Double Choco-Coconut Cookies
Happy Mustache Day! November has drawn to an end, and December has successfully allowed men (and unfortunately, boys) of all shapes and sizes to grow mustaches. Ranging from Burt Reynolds to dirty Frenchman, these mustaches are everywhere. Aren’t us girls lucky? In honor of the cause, I hope all you boys have grown some glorious staches, and that you ladies are throwing on a fake one to celebrate. BTW, fake eyelash glue really helps secure those suckers to your face.
On another note, when did December get here?? I swear, November didn’t even happen. It’s only the first of December, and I’m already sick of Christmas music, gingerbread and commercials that think they’re being holiday witty (it’s been done, homies!). So, to get away from it all, I’ve been killin’ time by baking cookies. What up Friday evening. Once my belly is full on gooey, chocolate, coconut deliciousness, I’m going to throw on the dirty Frenchman and my red stripey dress and hit the town. Happy weekend!
DOUBLE CHOCO-COCONUT COOKIES:
Bake at 375 for about ten minutes
Makes about 15 cookies
Cream:
1/2 cup butter (room temp)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 tsp salt
Add:
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
Add:
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
Bring dough together, and roll into about one inch balls. Press each ball to about two inches, so that it resembles a small hockey puck. Press the dough into coconut flakes on a flat surface and place on the cookie sheet!
~1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaake them babies up, and you’ve got a little hockey puck of heaven
Gonzo Bars
Maybe it’s the rain outside…maybe it’s the smoke I see coming from my neighbors chimney (jealous!)…or, maybe it’s just the fact that it’s winter, and I’m in hibernation mode. Whatever it is, I’ve got a mad case of the munchies. Not just any kind of munchies though, I’ve got the sophisticated munchies. I want to shovel food into my mouth, but I want said food to be fancy and delicious. It’s actually the best kind of munchies to have. Instead of settling for trail mix (that I already ate all the good stuff out of), I’m going to give my insatiable appetite the cold shoulder and bake something taaaaaasty.
I literally have no idea how to describe these. My friend asked me what I was making, and the best I could come up with was the all intriguing, “duuuuhhhhhhhh, it’s kind of an…sort of a…it’s something.” Seriously though, it’s like describing what Gonzo is from the Muppets. You have to use a list of pre-existing animals to describe him. So, in honor of that beloved Muppet, I give you Gonzo Bars. Part snickerdoodle, part magic bar, part blackberry cobbler? Enjoy!
GONZO BARS:
Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes
Makes a 9″ x 9″ pan
Crust:
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes
2 tbs flour
1/2 cup melted butter
Combine ingredients and press into a greased and foiled 9″ x 9″ pan. Bake for about ten minutes
Ganache:
1 1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tbs vanilla extract
Just barely bring the heavy cream to a boil and pour over chocolate in a different bowl. Let sit for about 15 seconds then whisk! Add vanilla and whisk again until smooth.
Gently spread the ganache over the graham cracker crust and let cool.
Dough:
Combine:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Add:
3/4 cup butter (room temp)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Mix until combined into small clumps. Sprinkle a little more than half the dough on the cooled ganache.
Add:
1 1/2 cup blackberries
Throw on the blackberries and sprinkle the remaining dough on top. Bake for about 2o minutes or until nice and golden. Make sure you let this dish cool before taking it out of the pan. The chocolate ganache needs to harden, otherwise they will fall apart. It’s worth the wait. I promise.
PB & B…and CC Cookies!
I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again, “EVERYTHING is better with bacon.” Absolutely everything, guys. One of my missions in life is to perfect each kind of cookie. Okay, that’s not true…but at least all the good kinds. This week I decided to tackle the peanut butter genre. Naaaaaailed it. Know why? I added bacon. Know why else? I also added chocolate chips to some (I have a hard time making a dessert that doesn’t involve chocolate…I mean, what’s the point?). But, I’ll be damned if you don’t like these cookies. The heavenly combo of savory and sweet. The perfect balance between mmm, mmm tasty and tooth ache inducing. You really just can’t go wrong. Now, I’m a crunchy peanut butter person, but feel free to use creamy (if you’re too weak for the crunch). Enjoy!
PEANUT BUTTER & BACON COOKIES (and maybe some chocolate chips)
Bake at 375 for about 9 minutes
Makes about twenty, 2.5″ cookies
Combine:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/2 cup butter (room temp or grated)’
1/2 cup cruuuunchy Adam’s peanut butter
Yes, I added the egg too early…learn from my mistakes
Add:
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp salt (watch the salt if you’re using salted peanut butter)
1 egg
Add:
1/2 bacon bits
Optional!
