Magners Blondies

My drink of choice when I go out is usually Hard Cider, and if I have the option it is Magners Irish Cider. It is so sweet and delicious, I just love it! Luckily I work at a pub where Magners is on tap! :) As if there is not already enough sugar in Magners, I take it up a notch and add some Ribena to it! YUM!! 

About a year ago I started experimenting in the kitchen by mixing alcohol with baked goods, chocolate rum cake, guiness cakes, bailey's frosting, white russian cupcakes..etc. Each reciepe was amazing. So whenever I see a reciepe contianing alcohol I always want to give it a try! The other day I came across this recipe and could not WAIT to bake them up! I was a bit concerened the bars would not be crazy delicuous as there were not add in's (chocolate chips, nuts, tofee..etc) boy was I wrong. These blondies are simple and wonderful. I cannot wait to whip up another batch!


Ingredients: 
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter at room temp. 
1/2 cup sugar 
1 cup brown sugar 
2 eggs 
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups cake flour 
1/2 tsp. salt 
1 tsp baking powder 
3/4 cup Magners Irish Cider 


Directions: 
1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9X13 pan. 
2. Place butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally and brown until its a nice medium brown. You will start to smell and almost nutty flavor. Take butter off of heat and cool. 
3. Cream browned butter and sugars. 
4. Add eggs and vanilla extract.
5. In a small bowl whisk together cake flour, salt and baking powder. 
6. Combine the dry mixture in thirds to the butter and sugar alternating with the Magners Irish Cider. 
7. Bake for 30 minutes roating halfway thorugh. 

Recipe slighlty addapted from: butrcreamblondi

Biscoff Blondies

If you do not know what Biscoff spread is please google it now and find the nearest place you can purchase it and GO NOW! 

For me it all started with Biscoff cookies. They are amazing little crisp delicious amazing cookies. (Yes, I said amazing twice in one tiny sentence) Imagine cookies crushed up and made into a spread with a peanut butter like texture.Viola BISCOFF SPREAD!!! IT IS FANTASTIC! I first came across this spread at my local Cost Plus World Market. I am so pathetic I could not even wait to get to the car before opening the jar. Sad, I know. I had this feeling that it would be amazing and boy was I right. 

         

Now add Biscoff spread to blondies with chocolate and pecans...let's be honest you had me at Biscoff spread! These blondies are perfect. I probably ate half of the 9X13 pan myself.

Ingredients: 


10 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 1/2 Cups brown sugar 
1 cup Biscoff spread 
2 large eggs 
2 tsp. vanilla extract 
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups flour 
1 tsp. baking powder 
1 1/4 cup chocolate chunks, chips, mini chips.. etc. 
1 cup of chopped pecans 


Directions: 


1. Preheat oven to 325F and grease a 9X13 pan. 
2. Melt butter and brown sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once butter is just melted and mixture is combined and smooth remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes, then add Biscoff spread. Cool mixture for 5 more minutes.
3. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, salt and baking powder. 
4. Add dry ingredients to Biscoff mixture and mix until just combined. 
5. Fold in chocolate chips and pecans. Pour batter into greased pan. 
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of pan comes out clean. ENJOY try not to devour all at once! (It will take some willpower) 


Note: Whenever making bars or brownies I take a knife and loosen the edges right after I take the pan out of the oven. 

recipe slightly adapted from: Duchessoffork

100th Anniversary Oreo Brownies

 A few weeks ago I purchased the 100th anniversary Oreo's. They were good but not what I expected. I was expecting a different taste/flavor but they seemed quite similar to regular Oreo's, if anything they just smelled better to me :) Anyways, I whipped up some brownies with the Oreo's in! Easy Peasy and Delish! Enjoy! 

Brownies: 

1 Box of Fudge Brownies (9X13 Size) 

1/4 Cup of water

2/3 Cup of vegetable oil 

2 eggs 

1 cup of crushed Oreo's

1/4 Cup of sprinkles 

Frosting: 

1 1/2 Cups unsalted butter at room temp. 

3 Cups of powdered sugar 

2 Teaspoons vanilla extract 

1/8 Cup of sprinkles

Broken Oreo's for top of brownies 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 13X9 baking pan. 

