Deliciousness: Peanut Butter Chocolate Pretzel Sandwiches

Saw these on Pinterest the other day and was practically forced to buy pretzels the very next time I went to the grocery store. They're basically teeny tiny pretzel sandwiches, stuffed with super sweetened peanut butter and dipped in chocolate. You can find the original recipe over at Elissa's blog, 17 and Baking. Apparently these were born out of an epic fail to make something else, and the sheer desperation to make something sweet, dammit, drove her to make something quick and easy. (Note to Elissa: I'm kinda glad that pear clafoutis didn't turn out, because these sounded way better, anyway!)

I'll be attending a baby shower at one of my LYSs on Saturday. Whenever there's an event like this going on over there, it's always sort of heavily hinted that perhaps I might like to bring something? (Let me tell you, it's not like they have to twist my arm!) I knew there would already be cake, so I decided to make my treat a salty-sweet-crunchy snack instead of opting for one of the so-much-sugar-you'll-keel-over confections I usually arrive with.

These aren't going to make it over there.

Fair warning, here. These are stupid easy to make and dangerously delicious. I told the Dr. we'd try one each, just to see how they were, but that I was going to take the rest of them to the shower. Half an hour later, they were almost all gone. I'd decided to dip half of my batch in semi-sweet chocolate, and the other half in white chocolate, and while I fully expected to like the semi-sweet the best (one of my LYS owners is allergic to chocolate so the white ones were meant for her), the white chocolate was both my and the Dr.'s favorite. I have no idea why; I don't usually like white chocolate but something about it just goes really well with the peanut butter mixture.

Other than the white chocolate switch, I did a couple of other things different, too. First, I froze the sandwiches solid before dipping them in chocolate. Since the recipe makes a huge batch, the last few sandwiches were starting to thaw out and get rather sticky by the time I got to them, so I might suggest pulling them out just a few at a time for the chocolate section. Oh, and I used my handy cookie scoop in the peanut butter mixture, instead of trying to form peanut butter balls by hand. My cookie scoop fits about a tablespoon and a half, but I only scooped up about a teaspoon worth of filling for each sandwich, just eyeballing it. With the opening of the scoop facing upwards, click the handle a few times, causing the peanut butter to roll back and forth and form a tiny little ball. Once this is done, you can just tip the ball onto the pretzel, then squash it down with another pretzel. No sticky fingers! 

I give this recipe two thumbs up (okay, with the Dr.'s vote that's actually four thumbs up) and will definitely be making some of these again. Since the pretzel sandwiches didn't make it to Saturday, I'm going to try coating some pretzel sticks with the peanut butter and chocolate, and see how that goes! Will report back. In the meantime, seriously. You need some pretzel sandwiches. Now.

Deliciousness: Raspberry Crescent Squares!

About a week ago, my oldest brother became a father, and I became an aunt for the third time. Since the baby was a girl, I decided to make some yummy pink snacks to celebrate!

Can't get much girlier than this, right here.

Really, if you need more of an intro to this recipe than that photo, you've got issues. Seriously though, these things are AMAZING. You're going to want to double the recipe (which is really easy, by the way), because you'll have eaten half of them before anyone else can reach the pan. They're also stupid easy. Here's what you need:

For the Squares:

• 1 can seamless crescent dough
• 12 frozen raspberries
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup raspberry jam
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup powdered sugar

For the Topping:

• 1 egg, slightly beaten (toss a splash of water in there, too)
• 1 Tablespooon Sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Note about doubling: If you're going to double the filling, buy 2 extra cans of crescent dough. I always have about half the filling left over!

Preheat your oven to 375°. Open your can of seamless crescent dough and cut it into 12 squares. I kind of biffed it on mine and cut rectangles. Next time, I'll cut 3 long strips and then cut each strip into 4 pieces.

Der, Sarah. These are not squares.

Toss everything else except the raspberries into a bowl and cream it all together. If you have a Magic Bullet, like I do, you can use that. Otherwise, just use a mixer. Flatten out each of your little pieces of dough so they're about 3-4 inches square. Plop about a tablespoon or so of filling in the middle, and top it with a raspberry.

