chocolate mousse on puff pastry w/ raspberries

Are you guilty, like me, of eating puff pastry plain? Taking strips of puff pastry rolling them in sugar and cinnamon or making them savory by sprinkling them with cheese baking till a perfect crisp and then devouring? I have all intentions of making something grand with my puff pastry (and it's not cheap to buy either), but then there are some days where I just want to make it simply for the sake of eating it for that "buttery crunch".

This time I made something fun out of the puff pastry.
Taking a perfect chocolate mousse, adding it to a baked crispy puff pastry, then drizzling it with some chocolate ganache and fresh raspberries.
Heavenly. Puff pastry and chocolate will always be a match made in heaven.
This is fairly easy to make too, the only downside is that it does not keep. Pretty much has to be eaten right away--no problem right? We all know puff pastry does not keep it's crunch after about four or so hours, maybe longer. But can I just say the crispy puff pastry teamed up with the chocolate mousse, the fresh raspberries and a int of chocolate ganache is just heavenly. I mean I know I always say this, but really all those flavors in one bite...oh baby! So good. See the photo below, two bites.
And should you not want to make chocolate mousse from scratch?
Use pudding!  So easy.



chocolate mousse on puff pastry w/ ganache & raspberries
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Chocolate mousse (from epicurious.com):
2 cups chilled heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
7 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped

Cook Notes:
you might want to do the ganache first as it needs a bit of time to cool.
Don't have time to make the mousse? Use instant pudding in a pinch.

for the custard: Heat 3/4 cup cream in a 1-quart heavy saucepan until hot. Whisk together yolks, sugar, and a pinch of salt in a metal bowl until combined well, then add hot cream in a slow stream, whisking until combined. Transfer mixture to saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until it registers 160°F on thermometer. Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and stir in vanilla.
Melt chocolate in a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water (or in a glass bowl in a microwave at 50 percent power 3 to 5 minutes), stirring frequently.
Whisk custard into chocolate until smooth, then cool.
Beat remaining 1 1/4 cups cream in a bowl with an electric mixer until it just holds stiff peaks.
Whisk one fourth of cream into chocolate custard to lighten, then fold in remaining cream gently but thoroughly.
I then chilled my mousse in a glass bowl, covering the mousse with plastic wrap until ready to use.

puff pastry: Unroll the puff pastry and shape into whatever size you like. I did a long rectangle.
Bake according to package directions. Let cool a bit, and then fill with ready chocolate mousse.

chocolate ganache strips:
If you want to decorate the pastry with chocolate ganache strips then:

6 ounces 70% cacao bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
¼ cup heavy cream
2 TB unsalted butter, room temp

Melt the chopped chocolate with the heavy cream in a double-boiler. Make sure to stir occasionally until fully melted. Once melted, take off the heat and add in the butter bits. Make sure to whisk this up good. The better you whisk the glossier and smoother the ganache. I waited about an hour and a half for it to cool then poured it into a plastic bag to pipe onto chocolate pastry.
Just before the Ganache strips set up, decorate with raspberries.
Let set up about 15 minutes and sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar, optional.

dark-white chocolate pb cups

My obsession with peanut butter and chocolate is a never ending struggle. One that always has me up at night thinking of what can I add to these two perfect ingredients to make them better or make a new candy-cookie-muffin-cake-what-have you. And then it hit me, why haven't I added white chocolate to the mix? Duh, right? I know a total 'duh' moment. In all the years of making chocolate peanut butter cups I've never made them with white chocolate. Oh I've added cayenne pepper, caramel, cereal, espresso, coconut, cinnamon (very good), and of course my favorite potato chips (I need to post those, they were disgustingly good, and I mean that in a good way).
To make these dark-white chocolate pb cups just follow the dark chocolate pb cups I made from before, and the only change is to add a layer of melted white chocolate on top of the chilled peanut butter. Then chill that layer, then add your final layer of dark chocolate, then chill again and you're done.

Here are some interesting winter photos from my side of the world.

Icy cold Atlantic, shot taken at the Sandwich Marina lobster docks. Isn't the ocean color gorgeous?