2. In any bowl mix together brownie mix, water, oil and eggs. Once combined fold in Oreo's and sprinkles. 

3. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Once out of the oven use a knife to loosen edges. Place pan on rack to cool.

4. Once brownies are cool, whip butter in bowl of an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes until it's nice and fluffy.

5. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Cream till nice and smooth. Then, add sprinkles. 

6. You can pipe the frosting with a unique tip or just use a Ziploc bag or piping bag with no tip. Or even spread it with a knife! You can be done there or add an Oreo or half of one to the top of the brownie for more yummmy-i-ness! :) 

Thin Mint Chocolate Chip Cake Bars

I grew up as a brownie girl scout and when I think about my time as girl scout I always  remember going door to door selling girl scout cookies. My favorite cookies have and ALWAYS will be Thin Mints. The little crisp cookies are delicious, especially when frozen and then crushed over some ice cream :) 

This recipe is delicious not overly sweet but very chocolatey!

Ingredients: 

1 box of yellow cake mix 

1 stick of softened butter

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips 

1 1/2 cups of Andes Mint pieces 

1 can of sweetened condensed milk 

1 sleeve of thin mint cookies 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9X13 pan. 

2. In a medium size bowl mix together the cake mix, butter and egg until combined. 

3. Press evenly into prepared pan then evenly place chocolate chips and Andes pieces over crust. Then pour full can of sweetened condensed milk over everything and top with Girl Scout Thin Mint pieces.

4. Bake 25-30 minutes until golden brown around the edges.  ENJOY!! 

Source: adapted from the wonderful Picky Palate

Tiramisu Cupcakes

Tiramisu is one of my ALL time favorite deserts. Years ago I worked at an Italian restaurant and the owner made homemade Tiramisu, that was when I first fell in love. A few nights a week I would take a nice (large) piece home to devour. I justified doing it so often by sharing with my mother :) The restaurant eventually closed down and I was left with no tiramisu! I searched for a delicious one but some were too soggy, too dry, the marscarpone flavor didn't come through...etc. Well I have now found my favorite Tiramisu from a local restaurant Roman Cucina! Their pasta dishes are delicious as well. If you are in the Orange County area go check it out! 

So back to my love of tiramisu- here is a cupcake that is wonderful! I even layered some chocolate in between the cupcake and frosting :) YUM! 

Ingredients: 

Cupcakes: 
1 3/4 cups plus 2tbsp cake flour 
1 1/4 tsp baking powder 
3/4 tsp salt 
6 tbsp milk 
1 vanilla bean split lengthwise
6 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature 
5 large eggs plus 4 large egg yolks 
1 1/2 cups sugar 


Syrup: 
1 cup freshly brewed espresso (or very strong coffee)
5 tbsp Kahlua 
9 tbsp sugar 


Chocolate layer: 
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 


Frosting: 
1 1/2 cups heavy cream 
12 oz marscarpone cheese at room temperature 
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Line cupcake pans with liners. In a medium sized bowl combine the cake flour(sifted), baking powder and salt. Whisk to blend. Set aside. Put a small saucepan over medium heat and add milk, vanilla bean seeds and the bean. Heat until the mixture bubbles around the edge, and let it stand for 15 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean pod. 

2. In the bowl of an electric add eggs, egg yolks and sugar and whisk until just blended. Put mixing bowl over a medium saucepan of simmering water. Whisk occasionally until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm about 6 minutes. Remove bowl from saucepan and place back in the electric mixer and whisk until mixture is fluffy, pale yellow and thick enough that it ribbons. 

3.Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture in 3 additions. Stir 3/4 cup of the batter into the milk mixture to thicken it. Then fold the milk mixture into the batter. Fill cupcake lined pan evenly and bake for 20 minutes. Rotate the cupcakes halfway through and take out when the edges are light golden brown and the cupcakes are set. Let the cupcake pan sit on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes then transfer cupcakes to wire rack. 

4. In a small bowl mix together sugar, Kahlua and espresso. Set aside. Use a metal skewer to poke holes in the cupcakes. Take the syrup and use a pastry brush to brush the syrup all over the top of the cupcakes. 

5. Use a double broiler or a bowl over simmering water to melt semi-sweet chocolate chips. Melt them until they are shiny and stir together. While melting cover a cookie sheet with wax paper. Once chocolate is melted add to a piping bag with small round tip and create zig zag designs or circles. Put in the fridge to harden. 

