Chocolate peanut butter banana bread

My beloved Macbook has been acting up like a toddler. Start up disk problem. My gosh, it was so frustrating. I moved pretty much everything on my google drive and back up hard drive but same message keeps popping up. I temporarily fixed it somehow but I don't know when I'll see the message again and it will stop me from uploading pictures. Gotta see an expert. Well..that is why I haven't been able to post for the last couple of weeks. 

My mornings has been going so fast lately as my tot has two weeks break from his camp and we haven't been on a strict routine. Which means, our usual consumption of banana with yogurt for breakfast has slowed down. While I'm being lazy in bed with my mini, tot would go downstairs and get some cereal for breakfast. I felt like a terrible mother for not giving him proper breakfast but gosh, these two weeks of growth spurt period of my mini was pretty rough. She would eat every 2hours or so all over again and by the time my tot wants his breakfast, I'd be like a zombie. So that left us with some overripe bananas. 

As always, my solution to overripe bananas was banana bread. But I didn't want the same old banana bread, plus I craved something chocolatey. This chocolatey, peanut buttery goodness is so moist and yummy. Steve is not a huge fan of banana bread and even he loved it. 

I warmed up some peanut butter in the microwave and drizzled when I served it. Oh my...it's heavenly. And the fact that it's healthier and I used up the bananas before they go bad made me feel good. Usually a loaf of banana bread lasts for many days in this house as it's just me and my tot who eat it. But this loaf disappeared very quickly. So yummy. 

When you want chocolatey treat but feeling a little too guilty, this is perfect. A slice or two of this with a glass of cold almond milk. YUM! Trust me, this totally converted a non banana bread fan to the banana bread side! =)

Chocolate peanut butter banana bread

Printable recipe 

Ingredients :

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/3 cup peanut butter, slightly melted in the microwave

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup mashed bananas(about 2 bananas)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

Peanut butter to drizzle(optional)

Directions :

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, add peanut butter, sugar, mashed bananas, oil and eggs. Stir well to mix.

3. Add rest of the ingredients, adding flour the last.

4. Pour into a loaf pan and bake for 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

5. Cool the loaf. Melt the peanut butter and drizzle before serving. 

*Recipe adapted from Broma bakery.

 

French toast cups

Long time no post! It has been a busy and exciting month for us. Our tot is promoted to a big bro as we welcomed our new baby daughter. It has been pretty hectic but good hectic. =) Foodwise, I have been consuming a whole lot of seaweed soup thanks to my Korean custom. In Korean culture, we eat/drink seaweed soup after giving birth as they believe seaweed soup cleanses your body and helps you recover. Good thing I actually love seaweed soup.

Anyway, now I guess we are two foodies and a tot plus one! She is so precious. My tot has always been big for his age but I still thought he's like a baby. Now that we have a wee one, he looks so big. He totally adores his baby sister and my heart just melts when I see the way he looks at his sister and cares for her. He's such a great big brother to her. Our mini's lucky and has nothing to worry about since her bro's got her back! =)

With a newborn at home, I haven't really cooked anything. Luckily, my mom stayed with us for a while so that was a big help. Cooking, caring for the baby and all the support. Now that everything's back to normal, I started to cook. My favorite breakfast of all time, French toast. But I wanted something different. A, I didn't feel like standing by the stove flipping french toast. B, I felt like making something cute. So there you go, french toast cups. 

 

 Mmm...Soft center and crusty top. Cinnamony sweet bites with fresh fruits. It is a very cute variation for french toast. I am a sucker for any kind of french toast so I am kind of bias but this is great if you like a little bit of bite. When I'm not using challah, I like using stale baguette for french toast because of its crust. And this muffin pan cup version definitely showcases the crust. 

Kids will love these and it'd be great to serve a crowd for a snack or part of a brunch menu since you don't have to stand by the stove. Another happy morning with yummy breakfast! =) 

French toast cups

* Makes about 10 individual cups.

