Cookie Dough Dip

When your dip is this good, you don't have to put it in a fancy bowl. NO ONE IS LOOKING AT THE BOWL!

To be honest, this tasted more like chocolate chip cheesecake, which makes it more awesome.

1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 8oz block cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 mini chocolate chips

In a small saucepan, melt butter and add brown sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves and remove from heat. Stir in vanilla.

While that is cooling, cream together cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth and light and fluffy. Mix in the slightly cooled butter/sugar mixture, bit by bit, until combined. Toss in chocolate chips and mix until evenly distributed.

Serve at room temperature with whatever you think would be good. I served mine up with Nilla wafers and graham crackers.

Lemon Budino

I saw this recipe on Epicurious and it made my mouth water just reading about it! I had to try it.

I love all things lemon. Years and years ago, a friend's Mom made this Lemon Surprise (I think she called it). It was like magic. She mixed a whole bunch of stuff together, threw it in the oven, and when it came out, it had separated into a fluffy mound surrounded by a gorgeous lemon sauce.

I'd forgotten about that dessert until I pulled these little "puddings" out of the oven, and I was so in love with them that I ate 3 of the 6 individual ramekins within an hour of them being done. I'm not embarrassed. They were good!

The recipe calls for Meyer lemons and regular lemons, but my grocery store doesn't carry Meyer lemons (though if they ever did, I would totally give it a try!

Mine probably could have been a little darker, but I was impatient...and they were cooked.



1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons white sugar
3 large eggs, seperated
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice
2 tblsp fresh regular lemon juice (I just used the juice from 2 regular lemons)
2 tblsp Meyer lemon zest (I just zested a whole regular lemon)
3/4 cup plus 2 tblsp whole milk

Put a pot (or kettle of water on to boil). You'll need to utilize a bain marie (in this case, the ramekins will be placed in a 13 x 9 baking pan you'll pour boiling water into the pan). This technique will help cook the eggs evenly and maintain humidity in the oven.

Preheat oven to 350 and lightly butter 6 3/4 cup ramekins.

In a large bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar, egg yolks, flour, lemon juice and lemon zest. Whisk until well blended and then whisk in milk.

In a medium bowl, beat egg whites and salt until frothy. Slowly add remaining 2 tblsp sugar and beat until soft peaks form.

Gently fold beaten egg whites into lemon mixture in two batches. Gently pour into buttered ramekins. Place ramekins in baking pan and carefully (don't let it splash into the batter) pour hot water into pan until it reaches the halfway point of the ramekins.

Bake for about 30 minutes. The puddings will be golden on top and spring back lightly when touched. Take them out of the water and serve warm.

Frozen Mud Pie

Frozen Mud Pie



Got this recipe from Johnson's Right@Home newsletter. I made a couple of slight modifications.

1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
3 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp water
One brick cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup milk
One tub Cool Whip, thawed
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips, plus 2 tbsp for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 °F. Spray a 9 in springform pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a small bowl, combine cookie crumbs with melted butter and 1 tbsp of water. Mix and press into bottom of springform pan.

Bake 15 minutes and let cool.

Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add cocoa powder and milk, incorporating completely. Fold in Cool Whip and 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips.

Pour into cooled crust, sprinkle other mini chocolate chips on top, and toss on some extra crumbs. Do whatcha like (chopped, roasted peanuts would be really good on top too!). Freeze for a few hours.

Remove cuff from springform pan by carefully sliding knife in between pie and pan.

Cut (you might need to use a knife warmed with hot water) and serve.

It's good frozen, though my crust got ridiculously hard, or chilled in the fridge.

Blueberry Boy Bait

Yup...that's what I said...

Blueberry. Boy. Bait.

This is apparently a second place winner in a 1954 Pillsbury Bake-Off. The 15 year old girl who made it named for the effect it had on boys...riskee!!

It was adapted by Cook's Country, and Cook's Country's recipe was adapted by Smitten Kitchen.

Then I got ahold of it.

This is the first time I've made this delicious little treat and I can think of a couple of ways I might adjust it further to better suit my taste.