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Mix it, mix, mix it. Mix it like a Polaroid picture! No? I tried…
Roll into about 1.5″ balls and flatten with your palm. Push down the center with a fork to make that signature peanut butter cookie look.
Bake for nine minutes!
Nailed it.
‘Tis the Season Pumpkin Bars
This post is increeeeedibly late, and I apologize! Seems my days have been heavily saturated with pre, present and post Halloween partying. It’s not like you have much of a choice when Halloween decides to fall on a Wednesday. I mean, come on. You know I’m going to dress up the weekend before, the day of, and through no fault of my own, the weekend after. Needless to say life seems a little dreary now that I’m not constantly planning my costume, where to hang the cobwebs or where to plug in the black light. So, here you go kids. A classic for the November season…pumpkin bars!
PUMPKIN BARS:
Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes (I’m going to be totally honest and say it might be 40 minutes…I lost track)
Makes a 9″ x 9″ pan
Combine:
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Add:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp baking soda
Grease a 9″ x 9″ pan and line with aluminum foil. Grease again and throw the pumpkin batter in. So easy!
Bake it up and pop it out once cooled!
Whisk together and drizzle this here tastiness on top!
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tbs heavy cream
1 tbs vanilla extract
S’more Cookies!
I can’t really believed this happened. I was going to make some classic chocolate chip cookies, but I only had five tablespoons of butter and no chocolate chips. Uggghhhh, why don’t you ever have the ingredients you need?? So, I was all geared up and ready to go to the store on my bike. Jacket on…shoes on…purse on…but I just really didn’t want to leave! So, I took everything off and moped into the kitchen. If I keep opening the cupboard, chocolate chips are bound to appear, right? Wrong. They never did. What did I see, though? Cocoa powder, graham crackers, and marshmallows. Light bulb, baby! I was immediately on a mission to invent the s’more cookie. I did. No big. Oh, wait…biiiiig friggin’ deal.
S’MORE COOKIE:
Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes
Makes twelve, 3″ cookies
Dough:
Combine:
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar (packed)
5 tbs butter (room temp)
Add:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
Mix until combined, and roll into about 1.5″ balls.
Graham Cracker Coating:
1 egg white
1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
Slightly whisk one egg white in a bowl, and use to coat the dough balls. Fill another bowl with graham cracker crumbs and roll each cookie until covered.
Place each covered dough ball on a cookie sheet and indent with a teaspoon (or anything about that size…).
Bake for about ten minutes, and then repress with a tablespoon. The indent will go away while in the oven, but a quick press right when taken out will fix that up!
Once cooled, make up your marshmallow goo! Now, I’m sure some of you are scoffing at me for not making my own goo, but I didn’t have the ingredients for it, and I had marshmallows. Get over it.
Marshmallow Goo:
10 marshmallows (normal sized)
2 tbs sweetened condensed milk
On a low heat, place the marshmallows and sweetened condensed milk into a small saucepan. Keep and eye on it so it doesn’t burn! Mix until smooth and pourable.
Pour about one teaspoon of goo into each cookie.
Boom! Try and tell me you don’t feel like you’ve instantly been transported to a campfire. You can’t. And if you can, you didn’t make them right.
Chocolate, Banana Bars with Peanut Butter Frosting
Picture this…It’s Saturday morning and four of your friends are watching football. What football game you ask? I don’t know, because I don’t care. They, however, seem to think this game is one of the most important events of the year. So, I slap on my domestic housewife apron and head to the kitchen to do some baking. I mean, what else are you supposed to do when it’s raining out and you have a pack of hungry, sports crazy friends in your living room? My eyes are immediately directed to the fruit bowl. More specifically, the nasty bunch of bananas in the fruit bowl. And, when God gives you a fruit bowl full of overripe bananas, make some freaking chocolate, banana bars! That’s what I did at least. Then, I took some crunchy peanut butter (Adam’s, of course) and made some melt in your mouth frosting to schmear on top. Welcome to Tasty Town. If I could revisit Tasty Town, I might add half a cup of chopped pecans or walnuts. Just sayin…
CHOCOLATE, BANANA BARS:
Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes
Makes a 9″ x 9″ pan
Combine:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 mashed bananas (or 3, if you’re really into bananas)
Add:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup half and half
Blend all that goodness up until it’s smooth, and pour it into a 9″ x 9″ greased pan. Or just mix it up real nice and chunky if you’re into chunky bananas. Once the bars are baked and cooled, slather copious amount of frosting on top! The bar itself isn’t too sweet, so the frosting really adds a nice sweet tooth satisfying kick!
PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING:
1/4 cup butter (half a stick)
1/2 cup peanut butter (chuuuuunky!)
