You got Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in my Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Ingredients

2 cups cake flour

1 2/3 cups bread flour

2 1/2 sticks butter (room temperature)

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

20 ounces of milk chocolate chips (use good chocolate)

1/2 cup peanut butter

6 oz bittersweet chocolate, tempered

DIRECTIONS

Lightly grease two muffin tins and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.  Set aside. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs (one at a time) and vanilla. Incorporate flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.  Use an small ice cream to scoop into muffin tins.

Cook for approximately 12 minutes.  While cookies are in oven, temper chocolate.

Remove from oven and use the back of a spoon to make an indentation in the dough.  Add a small scoop of peanut butter and cover with a little bit of tempered chocolate. Refrigerate for a few minutes.  Remove from muffin tin, cover when cool.

 Sometimes you feel like a nut. 

INGREDIENTS

1 3/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 cup shredded coconut

1 cup sliced almonds (split in two 1/2 cup portions)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup cream

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate bars chopped

1/2 cups flaked coconut for topping

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan.

Sift together 1 3/4 cups flour, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. Add shredded coconut and 1/2 cup almonds then set aside. Using electric mixer, beat sugar, butter, and lemon peel until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with half and half in 2 additions, beating just until blended after each addition. Fold in half of bittersweet chocolate pieces. Spread batter evenly in prepared cake pan. Sprinkle remaining chocolate pieces over batter, then sprinkle with sweetened flaked coconut and almonds.

Bake cake until golden and tester comes out clean, approx. 60 minutes. Transfer cake to rack and cool in pan 45 minutes. Run knife around the side and loosen cake.  Invert cake onto platter.

I worked with this recipe.

 

  This isn’t a recipe it is a commitment. You gotta start this about 24 hours in advance.  You need Detroit Style pizza pans.

INGREDIENTS

Dough

7 1/2 cups of flour

4 tablespoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon yeast

3 cups water

Suggested Toppings

Sausage (crumbled out of casing and fried)

Bacon (sliced and fried)

6 eggs

spinach

peppers

Mozarella

ricotta

Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Add water and mix until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.

Cover and leave to rise for about 12 hours.

Add about a tablespoon of olive oil into each pan.

Punch dough down and divide into 4 equal portions.   Push dough into corners. Cover and leave to rise overnight.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees for 30 minutes.

Add toppings and bake for approximately 20 minutes until dough cooked through.

 

  
INGREDIENTS

Graham Cracker Streusel

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Cake

5 eggs

2/3 cup melted butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 3/4 cupts flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

3/4 cup milk

1 cup mini marshmallows

DIRECTIONS

Streusel

In small bowl combine graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar.  Set aside.

Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer on a medium speed, beat together the eggs and oil until combined. Add the sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder and vanilla. Beat until combined and smooth.

Turn the mixer to low speed and add the cocoa powder, followed by the milk, then the flour. Beat until just combined.

Pour half of the batter into the prepared Bundt pan, then sprinkle the graham cracker streusel over the batter, distributing it evenly.  Sprinkle a layer of marshmallows over the streusel. Top with the remaining batter.

Bake at 350 for 50 minutes.

Allow the cake to cool completely before glazing.

I got the recipe here.

 

You can start these the night before and bake them in the morning.  They are a cross between a sugary, cinnamony, buttery little cake and a sugary, cinnamony, buttery doughnut.

1 cup milk (heated for 1 minute in microwave)

1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F.)

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs at room temperature, beaten

5 cups bread flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons instand active dry yeast

Topping:

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

In a stand mixer, combine all the ingredients in order except the cinnamon topping.  Using the dough hook, mix everything together until a soft dough forms.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until elastic, about 10 minutes.

Roll out dough approximately 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick on lightly floured board.  Using your floured doughnut cutter, cut out the doughnuts and place on silicone baking mats. Cover and wrap with plastic wrap.  Let rise for about an hour.

At this point you can bake them or put them in the refrigerator overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for approximately 8 minutes until the bottoms are golden.  Do not overbake.  Under baker them a little and they will continue to cook when you take them out of the oven.  Let them cool for 1 to 2 minutes and then dip them in the melted butter and roll in the cinnamon and sugar mixture.

I worked with this recipe.

Tart Meyer lemon curd, crunchy sugar, and flaky pastry.

CRUST

Makes 6 pies

1 stick cold butter grated then frozen (salted)

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup ice cold water by the tablespoon

FILLING

Lemon curd

6 rasperries

Egg Wash – 1 egg + 1 tablespoon water whisked together

Sparkling sugar

DIRECTIONS

Grate your butter into a mixing bowl and place the bowl into the freezer for 15 minutes.

Add flour and cut it into the grated butter with a pastry cutter until you have coarse crumbs of flour coated butter.