Printable recipe 

Ingredients :

4 cups cubed bread(a day old bread is the best)

4 eggs

1 cup milk

2 Tbsp sugar

pinch of salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

powder sugar- optional

Directions :

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a muffin pan. You can line it with cupcake liners too.

2. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Soak the cubed bread in the mixture for a few minutes.

3. Scoop the bread and fill each cup of muffin pan. Drizzle leftover custard over the bread. Bake for 25 minutes.

4. Plate them and dust with powdered sugar.

Peanut butter espresso cookies

This is probably the first time I mention on this blog that my tot will be a big brother. It is just weeks away! I can't believe how fast time goes. Unlike the first time, I have my tot to keep me busy every second. First time around, by now, my tot already had a wardrobe full of clothes and accessories. Not to mention the nursery was done long time ago. This time, just a few weeks away, we have bought just enough clothes, bedding's still on the way, nursery's ALMOST done. Well..to be fair, we lived in an apartment in Manhattan when I was getting the nursery done for my tot and this time, it's a proper sized nursery which gives me more visions than I could handle!! Haha. 

Even though I am usually very decisive, I could see the room going to a couple of different directions which I liked all, it took a long time for me to actually come to the final decision. Not to mention the process of finding a painter who can give me the perfect look I was going for. I was lucky enough to find the perfect person and now we're filling up the room. 

Espresso...I love espresso but not espresso furniture for a nursery. The color of my tot's furniture set was that and it was never my cup of tea from day one- surprisingly I let Steve win at that time. So recently we donated my tot's old set to a family who could appreciate and need it more than us and got a beautiful new furniture set we both like. Now he probably learned that if we don't want to spend double, we are better off going with what I like. =P

So now that we spilled the beans, I can talk about my cravings. Pregnant or not, I often have strong cravings for savory stuff but this third trimester, I started to crave more sweets. Can't eat a lot of sweets but variety of sweets at different times. A little taste of chocolate at one point, a little taste of coffee at another. And strangely for a coffee lover like me, I do not crave actual coffee. Instead I drink lots and lots of tea. Of course I have to control the caffeine level so I start my day with a cup of earl grey and rest of the day is herbal tea. One thing I learned this pregnancy is that you have to be careful even with herbal tea. With my tot, I still craved coffee, not tea so I just drank decaf most of the times but this time, I wanted chamomile which I never ever craved(in fact I couldn't stand it before pregnancy)and all kinds of stuff. Then I learned that chamomile tea is not good for pregnant women! Anyway, I drink hot water with a slice of lemon or peppermint tea a lot. Definitely different cravings. 

I am sure occasional treat of these little guys isn't going to do anything and these are so enjoyable. I halved the cream filling recipe when I made it. For some reason, even half the recipe made more than enough for mine. Makes about two dozen sandwiched cookies.

Peanut butter espresso cookies

Printable recipe 

Ingredients :

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted

2 tsp instant espresso powder(or instant coffee)

1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 3/4 cup + 3 Tbsp all purpose flour

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

Peanut butter filling

3/4 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup + 2Tbsp confectioner's sugar, sifted

1/4 tsp fine sea salt 

Chocolate to drizzle and cocoa nibs or chopped chocolate to garnish(optional)

Directions :

1. In a bowl cream the butter and confectioner's sugar until smooth.

2. In another bowl, combine rest of the dry ingredients and whisk. Mix it into creamed butter. When combined, add vanilla extract. 

3. Wrap it in plastic and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. While chilling, preheat the oven to 350F.

4. Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick and cut out circles. Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Cool on the sheet for a few minutes and transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

5. While cooling, make the filling. I halved the recipe and it was enough. Cream butter and peanut butter until smooth and add confectioner's sugar and sea salt. Mix until smooth. 

6. Place about 1 Tbsp filling on a cookie and top with another. Assemble rest of the cookies the same way. If desired, melt some chocolate and drizzle on top and sprinkle chopped chocolate or cocoa nibs.

*Recipe by the little epicurean.

