Author Archives: cindy

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Favorite Cookies Round-Up!

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Guys! It’s the most wonderful time of the year….COOKIE SEASON! Today, I’m sharing some of my faves from the archives because sometimes we need a little inspiration.

And, really, what could be better than cookie-inspiration? Not much, I say.

Oatmeal Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies: My mom, an avid non-baker, made these cookies for a cookie party this year and won BEST COOKIE. So, basically, they are awesome. Chewy Ginger Chocolate Chip Cookies: These combine two of my favorite things–chewy ginger cookies and chocolate chip, then I rolled them in crunchy pearl sugar. Chewy Chocolate Ginger Spice Cookies: These are super similar to the cookies I just mentioned, but there’s cocoa in the actual dough. I am just smitten with the chocolate-ginger combo, obvs.

Malted Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing: These cookies turned Sean from a pumkin-treats-hater to lover. They are basically magic. Iced Eggnog Cookies: These cookies are super soft, cake-like, and full of eggnog flavor. Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies: These cookies are a staple in our house…I make them the most.

Chocolate Pecan Cookies with Sea Salt: These pecan-studded cookies are rich and deeply chocolate-y. So much to love. Peanut Butter Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies: Salty, Sweet, Chocolate-y, Peanut Butter Goodness. There isn’t much to say here. Peanut Butter Ninjas: The peanut butter in these cookies is stealthily hidden beneath the chocolate dough.

Alfajores: Buttery cookie + Dulce de Leche…I mean… Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars: Everyones fave, in bar form. Chocolate Mint Creme Sandwiches: These cookies are like little cookie-brownies sandwiched with the best creamy, minty goodness. Also, cute.

Smoked Salt and Almond Shortbread Stars: I love almonds, smoked salt, and butter…these cookies have it all. Citrus Gingerbread Trees: A little, citrus twist on classic gingerbread. Get your royal icing on! Pistachio + Apricot Jam Thumbprints: A classic, but with pistachios and apricot. Graham Crackers: So simple, yet so satisfying.

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Red Hot Holiday Trends: Dulce de Leche Popcorn Ice Cream with Almonds & Coconut

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Some of you may know that I’ve been doing some blogging over at Betty Crocker for the last several months and it’s been an awesome and rewarding experience. I absolutely love being a part of the Betty Crocker team of bloggers. When it came time to sign-on for Betty’s Red Hot Holiday Trends for 2013, I was all over it and so excited to participate in all the delicious goodness.

The Betty Crocker team totally has their finger on the pulse of this year’s Red Hot Holiday Trends and my favorite is definitely Popcorn Reinvented. I‘m always a fan of still warm, crunchy, freshly popped corn…and secretly, I enjoy it with a tall glass of milk. It sounds weird, but it’s totally a winning combo. For a frozen twist on a favorite snack, I made this Dulce de Leche Popcorn Ice Cream with Almonds & Coconut. I love to infuse the puffed & popped kernels into the indulgent ice cream base, swirl it with dulce de leche and stud it with buttery, salted almonds, and toasted coconut. It’s almost like a nutty, coconut dusted, caramel corn…but in ice cream form!

Be sure to check out all of the festive contributions from my fellow Betty Bloggers, as well as Betty’s twist on Popcorn Reinvented with this amazing Triple-Caramel Popcorn Fudge! You can see my other contributions to the Betty site HERE.

Dulce de Leche Popcorn Ice Cream with Salted Almonds and Coconut

Adapted from THIS recipe.

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups whole milk

8 cups popcorn*

5 teaspoons cornstarch

2/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup dulce de leche

1/2 cup toasted coconut

1/2 cup salted almonds, coarsely chopped

In a medium saucepan heat the heavy cream with the popcorn (the popcorn will basically wilt away, so if it seems like a lot, it won’t be), bring to a low boil, cover, remove from heat and steep for 1 hour. Sieve the popcorn cream through a fine mesh strainer, pressing on solids to extract as much cream as possible. Discard solids, you should have about 1 cup of cream remaining, if less add cream to make 1 cup.

Mix 1/4 cup of the milk with the cornstarch to create a slurry. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan mix together the popcorn cream with the remaining 1 3/4 cups milk, add the sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Heat the mixture and bring to a low boil, quickly whisk in the slurry mixture and return to a boil, whisking until thickened–about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat.

Pour the ice cream base into a heatproof bowl and either cool, while whisking, in an ice bath, or cover the surface with plastic wrap or a parchment round (making sure the plastic or parchment comes in direct contact with the ice cream base, to prevent a skin from forming) and chill in the refrigerator for several hours until cooled, up to overnight. Churn the chilled base in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturers instructions. Spoon about 1/3 of the churned ice cream into your desired container and layer on 1/3 of the dulce de leche, coconut, and almonds, repeat with the remaining ice cream and mix-ins. Cover and freeze the ice cream for several hours, until firm, before serving.

*To pop the corn without a popcorn popper, you will need:

1/2 cup popping corn

paper lunch bag

Place the popcorn kernels in the bag, fold the bag top 2-3 times, microwave on high until the corn is popping like crazy, followed by 1-2 second pauses between pops–about 3 1/2 minutes. This may take some trial and error, just be watchful–you may have to pop it in 2 batches. This made me about 9 cups of popcorn–I used 8 and snacked on the remaining cup.

Full disclosure, I contribute regularly to BettyCrocker.com and was compensated for the development of this post. As always, all opinions are my own. 

 

 

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Simple Chocolate Cake with Ganache

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So, I know this should probably be a post about pie, which I love, or pumpkin pie…which I HATE. I know…I’m a jerk. I like pumpkin things, but never pumpkin pie.

I’m not sorry.

Anyway, let’s talk cake.

This cake is super simple in both assembly and flavor–the batter takes minutes to make and there’s zero special equipment required. Don’t get it twisted though, because even if this is just a chocolate-on-chocolate situation, it is so, so good in it’s simplicity. The cake is dark and rich, but not so much that it doesn’t benefit from a glazing of glossy ganache. The crumb is fine and very moist, my favorite. And, I know ganache sounds fancy, but it’s so not…two ingredients, mixed together. DONE. I’m pretty sure this is my new go-to cake. It’s so easy, a little rustic, but pretty. It’s a gem.

 

Simple Chocolate Cake with Ganache

Makes 1, 8-inch, round cake.

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Use your favorite cocoa powder for this cake. I prefer Valrhona because it is rich and dark with intense chocolate flavor.  

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

2/3 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon white vinegar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350˚F and spray an 8-inch, round cake pan with cooking spray and line the bottom with a round of parchment. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, and salt.

In a measuring cup whisk together the milk and vinegar, whisk the eggs, oil, and vanilla into the milk and vinegar mixture and pour into the flour mixture. Mix gently with a spatula until just combined. Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan and bake in the center of the oven for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and place on a rack to cool for about 10 minutes before turning out. Cool completely before glazing with ganache.

Ganache

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 ounces chopped, semisweet chocolate (or chips)

Heat the cream until scalded, when little bubbles form around the edges, add the chocolate, remove from the heat, and cover. Let the chocolate and cream rest for about 5 minutes, until the cream has melted the chocolate and whisk until smooth. Pour warm ganache over the top of the cake. Let the ganache set 10 minutes before serving.