never bake while tired (or, that time I used flour instead of powdered sugar. or, nonny's icebox cookies).

I had been craving cookies for a few weeks. Specifically my grandmother's icebox cookies, which are kind of like a shortbread-sugar-cookie hybrid (more short than sugar), and pretty much the best ever. When I finally got around to pausing Gilmore Girls (Netflix, I'm not sure whether to kill you or hug you) long enough to be a productive member of society for 10 minutes, it was 10pm on a Sunday night when I definitely had to be at work the next day.

Perfect time to bake some cookies, right?

The beauty of this dough is that it takes about 30 seconds to throw together, and I always have the ingredients on hand. The hardest part is remembering to take butter out of the freezer to thaw, since we don't have a microwave.

Once the cookies were done, Danny and I enjoyed a few while watching the last episode for the night (or was it?). I kept thinking, "does powdered sugar lose its flavor over time? Because it tastes really bland!" The cookies tasted just fine, but the dusting of sugar on top could have been left off.

When I went into the kitchen to wrap up the remaining cookies, I looked around at the counters and it hit me: I had absolutely, definitely, positively just dusted a whole batch of cookies with all-purpose flour. The powdered sugar had been put back in the pantry after making the dough, and even though the container for the flour is a completely different size and shape, I somehow did not even notice I was using the wrong powder for the finishing touches.

And that is why you never bake when tired.

Luckily the flour was easily wiped off, and the cookies were re-dusted with powdered sugar, and all is now well with the world. The end.

Icebox Cookies (makes more than you probably need, but less than you probably want)

1 cup chilled unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7 tablespoons powdered sugar, plus extra for dusting
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 egg yolks

Preheat the oven to 350*. Cream the butter and sugar until incorporated and fluffy. Mix in egg yolks and vanilla, then flour, until dough is formed. Break the dough into a few smaller dough balls (this will depend on how much you want to make at a time), and roll each ball into logs about 1.5" thick. Wrap the logs up and chill in the freezer until firm, about an hour (or refrigerate for a few hours). Slice logs at an angle to make cookies, about .5" thick. Place cookies on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until slightly golden. Dust with powdered sugar. Eat while hot if you're crazy like me and just can't wait, or let them cool if you're a normal person. Careful not to inhale while eating, as powdered sugar causes coughing fits. Not that I know from experience, or anything.

blueberry oat "cuppins"

Is anyone sick of hearing me talk about my obsession with fresh fruit? I'd like to say I'm sorry and I promise I'll stop soon, but that probably won't happen until roughly....September. At least in terms of stopping the talk. If you're looking for an apology, you'll be waiting a very, very long time. Probably forever. For-e-ver (a la James Earl Jones).

Strawberry season is over (sad face), but blueberry season is in full swing. When we picked blueberries the first weekend they were available, we ended up with about seven pounds of berries. And that was after we had given some to my parents, some to the Boyfriend's family, and some to Katherine, who couldn't join us for the fun. After a full week, I'm proud to report that we ate every.single.last.berry. Not a one went bad. If I turn blue in the next week or so, you'll know why. Is it possible to overdose on blueberries?

In addition to the blueberries, we also managed to find a home for about six pounds of blackberries. More on that later.

Now, see what I did there in the title? Definitely made up a word there. Not quite cupcakes but also not quite muffins, I find these treats to be a nice mix of both - all the light fluffy goodness of a cupcake, but not so sweet that you can't eat one for breakfast or snack (although who are we kidding, I'd totally eat a cupcake for breakfast. Or lunch. Or...you get the point).

