blueberry cake

I love this time of year when I can go to Whole Foods and see an abundance of organic blueberries and strawberries. I am that tall, curly haired girl standing by the organic berries studying them all for a good 15 minutes or more deciding which 3 or 4 cartons will be going home with me. I inspect, I smell them (the best part right?) and try to find the most plump'iest (sp?). One carton gets eaten on the 40 minute ride home. The remaining cartons are going to be used in the best cake or muffin batter; a batter that is all homemade full of butter, sugar, flour and eggs.
This recipe is literally the best recipe I've ever come across for simple, tasty blueberry cake. It's almost muffin like. Solid recipe. You can count on this one time and time again to deliver. It's a bit heavier, not that light, but very moist, very moist. So, if you are a blueberry lover, then you simply must try this one. And this is one of those recipes that always tastes better the next day with your morning coffee. I swear this tastes better the next day, you know with that first hot cup of coffee of the day? Yeah.

Blueberry Cake
from Donna Hay
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2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 ts finely grated lemon rind (I used 3 ts)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350F.
Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add sugar and combine.
In a separate bowl whisk sour cream, eggs, lemon rind, and oil together.
Stir in the dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in the blueberries.
To make a cake: spread batter into 9 or 8 inch greased & floured cake pan and bake for 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
To make muffins: fill a dozen 1/2 cup muffin tins about 2/3 full and bake for 12 minutes or until clean toothpick stage.

Note: I sprinkled raw sugar on top halfway thru the baking time-I love that crunch. I used a 9-inch round cake pan that was greased and floured. I baked mine for 30 minutes, but I have a convection oven, so it takes less. But make sure to watch the cake at around the 30 minute mark! I used 3 ts of fresh lemon zest--I love that lemon taste.

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.

sweet potato & vanilla bean cupcakes

The wonders of creating new baked goods with sweet potatoes always excite me. I am a sweet potato-holic, can't get enough of them. I found this recipe over here, and decided it was perfect, nothing else was needed (although I did change the frosting a bit) and I wanted to create it in mini cupcake form. I love mini cupcakes, so easy to eat so many in a sitting! I just wish I could decorate them better to make them cuter. But I am absolutely horrible at decorating them (as you'll notice in the photo). Plus I really should get one of those turning cake stands--they do help, yes? Do you know that I have on my list to take cake decorating classes? Anyone else out there doing this or have done this? I can't wait. Now I have to hope for a class close to cape cod to appear! I really don't want to have to drive into Boston for this. For those of you that do decorate and are fairly good at it, what did you buy for decorating tools and where? I would love to know, since if I can't find classes, then maybe I can buy them and just practice, practice, practice.



My changes: for the cake no nutmeg, and I used mini cupcake pans. Made about 12 mini's, not much batter. For the frosting I did 1/2 - 3/4 cup of confectioners sugar, 2TB fresh OJ, half stick of room temp butter (unsalted), tiny pinch of salt, whipped up very well and then chilled for a bit before frosting.

sweet potato cupcakes
adapted from blog.serialcooking.com
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Cook notes: this does not make much batter. I was only able to get 12 mini muffins from this. You can try using a loaf pan, but use a small one.

Cake:
225g mashed cooked sweet potatoes (1 small sweet potato)
150g plain flour
110g butter
100g dark brown sugar
50ml yogurt
1 egg
1 vanilla pod (alternatively you can use vanilla extract but the taste won’t be quite the same)
½ tsp ground nutmeg (I did NOT use this)
1tsp baking powder
1 pinch of salt

For the icing:
½ - ¾ cup confectioners sugar
2 TB freshly made orange juice
Half stick of unsalted butter (4 ounces), room temp
Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350 degrees). Spray a mini cupcake pan with non stick spray.
Cream the softened butter with the vanilla seeds scraped out of the pod, sugar, ground nutmeg and salt.
Add in the egg, slightly beaten.
Mix well until well blended.
Add the mashed sweet potatoes and yogurt.
Combine the baking powder and flour and add to the mixture. Mix well.
Pour the mixture into the pan.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
Leave to cool.
To make the icing, mix the icing sugar, butter whip then add in the orange juice. Chill a bit before frosting.
When the cake is cool, spread the icing on top.

