apricot almond bar

What do you do when your dad gives you a 3 lb. bag of dried apricots? You go hunting for a recipe, that's what you do.

Luckily for me, The Gourmet Cookie Book had a lovely recipe with dried apricots, dating from the 1960's (!) I tweaked it ever so slightly, with some puréeing and a little salt and butter addition. In fact, it's quite similar to the Cherry Pecan Bars that I made awhile back. So I cross-referenced with that recipe and ended up with this one.

rosemary apricot bars

These bars, from the Baked Boys, are a not-too-sweet, lovely grown-up tea cookie. I normally shudder at the thought shy away from throwing an herb into a cookie, but after reading a raving (in a good way, not lunatical) post by David Lebovitz, I wanted to try it out. I've always loved apricots, fresh or dried, and apricot bars. I've also always wondered why there seemed to be a weird residue left in the saucepan after cooking and plumping them up.

It has to do with added sulfur, used in order to preserve the bright orange color which we associate with the apricot. In this recipe, the pastry chefs ask specifically to use unsulfured apricots, which I found at Trader Joe's.

heartland turtle bars

Butter, caramel, pecans and chocolate. Four loves of my life. All in one cookie. Swoon.

brownie love

Dearest Brownie,

How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My chocolate soul can reach.

I love thee chewy, in all thy toothsome glory.

I love thee fudgy, intense, complex and surprising.

I love thee purely and neatly, as individual bites.

I love thee newly, nuanced with brown butter.

I love thee with the breath,

Smiles and tears of all my dessert life!

While sitting at the dentist's office, I was inspired to riff on Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem. (Yes, the irony of dreaming about sweets while simultaneously fearing the number of cavities in my mouth.) The inspiration? Bon Appetit's cover photo of a gorgeous stack of brownies. Upon reading the recipe, I realized I'd already baked and blogged on a close approximation.  They are Alice Medrich's brownie; this iteration comes with the added step of browning the butter. I couldn't resist and had to bake a pan.

These are wonderfully gooey, chewy, moist, chocolatey... everything one hopes for in a superb brownie.

coffee and chocolate chip shortbread

"'Tis the season" in my book means "time to try new cookie recipes," and I've found one by Sarah Leah Chase that I think you'll enjoy.

I was first introduced to Sarah in July of 1988.  The Sister inscribed Sarah's The Nantucket Open-House Cookbook to me— "Have fun cooking, experimenting and pigging out ☺"  Happily, I'm still doing all three.  Then last Christmas, she gave me Sarah's follow-up cookbook, Cold-Weather Cooking, which has many lovely recipes.  This shortbread is one of them.  (The book was published in 1990; you'll have to ask The Sister why it took her twenty years to get it into my hands.)

After trying the Coffee Toffee Chocolate Chip cookie, I was pretty sure I would enjoy it in a bar version. What's not to like with a Toll House, Starbucks and Walker's shortbread combo?

my favorite pecan bar

I have been holding off making these pecan bars, because when I bake them, I cannot stop eating them. Seriously. A pound of butter, a perfect ratio of nut to caramel filling to shortbread base— these are off-the-charts delicious.  The Older Brother eats them by the row.  The Brother #2 and Wife fight over them (I believe I once heard an accusation of hiding and hoarding.)  Even The Husband, decidedly a savory guy, devours them. You, I think, will love them.

nanaimo bars

I know, I know, the name throws you off.  Well, at least it did to me. That's cause I'm from New Jersey.  If you're a Canadian, you know better.

Pronounced na-NEYE-mo (emphasis on the second syllable, which rhymes with eye,) the apparently famous and well-loved cookie is named after the city in British Columbia, Canada. While I've never seen or heard of them before this week, a Google search will turn up over 17,000 Nanaimo Bar recipes.

Nanaimo Bars are a three-layer bar: a chocolate, graham cracker, coconut and walnut base, a buttercream custardy middle, and a chocolate top.

And they are simply scrumptious. And they are no bake.  And why didn't I know about these this past sweltering summer?

caramel crumb bars

"If I had to choose one cookie above all others, it would be this one. The buttery dough and creamy caramel filling complement each other perfectly." ~ Nick Malgieri

Looking through my cookbooks for a new cookie to bake, I was sold with this comment. The Master Pastry Chef's favorite. It's got to be good.

{sms} toasted almond lemon bars

I always love a good lemon bar, and Sweet Melissa Sunday's recipe of the week is Toasted Almond Lemon Bar.  I knew I had to try it out, particularly since I've never had this combination before.  Thanks, Rebecca of Indecisive Baker, for choosing it.  You can find the recipe on her blog.