Blueberry oat "cuppins" (Makes 12 regular size or about 48 mini)

1 1/3 cups flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

1 egg

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup sour cream

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted

1 small ripe bananas, mashed

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/3 cup dry old-fashioned oats

Preheat oven to 350*. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking soda, and set aside. In a larger mixing bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer), whisk up your egg until it's light and fluffy. Mix in brown sugar until fully incorporated, and then add vanilla, sour cream, and finally the butter. The batter will be really runny at this point. Slowly add in the dry ingredients (I did about 1/2 cup at a time), and mix until just incorporated. Add in the banana. You don't want to mix the flour too much or your batter won't rise well when it bakes. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the oats and blueberries. Dole out batter evenly into a lined cupcake tin. Bake 16-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

flourless chocolate cake

Happy un-Passover!

I like being fashionably late, so this is totally appropriate.

You should make this cake anyway, because it tastes like Katherine's brownies. Make it for your favorite gluten-free friend or family member, or make it for yourself and hoard the entire thing. Just make it, ok?

Flourless Chocolate Cake (from Williams-Sonoma)


Unsalted butter for greasing the pan

• 8 oz. semisweet chocolate finely chopped, or 8oz semisweet chocolate chips
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 equal pieces
• 4 cold eggs, separated
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee dissolved in 2 tsp. water (I used half a shot of espresso)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cream of tartar, or 1/4 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1⁄4 cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 375*. Grease an 8-9" springform pan with a little butter. Fit a piece of parchment paper into the bottom, and set aside.

In a double boiler (or a pot with a few inches of water, with a heat-proof bowl on top), bring water to a simmer in the bottom pot. It's really important for the heat to be pretty low during this step, otherwise you'll kill the chocolate and have to start over again. Melt chocolate and butter together, whisking pretty consistently, until it's completely melted. Set aside to cool for at least 5 minutes.

While the chocolate is cooling, whisk cream of tartar/vinegar and egg whites with your mixer on medium-high for a minute, until frothy. Add half the sugar and whisk for 15 seconds, then add the rest of the sugar. Whisk for a few more minutes (mine took 2-3), until the egg whites are shiny and hold a stiff peak.

In a large measuring cup, lightly whisk together egg yolks, vanilla and coffee. Very slowly pour into the cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until no yellow streaks remain. If the chocolate is anything more than warm, pour a little into the egg mixture first and stir it in to bring the eggs up to temperature a bit (tempering). Then pour everything (still very slowly) into the chocolate. 

Fold about 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate with a rubber spatula, until no white streaks remain. Fold the rest of the egg whites into the batter, until again no white streaks remain. Pour batter into the pan and distribute evenly. Bake 20-23 minutes, or until the cake is just slightly jiggly in the center (if it's completely set it'll be too overdone once cool). Move the pan gently side to side to check. Don't move it too hard though, or you'll shake the air right out. Once the cake is done, let it cool in the pan for about 30 minutes. It will sink a little (maybe 1/2"), that's normal. Carefully remove from the pan (this is where the parchment paper comes in handy) and let it cool the rest of the way on your serving dish. Enjoy with some fresh strawberries and/or whipped cream! I'd totally go with and over or.

german pancake

Family is a funny thing.

                                                        

My dad and I both associate this pancake with childhood, but not together. When we first discussed making one, he couldn't believe I'd ever had it before. To me, this pancake brings back memories of the night before leaving for sleepaway camp (this one, specifically). I would stay at my friend's house (she lived just a couple hours from camp, as opposed to the 7ish I did), and in the morning we'd have this for breakfast. We also probably had it for breakfast most other times I slept over, but the memory is forever attached to camp. To my dad, this pancake reminds him of meals with his mom.

                                                       

This realization of a similar (but not shared) memory came just a few minutes before (after?) my brother said something to the puppy, and my mom and I simultaneously responded in our best sad puppy voice, in the same tone and pitch, with the same exact words. 

It's a good thing I love my parents, because it seems as though I'm turning into them.

We ate the pancake for dessert, served kind of like a crepe (except not rolled or folded, as you can see below). The consistency is a bit thicker and eggy, somewhere between a crepe and a popover. I'm sure you could eat it savory if you wanted (there's no sugar in the batter), but we went the powdered sugar, maple syrup and fresh fruit route.

