Chocolate Bundt Cake with Ganache Frosting

Ooooh chocolate cake.

Ooooooooh bundt.

Ooooooooooohhh baby.

This is a delicious, moist, decadent cake complete with ganache. Ganache is a fancy word for the laziest frosting made with two of the most delicious manmade compounds, cream and chocolate. 

Our ganache had a smidge too much cream, so it was a bit runny, but we made up for that by warming up extra and pouring it over our slices. No harm, no foul.

The cake is lovely--deeply chocolatey, spongey, not too sweet. A perfect pairing for the rich ganache. I love the ridges provided by the bundt pan...it looks so fancy!

All in all, it's a delicious cake for chocolate-lovers, and just might convert some not-so chocolate lovers too.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention...it's fussy. It calls for buttermilk and fancy cocoa (though cocoa is really usually okay if you switch it out, just a different result), separated eggs, brewed coffee, awkward measurements, yadda yadda. The original recipe even calls for sifting the flour, but ain't nobody got time for that. I promise, it's worth (most of) the trouble :).

Chocolate Bundt Cake with Ganache Frosting

Yield: a bundt cake, what do you think??

Ingredients:

cake:

• 1 1/4 cups plus 1 Tablespoon brewed coffee
• 3/4 cup (Dutch process prefered, Hershey's if you can't find anything else!) cocoa powder
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 whole eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/4 cups plus 1 Tablespoon buttermilk
• 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoon canola oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups, plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour (whisk it up for a bit to aerate, or sift if you'd like)

ganache:

• 10 ounces chocolate (chips are okay but block chocolate is better)
• 6 ounces (3/4 cup) cream
• ^note that I changed the ratio from 8:8 to 10:6 in order to account for the fact that ours was too thin 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and move the rack to the middle position. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.
2. Boil coffee and cocoa powder on the stove, or microwave the coffee until very hot and mix in the cocoa powder. The idea is to bloom the cocoa so it's aromatic compounds are activated in the hot liquid. Whisk carefully or risk getting cocoa powder all over yourself! Set aside to cool.
3. Using a stand mixer, hand mixer, or strong arm, whisk sugar, salt, baking soda, eggs and egg yolk until combined. Then, add the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and whisk again until fully combined. 
4. Mix in flour for 2 minutes, then add the coffee-cocoa mixture and mix another few minutes or so until your batter is thin, runny, and smooth. Pour into prepared pan and bake 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean.
5. When cake is done, cool in the pan until it reaches room temperature, then invert onto a plate.
6. For the ganache: microwave or heat on stove the cream until just scalding (not boiling). Pour immediately over the chocolate chips in a medium bowl and let sit for about 1 minute. Then, stir to combine. If the chocolate is not entirely melted, microwave for short (15 sec) bursts until you are able to just combine the two. Aim for a smooth, homogeneous, glossy mixture. 
7. Let cool on the counter about 20 minutes, then spread over cooled cake. Extra ganache makes delicious hot fudge sauce for ice cream, if there's any left!

Video of stirring ganache, one of those weirdly meditative things to watch...

Adapted from Joy the Baker

Decadent Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I feel apologetic about these cookies. They seem to need justification, in the form of a "decadent" before their name. Like many people, my favorite cookies are the large, chewy, thick, bakery-style cookies. But...these were...incredible.

The flavor of a super caramelized, shatteringly crisp (Mary Barry would be proud...just imagine her saying "crisp" in her perfectly articulated British accent) cookie laced with lots of chocolate chips, in a just right batch size of 15 cookies.

I was so excited to try a recipe from Alice Medrich's cookie book. Cookies are my favorite, and she is the queen of chocolate. My cookbooks were lost in the mail (well, the post office hasn't found them 2 months later), so I bought myself this cookbook at my neighborhood used bookstore. I'm so glad I did: the first week, I put approximately 50 post-it flags in the book on recipes I want to try!

So, these cookies. They are unapologetically crisp, despite my apology at the top of this post. They have no egg, contributing to their crispness, and start with melted butter (thank goodness for not having to soften the butter).