Homemade "saltine"

It was a crazy week last week. Weather's finally becoming more appropriate for the season and I had so many late nights. Thankfully not late nights due to the tot waking up, those nights were voluntarily planned by me. I can't remember the last time I was out till close to midnight! Great fun week but by the time Sunday Easter brunch was over, I just passed out. Haha. Not going to happen again for a while I guess.

As I mentioned a few times before, my tot loves all things crispy. And he loves saltines. I love experimenting homemade commercial snacks. After trying homemade goldfish/cheese crackers, oreos and so on, saltine was my next project in mind. When I found this recipe, I tried right away as it's so simple. The only thing that needs effort is rolling out the dough thin. We have a pasta maker so I could just feed the dough through and it wasn't that big of a deal but if I didn't, it would be a lot of work. I like how the bubbled up parts are so crispy. 

The reason why I call this "saltine" or saltine-like crackers is, it is not EXACTLY like saltine but it definitely taste like saltine. Texture is slightly different. Maybe because they're too thin? Would not making holes makes make a difference? I don't know but these were pretty darn good and addictive. It might sound funny but I like my saltine with some berry jam. Dip these in a little jam for a little sweetness or snack on them as is. Simple ingredients and my tot couldn't stop munching on these. At least I know what exactly is in it. Whether you want something simple homemade snack to munch on or to serve it with cheese for the guests, I think this will work very well. I didn't mean to scare you by saying it needs effort, if you roll it out as a couple of large sheets, it won't be that much of work. And your patience will be well worth it!

Homemade "saltine"

Printable recipe 

Ingredients :

1 cup all purpose flour

2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp kosher salt

water for brushing

salt for sprinkling

Directions :

1. In a food processor, pulse the flour and salt. Add melted butter and pulse until it resembles coarse meal.

2. Add water and pulse until dough is formed. Dough will still be on the crumbly side. Put them on a clean surface and knead to make a moist dough disk.

3. Rest the dough for 30-60 minutes.

4. Preheat the oven to 400F and roll out the dough very thin. Cut into squares and place them on a parchment paper lined sheet pans and brush the top with water. Sprinkle salt evenly.

5. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. They crisp up more as they cool. Keep in airtight container. 

*Recipe by stress cake.

Greek yogurt chocolate cupcakes

First day of spring today- well technically this evening, so not yet. And so much for that. It's snowing and local schools in my area has early dismissal. WHAT?! Yeah..it's crazy. Just a few days ago, I wore my spring jacket and walked around and today it snows. I said it many times and I repeat, I AM SO OVER THIS WINTER! At least it's the last day today and I will not miss it. 

When it's gloomy like today or any rainy day, I tend to crave more chocolatey stuff with a nice cup of earl grey. Chocolate dessert is always nice but especially on a day like today. Looking at these pictures makes me crave some. Cupcakes are cupcakes but this recipe uses Greek yogurt and it makes me feel healthier eating these cupcakes. A lot of times I substitute sour cream with Greek yogurt in many recipes. It's healthier but the main reason is, I always have yogurt at home but not sour cream. So, it's a win-win. 

These cupcakes are super moist and decadent, you will not believe there's no butter or just a little oil. And the frosting is one of the best fudge frosting I've had. So rich and silky.

I used the same pastry tip but tried different frosting technique on this one but I think I prefer the other way with this frosting. This type of frosting is very pretty with lighter color though. Like lemon cupcakes with spring flavored/colored frosting. Or cupcake in ice cream cones. I've done it in the past and those are adorable with this shape of frosting. 

Alright, I have been good today so far and now I can't take it anymore. I need to find something chocolatey to go with my cup of earl grey. =)

Greek yogurt chocolate cupcakes

Printable recipe 

Ingredients :

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup + 3 Tbsp all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1/2 cup boiling water or coffee 

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp vanilla

Frosting

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

3 cups confectioner's sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3 Tbsp Greek yogurt

3 Tbsp half and half

1/2 tsp salt 

Directions :

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and line the cupcake pan. In a small bowl, mix vegetable oil, butter and chocolate chips and melt, set aside. (either microwave or double boiling method)

2. In another bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, unsweetened cocoa powder and salt. 

3. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, egg yolk, vanilla and both sugars until smooth. Add melted chocolate mixture and whisk until smooth.