the best veggie calzone, ever

Get out a pen and paper, I'll wait.... Go ahead, go get them because you're going to need to write this down. The next time you go to Whole Foods, do not leave the store without picking up a couple batches of their multi-grain pizza dough. This is the best pizza dough I've ever had the pleasure of working with. I am not one of those people who likes to make their own pizza dough. Why? Well, I have a 55 sq. ft. kitchen and an oven that "sometimes" works. So, until we move into a better kitchen I'm not chancing all that hard work of bread & pizza dough making and then baking it, sitting by my untrusty oven with crossed fingers. I had this same problem when I attempted cheesecake :::shudder:::
But, let's go back to this multi-grain pizza dough from Whole Foods. The texture, the taste, the ease of forming it was a breeeeeeze people. You know how some pizza doughs you buy from the store are just awful; there is no stretching those dry puffs of dough or if you do they just rip. And don't get me started on the taste. This multi-grain pizza dough had such an incredible taste and texture (plus it did very well when freezing for later). Let's not forget that it's multi-grain and that means it's good for you. I had been craving one of my calzones for some time now and wanted to try a veggie version.

All I did was saute one red, orange, and green bell pepper, one small onion with olive oil and salt & pepper. When it was just about done sauteeing I added in a couple splashes of Worcheshire sauce. Then added in a few marinated mushrooms from a jar, toss well, set to the side. Roll out pizza dough into a circle, cut in half. Fill with sauteed veggies, top with a bit of mozzarella cheese or whatever you fancy. Seal up dough very well. Poke a couple holes on top of calzones for steam to escape, rub some olive oil on top of the calzone (make sure you get the olive oil all over the crust too! that's the best part!) and top with some sharp cheddar. Bake in 450 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, depending on your oven. Let them cool a bit before biting into them because these babies are HOT! I loved these so much I ate my leftover half cold for lunch, oh yeah, I could not wait to heat it up, I was that impatient--it was delish cold.

Look at the crust! Is that not perfection? And this is multi-grain dough people! You have to try this, you will love it, trust me.


I could not pass the chance to introduce you all to the newest part of my friends' family. This is Anderson. Yes, he is a King Cavalier. And he is the most precious puppy I've come across in ages. I'm the lucky one that gets to watch him from time to time. Look at that face! Do you know how hard it is to kiss that face when all he wants to do is play? Impossible, but I'm still working on it!

This recipe and photographs are copyrighted and are the property of Dawn Finicane.

pineapple & bacon pound cake

Yes, I know a lot of us are on diets, myself included. I've been doing the "clean eat" semi-diet for a while now. So I did not really eat this, only a small sample to make sure it came out great. And yes it truly came out decadent, divine, heavenly, pineappley & baconley. I have wanted for some time now to make something with pineapple and bacon. I mean they go so well together on a pizza (if done right), so I wanted to try it else where. I came up with the idea of putting pineapple and bacon in a butter rich pound cake. Why not? Let's just kick that fattening pound cake up a few more fattening notches shall we? Allllrighty then!

pineapple & bacon poundcake
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3 – 4 pieces of bacon, cooked crisp
1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple, undrained, divided (might need a bit more, so have a small can of crushed pineapple set aside in case you need it)
½ cup vegetable shortening
1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temp.
2 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 ts baking powder
¼ cup half & half
1 ts pure vanilla extract

