Chocolate Cherry Cookies

I'm sorry I've been neglecting the blog! (p.s. love me some instagram filter)

To be fair, when I wasn't working - I was trying very hard to sleep. Also to be fair, I did make lots of baked goods. They just were not so photogenic...and or boring.  But have no fear, these guys are both more photogenic and certainly not boring!

Chocolate cookies filled with almonds, dried cherries, and more chocolate! As they were coming out of the oven, I realized that these would really be absolutely perfect in the form of ice-cream sandwiches. I started with just the idea of putting dried cherries in them, but then I went kind of crazy and just kept adding in add-ins. I must say, I do not regret it.

More baking shall come! I am particularly in the mood for summer oven-not-requiring recipes so if anyone has any ideas, send them my way.

Chocolate Cherry Cookies
Adapted from: verybestbaking

2/3 cup chocolate chips
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

optional:
1/2 cup dried cherries (roughly chopped)
1/3 cup almonds (roughly chopped)
1/3 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325F.

Microwave your 2/3 cup chocolate chips in the microwave for 30 seconds, mix, and then for another 10-15 seconds or until your chips give away to a melted chocolate vat of yummy. Set aside.

Cream together butter and sugars. Add in melted chocolate. Add in your egg and vanilla and mix until well incorporated.

In another bowl, mix together your flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt. Add this slowly to your chocolate mixture.

Now if you'd like (you should like) fold in your dried cherries, almonds, and additional chocolate chips. Feel free to play with the mix-ins as you like.

Bake about 1 tbsp of dough about 2 inches apart for 13-15 minutes. They spread out quite a bit so keep your first batch of cookies far away from each other just in case! They're nutty with bit of fruity bite. Really though, I might just go get some ice cream and make me some sandwiches.

Enjoy!

Sam

Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies

Do you guys remember these brownies? You know, the ones in the wrapping that were so filled with preservatives and who knows what? The ones that were so mm mmm moist and pretty with their little candy chips?

Well I saw this recipe that was a copy-cat and I had to re-create! How adorable?

I made these in a 9x13 pan but I'm going to tell you guys to make them in a 9x9 pan to make them thicker (as in the original recipe). The thinner version is more like the original cosmic brownies but I think a little more brownie would help with the ganache:cake ratio.

Alas, this is of no importance. This is just yummy and pretty. Let's just focus on that. Did I mention that they are f-u-d-g-y? Well, they are.

Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies
Adapted from averiecooks

For the Brownies
3/4 cup melted unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cocoa powder (or dark!)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9x9 baking pan with parchment paper or buttered aluminum foil. Set aside.

Add the sugars, water, and vanilla to your melted butter. Add in your eggs one at a time. Whisk until well incorporated. Add the remaining ingredients except for the flour and mix until well incorporated. Finally, add in your flour - mixing only until incorporated. Do not overmix!

Pour batter into pan and bake for about 25-30 minutes or until it springs back at you when you poke in the center or a toothpick comes out clean. Allow brownies to cool completely. Meanwhile...

For the Ganache
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup half-and-half
1 1/4 cup mini M&Ms (!! so cute !!)

Heat your chocolate chips in the microwave for about 1 minute to soften the chips. If they're not softened after a minute, pop them back in for 15 second intervals until soft. They should give away to melted chips with a little prodding with a spoon. Set aside

Heat your half-and-half in a bowl in the microwave for 1 minute in the microwave or until it just starts to bubble on the sides (but not boil!). Pour this over your chocolate chips, mix, and set aside for 5 minutes.

Pour this mixture over your brownies and smooth. Now the fun part - sprinkle your M&Ms generously over the ganache. Cover your pan and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours before slicing to get some time for your ganache to set.

Enjoy!!

Sam

White Chocolate Strawberry Blondies

Summer is here and these blondies smell like a strawberry ice cream. Seriously, I paused for a good 30 seconds just smelling the pan as the strawberries bubbled fresh out of the oven.