Lots of fishing rope waiting for the next boat.

rows and rows of empty dry docked boats--like a ghost town of sorts

wanna place an order?

just outside sandwich diving school. clearly this diver is in the wrong element.

pumpkin spice cookie bark

Are you one of the many who is, at the last minute, still wondering what the heck to bring to your family Christmas gathering/party? You know Christmas is like in three days right? Ut oh! You're making me nervous! But I think I can help you and make you come out absolutely fabulous. Not that you already don't look tres fab, you do, but you will look super fab if you show up with these super tasty treats--they will be the talk of the dessert table, trust me. Plus you will wow your friends and family--you will, totally. This will not take a long time to make either, it's super easy and crazy-good tasting, plus it looks all professional, you know like you worked really hard at it.

 
pumpkin spice cookie bark
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All you need to do is take your favorite pumpkin-spice cookie mix, instead of making them into cookies, flatten the dough out (half inch thick is good) as a thin brownie in a jelly roll pan.
You might have to reduce the cooking time too as they are thinner and might not need as much time to bake.
Then as soon as they come out of the oven put on some chopped good quality dark chocolate, let it melt, then spread it around evenly with a rubber spatula (I used about 2-3 cups of chocolate--use as much or as little as you like). If you want to add toasted pecans like I did, this is the time to sprinkle them on before the chocolate hardens. Let it cool and harden. Then you can drizzle with a little melted white chocolate. And you're done! Easy right? (if you don't have a favorite pumpkin cookie mix here is one from allrecipes.com)
Note: I did add a bit "extra" of sea salt to the cookie batter. You know me and my sweet & salty fix. It makes all the difference. All I did was sprinkle some sea salt (fine, not course) over the cookie sheet BEFORE I put the pumpkin cookie batter on--just a light, light dusting of sea salt.). Please use high quality chocolate when making these, it really make all the difference in taste and texture; the higher the cacao the better.

chocolate-caramel tarts

Lately I've been giving you a lot of baked sweet nothings. That term sweet nothings can be taken so many ways can't it? I find it ironic that I am giving you food ideas on what to make to give as gifts for the holidays when I haven't even started. Yes, I haven't even started. Tell me I'm not alone (lie)? The only thing I can say that is halfway done are the Christmas cards-- half people, half. I still haven't a clue on what to make for holiday gifts for my friends and clients. Wouldn't it be awful if I gave them gifts and no food? Oh the horror! I think I would get a lot of sad, almost on the edge of tears, phone calls. Ha ha, I would never do that. I love to make foodie-gifts just simply for the mere pleasure of their facial expressions of pure happiness. That makes all the slaving in the kitchen soooo worth it you know?
Last year I made a version of poor man's toffee that was a huge hit. People are asking for it again, but I hate giving the same thing. I might just give these chocolate-caramel tarts. They are very easy, and I used a shortcut too. I bought the pre-made shell tarts from Whole Foods. I just didn't have the time to make the tarts by hand. I know, bad, but I am so strapped for time these days. If you don't want to buy the tarts you could easily make a cookie-crust that would be perfect--like crushed Oreo's?

So what foodie gifts are you giving this holiday season?

chocolate-caramel tarts

Take some pre-made mini chocolate or vanilla tarts, chill a bit in fridge. Take some melted caramel and fill tarts halfway, add in a roasted macadamia nut or two, chill in fridge until caramel is set. Then pour melted dark or milk chocolate to the top, let set. You could literally add in whatever you like: peanut butter, white chocolate, peanuts, almonds...endless possibilities.

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chocolate dipped pretzel shortbread

I am asked, often, about how I come up with my crazy-kicked up ideas. Well, I admit I watch a lot of food tv shows, either on the Food Network or on PBS. (btw, Emeril Green on Planet Green is pretty good too). When I watch these shows I see what they are doing and always, always, always want to do it differently than what they did. The only time this does not happen is this seasons' Top Chef: Las Vegas; I'm blown away by the huge amount of talent. Almost every single dish they've made I am sitting there saying 'holy moly how very clever'! You know? Season one was sooo good too.
I keep a notepad with me almost at all times: there is one in the car, one on my nightstand, and one at my desk. The others times I carry one with me because I do get a lot of ideas when I'm at the gym or walking about. I'd say I get most of my ideas at night just before bed, and in the middle of the night to as I'm trying to fall asleep my mind just races with ideas. My list of 'to-make' is long, oh so very long; I finally resorted to typing them into my computer years ago or else I would be like those old college professors with papers, stack of papers, and stick-it's all over the place. I'm sort of a neat freak so that wouldn't fly. I am up to over 30 typed pages of ideas, not to mention the stack of recipes I printed from other food bloggers. I am very guilty of making more sweets than meals. My first love is french cooking, and I haven't been good about keeping that end up lately it seems.