Cook about 3 – 4 slices of bacon till just about crisp. Drain on paper towels, set aside.
Take a few pieces of pineapple and chop up about 2 ts (or more) for the glaze, set aside in fridge to keep cool.
Put 3/4 cup or so, of undrained pineapple with its juice in a small bowl; set aside.
Drain remaining pineapple and measure 1 cup of drained crushed pineapple; set aside.
Cream shortening, butter, and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition.
Sift flour and baking powder together; add to creamed mixture, 1 large scoopful at a time, alternating with half & half. Now stirring by hand, add vanilla; then fold in 3/4 cup undrained pineapple with juice and blend well.
Pour batter into a well greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Place in cold oven.
Turn oven to 325° and bake for 1 ½ hours, or until top springs back when touched lightly with finger.
Let pineapple pound cake stand for few minutes in pan. Run knife around edges to loosen and remove pineapple cake carefully to a rack.

Pineapple & Bacon Glaze

1 cup confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons reserved pineapple syrup
About 2 ts of minced pineapple (or more if you like it, I did)
3-4 ts +/- of cooked bacon, finely chopped.

Mix the sugar and pineapple syrup until desired consistency (I like mine fairly thick), then add in minced pineapple and bacon, pour over pound cake.

tomato pie

I'm pretty certain tomato pie is an old-fashioned recipe. And there are a few recipes on the web for it. This recipe comes about from my experience, as a child eating heirloom tomatoes with sugar and mayo on them. With summer fast approaching (thank goodness!) that means abundant tomatoes will be here. Heirloom tomatoes are one of my favorite, and Whole Foods has some of the best around. Since I am not a gardener, playing with dirt is so not me. I highly doubt I ever will be a gardener, so thankfully there is a Whole Foods that sells nice, juicy heirloom tomatoes in the summer. Plus I have a few clients that love to share their fast growing summer tomatoes with me.

I have some distant family that is Canadian and spent some of my childhood summers in the Thousand Islands region. I clearly remember summertime dinner being fresh, juicy tomatoes with cracked pepper and sugar (yes sugar), slab of sharp cheddar cheese & mayo, and corn on the cob slathered in butter. No, we weren't poor, it was just the way they did a summer meal from time to time. Man, that was good and fresh. Ever since those summers I've always loved a good tomato and sharp cheddar cheese sandwich with a hint of pepper and mayo.
So my latest creation, or craving, comes from some of those memories. Keep in mind, this pie is very rich and full of fat. A treat of sorts. Best to eat it cold, not hot from the oven, well, unless you're daring. Look at this money shot. This is one pie that tastes perfect when eaten cold; like a tomato & cheese sandwich with crust!




tomato pie
recipe by vanillasugarblog.com (family recipe)
recipe and photographs are copyrighted & are the property of Dawn Finicane.
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1 (9") deep dish pie shell, kept frozen (recipe here) or use pre-made crusts
4-5 lg. tomatoes, thickly cut (heirloom works wonderful in this)
Freshly cracked black pepper
a gentle sprinkling of fine sugar
1 c. good quality mayonnaise (Hellmans)
1 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
½ cup cooked real bacon, chopped fairly small (not the fake stuff please)

I like to keep my deep dish pie crust ready to go and sitting in the freezer till I’m ready to use; it cooks up better that way. I've also used premade pie crust and they work just as fine, but they also need to be kept cold till ready to bake.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, 350 for convection. Slice up the tomatoes in rather thick slices and place them on paper towels to absorb some of the excess moisture.
Get out pie crust from freezer, place sliced tomatoes over crust; do a double layer of sliced tomatoes. Recipe by dawn finicane of vanillakitchen.blogspot.com Then sprinkle with an ever-so-light sprinkling of white sugar, then some freshly cracker black pepper.
In a bowl combine mayonnaise with shredded cheddar cheese, and the chopped up bacon. Spoon over tomatoes; try to get it spread evenly over the tomatoes, but don’t push down.
Bake for about 30 minutes. Mine was done at the 25 minute mark, so best to keep an eye on it at the 20 minute mark.
I let my pie cool down about an hour before slicing into it. It really does taste best when it’s refrigerated and served cold. Serve with a nice glass of white wine.
Note: I love my crust nice and dark brown, if you don’t like it that way then cook it less. This is a really rich pie, so cut the slices smaller than you would an apple or other fruit pie. (not the size I did in the above photo).

