husband, trying to make me feel good, commented that my scones would probably be better than Starbucks’ version. Surely you’re kidding, I told him. How could that possibly be? Oh, it BE!

So you can go to the Pioneer Woman’s blog and see fantastic pictures of the recipe in progress. I don’t have an SLR camera (yet), haven’t taken a photography class (yet), and therefore am not very good at taking food pictures (yet). I want to do all of the above, but I want a lot of things. Mostly these scones.

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A few hints before you get to the recipe:

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VANILLA BEANS: You can purchase the McCormick version of vanilla beans at Meijer. You only get two beans and they cost $11.99. They’re all folded up and really quite sad looking. This recipe calls for three beans, so rather than take out a small loan just to make these scones, you could go to Penzey’s Spices if you’re so lucky to have one nearby and purchase the cutest little tube of THREE vanilla beans, all stretched out in their glory for a mere $7.25. There’s also a discount if you buy 5 tubes. Believe me, after you taste these scones, you’ll see that five tubes of vanilla beans won’t last you all that long.

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TRIANGLES: The Pioneer Woman divides up her dough into triangles, most likely because (a) Starbucks does and (b) that is the typical shape of a scone. The first time I made this recipe, I did, too. Starbucks Petite Vanilla Scones are much smaller than the triangles that come out here. So the second time, I used a small biscuit cutter so the scones would be petite—hence the name of the recipe.

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VANILLA GLAZE: I added more powdered sugar than the recipe call for because I wanted the glaze to resemble Starbucks’ glaze, which is nice and thick. I also triple-dipped the scones (allowing them to dry in between dips) for a nice, thick coating.

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The recipe is so valuable I will post it below, that way if the link ever messes up, it still lives here. Otherwise get on over to the Pioneer Woman’s blog. She’s much more witty than I am, so don’t forget to come back and visit me once in awhile!

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Ingredients

SCONES

3 cups All-purpose Flour

⅔ cups Sugar

5 teaspoons Baking Powder (yep, it's FIVE...not a typo)

½ teaspoons Salt

2 sticks (1/2 Pound) UNSALTED Butter, Chilled

1 whole Large Egg

¾ cups Heavy Cream (more if needed--I didn't need any more)

2 whole Vanilla Beans

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GLAZE

3 cups Powdered Sugar, Sifted

½ cups Whole Milk

1 whole Vanilla Bean

Dash Of Salt

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Preparation Instructions

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• Split the vanilla beans down the middle lengthwise and scrape out all the vanilla “caviar” inside. Stir caviar into cream. Set aside for 15 minutes.

• Sift together flour, 2/3 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut cold butter into pats, then use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the butter into the flour. Keep going until mixture resembles crumbs. This can take awhile, so be patient. It really does help to have a pastry cutter--I would buy one even if this were the only recipe you would ever need it. (I haven't tried yet, but you could probably get the same results in a food processor also--just a few pulses until the mixture looks crumbly.)

• Mix vanilla cream with egg, then combine with flour mixture; stir gently with a fork just until it comes together.

• Turn dough onto a floured surface and lightly press it together until it forms a rough rectangle. (Mixture will be pretty crumbly.) Use a rolling pin to roll into a rectangle about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick. Use your hands to help with the forming if necessary.

• Use a knife to trim into a symmetrical rectangle, then cut the rectangle into 12 symmetrical squares/rectangles. Next, cut each square/rectangle in half diagonally, to form two triangles. (Or make whatever shape you want, like how I used a biscuit cutter.)

• Transfer to a parchment or baking mat-lined cookie sheet and bake for 18 minutes (I think my time was more like 15 minutes...will depend on how your oven works), removing from the oven just before they start to turn golden. Allow to cool for 15 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

VANILLA GLAZE

• To make the icing, split one vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the caviar. Stir caviar into milk; allow to sit for awhile. Mix powdered sugar with the vanilla milk, adding more powdered sugar or milk if necessary to get the consistency the right thickness. Stir or whisk until completely smooth.

• One at a time, carefully dunk each cooled scone in the glaze, turning it over if necessary. Transfer to parchment paper or the cooling rack. Allow the glaze to set completely, about an hour. Scones will keep several days if glazed.

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake

Oh the joys of fresh summer fruit. Even better if you hand-pick it yourself. So I was particularly fascinated to fall upon this recipe in the Food Network Magazine. My mom and I are always searching for the perfect "shortcake" to accompany summer strawberries, and this is the first chocolate shortcake recipe I have come across.

Before I tried the recipe, I wanted to purchase the cocoa from Penzey's (my favorite spice store). I also used their vanilla extract, which I already had on hand. I chose Ghiradelli's Luxe chocolate bar for the 3 oz. of chopped milk chocolate--it handily came packaged in a 3 oz. size.

In the initial trial of the recipe, I skipped #3 and #4, and opted to simply slice up some fresh strawberries and whip the remainder of the heavy cream into homemade whipping cream (added a little vanilla and powdered sugar to taste). However, I think those steps sound delightful and will try them when I make the shortcakes again. Having just picked fresh raspberries, I was thinking that these shortcakes might also be delicious substituting the raspberries for the strawberries. For dark chocolate lovers, why not substitute dark chocolate for the milk chocolate? Then I searched the internet for chocolate whipped cream and found easy recipes for that as well as liquer-flavored whipped cream (like Chambord--oh how exquisite!).

The shortcakes tasted very chocolately--but not too sweet. They were in a word: perfect. I loved the biscuity-cakey texture. I would make them just to eat plain--or maybe topped with vanilla ice cream or a raspberry sorbet, should fresh fruit not be available (like in the winter). BUT, if you have the time, try them out while there is still fresh fruit!

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcakes
June/July 2009 Food Network Magazine

Shortcakes:
1 cup AP flour, plus more for dusting
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 T. dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
4 T. cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3 oz. milk chocolate, roughly chopped
2 large eggs
1/4 c. heavy cream
1 t. vanilla extract
Raw sugar for sprinkling

Toppings:
1 quart strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 cup heavy cream

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven; preheat to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Make the shortcakes: whisk the flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour mixture until sandy. Add the chocolate. Whisk 1 egg, the cream and vanilla in a glass measuring cup; stir into the flour mixture with a fork to make a shaggy dough (there will be some dry bits). Turn out onto a lightly floured surface; pat flat until 1 1/2 inches thick. cut into 6 rounds with a knife or cookie cutter, using the scraps for the last cake.

2. Place the rounds on the baking sheet; freeze for 20 minutes. Beat the remaining egg; brush onto cakes and sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake until firm, about 20 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool.

3. Meanwhile, make the toppings: Toss half of the strawberries with half of the sugar in a bowl; set aside. Place the other half of each in a saucepan; cook over medium-low heat, mashing with a fork to make a thick puree, about 10 minutes. Cool completely. Whip the cream with a mixer until medium peaks form; swirl in the strawberry puree.

4. Split the shortcakes in half. Layer some of the strawberry cream and reserved fruit on the bottoms; cover with the shortcake tops. Finish with more berries and cream.