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My fudge story starts about two summers ago, when my mother took me and my siblings to Hershey Park. At some point, we went into one of the (seemingly millions of) little shops that line the entire park, begging the tourists, or perhaps quietly enticing them to spend more money they have on pretty much every conceivable gimmick with some animated-looking Hershey’s candy splashed all over it.

Don’t get me wrong. I love souvenirs, so I’m not complaining. I willingly pranced into every store I could. Who needs roller coasters when you have mini slinkies decorated with happy looking chocolate bars? But I digress.

At some point we walked into a little shop, and by the smell of things, it was clear that this store was different. Their products didn’t have pictures of chocolate. They sold chocolate. Most notable, as you can imagine, was the fudge. Trays and trays of perfect little squares. Every color imaginable, and each was as enticing as the next. But alas, we keep kosher, so these weren’t going to work for my family.

And there I was, looking wistfully at the delightful display of confections, when I notice the display of cookbooks. My face lit up, as you, my cookbook loving friend, can surely imagine. Being the very awesome mother that she is, mom bought me the cookbook.

I’ve made loads of the recipes in that book, and enjoyed every one of them, but fudge was probably the highlight.

Had I read about how to make fudge on the internet, I might not have considered trying the fudge recipes in this cookbook. But I didn’t. And so I made the most amazing homemade chocolate fudge. And I discovered that it’s not only an easy task, but people look at you like you’re some kind of a domestic goddess when they hear that you made it.

Don’t believe me that it’s easy? Check out the list of ingredients. Go ahead, scroll down. I can wait….. See? What are you waiting for- make it. Now.

Homemade Milk Chocolate Fudge

Inspired by Hershey’s Incredibly Easy Desserts

Ingredients:

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (or one recipe homemade sweetened condensed milk)

3 (3.5 ounce) bars milk chocolate

Instructions:

Line an 8 inch square pan with foil and grease it well with butter or cooking spray. Set aside.

Fill a small pot halfway with water and bring it to a boil.

Choose a heatproof bowl that fits over the pot (double boiler style) and pour the condensed milk into it. Break the chocolate into squares and add it to the bowl. Place the bowl over the boiling water and turn flame to medium-low. Stir frequently until the chocolate and condensed milk are melted together and smooth.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and place in the fridge for a couple of hours until completely set. Remove from pan and cut into small squares (don’t make the squares too big, as the fudge is very rich!). Store in the fridge. Serve cold.

Enjoy!

Wishing all of my Jewish friends and readers a happy shavuos! I hope you enjoy the fudge, and come back next week- I think it’s time for some diet recipes! ;-) -Miriam

In my haste to publish my post yesterday, I think I neglected to mention for the benefit of my non-Jewish readers that it’s traditional to eat dairy on the upcoming holiday of Shavuos/t. And so, while I generally bake everything non-dairy, in honor of the holiday, I pulled out my dairy mixer, bought more cream cheese and butter than I care to disclose, and got to work salivating over the recipes I will make. Cheesecakes and the like are a no-brainer, but I really wanted to make a cookie. I have to live up to my name as The Cookie Girl.

However, just using butter instead of my usual margarine didn’t seem worthy of my (basically) once a year dairy fest. No, I needed more.

A couple of minutes  with my trusty pal Google, and I discovered this gem of a recipe. You start by browning the butter which you totally can’t do with margarine. Then you add cream cheese. Sure, I am known to use the toffuti variety on occasion, but let’s face it, there’s nothing like the real thing. Just in case this wasn’t already a lactose intolerant individual’s worst nightmare, I added some more dairy goodness in the form of chopped up milk chocolate, chopped up white chocolate (and chopped up dark chocolate to round it out).

The result: Well, you get a cookie that looks pretty ordinary, but then my tasters bit into it and a look of delightful shock spread across their face. A little hint, however: don’t, and I mean seriously, honestly really just don’t make these cookies if you’re on a diet. I am pretty sure hell is a place where you bake these cookies all day and never get to taste a bite.

Brown Butter Triple Chunk Cream Cheese Cookies

Adapted from Becky Bakes

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

4 oz cream cheese

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 (3.5 oz) bar milk chocolate, chopped

1 (3.5 oz) bar white chocolate, chopped

1 (3.5 oz) bar dark chocolate, chopped

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over a medium flame until brown. Let cool.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, cream cheese, brown and white sugar until smooth and creamy.

Add in the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla, beating well after each addition.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

Slowly pour the flour into the mixing bowl, mix until just incorporated.

Using a wooden spoon, stir the three kinds of chocolate into the batter.