The recipe comes straight out of the recipe box, filled mostly with index cards almost as yellow as the pancake itself from age, in very typewriter-looking font (it may have been from a typewriter, I actually haven't ever asked. Anyone care to weigh in?). I'm sharing a snapshot of the original recipe card, so you have an idea of how we roll. You can tell the recipes that came from Nonny (what we called my dad's mom), because they have next to no instructions. Actually, this one is a blessing - it has cook times. When I get around to sharing icebox cookies, you'll notice we weren't as lucky.

The best way to learn though is to be thrown in head first, right?

Just beat everything together and pour contents into an oven-safe pan (we used the cast iron, and doubled the recipe because the pan was so large, instead of halving the pan size. Clearly we have our priorities straight). Bake as directed. Under no circumstances are you to open the oven while the pancake is inside!

It's Recipe Madness! Check out these blogs for more daily food updates all this month!

The Cheesefries Stand Alone

Food Feminism Life

Life's Little Epiphanies

And if you want to play along, just leave a comment!   

strawberry cheesecake brownies

I think I need a sticker that says "this blog is bad for my waistline."

Seriously though, I probably should be spending an hour in the gym for every recipe I make. That would at least counteract all the time I spend eating batter out of the bowl with a spoon taste-testing to make sure what I'm about to share actually tastes good. Quality control and what not.

Let me tell you about these brownies. I have been in love with this particular recipe for over a decade (I feel old), thanks to my dear friend Katherine (she's older). These are the brownies that got her extensions on papers in high school, out of trouble for missing class, and extra meetings with advisers. These brownies are what taught me that a cup of butter is, in fact, two sticks not one. They were pretty much the only chocolate I ate when I was a chocolate-hating teen. These brownies are the best you can get, short of lacing them with something (and even then I'm pretty sure they're better). Crusty edges, dense, gooey center, eat-straight-out-of-the-pan-with-a-fork-but-probably-just-with-your-fingers goodness. Especially at 3am, which is prime baking time where Katherine comes from. We had a lot of late nights with these brownies.

This version of the brownies has a cheesecake layer swirled in, which cuts nicely into the richness of the chocolate. Katherine's are plain cheesecake, and I added some strawberries for a little extra flavor (I mean, who doesn't love strawberries and chocolate?). It's subtle, but it's there. Since I've been known to eat large numbers of brownies in one sitting (see above), I made them in the mini cupcake tin in an attempt to lessen the damage. The result is a perfectly bite-sized treat for those times you just need a little chocolate in your life. Because we all need a little chocolate in our lives.

Cheesecake Brownies (Makes 24 mini brownies or one 9x9 pan)


Cream Cheese Layer
1/2 cup cream cheese (soft)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (soft)
1/4 cup sugar
1-2 teaspoons vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup strawberries (optional)

Beat cream cheese, butter and sugar together.  Beat in vanilla, strawberries and eggs. I just threw everything into my food processor and blended to a smooth consistency.

Brownie Layer
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1 stick unsalted butter melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs (room temperature)
1/2 generous cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350*. Stir cocoa and sugar together, stir in melted butter.  Add vanilla and eggs (one at a time if not at room temp), then mix in flour and salt. If you're using a stand mixer, set the speed to medium for the vanilla and eggs, then reduce to low when you add the flour.

Pour about 2/3 brownie mixture into greased (or parchment papered) pan and spread evenly, then pour in cream cheese mixture. Spoon the rest of brownie mixture over cream cheese in dollops.  Use a fork to spread out top brownie layer and marbleize the cream cheese with the top brownie batter. For mini brownies, bake for 16-18 minutes, and for a 9x9 pan bake about 25-30 minutes until toothpick comes out mostly-to-entirely clean (depends on how fudgy you want them, but definitely make sure it's at least mostly clean). Try not to eat all of them in one go.