Just like every chef and cook alike I have a fairly large cookbook collection. A lot of inspiration comes from cookbooks. One of my favorite things to do is look through a newer cookbook, ear-mark something, then go research almost the same thing in an old cookbooks and try to fuse the two together. Collecting old cookbooks is an addictive behaviour of mine that I don't get to practice as much as I'd like. Here on cape cod there are a lot of old, rotting bookstores with ginormous piles of neglected books; it takes hours to find the cookbooks because nothing is labeled and most of the people who go there prefer literary novels and the like, so the cookbooks are like those rug warehouses where the best carpets are at the very bottom! Don't get me started on the old, mile-long bookstores in NYC. That is heaven!! What I love about the older cookbooks: those food stains/mug stains on the pages, the withering ear-marked pages, and of course the old book smell--Love that old book smell!

There are so many food-creations I make that never make it to the food blog or are sitting in the photo archives. But I shall change that as most of you said you have no problem seeing my recipe-fails. This pretzel shortbread inspiration came from an old food & wine magazine--orignally it was a pretzel crust with chocolate filling type pie. I wanted to see if I could make shortbread with it. Came out ok, but for whatever reason they go stale fast--lasting only a couple days after being baked & dipped. Will I make this again? Not so sure, this is one of my recipe-fail ones, but I might if I add in more sugar and a hint of vanilla to it next time around.



pretzel shortbread
inspired from food & wine
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1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups coarsely crushed thin pretzels (I used 1 & ½ cups)
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
A small pinch of sea salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 large egg

Chocolate dip:
About ½ cup of melted milk or dark chocolate (milk is way better)

In a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter with 3/4 cup of the pretzels and the confectioners’ sugar at low speed until creamy.
Beat in the flour, egg, and salt.
Add the remaining 1/2 cup of pretzels, being sure to leave some pretzel pieces intact.
Flatten the dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 30 minutes. I only flattened them to ½ - ¾ inch thick—you don’t want them too thin.
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Roll out the dough between the sheets of plastic wrap. Cut them into circles of strips, whatever shape you desire. Place onto parchment lined cookie sheet.
Bake for about 10 minutes or until tops are almost light golden brown. These bake FAST! Once they turn a medium brown they are no good.
Let them cool a bit before dipping in melted chocolate. When you are ready to dip them make sure to let them set on parchment paper.
Note: these do not keep more than 2 days. They get stale fairly fast for whatever reason.

dark chocolate balsamic truffles

When I saw Giada make this on her show, I fell in love instantly. I tried it her way, and was a bit bored with it, so I decided to kick it up a notch by rolling them in crushed salty pistachios. Wow, what a difference it made. I'm certain it was the extra salt in the pistachios and the actual crunchy texture that pulled it all together. This is a very rich truffle, so you only need a little bite to satisfy your chocolate craving. After all 70% cacao is an instant fix of chocolate cravings. These would be the perfect holiday gift to give to your friends and family that are foodies.
Note: I did not want to roll them into balls, I wanted a more rustic look since I added on the pistachios. I'm certain using crushed, salted almonds would work too. I don't know about peanuts though--I think the balsamic might not meld well with peanuts.

dark chocolate balsamic truffles
Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

8 1/2 ounces good quality dark chocolate (70% cacao), chopped
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup cocoa powder (I did not roll them in cocoa powder, I rolled them in about ½ cup of chopped salty pistachios)

Melt the chocolate and cream in a double boiler over hot but not simmering water.
Place melted chocolate in a small bowl. Stir in the balsamic vinegar.
Cool the chocolate in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Remove from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours, until firm but moldable.
Use a teaspoon to scoop out chocolate. Use your fingertips to shape into balls about the size of a cherry. Set the chocolate balls on a parchment-lined tray.
Place the cocoa powder in a small shallow dish. (this is where I used my chopped salty pistachios instead of the cocoa powder).
Place 6 truffles at a time in the cocoa powder (or the chopped pistachios) and roll the truffles around to coat, and return the coated truffles to the baking sheet.
Continue with the remaining truffles. Place the truffles in a serving dish or airtight package.

devil's food cake w/ chunky pb-cream cheese filling topped w/ ganache & salty peanuts

I'm not going to write out a post with these photo's....no one's going to read it.









devil's food cake w/ chunky pb-cream cheese filling topped w/ ganache
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I used the devil's food cake recipe from here--david lebovitz. Then I made the chunky pb filling (below). Then I used a ganache topping over the cake (below) and topped the cake with salty cocktails peanuts, chopped.