Form 1 inch balls of dough, and place on prepared cookie sheets. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

Cookies will come out of the oven slightly puffed. If you like a flatter look (as I do!) immediately press down on the cookies using a glass. (Don’t attempt this with your hands- the hot chocolate will burn you!)

Do I even have to say it? Enjoy!

Note: you can use two cups of chocolate chips (your choice of variety) instead of the cut up bars. 

I have (at least) one more delicious dairy recipe for you, so come back soon! What interesting dairy recipes are you making? Please share your ideas in the comment section below. :) -Miriam

Shavuos is coming, and I for one am cooking up a storm!

I’m going to be posting an awesome new dairy recipe tomorrow, just in time for Shavuos, but in the meantime, if you’re looking for some awesome dairy ideas, check out these posts from the archives:

Healthy Quiche Cups: a healthy quiche filling, baked inside a whole wheat wrap..for those who want to stay healthy over the holiday.

Healthy Cottage Cheese Pancakes: another delicious and healthy option for Shavuos.

Caprese Panini: A delicious twist on a grilled cheese sandwich!

And now onto some delicious desserts:

Cream Cheese Swirled Chocolate Fudge Bundt Cake: the best bundt cake you’ve ever tasted, plus it’s a great change from the typical cheesecake.

Mocha Cheesecake with Oreo Crumb Crust: A delicious, fudgy, chocolatey cheesecake, resting on a bed of oreo cookie crumbs. Yum.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake: Cheesecake, cookie dough…everything you can ask for in a dessert!

 

Come back tomorrow for another super-delicious dairy recipe! -Miriam

Thank you to all the awesome people who have commented, emailed, tweeted and otherwise complimented me on the treats I made for my sister’s engagement party. I put so many countless hours of work, about 20 pounds of flour, bags and bags of sugar of all varieties, and finally pulled it all off. I just showed you folks the various goodies I made for the party, but I saved the best for the last. The center of the middle table had these:

From a glance, they might simply look like wooden branches in really cool vases. But look close and you can see there are delicious little flowers sprouting from the branches.

You know how they saw money doesn’t grow on trees? Well here’s something super important to remember: sadly, neither do cookies. I would totally plant a forest of cookie trees if that were a possibility. Because cookie producing trees don’t exist, I am going to show you how to make these cookies yourself. They’re really pretty, and totally perfect for an engagement, wedding shower, or even a wedding.

Let’s start, shall we?

First, you are going to need a recipe of your favorite decorator’s sugar cookies. Here’s Mine. You’ll be needing a batch of royal icing too, which is on that link.

Here’s what else you will need:

  • Two different colors of food coloring (that look nice together)
  • Heart shaped cookie cutter (your choice of sizes, I used a fairly small one)
  • A drinking straw
  • 3 piping bags
  • 2 couplers
  • Wilton #2 tip
  • Wilton #1 tip
  • plastic squeeze bottle
  • ribbon
Here’s what you’ll need to do. First, roll out the dough and cut out lots of little hearts. Next, take the straw and poke a little hole in the corner of each heart.
Important: you will want to alternate between punching the hole on the right and left side of the hearts, so that all of the hearts of one color will be on the right, and all of the other color heart will have holes on the left.
Bake the cookies (with the little holes removed) according to the directions of the recipe and let them cool completely.
Read the direction on my clown cookie pop post on how to outline and flood the cookies, because I won’t be elaborating here.
Divide the icing into 3 parts: two large bowls and one small one. Color one of the large bowls a nice girly color, and the other a nice boyish color. Or chose the bride’s and the groom’s favorite color. Or yours. You do want to make sure the colors look nice together.
Outline the cookie like so: (make sure to pipe around the hole too!) Use a #2 tip for this.

Next, flood the cookie: (Here’s where you’ll use the handy-dandy squeeze bottle.)

Now do that a ton of times:

And then, when you feel like you are up to your ears in royal icing, make a whole ton more:

Or, you could be a little less insane than I was and do fewer than 120 cookies. Just a suggestion.

Let the cookies harden completely. I waited overnight. You should to, or you might risk the colors flooding like they did on my clown cookie pops.

Use the reserved white icing (or you can use the other color for this) to pipe the initials of the happy couple- one per color. If your cookie is small (like mine) use a #1 tip for this. If it’s big, you can go for a #2. Or try both and see which you like better.

Don’t make my mistake. After piping S onto 60 pink cookies, I moved over to the green side of the table and began to pipe…more S’s! I was about five in when I realized my mistake, and luckily they were all still wet enough to wipe off and re-pipe an E. All’s well that ends in cookies, right?