The batter is rested overnight in the fridge, or for however long you can spare, which is recommended for lots of cookie recipes. It's a bit fussy, but if you think ahead it breaks up the work nicely over two days. I wanted to try the recipe exactly as written, but on tasting, I think a sprinkle of nice sea salt would not go amiss.

A radically different cookie than both Chips Ahoy and the typical chewy chocolate chip cookie, they are delicious with a glass of cold milk or just snuck in shards from the cookie jar.

Decadent Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yield: 15 large, flat, and delicious cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cups (6 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup (1.5 ounces) rolled oats
• 1/2 cup (3.5 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (1.75 ounces) brown sugar (dark brown is best) 
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon (2 ounces) light corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces or 1 generous cup chocolate chips or chopped bitter/semisweet chocolate

Method:

1. Combine flour and baking soda in a small bowl and mix to combine.
2. In a large bowl, combine the butter, oats, sugar (granulated and brown), corn syrup, milk, and salt. Whisk to combine, then gently mix in the flour mixture. If the mixture is still warm from the butter, let it cool down a bit before mixing in the chocolate.
3. Let batter rest in the fridge for a few hours or overnight, up to probably 3 days would be fine!
4. When ready to bake, heat oven to 325 degrees F. Position racks in upper and lower thirds of the oven.
5. Line 2 baking sheets with foil, dull side up, and put an extra foil liner on a spare part of countertop. Divide dough equally into 15 pieces, roll each into a ball, and place 5 on each baking sheet/liner. Smoosh each ball down until the dough balls are about 3.5" in diameter.
6. Bake sheets 20-25 minutes, rotating and flipping sheets halfway through baking, until the cookies are thin and quite brown. This makes the caramelization and makes them completely dry (that is, amazingly easy to store). Slide the extra liner onto one of the baking sheets and bake the third sheet like the others. 
7. Let cool to room temperature on wire racks, then store in an airtight container as long as they stick around.

Recipe from Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich.

Chocolate Almond Crinkle Cookies

I remember, growing up, hoping there was some minor business (a check to cash, something to deposit or withdraw) at our local bank Saturday morning. Any other morning, they had the crusty lollipops in the straw bowl they kept near the deposit slips.

But Saturday mornings, they had doughnuts and/or doughnut holes.

I was definitely that kid that sneakily said "Don't you have something to do at the bank, Dad????" at 8:30 on a Saturday morning, hoping we could go early and snag the treats.

Experimenting with my dad's lightbox...kind of cool to have a solid black background!

How does this relate to the cookies shown in these pictures? Well, these cookies are rolled in not just powdered sugar but also granulated sugar. I'm not sure why, but I'm sure my 7 year old self would be all over it.

They're also fudgy and chocolatey, without being as dense and greasy as a brownie or extra chocolaty cookie sometimes is. The dough is different from your standard cookie dough because ground almonds are a substantial addition to the dry team (flour, baking soda, salt).

And, rather than being creamed with butter, the eggs are whipped into a frenzy with some sugar until the whole thing is pale and thick. Melted chocolate, a small gob of butter, and some coffee or liquor finish off the whole shebang, transforming it into a chocolate cloud.

It is worth noting, however, that this is not a one-bowl kind of recipe. There's the food processor (to break down the almonds), a stand mixer (to beat the crap out of the eggs), and then a double boiler (to melt the chocolate, but I said "ENOUGH!" and went with a microwaveable bowl instead). Let it be known that these steps are worth it, and the end product is delicious!

After 1 bite, it's all over...

Chocolate Almond Crinkle Cookies
Yield: 25 cookies (note: the original recipe said it made 40. Apparently I make big cookies...but no one ever complained about that!)