chunky peanut butter-cream cheese filling
8 oz cream cheese, very soft/room temp
½ stick salted butter, at room temp
¾ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
A good pinch of sea salt
a dash of good quality vanilla extract
½ cup smooth peanut butter (not all natural)
handful of salty peanuts, rough chop

In a large bowl use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese and butter together. The slowly add in the confectioners’ sugar—don’t forget to scrape the sides and bottom of bowl during mixing. Continue to beat till nice and fluffy, then add in the salt, vanilla extract, and peanut butter. I prefer to fold the peanut butter in by hand then added in the peanuts in.

ganache (so many ways to make this, here's my way)
12 ounces 70% cacao bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ cup heavy cream
2 TB unsalted butter

For the ganache, melt the chopped chocolate with the heavy cream in a double-boiler. Make sure to stir occasionally until fully melted. Once melted, take off the heat and add in the butter. Make sure to whisk this up good. The better you whisk the glossier and smoother the ganache. I waited about an hour and a half for it to cool to pour onto cake.
And just so you know, ganache keeps very well in the fridge overnight if covered very well. You must let it come to room temp before using and whisk it, A LOT.

assemble:
Bake the cake using the recipe link above. Let cakes cool in pans. Then once cooled use pb filling and spread on one layer of cake, be sure not to let the filling get too close to the edges. Once done filling, place the other cake on top. Pour on the ganache, then sprinkle with roughly chopped salty peanuts (optional but wonderful) or sprinkle whatever you wish on top.

**Note: I did a double layer of ganache; did one layer, let it cooled/harden then another layer to kick it up another notch.

chocolate-coconut covered Cheez Its

Another crazy craving of sweet and salty then sweet. The salty Cheez It's mixed with the sweet milk chocolate and then the coconutty coconut. Man, I'm telling you, a wonderful little flavor blast happening in the mouth.
I loved these little gems. Easy to make too.
All I did was use the large size Cheez It's, dipped them in good quality milk chocolate (I used ghirardelli), placed on wax or parchment paper and sprinkled with dried coconut (not sweetened coconut too wet, but dried coconut). Pop them in the freezer to harden up. Easy!



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the ultimate peanut butter cookie

There really is nothing quite like a good, I mean a good, peanut butter cookie. I've noticed, there are so many varieties of peanut butter cookies out there; the list keeps growing on the diversity out here in food-bloggerland. There are raw, flourless, all natural, no bake, no peanut-peanut butter cookies, I mean I could go on and on here. My latest batch of peanut butter cookies comes inspired from the idea of making a flourless peanut butter cookie as Joy the Baker did. But I used flour, just not that much; I needed a little bit in my pb cookie to make it just a bit heartier, denser, chewier--you with me?
Thank you also to Alexis Stewart (yes that one) who saw my cookies and made them her own way. I was honored beyond belief. Thank you. (the link is up top under the Press Links).

'almost flourless' peanut butter cookies
(sort of adapted by The Gourmet Cookbook & Joy the Baker)
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1 cup smooth-type peanut butter* (no oily peanut butters!)
¾ cup dark brown sugar
¼ granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 TB flour
1 ts sea salt
Bittersweet chocolate chips, about ½ cup, optional
Sea salt for sprinkling, optional In a small bowl add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix, set aside.
In a mixer or by hand, combine peanut butter and sugars until well combined. Crack egg open in a small bowl and beat. Add egg to the cookie mixture; add in the flour mixture but by sprinkling it over the cookie dough, not just depositing it in one large dump. Mix till combined. Cover bowl and let it sit in fridge for about two hours or more (mine did fine overnight). When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll into tablespoon sized balls and place on non-stick cookie sheets or greased cookie sheets. With a fork gently make a criss-cross pattern with a fork. Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly browned. As soon as they come out of the oven sprinkle with just a bit of sea salt—this adds a nice peanut depth; this is optional. (If you want to add in a chocolate topping like I did, don’t make a cross-cross pattern, but rather make a small well. Bake those half way (about 5 minutes) then add in about 4 chocolate chips and bake remaining 5 minutes or so. The chocolate part is optional, but luscious.) Cool on a baking sheet for a while. Should make about 23 – 25 cookies.
*please use a creamy, not oily peanut butter. I used whole foods 365 organic creamy peanut butter, it has the perfect texture for these cookies.

white chocolate, pineapple & coconut bark

I'm not the biggest fan of white chocolate, but I did change my mind on this creation. This was good, really good. I had a small bite and then made sure to send it away to friends as I knew I would eat all of it. It's that type of candy that you have a piece, vow to have one more piece, then seal it up, then end up going back for a third, fourth and so on.



