Fudgy Dark Chocolate Cherry Brownies

Last week, I swapped recipes with Deb from Bowl Me Over. She shared a light and delicious Cheesy Vegetable Soup recipe with us that I can't wait to try soon. I brought her a rich and fudgy Dark Chocolate Cherry Brownie recipe that is too good to miss. Dark chocolate chunks, chewy dried cherries, and crunchy cocoa nibs are loaded into a simple fudge brownie batter. I first made this recipe to help celebrate with my sister and brother-in-law their soon-to-be new arrival to the family.

Yup, I'm going to be an aunt! My mom hosted a barbecue to celebrate, and we got a surprise during dessert! I will be welcoming a niece in September. The outdoor setting on an 80 degree afternoon in April was the perfect way to celebrate. My dad grilled up a heap of ribs and chicken, and we (of course) had way too many chocolate desserts.

Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

Who doesn't like a double dose of chocolate in the mornings? These Double Chocolate Banana Muffins are extra chocolate-y with Ghirardelli chocolate chips and unsweetened cocoa powder. And of course, adding bananas to the mix makes these healthy, right? Whether you want to call these banana muffins with chocolate added, or chocolate muffins with banana added is up to you!

 

Yes, I'm that lady that almost always has some kind of home-baked good on her counter. Not only can you control the quality of ingredients, but you can also control the portion size when you bake at home. Have you ever looked at the calorie counts of Costco's muffins? The banana nut muffin alone has 640 calories and over 30 grams of fat, yikes! And sure, you could cut in in half, but who is going to do that? These Double Chocolate Banana Muffins are under 300 calories and 1/3 of the fat of a giant Costco-sized muffin. And they have chocolate!

 

Pumpkin Banana Breakfast Cookies

Breakfast in the Messy House often consists of my teenager grabbing something to eat on the run before heading off to school. I'm a chronic breakfast skipper myself, I settle down in front of the computer with a cup of coffee when I get back from school drop-off and work straight on through to lunch. I needed something that I could bake that would satisfy our needs, so we could all have healthier breakfast habits.

These Pumpkin Banana Breakfast cookies fit the bill! They are tasty, portable, and filled with whole grains and nutritious ingredients. These breakfast cookies are an excellent choice for a homemade treat anytime of the day.  These cookies are not too sweet, and their texture is chewy and almost muffin-like, gives them enough substance to feel filled up after one or two.

Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Valentine's day is around the corner, and I asked fans on Facebook whether I should post a recipe for cookies or rice krispies. They came back with a mixed response, so I said I would share a cookie recipe this week, and share a fun red and white rice krispie recipe next week. Thinking about the colors and emotions that Valentine's day conveys, I knew I wanted to include something red in my cookies and include warming spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger. I had been tinkering with a cranberry oatmeal cookie recipe for some time now, and I decided it would be the perfect treat for Valentine's day.

If you are not familiar with cardamom, it is spice used frequently in Scandinavian and Eastern Indian cuisines, and is one of the prominent spices of Chai tea, and is said to be an aphrodisiac in some cultures. I love using it in baked goods and in ice creams, it pairs extremely well with citrus and tart fruits, and is a welcome compliment to other baking spices.

Rosemary Focaccia Bread

Old Man Winter, step aside! While you might be snowed in, iced over, up to your eyeballs in scarves and jackets in the middle of winter, I'm here to share a classic bread recipe that is perfect to pair with your comforting soups and heart stews. Rosemary Focaccia is similar to making pizza dough, a simple recipe using few embellishments to make it feel special.

Orange zest and coarse sea salt take this rustic bread to another level, and will make your kitchen smell amazing! This yeast bread takes a little bit of patience to attain the perfect rise, but is well worth it in the end!

In the Kitchen: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Last weekend at the farmer's market, I purchased a half-flat of local, organic strawberries hoping to share them on Easter Sunday with family. Well, turns out I wasn't the only one with that idea. My mom was prepared with a big bowl of strawberries waiting for our arrival and my sister-in-law made a gluten-free strawberry shortcake roulade for dessert, so my strawberries sat untouched. Well, my kids and I can eat our fill of strawberries, but as Friday approached, I still had a pint and a half of red, ripe strawberries begging to be eaten. I thought to make jam with them, but I had just bought a jar of 3 French Hens Starburst Strawberry Jam two weeks prior. Strawberry Rhubarb pie was suggested, and I remembered my grandmother making it for us, and how good it was.

 

I had the strawberries on hand, I picked up rhubarb at the grocery store, now I needed a recipe. I had never made strawberry-rhubarb pie before, so off the internet I went. I went with Smitten Kitchen's Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie recipe, following her advice and making the All-Butter Pie Dough from scratch, by hand. Both recipes were easy to follow, although it took an extra 10 minutes for my crust to brown (to which I fully blame my oven).

It smelled heavenly, but we were patient and let the pie cool for the filling to set. We then negated the set filling by warming the pie in a 350 F oven before serving. We topped each slice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, the perfect pairing. The crust was flaky and buttery, well worth the additional time spent making it from scratch as opposed to buying a frozen crust. The filling was the perfect balance of sweet and tart, just the way I like it. I brought it to our Friday family dinner and everyone enjoyed it thoroughly.

