....is Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last month, when I flew to Boston, I was so excited to see the Spirit Magazine article: 'Hello Cookie'. An entire inflight article on cookies?! They must have known I was flying. When I got home, I found the compiled recipes online, and wanted to make them all, immediately. (I've managed to hold out so far and only made the one but I plan to make more soon.) MMcK & I had another baking day and CPB helped decide which one we made first. He loves Chocolate and the Bacon & Chocolate combination sounded intriguing to all of us. They turned out to be a nice salty versus sweet treat to add to my cookie recipe collection. (Two cookies in one week, 'tis the season for baking!)

....is Chocolate Dipped Caramel Rice Crispy Treats

Everyone loves rice crispy treats! (Right? I think so.) For me, they bring back memories of after soccer game snacks and class parties. This is the grown-up version of the delicious childhood dessert. Caramel is mixed with the cereal and the chocolate topping is a wonderful addition to this sweet treat. Baking buddy, MMcK, made these to bring to work and they disappeared, luckily I snagged a few before they were all gone!

....is The Fat Chewy, M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies

MMcK & I had a Beer and Baking night! However, no beer was used in the making of these cookies. :) We baked 13 dozen cookies that night. Half of the cookies were the ones in this post, the Fat Chewy. They are chewy and full of chocolate, two ways. This is MMcK's recipe, and I only have the one image, they were eaten before I could get any more pictures. I think these are one of CPB's favorite and will definitely be made again (and again)!

....the Wookie

Maybe you were expecting a star wars character....?

Last Friday on the way home from our LAdventure, CPB & I stopped at the Iron Press for a late dinner. We split their Burger with Stout BBQ Sauce topped with Bacon, an Onion Ring  & Potato Chips. AND a side of their Waffle Fries with Garlic Aioli dipping sauce. The two put together (plus a wonderful beer from local brewery!) was more than enough to fill us both. Their burgers look small, a quarter of a Belgian waffle makes up the top and bottom bun, but they are rich and filling. As we were leaving the waitress asked if we wanted any desserts. Her recommendation, the Wookie, is cookie dough pressed in a waffle iron topped with a scoop of ice cream. We were completely full and didn't order this wonderful sweet treat. Having just borrowed a waffle iron from MMcK, it got me thinking.... 

....is a Stout Brownie with Chocolate Stout Glaze

This Brownie is an another attempt at baking with beer. Ales and stouts can add flavor to savory foods and desserts and the carbonation can act as a leavening agent in breads and cake, creating a lighter batter and therefore an airier baked result. I wanted to improve on the Oated Stout Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting to make an even stoutier treat (and it allows me to use made up words like stoutier). 

MMcK came over for the final installment of the Furlough Bakery, though this won't be the last sweet treat collaboration we'll have to come up with a new name. We used a loosely translated version of Gwenyth Paltrow's Fudgy Choclate Brownies & a glaze intended for a Better Happier St. Sebastian Maple Doughnut

(I would really like to make these someday when I can borrow a friend's doughnut pan, after she moves home from Texas....)

....is Petit Pan au Chocolat, for Breakfast

I made Petit Pan au Chocolat for the Breakfast Hub this morning!

They're warm and gooey, tiny chocolate croissants.

"There's soooooo fluffy!!"

Happy Baking!

....is Tiramisu

One of my favorite summer shows is the Food Network Star, because they're usually homecooks and they encourage each other more than other competition shows. This recipe is adapted from one of the Judges, Giada De Laurentiis.

(And of all the things I've baked or Sweet Treats I've made this is CPB's favorite to date.)

....is Banana Oat Nutella Cookies

The first Furlough Bakery treat. 

Until the end of September I am on Furlough every Friday, because of federal budget cuts all DOD employees have to take one non-paid day off a week for 11 weeks. It sounds like a great summer plan until that first paycheck comes in 20% shy of normal. It's unfortunate really but I've found a good way to fill the time....baking, lots of baking. (I've been talking about a Furlough Bake Sale too, maybe make back a little of my missing income.)

But onto the recipe, I have a lovely partner in crime, MMcK has become my new baking buddy and brought this recipe (and a few aging Banana's) over to make cookies on our first Furlough Friday. They're a bread-like cookie and super moist, but the Nutella is the best part, a chocolatey swirl of goodness. And we had a little extra batter, maybe only enough for 2-3 cookies, so I put it in a ramekin and into the oven with the last batch of cookies. It came out like a Pizzookie & Banana Bread Hybrid.

....is the s'morownie!

I dreamed this up at the start of the summer and it turned my oven into a sweet campfire memory. The base of the s'morownie is made the same as the Peppermint Patty Brownies, from there it's a layer of marshmallow fluff and another of crushed graham crackers. If you have any extra graham cracker crumbs left, press the brownie into them right before serving.

....is Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Chocolate what?! But it's not green.

The Zucchini makes this breakfast treat deliciously moist and the Ganache is a gooey ribbon of  goodness (I'm practicing my alliterations) . I need to find a way to Ganache the middle (as I turn it into a verb) but maybe that would make it more cake like. But do you want to know the best part, if the chocolate bread and chocolate ganache isn't enough.... 

With three whole zucchini in the batter you can tell everyone, including yourself, it's (almost) healthy!

....is Peppermint Patty Brownies

Part two of the present to my Valentine. (The first was this amazing bowl.) I had friday off so I took the opportunity to make these brownies, they're not hard but the cooling and setting of the three parts can take some time. If you're going to bring these somewhere I would recommend making them the night before. No surprise, the Brownies were a hit!

....is Back to Basics, Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have a family recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I made it with such frequency in college I actually gave it up for lent one year. Not because I would eat it by the handful alone, I had 5 roommates and a few friends willing to help me out. The amount of butter and sugar I was going thru simply astonished me, so I took a break. I may have saved a few waistlines, including my own.

I also noticed the recipe rarely made it to cookie form. Only once that I recall, a group of boys specifically requested it in cookie form. I kept most of the ingredients on hand but when requested I usually required the missing ingredients be brought to me. That same group would show up at the door with a bag of chocolate chips or a stick of butter or one time I'm pretty sure they asked one of my neighbors to 'borrow' two eggs.

Most of the time it was eaten as dough (and to my knowledge, no one ever got sick from it). Maybe 30% of the time we would make Pizzookie with it, this lovely treat is in a few restaurants now. Basically you spread all the dough onto a cookie sheet or pizza pan (pizza + cookie = pizzookie) and par-bake it. Just past the 'jiggly' stage, it's a technical term.

This past year i decided to try my hand at the classic chocolate chip cookie, you think it wold be easy but there are thousands of chocolate chip cookies out there. Some have yogurt or pudding mix but I wanted plain, old, normal chocolate chip cookies. This is my favorite, they are gooey and hold together, most recipes have an inherent crumbling problem. The only alteration I made to the link below was a full teaspoon of vanilla, if you double the batch I would recommend only a teaspoon and a half.

1/4 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Butter
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla
1 1/4 Cups Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until smooth. Beat in the vanilla and egg. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in another bowl; stir into the sugar mixture in 3-4 parts. Finally, fold in the chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets or use a cookie scoop, one of my favorite kitchen gadgets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are golden. Remove from baking sheet to cool on wire racks.

(Thanks, Anna.)

Happy New Year, Hello 2013.

...is Pop's Birthday Cake, German Chocolate Cake

The Cake:
1pkg. (4 oz.) BAKER'S GERMAN'S Sweet Chocolate
1/2 cup water
4 eggs, separated
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup buttermilk

HEAT oven to 350°F.

COVER bottoms of 3 (9-inch) round pans with waxed paper; spray sides with cooking spray. Microwave chocolate and water in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1-1/2 to 2 min. or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring after 1 min. Stir until chocolate is completely melted.

BEAT egg whites in small bowl with mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form; set aside. Mix flour, baking soda and salt. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each. Blend in melted chocolate and vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating until well blended after each addition.

ADD egg whites; stir gently until well blended. Pour into prepared pans.

BAKE 30 min. or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Immediately run small spatula around cakes in pans. Cool cakes in pans 15 min.; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Spread Coconut-Pecan Filling and Frosting between cake layers and onto top of cake.

The Frosting:
4 egg yolks
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine
1 pkg. (7 oz.) BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut (2-2/3 cups)
1-1/2 cups Slivered Almonds

BEAT egg yolks, milk and vanilla in large saucepan with whisk until well blended. Add sugar and butter; cook on medium heat 12 min. or until thickened and golden brown, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

ADD coconut and nuts; mix well. Cool to desired spreading consistency.

....is Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

A, only slightly altered, Gluten Free recipe from Eat-Live-Run.

1/3 Cup Coconut Oil, room temperature
3/4 Cup Sugar
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1-1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
3/4 tsp Salt
2-1/2 Cups Whole Oats*
1 10-oz bag Dark Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Almond Butter

2 Tbsp Flour
2 tsp Vanilla

*The Original Recipe called for 3 Cups. When I used this it made the cookies a little more like Granola and they had trouble holding shape. I had to force them into the cookie scoop to hold shape. They were still delicious but I think next time I'll try a few less Oats.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together the Coconut Oil, Almond Butter, Sugar and Brown Sugar until well blended. Add Vanilla extract. Keep beating until everything is combined.

In another bowl, mix together the Oats, Baking Soda, Salt, Cinnamon and Flour. Add to wet ingredients along with Chocolate Chips. Mix until just combined.

Roll small balls of dough (using a Cookie Scoop is easier, it looks like a Mini-Ice Cream Scoop) and place three inches apart on a silpat or parchment paper-lined sheet tray. Do not flatten dough balls. Bake for 10-12 minutes until puffy. Let cool for 5 minutes on sheet tray before transferring to cooling rack to cool completely.

....is Torta di Pere

3 Pears, Peeled, in a Small Dice

1/2 Cup Butter
1 Cup Flour
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 Eggs, at Room-Temperature
3/4 Cup Sugar
3/4 Cup Bittersweet Chocolate Chunks

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9inx9in Pan. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together, set aside.

Brown the Butter. Melt the Butter in a medium saucepan (because it will foam a lot) and cook it stirring constantly until the Butter browns and smells nutty (about 6 to 8 minutes). It helps to frequently scrape the solids off the bottom of the pan in the last couple minutes to ensure even browning. Remove from the flame but keep in a warm spot.

Using a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the Eggs on high speed until pale and very thick. It will take nine minutes to get sufficient volume. (This was pretty cool to watch them get all light and fluffy!) Add the Sugar to the Eggs and whip a few minutes more.

Just as the Egg-Sugar mixture is starting to loose volume, turn the mixture down to stir, and add the flour mixture and Brown Butter. Add one third of the flour mixture, then half of the butter, a third of the flour, the remaining butter, and the rest of flour. Whisk until just barely combined and then use a spatula to gently fold the batter until the ingredients are combined. It is very important not to over-whisk or fold the batter or it will lose volume.

Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle the Pear and Chocolate Chunks over the top, and bake until the cake is golden brown and springs back to the touch, about 40 to 50 minutes or a tester comes out clean.

I was amazed how well the batter surrounded the Pears and Chocolate.

This one was so good we didn't share it with anyone...

....is Chocolate Chip, Banana, and Chocolate Chip & Banana Pancakes

I'll admit I'm a Pre-Mixed Pancake kind of girl. I think they taste good. But I like trying to make things from scratch, here was my first attempt. (Thank you Smitten Kitchen & Martha.)