Are there a lot of people out there that like white chocolate? I know my hubby loves it. I love my high cacao chocolate--give me my fix! For the longest time I had been craving a pineapple & coconut type bark, every since spring came about actually. But mixing the pineapple and coconut with the dark or even milk chocolate was ok, not my thing really. I gave the white chocolate a try. But trust me, I was hesitant because melting white chocolate is a pain in the ciuco! You really have to watch the chocolate because it goes from melted directly to dry and crusty. But if you have all your ingredients lined up and work fast it comes out okay.



So, was this good? Yes, it was really good. I love the sweetness of the pineapple and coconut mixed with the almost salty-like white chocolate. And I used a dried coconut to give the bark texture (not a sweetened coconut, but dried). Plus the salty macadamia nuts were crazy good with this. Did I forget to mention the salty macadamia nuts? My bad--yes there are macadamia nuts in here and they are salty gooooood.



white chocolate tropical bark
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about 16 oz of white chocolate melted (about one bag and a half bag)
1/2 cup more or less dried pineapple, chopped
1/2 cup more or less dried coconut (not the sweetened kind but the dried)
1/2 cup more or less rough chopped salted macadamia nuts

You can use as much or as little of the ingredients above as you like. Have all your ingredients (in separate bowls) at the ready because as soon as the white chocolate is melted you need to pour it onto a sheet pan and add your mix in's. Get a small jellyroll pan ready; either use a non-stick one or cover it with parchment paper. Melt white chocolate over double boiler. (I don't microwave my white chocolate, it's never ever melted right for me). Keep stirring until it's melted, then pour onto jellyroll pan, spread with nonstick spatula, then sprinkle on the pineapple and then the nuts, push them down a bit to make sure they sink in a bit to the melted chocolate, then top with the coconut. Put in freezer to harden, about 30 minutes. After it's hardened, then let it sit at room temp for a bit before breaking into pieces.

coconut truffles

Are these coconut truffles? Or mini candy bars/bites?
I wasn't sure what to call them.
They do remind me of a Mounds candy bar, but better in taste and texture.
I was trying to re-create a healthier version of a Mounds bar without all the chemicals;.
I just wanted pure high quality dark chocolate and creamy coconut center.
Oh and of course a touch of salt on top with a roasted salted almond.


It's heavenly I tell you, just heavenly.  If you're a big coconut fan, then you simply must make these.
If you like these truffles, come see what else I did with coconut: coconut clusters.
Almost like a truffle....Simple to make. Decadent and addictive.

chocolate coconut truffles
adapted from flagrantdelicia.com
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100 g sweetened coconut flakes (3.5 ounces)
140 g sweetened condensed milk (4.9 ounces)
a pinch of salt
200 g 70% dark chocolate, to coat (7.5 ounces)
Salted, roasted almonds, optional but wonderful.

Cook notes:
I used salted almonds to place on the tops of the bars before they hardened. I also made a batch using dark chocolate and milk chocolate. Loved them both ways. Keep in mind the dough/candy is very sticky so use wet fingers when molding them into a pan or molding/rolling them into balls. I prefer making these into balls or oval shapes instead of bars. But do what you like.
Combine coconut with condensed milk, add a pinch of salt and mix until smooth.
Refrigerate for 20 minutes to harden up. At this point you can: place the mixture into a small pan and cut out bars after they’ve hardened OR you can roll them into oval shapes (like eggs) or balls.
I chose the latter since it’s a lot easier than slicing them into bars. The dough is very sticky so use wet fingers to mold. After you’ve molded them into balls or ovals, place on parchment lined trays and put in fridge for at least an hour before dipping into chocolate. I also found it a lot easier to gently freeze them a bit (like 5-7 minutes before dipping into chocolate).
Melt the chocolate in a double-boiler. Using two forks roll/dip the balls in the chocolate, making sure to coat all sides. Place on a rack and top with an almond or two if desired.