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 tablespoons brewed coffee (or reconstituted from espresso powder, which is what I used) or liquor (Grand Marnier or dark rum would work)
• 1 cup (125 g) almonds, toasted
• 1/2 cup (70 g) all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 large eggs, room temperature (this is apparently important...to do it quickly, put the eggs in a bowl with warmish tap water for 5-10 minutes, then change it and let it sit for another 5-10 minutes)
• 1/3 cup (65 g) sugar, plus more for coating
• powdered sugar for coating

Method:

1. Melt chocolate, butter, and coffee/liquor together in a microwave-safe bowl, stirring and checking every 30 seconds. Set aside to cool.
2. Process almonds, flour, baking powder, and salt in a food processor until they are as finely ground as possible.
3. Whip eggs and 1/3 cup sugar in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment on high for approximately 5 minutes, or until a distinct ribbon forms when you lift up the beater. 
4. Gently fold in the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture with a rubber spatula. Next, fold in the almond-flour mixture. Chill dough for 1-2 hours, until firm (dough can be chilled for up to 5 days for frozen for up to a month).
5. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare baking sheets with parchment, silicone, or greased foil. 
6. Pour some granulated sugar into a bowl, then sift some powdered sugar into another bowl. Scoop 1-inch balls of dough and roll in your hands. Roll in the granulated sugar first, then the powdered sugar and place 2 inches apart on baking sheet. 
7. Bake for approximately 12-14 minutes, or until cookies are just starting to firm up at the edges but still very soft in the middle. Let cool on baking sheets until cooled enough to transfer to wire racks.

via Ready for Dessert, by David Lebovitz

Caramel Macaroon Thumbprint Cookies

Or, what I wish Caramel deLites were.

Tea for two, and two for tea...

These cookies are almost candy. And they're made especially easy by the purchase of dulce de leche, a confection of boiled sweetened condensed milk sent by the gods. It's in a can, right next to the sweetened condensed milk, and for basically no extra charge they caramelize it for you.

You make basic coconut macaroons and form into disks, except after baking you push a little well into the center and fill it with delicious dulce de leche. A drizzle of chocolate seals the deal and will make you the most popular kid in high school.

If you've never made macaroons, this is a great chance to try. They're not too tricky, and the ingredient list is short. You start with egg whites, sugar, and flavorings (salt and vanilla), and whisk it until frothy. Then just dump in the coconut, shape, and bake!

Of course, if you're looking for extra credit, extra flavor, or extra fanciness, you can lightly toast the coconut before mixing it in. A billion points extra credit, as one of my professors likes to say.

Also pictured: "guard" dog Sally, in the background, watching for intruders

Whatever adventure you pick, these are quick cookies that look fancy. They're chewy and sweet and sticky and everything wonderful. Make a batch, make some friends!

Caramel Macaroon Thumbprint Cookies
Yield: About 24 cookies

Ingredients:

• 3 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
• 4 large egg whites
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 can dulce de leche (available by the sweetened condensed milk or in the hispanic foods section)
• 4 oz dark chocolate, broken into pieces

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper, silicone baking sheets, or foil and nonstick spray.
2. On one of the baking sheets, put coconut. Toast in the oven 5-7 minutes, or until just starting to color around the edges. Let cool slightly.
3. In a large bowl, combine egg whites, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Whisk until frothy and completely combined. Add coconut and stir to combine. If it seems like there's a lot of extra liquid, add some more coconut (I didn't do this and some of mine were too soppy) until the mixture doesn't have extra liquid in the bowl.
4. Scoop by heaping tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets. Flatten with the bottom of a glass (dipping your hands and the glass in water help keep them from sticking) and shape into nice round disks.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown around the edges. Immediately after taking out of the oven, use two small spoons or your thumb to press an indentation in the middle of each cookie.
6. Melt about half a cup of dulce de leche in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave for about 30 seconds, then spoon into the divots. I didn't do this but I wish I had!
7. Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second bursts. Use a fork to drizzle over cookies.
8. Serve with tea or as dessert! Cookies keep stored in an airtight container for 4 or 5 days, but they sure didn't last that long in my house.

Inspired by Bakers Royale, recipe from the Kitchn. 

Millionaire Shortbread

Happy Fourth of July!

Here's to food and family and fireworks.

