Double Chocolate Cookies

These are my hubby's second favorite cookie - the first being classic chocolate chip. These kind of taste like a brownie in cookie form, with creamy white chocolate chips in every bite. In my cookbook, "Yummy!" is written next to the recipe name. I think that's all you need to know. Definitely a good cookie to put into your rotation.


Double Chocolate Cookies (I OFTEN halve this recipe to make roughly 24 cookies)
1 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
8 oz. white chocolate chips (Ghiradelli are my favorite)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In mixing bowl, mix together flour, cocoa powder and baking soda. Set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer or hand-held beater, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add eggs and continue to beat until well combined, about 1 minute.
4. A little at a time, pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Mix slowly until all is combined. The batter will be very stiff.
5. Fold in white chocolate chips with a spatula. Drop by the tablespoon onto greased or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, allow to cool on the pan for a few minutes and move to cooling rack.

Easy Breakfast Egg Casserole

It's been a while since I've blogged. I went through a pretty tough experience, the toughest of my life, and it put blogging into perspective. The good news is, I'm feeling better. And I'm ready to blog again. Especially for my girls. I definitely want them to have this easy egg casserole recipe. It's perfect for when you have company over, and you don't want to spend the morning hovering over the frying pan making scrambled eggs. Just pop in the oven - and it's done. Boo-yah.

Easy Breakfast Egg Casserole
20-24 oz. of shredded hash browns, thawed
1 teaspooon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup milk
12 eggs
1/2 lb. ham, diced (you can substitute cooked bacon or turkey for the ham)

Directions:

1. Butter a 9x13" glass baking dish and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spread hash browns in the dish, sprinkle on the salt and pepper. 
3. Sprinkle 1 1/2 cups of cheese over the potatoes. Beat the eggs and milk; pour over the potatoes and cheese.
4. Top with diced ham and remaining cheese. 
5. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Best eaten the day you make it.

Sweet Asian Pork Chops

How many times have you eaten dry pork chops? I know my previous attempts have been less-than-yummy...until NOW! Thanks to a great America's Test Kitchen recipe, these are tender, moist and coated in the most delicious sweet Asian glaze. You can add a bit of heat if you want, too.

A couple tricks to remember when cooking these:

• Start cooking the chops in a cold pan - this prevents them from drying out
• Cut slices in the fat around the chop, about 2" apart - it'll prevent the pork from curling up

My hubby loves these, he even asked for them the other night. They are officially in our meal rotation.

Sweet & Spicy Pork Chops (slightly adapted from America's Test Kitchen)
1/3 cup apple cider (or apple juice)
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar (make sure you have at least 1/8 cup of brown sugar for later as well)
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon hot sauce (for more heat, add up to 1 tablespoon)
1/4 teaspoon cornstarch
3-4 bone-in rib or center cut pork chops, about 1"-1 1/2" thick
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Salt & pepper
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar

Directions:

1. Whisk cider, brown sugar, vinegar, garlic, mustard, hot sauce and cornstarch in medium bowl. Pat chops dry with paper towels. Cut slits through the fat of the chops, about 2" apart (this prevents them from curling when cooking).
2. Rub chops with oil, season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle 1 side of each chop with sugar.
3. Place chops, sugared-side down, in large nonstick skillet. Place skillet over medium-low heat and cook until chops are lightly browned, 10-12 minutes. 
4. Flip chops, add cider mixture, and cook, covered with a lid or with foil, until meat registers 145 degrees, or 8-10 minutes. Transfer chops to platter and tent with foil.
5. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, uncovered, until liquid is thick and syrupy, about 5 minutes. During this time, taste the liquid and add 1/8 - 1/4 cup brown sugar if desired. (I like it sweet!)
6. Return chops to skillet and turn to coat in glaze. Transfer chops to platter and top with remaining glaze. Serve and enjoy!

Strawberry-Lemon Yogurt Blintzes

My, oh my. What a breakfast we had this morning. Thanks to this amazingly perfect recipe from Cheeky Kitchen, one of my all-time favorite food blogs. These crepe-like blintzes are filled with a pillowy layer of whipped cream (hello richness), greek yogurt (for a slight tang), honey (cue the sweetness), and lemon zest (brings it alive). Topped with a strawberry-lemon-maple syrup.

Yep, we had a good morning. Most definitely going to make these when entertaining guests for breakfast or brunch. Or just to make a hubby happy on an ordinary Friday morning.

Strawberry-Lemon Yogurt Blintzes (Brooke McLay of Cheeky Kitchen)
FOR THE BLINTZES:
4 eggs
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

FOR THE FILLING:
1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup honey or pure maple syrup
zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon powdered sugar (my addition)

FOR THE FRESH STRAWBERRY SYRUP:
1 pint strawberries, sliced
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup pure maple syrup

Directions:
 
1. FOR THE BLINTZES: Combine all ingredients together in a blender until smooth. Heat a nonstick cooking pan or cast-iron skillet to medium-low heat. Spray with nonstick cooking spray. Pour a 6-inch circle of batter into the hot skillet. Cook as you would a pancake, until golden brown. Flip and cook the opposite side until golden brown.  Made about 5-6 blintzes.

2. FOR THE FILLING: In an electric mixer, beat the whipping cream until light and fluffy. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until well mixed. Spoon into the center of the blintzes. Top with Fresh Strawberry Syrup & enjoy! 