When all are done refrigerate until the chocolate hardens.
Should make about 15 – 18, depending on the size you roll them.

dark chocolate peanut butter cups

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy were these delish. My stars, these were good! I am a HUGE fan of anything peanut butter and chocolate. These homemade peanut butter cups were some of the best I've made in years. I have to thank Pete over at Pete Bakes for this one. I've made peanut butter cups before and they were ok, but I never thought to use high cacao chocolate (60-70% cacao); it made all the difference, it truly did. The dark chocolate really melded perfectly with the salty peanut butter (I added in some sea salt to the peanut butter mixture). These are the perfect little treat to make for family, friends or special clients for the upcoming Easter holiday. Trust me, those Reese's peanut butter cups have nothing over these. These are frutto di Dio (fruit of the Gods), heavenly.

That center is salty, creamy, peanut buttery goodness.

dark chocolate peanut butter cups
adapted from pete bakes
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12 oz dark chocolate 60-70%
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter (I added in an extra 1-2 TB) Note**1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup crushed graham crackers (finely, but not a powder, but not chunks either)(I added in 1 tsp salt to peanut butter mixture)
In a bowl, mix together the peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, salt, and graham crackers. I put mine in the fridge to harden up a bit as it’s easier to form into balls.
In a double boiler, carefully melt the chocolate (set a metal bowl on top of a saucepan with boiling water).
Use regular or mini cupcake tins and line them with cupcake liners. It is best to use 3 to 4 liners per each compartment as this will help hold the structure of the pb cup.
Using a pastry brush, brush the melted chocolate on the bottom and sides of mini cupcake liners; when in doubt, add more chocolate, since this will be the base for your candy. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes.
While those are in the freezer get out the peanut butter mixture and form into teaspoons or tablespoon balls depending on what size peanut butter cup you are making.
remove the cupcake tins from the freezer, and place about one teaspoon (1 tablespoon for larger size) of the peanut butter mixture in each cup, make sure to put it in the middle, not touching the sides of the cup. Spoon more melted chocolate on top of each cup, make sure to get filly in around the sides too.
Place the peanut butter cups back in the freezer for another 15 minutes to set. Let them sit at room temp before devouring. Should make 12-16 mini's or 8 big ones.
Note** I used Whole Foods 365 Organic creamy peanut butter.

chocolate muffins with toasted coconut

Are you fussy, like me, when it comes to muffins? I cannot understand how people eat those muffins from Dunkin Donuts. Have you ever had one? I had a blueberry muffin from there once and being the curious foodie that I am, I actually took it apart to see what those supposed blueberry thingee/nuggets were. They weren't blueberries, they were some sort of sweet, blue sticky like dots. I know dots is a bad example, but I could not figure out what they were. Also, the muffin was so high and full of air. How did they get it so fluffy and full of air to make it look like a muffin?
So I'm always on the search for good muffins when hitting up bakeries. Most times I don't find any good ones since living on Cape Cod the choices for bakeries are slim.

So the muffin making is done at home. Muffin recipes that deliver the goods are also hard to find unless you create your own. A lot of times I will go with an old standby (like this one). Muffins are fattening, so if I'm going to have a muffin with a ton of calories it better be a good one.

What is a good muffin? Well, one that has a good muffin top: crispy-crumbly over-lapping edges and a bit of crunch on the top. The inside is nice and cake-like but not dense, moist indeed, sweet, but not overly sweet and just the right ratio of fruits and nuts. The person who finally invented the jumbo muffin pans and muffin-top pans was pure genius. If I had to pick my top two muffins that I like (a lot) it would be blueberry and morning glory. But in all honesty I have yet to find a really good morning glory muffin. My blueberry muffins are pretty good. The times when I go to NYC I have had a good blueberry muffin there; can't remember the bakery though as there are so many good bakeries in NYC. But on this post, I give you another muffin I do like--very much so. I found this recipe over at King Arthur and of course had to kick it up a few notches. Plus I'm still on my coconut kick and wanted to put coconut on the tops of these muffins as the end result would be a nice toasty coconut topping.



chocolate-coconut muffins
muffin base from King Arthur
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2/3 cup (2 ounces) Dutch-process cocoa
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar (not packed)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1-2 ts espresso powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
½ cup milk choco chips & ½ cup bittersweet choco chips
2 eggs
1 cup light cream or half & half
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
4 ounces (1 stick) butter, melted
½ cup +/- of shredded coconut flakes