I actually made these a couple of weeks ago, and they were the first thing I brought in to work. Food is universal--everyone eats, and most people like sweets!--so it was a great way to meet more people and share something enjoyable in the middle of the work day.

Though I brought them in when I arrived that morning, I didn't announce their presence until 2 o'clock or so. You gotta wait until the hunger and fatigue strikes, then BAM! make some friends! They're a layer of shortbread, followed by a dulce de leche-like caramel filling, and a chocolate ganache on top.


Anyway, everyone raved. And people were super impressed with the diamond cutting pattern.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret: it takes the same amount of effort as cutting regular squares.

But people think they're fancier. Just like spreading sauce artfully on a plate, or swirling frosting on a cake. Food psychology is almost as cool as food science!

Each layer is simple to make, so though there are three, there's not a ton of waiting between steps. The whole shebang took me about an hour, or a bit over. The original recipe calls for cooking the caramel to a precise temperature, but I did it by look and feel and it still turned out delicious. Make these...and revel in sinking your teeth into something decadent, sweet, and beautiful!

Millionaire Shortbread
Yield: as many diamonds as you can cut! (9x9 inch pan--I split between two smaller pans with similar area)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon ice water
• 1 egg yolk

• 1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk
• ½ cup dark brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons Lyle's Golden Syrup (or dark corn syrup, or honey, or agave...)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream

Method:

1. For the crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9x9 inch baking pan with slings of aluminum foil (greased) or parchment paper.
2. Whisk flour, brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a large bowl. Add butter, then cut in with a pastry cutter, two forks, two knives, or however your soul tells you is right. I like to grate frozen butter on the biggest holes of a box grater and then fluff everything together!
3. Add ice water and egg and mix with a fork until the dough starts to come together in clumps. Press into the pan and bake 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
4. While the shortbread is baking, get the caramel ingredients ready. Dump everything except the vanilla together in a medium saucepan. When the shortbread has about 5 minutes left, turn on the stove to medium heat and whisk while the sugar dissolves and the caramel cooks. Let it cook until the mixture starts to boil around the edges, then keep whisking constantly until the caramel is thick and browning (you'll feel it get thicker). Stir in vanilla extract, then pour over the shortbread.
5. Let the shortbread and caramel cool for about 15 minutes, then microwave the chocolate and cream together for 30 second bursts, until the chocolate is melted. Stir to combine, then spread over the caramel. 
6. Put the pan in the fridge to set, at least an hour, and then pull out by the foil sling and cut as desired (I suggest diamonds!). Serve and impress, eat and delight!
7. Store in the fridge for up to a week.

From Brown Eyed Baker

Chocolate Pudding

This.

THIS.

This took less than half an hour. It's rich, but not too rich. Very chocolaty. Simple, comforting. Magic as the cornstarch thickens sweet, cocoa-lush milk.

I put a few raspberries on top, because I didn't have the courage to pour straight cream like Alice suggests. But I'm sure it's divine.

A few days later, sitting in the fridge (I too, am a lover of pudding skin), it becomes fudgy, almost like pot de creme or a thick custard.

So deeply chocolate. If you're used to making this, try this instead. It will blow your mind off with endorphins!

Chocolate Pudding
Yield: 6 pots of pudding

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup (66 grams) sugar 
• 1/3 cup (28 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably natural 
• 2 tablespoons (17 grams) cornstarch 
• 1/8 teaspoon salt 
• 1 3/4 cups milk (whole is best but don't sweat it. Or, figure out the percentages) 
• 1/4 cup heavy cream 
• 3 to 4 ounces (85 grams to 115 grams) dark chocolate, very finely chopped 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• rum, if you want!

Method:

1. Whisk together the dry ingredients (sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt) in a medium saucepan. Add a splash or two of the milk and whisk to combine into a smooth paste. Then, add the rest of the milk and cream and whisk to combine.
2. Heat mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to thicken and bubble (about 5 mins). Make sure to scrape the corners of the pan. Heat and stir for an additional minute after the mixture starts bubbling.
3. Take the pan off the heat, then add the chocolate. Stir to melt and combine. Add the vanilla (and rum if desired) and stir to combine.
4. Divide into 6 ramekins, teacups, or whatever small vessels grace your kitchen. Refrigerate or eat warm, with or without cream/whipped cream.