The baking adventure started with frozen eggs.  I knew my refrigerator had microclimates, but I didn't realize one was arctic.

The recipe is straightforward and simple.  Perhaps the most time consuming task was juicing the lemons, and thankfully The Sous-chef Sister helped out.

Although I am not crazy about the almond/lemon combo, that didn't stop me from eating three of them. If you'd like to read the other bakers' adventures, hop on over here to check out the goodies.

three sweet treats- s'more, please!

One flew in at midnight on the 3rd.  The sweetest, most delectable, scrumptious treat to date.

Let me introduce you to...

The Nephew. 

Look at those cheeks, the smile, the off-the-charts cuteness!  

I could just eat him up.

The Sister and he will be staying with us for a month. We plan on doing quite a bit of cooking and baking, as well as taking a few jaunts into the city for food related adventures.

The Second Treat flew in with him.  The Sister knows I love everything and anything sweet, and she brought me S'mores Bites by renowned chocolatier, Michael Recchiuti.  The vanilla bean marshmallow sits atop an extra crispy graham cracker, all enveloped by bittersweet chocolate.  Divine!

The third treat would never have been made had I not seen the results of the many Cookie Carnival bakers.  I had chosen to make Raspberry Thumbprints because S'mores Bars didn't appeal to me, but after the beautiful photos and eating Recchiuti's S'more,  I was sold on trying them out.  And am I glad I did! The bars were scrumptious, gooey, crunchy, chocolately, and a huge hit in this house.  The marshmallows puffed up to create a unique texture.  That they were simple to throw together was a plus.

The recipe comes from Hershey's website.  I used the same quantities, but substituted miscellaneous chocolates (milk, semi and dark) for the milk chocolate.

S'mores Sandwich Bar Cookies
from Hershey

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
¾cup graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1⅓ cups (8-oz. pkg.) Hershey's Mini Milk Chocolate Bars OR 5 Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars (1.55 oz. each)
3 cups miniature marshmallows

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 8-inch square baking pan.

Beat butter and sugar until well blended in large bowl. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt; add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Press half of dough in prepared pan. Bake 15 minutes. 

Sprinkle mini chocolate bars over baked layer or arrange unwrapped chocolate bars over baked layer, breaking as needed to fit. Sprinkle with marshmallows; scatter bits of remaining dough over marshmallows, forming top layer. 

Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

n.b. On my fourth pan (in seven days), I put it under the broiler at the end of the bake time.  EUREKA!  The Crowning Touch! The S'more in All Its Wonderful Glory!  (Must give credit to The Second Brother, who, while eating the third pan, suggested this brilliant technique.)

brown butter blondies- national chocolate chip day (may 15)

Did you know this day existed?  What isn't there a holiday for?  Mmm hmm, they had to squeeze it in somewhere, so why not close to Mother's Day?  Two great celebrations in one month.

For this new-to-me holiday, I baked a bar cookie: The Blondie. Bakerella posted it as The Congo Bar. (What's up with that name?  It makes absolutely no sense to me.)  The recipe piqued my curiosity and whetted my appetite. You must take a look at her photos, which are incredibly beautiful, delectable, and luscious.  Having only made these once or twice in my life, I felt inspired to bake a batch.

Don't they look fantastic?  In this case,
however, appearances are deceiving,
and they were WAAAY too cakey.

spring is in the air

Right about now, when stuck in late-winter doldrums and while Punxsutawney Phil is into his fifth week of hibernation, I pull out my favorite yellow scarf.

I love this scarf. Its bright cheeriness, reminiscent of daffodils and fuzzy chicks, reminds me that spring is right around the corner.

The color also inspires today's cookie- Lemon Wafers. I need bright, tangy, tartness in my life. You do too.

aspen oatmeal bars

I had to make some cookies for a meeting this past Thursday. This recipe, from Maida Heatter's Cookies, caught my eye primarily because of its short list of ingredients and its one pot simplicity. (I abhor clean-up tasks.)

Though the original recipe didn't call for this step, I lined my Fat Daddio's (gotta love that brand name!) pan with foil for ease of extraction. You first turn the pan upside-down and wrap the foil around the outside to form the shape. Then, turn it right-side up and insert the shaped foil into the pan.

Observe the dent in the butter. Note to self: strap camera around wrist before attempting aerial photography.