Cook Notes: the original recipe calls for no coconut. What? I knew the muffin base would be perfect for a little toasted coconut topping, so I just had to add it in. If you want no coconut in there then don't add it.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large/jumbo muffin pan with paper or silicone muffin cups, and grease the cups.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, sugar, baking powder, espresso powder, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips. Set aside.
In a large measuring cup or medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla and vinegar. Add the wet ingredients, along with the melted butter, to the dry ingredients, stirring to blend; there's no need to beat these muffins, just make sure everything is well-combined.
Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin; the cups will be heaped with batter, and the muffin will bake into a "mushroom" shape. Sprinkle with pearl sugar, if desired.
Bake the muffins for about 9 minutes then add some of the coconut to the tops of the muffins, and back into oven to finish baking for another 10 minutes. The original recipe says the muffins take about 20 to 25 minutes total time to cook. Mine only took about 18 minutes, so watch over the muffins; all depends on your oven. You can always see if they’re done with a cake tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Remove the muffins from the oven, and after 5 minutes remove them from the pan, allowing them to cool for about 15 minutes on a rack before peeling off the muffin papers or silicone cups.
Should make about 8 – 10 jumbo muffins. (I tried baking them in regular size muffins but they tasted so dry, so I made them using the jumbo muffins tins, much better).

pb & chocolate chunk cookies

Have you all heard about the famous bakery in nyc called "Baked"? Amazing place. No, I haven't been, yet. Oh yes, I will be going there, soon, very soon. I hope to meet at least one of the owners and just tap their minds about owning, running a top-notch bakery. It is has been my dream to have my own bakery & diner. And I just love this bakery's concept: new frontiers in baking. I just love how creative they are: no boring cupcakes or same old cookies to be found there. They are creative and inventive, and from what I've heard not stingy on the sizes and quantities. They claim: "...We like to think of ourselves as dessert experts; the kind of people blessed with a highly (almost holy) developed sense of taste and smell...." I can sooo relate to that! I know I have a highly developed sense of taste; knowing what is needed or missing in a recipe; knowing there is too much heat, too little sweet, or not enough cream, etc... Amen.
**Thank you Matt from Baked for your wonderful email--I don't think you could ever imagine how much you made my day with that email! You so totally rock my world!**

Months ago I finally broke down and bought their cookbook: Baked. I opened and devoured the book like it was a brand new shiny and clean Mercedes Benz; pouring over all glossy pictures, with clean hands, careful not to sneeze, move my hair so I won't dirty the pages with any body hairs, fluids, nothing! Careful not over-bend the pages and cause the spine of the book to move, crack, rip, tear, nada. It's a lovely book, a book I will go back to time and time again. As you know I made their famous root beer cake. God that was good. Such a unique, but easy taste in a cake. And the frosting was perfect. I will make that again just so I can take better pictures this time with my new camera. These cookies were really good. I love a good cookie that tastes different. I think it's genius that they made this cookie with dark brown sugar--it made all the difference. And use a good quality milk chocolate in here kids. I mean if you're going to make a damn good cookie from a damn good cookbook then use high quality ingredients.



Here's a serious question for all you foodies out there: if you could have your own bakery, diner, or food related establishment, what kinds of creative food creations would you feature?
Did anyone catch the new show The Chopping Block with Chef Marco Pierre White? Oh I have loved that man and his cooking philosophy for years. He's quite talented, and so very focused on his craft. I love his saying of: "...romance of the chef...is it consistent? Or is it unhinged? A lot of chefs today, in my opinion, cook by numbers, they dance to the drum of the guides, not the palettes of their clients..."
I just hope that during the length of the show series we actually get to see Chef Marco cook, what a treat that would be.

Peanut Butter Cookies with Milk Chocolate Chunks
From Baked
print recipe

1 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, softened, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup creamy peanut butter
6 ounces good milk chocolate, coarsely chopped

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together until fluffy.
Scrape down the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated.
The mixture will look light and fluffy.
Add the vanilla and peanut butter and beat until just incorporated.
Add half of the flour mixture and mix for 15 seconds. Add the remaining flour mixture and mix until just incorporated.
Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the chocolate. Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. (I left mine in the fridge for 2 nights—I just forgot about it; it came out perfect).
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets, at least 2 inches apart. With the palm of your hand, very gently press each cookie down so it forms a very tall disk shape. Do not press too hard and do not press it flat. Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with granulated sugar and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until the tops of the cookies just begin to brown.
Should make about 30 cookies.

mint chocolate thumbprint cookies

Chocolate & mint runs a close second to my all-time favorite combo of chocolate & peanut butter.