From Food52, recipe by Alice Medrich (Chocolate Goddess)

*Note: this recipe is called "Chocolate Pudding You Can Serve Naked (or Top With Cream)"--I would not suggest that you parade around au natural offering people pudding. I would instead suggest serving it without accompaniment, or putting a bit of cream on top :).

Chocolate Birthday Cake

Grab a spoon and sneak a taste. Lick the whisk. "Clean" the spatula before it heads into the dishwasher.

I am 21 today! My friend Isabel and I made a cake today in honor of the occasion. She has a beautiful kitchen with two of everything. Two dishwashers! 

"Do you put your dirty dishes in the sink or on the counter next to the sink when the dishwasher is running?"

"We usually just put them in the other dishwasher"

It's a really good place to be, food-wise. And everything-wise. I might also mention her dad made a killer steak dinner the other night, grilled outside, and a delicious meatball dinner tonight.

Anyway, so I think...being 21 is mostly exciting because you can have a drink in public. 

And weirdly this transition happens all of a sudden, boom, on your birthday. Because obviously yesterday I wasn't mature enough to drink and today I am. Yesterday, I couldn't have walked into some bars and ordered a ginger ale, and today the government just decided they don't care any more! Fully grown up and ready to get a horizontal driver's license and all. But not after any drinks.

I think making a wish might be the best part about birthdays. I mean, you can wait for 11:11 every day but the birthday wish is the most potent of all wishes. It has power to make or break that year., depending on how good a wish you make. Breathe with your whole body, expand your rib cage, relax your diaphragm, and blow! You better get every last candle or you will have missed out on the best wish of the year.

"you have 21 candles in your house?"

...nah, I think I'll just use 8.

Is that cheating the wish fairy?

CHEERS!!

Chocolate Birthday Cake

Yield: 1 cake much too large for 3 people. But really, as much as you want, because this recipe scales well.

For the cake:

1. Make a double batch of this Wacky Cake (my favorite, so easy and actually vegan too), mixing ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
2. Pour it into a greased and floured 9x13-in baking pan or evenly divide between two 8-in round pans.
3. Bake as directed, then let cool and unmold.

For the frosting:

1. Whip 2 sticks salted butter in a stand mixer with whisk attachment until fluffy. 
2. Melt 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, let cool, then add to butter and mix again. Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and mix again.
3. Slowly sift in 2 rounded cups of powdered sugar, mixing as you go. Whip until fluffy!

If you used a 9x13 pan, just cut the cake in half and frost like a rectangular layer cake (this is what I did). Swirl the frosting with a butter knife if you like, then cut in and dig in!

P.S. Shout-out to the "It was my birthdaaayyy..." segment of Slumber Party with Alie and Georgia, one of the most entertaining podcasts out there. If you haven't tried it, give a listen!

Cherry Chocolate Almond Cookie Bars

As the title states, these are bar cookies with cherries, chocolate, and almonds. A winning combination.

The base is a buttery shortbread with chopped dried cherries mixed into it. Then, when the bars come out of the oven, you immediately scatter chocolate chips over the hot cookie slab, wait a couple of minutes for them to melt, then spread to coat. A final shower of chopped, toasted almonds puts the cherry on top.

wait, but the cherry is on the bottom...

Anyway, the point is that these are dead simple, even though they look and taste fancy!

They also stay fresh, since they're just shortbread, for over a week in an airtight container, and are quite sturdy, so they would be a great cookie to send in the mail. I'm looking at you, holiday season!

[P.S. I burned some of the almonds I was toasting for these bars. wah wah. I also pretty majorly burned half of the granola I made earlier this week, so here's hoping I don't burn the next recipe (or undercook it, which I often seem to do too)...there's such a narrow window of success, and when it's not quite as obvious as a cake tester or browning, it's hard to know when something is done!]

