Baking Style-Edition: Crowd Pleasing Chocolate Chip Blondies Recipe

Chocolate cookies are my go-to when I want to whip up a sweet treat (I think I had my chocolate chip cookie recipe memorized before I was 12?  Is that weird?) but recently I've gotten a bit lazy in the kitchen (i.e. too lazy to spoon out individual cookies) so,  blondies are starting to take over as my simplest baked good. The recipe happens to be about the easiest ever:

Chocolate Chip Blondies Recipe

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla 

1 pinch of salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup chocolate chips

See - just 1 of everything! 

Here are the steps:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F 
2. Beat melted butter & sugar 
3. Add in egg & vanilla and beat just until smooth
4. Mix in flour and salt
5. Add in chocolate chips (and nuts or M&M's or anything else you'd like)
6. Pour into a greased 8x8inch brownie pan 
7. Bake at 350°F for 20-22 minutes  - take them out just as the top starts to brown and the center starts to set

See.. so easy.

Give them a try next time you have a sugar craving!  Let me know how it goes!

Recipe: Better Than Sex Cake

It may not look like anything fancy,  but what it lacks in style, this cake makes up for in decadence.  I was originally introduced to "Better than Sex Cake"  in high-school and it remains one of the most crowd-pleasing recipes in my repertoire. I can't claim anything fancy about this dessert, and its full of over-processed grocery store ingredients, but every once and a while you need a treat.

YOU NEED:

1 Boxed Chocolate Cake Mix

Semisweet Chocolate Chips

1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk

Caramel or Chocolate Ice-Cream Topping (or both)

6 Heath Candy Bars

Tub of Frozen Whipped Topping (ie Cool Whip)

THE STEPS:

1.  Bake the chocolate cake according to the directions,  adding chocolate chips to the batter before placing into the oven.

2. Chop up the Heath bars.

A few minutes after you pull the cake out of the oven (while it is still warm):

1. Poke a bunch of holes into the cake with a fork or the back of the spoon.

2. Sprinkle 1/2 of the toffee chunks onto the cake (make sure to get some in the holes)

3.  Pour the sweetened condensed milk and carmel topping on the cake; making sure to pour it into the holes.

5.  Frost the cake with the Cool Whip.

6.  Sprinkle the remaining Heath bar chunks on top of the whipped topping. (These add the crunch!)  Sometimes I drizzle a bit of chocolate or caramel sauce for added decoration.

7.  Refrigerate (It's best if it's been refrigerated for at least a couple hours)

and.... share with friends!

Baking: Magic in the Middle Cookies

Yeah,  I know this is "Style-Edition" - but it's not just about fashion.   It's about injecting a little style into your life.  And in my life,  style and baking often have equal importance.

I had bookmarked these cookies a while back, because the chocolate and peanut butter combo is pretty unbeatable, and I loved the idea of surprise in the middle of an otherwise standard cookie.

They weren't quite as chocolatey as I expected, (I might try and adjust the recipe a bit next time that I try them) but we (and friends) still finished the batch in over the weekend.

Here is the recipe: 

Magic in the Middle Cookies

Cookies:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 egg 
1 tsp vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Filling:
2/3 cup peanut butter
2/3 cup powdered sugar

Directions
  
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Beat together the sugar, butter, and peanut butter until fluffy.  Stir in the egg and vanilla.  Slowly blend in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt until smooth.

In a small bowl mix together the powdered sugar and peanut butter until completely combined.  

Roll the peanut butter mixture into small round balls about the size of a grape.  Scoop about a tablespoon of the chocolate batter  (I used my handy mini ice-cream scoop) and flatten it out in your hand.  Place the peanut butter ball in the middle of the chocolate, roll the chocolate around the peanut butter, and press the edges together to cover the peanut butter center. 

Roll the cookie in your hands into a smooth ball.  (I was worried that some edges might have thicker chocolate than others but since you flatten them,  it all seemed to even out nicely - see the picture below)

Roll the cookie balls in sugar and place on the cookie sheet.  Use the bottom of a glass to flatten the cookies a bit.  (This step made them into perfectly even and circular cookies which made me pretty happy.)

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until they begin to crack on top. 

Enjoy!

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