chambord brownies

With Valentine's Day quickly approaching, I wanted to make my husband a special treat.  We've been obsessed with Ina Garten's Outrageous Brownies.  They are the most delicious brownie ever.  They are fudgy, chewy, and easy to make.

We both LOVE creme de menthe brownies, but I wanted to make something a little more Valentiney.  I swapped the creme de menthe for chambord and added a little food coloring to make the filling pink.  I also made a few brownies a silicon hearts pan I've had lying around for years.

These brownies are rich, indulgent, and a perfect treat for my Valentine. . . as long as I don't eat them all first.

Chambord Brownies

Brownie
Ina Garten's Outrageous Brownies

1/2 pound butter (2 sticks)
8 ounces plus 6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3 large eggs
1 1/2 Tablespoons instant coffee granules
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 and grease an 9x13 pan (I usually make this in a 9x13, but for Valentine's I put a little batter in a heart mold silicon pan).

Melt the butter, 8 ounces of semisweet chocolate, and unsweetened chocolate in a bowl. I put the bowl in the microwave for 40 seconds, stirred, and continued to heat at 10 second intervals until melted, stirring after each 10 second interval in the microwave. (You can also place the bowl over a pot of simmering water, stirring until melted).

In a large bowl, mix the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla extract and sugar.  Stir the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture.  In a small bowl, mix the 6 ounces of chocolate chips and 2 Tablespoons of flour so that the chocolate chips are coated in flour.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add the flour to the egg and chocolate mixture and mix until just combined.  Gently mix in the chocolate chip and flour mixture until just combined.

Pour batter into greased pan and tap the pan a few times on the counter to release any air.  Bake for 20 minutes, then tap pan again on oven shelf to release air again, then bake for an additional 10-15 minutes.  Do not overbake; an inserted toothpick should come out clean.

Cool pan completely and refrigerate.

Chambord Filling
adapted from my grandmother's recipe for Creme de Menthe Brownies

4 Tablespoons of Chambord liqueur *
1/4 pound (1 stick) butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
a drop of red food coloring, optional

Whisk together all ingredients in a medium bowl until smooth. Spread evenly over cooled brownie layer in pan.
* To make traditional Creme de Menthe brownies, use 2 Tablespoons of Creme de Menthe liqueur instead of 4 Tablespoons of Chambord.

Chocolate Topping

6 Tablespoons butter
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

In a small bowl, melt butter and chocolate chips in microwave or over simmering water.  Pour over Chambord covered brownies and spread out to make an even layer.

Store brownies in the refrigerator.  Cut brownies into small squares or use a cookie cutter if you want a shaped brownie.

sprinkle snakes

I really love this time of year.  I love the lights, decorations, music, cheesy movies, you name it.  Unfortunately, this time of year fills my head with these Hallmark perfect ideas.  Take making and decorating these cookies- my favorite cookie of all time.  What I envisioned to be this Norman Rockwell, heartwarming and fun activity turned out more like a toddler hurricane of sprinkles and chocolate.

I was getting the melted chocolate bowl and sprinkle bowls in place.  My son was so excited, and chanting "sprankles, sprankles" (he has a little twang).  Every 5 seconds I would move the sprinkle bowls closer and closer towards me (and further and further from my son).  His little arm would shoot out so fast and grab fist fulls of sprinkles.  Next I watched him try to put the fist full of nonpareils in his mouth, while hearing thousands of the minuscule little balls falling all over the floor.

Next, I tried letting him dip the cookies in the melted chocolate, and then dip the chocolate part in the sprinkles.  He dipped the cookie into the chocolate, then into the sprinkles.  Instead of putting it on the drying rack, he grabs the melted chocolate and sprinkle end and begins smooshing it, spreading chocolate and sprinkles everywhere, while simultaneously grabbing more handfuls of sprinkles to eat.

So, I ended up decorating the cookies, while he pillaged all of sprinkle/chocolate globs that would drip from the drying rack.  He also ate LOTS of cookies, and a few more handfuls of sprinkles.  At the end, we had great looking cookies and a toddler covered in red, green, and chocolate.  Although it was nothing like I had envisioned, we both had a lot of fun.

Growing up we called these cookies "snakes" because my mom always shaped the cookies into an "S" shape.  Even if I only make 1 batch of cookies at Christmas, it's these.  They are perfect!

