TWD: Chewy, Chunky Blondies

This was a fun make. Mainly because my sister, Rachael, was in town and visited for one day and we hung out, chatted, and made these chewy chunky blondies. We were happy to have the company of KT (sister-in-law), but Whit was regrettably out of town.



I must admit two things with this recipe. First....I did not personally make the recipe. I don't know what I was doing. Cleaning up lunch or something. Rachael made these blondies. And secondly...We were talking a lot and maybe not paying as much attention to our baking. These were yummy....come on they are full of chocolate and toffee....yum, but I don't think they were as fluffy as they should have been. We may have undercooked them. Or missed something else... I don't know.

The kids inhaled them. We might have inhaled a few too many too. So even with getting a little less attention these blondies still turned out decent.

Note: We added skor toffee bars instead of the butterscotch chips. I think it would be delicious either way.

If you are interested in trying these blondies out head on over to Cookies on Friday. Happy Baking!

Also: Liz posted an apple crostada recipe she made about a month ago. I made the same recipe, but with blueberries. Yum! It looked super fancy too. I thought I would post a picture as well.

TWD-Brrrr-ownies

Brownies. Who doesn't like brownies? Especially brownies and mint. One of my all-time favorite brownie recipes is for what I called As Good as BYU Mint Brownies but have more recently started to refer to as Magnificent Mint Brownies. They really are magnificent and I am always asked for the recipe when I take them to any event.

I got a little sidetracked here! Back to this weeks Brrr-ownies. I thought I had double checked to make sure I had all the ingredients but when I went to make them I realized I didn't have any unsweetened baking chocolate so instead I used Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa Powder. I used 3 T cocoa power and 1 T vegetable oil for each ounce. I don't think it made any difference in the final product. These came together quickly and I loved that it was a one bowl deal.

My hubby said they were "stellar" and he would definitely want me to make them again. I liked that they were fudgy with little mint surprises mixed throughout.

Because I used the dark cocoa powder, my brownies came out nearly black! That said, they weren't much to look at so I didn't even bother taking a picture because I don't think any amount of "dressing up" would have made them look appetizing. The photo would not have done the brownie justice as to how good it really was. Next time around I will definitely use normal cocoa powder.

This will be another Dorie recipe that will go into my favorite recipes. I saw some people used peanut butter cups instead of peppermint patties so I think the next time I give these a try that is what I will use. If you're interested in the recipe and some great photos head here.

Until next time, Happy Baking!

Cinnamon Roll Trick

Cinnamon rolls are one of our favorites around here. Definitely a special occasion treat. I will admit making these babies has taken a little practice and a good amount of instruction from a few baking experts (aka:mothers and mother like figures, susie). Last fall Liz and I had a bake off to see whose cinnamon roll recipe was better. I cannot really say who won, because I am pretty sure that we had too many kids in one house to be able to properly pay attention to our rolls. Sometimes mothers do too much at one. Both turned out great and I think we are both partial to our own recipes and our husbands are definitely partial to their own wife's recipes. So really with no clear judge who is to pronounce the winner? Can you really go wrong with cinnamon and sugar with fresh rolls. NO WAY!!

Okay so not to tempt and leave no recipe, but out of request from the owner of my cinnamon roll recipe I have agreed not to share her recipe. However I will share with you one of my favorite tips that you can use with your cinnamon roll recipe.

First off here is my average cinnamon roll. Yummy!



My favorite tip is: Make your own homemade caramel sauce and pour on top of chopped pecans in your pan before adding your cinnamon rolls and after it bakes flip them over and enjoy AMAZING caramel pecan rolls, which we happen to like better than regular. And if you want you can make it easier and even just pour in some store bought caramel icecream topping (blasphemy, I know....store bought) over your pecans and you will still be in heaven. Enjoy!

Barefoot Contessa's Crostata

I think I'm in love! A few weeks ago a friend of mine passed along Barefoot Contessa's Apple Crostata recipe. I made it and loved it, seriously loved it! The crust is so easy to throw together in my food processor and it's buttery and flakey. The apples with the orange zest--a great combination.

A couple of weeks later, I stumbled upon BC's recipe for her Summer Fruit Crostata. It's truly heavenly. I omitted the plums and made it with peaches and blueberries and it was wonderful! So delicious, beautiful, and packed full of flavor.

Check out the apple recipe as well as the summer fruit version and hopefully you'll enjoy as much as we did!