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tbs half and half (or heavy cream)
Blend the butter and peanut butter until smooth, and then, add the milk and powdered sugar. You can keep adding milk until you have the consistency you like.
Maple, Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars!
We’re almost halfway through October, and I haven’t made anything with pumpkin in it yet?? And to think I call myself a baker. Shaaaaame. Shaaaame on me. I would take away my Halloween dress-up privileges, but I think we all know that would end in a good ol’ fashioned, foot stompin’ tantrum. Ahhhh pumpkin. I’ve got big plans for this weekend, too. Gotta head out to the ol’ pumpkin patch. Gotta pick myself a pumpkin. Then, I’ve gotta carve that pumpkin into some glorious Jack O’Lantern. Seriously, is there anything better than Fall? I know I’ll be taking that statement back after six, straight months of rain, but right now, I can’t even suppress my oozing Autumn cheer. Happy pumpkining!!!
MAPLE, PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE BARS:
Bake at 350 for 35 minutes
Makes one 9″ x 9″ pan
Graham Cracker Crust:
1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs (either Cuisinart crackers, or throw in a bag and go to town with a rolling pin)
6 tbs melted butter
Put the graham cracker crumbs in a bowl and add the melted butter. Grease a 9″ x 9″ pan and line with aluminum foil.
Lightly grease the foil, and press the crust into the pan. Bake for about ten minutes.
Make sure crust is cool before adding the cheesecake batter!
Pumpkin Cheesecake:
Combine:
2 cups cream cheese (I use whipped)
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
2 tbs half and half (or heavy cream)
2 tsp pumpkin spice
or…
*1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
* use these three spices if you don’t have pumpkin spice!
Blend until smooth.
Maple Cheesecake Marble:
1 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tbs maple syrup
Whisk until smooth
Pour the pumpkin cheesecake batter into the 9″ x 9″ pan. Next, dollop marble sized drops of the maple batter onto the surface. Using any slender, pointy utensil (knife, kebab stick), use the tip to swirl the dollops around the top of the cheesecake.
Place the cheesecake on a rack about 2/3 down the oven so the top doesn’t overcook. Bake for about 35 minutes, then turn the oven off and let sit for about ten with the door open. Next, let the cheesecake cool on the counter for about 15 minutes. Finally, place in the fridge and let cool for about two hours. The cheesecake should be solid enough to come out of the pan easily.
For best results, fill a tall cup with hot water and let the knife soak for a couple seconds before each cut. The hot knife will make smoother cuts in the cheesecake!
Enjoy!
Chocolate Drop, Peanut Butter Cookies
In the midst of my sleep last night, I groggily threw a second blanket onto my bed. Know what that means? It’s Fall! It’s time for comfort food, pumpkin spice and a constant smell of cookies coming out of the oven. There’s something about that fresh baked cookie smell that just makes a person feel warmer. So, what did I do today? I made peanut butter cookies, and then I added a sweet morsel of chocolate goodness to the middle. Boom. Instant warmth.
CHOCOLATE DROP, PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES:
Bake at 375 for 11 minutes
Makes about eight, 3″ cookies
Cookie dough:
Combine:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick at room temp/grated in)
1/2 cup CHUNKY! peanut butter
Add:
1 2/3 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
Mix it all together and plop those suckers onto a cookies sheet!
Immediately after taking out of the oven, use a tablespoon (any deep spoon, really) and make indentations in the middle of the cookie. Something big enough to hold the delicious drop of chocolate ganache.
Chocolate ganache:
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup half and half
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Simmer the half and half and pour over the chocolate chips. Let sit for about 20 seconds, then mix together. Add the vanilla. Next, once the ganache is at a pourable consistency, fill up your cookies!
Espresso Stout Brownies
Is there anything better than brownies? I feel like they’re a highly underrated dessert. That’s really all I have to say about this topic. Oh wait…there is one thing that’s better than brownies. Brownies with beer. Enjoy these delicious treats!
ESPRESSO STOUT BROWNIES:
Bake at 325 for 45 minutes
Makes a 9″ x 9″ pan of browwnies
Brownie batter:
In a large pot:
Melt 1/2 cup butter (one stick) on low heat
Add 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips and mix until smooth
Once melted, remove from stove, and let cool to room temperature
Add:
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tbs brown sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup espresso stout
3/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
Cream cheese topping:
1 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Whisk until smooth.
Pour the batter into a greased 9″ x 9″ pan. Put the cream cheese topping into a piping bag (or Ziploc) and pipe stripes across the brownies.
Use a knife to drag perpendicular lines down the cream cheese
Bake it up!
Best. Comic. Ever.
Nobody gets me, like Calvin gets me.
Straight 2 the Face 