4. Add half the flour mixture and half the yogurt. Repeat until all is just combined. Add coffee or hot water. Mix until just combined. 

5. Divide the batter among 12 liner in the cupcake pan. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let them cool completely.

6. Meanwhile make the frosting - sift together sugar and cocoa powder. Mix Greek yogurt and half and half. Cream the butter till smooth and add dry ingredients and wet ingredients alternating. Add salt and beat the mixture on high for 1 minute. 

7. Frost cooled cupcakes and enjoy!

*Recipe by Baker by nature.

Blueberry pie pops

Tomorrow is pie day. Well it's actually π day. But any excuse to have some pie is acceptable. =) Pie day last year, we made these same blueberry pie pops and my tot very much enjoyed the whole process and of course eating them. This year, his skill is visibly improved! What a difference one year makes. It's amazing how fast kids grow and learn basic skills and fine motor skills. It's such a fun thing to make with kids, it's that simple.

You can even dip the finished pie pops in chocolate and sprinkles if you want to go that way. Very pretty and yummy too. But this time, I felt like simple sprinkle of sugar. With the scraps of dough after cutting out circles, I used a small star cookie cutter and cut them out as just crust bites. Kids love those little bites. 

I sometimes make them all pretty covered with paper straw and ribbon but rustic pie pops have its own fun way of beauty too. 

Blueberry filling recipe makes more than enough of filling for pie crust since you don't want to put too much filling on each pop as it might ooze out too much. You could double the crust recipe and make lots but if that's too much, you can just use it like jam. I usually use the leftover filling to dip some toasted bread sticks on another day. Try and roll out the pie dough on the thinner side, because you're not putting a lot of filling due to "oozing out issue", it might not be sweet enough if the crust is thick. 

Since this pie day falls on a Saturday, it's one activity to do at home with your kids! =)

Blueberry pie pops

*Makes about 10-12 pie pops

Printable recipe 

Ingredients :

1 sheet pie crust(store bought or homemade-recipe here )

Blueberry filling

1 cup fresh blueberry

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp corn starch

1/4 cup water

pinch nutmeg and cinnamon

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp lemon zest

1 egg + 1 Tbsp water

10-12 lollipop sticks

1-2 Tbsp sugar to sprinkle(optional)

Directions :

1. In a sauce pan, stir sugar, corn starch, nutmeg, cinnamon and water and bring it to a gentle boil. Add blueberries and simmer for 3-4 minutes until thicken. Stir in lemon juice and zest and cool.

2. Preheat the oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet. Roll out the pie crust, cut out big enough size of shapes you like. 

3. Place a lollipop stick on a cut out dough and push it down to stick it but not all the way through. Place a dollop of filling in the center and brush egg wash around the edge and top it with another cut out dough. Crimp the edge with a fork.

4. Brush egg wash on top and sprinkle some sugar if you desire. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. When done, cool it for a few minutes and enjoy! 

*They were still good the next day when stored in an airtight container.

*Blueberry filling adapted from cooks.com

Homemade Oreos

Like most kids, my tot loves oreos. As he has older cousins, it was inevitable for him to discover the world of oreos sooner or later.  When he goes to his cousin's house, that's a special treat he looks forward to. As he's getting older, I have to give in time to time. Steve and I love anything chocolate, especially oreo type of cookies, so I just decided to make some at home. It's funny how Steve and I both scrape off the cream when we eat them, and Steve had his paws on the cooling cookies way before I even got to assemble them. And I got a special request that I had to keep a lot of non assembled cookies aside for him. Even though I scrape off the cream and not eat it, I still find it tastes more like oreos when the cookies sits with the cream. I think it probably absorbs the flavor from the cream and makes it taste better. 

I have to be honest, I was tiny bit disappointed that it's not EXACTLY like commercial oreos but it's pretty darn close. It's crunchy and chocolatey but something about commercial oreos I can't explain seemed to be missing. But knowing exactly what's in it, it's definitely worth it. And when the wafer part is crushed it tastes just like chocolate crunch so it will be useful when I make ice cream cake in summer because Steve's favorite topping for ice cream cake is chocolate crunch. 