Almost done already! See how cute and pink?

Fold each corner towards the middle of the square, and pinch the edges together, like so:

The mathematician inside me would like to point out that technically, this is a parallelogram, not a square.

Repeat for the remaining bits of crescent dough. Line them all up on a greased cookie sheet, and baste with the egg wash. Mix the cinnamon and sugar together, and sprinkle over the top.

Now we're cookin' with gas! Or...something.

Put them in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until the crescent rolls are cooked through. Remove from oven. Hoard from others. These are really, really good warm.

I think I ate about 4 of these right away. Best not to think about the calories, really.

I feel like there are probably endless variations of these. Cream cheese + apple butter + apples? Cream cheese + peach preserves + peaches? I bet almost any fruit would be equally tasty. My original inspiration for this recipe used strawberries; you can find over at Rumbly in My Tummy. You could even top them off with nuts, or powdered sugar, or candied sprinkles, if you wanted a little bit of crunch. However you decide to go, you're going to be really happy. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Oh hey, it's about time I announced the winner of my Infinity Scarf giveaway, yes? It's Pamela McGary! Congrats, Pam! I'll PM you over on Ravelry to get your mailing address. :) Thanks to everybody who stopped by! I've got a little hint for you: You're going to want to come back, because my next giveaway is going to involve about 1600 yards of alpaca yarn, a magazine subscription, another project bag, and, if I can swing it, a pair of Signature Needles!

Deliciousness: Caramel-Filled Brownies

That's right, caramel-filled brownies. Doesn't get much better than this, let me tell you.

See the caramel oozing out of the middle there?

If that picture doesn't speak for itself, this one should. These brownies are unlike any other brownie I've ever had in my life. Not only do you get two layers of fudgy, chewy, chocolatey brownies, you also get a thick, gooey layer of caramel in the middle! They're finished off with a healthy sprinkling of chocolate chips. Prepare to be wowed! On the surface, it seems like filled brownies would be kind of a hassle to make, but I found this recipe surprisingly easy. You might be making a trip to the grocery store, because you're going to need a TON of bittersweet chocolate (12 ounces! That's like...6 squares!) and a couple of bags of caramel candies, as well as a bit of heavy cream. On the upside, you don't have to make the caramel from scratch, and everything besides the filling can get mixed up in one bowl. You do have to bake them twice, since the first layer gets baked on its own before the filling and top layer are added, but I promise you it's totally worth the extra step.

I followed Annie's recipe exactly, except that I used a 7" x 11" baking dish instead of the recommended 9" x 13" size (I didn't change the baking time), and I didn't line the dish with foil. My dish was so full I thought it was going to start slopping over the side, but there was just enough room, and my brownies turned out delightfully thick and fudgy. One thing you should be aware of about these brownies, though, is that they're practically un-sliceable while warm. If you want them in tidy squares (or squares at all, for that matter), you'll have to wait until they come to room temperature. That said, they're absolutely unbeatable warm, so go right ahead and dig yourself out a big spoonful - we did! Plop a big scoop of ice cream on top, and I guarantee you'll be thanking me later.

Get the recipe from Annie's Eats, right here. Look, there's even a printer-friendly version!

_________________________________

Picks of the Day:

Want your Etsy Mini in this spot? Click here!

Deliciousness: Carrot Raisin Macadamia Whoopie Pies!

Oh my word, you guys, these have so many yummy things in them! Not only do they have all the traditional goodness that you expect a carrot cake to have, but they also have macadamia nuts, raisins, oats, and the most creamy, delicious cream cheese frosting you've ever had on a cookie.

These are all mine, baby. Where's yours?

Granted, there are  kind of a lot of steps here because of the massive number of ingredients. You'll be chopping nuts, grating carrots, creaming sugar, and digging through your spice cabinet (or in my case, making a special trip to the market) for things like ground cloves, nutmeg and ginger. If your go-to cookie recipes usually just have butter, sugar, flour, vanilla, and a couple of eggs, this will be a change for you, but take it from me: these gems are worth the effort. For your trouble, you'll be rewarded with moist, chewy cookies slathered in tangy frosting that you'll have a hard time not eating by the spoonful right out of the bowl. 