6. In the bowl of an electric mixer on medium-high speed whisk the heavy whipping cream. Once hard peaks are formed scrape the cream out into a clean bowl. Put the bowl (not cleaned) back in the electric mixer and use the paddle attachment to mix the marscarpone cheese and sifted confectioners' sugar together until its light and fluffy. (Note: Make sure the marscarpone is at room temperature otherwise the frosting will have little balls of marscarpone.) Gently fold in the whipped cream into the marscarpone mixture until combined. I piped the frosting onto the cupcakes with a large round tip but you can get creative and use any tip or even use a knife to spread it on:). Sprinkle with unsweetened cocoa powder.

Reciepe adapted from Martha Stewart

Max Brenner Chocolate Bar

My first night in Australia was a bit of a blur. As soon as I got off the plane I was overtaken by a fever-the chills were out of control! Once we arrived at my cousins house my sister went on an adventure to find me some medicine. By night time my fever seemed to calm down so we went out to dinner with my cousin. We arrived at  Bondi Pizza, which was delicious but I was too sick to take pictures, or eat much for that matter :( . On the way out my cousin suggested a chocolate bar across the way but I felt to sick we passed on it (BIGGEST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE!). Little did I know that chocolate bar would become one of the best parts of my trip and another excuse to travel to New York, Boston, Las Vegas even Philly!  

Max Brenner Chocolate Bar was amazing! A cafe type place that revolves around chocolate? Chocolate drinks, chocolate cakes, chocolate pots, chocolate EVERYTHING! Please if you have the opportunity to vist DO IT! You will not regret it!! 

The Tutti Frutti Waffle is one of their best sellers. A homemade Beglian Waffle drizzled with pure melted chocolate served with strawberries, bananas and vanilla ice cream! YUM 

Italian Thick Milk Hot Chocolate was to die for!!! Pretty much drinking pure melted chocolate AHHHMAZING!! 

I ordered this delicious treat MULTIPLE times! Everyime we came back I just could not help myself it was scrumptious! 

Pizza dough smothered in pure melted chocolate topped with corn flakes, homemade marshmallows, carmelized pecans, and white chocolate drops. This was tasty a bit too dry for me, maybe next time add some vanilla ice cream?

Chocolate Souffle drizzled with pure melted chocolate and I added some fresh strawberries  and vanilla ice cream! Classic and delicious! 

Another wonderful hot chocolate served with chocolate covered waffle balls inside :) So tasty! Loved it! 

After these photos, if you are not salivating you have issues! ;)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars stuffed with Salted Caramel

Chocolate and Caramel two amazing foods that tantalize all of my tastebuds!! Add them together and Viola! I am in HEAVEN!! And if you are feeling a little bit cray cray then bust out the vanilla ice cream and top one of these bars while they are nice and hot! So delicious. 

Ingredients: 

• 2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 12 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups chocolate chips
• 10 ounces caramel candy squares, unwrapped
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream 
• Sea salt, for sprinkling over caramel and bars

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Spray a 9 X 9 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the melted butter and sugars together until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix on low, just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. In a medium saucepan over LOW heat combine the caramels and heavy cream and melt unitl smooth and creamy. (NOTE: I was out of heavy cream so I susbstituted sweetened condensed milk and the bars still turned out AMAZING) 
5. Split the batter in half and press half of the cookie dough into the pan, smoothing the top with the spatula. Pour hot caramel over the cookie dough and sprinkle with sea salt. Drop spoonfuls of cookie dough over the caramel and spread dough with a spatula until the caramel is covered. 
6. Bake the bars for 30 minutes or until the top of the bars are light golden brown and the edges start to pull away from the pan. Cool bars on a wire rack to room temperature. Cut bars into squares and enjoy :) 

Reciepe slightly adadpted from Two Peas and Their Pod

Chocolate Caramel Bars

In my house there is a constant pile of chocolate. We keep a nice family stash in the refrigerator and then each of us has our own "secret" stash! We are chocoholics and its okay with us. Caramel is another one of my favorites. And when caramel and chocolate are combined it creates a heavenly treat I cannot resist! 


Over the weekend I attended a birthday party and decided to make these Chocolate Caramel Bars! What a treat they were- a buttery oat and sugar crust topped with layers of chocolate, caramel and walnuts all finished with more "crust" on top. 