This weekend is simply gorgeous in Chicago--sunny and warm with a cool breeze by the lake--so we went up to the Chicago Botanic Gardens on our bikes. It's so lovely there and they've got an amazing collection. I always love the rose garden, since the smells are as varied as the flowers themselves!

And a shout out to my mom, who is showing some of her plants at the Bromeliad show happening this weekend! If you're in the area and have some free time, I'd highly recommend going by and seeing the wonderful plants on show. They partner with the Cactus and Succulent society, so there is a lot to see, and all of them really unique!

Enjoy the day!

Cherry Chocolate Almond Cookie Bars

Yield: about 20 bars

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) flour
• 3/4 cup (5 1/2 ounces) superfine sugar, or sugar processed in a food processor for 30 seconds
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened, cut into half inch pieces
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 of an 8 ounce package) cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup dried cherries, chopped*
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups toasted, chopped almonds (or any other nut you like!)

Method: 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line an 18x12 inch rimmed baking sheet with parchment, or foil sprayed with nonstick spray.
2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, briefly combine the flour, sugar, cherries, and salt at low speed, just to mix well. Add the butter one piece at a time with the mixer running, slowly incorporating it into the dry ingredients. Keep mixing until the dough holds together when squeezed and looks crumbly. 
3. Add vanilla and cream cheese and mix on low speed until the mixture just starts to come together in large clumps. Knead a few times in the bowl to finish mixing, then turn onto your prepared baking sheet and press into an even layer.
4. Bake bars for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately upon removing the pan from the oven, sprinkle with the chocolate chips and let sit for 3 minutes to let the chocolate melt. 
5. Spread the melted chocolate evenly over the surface of the bars, then top with the almonds (or nut of your choice). Let cool completely before cutting into diamonds.

Cookies keep well in an airtight container for a week or longer.

Adapted ever so slightly from Baking Illustrated.

*Buyer beware: Craisins has a cherry dried fruit product that would seem to be dried cherries, but it's actually dried cranberries flavored with cherry juice. The dried cherries I got were from Sunmaid, and there wasn't quite a full cup in the bag but it was totally fine!

Cocoa Candied Almonds

This story starts at costco, as all good stories do. They were out of the roasted, salted almonds in the two pound box, so...
My dad bought the 3 pound bag of raw almonds.

Figuring we could bake with them, or roast them ourselves, or whatnot.

This is dangerous. We ate more than a pound in probably 2 weeks, and there are 3 of us. And I'm sure I ate more than a third of that, too.

They're sweet and salty, crunchy, a treat but still a snack, and eminently grabbable on a pass through the kitchen.

All it takes is a little bit of aggressive whipping of egg whites and sugar to make the crunchy meringue that will shield the nuts in a protective, chocolaty armor. Cocoa powder adds that somethin'-somethin' and mm mm good factor. Joy adds a hint of cayenne, which you can do, but we don't eat spicy things at home so I added a bit of cinnamon instead.

So run to your nearest bulk nuts seller (ewwwww) and make these in your kitchen today. They will last longer than cookies, but not that much longer. They will sustain the 3pm hunger crash. They will satisfy the chocolate cravings.

[You know they say that if you're craving chocolate, your body really wants the fat from the cocoa butter, and that you can "satisfy" that craving with peanut butter? Um, I think these are an even better option.]

These almonds make a great World Cup snack, too!

Cocoa Candied Almonds
Yield: a two week supply for 3 ravenous people

Ingredients:

• about 3 cups raw almonds (I used a bit more, probably 4 cups, and there was PLENTY of meringue for all of them)
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder (I used dutch process, because guess what? We have a costco thing of that too.)
• a pinch of cayenne or cinnamon, according to your tastes

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. [I forgot to do this step, and they turned out great, so if you don't have time, skip this:] Roast almonds on a baking sheet in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove and let cool while you make the meringue.
3. Put butter in a rimmed baking sheet (lining with foil makes for easy cleanup later) and melt in the oven for 5-7 minutes, making sure that the milk solids don't burn. Remove and set aside.
4. In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or a large mixing bowl and with a hand mixer, whip the egg whites and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt until frothy. With the mixer running, gradually add the sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until white, glossy, and almost at stiff peaks.
5. Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, cocoa powder, and spice, and mix again (slowly at first) to combine.
6. Add the almonds and stir to coat evenly. Spread in the baking sheet with the melted butter in an even layer. 
7. Bake for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until the coating has darkened in color and is crisp and dry. Remove and let cool before storing in an airtight container.