steak diane

One of my favorite ways to eat a good steak is either a steak diane or steak bearnaise. Those two sauces are some of the best around, but they have to be made from scratch; that dry stuff in the packets or in the jars, no no! I love going to French restaurants, authentic French restaurants mind you, that make the sauce from scratch; and in some places right in front of you. These are the same places that have no qualms when I ask them for extra sauce, on the side--s'il vous plaît! I am a true sauce junkie. If the sauce is good and is full of flavor then I want more, I want it on the side or I want it slathered on my plate: depending on the meal. I love bearnaise sauce so much that I will put on sunday morning poached eggs. And yes, I have used it on a veggie burger and it was fabulous. I've also used it on hummus rollups.
Are there any other sauce junkies out there? What is your favorite or favorites?

Steak Diane (I have no idea who the original owner of this recipe came from)

2 (6 oz) Filet Mignons (I used sirloin steak this time, worked fine)
1/8 ts salt
1/8 ts freshly ground pepper
2 TB butter
3 ts Dijon mustard
2 TB Shallots, minced
2 TB Butter
2 TB Lemon juice
1 TB Worcestershire sauce
1 TB Fresh chives, minced
3-4 ts Cognac (use the good stuff)
1 TB Fresh parsley, minced

Season both sides of steak with salt and pepper.
Melt 2 TB butter in a heavy skillet; add steaks and cook approximately 4 minutes on each side for medium-rare; about 2 minutes longer per side for medium.
Remove steaks to serving plate and keep warm.
Add into pan drippings, mustard and shallots. Sauté over medium heat 1 minute.
Then 2 TB butter, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and chives.
Cook for 2 minutes. Add brandy; pour sauce over steaks.
Sprinkle parsley over the top.
Serves 2.

Serve with thin crispy french fries--a must!

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.

cheesy artichoke bread & spicy hummus

What a wonderful combo! Oh you simply must try this. It was such an excellent combination that I made a meal out of it. I love my hummus and I love to jazz it up sometimes too, I mean one can only take so many hummus wraps and sandwiches. Now the bread idea I got from Smoky Mountain Cafe. I loved the sound of it, never heard of it before, and simply had to try it. I kicked it up a few notches, and turned some things around. The tanginess of the artichoke bread paired so very well with the spicy hummus. I cannot wait to make this again. This is an excellent appetizer for parties. cheesy artichoke bread with hummus print recipe
¼ cup butter 3 garlic cloves, pressed 1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped 4 ounces shredded Mozzarella cheese 1 cup grated parmesan cheese ½ cup sour cream 1 French bread loaf Salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 ounces shredded cheddar cheese My changes: for the artichoke bread, I followed the recipe, but used 1/8 cup (maybe a little more) of olive oil instead of the butter, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, 1 jar 10 or 11 oz. of artichokes, about 3 oz. of mozzarella cheese, and did not use cheddar cheese. For the hummus: I have never written down my hummus recipe, I do it all off the top of my head, but I think everyone knows how to make hummus? I just added in a bit of chili oil to the batch to make it spicy. Trader Joes sells a wonderful Mediterranean Hummus too. If you don't have a recipe for hummus, you can try this one, it looks pretty good. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the artichoke hearts, Mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese and sour cream. Stir to blend. Remove from the heat and cool. Slice the bread lengthwise and scoop out some of the center. (Note: You can crumble the pieces of bread and add to the artichoke mixture if you wish.) Spoon the artichoke mixture evenly into the bread shell and sprinkle with the cheddar cheese. Place each half on a baking sheet and cover lightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 5 to 8 minutes or until the cheese melts completely. Cut into slices and serve warm.