Of course, you can't make pie crust without making something equally delicious from the scraps of dough. I made these cinnamon-sugar "cookies" from the rolled-out leftover dough, to be enjoyed as a snack or with an afternoon cup of tea. They are great to make with your little helpers, and a great reward for helping.

They couldn't be simpler. Gather your scraps of pie dough and re-roll into one rectangle. Punch out your favorite shapes using cookie-cutters, then apply an egg-wash and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes, until nice and brown and the tops look dry. Let cool before enjoying.

Baking was the perfect way to spend a chilly spring day. The oven kept the house warm and cozy, and my little one helped mix the dough and had a grand time being underfoot, snagging his fill of strawberries and washing dishes playing in the sink.

For more chilly day baking inspiration:

 

Nut and Raisin Bread

 

Perfect Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

Spinach, Kale, and Garlic Pizza

Easy Peasy Apple Tart with Almond Oatmeal Crumble

This post is part of my Twenty Dollar Thursdays.

 

This week at the Farmer's Market, I picked up some amazing Pink Lady Apples from Rainbow Orchards (a local orchard out of Camino, CA). At $2 a pound, they cost the same as grocery store apples, but I was supporting area farmers directly. Next week I will have to pick up more, since two pounds of apples only lasted me 3 days between snacking, creating a refreshing apple salad for my Pork Tenderloin with Mustard-Apple Gravy, and creating this easy apple tart.

 

Using store-bought puff pastry, it made a perfect dessert for a weeknight, since it is best made ahead and left to get really cold in the fridge before baking. The apples are simply sliced into rings (no need to even peel them if you don't want to) and placed on the puff pastry without any added sugar. The crumble topping really makes this dessert an instant classic, with the sweetness of brown sugar and the nuttiness of the almonds, plus added goodness from the rolled oats. Only one-quarter cup of brown sugar is added to this recipe, but paired with naturally sweet apples, it is enough to sweeten the whole dessert while letting the apples shine through. Dollop on some freshly whipped cream or top with a scoop of your favorite vanilla ice-cream, and get ready to impress!

 

Apple Tart with Almond-Oatmeal Crumble

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 2 medium apples, cored and sliced into rings
• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

   For Almond-Oatmeal Crumble

• 1/3 cup rolled old-fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted 

Directions: 

1. Roll the puff pastry into a rectangle approximately 12 inches by 9 inches. Brush with melted butter, then place the apple rings, slightly overlapping.
2. For the crumble topping, combine the dry ingredients and almond extract. Drizzle in the butter, and mix to combine. You are looking for a "wet-sand" consistency.
3. Evenly top your apple rings with the crumble, then refrigerate for 2-4 hours. You want your puff pastry to get really cold before baking for maximum rise.
4. Bake at 350 F for about an hour. Keep your oven door closed (no peeking!) for the first 50 minutes. Puff pastry rises by allowing the water in the butter to turn to steam to let the layers rise, so by opening the oven door you let the steam escape.
5. Slice into squares, then top with lightly sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Serve while warm or room temperature. 

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I will be sharing this recipe on Tasty Tuesday at the following sites

Creative K Kids

Fairytales and Fitness

Lean Lena

 



Perfect Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to cookies. There is nothing wrong with a perfect chocolate chip cookie, still soft and slightly warm from the oven, with a glass of cold milk. No nuts, no Nutella, no add-ins. I would never pass up cookies that have nuts or mix-ins, and my chocolate chip cookie dough is versatile enough that if you wanted to add some pecans or toffee chips, it wouldn't affect the outcome of the cookies. But today I simply wanted an old-fashioned chocolate chip cookie that didn't require much prep or patience.

This recipe doesn't require your butter to start at room temperature, so you can make this recipe in a moment's notice. Instead, you simply melt the butter in the microwave before creaming the sugar, eggs, and vanilla together. If you melt the butter in your work bowl, this is a one bowl cookie (yay for less mess!). This cookie can be made in a stand mixer, but I prefer to use my hand mixer and my Pyrex mixing bowl.
 

I use a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop to make my cookies small and uniform. Smaller cookies mean you can eat 2 and not feel guilty. Also, you can make more cookies with the same amount of dough, so you can put some in the freezer for another day. I simply roll the extra dough into a log in parchment, twist the ends (like making compound butter) and place flat to freeze. To bake from frozen, let defrost on the counter for about 20 minutes, then slice into 1/4 inch coins and add 1-3 minutes to your baking time, depending on the size of your cookies and how chewy or crunchy you like them.

Perfect Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 5 dozen (but I always bake half and freeze the rest of the dough)

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, click here

Ingredients:

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 bag (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 375F. In a microwave-safe large bowl, melt the butter using 30 second intervals. It doesn't have to be 100% liquid, but it does have to be soft. Add the sugars, eggs, vanilla and salt. I like to add the salt in this step since I use kosher salt and it gives it a chance to dissolve. Cream together until emulsified. Stir in flour and baking soda (sift if you want, but it's not necessary). Stir in the chocolate chips until uniformly spread through the dough.