Sprinkle Snake Cookies
makes: about 6 dozen

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
3 ounces cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour

For decorations: semi sweet chocolate chips and sprinkles.

Preheat oven to 375.

Cream the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a mixer until smooth.  Add sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Mix in the egg yolk and vanilla extract.  Add the flour and mix until all of the flour is incorporated.

To shape:  It is easiest to use a cookie press with star disc and shape cookies into the letter "S", or circles for wreaths (my grandmother always did that), shells, rosettes, or even straight or squiggly lines.  My cookie press is packed away in a box somewhere (we've been trying to move for awhile), so I used a pastry bag with a star tip.  The dough is very stiff, so the disposable bags tear easily unless you only fill it with a little bit of dough at a time.  I still went through 4 disposable bags- but I was not willing to rummage in the garage for the box that has my cookie press.

Press or pipe the cookies directly onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  The dough doesn't spread, so you can fit a lot of cookies on each sheet.  Bake 7-12 minutes until you just begin to see a couple of the tips turn a slight golden brown (do not let the cookies get golden all over- it is supposed to be pale).  Cool completely before decorating.

Decorating:
Chocolate- you can melt the chocolate in a heat-safe bowl over a pot of simmering water or in the microwave using short increments of time.  When I microwave chocolate, I do 30 seconds, stir, 10 seconds, stir, and then 5 second intervals until just melted.

Dip end of cooled cookie into chocolate, and then dip chocolate end into sprinkles.  Place decorated cookie on a cookie rack and allow chocolate to set.

lost things and a secret apple pie

My husband turned 30 several weeks ago. . . he finally caught up with me.  He loves to take the month and a half in between our birthdays to daily tell me how I robbed the cradle.  He chose his cake flavor, and I made these creme de menthe cupcakes that we fell in love with.  I grabbed my camera to take a picture I could blog, and the camera battery was dead.  I then spent the next week checking every nook, shelf, and dark corner in my home.  I was unable find it.  With our next baby being born next week, I went ahead and ordered a new charger. . . so now I have a lot of catching up to do!

So, on to apple pie!  About 10 years ago I cut out a Southern Living recipe for apple pie.  I loved that recipe, and the only thing I remember really loving about the recipe is that it was a crumb topping.  I'm not a huge fan of crust. . . so I'm a total sucker for any crumb topped pie.  

Shortly after I finished culinary school, I went to make an apple pie for Friend Thanksgiving (an annual holiday held by a group of friends).  Apparently I have a real talent for losing things, and I had lost the recipe from Southern Living.  I decided to take my freshly learned skills and create my first pie recipe.  I didn't have internet (it was 2005- and considered a luxury for my budget), and all of my cookbooks were still packed in boxes.  I used what I had in my cupboards, and after a few tweaks this has become my go-to pie.
  

I debated whether or not to share this recipe in the beginning, and eventually decided to keep it a secret.  Here I am, 6 years later, blogging about it.  So this is the recipe debut for my apple pie.  I hope you love this pie as much as my friends and family do.  

Secret Apple Pie

(original by Meredith)
Makes: 1 deep dish apple pie

1 deep dish pie crust (you can use homemade or store bought)

Filling:

6-8 apples; peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (my favorite combination is honeycrisp and granny smith- amount of apples depends on size of pie plate and personal preference)

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon allspice

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1 Tablespoon Frangelico liqueur

2 Tablespoons melted butter 

Topping:

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup all purpose flour

5 Tablespoons cold butter, cut into 5 pieces

1/3 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350°F .  Place pie crust in deep dish pie plate.

For the filling, whisk brown sugar, sugar, flour, salt, and spices (all the dry ingredients) in a large bowl.  Add the apple slices to dry ingredients and toss to evenly coat all of the apple slices.  Stir in the Frangelico and melted butter.  Pour the apple slices and any leftover liquid into the pie crust.

For the topping, place brown sugar, flour and butter in a medium bowl.  With a pastry cutter, 2 forks, or your hands, cut or mix ingredients until it resembles a crumb topping (about 3 minutes).  The flour should incorporate with butter pieces, making the butter pieces about pea size. Mix in the chopped pecans.  Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the apple slices (do not pat topping down, just sprinkle).

Bake for 40-50 minutes until the top begins to turn golden brown, the apples are tender if inserted with a fork, and the juices are bubbly.  Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing.