TWD: World Peace Cookies

Who doesn't love the combination of sugar, butter, and chocolate. The dough of these cookies was so incredibly good I wasn't sure it was going to make it into a baked cookie form.
Jessica of cookbook habit chose todays recipe. And it is probably one I will make again. The only change I made was that I used semisweet chips instead of the bittersweet chocolate called for. I have never really had a taste for bittersweet and these are super good with semi sweet.

TWD: Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread

Heather at Sherry Trifle chose the recipe this week. I was worried- that is why it took me two days to get the time and guts up to make it. I wasn't sure that chocolate and ginger should go together. I am pretty picky about my chocolate. I don't think that fruit and chocolate should be together either!

I was watching my neice and nephew today and she wanted to help. I wish I would've gotten a picture of her helping. She is so stinkin' cute. Anyway, we got it all made and I ate a piece before dinner- yes, before- and it wasn't that bad. Although I didn't do the triple ginger thing. I actually only added the ground ginger. It smelled like Christmas in my house and even though I am not sure I will make it again I am glad I made it this time. See Heather's blog for the recipe if you are interested!

TWD: Berry Surprise Cake

So many surprises. Where do I start?
First of all, you should be able to find the original recipe here. Great pick Mary Ann.
Now, the sorry tale of the berry surprise cake.
I looked at the ingredients and realized that I didn't have any heavy cream or fresh berries. I figured I would just make do with what I had because there was no way I was going to the store after I had already been earlier in the morning. Poor planning on my part.
So I do the cake part. Making sure to follow the directions and 'treat the eggs like the divas that they are'. Despite my watchful care the cake fell!!!Surprise! I think the last time I had a cake fall so badly was when I was in high school. The crater was so big that I knew there would be no need to hollow out the middle for the filling, because, well.. there was no middle.
So then I went on to plan B. Since I didn't have any fresh berries or heavy cream I decided to just do my own thing after that. I whipped up some dream whip- ya, you know the stuff. Comes in a box in powder form- and then added the cream cheese I had creamed with sugar. I then frosted the cake with the mixture. After that I filled the crater with frozen berry mix and surprise!- it turned out great!

TWD: French Pear Tart

Today's adventure with Dorie was the French Pear Tart. Just in the description at the beginning of the recipe she had me wishing that I could take a trip to France and explore the cuisine. This tart was easy to put together and my husband said was the best Dorie recipe we have tried so far.

We tried it at room temperature and think that it would be even better cold.
I especially was grateful that it called for canned pears and not fresh because money is a bit tight around here and I wanted to do the recipe but not have to spend anything to do it. So this was perfect. The almond cream was divine and now I am wondering what other fruit would work with this as a base. Thanks Dorie! I loved it!
This recipe was brought to you from Dorie herself. To enjoy the bliss yourself go here and try it out.

TWD: Linzer Sables- CATCH UP!

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, although it seems like I might have. Things got crazy in December because we moved. But I am back and trying to catch up with Dorie followers again.

Linzer Sables the Nutella way!

When I read the recipe for the sables I was excited to use hazelnuts in the dough and nutella as my filling. However the only hazelnuts I could find were in the shell and I don't have a nut cracker! So I did want any country girl would do and smashed the nuts with my husbands leatherman! LOL

It seemed to work fine.
The cookies went together really well and since the temps have been around -20 for several days I just set the dough out the back door for about 3 minutes after rolling it out and I had very chilled dough to work with. It made things go very quickly!
I loved how they turned out. The use of nutella makes a VERY hearty cookie. I could barely finish my one. So I tried one with jam and liked it even better. Fun cookie! And I really like how they look!

Go here to find the recipe from Noskos who was the great guy that picked it!

TWD: Arborio Rice Pudding

Where has rice pudding been for the last 34 years? I am not a tapioca fan(a texture thing) so it never occurred to me that I would like rice pudding, but MAN was I wrong!!!!
I have made this pudding twice since Saturday- it's only Monday as I type.
My first try was as suggested in the book- 1/2 vanilla and 1/2 chocolate. Now I am a lover of chocolate, but I tasted the vanilla first and well, I don't think any other rendition could taste as good after that.
The simplicity of this recipe sold me. Isabelle from Les Gourmedes chose this recipe, but I fear that she will post it in French and so I will post it here. I hope I don't get in trouble for this. It is just so good that everyone should have it!

Arborio Rice Pudding
1/4 C rice, short grain (I used Calrose and not Arborio and it worked just fine)
2 C water
3 1/4 C milk (powdered milk even works- we used Morning Moo brand)
1/4 C sugar
1 T vanilla or 3 oz bittersweet chocolate

Par boil the rice in the 2 C water for 10 minutes and then drain. In a heavy saucepan combine the milk and sugar and bring to a boil. Once it has started to boil add the rice and lower the heat to a simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and put into a bowl. Add either your vanilla or chocolate. Place plastic wrap on the the top so it doesn't have a film on it when cool- or just put it in a bowl that has a lid, which is what we did and it worked great! Chill for 6 hours and then enjoy, Enjoy, ENJOY!!!!
This is going to be a new favorite at our house for years to come. I have kids snitching it out of the fridge!

TWD: Rugelach

Rugel what? This was fun for me because I have never even heard of this cookie. We were discussing how many TWD's that we have absolutely loved and there are few, I am sad to say. However, this was a huge hit one way and a total bomb the next. Because the dough chilled in two balls we decided to try each ball of dough with different ingredients.

Dough #1 included: our family jam(peach berry), cinnamon/sugar, dried cherries, white chocolate and macadamian nuts(that was my husbands brilliant idea!) These were the ones that were absolutely amazing. They went VERY fast!

Dough #2 included: our family jam, forgot the cinnamon/sugar, craisins, chunks of pretzels, and mini chocolate chips. I thought the pretzels were a good idea. However, it is classified as a crime in this household to pair chocolate and fruit and this recipe was no exception. My husband only ate one bite of one of these.

Here is our version:

Cherry White Chip Rugelach

Dough:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
8 T butter
1 C flour
1/4 tsp salt
Filling:
2/3 C family jam
2 T sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 C macadamian nuts
1/4 C dried cherries
2/3 C white chocolate chips
Glaze:
1 lg egg
1 tsp water
2 T decorating sugar- coarse

Preheat oven to 350 degrees- unless you have my oven and then do 325.
In a food processor combine flour, salt, cream cheese, and butter and pulse until dough looks curdled. Then turn out on lightly floured surface. Divide into two balls and put in saran wrap. Chill for at least 2 hours.
Heat jam in microwave until it is almost like liquid. Combine cinnamon/sugar. Roll out a ball of dough into a large circle. Spread on half of the jam, sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar, layer nuts, chocolate, and cherries. Then cut into 16 triangles with a pizza cutter. Roll each triangle from the largest end to the smallest.
Combine the egg and water. Brush on the top of each cookie. Sprinkle with decorator sugar. Bake for 10 minutes and then rotate the pan and bake another 10 minutes.

TWD: Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes

Here are the positive things:

*The batter was amazing! I could have just spooned the batter into my mouth until I was sick.

* The ganache that frosted them was great- chocolatey and yummy- My husband did spoon that into his mouth until he was sick!

* The kids loved them, although I am pretty convinced at this point that they will eat just about anything!

* They looked adorable- since I made them into really small cupcakes, which turned out to be a good thing. Why?

Here is the negative point:

*They were so incredibly dry that you had to have a drink to swallow them. If I had made them regular sized cupcakes we may have all choked to our deaths. The headline would read: Death by chocolate cupcake!

I don't know if it was something that I did wrong or that they were just dry. Maybe making them small made them dry out quicker....I have no idea. I think I will just stick to my regular chocolate chocolate cake recipe. It is amazingly moist and chocolatey.

TWD:Pumpkin Seed Biscotti

Are you surprised that I turned Lenox Almond Biscotti into something with pumpkin? LOL

Not a huge biscotti fan and have actually never, ever made them. I just have a hard time eating something that tastes like I am biting into a rock. So I was pleasantly surprised at how good these were, although they really taste a lot like scones and biscuits to me- are they supposed to? I guess I am not refined enough to know more about biscotti.

Anyway, I added a little pumpkin to the sugar/butter mixture, pumpkin spice spice to the dry ingredients, and substituted the almonds for pumpkin seeds. They turned out good!

TWD: Caramel Peanut topped brownie cake

Today's recipe was chosen by Tammy at wee treats.

I have a secret wish. My wish is that somehow, someone will need to get rid of a practically brand new oven for cheap or free and I will somehow be the recipient. Have I told you lately: MY OVEN SUCKS!!!

I made the cake, setting the timer for much less time since the dinosaur thinks it's time to cleanse the earth(or at least the inside of the oven) by fire, and then set to making the caramel.

Caramel turned out great and I was excited. I had about 15 minutes left on the cake and so came to check email. As I am sitting at my computer I think, "I know I didn't burn the caramel. I wonder why it smells like that." Then I thought, "There's probably just something burning off in the oven while it's cooking." DUH!! It's the cake burning!
I finally figured it out and pulled the cake out. It had spilled over the top of the edges (which I don't know why, since I used a bigger pan than recommended) and those edges were charred.
I scraped off the edges and set it out to cool in the hopes that what was left would be unharmed.

Once mostly cool I topped it with caramel and peanuts, poking holes through out the cake so that the caramel would seep into it. It looks amazing, tastes- burnt! Bummer! I am pretty sure the kids will eat it though!

TWD Rewind:Snickery Squares

Today is Tuesdays With Dorie! Yay! The recipe pick was Creme Brulee by Mari, but since our family makes creme brulee more than my waistline enjoys I figured it was a great opportunity to do a recipe that I missed out on. So I looked through the archives and found this gem- Snickery Squares. It called for a can of dulce de leche and since I did not have that I substituted it with my own caramel sauce. It turned out GREAT! and really yummy and really sugary! If you don't have Baking: from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan yet BUY IT! There are amazing recipes in it and your waistline won't thank you either. At least we'll all be fat together!

TWD: Dimply Plum Cake

Um...ya...NO! I figured that it is a good thing I joined TWD because there are recipes I would have NEVER tried if I hadn't, this being one of the first. Everything in me yelled out in protest at the look of the halved plums on top of the cake, but I proceeded forward.
I used Italian plums and only altered the recipe a little by adding a portion of whole wheat flour.

This is a cake I can safely proclaim that I will never make again. It was super dry and even the excessive amounts of cool whip didn't help.

I am glad I tried it though. Years ago I would have never, ever even attempted it. I liked what I liked and that was all I liked. I am glad I can experiment with new things now. Hopefully it makes me a better rounded person.

TWD: Chocolate Chunkers

The heaven's are singing! This recipe is amazing. Loads of chocolate!

I do have to say that it is a cardinal sin to combine fruit and chocolate in my book. So NO FRUIT FOR YOU!!!

I changed it a bit though to make it mine. I changed the white chocolate to peanut butter chips (I mean, can you really call white chocolate chocolate?)and added whole wheat flour instead of white. I also didn't have the unsweetened chocolate so I added that 1 oz to the 6 oz of bittersweet and I also used carob chips instead of chocolate chips. I also omitted the nuts because I want my kids to eat these instead of me eating them all. How about I just put the recipe down so you an all see. This dough should just be brownies! It looks like it and tastes like it and I should know because I ate more dough than cookies.
*As I was just typing out the recipe I realized I forgot to add the baking powder and they still turned out amazing. I think I will keep it out from now on!

Ninny's Chocolate Chunkers

Makes about 24

1/3 C whole wheat flour

1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 T butter

7 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 large eggs, room temp

2/3 C sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 C carob chips

1 C peanut butter chips

Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Melt the butter and bittersweet chocolate. Beat the eggs and sugar until frothy. Add the vanilla. Add the melted chocolate to the egg mixture and combine well. Add the dry ingredients until combined. Once that is combined then stir in the carob and peanut butter chips. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

TWD:Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops

Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops

Wow! I didn't realize it had been a week since I posted a recipe on here. This recipe was our second cookie recipe in a row. Complete with ovaltine and whoppers I was excited for this one. Sadly, I wasn't impressed. They were cakey type cookies and I like chewy more. The chocolate taste was good however and even though I didn't absolutely LOVE them I still ate too many.

The whoppers caramelizes while cooking, which was yummy. I think a cookie with whoppers and malt would be great if it had a different base. Maybe something more like Nestle's Chocolate Chip Cookie base.

A previous TWD that I HAD to try!

A few weeks ago the featured recipe for TWD was Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream and I just HAD to try it. I wish I could find the words to properly describe the smooth, velvet texture of this amazing ice cream. I am thinking I need to eat healthy every day of the month except TWD days because if the other recipes we make are as good as these first two I have tried I am going to easily gain 100 lbs this year alone- and this year is more than half over! lol

I altered the recipe a little because I wanted to double it, knowing that my family of 7 would need more than one batch. I am SO glad I did!

Here's my take on this smooth blueberry delight:

Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

2 C blueberries
1/2 C lemon juice
pinch of salt
2/3 C sugar
3/4 C heavy Cream
3/4 C half and half
1 1/2 C sour cream (I used lite trying to offset the heavy cream or at least mentally give me a reason to eat more!)

In saucepan heat to boiling the berries, lemon juice, salt and sugar until the berries 'pop'. Transfer to a blender and blend until it is mostly smooth. Add the cream, half and half, and sour cream pulsing just until blended. Put in a bowl to chill in the fridge. When it is chilled put it in an ice cream maker and process. Once it has frozen up move it to the freezer to get hard enough to scoop out pretty solid scoops of ice cream. And enjoy with family and loved ones...because you might eat it all yourself if you don't!

TWD: Granola Grabbers

I joined this group called Tuesdays With Dorie that takes recipes from Dorie Greenspans cookbook Baking: From My Home to Yours every other week and tries them out. This week the recipe was Granola Grabbers.

One of the first ingredients is granola with no fruit. And well, I had none so I made the granola that is before this post. I also decided to make only 1/2 of the recipe and add mini M&M's instead of the coconut, wheat germ, and almonds because I was concerned that my kids wouldn't eat them all. But I did use whole wheat flour instead of white for a little healthy take.

The kids loved them but my mathematic abilities leave much to be desired. I never did well at fractions. What is half of 3/4 anyway? So needless to say they didn't cook up as pretty as a lot of the other bloggers who did it. But it was a fun beginning to my life at TWD. And they taste great!