White chocolate is incorporated into the batter creating the perfect meld of fruit and chocolate in every bite.  They remind me of cake-batter frozen yogurt swirled with strawberry frozen yogurt...but then chewy, warm baked, beautiful, delicious...



Beautiful berries get folded into the batter and dot the finished product.

Such a delicious recipe!

White Chocolate Strawberry Blondies
Adapted from loveandoliveoil (one of my favorite blogs!)

1/2 cup of white chocolate chips (an overflowing 1/2 cup)
1/3 cup unsalted butter cut into pieces
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cleaned, de-stemmed, and halved (or quartered) strawberries

Pre-heat your oven to 350F.

Line a 8 x 8 baking pan with parchment paper and butter the paper. Leave some parchment paper hanging over the edges to help you dismount them later. I would highly recommend using parchment paper, these little guys are sticky!

In a double boiler melt white chocolate and butter over medium-high heat. Keep a close eye on this and stir constantly until smooth and well incorporated. Remove from heat and stir in your sugar. Your mixture may look kind of gross and separated but fear not! Just keep mixing (whisk recommended) and it will improve. Also if you have some separated butter, totally okay anyway. Add in your vanilla and then set aside for a few minutes.

In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Crack open your two eggs into the flour mixture but don't mix. Slowly add in your still warm chocolate-butter concoction to your flour and egg bowl, mixing in between each add-in. Make sure to add in your warm chocolate-butter mix slowly and in batches so that you don't scramble your eggs.

Once it is all incorporated, fold in your berries and admire how pretty it is!

Now here's the tricky part: bake for 30-45 minutes. I say 30-45 because I forgot to time how long it took me but it definitely took longer than the original recipe. When the top springs back at you, the sides are a golden brown, or when a toothpick comes out clean - it's done!

Let them cool a bit and then enjoy!

Sam

Blueberry Swirl Rolls

These made the house smell amazing! I was looking for a recipe that said "summer" as I hope you have all been basking in the lovely weather as much as I have been. What says summer better than blueberries?

These guys are similar to cinnamon raisin rolls but instead of filling them with cinnamon, they're jam packed (literally!) with jam.

They still get a cream cheese frosting but these guys are so delightfully fruity and beautiful, it's a great change from the usual cinnamon rolls.

Blueberry Swirl Rolls
Adapted from averiecooks

For the dough
1 egg
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
3 tablespoons sugar
2 1/4 teaspoon yeast
1/2 cup milk + 2 tablespoons

Mix together everything but the milk into a large bowl. Heat your milk in the microwave until warm, not hot (about 110 degrees). Pour your milk into the rest of the ingredients and combine. The dough will be relatively firm. Knead your dough for a good 10 minutes until you get a nice smooth surface and the dough has come together in a beautiful dough ball.

Grease the bottom of a bowl with some oil and place your dough into the bowl. Cover with a warm paper towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled (about 1.5-2 hours).

For the filling
2 tablespoons very soft butter
1 cup blueberry preserves (but you can use whatever you like!)

Once doubled, punch your dough down and knead for another 3 minutes. Then roll out your dough to about 18 x 12 inches. It doesn't have to be exactly 18x12 - if you roll out thicker then you will get less swirls, roll out thinner and you'll get more!

Once you have your dough rolled out, spread your butter all over your dough leaving a tiny margin along the edges. Repeat with your preserves.

Roll your dough (now with preserves!) lengthwise until you've made a log filled with layers of butter and preserves. Pinch the dough together at the ends and along it's length to keep it from unrolling.

Cut your log into about 12 pieces. You can cut bigger or smaller depending on how large or small you want your rolls. Use a good serrated knife or unflavored dental floss for this part. Place your now individual rolls onto a baking pan about 2 inches apart.

Cover with warm paper towels again and let rise 60-75 minutes or until about doubled. Pick a warm summer spot again!

Once doubled, bake your rolls at 350F for 25-30 minutes. They will start to ooze the aroma of sweet bread and blueberries!