raspberry & lemon buttermilk scones

Another one of my baking addictions is scones. I just love to make them, finding new flavors, textures to put inside them. They literally are so versatile; you can add almost anything to them, be it sweet or salty or as I'm more inclined to do--both! Once you get the hang of making scones and understanding the less you knead the better--you'll soon notice you will be a pro at making them. Overmixing and over-kneading is a big no no with scones and biscuits. Can't overwork the dough because the butter starts to get warm, and the gluten in the batter starts to form. But practice makes perfect, and over time I became quite good at making them. With that said, I'm always on the lookout for new recipes, new techniques. This latest scone is from Cooks Illustrated, which I found over at a fellow foodie friends' blog Lick the Bowl Good. She made these gorgeous blueberry & white chocolate scones. I switched it up a notch and made mine with raspberries & lemon zest. I also wanted a 'thinner' scone; I wanted more of a croissant. I used less baking powder and more butter to flour ratio...see my all my changes below.





My changes: I followed the recipe, BUT used 2 ts of lemon zest; did not use white chocolate; used raspberries instead of blueberries; used buttermilk instead of milk; used 10TB of grated butter as opposed to just 8 TB; sprinkled tops with raw, thick sugar before baking; used 1 ts of baking powder as I wanted a thinner scone--more like a croissant texture (as you can see in the photo below). The more butter & using buttermilk will make the scone thinner and not as heavy or thick--in case you're interested.

raspberry-lemon buttermilks scones
adapted from Cooks Illustrated
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10 TB unsalted butter, grated and kept frozen
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional for work surface
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 ts baking powder
1/4 ts baking soda
1/2 ts salt
2 ts grated lemon zest

Heavy cream (about 3 tb), optional, for brushing tops of scones before baking
Turbinado sugar for sprinkling to the tops of scones before baking

Adjust an oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Grate the stick of butter on large holes of box grater. Wrap stick of butter where you put your fingers to hold it with some parchment paper.
Place grated butter in freezer until needed.
Place raspberries in freezer until needed. Measure out your 1 cup of buttermilk and refrigerate until needed.
Whisk the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest in medium bowl. Add frozen grated butter to flour mixture and toss with spatula until thoroughly coated. Fold in the chilled buttermilk until just combined (do not overmix).
Turn the dough and any floury bits onto a well floured work surface. Lightly flour your hands and the dough.
Knead the dough gently 6-8 times until it just holds together in a ragged ball, adding additional flour as needed to prevent sticking.
Roll dough into approximate 12-inch square.
Then fold dough into thirds like a business letter, using bench scraper or metal spatula to release dough if it sticks to counter top.
Lift short ends of dough and fold into thirds again to form approximate 4-inch square.
Transfer dough to plate lightly dusted with flour and chill in freezer 5 minutes.
Transfer dough to floured work surface and roll again into a 12-inch square.
Sprinkle raspberries evenly over surface of dough, then press down so they are slightly embedded in dough.
Using bench scraper or thin metal spatula, loosen dough from work surface.
Roll up dough, pressing to form tight log, and pinch the seam closed. Lay seam-side down and press log into 12 by 4-inch rectangle.
Using sharp, floured knife, cut rectangle crosswise into 4 equal rectangles. Cut each rectangle diagonally to form 2 triangles.
Transfer the scones to parchment-lined baking sheet.
Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle lightly with sugar.
Bake until tops and bottoms are golden brown, 18 to 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Transfer to wire rack and let cool 10 minutes before serving.

