New in the Kitchen » desserts

Grown-Up S’Mores

newinthekitchen — Sun, 23 May 2010 15:14:24 +0000

It’s getting to be camping, campfire, and s’more season! Yay!! Here is a wonderful spin on s’more. Oh my goodness, these are so good! This is a recipe based off of an article I read in Sunset Magazine and it is amazingly good! This recipe will make one S’More. Also check out the other “grown-up” S’More combinations at the bottom of the recipe (taken from Sunset Magazine article)!!

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon peanut butter (preferably at room temperature, for easy spreading)
2 graham crakers
2 squares of a chocolate bar
1 skewer-toasted marshmallow

Directions:
1. Spread peanut butter onto one of the graham crackers.

2. Slide marshmallow off skewer onto peanut butter.

3. Top with chocolate and remaining wafer and squish down gently.

More S’Mores for grown-ups:
- Thin peanut-butter cookies with Nutella, sliced banana, and marshmallow.

- Thin peanut-butter cookies with bittersweet chocolate, caramel sauce, and marshmallow.

- Graham crackers with a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, sliced banana, and marshmallow.

- Gingersnaps with a caramel-filled chocolate square and marshmallow.

- Graham crackers with plain dark chocolate, marshmallow, and strawberry slices.

Chocolate Ravioli

newinthekitchen — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:35:44 +0000

These little raviolis are made with wonton wrappers and then fried like a normal wonton. What’s great then is that the chocolate oozes out of the wonton when you bite into it! You can use any kind of candy bar that you like. Delicious!!!

Ingredients:
1 package of wonton wrappers (we usually buy them in a package of about 36-40 wrappers)
2 king size chocolate candy bars of your choice (we used Snickers), cut into ½” slices
Canola oil, for frying
Pinch of finely ground sea salt

Directions:
1. Place one Won Ton wrap on work surface. Then put a slice of the candy bar in the middle. Fold the wonton wrap in half and moisten edges to seal.

2. Set aside until all are made. Heat canola oil in a large wok or heavy-bottom pot.

3. Fry raviolis until golden brown, then remove to a paper towel to drain. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Serve warm.

Enjoy!

Holiday Cyber Tuesday #4: DESSERTS!!

newinthekitchen — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 01:06:37 +0000

I can’t believe how fast time has gone by this month! I feel like I just wrote my first Holiday edition of Cyber Tuesday, not like I’m writing my fourth!! Let’s recap… Our first Cyber Tuesday of our “25 Days of Holiday Ideas” provided some links to great appetizers for the Holidays. The next week we gave you some ideas for fun Holiday cocktails! Last week we decided to get serious and gave you some delicious ideas for meats and sides for your Holiday dinner. That brings us to this week…DESSERTS! The best part of any Holiday meal.

Here are some wonderful recipes we found around the web:

1. Mint Chocolate Crinkles – Ok, YUM! This recipe looks amazing. My coworker made something similar as a treat for everyone in the office and they were delicious.

2. Mini Eggnog Popcorn Balls – These look like a wonderful (and fun!) treat to share with loved ones for the Holidays. Who doesn’t love popcorn!?!

3. Make a Sugar Cookie Tree – SO cute!! Might require quite a few cookie cutters but the end product is so neat that it just may be worth it! This would be a great way to give family or friends some Holiday cookies!

4. Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies – These look so festive and tasty! I love the idea of putting the chocolate bark on top of shortbread. Yummm. Seems pretty simple to make.

5. Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting – A wonderful way to top our brownies or many other Holiday cakes or desserts.

We hope you and your loved ones have had and continue to have a wonderful Holiday season!

Chewie & Delicious Brownies

newinthekitchen — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:49:04 +0000

These brownies would make a perfect Holiday treat for any occasion – a party, an open-house, or just anytime that you feel like adding a little chocolate goodness to your day. You could even bake up a few batches and give them out to carolers or to your coworkers and friends. They are delicious!

