As a baker who doesn't taste her own goodies, I have to admit something that may sound a little creepy. When you taste my baked goods, I scrutinize your reaction. Your words may say "this is delicious," but your eyes may say "I've tasted better." And conversely, your words may be unenthusiastic, but if you come back to my desk four or five times in a day, I know you really loved what I made. There are certain expressions that my tasters make that I have learned to treasure. One of my favorite is the one that was elicited not once, not twice, but each and every time that someone tasted these cookies. It's a look of surprise. Imagine you are a coworker of mine. You're used to decadent treats … [Read more...]
Zebra Cake
I've seen this cake many times, all over the Internet. Each time, I doubted my ability to make it look as good as it did in the picture. And so this gorgeous cake sat in the back of my mental "to bake" list for months. I'm not sure what finally pushed me to go ahead and try baking a zebra cake, but I suspect it had something to do with needing something gorgeous to photograph with my amazing new camera. Turns out, I'm thrilled that I finally made this. Yeah, it was delicious. Yeah, it totally wowed everyone who saw it, but there's something else. This cake was totally easy to make. You'll have to just believe me, until you actually try it. It does take an extra couple of minutes, but … [Read more...]
Mini Double Chocolate Trifles…and Exciting News!
It all started about 7, maybe 8 months ago. It was at least a month or two before this blog was even a germ of an idea in the back of my mind. I had been baking goodies and sending pictures of them off to my friends. They liked my ideas, occasionally asked for a recipe, but they really weren't getting the full picture (excuse the pun) when they were seeing things like this: Almost too embarrassing to post, but I had to show how far I've come. I suddenly realized that learning more about photography, specifically food photography, shouldn't be too hard. I work at a company that is known as the go-to place for all kinds of camera equipment. Even better, my company is known to have … [Read more...]
Chocolate Covered Oatmeal Bars
I have a confession to make. I am terrible at reading and following directions. Take instruction manuals, for example. It isn't uncommon to find the instruction manual to an electronic device I bought a year ago sitting in a drawer, still sealed in it's plastic wrap. Instruction manuals, I reason, are for people of lesser intelligence. It may sound like I am bragging mightily here, so I will make a confession too, to even things out, y'know. I don't know that I can sit and read a manual. I don't have the attention span. Or the patience. And yet I have both the attention span and the patience to apply sprinkles to a chocolate covered pretzel with a pair of tweezers, to make sure it looks … [Read more...]
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
The other day I was talking to one of my coworkers about...what else? Cookies. He was mentioning his preferences in cookie flavors, when he made a shocking statement. "I don't like chocolate. And I don't like peanut butter." I opened my mouth in shock and horror. "My wife," he continued, "always says-" and at the exact same moment as he finished his wife's statement, I was verbalizing the exact same sentiment. "What is wrong with you?!" This may be insulting to some, especially to said coworker who had such nice things to say about my blog, but I truly believe that it's difficult to be happy without chocolate. Throw in some peanut butter? That's pretty much bliss. Assuming you are among … [Read more...]
Nutella Filled Puff Pastry Pockets
I didn't have a good reason to make this dessert. Ok, in the interest of honesty, I rarely have a good reason to make any dessert. But this one seemed a whole let less logical than most. Most treats that I make are a chance for me to experiment and have some fun in the kitchen. This wasn't like that. I took one delicious ingredient, Nutella (or in my case, a non-dairy version of it) and stuffed it inside another super delicious ingredient, namely, puff pastry. It's simple math, really. How could it equal anything but delicious? And just like that I pretty much gave you my recipe. It's that very simplicity that makes me glad I made this dessert. The number one complaint that I get from … [Read more...]
Mocha Chocolate Chip Bars
I'm in love with a dessert. This dessert. I know, it shouldn't happen, especially to a gal who doesn't try her desserts, but...well, I can't help loving this recipe. For starters, it has coffee. In multiple forms. In my book, coffee=awesome. A dessert recipe with coffee? Double awesome. Then there's the matter of how absolutely quick these are to make. The first time I made these, I stuck them in the oven and looked at the clock in amazement. The entire thing had taken just minutes from start to finish! I mentally swore off every other kind of cookie besides for bars, then, because I am crazy that way, I set out to make super complicated cookies. Because making such an easy recipe was like, … [Read more...]
Mocha Cheesecake with Oreo Crumb Crust
Note: the pictures on this post don't do the dessert justice- at all! Please trust me on this one- this recipe is delicious, easy to make and even impressive. I've mentioned before that I occasionally get cooking or baking ideas into my head and can't get them out- until I find out how good they might be. Yesterday's Eureka moment came while I was at work. (Yes, on a Sunday. No, I am not insane, nor a workaholic. Ok...maybe a tad of both.) It wasn't until later at night that I was able to get into the kitchen to start tinkering. That's when the first disaster struck. Ok, it was (thankfully) the only disaster, but it was pretty bad. The lid to my food processor was missing. Yes, the very … [Read more...]
Chocolate Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies
Y'know when you bite into a cookie and think "yeah, I know what this is gonna be like" but then you take that bite, and instead, you're greeted with a delightful surprise? No? Well that's because you haven't tried these cookies yet. From the outside, they look like chocolate cookies. Good chocolate cookies, mind you, but that's pretty much it. Then you taste them and... a surprise is waiting for you! A chocolate cookie is definitely a nice thing. But even a very good chocolate cookie is "just" a chocolate cookie. We've all had those. I originally saw this recipe on Recipe Girl, and just from the look of it, I knew it was going to be one of the best cookies I had ever made. Bite … [Read more...]
Pretzel Coated Chocolate Cookies
It was a situation I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. A couple of week's after starting a new food blog, most of which I intended to be baking recipes, my trusty mixer died. Horrifying, I know. That wasn't the worst part though. The truly devastating aspect of this tragedy was that due to circumstances beyond my control, I was unable to get a new mixer for a week. Yep, an entire week without baking...for a gal who absolutely loves to bake. Needless to say, it was a tough week. All week I was dying to pull out some sugar and flour and get baking, but instead I was stuck thinking about the lovely things I would bake when I finally got my hands on a mixer. One idea really stood out. I … [Read more...]
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