I made these while my tot's napping. When he came down after his nap, he was so excited to see oreos in this house! Haha. He's like, "Omg, we have oreos just like my big cousins!" I told him, I just made them for him and he's like, "May I have one homemade oreos? Actually two and that's it?" Lol. He says that a lot when he likes something very much and wants to have more than one, "two and that's it". Problem here is he would say that multiple times as soon as he finish that second one. Haha

Consistency and taste of the cream filling is actually just like what you get from oreos which really surprised me. I have tried a couple of different oreo recipes and this is by far the most satisfying one. Makes about 3 dozen cookies with the cutter I used. 

Homemade Oreos

Printable recipe 

Ingredients :

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 cups confectioner's sugar

1 cup dutch pressed cocoa or unsweetened dark cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups flour(depends on the consistency)

Cream filling

4 cups confectioner's sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

water

Directions :

1. Cream butter and sugar for about 2 minutes, until fluffy. 

2. Add cocoa, salt, vanilla and mix until incorporated. Add half of the flour, mix and add 1/4 flour at a time until you get a pretty dry dough. 

3. Divide the dough into 3 disks, wrap and chill in the fridge for an hour. 

4. Preheat the oven to 350F and roll out the dough thin, cut out to shape you want and bake for 8-9 minutes. Cool on the wire rack.

5. Make the cream filling while cookies are chilling. Add all the filling ingredients to a stand mixer with a paddle attachment and cream them. If you need, add 1 tsp of water at a time until you get a play dough like consistency.

6. Make them into a log that's appropriate size for size of your cookies. Wrap and chill in the fridge until ready to assemble.

7. When the cookies are chilled, slice the filling into thickness you desire and assemble the cookies. 

*Recipe from Bless this mess.

White chocolate saltine toffee

Desserts are usually a big part of any holidays but I find Christmas season naturally goes with festive and pretty desserts. From decorative cookies to barks to yummy yule log cake and so on. Believe it or not, I love baking and making treats but I am usually satisfied with one or two bites. Except a few things. And this saltine toffee is one of the exceptions! 

I've always loved sweet and savory together. Like roasted chicken and some kind of chutney, salted chocolate or caramel, crispy bacon soaked in maple syrup sitting right next to pancakes. Well bacon with maple syrup didn't always get agreements often especially by my British friends for some reason. But that's me and I know I am not the only one. =) 

Slight saltiness from saltine and the nuttiness from toffee layer topped with chocolate, pistachio and cranberries.. My gosh, it is so addictive! Even the color is so festive and fits right in for the holidays. White, red and green. So pretty. I am a huge fan of dark chocolate and I've always done dark chocolate versions but my mom who loves white chocolate made me try with the white chocolate once and I fell in love with it because of how pretty it looks. 

It is super simple and easy to make and it is holiday season after all, so go for it. Diet has its own cozy little spot in new year's resolution every year anyway. =P

White chocolate saltine toffee

Printable recipe 

Ingredients :

40 saltine crackers (Little more than one sleeve)

1 cup butter(2sticks)

1 cup light brown sugar

3-4 cups white chocolate chips

1/3 cup pistachio, shelled and roughly chopped

1/3 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped

Directions :

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange the saltines in a single layer.

2. In a sauce pan, melt the butter and brown sugar together and bring it to a boil on a medium high heat for 3 minutes or until it has caramel color. 

3. Pour the hot mixture over the saltines and bake it for 5-6 minutes or until bubbly.

4. Take the baking sheet out and sprinkle chocolate chips on top and wait for a few minutes for chips to start to melt and spread it evenly. I sometimes pop the pan back in the oven with the heat off so chocolate melts quicker with remaining heat - in this case just 1-2 minutes will do.