I found these little gems over at Recipe Girl.
The cookie part is like a shortbread and the filling is a light peppermint fudge cream. They were really good, they truly only lasted a day in my house. I didn't even give these away; hubby & I ate them all. Bad girl! Having just one made you want to have another one, then another, and another. Bad I know, but geez they were good. I know a lot of people are like that with potato chips, having one is hard. Well, I'm like that with anything chocolate and mint.
The next time I make these I want to add a peanut butter fudge in the middle with a peanut butter shortbread. Doesn't that sound good?
What's your favorite food combo that you just can't eat one of, be it sweet or salty?

cranberry bliss bars

If you're a regular to Starbucks then you've surely come across these cranberry bliss bars. I never bought one at Starbucks because they are so overpriced. Why not try and recreate them at home? Obviously we see something we love in a store, cafe, or mostly on one of our favorite food blogs, vowing to make them ASAP. Of course ASAP never happens. And then after the holidays have come and gone, that's when I decide to make them. I didn't know those bars were seasonal, oh well.
They were OK. They tasted really good without the frosting, at least I thought, but then I can be fussy. The next time I make these I am going to try Shelby's version; those look much tastier. These photos were too pretty to not post.





starbucks cranberry bliss bars (copycat recipe)
recipe from mrbreakfast.com

For shortbread base:
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
1 and 1/4 cups brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 t ground ginger
1 t vanilla
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup minced dried cranberries
1/4 cup white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup minced candied ginger

For frosting:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 T butter, softened
1 t vanilla

For garnish:
2 T dried cranberries, minced
1/3 cup white chocolate chips, melted

Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a 9×13 pan.
Beat butter and sugar together for the cake base, and add eggs/vanilla beating until fluffy.
In separate bowl, sift together flour, ginger, and salt and then add to the butter/sugar mixture beating well.
Fold in the cranberries, chocolate and ginger. Spread thick batter in pan and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until light golden.
When cake is cooled, mix all frosting ingredients together and spread a thin layer over the cake. Immediately sprinkle with the minced cranberries.
Next use a sandwich bag with a small corner cut (as your homemade pastry bag) add melted white chocolate and drizzle the chocolate over the cake. Refrigerate until chocolate is firm, cut into triangles and serve

potato chip & cc cookies

My love for salty, crispy food things combined with chocolate is endless. I love making my potato chips dipped in chocolate, and my new found love of dipping Cheez Its in chocolate was a thrill when I found I could further kick it up a notch by using it in my Poor Man's Toffee. I had yet to make a good chocolate chip cookie with potato chips in them. It was hard as I wanted to find the perfect balance of potato chip and cc's. I would make normal cc cookies and add chopped up potato chips to it, but never tasted the potato chips in the end. To make a long story short and to sum up my many experiments in finding the right balance I finally came up with the fact that you have to use small chocolate chips because the bigger ones (or normal sized ones) were too overpowering and I could never taste the potato chips. I also found that using salt & vinegar potato chips that are hearty and have a bold potato flavor like Kettle Brand worked perfectly. These potato chips have enough salt on them to stand out with the sweet contrast of the chocolate chip, and the intense flavor of the salt & vinegar doesn't break down/get lost as much during the mixing and cooking sections. You really don't taste the vinegar in the chips, just the salt. I think the vinegar dissipates during baking. Also, never grind the potato chips too fine, leave them a bit hearty-like so you have that crunch in each and every cookie. These were so good, I mean really good. If you like salty & sweet then you need to put this on your 'to bake' list. Next time I make these I am trying other flavors of the Kettle Chips; those spicy thai, the chipotle (oh yeah!) and the salt & pepper. Endless possibilities, I love that.

potato chip & chocolate chip cookies
print recipe

1 cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 cup crushed (not too fine) salt & vinegar potato chips (used Kettle Brand)
1 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda and baking powder; mix well.
In a mixer combine butter and sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
Add egg and vanilla.
Gradually add in the flour mixture and combine well.
Stir in potato chips and chocolate chips by hand.
Place in fridge to chill for at least an hour or more.
Once dough is nice and chilled use a mini scooper or your hands to form about 1-inch balls. Place on an ungreased baking sheet, 2 inches apart. (they do spread when baking)
Bake 14 to 18 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on baking sheet.

Makes 2 dozen.

Note: you can add crushed salted pretzels to this as well in addition or in place of the potato chips. You don’t have to use salt & vinegar chips. Just make sure to always use a hearty/sturdy type of potato chip.