3 Ingredient Nutella Brownie Bites

Those of you 'pinteresters' probably have seen this recipe, 3 ingredient Nutella brownies. Only 3 ingredients? I was skeptical, but I was wanting something sweet and chocolately and I did not want to break out the mixer. The directions said measure and mix. So, I broke out my bulk size Nutella jar and went to work. 12 minutes later these babies came out of my oven, and boy-oh-boy, are they good. They are dense, fudgey, and just sweet enough. Of course I had to put some Salted Caramel Sauce on them, you know, just because. I also topped mine off with some sliced almonds since I didn't have hazelnuts. These are super easy to make and even easier going down.




3 Ingredient Nutella Brownie Bites
Adapted from: Instructables-Nutella Brownies
Makes 12 Brownie Bites
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Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Nutella chocolate spread
2 eggs
10 TBS flour
slivered almonds for topping (optional)

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350F. Line a cupcake pan with 12 liners.

-Place the Nutella in a bowl and add the eggs. Mix with a spatula until combined. Add the flour and mix again until fully incorporated (it will be dough like). Evenly divide between the 12 cupcake liners and top with slivered almonds if you'd like. Place into oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, the centers should be a little soft. Remove from pan and cool on cooling rack.

Optional: Salted Caramel Sauce:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup heavy cream
2 TBS salted butter
3/4 tsp sea salt

-Add the sugar and water to a small sauce pot, gently stir to combine. Cook over medium heat until the water evaporates and the sugar becomes a golden amber color. **DO NOT stir the sugar mixture once you start to cook it, this will cause crystallization. If the caramel needs to be stirred, gently swirl the pot.** Once the sugar is a golden amber color, add the butter and stir with a wooden spoon, then add the heavy cream and stir again. If the caramel seizes don't worry. Continue to stir until the caramel melts into the heavy cream, 3-5 minutes, then add the salt. Once you have a uniform caramel sauce cook for another 2 minutes and then remove from heat and cool completely.

Rose Scented Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

In downtown FLG, there's this little kitchen shop aptly named Seasoned Kitchen, that stocks all sorts of specialty food items. I love stopping in there from time to time and picking myself up a little new ingredient to cook with. On one trip I purchased a small bottle of rose water, and I was so excited to use it! But, I didn't. There it sat in my pantry, waiting, and waiting, and waiting. I finally got around to baking some cupcakes and I was determined to crack open that bottle of rose water.


[Strawberry Paste]
I thought the rose water could replace the vanilla in a cupcake recipe, and I could make fresh strawberry buttercream to top them off. I baked, and frosted the cupcakes, and of course had to taste one just to ensure quality. The results were a delicately laced floral cupcake with a bright fruity note from the strawberry buttercream. The taste of these are really elegant, perfect for a bridal shower or wedding.


Rose Scented Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream
Adapted from Billy's Vanilla Cupcakes
Makes approximately 16 regular cupcakes
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Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

1 2/3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
scant teaspoon of rose water
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk

Frosting:

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup of --> Strawberry Paste:
1 lb strawberries, trimmed and washed
2 TBS sugar
2-3 TBS water

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350F. Line cupcake pan with liners and set aside.

-Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl, set aside. With an electric mixer, cream the butter with the sugar for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the rose water and blend to incorporate. Add the eggs one at a time blending until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add 1/2 of the flour mixture and mix to combine, then add 1/2 of the milk and mix again. Repeat with the remaining flour and milk until batter just comes together. Mix batter with a spatula to ensure everything in incorporated. Fill each cupcake liner about 2/3 full. Bake for about 12-14 minutes until lightly golden brown and cool on cooling rack.

-Strawberry paste: Place the strawberries in a blender with the sugar and pulse, add a tablespoon of water at a time if things aren't moving in the blender. At this point you can keep the puree as is, or pour it through a mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Then pour puree into a small sauce pot and cook over medium heat until most of the water evaporates and you have about half of what you started off with, you should end up with about 1/2 a cup.

-To make the frosting, cream the butter until fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the powdered sugar and strawberry puree and cream together for another 2 minutes until you have a light and fluffy frosting. You can now hand frost the cupcakes with an off-set spatula, or place the frosting into a piping bag fitted with the tip of your choice.