When you are done, if you aren’t totally sick of piping yet, or it’s only 2 am and you don’t have to be up for work until 6:30 am the next day, or you have more icing and don’t want it to go to waste, or all of the above, you can pipe an outline of white or the other color around the heart. Or you can pipe dots. Or some of each. Go crazy. Have fun.

Once the icing has completely hardened, tie one of each color together with a ribbon and tie a nice little bow.

Now display them at the party and pretend to be all humble about it while everyone gushes over your work.

Enjoy! I hope you like these. And I hope you come back soon, because I have some really delicious recipes to share with you guys. -Miriam

By the way, did you know that I am on Twitter? And on Facebook? And on Pinterest? And on Google+? Are you there too? Let’s connect!

There are no recipe in this post, so if that’s all you’re here for, sorry to disappoint. However, I am going to show you what I made for my sister’s engagement party and how I displayed it. Partially as an explanation of why I disappeared for a couple of weeks, and partially in case you want ideas of something to make for a party.

Edit: by request, I have added freezability (I don’t think that’s a real word) information to each item. Please comment or email me for more details.

(Excuse the poor quality of the pictures. By the time I had finished setting up I had a very short window of time to take them before people arrived and started to demolish the treats.)

Firstly, the set-up. My mother, together with a family friend who helped with the arrangements got the tablecloths and arranged for people to make real foods. My job was the desserts. I set them up on three tables.

First:

Second:

And third:

Now, let’s break it down. I will show you close up pictures and links (if I have them!). Here goes:

On the first table:

Mini Double Chocolate Trifles – I made these pretty much the same as the link, except that I piped the cream on the top differently. They were very popular, as always.
Freezer info: I made these the day of the event, using brownie scraps from the heart shaped brownies, below.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting – While these were the dreamy kind of delicious, I think the presentation made a big difference here. I bought these cupcake liners from wilton, alternated black and white, then I colored fondant black, rolled it out, and stamped out the letters “mazel tov.” (For my non-jewish readers, that is the traditional greeting when someone gets engaged. It would also work with congratulations, or some other relevant phrase.)
Freezer info: I made the cupcakes in advance and froze them. I made the frosting the day of the event. I made the fondant cupcake toppers a couple of days before the party and kept them in an airtight container.

Mocha Bundt Cake with Coffee Glaze – this is a family favorite that I somehow never posted. (Must remedy that soon!) It looked nicer in real life than it does here, I promise!
Freezer info: I made the cake well in advance and froze it. I made the glaze a couple of days early and kept it in the fridge.

Glazed Raspberry Cookies – As I state in the original post, these are beautiful and easy to make. What more could I ask for?
Freezer info: I made and glazed these in advance, and froze them.

Triple Chocolate Oreo Chunk Cookies – Easy and delicious- real crowd pleasers!
Freezer info: I made and froze these in advance.

Mini Mocha Cheesecakes with Oreo Crumb Crust – One of the options on the original post was to bake them in mini muffin pans. Perfect size for a party, plus everyone adores this recipe.
Freezer info: I made these and drizzled melted chocolate over them and froze them completed.

Almond Covered Sugar Cookies – I had extra roll out sugar cookie dough from the royal icing cookies, so I rolled it out, brushed it with an egg, sprinkled sliced almonds on it, dusted it with cinnamon and sugar and baked it. Simple and yummy!
Freezer info: I made these in advance and froze them.

Cannolis (for lack of a better word) – I used store-bought (don’t tell anyone!) wafer shells, dipped them in melted chocolate, then filled them with sweetened whipped cream. Needless to say, these were super popular.
Freezer info: I made these in advance and froze them. In fact, the freezer helped these keep their piped details nicer.

Next table…

The centerpiece of this table (and possibly of the whole buffet) were the royal icing cookie hanging from the branches you see in the center. I will be dedicating an entire post to those, so we will go right on to…

Cappuccino Cookie Cups – I made them exactly like the recipe, but I wanted to tell you a funny story. These were in the magazine the week of the party, ( I had actually made the cookies in advance and put them in the freezer, then stuck the cream on the day of the event.) Someone told me that she also saw them in the magazine and was thinking to try them. I was like “yeah, I wrote that.” I am a showoff at times, I guess I can’t help it.
Freezer info above.

Mini Cherry Pies – I plan to post the full recipe eventually (along with some pictures that actually do these beauties justice!) but for now, here’s a link to my pie crust recipe, and a tutorial on making good pie crust.
Freezer info: I made these in advance and froze them.