Recipe from the Joy the Baker Cookbook (love.)

Butterscotch Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been wanting to try making pudding cookies forever. Maria over at two peas & their pod has a slew of recipes and she swears they make them chewy for days.

She's not kidding! They're some of the softest, chewiest cookies I've had without any of that gooey raw-ness of some chewy cookies that are chewy by virtue of a short baking time. Not that that's bad, just different--these are soft but cooked, and the butterscotch lends lovely caramely notes to the dough without being overpowering.

I put regular tollhouse chips in these, not fancy chocolate, because they seemed a bit more...well, homey...that way. There's pudding mix in these! Not a flake of sea salt on top (though it would be a nice addition, now that I think about it!), not a 60% cacao product, not a European butter, not a 5 inch diameter perfectly round form in sight. These are cookies to eat with milk, and they're comforting in their unassuming humble appearance.

In the original recipe, white and butterscotch chips are also used, and I think the butterscotch flavor would really be highlighted and heightened with those additions, though as a plain chocolate chip cookie these are fabulous. Other variations using vanilla, white chocolate, banana creme, lemon, or Oreo flavor puddings would also be delicious, and two peas has plenty of varieties on their site. Crush some banana chips or Oreos and pair with their corresponding pudding, or add dried cranberries to a dough made with lemon pudding. The world of pudding cookies is your oyster and I promise this isn't the last time I'll be making a batch!

Don't wait to get your hands on some of these--they'll steal your heart like they stole mine.

Butterscotch Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: about 3 1/2 dozen

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup (5.25 oz) brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (1.75 oz) granulated sugar
• 1 (3.4 oz) package butterscotch pudding mix
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups (12.5 oz) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (or whatever add-ins you like!)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat or foil and non-stick spray and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. 
3. In a mixer, beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add in butterscotch pudding mix, eggs, and vanilla extract and mix to combine. 
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Finally, add the chocolate chips (and/or other add-ins).
5. Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, or until slightly golden around the edges and set. 
6. Remove cookies from oven and let cool on baking sheet for two minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Cookies will keep well in an air-tight container, thanks to the pudding (I think the preservatives in the mix help), for about a week, though they may dry out a bit and not be quite as soft.

Recipe adapted from two peas & their pod.

Brownie Cut-Out Lintzer Cookies with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Filling

These cookies are incredible. Like peanut butter oreos, but soft and chewy and more chocolatey.

Well, I admit this is not really a new recipe. The cookie dough is the same as in the Brownie Cut-OutCookies, but rolled thinner and cut to have the hole in the top that characterizes linzer cookies. Don't worry though--unlike most cut-out cookies, these are baked only until still soft and barely set, and their deep chocolate flavor (courtesy of dutch-process cocoa powder) belies the vanilla tradition of their sometimes hard and bland cookie kin.

You could certainly just cut two circles to make a normal sandwich cookie, but it's a beautiful and festive addition (subtraction?) to cut a little hole in the top cookie. I had linzer cutters that cut the circle and the star at the same time, but you could use a very small circle or cut a diamond with a knife. They would look beautiful this way on a holiday cookie platter.

Let's talk frosting for a minute. Joy put out a cookbook about a year ago, and she has several pages devoted to cream cheese frosting. I am so on board! The cheesieness keeps the frosting from being sickly sweet and the texture makes the frosting incomparably smooth. I only used half of her recipe (which frosts 24 cupcakes or a whole two layer round cake or a whole 9x13 sheet cake) and it was the perfect amount.

Given that the frosting is less stiff than oreo creme filling, the cookies benefit from refrigeration to firm everything up. Once chilled, the filling holds its own against the cookies and doesn't sploosh out the sides when you bite into it.