A Copy of Doubletree Hotel's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Like a few others out there, I'm a little Pinterest obsessed. It's a love/hate relationship because I scroll through the food and drink section and see the same old pins, but there's always that one pin that's new that I just have to click on and pin. So, in doing my nightly pinning I came across a copycat recipe for the chocolate chip cookies that Doubletree Hotel gives their guests upon checking in. Now, I've never stayed at a Doubletree Hotel, but I have stayed at a Springhill Suites, and the last time I was there, they also gave me freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. And they were good, really good.

There's just one tiny obstacle in the way of cookie perfection. When it comes down to it, how good a chocolate chip cookie is depends personal preference. Some like theirs crispy, some soft, others chewy. My preference for chocolate chip cookies is for them to be light and crispy on the outside, and soft and chewy in the middle. This can be a little tricky to pull off.

So when I first moved to FLG about 6 years ago, I followed what seemed like a million different recipes for chocolate chip cookies, only to have them come out of the oven as over baked, crunchy, flat discs that were like 5 inches wide. Why couldn't I bake a proper cookie?! It was driving me nuts, and when batch after batch of failed cookies continued to come out of my oven, I was ready to give up. Then I did some research. Turns out that, the higher the elevation one bakes at, the lower the air pressure. This affects baked goods in how they rise and cook in the oven. So, after almost TWO years, I perfected my recipe. It makes, in my opinion, the perfect chocolate chip cookie. I'm greedy though, and have only ever given it to one person (with regret), and I don't feel like sharing it again anytime soon. It's like my secret baking weapon I plan to use one day.

Even though I have found my go-to recipe, I still experiment with other recipes I come across. When I read this recipe, I thought some of the ingredients were a little unorthodox. Cinnamon and lemon juice in chocolate chip cookies? Somehow, it works. Also, I tried to grind up the oats in my food processor and it didn't work, so I dumped it into my blender (that did the job). The recipe I adapted this from also says that 3 tablespoons of dough makes one cookie. That's a little much for me, so I used the cookie scoop that I use for all of my cookies. It makes just the right size dough balls for baking. I picked up the scoop from Bed Bath and Beyond, but I can't seem to find it on their website. If you are interested in the scoop, you can look for it at your local BB&B or buy it online here. For perfectly portioned dough balls, scoop with a small mound on top, push, and there you have it.

This cookie recipe gives me everything I look for in a chocolate chip cookie, crispy edges, and a soft chewy middle, these are yum! And they are going into the top list of chocolate chip cookie recipes. I did make a few small changes for elevation, omitted the nuts, and halved the recipe so I wouldn't have too many cookies in my kitchen, cause I'd eat them. I mean, I ate 5 upon letting the first batch cool! So, if you like your chocolate chip cookies like I do, this recipe is for you!


Copycat Doubletree Hotel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from: The Little Kitchen
Makes 20-24 cookies depending on scoop size.
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Ingredients:

1 stick salted butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp lemon juice
1 1/4 cups AP flour
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

-Place the oats into your blender and pulse until ground up, about 8-10 pulses. Transfer to a small bowl and add the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine and set aside.

-With an electric hand mixer, cream the butter with the both of the sugars until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla, and lemon juice. Mix again until the egg is incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl and add the dry ingredients. Mix until a dough forms, then add the chocolate chips and mix with a spatula until everything is well combined and evenly distributed. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours before baking.

-Preheat oven to 350F. Remove dough from fridge and scoop into mounds, about 2 tablespoons of dough. Place onto cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 9 minutes exactly. Remove from oven and let cool on cooling rack.

Excuse me while I go and eat a few more of these cookies!

Chocolate Eclairs

When I was about 14 years old I watched pastry chef Gale Gand make pate a choux on the Food Network and thought, I don't really know what she's making, but it looks easy enough. Little did I know at the time what pate a choux was used for, until I had my first eclair. One bite and it was like a magic trick being performed in my mouth. Light pate a choux pastry baked to golden perfection, filled with luscious cream filling, and dipped into chocolate... they are so, so good. The French are geniuses when it comes to dessert pastry.

Bucket list: Go to France and visit a patisserie to consume the magnificent butter laden goodies I see.