For the glaze
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 ounces softened cream cheese
2 tablespoons softened butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all of your ingredients into a bowl. Drizzle (or pipe) the glaze all over your still warm swirl rolls.

These guys are best served warm. Pop them in the microwave for a bit before serving them the next morning!

Enjoy!

Sam

Blueberry Clafoutis

This is a French dessert traditionally made with cherries, but I think it's even better with blueberries! And the lemon zest gives the custard great flavor. Ps - here is the pronunciation (I clearly couldn’t figure it out without a little help from Merriam-Webster).

Blueberry Lemon Clafoutis 

Inspired by two recipes from PreventionRD and FamilySpice

3 eggs

½ cup sugar

pinch of salt

½ cup all purpose flour, sifted

1 cup milk (you can use any kind…I used 2%)

zest of one lemon

1 – 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup blueberries

Using a hand mixer or a whisk, thoroughly combine the eggs, sugar, salt, and flour. Add the milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Pour into a greased 9 inch pie plate. Sprinkle the blueberries on top.

Bake for 40 minutes in a 350 oven.

The blueberries float! 

The batter puffs up while baking. 

Enjoy! 

Elyse

Mini Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Back in July of this year, I did my surgery rotation with some med students from other medical schools. One of these students was paired up with me on my surgical team. The lovely Anna (said student) from Jefferson recently shared with me this recipe and I had to replicate! 

She suggested that I make these muffins mini and she was right! They're filled with mini chocolate chips so every single bite is absolutely peppered with chocolate and fresh banana flavors. If you've ever had a slice of Starbucks chocolate chip banana bread, this is reminiscent of those flavors but without the artificial banana aftertaste. I bet these would be awesome as a full banana bread loaf as well!

Both my running buddy and my husband both immediately popped 3 or 4 into their mouths once they tried these. They're super moist, chocolate-y and yet banana filled as well!

I've got some people to thank for helping me with residency applications and I think these little guys will do just wonderfully in a thank you basket.

Mini Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
Adapted from littlebcooks

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large mashed bananas
3/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup melted and cooled butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup mini (so cute!) chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and either line or spray your mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
Mix together your flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, mix together your smashed bananas, sugar, egg, vanilla, and melted butter. Slowly incorporate your flour mixture into this banana bowl until well incorporated.

Fold in your mini chocolate chips until evenly dispersed. Fill your muffin tins about 3/4 full. I used a heaping, heaping tablespoon as a measurement and tried to keep the batter amounts relatively uniform from tin to tin.

Bake for 16 minutes and let them cool before digging in. Or not...they're yummy warm as well! Also, Anna told me that she added in walnuts to hers. I didn't get a chance to do this but it sounds so good! I'm definitely going to be using this again in larger muffin or loaf pan form.

Enjoy!
Sam

Graduation Cupcakes

Congratulations to the class of 2013! What better way to celebrate graduation than with cupcakes???

Idea from here. 

For the cupcakes:

1 stick butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 ¾ cup cake flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup milk

Preheat the oven to 375°F and line about 16 muffins tins with papers.

Cream the butter and the sugar.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder.

Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill the cupcake liners about half way. (You don’t want too much batter in each, or the cupcakes will be domed.)

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.  

mmmmm cake batter...cookie scoops work really well when making cupcakes!!!

For the frosting:

½ stick butter, room temperature

2 cups confectioner’s sugar

2 tablespoons milk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream the butter. Gradually add in the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until you get a frosting consistency.

For the hats:

Reese cups

Squares of chocolate (I used Ghirardelli milk chocolate caramel squares)

To assemble:

Put some of the frosting in a Ziploc bag and pipe onto the cupcakes. Cut a fairly big corner into the corner to pipe through.

For the hats, put a dab of frosting on the bottom of a Reese cup and use this to glue it to the chocolate square. Use some frosting piped through a TINY hole cut in the corner of a Ziploc bag to fashion the tassel.

Put the hat onto your cupcake!

The graduates...they look so scholarly!

~Elyse