Chocolate Caramel Bars

Ingredients: 

1 bag of Kraft Caramels, unwrapped 

1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream 

2 cup of all-purpose flour 

2 cup of rolled oats ( I used the rolled oats not 1-min) 

1 1/2 cups of light brown sugar 

1 teaspoon baking soda 

1/3 teaspoon salt 

1 1/2 cup butter melted (3 sticks)

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts 

Preperation: 

• 1. Preheat your oven to 350 F and get out clean 9 X 13 baking pan. 
• 2. Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Once combined add melted butter. 
• 3. Spread half to 3/4 of the crust mixture into the pan. Press down evenly. Then bake for 12 minutes or so. 
• 4. While crust is baking pour caramels and heavy whipping cream into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until nice and creamy. 
• 5. Take crust out of oven and spread chocolate chips and walnuts over the crust then pour caramel over it all. Then take remainder of crust spreading evenly over caramel and press lightly into caramel. 
• 6. Return to oven and bake another 20-25 minutes you want to reach a nice golden brown on the top crust. 

Bondi Beach

I am home! I have spent the past 16 days in Australia, I spent most of my time at Bondi Beach and Sydney but visited Brisbane for two nights. It was a wonderful experience and I am so blessed and thankful I was able to go. It was a 15 hour flight each way! Luckily, I am used to flying to England, a 10 hour flight, so it wasn't that bad. 


Bondi Beach was gorgeous! There was a pool right on the beach, Bondi Icebergs, it was so cool. 

Chocolate covered Strawberries stuffed with Cheesecake

So you already know about my obsession with chocolate covered strawberries so when I saw a picture of strawberries stuffed with cheesecake batter I thought why the heck not use chocolate covered strawberries?? Well they were amazing!!! Afterwards I was online and saw a picture of chocolate covered strawberries stuffed with cheesecake on Pinterest so its going around.. as it should be so yummy! 

Ingredients: 

• Fresh strawberries (the bigger the better) 
• Milk or Dark Chocolate ( chips are fine or go for a nicer chocolate finely chopped) 
• 8 oz Cream Cheese at room temperature 
• 2 Tablespoons 
• 1 teaspoon of Pure Vanilla Extract 

Preparation: 

Strawberries and Chocolate: 

1. Wash strawberries and dry completely 
2. When cutting the stems off the berries I used a knife and went down and around creating sort of an upside down cone out of the strawberry, creating room for the cheesecake filling
3. Set aside a cookie sheet and top it with wax paper
4. Melt the chocolate over a double broiler be careful to watch it constantly so the chocolate doesn't over cook, if it goes just a bit too far then it will harden and there is NO going back! For example, if using chips I let them melt almost all the way ( as they begin to lose their chip shape) then I take the bowl off of the double broiler and mix it until completely smooth.  
5. Dip the strawberries and lay them on the wax paper to harden

Cheesecake filling: 

1. Put cream cheese into a bowl of an electric mixer and whip until light and fluffy. The cream cheese MUST be at room temperature or it will contain tons of little bumps. 
2. Add the sugar and vanilla. 
3. Use a pastry bag to pipe the cheesecake batter into the strawberries. It's best to add the cheesecake to the strawberries right before serving. 

Note: You could always dip the top the cheesecake into graham cracker crumbs, I didn't as I was out of graham crackers but next time I will

Tomato Mozzarella Skewers

A few weeks ago a dear friend left all of us in Orange County to start a fabulous adventure in Zambia for The Peace Corps! We had a fantastic party to send her away with lots of great friends and food. I made some desserts and also made these scrumptious tomato capresse skewers. They are SOO easy and SOO delicious! A must make for any party you are throwing. 

Ingredients: 

• Grape Tomatoes 
• Fresh Basil 
• Mozzarella Balls 
• Toothpicks
• Salt & Pepper 
• Olive Oil & Vinegar 

How to assemble: 

1. First soak your toothpicks in a bowl of lukewarm water for 30 minutes -1 hour. (This helps prevent the toothpicks from splitting) 
2. Next just press one toothpick into one grape tomato, one mozzarella ball and one fresh basil leaf. 
3. Once you are finished sprinkle some salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar over the top. 
4. Enjoy :)