Lookit all the goodies!

I made these cookies by following this recipe, and I followed it to a T, down to the size of the cookie scoop, reduced oven temperature, and cooking time. The only thing I'd say needs to be changed is the amount of cream cheese frosting, because only one batch isn't nearly enough to cover all these cookies! If you like frosting as much as I do, you'll want to double up.

This recipe makes a ton of cookies, so they're great for taking to a party, or, you know, just eating all by yourself. Either way! No judgments here - promise.

Deliciousness: Banana Coconut Pecan Bread

I'm a huge bread fan. And when I say huge, I really mean huge. Give me bread in almost any form and I am a very, very happy girl. In fact, carbs in general are one of the main staples of my diet and half the time, I have to remind myself I need to eat other things, too.

Enter this loaf of banana bread. Not only is it the best banana bread I've ever had in my life, it's also one of my favorite bread recipes ever at this point; and that's saying something, since sweet breads aren't at the top of my crazy-bread-eating list of favorites.

Yum, even if it is a bit dark!

It's overcooked in these photos, unfortunately. I was housesitting for some friends of ours and you know how it is when you're working in an oven that's not your own, right? Well, let's just say I was happy this loaf didn't set the house on fire. Side note: I'd already managed to wreck these people's car avoiding what definitely would have been a fatal collision, so, you know - not burning down their house was basically priority #1 at that point. Long story short, use the biggest loaf pan you have and don't fill it too full, or you'll wind up scraping burnt gobs of bread batter off the bottom of your (or, *ahem*, someone else's) oven. But enough about my misadventures in Florida! On to the good stuff.

Plenty of good stuff to be had! Toasted coconut & pecans, anyone?

This recipe originally appeared over on the ModCloth blog, and it called for bacon. I love bacon, too, but I find it gets soggy if you cook it inside of something else, and as far as I'm concerned soggy bacon is almost as bad as burnt popcorn. I did cook a small loaf of this with bacon in it once, and it was well received, but I was too chicken to try it so now I just omit the bacon and use a cup of toasted pecans, instead. I also toast the coconut (which, by the way, can be sweetened OR unsweetened), but those are the only two things I've changed from the original recipe.

You can have this recipe in the oven in under 10 minutes, and that includes hauling out all your baking goods and mixing up the recipe. The result should be moist, nutty, just-sweet-enough bread that you'll have a hard time not gobbling up the moment you take it out of the oven. It'll stay moist and delicious for almost a week before it starts to go stale, but really - it's not going to last that long.

Find the original recipe (with non-burnt photos!) here.

When I make this, I use a 9-inch metal loaf pan and have enough batter left over to make a mini-loaf, too. Perfect for sharing with the neighbors or stashing in your office drawer for snack time!

Deliciousness: Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

First I just have to say that you really must try these cookies. The first time I had one of these was at my friend Lisbeth's house, and when she told me she was going to make "Banana Cookies", I was a little reticent. Then she told me they also had oatmeal and chocolate chips, and I felt a little better about it. The defining moment, though, was when she gave me a little round of frozen cookie dough to eat. Let me tell you - not only did I take back my snarky comment about banana cookies being "gross" (or something similarly gracious), I also wound up groveling for the recipe. Lisbeth, being the amazing friend she is, generously complied. You can find the original recipe here.

Raw, frozen cookie dough & warm, gooey cookies

The Dr. practically expects me to have a stock of these in the freezer at all times. In fact, we both like the frozen, raw dough so much I almost never even get around to baking any, but they are quite delicious both ways.

You can make up a batch of these in practically no time at all, with stuff you probably already have lying around your pantry. I almost always make a double batch, and am able to use my hand mixer to mix up all of the ingredients except for the chocolate chips. Once your dough is mixed, use a small cookie scoop (like this) to portion the cookies out into a large, airtight plastic container. You can get about 3-4 dozen cookies into one of Ziploc's large rectangular containers; be sure to put a piece of wax paper between the layers, so the dough doesn't all stick together.