Chocolate Covered Oatmeal Bars – Again, easy, delicious and pretty. Are you noticing a theme here?
Freezer info: made these in advance and froze them whole. I should have cut them up before freezing. Learn from my mistakes!

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Candy Bars – I have to post the recipe one of these days, these were super yummy, and no bake to boot!
Freezer info: I made these and froze them whole. Bad idea. See above.

Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies – These were my first venture into the world of shortbread, and I definitely plan to be back, with all kinds of awesome variations. Their flaky texture is amazing.
Freezer info: I froze these already dipped in chocolate.

And finally, the last table. There was actually one thing on this table that I didn’t make (shocking, I know. But it was a gift and we had to put it out.)

Heart Shaped Brownies – The recipe isn’t as important as how I decorated them. I baked the brownies in a wider pan, so they were more shallow than average. Then I used a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out hearts. The glaze is the same as the one I used for the raspberry cookies. I don’t know why I didn’t get a picture where you could actually see how gorgeous they were, so you will just have to take my word for it. Or make them and see for yourself.
Freezer info: I made these and glazed them and froze them after the glaze set. And I used the scraps for the trifles.

Rugelach – Another recipe which I will have to post eventually. Though these don’t really need an introduction or an explanation.
Freezer info: I made these in advance and froze them.

Nutella Puff Pastry Roll Ups – These Nutella Puff Pastry Pockets were one of the most popular posts ever on my blog. I decided to take them and make something bite sized and a little bit prettier out of them. This is what I came up with. As you can imagine, they were as popular at the party as on the blog.
Freezer info: I made these in advance and froze them.

The fourth compartment was filled with a wafer cake that someone sent from a bakery. I won’t glorify it with any more blog space.

Now on to the items directly on the table:

Vanilla Bundt Cake – another family favorite which I somehow never posted. It’s actually a real favorite of my sister (the bride) so I decided to make it. Those are pink sugar pearls decorating the top.
freezer info: I made the cake in advance and froze it. I made the glaze a couple of days in advance and refrigerated it. I decorated it the night before the party.

Maple Sandwich Cookies with Toasted Pecans – I made these mostly because they are so impressive looking, but you wouldn’t believe how wild people were over them. Not until you taste them, then you’ll be totally in love too. With a cookie. It happens.
Freezer info: I made these in advance and froze them whole.

Mini Maple Bundt Cakes with Bourbon Glaze and Toasted Pecans – Yep, these are every bit as good as they sound. You’ll have to take my word on that, because the recipe is my original one and I haven’t posted it yet. I’ll get there. Eventually.
Freezer info: as with the other bundt cakes, I froze the cake, refrigerated the glaze and put it all together the night before.

Anyway…that’s pretty much what kept me busy for the two weeks following passover. That and the cookies I hope to post next. And buying a new dress to wear, picking out paper goods, borrowing and collecting props, and some other things, such as working 9 hours a day and commuting 3 hours a day. No biggie.

Hope you get some good ideas from my insanity! Come back soon for the royal icing cookies, plus some super delicious recipes! -Miriam

Often when I read cookbooks, I make mental notes such as “I’ll make this when I have lots of spare time” or “I’ll make this when I have guests and don’t want to serve something too dietetic.” Rarely do I read cookbooks thinking “I must make this!” and “Wow I really want to try that!”

Those of you that have been reading this blog for a while know this already, but for those who don’t, let me explain how I cook: super fattening and over-indulgent desserts which I don’t touch because I am perpetually on a diet and then I make relatively healthy real food, which is what I eat because I am perpetually on a diet. Pay attention. 

Back to cookbooks, here’s why that was important to know: I finally found a cookbook which made me flip through the pages, planning to make almost every recipe in it. Levana Kirschenbaum’s Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen is a little peek into the way a woman who’s entire career revolved around food managed to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. This cookbook isn’t a diet cookbook, but rather a book that’s chock full of recipes for foods that are plain and simple good for you.

In no particular order, here are some of the things that I love about this cookbook:

Pantry staples section: there is a section full of pantry staples/ edible gifts, which includes recipes for all kinds of sauces people generally buy, a ton of delicious salad dressing recipes, and great spice mixes, among other things.

The recipes are written out very clearly, with directions that are super easy to follow. In the recipe I am sharing below, I finally conquered a food that I had a very difficult time cooking properly in the past. I have always enjoyed kasha, but every time I try to cook it, I get a mush that looks very unappetizing. Enter Levana’s clear directions and I now know how to make kasha. (Expect some more recipes coming up. It’s healthy and delicious!)