3. FOR THE FRESH STRAWBERRY SYRUP:
Mix all ingredients together. Spoon over yoghurt-filled bintzes. Enjoy!

Aussie Anzac Biscuits

Anzac bisquits - Australian for cookies - are eaten by every Aussie. They are eaten year-round, but especially today, April 26, Anzac Day. They are filled with the rich goodness of golden syrup, oats and butter. We do not have ANYTHING like them in the states. I couldn't stop eating the batter - or the cookies.

What's better is, this is an old family recipe. It comes from my hubby's Aunt Helen. She's fun, vivacious, a stellar cook and she can see the beach from her deck (jealous). She's worked on refining this recipe for nearly her entire life, and the result is just heavenly.

So, please invest in some golden syrup, so you can make these delicious "bickies" or my hub's other favorite Aussie dessert, Caramel Slice.

Aussie Anzac Biscuits a la Aunt Hell
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup sugar
1 cup dessicated coconut
1 stick butter (NOT margarine)
1/4 cup water
2 1/2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda (carb soda in Australia)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 280 degrees.
2. Place all dry ingredients (flour, oats, sugar, coconut) in a biggish bowl and stir them together with a well in the centre.
3. Then place butter, water and golden syrup in a saucepan on medium heat. When this liquid mixture comes to the boil, bring it over to the bowl and stir in 1 teaspoon baking soda, and stir till all mixed in. (Should be consistency of thick custard - if it's a little dry add a little more hot water). Baking soda added to this will make it froth up and over the top of the saucepan, so hold pot over bowl while you pour and stir it in the dry ingredients.
4. Put baking paper on trays and spoon a dessert-spoon mixture onto trays about 3 inches apart. With a wet hand flatten dollop a little. About 12 to a tray. 
5. Place in the oven and allow to cook for 20+ minutes till they are darkish golden brown. THEY will be a little crunchy! For chewy, just allow to go golden brown in the oven.

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips

It snowed today. Major bummer. My daughter said to the snowflakes, "Go away snow!" And I agreed. Then, in the spirit of the spring that is supposed to be here, I decided to make this refreshing fruit salsa. It definitely livened our afternoon. It is a perfect party appetizer and it made me dream of future days of summer BBQ's with friends.

The hubs loved this salsa, and my daughter couldn't stop eating the cinnamon sugar tortilla chips.

Thankfully, this weekend is supposed to be in the 60's. Here's to spring days that are WAY overdue!

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips (adapted from Mary Van Driest's recipe in Cook's Country 2008)
2 tablespoons apple jelly
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and minced
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped fine
1 pint strawberries, hulled and chopped fine
3 good size kiwis, peeled and chopped fine
juice from 1 lemon (or you can try a lime)

2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, melted
6 - 8" flour tortillas

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together apple jelly, brown sugar and orange juice (whisk really good to ensure jelly breaks down).
2. Add chopped jalepeno, apples, strawberries and kiwis to bowl. Mix together with the jelly mixture. Start squeezing the juice from one lemon into fruit salsa, taste, and add more according to taste. I used the whole lemon.
3. For tortilla chips, adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions, and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. Melt butter and brush over both sides of the tortillas. Cut each tortilla into 8 triangles and then place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture generously over the tortilla triangles. Bake until golden and crisp, around 14 - 18 minutes, switching and rotating the baking sheets halfway through baking time.

Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcakes

Cupcakes had me down. They are so pretty. Maybe too pretty for their own good. The taste wasn't living up to its looks. So many of my batches were so-so. I even had a conversation with a friend that, perhaps, cupcakes are overrated.

I set out to do some research, and hopefully, prove myself wrong.

These tips really helped me, they come straight from Candace Nelson of Sprinkles Bakery.

• Temperature is key - All ingredients should be at room temperature before you begin, otherwise, the ingredients can become lumpy when combined, which encourages overmixing (not good).
• Don't overmix - Stir ingredients together until just combined. Overmixing leads to dense cakes, rather than light and fluffy.
• Use the best ingredients - The quality of ingredients really does make a difference. In this recipe, use organic strawberries. Reviews reported that normal strawberries made it hard to taste their flavor.

Ok, now to the good stuff.

My final tip: find a fantastic recipe. This Sprinkles recipe won me over. The cake is light, fluffy and has a nice flavor. I added lemon zest thanks to another blogger who suggested it. The frosting? Well, it's basically like biting into a strawberry ice cream cone.

Yum.

Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcakes
2/3 cup whole fresh organic strawberries
zest of 1 lemon, grated (my addition)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature (4 oz)
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
2 large egg whites, room temperature
Sprinkles' Strawberry Frosting (below)

Directions:
   1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.
   2. Place strawberries in a small food processor; process until pureed. You should have about 1/3 cup of puree, add a few more strawberries if necessary or save any extra puree for frosting; set aside.
   3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, lemon zest, and strawberry puree; set aside.
   4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.
   5. With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.
   6. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 17 - 19 minutes. Cool completely.

Sprinkles Strawberry Frosting (I halved this and it lightly frosted 12 cupcakes)
3/4 cup whole fresh strawberries
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, firm and slightly cold
Pinch of coarse salt
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
zest of a whole lemon, grated (my addition)

Directions:
   1. Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners' sugar; beat until well combined. Add vanilla, lemon zest and 5-6 tablespoons strawberry puree (taste the frosting, add more or less strawberry puree according to your liking); mix until just blended. Do not overmix or frosting will incorporate too much air. Frosting consistency should be dense and creamy, like ice cream.