5. Sprinkle pistachio and dried cranberries. Put it in the fridge until firm and break it apart.

No chill sugar cookies

I have tried many sugar cookie recipes. Mostly ones that needs chill time and even then, my cookies wouldn't have the same results every time depending on how patient I am and how fast I cut out the cookies. Sometimes successful, sometimes spreads. But when I found this recipe a couple of years ago, that was it. No more search for sugar cookie recipes. I've done Christmas cookies with it, cute spoon shaped cookies for tea parties, made birthday favor for my tot and so on. And I am happy with the results every single time.

When I was pregnant with my tot, I took a cake decorating course. That's when I didn't think much about food coloring and went to town with all kinds of fancy color and decorations. Although I rarely ate what I made because I just didn't have sweet tooth during pregnancy. Ever since I had my tot, well more like ever since my tot started to eat real food, I started to think more about what I use in food. My decorations tend to be a little more simple now, as I try to avoid food coloring, though some special occasions for certain themed party, I sometimes use natural food coloring from vegetable concentrate that you can buy. Long story short, that's why my cookies now only have white icing these days. I did try with matcha powder(green tea powder) this time. Because I love matcha taste, I loved it. But color was obviously not vibrant. It's like gloomy greyish green and that is why they didn't even make it to the dessert table at the party. So I did some research and found out that if you don't have  the natural food coloring, some people use spinach juice for green. Simply blend the spinach and squeeze the juice out of it and use it in the icing rather than water and you don't taste spinach. I have not tried it but it's a brilliant idea and I will definitely try next time. 

I have omitted almond extract a few times in the past and taste was just as good even though almond extract does add another layer of flavor. So if you're not a fan of almond flavor or have food allergy concerns, simply omit it. 

No chill sugar cookies

Printable recipe 

Ingredients :

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 egg

2 tsp baking powder

3 cups all purpose flour

Royal icing

1 lbs confectioner's sugar

3 Tbsp meringue powder

4-5 Tbsp water (Or more depending on the consistency you need)

Sprinkles for decoration

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Cream the butter and sugar until smooth.

2. Add extracts and egg.

3. Combine baking powder and flour in a separate bowl and add it to the wet ingredients little by little. Dough will be stiff. 

4. Do not chill the dough. Roll it out and cut out cookies. Place on a lined baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes or when they start to brown a little. (I usually bake mine for closer to 8 minutes.) Let cool on the sheet until firm enough to move and transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. 

5. When all the cookies are completely cooled, Make the royal icing. Beat all the ingredients until it forms stiff peaks. 

6. Put the icing in a pastry bag with a piping tip or just cut the end of a pastry bag and decorate the cookies. 

*Recipe In Katrina's Kitchen.

Cocoa Brownies

We had a big holiday party at our house last weekend. It rained but we had a huge turn out and it was a lot of fun. Seriously, when the forecast showed rain, I wasn't thrilled but was still happy because it's rain. Last year, the day of the party, we had a snow storm. Not good. Not good at all. This year, knowing there will be about 70 people, we hired a chef well in advance. I did not even attempt to cook. But since baking is easier to be done in advance, I chose to go that way. A couple of years ago, I saw a picture of brownie bites with strawberry Santa hats. Ever since then, I always wanted to make them. And I finally got to make them this year.

Here. Aren't they adorable? For people who don't like strawberries, I served half with the hat, half without. A lot of recipes use butter cream but I made mascarpone whipped cream, which is my favorite kind of whipped cream. Cut the brownies into bite size- using a small circle or square cookie cutter works the easiest. Pipe a ring not too close to the edge, put a strawberry that you cut the bottom already on top and press it down gently. And pipe a little circle on top. There, you have a cute little Santa hat brownie bite.

 I don't bake brownies often. But when I do, there are only a couple of recipes I use. This Alton brown recipe is very fudgy not cakey. I love the richness. Giving a 15 minute rest out of the oven during baking definitely makes it extra fudgy. On food network original recipe, it is not mentioned but that's one of AB's recent tips. 

I also baked Christmas cookies, since it's a holiday party after all. Well..Christmas sugar cookies are so simple but it took me a while to find a recipe that doesn't need to be chilled, yet doesn't spread. I will be sharing that great find soon!