If you're baking the frozen dough, heat your oven to 375 degrees and bake for 8-10 minutes. Basically, you want to leave them in just long enough for the cookies to set, or you'll wind up with crunchy cookies. Still tasty, particularly if you happen to like crunchy cookies, but I prefer these with a nice, chewy texture and just-barely-crispy edges.

Deliciousness: Pretzel Bites

Cooking always gives me a little pick-me-up when I'm feeling sad or bored, or need to feel like I've accomplished something. With the Dr. at Vascular Fellows Bootcamp in Houston all weekend, I needed something to do. So, I whipped up a batch of pretzel bites and invited the neighbors over for some board games!

Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Bites & Vanilla Glaze

I followed Jonna's recipe from Get Off Your Butt and Bake! You can find it here. The genius of this recipe lies in the fact that you get to use purchased, frozen dinner rolls as the base for your pretzels! Jonna recommends Rhodes Texas-sized rolls, so that's what I bought. The recipe says you have to thaw them out, so genius me, I decided to toss the whole bag of rolls in the refrigerator to thaw out overnight. I, um, exploded the bag (these are yeast rolls). Oops. Actually it wasn't too bad, the bag had popped a seam and a big chunk of dough had oozed out. I just cut that part off and continued with the recipe as written, except that I had one ginormous piece of dough to work from instead of individual rolls. Ah, well.

Garlic Parmesan Pretzel Bites

I followed the recipe for the cinnamon sugar bites exactly as outlined in the original recipe, except that I didn't need to let the balls of dough rise before boiling, and I forgot to grease the baking sheet. Don't forget to do this. For the parmesan version, I added a generous shaking of garlic salt to the parmesan before I rolled the bites, and they were DELICIOUS.

I'll definitely be making these again! They're quick, easy and inexpensive, plus you can make a huge platter full of pretzel bites out of just one bag of rolls, so they'd be great for parties.

Oh, and the board game we played?

 

Mid-Life Crisis, ca 1982. What can I say? I go for the obscure.

Deliciousness: Andes Mint Cupcakes

Are you guys on Pinterest? I am, and I find it extremely inspiring; having all those photos of fashion, stylish hairdos, DIY tutorials, enchanting destinations and especially food scroll through my screen is fascinating to me. I've been trying loads of new recipes (you can follow that board of mine here) and thought I might start sharing a few of them with you. Up first is something I just whipped up for the first time today, Andes Mint Cupcakes, from Your Cup of Cake. Lizzy's recipe just sounded so good I had to try it! I'm a sucker for Andes Mints. Anyway, here's my version:

I actually broke out the piping bags!

One thing you can't see from my photo is that these cupcakes are filled with Chocolate Mint goodness. Lizzy suggests using a squeezy bottle to pipe the chocolate inside, but I didn't have one on hand so I just used a small, round pastry tip and a piping bag. I must say, I think a squeezy bottle would be easier, but I got the job done! 

Putting one of these in your mouth is simply magical; you get tangy, fluffy, chocolatey cake, oozing with peppermint chocolate sauce, and creamy, perfect peppermint buttercream. Need I say more? I had to force myself to stop at just one; I'm taking the rest of these around to my local yarn shops this weekend! (Don't you wish you lived near me?)

I made these cupcakes exactly by the recipe; the ONLY thing I changed was that I only put half an Andes on top of my cupcakes, instead of a whole one. From one recipe I was able to make two dozen regular sized cupcakes, and 3 Texas-sized cupcakes. I filled the cupcake liners with two scoops from my small cookie scoop (similar) and they turned out perfectly fluffy! At first I wasn't sure the chocolate filling would get me through all 2 dozen cupcakes, but it did and I was even able to drizzle some over the tops of the cupcakes as in the original blog post. It took me just over an hour from the time I started mixing up the cupcake batter to the time I was finished decorating.

I'll definitely be making these again; in fact, I'll probably be using the cupcake part of the recipe any time I need to make chocolate cupcakes, because the addition of sour cream and buttermilk to the boxed Devil's Food cake mix is a stroke of genius. This was my first time ever filling a cupcake, and now I want to fill all the cupcakes!


Next time: Cream Cheese Filled Snickerdoodles! That's right, I said it. Stay tuned!