One thing I will say about this cake: It's SO moist and buttery that when you press down on it, there's an audible, rich crackle of moisture...and just the thought of that makes my mouth water.

I made this one with local blueberries, but it could easily be made with anything...it would be delicious with peaches, rhubarb, cherries...the endless possibilities give me goosebumps!

Blueberry Boy Bait

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour (plus 1 tsp set aside)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 sticks unsalted butter
1/4 cup demerara sugar (*see note)
3 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup milk (whole milk, buttermilk, skim milk, whatever you have...)
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, don't bother defrosting)

For the topping:
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, don't bother defrosting)
1/4 cup demerera sugar (*see note)
1 tsp ground cinnamon

* Note: I try to avoid using white sugar or commercially processed brown sugar in recipes...I prefer demerera sugar. If you don't have demerera sugar, in the cake you can use 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup white sugar, and in the topping, 1/4 cup white or brown sugar.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour a 13 x 9 baking pan.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and milk, and mix until combined.

Slowly beat in dry ingredients, in 2 or 3 batches, until just combined.

Toss blueberries in 1 tsp flour (it will help keep them from sinking to the bottom), and fold into batter with a spatula. Place batter into pan and smooth the top.

Combine all the topping ingredients in a bowl and evenly sprinkle on top.

Bake for 45 - 50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. I had to check on it and rotate it throughout the baking to make sure it baked evenly.

It's rich, that's for sure, but it's a nice treat. It was a great way to use up some local fruit that I had lying around. I'd totally make this again.

Family Reunion: Salty, Spicy, Chocolatey 2 Bite Brownies

When I am stressed out, I bake. Friday afternoon we realized that our family room/laundry room/basement was flooded, which sucked the fun out of our "4 day family weekend"...so I baked.

On Saturday was my family's annual reunion. Four generations together in the same place? It is great fun. I didn't get a chance to visit with everyone as much as I would have liked to because I was trading entertaining Quinn responsibilities with my sister Kate (since poor Don was stuck here at home cleaning up the aftermath), but it was great fun!

I decided to bake up some Salty, Spicy, Chocolatey 2 Bite Brownies to bring along for the ride. The recipe is based off of Brian Boitano's "Fudgy Gooey Brownies" from the Band Aid episode of What Would Brian Boitano Make?

Preheat oven to 325 degrees (though I have the annoying breed of oven that needs to be closely monitored and adjusted throughout the cooking process....maybe one day a kitchen appliance company will read my blog, feel sorry for me, and donate a new oven).

This recipe made about 55 little brownies in my 24 count mini muffin tin.

Melt 12 oz semisweet chocolate and 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (cut into cubes) in a double boiler until glossy and remove from heat.

In bowl, mix 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp chili powder, and 1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper.

In a second bowl, mix 4 large eggs and 3 large egg yolks (all at room temperature), and 1 tblsp vanilla.

Stir 1 cup demerara sugar and 3/4 cup white sugar into melted chocolate and butter mixture until combined. The chocolate should be cooled slightly (so you shouldn't end up with scrambled eggs), so you can add your egg gunk and stir to combine.

At this point add the flour mixture in a couple of batches, but don't overmix.

Grab a small ice cream/cookie scoop and portion it out into the mini muffin tin. Before popping into the oven for about 15 minutes, sprinkle the top with a little bit of flaked sea salt. I actually had some Himalyan Pink on hand, so that's what went on top. Keep an eye on the brownies until the tops look set. The middle will still be gooey so relying on the "clean tester" method won't work.

Let brownies set up a bit in the pan for 2 minutes or so, then transfer to a baking rack to finish cooling.

Brian's recipe called for espresso powder, which I did not have (and can't get without having to buy a crapload that I'll never use), and ancho chili powder (which I could not find). I eliminated the espresso powder and subbed run of the mill chili powder, and it was tasty as heck.


The Verdict?

Very tender, great chocolate flavour with some heat in the back of the throat. Would be amazing with a little caramel drizzled on top.

Not dense like brownies usually are (which is why he's not a fan). He liked them.

Did not try these.