Love love love these. A bit of labor, but not that bad. This dough is seriously so easy to work with that rolling it out is a pleasure.

See recipe for Brownie Cut-Out Cookies

Roll about 1/8" thick and bake for 8 minutes, turning halfway through. Let cool on sheets for a few minutes, then transfer to wire racks to finish cooling

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Frosts 1 batch of cookies above in sandwiches, or double for 24 cupcakes, a round layer cake, or a 9x13 sheet cake!

Ingredients:

• 4 oz (half a package) cream cheese, softened -- I used Neufchatel
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
• 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter (eyeball if you can, measuring peanut butter is a pain)
• Pinch salt
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

1. Using a stand or hand held mixer, beat cream cheese alone, ensuring it's soft. Add butter and beat to combine and soften (essential if, like me, you always forget to soften the butter).
2. Add peanut butter and salt, beat to combine. Then, slowly and carefully add the powdered sugar and beat on low to combine. Add vanilla, mix to combine, then beat the whole mixture on medium/high speed to aerate.
3. Frost cookies above with about a teaspoon or so of frosting per sandwich. The back of a butter knife is a good tool for this. 

Eat up! Holiday cookies are coming!

Recipe for frosting from the Joy the Baker Cookbook. 

Gibassié et Truffles au Chocolat

Another fun cooking class with Hélène!

This time we made Gibassié, a Provençal dessert traditional to Christmas.

There's a ton of tradition surrounding the Christmas meals and table decorations in Provence: there are three meals, at the second they eat a little bit of each of thirteen desserts, and  there are three candles and three tablecloths, one of which is removed/blown out after each meal, so by the last one there is one candle lit and one tablecloth.

Gibassié is one of the thirteen desserts, and it's a crumbly cookie (sort of like a hard scone) in a circle with the rays of the sun patterning the top.

It's a sort of sable dough made with star anise, orange blossom water, and olive oil, and it is so delicious. A ton of flavors that go well together, and I don't even usually like anise.

The other recipe we made is also traditional to Christmas: chocolate truffles. Kids love to make these, since there's plenty of rolling and coating involved.

You can make truffles by simply making a stiff ganache, but here there's an egg yolk, added sugar, and butter (we also added some Grand Marnier), which does not decrease the chocolate flavor (there's still a ton of chocolate) but does add a lovely soft texture and butteriness.

Ours was a bit grainy, but I think sifting the powdered sugar as we gradually added it would have helped with that, so I've changed the recipe accordingly.

Enjoy a Provençal Christmas, in July!

Gibassié

Ingredients:

• 500 g flour
• 150 g granulated sugar
• 15 cL (what is this system? That means half a cup plus two tablespoons) olive oil, plus more if needed
• 3-4 tablespoons orange blossom water
• 3-4 tablespoons star anise seeds

Method:

1. Mix the flour and sugar. Add the orange blossom water and olive oil and mix.
2. Add the anise seeds, mix. The dough should start to come together like a sable cookie, if not, add some more orange blossom water. Then some more oil, adding both bit by bit until the dough just comes together.
3. Form into a disk, and pierce the top like rays of sun into as many pieces as you have people who will be eating.
4. Bake at 180 degrees C (350 degrees F) for 20 minutes. Let cool, then cut on the rays (It will crumble. Let it.).

Truffles au Chocolat

Ingredients:

• 150 g dark chocolate
• 50 g butter
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 60 g icing/confectioners/powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon alcohol (optional)
• 125 g (about) cocoa powder, for rolling

Method:

1. Melt the chocolate over low heat in a single layer
2. Add the butter, egg yolk, and cream, stirring to combine. Then, add the sugar, sifting into the bowl and mixing as you go to avoid lumps. Add alcohol and stir.
3. Refrigerate filling for 2 hours.
4. Roll into little balls, then roll in the cocoa powder (a "parisian scoop," or tiny melon baller, works great for this).

Recipes courtesy of Hélène Biesse.