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.

buttermilk & tarragon biscuits

Homemade morning biscuits. Ahhh, nothing quite like it right? I mean the smell alone drifting through the house, mixing with the smell of brewing coffee. Those smells are so comforting to me. This past weekend was all about comfort to me. I had a crappy week. The house hunting, the process of the down payment, price of houses not coming down as I thought they would like the rest of the country, higher than normal property taxes over here, these are all things that we are getting our way through as we try and finalize which house or houses to start the bidding on. So nothing is more soothing, comforting rather, than baking some comfort food that smell so good. Plus, I also curled with with one of my favorite feel-good movies: Sex & The City. Watching that movie always makes me feel so relaxed; those girls are in a way my feel-good friends, they lift me up, they get to play dress up, they get to be spoiled if only for an hour and a half and they have fun. (I know it's a bit of a fairy tale, but it makes me feel good and reminds me there is good in the world and all will be ok). I love how Carrie finally gets treated right. After all those years of bad dating, bad men, bad relationships she finally gets a good relationship (or rather Big finallys shapes up!). Best part of the movie? The part where Carrie & Big are apartment hunting and they see the perfect place with views of Central Park. Carrie freaks, and falls in love with the place, the views, the layout and says to Big "can we afford this?" and Big leans in, winks, and says "I got it." Love that--what girl wouldn't?

This original recipe is from CI, but I've made a few adjustments, don't I always? Feel free to do whatever you want with this recipe; it's just so versatile, you can add almost anything or nothing at all. My adjustments are in parenthesis. And yes, I added in fresh tarragon, cheese and ham and still put my jam on top--will you trust me on that one? Heavenly!

Cheddar Biscuits
Slightly adapted from CI

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder (I used 1 TB)
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3/4 cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups heavy cream (I used 1 cup buttermilk)
(I added in 2 TB fresh, chopped fresh tarragon)
(I added in a large handful of chopped sweet ham)

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. Stir in 1/2 cup cheese. Add 1 1/4 cups cream and stir with wooden spoon until dough forms, about 30 seconds. Transfer dough from bowl to countertop, leaving dry, floury bits in bowl. In 1-tablespoon increments, add up to 1/4 cup cream to dry bits in bowl, mixing with wooden spoon after each addition, until moistened. Add moistened bits to rest of dough and knead by hand just until smooth, about 30 seconds.
Pat dough into 8-inch circle, cut into wedges, and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake until just beginning to brown, 7 to 9 minutes. Remove baking sheet from oven, sprinkle 1 1/2 teaspoons remaining cheese on each biscuit, and return to oven, rotating baking sheet from front to back. Bake until golden brown and cheese topping has melted, 7 to 9 minutes. Serve warm. Should make about 8.

butterscotch-banana bread

Calling all banana bread lovers out there! Have I got an insanely delish banana bread for you. This banana bread will take you to a whole other banana bread level--yes it's that good! Why? Well, the flavor of the butterscotch is so gentle and melds so perfectly with the banana. I think the trick was finding the right amount of butterscotch to put in, and of course the mascarpone cheese adds a lot of smoothness. You know how the flavor of butterscotch chips is kind of strong and chemicaly-testing? Well, I added just the right amount of butterscotch chips to meld perfectly with the bananas, and cheese to give it a wonderful light-sugary, banana taste. The taste is so hard to describe, but trust me, this banana bread is fabulous. No butter or cream cream will be needed on your slice of this. The leftovers, I swear only get better with time. Seriously, you need to make this.





butterscotch-banana bread
kind of, sort of adapted from The Secrets of Baking
print recipe

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 TBSP baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup mascarpone cheese
6 ounce unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
3 fully ripe bananas, mashed
½ cup butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9-x-5-3-inch loaf pan. (I did 2 of these). Make sure to grease and flour, do not skip this step!
Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
Combine the buttermilk and mascarpone cheese in a small bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl beat eggs then combine them to the buttermilk & mascarpone mixture.
Using a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat the butter with the cinnamon on high speed until soft and creamy, about 1 minute. Slowly add the sugar beating continuously on high speed.
The mixture should be light, fluffy and creamy white in color. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Add one third of the flour mixture to the batter and beat until it is just incorporated.
Add one third of the mascarpone cheese mixture and mix until just incorporated.
Add the flour and mascarpone mixture in two more additions, mixing until addition is incorporated before adding the next.
Fold in the mashed bananas and butterscotch chips.
Pour the batter into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. (mine was done in an hour, so watch your bread as the hour-mark approaches, but I have a convection oven that seems to have a higher heat than most ovens; so your bread my take longer than an hour. always use a cake tester to judge if it's done or not).
Cool in the pan on a rack for 5-10 minutes, then remove from pan and set on rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. Note: you might be tempted to add nuts to this - don't! I did and it just didn't taste the same.

