I got this from Smitten Kitchen. Not sure what I’m gonna do with the rest of the  6-pack of Guinness I had to buy. I’m sure I’ll figure it out.

INGREDIENTS
Cake
1 cup stout
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Ganache
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons heavy cream
3/4 teaspoon instant coffee granules
6 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup heavy cream

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter or spray a bundt pan well; make sure you get in all of the nooks and crannies. (Some people even go so far as to brush the inside of their bundt pans with melted butter–you cannot be too careful!). Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer cake to rack; cool completely in the pan, then turn cake out onto rack for drizzling ganache.*

Ganache: 
For chocolate ganache, melt the chocolate, heavy cream, and coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally. Drizzle over the top of cooled cake.

For the white chocolate ganache, repeat the same process as above.

INGREDIENTS

1 stick (8 tablespoons) of butter at room temperature
1 cup peanut butter
¾ cup brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1¼ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup jelly or jam

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the egg and mix until fully incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the baking soda and salt to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed just until incorporated, 2 to 3 minutes.

Scoop 2 tablespoons cookie dough into a round on a prepared baking sheet and then flatten it slightly with your fingers. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough to make 24 cookies. Bake until the cookies are golden around the edges, 8 to 10 minutes.

Turn half the cookies over and place 1 mounded tablespoon of jelly in the center. Top each with another cookie and press down slightly.

I got the recipe here.

Isabel is visiting from England and loves Pumpkin Pie. So she gets one, in March.

Pie Crust
(Makes a double crust or two single pies)

1 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup chilled lard or crisco in 1/2-inch cubes
3 tablespoons (or more) ice water

Put flour, spices, sugar, and salt in bowl.  Cut in butter and lard until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add 1 tablespoon of ice water and at a time and mix with fork until dough begins to clump together, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dry. Gather dough together, flatten each half into disk. Wrap disk in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Pumpkin Pie Filling

1-15 ounce canned pumpkin
1-14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Roll out pie crust and form into pie plate.  Set aside.

Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into crust. Bake 15 minutes at 425 then lower oven to 350 degrees.  Bake for an additional 35-40 minutes until knife come out clean. 

Dunk, chew, swallow, repeat. Thanks, Smitten Kitchen.

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon espresso
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon coarse, sea or kosher salt
2 cups  flour
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

DIRECTIONS

Dissolve the espresso in the boiling water, and set aside.

Beat the butter and confectioners’ sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is very smooth. Beat in the vanilla, espresso and salt, then reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it disappears into the dough.  Fold in the chopped chocolate with a sturdy rubber spatula.

Using the spatula, transfer the soft, sticky dough to a gallon-size zipper-lock plastic bag. Put the bag on a flat surface, leaving the top open, and roll the dough into a 9 x 10 1/2 inch rectangle that’s 1/4 inch thick. As you roll, turn the bag occasionally and lift the plastic from the dough so it doesn’t cause creases. When you get the right size and thickness, seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible, and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or for up to 2 days.

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets.

Put the plastic bag on a cutting board and slit it open. Turn the firm dough out onto the board (discard the bag) and, using a ruler as a guide and a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1 1/2-inch squares. Transfer the squares to the baking sheets and carefully prick each one twice with a fork, gently pushing the tines through the cookies until they hit the sheet.

6. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. The shortbreads will be very pale–they shouldn’t take on much color. Transfer the cookies to a rack.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
8 oz. marscapone
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 dried orange slices
1/2 cup Raspberry jam

DIRECTIONS

I had a bunch of raspberries and didn’t want them to go to waste.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups raspberries

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

Mash raspberries with lemon juice in a pot on the stove. Bring to a boil stirring consistently. Add two cups of warm sugar (you can hear it in the microwave for a minute) and bring to a boil for about 5 minutes. Pour into a jar, seal and then refrigerate.

You can test to see if it is done by inserting a cold spoon into the jam. If the drops start to run together it is done.

You’ll need a big glass of milk with this rich and delicious slab of cookie.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup chocolate chips + handful extra for topping
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup peanut butter + 2 tablespoons for topping
flaky salt

DIRECTIONS

Place a rack in lowest position in oven; preheat to 375°.

Mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and kosher salt in a large bowl until no large lumps remain, about 1 minute. Stir in egg and vanilla until egg is incorporated and mixture is very loose and resembles cake batter, about 30 seconds. Add flour and baking soda and mix until dough comes together and no streaks remain, about 30 seconds. Stir in chocolate until evenly distributed. Then drop in peanut butter a teaspoon at a time and gently fold in.

Scrape batter into a 10″ cast-iron skillet (or use a stainless steel skillet coated with nonstick vegetable oil spray). Pat batter into skillet with damp hands, pressing into an even layer so dough extends to edges. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Bake cookie until outer edges are browned and slightly puffed, 20–25 minutes (15–18 minutes for stainless steel). When you take it out of the oven, sprinkle additional chocolate chips and plop on the peanut butter.  Let it melt and then spread across top.  Let cool in skillet 1 hour (if you can resist). Serve in skillet or turn out; cut into wedges.

I worked with this recipe.

Strong flavors, not too sweet, perfect for a drizzly Sunday morning in LA.

INGREDIENTS

2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla
grated zest of 6 key limes + 2 tablespoons juice
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sweetened coconut
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 tablespoons melted and cooled butter

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
Grates zest from 2 key limes + 2-3 tablespoons lime juice

DIRECTIONS

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla extract and lime zest. Set aside.

In the bowl of your mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, coconut, sugar, baking powder, and salt. With your mixer on low speed, pour in the egg mixture and mix until just combined. Then add the melted butter and mix until just incorporated, being careful not to over mix the batter.

Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and transfer it to your pre-heated oven. Bake for 60-75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool in it’s loaf pan for about 10 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to continue cooling.

Once the bread is cooled, make the lime glaze. In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners sugar, zest and lime juice, starting with 2 tablespoons of lime juice and adding more as necessary to thin the glaze out to your desired consistency. Drizzle the glaze over the bread.

I worked with this recipe.