The first time I made pate a choux, I followed the simple directions: Mix the liquid ingredients with the flour and cook it until the flour is absorbed, let cool, and mix in the eggs. I seriously didn't think light puffy pastries could come from this dense dough. So, I continued on, I piped the dough then baked it. Lo' and behold! As I fervently stared at the dough through the oven glass I saw it, the dough was puffing up and about 20 minutes later, I had made my first batch of eclairs. I think pate a choux seems daunting because it sounds so fancy, but it's really so simple to make. I have never made pate a choux that didn't puff to golden little pastry perfection. Compare this to my chocolate chip cookie recipe that comes out different every time I make it, even though I use the same recipe, that's saying something. Though, I have a secret I'm almost ashamed of, almost. Most of the time, I cheat. I use boxed vanilla pudding -gasp!- I add a little less milk, add some cream and it's just as yummy as ever. This time however, I decided I'd make vanilla bean pastry cream and fold in lightly sweetened whipped cream to make the eclair filling, and my goodness, these have been taken to the next level! No more boxed pudding mix for me... well if I have the time to make the pastry cream.


[Piped and ready to bake]
Pate a choux pastry is very versatile. It can be piped into mounds to make cream puffs, cheese can be folded into the batter to make Gougeres. Oh! the possibilities are endless! For my baby shower last year, I made little strawberry shortcakes by creating cream puffs filled with my pudding filling and adding slices of strawberries. Making eclairs take a little prep time but they come together super fast. A piping bag (or two) makes it a breeze. I also use Wilton cake tip #240 to fill the eclairs. The tip is longer and narrow, and fills them perfectly. The only downfall is cake supplies can be a little pricey, but if you live near a Michael's or JoAnn's store, they always have a '40% off one item coupon' that you can print off to use. I buy a lot of my baking supplies this way :)


[Ready to Fill]
Chocolate eclairs are actually simple to make. Even if you are new to baking, I have confidence you can pull them off. Try them sometime and indulge in a little French pastry deliciousness!


Chocolate Eclairs
Makes 20-24 eclairs
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Ingredients:

Pate a Choux:
1 cup water
1 TBS sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cubed
1 1/4 cups AP flour
4 eggs, room temp

Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream:
1/2 cup sugar
3 TBS corn starch
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 egg yolks
2 TBS butter, cut into small pieces

1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Chocolate Ganache:
8 oz. (1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions:

-Pastry Cream: Place the egg yolks into a small bowl and gently whisk to break them up. Place the sugar and corn starch into a sauce pan. Add the milk, heavy cream, and vanilla bean paste. Whisk to combine and cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes. Move pan from heat and take about 1 cup of the hot mixture and stream it into the egg yolks while whisking. This tempers the egg yolks so that they do not scramble. Now, pour the tempered mixture back into sauce pan and cook for another 4-5 minutes until the pastry cream thickens to a pudding like consistency. Add the butter a small piece at a time until it’s all incorporated. Pour mixture into a glass bowl, press plastic wrap directly onto it and chill until cold.

Note: The vanilla bean pastry cream can (and should) be made the night before and let to chill in the fridge overnight. The mixture needs to be cold to mix with the whipped cream.

-Pate a Choux: Preheat oven to 400F. In a sauce pan combine the water, butter, salt and sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil and add all of the flour. Stir with a wooden spoon until the the flour is absorbed by the liquid and continue to cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat when the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan and into a ball. Cool for about 5 minutes. Once cooled, add the eggs one at a time into the dough until it is completely incorporated. Repeat until all the eggs are mixed in. Transfer batter to a pastry bag (or large ziplock bag) and pipe 4 inch lines spaced 1 1/2 inches apart onto parchment or silpat lined baking sheets. A wet finger can be used to even out the pastry. Place into oven and turn the heat down to 350F and bake for 20-25 minutes. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR! Once baked, cool on a cooling rack.

Note: I mix the batter in the pan, less dishes for me. I also use my hand mixer with only one beater to incorporate the eggs, but a wooden spoon can just as easily be used. Just as well, you can transfer the dough to your stand mixer and mix with the paddle attachment. My pastry bag has a 1 inch opening. If using a ziplock bag or disposable pastry bag, cut a 1 inch opening.

-Ready to Assemble:Whip the heavy cream and powdered sugar together until firm peaks form. With a whisk, fold whipped cream into the vanilla bean pastry cream and transfer to a piping bag fitted with a round tip. From one end, fill all of the cooled eclairs with the cream filling (you may need to fill from both ends to completely fill the eclairs, or you can also cut them in half to fill them). Place the chocolate for the ganache an a bowl. Heat the cream until it just boils and pour over the chocolate. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes then stir to combine until all of the chocolate melts. Dip the top of the eclairs into the ganache and place onto cooling rack to harden. Voila!!