Alton Brown's cocoa brownie

Printable recipe 

Ingredients :

4 large eggs

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup butter, melted

1 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

1/2 cup all purpose flour, sifted

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

Directions :

1. Preheat the oven to 300F. Line an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper, cut to size, leaving the edge hanging. It's better if you line with two pieces of paper on two sides so all four sides have hanging parchment paper to prevent sticking and easy lifting. 

2. In a mixer fitted with a whisk, beat the eggs until light yellow. Add both sugars. Add rest of the ingredients. 

3. Grease the parchment paper with a cooking spray and pour the batter. 

4. Bake for 15 minutes, take it out and let it rest for 15 minutes. Keep the oven on. Put it back in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted come out clean. Do not over bake. 

5. Let it cool in the pan for a few minutes and lift the parchment paper edges and move it to a cooling rack. Cut once it's cooled off.

* Recipe by Alton brown.

 

Fresh cherry tart

As Christmas approaching, I think this would be a great dessert whether you're hosting or going to a house party. As I mentioned in my previous post, I made this for Thanksgiving as my nephew loves fruit tart and recently I found out that he goes crazy for cherries. I know. This dessert doesn't scream Thanksgiving. When I make fresh fruit tart, I usually make it with variety of berries but since I know what he goes crazy for, why not just make it with cherries? Since I rarely cook or bake with cherries, I didn't own a cherry pitter. As soon as these cute little guys comes in my hand, I would just devour them so I didn't even need a pitter. But since I had to keep them in pretty shapes for the tart, I decided to invest in one. And I am truly impressed with the results! I got one that pits 4 cherries at a time and how does it get the seeds so perfectly every time? Well..you can obviously tell that I am new to this and enjoyed the pitting. It was actually pretty enjoyable. Something that listens and follows my direction without my yelling involved. 

Because I took pictures before I brought them to dinner, I don't have any picture of a cut piece. I didn't even have a chance to save a piece. It was destroyed in minutes. Which is a good sign. Recipe makes a lot more custard than you'd need for this tart and you can halve the recipe but I just make the whole portion and save some. It's great with fruits -of course- and warm brioche buns. My gosh, custard cream with a soft bun? Brings back my childhood memories. I have a holiday party this weekend and this will be served as well since it's very festive and so pretty! 

Fresh cherry tart

Printable recipe 

Ingredients :

tart shell

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup confectioner's sugar

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1 egg

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp vanilla extract 

custard

2 cups milk

1/4 cup + 1/3 cup granulated sugar 

2 egg yolks

1 egg

1/4 cup corn starch

2 Tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups cherry, pitted

confectioner's sugar to dust on top

Directions :

1. Make tart shell - In a food processor, pulse butter and confectioner's sugar for a few minutes until fluffy. Add egg and salt and process for a minute or so. Add flour and process for a few seconds. Dump the dough on the surface and form a dough. 

2. Roll it out evenly and put it in a tart pan. If you see some gap here and there, just use the dough scraps and press it down to patch it up. Prick the bottom with a fork and freeze for 15 minutes. Bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. If you see the center puffing up a little while baking, you can use a spatula to gently press it down and continue to bake.

3. Make custard - In a heavy saucepan, mix milk and 1/4 cup sugar and bring it to a boil over medium heat. 

4. In another bowl, stir together egg yolks and egg and add remaining sugar and corn starch. Stir them together until smooth. 

5. When the milk is ready, add milk to the egg mixture in a thin stream while stirring constantly so eggs don't cook. Return the mixture to the pan and slowly bring it to a boil. Stirring constantly. When it comes to a boil and thickens, stir in vanilla and butter and mix until well blended. Pour into a heat proof bowl and cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin forming. Refrigerate until chilled and ready to use.

6. Assemble the tart. Spread the custard evenly in the tart shell(You won't need all of it). Top with pitted cherries and keep in the fridge until serving. Dust with confectioner's sugar before serving. 

*Custard recipe - all recipes
 Tart shell recipe adapted from inspiringtheeveryday