Levana is of Moroccan heritage, so she definitely brings those flavors, but she also brings an amazing array of international flavors to the party. One of my culinary goals is to learn more about international cuisine, and I have my eye on some great looking recipes in this cookbook.

For people who are gluten free, she includes gluten free options and adaptations for a ton of the recipes. Similarly, if you observe Passover, there are lots of options included for that, and tips for converting many of the recipes. There is also a Passover index in the back to make it all clear.

If you are thinking that you don’t keep kosher, so this book doesn’t apply to you, think again. While there are some traditional Kosher recipes in this book, there are loads of recipes that anyone, kosher or not, would be thrilled to try.

My feelings about this book were overwhelmingly positive, but here are a couple of things I would point out. Firstly, we are very spoiled nowadays, expecting full color pictures of every recipe. This cookbook doesn’t have pictures of every last recipe. (The pictures it has, however, are eye catching and beautiful, and kind of make you want to dig right in.) Also, because this is a good-for-you kind of cookbook, there aren’t a lot of super indulgent desserts. (Not that people should really be eating those, but if you are looking for those recipes, this isn’t the cookbook for you.) Lastly, there are some recipes in this book that call for unusual (for me) ingredients. I think that’s two parts good and one part bad, because it encourages you to try new things, but I am a little timid in the palate department.

Overall, this is an excellent cookbook for anyone (kosher or not) who wants to eat food that is better for you. To purchase a copy, click here.

Disclaimer: I was provided a copy of this cookbook for review, but the opinions are honest and my own.

Kasha with Onions and Mushrooms:

Adapted from The Whole Foods Kosher Cookbook

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 lb white mushrooms, sliced

3 Tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, diced

2 cups (about 1 13 oz box) kasha (Buckwheat) (whole granulation)

1 egg (Levana says you can use 2 egg whites instead)

5 cups boiling water

salt and black pepper, to taste

Instructions:

Heat the olive oil in a small pot. Add sliced mushrooms and sautee on medium flame until the liquid given off by the mushrooms is evaporated. Stir occasionally. Remove mushrooms from pot and set aside.

Heat the second bit of olive oil in the same pot. Sautee onions over medium flame until golden brown, stirring occasionally. This should take about 20 minutes. Don’t try to rush this, as the onions get more flavorful as they cook and get darker. Remove onions from pot and set aside.

Place the kasha in the pot and toast until the grains are slightly browned and fragrant. Add the egg and stir quickly until the grains are uniformly coated. Add the boiling water and cover the pot. Reduce the heat and let it cook for about 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed and the  grains are soft. Stir in the reserved mushrooms and onions, add salt and pepper to taste, stir and enjoy.

Notes:

This dish is best served hot, but I had it cold the next day for lunch alright, the next three days and it was delicious that way too.

As noted in the cookbook: For other grains, such as quinoa or rice, follow the directions above, but omit the toasting and coating with egg step. Also, adjust the amount of water and cooking time.

 

Hope you enjoy this! And come back soon, because I have those party treats to share with you! -Miriam

Wow, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? First there was Passover, and I posted fewer recipes than usual. Then came my sister’s engagement, pretty soon after passover, and I spent every spare moment making all kinds of outrageously amazing and gorgeous treats for the party.

I will be sharing some of those treats with you folks, but first, I am going to share these simple cookies. I made them just before the party, after I panicked that there were no plain and simple cookies for folks who didn’t want my more extravagant treats.

I’m not really sure what to say about these cookies. Not because they aren’t amazing, because they are. I’ve made them numerous times. Each time, they were demolished eagerly. These cookies don’t call for all sorts of fancy ingredients. They don’t require any fancy steps. They are simply chocolate-y goodness, simple as that.

Wondering why I haven’t posted this recipe yet, even though I first made these cookies about 9 months ago? Simple. They’ve never made it long enough to be photographed.

Yes. They really are that good.

Triple Chocolate Oreo Chunk Cookies

Adapted slightly from Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chopped Oreo cookies
3/4 cup white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped semi-sweet chocolate

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease or line a cookie sheet. Set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter/margarine, white sugar and brown sugar until creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined.

Slowly add the flour and cocoa mixture into the mixer and stir until just combined. Stir in the chopped Oreos, white and dark chocolate chips until thoroughly distributed.

Scoop the dough with a medium cookie scoop onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes. Leave cookies on cookie sheet for a couple of minutes to cool before removing them.

Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you come back soon- I have loads of awesome goodies to show off. :) Miriam

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