Add about 1/4 cup of ice cold water by the tablespoon to the crumbs. You may not need this much, so add gradually as you mix by hand. When a dough ball is formed, gather it together and place it on a piece of plastic wrap. Shape it into a round, flat disk and cover it with the plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Roll the dough out onto a well floured surface. Using a circle shaped cutter (or the rim of a glass), cut out as many circles as you can fit. Then gather up the remaining dough and cut out the circles again. You will want an even number because each pie needs a top and bottom circle.

Place half of the circles on a baking sheet. Top with 2-3 tablespoons of the lemon curd and a raspberry in the center.

Top each one with the remaining circles of dough. Crimp the edges closed with the tines of a fork. Cut a small hole in the top of each pie.

Using a pastry brush, brush on the egg wash and sprinkle generously with sparkling sugar.

Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

 

  

 A twist on an old fave.  You can’t go wrong with this mixture of nuts, chocolates, and salt.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar

8 ounce mixture of chopped high-quality semisweet chocolate and white chocolate.

¾ cup chopped walnuts

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Lightly beat eggs and vanilla in a small bowl.

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, 3–4 minutes. Add egg mixture and beat, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, until mixture is pale and fluffy, 3–4 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add dry ingredients, beating until just incorporated. Fold in chocolate and walnuts with a spatula.

Spoon about 12 heaping tablespoonfuls of dough onto each prepared sheet, spacing 1″ apart.

Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until just golden brown around the edges, 10–12 minutes (cookies will firm up as they cool). Transfer to wire racks and let cool completely.

I worked with this recipe.

 

 

I had the pecans from Trader Joe’s and I couldn’t resist.

Ingredients

1 ½ cups of yellow cornmeal + ½ cup to cook

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 ¼ teaspoons fine sea or table salt

1 ¼ cups milk

1 cup sour cream

1 stick unsalted butter melted and cooled

5 tablespoons sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup blueberries

1/2 cup of sweet and spicy pecans chopped

Directions

Heat oven to 425°F

Grease or line a 12-cup standard muffin tin.

Whisk 1 ½ cups cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl.

In a medium saucepan, combine milk and remaining ½ cup cornmeal. Cook cornmeal mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens then transfer to large bowl.

Whisk butter, then sugar, then sour cream into cooked cornmeal until combined let cool for a few minutes and then add eggs making sure they don’t scramble. Whisk until combined.

Fold in flour mixture until thoroughly combined and the batter is very thick. Fold in blueberries and pecans. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups; it will mound slightly above the rim.

Bake until tops are golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Rotating muffin tin halfway through baking to ensure even cooking. Let them cool for a few minutes and then serves with butter, of course.

Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us.  My boy decorated these with me and it made my day. XO

INGREDIENTS

1 pound butter, softened

2 cup’s powdered sugar

5 cups flour

2 eggs

3 tsp. vanilla

DIRECTIONS

Cream butter and sugar.

Add eggs and vanilla

Mix in flour.

Refrigerate dough for an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using a heart design with your cookie press.  Decorate with sprinkles and bake.

These sweet cardamon breads reminded me of Leia’s awesome hairstyle.

INGREDIENTS

For dough

1 1/4 cups warm water

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

3 large eggs beaten lightly

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup powdered nonfat dry milk

5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour

 

Filling

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

3 tablespoons cardamom seeds, ground in a mortar with a pestle, or in an electric spice/coffee grinder

an egg wash made by beating 1 large egg with 2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons water

PREPARATION

Make dough:

In a large bowl combine water, butter, and sugar. Sprinkle yeast over mixture and let stand 5 minutes, or until foamy. Stir in eggs, salt and dry milk until combined. With a wooden spoon stir in 5 sups flour, 1 cup at a time, and stir mixture until a dough is formed.

On a floured surface, knead dough about 10 minutes, adding enough of the remaining 1 cup flour to make dough smooth and elastic. Put dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turning to coat, and let rise, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough and on floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll into a 15- by 20-inch rectangle. Spread butter over dough and sprinkle with granulated sugar, cinnamon and cardamom.

With a long side facing you, roll up dough jelly-roll fashion and cut crosswise into approximately 1 1/2-inch-thick slices with a cut side down. Working with 1 slice at a time gently twist opposite ends of slice around twice to form a figure eight. Crimp ends together. Arrange rolls, a swirled side up, on a buttered baking sheet about 2 inches apart and let rise in a warm place until increased 1 1/2 times in bulk, about 1 hour.

While rolls are rising, preheat oven to 350F.

Brush tops of rolls with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake rolls in middle of oven until tops are pale golden, about 25 minutes.

 Got the recipe here.