2 Cups Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3 Tbsp Sugar
2 Eggs, Lightly Beaten
3 Cups Buttermilk
4 Tbsp Butter, Melted
1 Banana, Sliced

1/2 Cup Chocolate Chips

Place a pan over medium heat. Whisk together the Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Salt, and Sugar in a medium bowl. Add the Eggs, Buttermilk, and 4 Tbsp melted butter, and whisk to combine. The batter should have small to medium lumps.

Test the griddle by sprinkling a few drops of water on it. If the water bounces and spatters, the griddle is hot enough. Brush Butter onto the griddle. Wipe off the excess with a folded paper towel.

Using a 4-oz. ladle, about 1/2 cup (for a 6-inch pancake), pour the Batter in pools 2 inches apart. Arrange a few slices of Banana and some Chocolate Chips or Banana's AND Chocolate Chips, pressing them in slightly. When the pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around the edges, about 2 1/2 minutes, flip over. If any batter oozes or toppings roll out, push them back under with your spatula. Cook until golden on bottom, about 1 minute.

Repeat with the remaining batter. You can keep the finished pancakes on a heat-proof plate in the oven at 175°F. Serve warm.

....is Chocolate Covered Bacon

A San Diego Fair favorite. I tried it last year for the first time, it was coated in solid chocolate, I wanted to try and make it myself with a little less chocolate, I still need to work on perfecting it but it was pretty delicious.

I used the Chocolate Sauce from the Roasted Pears with Chocolate & Olive Oil we made for Valentine's Day. I remember it being easy to make and it mostly solidified when it cooled. Not a candy finish but it was solid enough to hold.


6 Pieces of Bacon
1 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
1 Tbsp Sugar
3/4 Cup Heavy Cream
4 Oz. Bittersweet Chocolate, Chopped 

Cook the Bacon until crispy and delicious.

Bring the cream to a boil in a saucepan. Then, in a bowl, combine the chocolate, remaining butter, amaretto, and hot cream. Let stand for 1 minute and then stir with a spatula until smooth. Serve the roasted pears drizzled with the chocolate sauce and olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt.

Dip into chocolate and set on wax paper. Place in freezer until solid, re-dip if necessary.

....is Vegan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

A friend of mine is vegan and she said rarely does she find desserts she can eat. Almost everything has butter, cream or eggs. So I set out on a mission to make something deliciously Vegan. I started with Banana Bread. I only needed to find substitution for 3 things since it doesn't have Eggs, it only has 3 tsp of Buttermilk, 1/2 Cup of Butter and 1 Cup Chocolate Chips. The last one worried me the most, I though Vegan Chocolate meant Icky Chocolate. There's a lot of Dark Chocolate that's 'almost Vegan' when I checked out the wrapper it would say '.01% Milk' or 'May Contain Milk'. I want to know how they don't know whether or not it contains Milk? Anyway, I finally found 'Enjoy Life - Mini Chips - Dairy, Nut & Soy Free' and they were actually good.

1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil Spread*
3 Ripe Bananas
1/2 tsp Vanilla
3 tsp Silk Creamer*
2 Cup Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Cinnamon*
1 C Enjoy Life - Mini Chips*

Cream Sugar, Butter, Bananas, Vanilla and Creamer. Add Flour and Baking Powder. Dissolve Baking Soda in small amount of Water, add to other mixture. Add Chocolate Chips. Bake in a 9x13 at 350 for 30 min.

So good it was gone before I could get a picture....

*Ingredients in Bold are what differ from the original recipe.

....is a Disneyland Inspired Chipwich

I won't lie, there's something about the Chipwich at Disneyland that makes me about as happy as riding the Matterhorn.... and this doesn't quite match that happiness, but it's a start. This is a little something to hold me over til my next annual trip.

1 Package 'Break 'n Bake' Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 Carton of Vanilla or Vanilla & Carmel Ice Cream

Two cookies per Chipwich with a delicious scoop of Ice Cream in between.

....is Mexican Chocolate Brownies

Adapted from Baking Bites