hoisin glazed corned beef with hoisin-ginger reduction over spicy sauerkraut relish

Ok so I'm a little late posting for St. Patricks day. But I didn't make this until Sunday. We didn't get or rather have time for a meal on St. Patty's day. But this meal did turn out wonderful and I knew all my friends would love to see the photos and try it out as well.
I was inspired on this dish by a wonderful cook over at 5 Star Foodie Blog. She made the original dish and once I saw it I knew I had to make. I love hoisin-glazed salmon and just knew that a hoisin glaze must taste amazing on corned beef. I love corned beef, but sometimes it can be a little boring unless I put enough apple cider vinegar and horseradish on mine then it's good. So after seeing this recipe, I tossed it around in my head and decided to kick it up a few notches by adding my famous sauerkraut relish and a hoisin/ginger reduction. I did serve potatoes with it, but the potatoes were not pictured as they were camera shy.
But that charred top, the charred bits of ginger? Oh heavens -- so good. So so so good.

hoisin glazed corned beef w/ hoisin-ginger reduction

inspired by 5 star foodie
print recipe

corned beef:
2 or 4 lbs. corned beef brisket
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon pickling spice
1 tablespoon whole peppercorns

glaze & reduction:
1/4 cup Hoisin sauce
1/4 cup honey
2 TB Soy sauce
1 ts fresh ginger, minced
couple dashes of pepper

In a large stew pot, combine water, brisket, garlic, pickling spices and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 2 or 2 1/2 hours, or until meat tenders.
In a small bowl, mix hoisin sauce, honey, soy sauce, pepper, and ginger together. Take half of this glaze and reduce it down in a small saucepan till it's a bit thicker (you can add more honey of you want it thicker). After it's reduced, strain sauce through a mesh to remove any big chunks of ginger left; set back in small saucepan to keep warm.
Preheat the oven to broil. Remove brisket from cooking liquid, and place fat side up in a high-temp safe baking dish or cast iron pan. Spread some of the hoisin glaze all over the brisket. Put under broiler until a nice crispy top is achieved, I'd say about 4 minutes or until your likeness.
Put a nice amount of sauerkraut relish on plate, then top with a good slice of corned beef, then pour some reduction sauce on the sides. Serve with potatoes or whatever you like; remember to always slice corned beef against the grain.

sauerkraut relish

1 1/2 - 2 cups sauerkraut, drained really well (I used whole foods brand)
4-5 TB ketchup
3 TB dark brown sugar
Couple dashes of hot sauce (about 5 to 7),optional but wonderful
1 TB Worcheshire sauce
A couple pinches of celery seeds

In a medium saucepan combine the well-drained sauerkraut, ketchup, hot sauce, dark brown sugar, worcheshire sauce, and celery seeds. Heat through.
The sauce should thicken up, if not just let it reduce for a while on low heat. Makes about 2 cups; I'm certain halving this recipe is ok.

coconut cream cheese cookies

Coconut kick. It's a term and a lifestyle for me lately. Just been loving coconut lately, and still wanting to bake with it like crazy. Orignially I wanted to try a coconut cheesecake, but the oven I have in our rental is so old and so not reliable. I have to save that recipe for when we move into our own home (yes, we hope that's coming soon too!). So instead I tried (first time) coconut cream cheese cookies. I found these little gems over at CI (cooks illustrated). I love CI. Wouldn't it be fun to spend like a weekend retreat over at the test kitchens and just bake all weekend long; creating new recipes, tweaking old ones and perfecting the brand new recipes?
Cooking Notes: I made some with pecans as well, put on the top. Just thought this cookie needed a crunch to it. Keep in mind these cookies cook fast. They should not turn golden brown, only slightly light brown; they do burn fast! My changes are in parenthesis.