Line your baking sheets with parchment. No matter what cookie I bake, I always use parchment to prevent sticking. Using a small cookie scoop or tablespoon, make rounded balls of dough. Make smooth balls by rolling the dough in your palms, and place 2 inches apart. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until light golden brown. They will look soft when you take them out, but set. They will reach chewy perfection as they cool. If you let them get too dark in the oven they will be crunchy chocolate chip cookies, but no less delicious. If your goal is to bake a more crunchy cookie, bake for 15-16 minutes.
 



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Rainy day, baking bread with my toddler

This winter has been so mild and beyond dry. So when rain was finally in the forecast, I celebrated a bit, and then came up with a plan to adapt our routine up a bit to account for afternoon wet weather.
Usually, our routine allows us to get out to run errands or visit the park before lunch and naptime, and then after big brother gets picked up from school we play in the backyard or take a walk around the block until sunset. This allows me to wear him out enough so we can relax for a bit and catch the evening news before making dinner for the family. S loves to help me in the kitchen, a trend that I hope will continue for a long while, since big brother and my husband have no interest in cooking.

Yesterday, I decided to skip the park in the morning, and instead we stayed home in the backyard. S hunted for ladybugs and rocks, while I did a bit of gardening, weeding and cleaning my vegetable box for early-spring planting, which will happen in the next few weeks. I love living in California. After our afternoon snack, the clouds had come in and it was threatening to rain, so we stayed indoors and finished up some housework, which S helped with, as much as an almost 2 year old can. Afterwards, it was still to early to start on dinner, so I decided that it would be a good time to get some baking done.

I set out a quick snack for S while I picked the bread recipe, got the ingredients ready, and set up a stool in front of the mixer so S could watch. I added the ingredients to the stand mixer using the dough hook, and was surprised how fast everything came together. I got the mixer for Christmas and was used to making yeast dough by hand. See my post Nut and Raisin Bread For a Rainy Day for the recipe. After the dough came together, S helped me knead it on a floured board for a few minutes, then we put it back into the greased bowl to rest and rise. While we were waiting, I got out another type of dough, our homemade play dough, to smoosh and smash around while I cleaned up. After our dough (the edible kind) had risen, I shaped them into two loaves and set them next to the stove for rise #2 while I cleaned up the play dough and got started on dinner. S had already lost interest by then and was playing with his trains in the living room. By the time dinner was put on the table, the bread was cooling on the counter. We enjoyed it before bedtime with a bit of butter and a glass of milk.

Nut and Raisin Bread for a Rainy Day

I adapted this recipe from The Book Of Bread's "Sunflower Meal Bread with Sunflower Seeds and Raisins" to use up ingredients that were already in my pantry, since running to the bulk bins at Whole Foods at 4:45 on a Wednesday evening in commute traffic didn't sound like much fun. The original recipe calls for 2 cups of sunflower seeds, 1 cup as ground sunflower meal, and 1 cup whole, folded into the dough before baking. I only had about a cup, so I used walnuts and almonds to make up the 1  cup of nut meal, while keeping my cup of sunflower seeds to fold into the bread. I also added a bit of whole wheat flour and combined golden raisins and dried cranberries to fold into the loaf.

Nut and Raisin Bread for a Rainy Day

Makes 2 loaves or rounds

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon active dry yeast

2 cups warm water

1/4 cup honey

1/4 nonfat dry milk

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 cup almonds

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

3 cups unbleached bread flour

1 cup sunflower seeds, divided

1/4 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method

In the bowl of your mixer (or a large bowl if making by hand) dissolve the yeast in half the warm water. Dissolve the honey, dry milk, and salt together in the rest of the warm water. Add to the yeast. Meanwhile, grind the walnuts and almonds together (I used my food processor for this) into a coarse nut meal. Stir the nut meal and the whole wheat flour into the liquids. Add enough of the bread flour until it becomes hard to stir. If you are doing it by hand, this is the time to turn the dough out onto a  floured board and knead it, adding more flour as necessary, until it is smooth and no longer sticky. If you are using a stand mixer, you can do the same process using your dough hook. You will still need to knead the dough a few times by hand after it had come together. Return the dough to the greased bowl and cover, for about an hour, or until it has risen and doubled in size. 

Toss the raisins, dried cranberries, and 3/4 cup of sunflower seeds with the cinnamon, then fold into the dough. Divide the dough in half, and shape into 2 loaves or rounds, loaf pans optional. I have done both with good results. Let rise in a warm spot for 35-40 minutes. When you are ready to bake, brush the loaves with a beaten egg and sprinkle the remaining sunflower seeds on top. Bake in a 350 F degree oven for 45 minutes. Let cool before slicing. Enjoy with a spread of butter, with a cup of tea in the afternoon, or with peanut butter for breakfast.

 

Click here for a printable recipe
 

Feel free to use my recipe as it is written or substitute in your favorite nuts or dried fruits. Please write in the comments what you used, how it turned out, or if you have any questions. I look forward in hearing about your creativity!