coconut-cream cheese cookies
adapted from BakingBlonde (original recipe from Cooks Illustrated)
print recipe

2 cups plus 3 TB all-purpose flour
1/2 ts baking soda
1/2 ts salt
12 TB (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted & cooled until room temp
5-6 oz. cream cheese softened (I used 8 oz)
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 ts vanilla extract
2 cups coconut toasted (I used 2 & 1/2 cups)

Adjust oven racks to upper & lower -middle positions & heat oven to 325. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread coconut evenly on baking sheet.
Once oven is preheated place coconut in oven. Bake for 10-20 minutes stirring every 5minutes for even toasting. Remove from oven when light brown. Do NOT burn. Remove from oven. Allow to cool completely before adding to dough.
Re-line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk dry ingredients together; set aside. With electric mixer, or by hand mix butter and cream cheese together with a mixer until smooth. Add sugars and beat until thoroughly combined.
Beat in vanilla until combined.
Add dry ingredients & beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in cooled coconut.
Chill dough overnight.
When ready to bake cookies preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Drop dough onto parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 12-14 minutes or until edges are set and bottoms are light brown. Do NOT overbake!
Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking and place on wire rack to cool.

can't-stop-eating moroccan roasted chickpeas

I love experimenting with spices, don't you? Can I just say while these chickpeas were roasting, the smell in the house was wonderful. It brought me back to those many days of summer I would spend living with my friend, who lived on st. marks street (8th street) of nyc. During my many walks up and down st. marks street, in the hot thick air of summer I would always smell curry, coming from any random walkout or open basement door. I love all the random food smells on any given sidewalk in the city. It was wonderful and comforting at the same time, even though the temperature in the summertime in the middle of the city would be close to 90 degrees. That smell of curry would just make me forget how hot and humid it really was. Even as a kid I've always loved the smell of curry, and I love the taste of it too. I never had a problem eating hot curry in the hot days of summer--oh that taste was so worth the burn. The original recipe of these Moroccan chickpeas does not call for curry, but when I taste-tested the spice mix it was begging for a pinch of curry to be put in. And it made a world of difference. For those of you that like spices you might like these. I love plain roasted chickpeas too, have made them with a bit of salt & pepper and some olive oil and a pinch of sugar, but never made them this way. Make sure to see my changes in parenthesis; you may or may not want to do what I did, since I don't know what level of "spice-love" you have.

moroccan roasted chickpeas
print recipe

1 can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 TB olive oil
½ ts Moroccan Spice Mix (I used one and a half teaspoons (ts) of this)
salt to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp sea salt)

Moroccan Spice Mix:
2 ts ground cumin
1 ts ground coriander
1/2 ts chile powder (did not use this, didn’t have any)
1/2 ts sweet paprika
1/2 ts ground cinnamon
1/4 ts ground allspice
1/4 ts ground ginger powder
1/8 ts cayenne pepper (I used ½ ts)
a pinch ground cloves
1/2 ts sugar (I used 1 ts)
1 ts curry powder (this is my own addition)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Drain the chickpeas into a colander and rinse well with cold water until no more foam appears. Let beans drain for 5-10 minutes, then pat dry with a cloth or paper towel if they still look wet.
While the chickpeas drain, make the spice mix. (store leftover spice mix in an airtight container for other uses.)
When the chickpeas are well-drained and dry, toss them together with the olive oil, spice mix, and salt. Arrange in single layer on baking sheet.
Roast 40-50 minutes, (my chickpeas were done in 40 minutes) or until they are slightly browned and make a rattling sound when you shake the baking sheet. Serve warm or cool.

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
print recipe

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
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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?