This recipe is an old favorite in Brady’s family. He had them a lot when he was growing up and would make them with his grandparents. These brownies are very good and VERY chocolaty and gooey. Yum!

Ingredients:
½ cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
6 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon water
½ cup sifted flour
½ cup chopped walnuts

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325◦F.

2. Combine butter and sugar with a hand mixed.

3. Slowly beat in the eggs. Then add in cocoa powder, vanilla, and flour. Mix.

4. Then add in water and walnuts.

5. Grease an 8″ x 8″ pan. Pour batter into pan and bake for about 35 minutes.

To make the frosting, combine:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons cocoa
4 tablespoons milk (but pour slowly, you may not need to use it all)

Hint: After brownies cook and cool, frost them and put in the refrigerator. This makes them chewy and delicious!!

For an added sugar rush, try serving warm with a scoop of ice cream on top! Mmmmm.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie

newinthekitchen — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:15:39 +0000

Yum! This recipe is one that I got from my dad’s collection. He generally makes it every year for either (or both) Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is a delicious pie.

Ingredients:
3 eggs
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup of pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup pecans
1 ½ tablespoon corn starch
2 tablespoons whiskey (we use Jack Daniels)
About 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips (or enough to cover the bottom of a pie shell)

1 store-bought pie shell (usually found in the frozen foods area)
Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream to serve with pie

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a mixing bowl add the following ingredients: eggs, brown sugar, maple syrup, butter, vanilla extract, pecans, corn starch, and whiskey.

3. Add a layer of semi-sweet chocolate chips to the bottom of the pie shell.

4. Pour the pie mixture over the chocolate chips.

5. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, but take a look at the pie after 50 minutes. If the top is starting to burn, take it out of the oven.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

TIP: My dad says that the only problem with this pie recipe, is that nobody will ever think that you made enough!

Thanksgiving Cyber Tuesday #4

newinthekitchen — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:41:46 +0000

This is our fourth and final Cyber Tuesday that will be dedicated to Thanksgiving! We will be officially into the Holiday season by next Tuesday! Woohoo!! I felt that it would be fitting to have our final Thanksgiving Countdown links be for desserts. Yum! I got a funny email from my coworker today that reminded its recipients that “stressed” spelled backwards is “desserts”. How fitting! Hope you all aren’t stressed about Thanksgiving and cooking and family and all…but if you are, have yourself a bite of one of these great desserts!

1. Blackberry Fruit Tart – For a delicious, fruity option for your Thanksgiving dessert spread, definitely take a look at this recipe!

2. Apple Crisp – This happens to be the recipe that Brady and I are using this Thanksgiving! My coworker gave it to me as the recipe that she ALWAYS uses. We thought we’d like to bring something fruity to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving because they are making Pumpkin Pie and Mincemeat Pie. (TIP: My coworker said that she doubles the “crumble” part of the recipe and puts some on the bottom of the pan under the apples). We plan on serving this dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!

3. Pear Right-Side-Up Cake – The pictures of the cake slices on this blog are a-m-a-z-i-n-g! I think I’m actually drooling! This recipe seems easy to follow and the end result looks really delicious.

4. Easy Pumpkin Crumble – Yum! What a neat twist on your average Pumpkin Pie! This would be a wonderful dessert to serve with some vanilla ice cream!

5. Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie – This link will take you to a delicious dessert on OUR blog! This recipe is one of my dad’s classics; he has been making it for years! Yum!

Halloween Cupcakes!

newinthekitchen — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:33:14 +0000

Our first six!

Hooray for Halloween! We have had such a fun day today! Decorating for the Trick-or-Treaters, carving pumpkins, decorating cupcakes, perfecting our costumes, etc.

Alright, let’s just get something out in the open before we get really deep into our cupcake conversation. I’m not a great baker. There…I said it…done. Therefore the secret to our delicious, moist cupcakes is literally up to our good friends Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker. They are GENIUS!

Whole lotta cupcakes!

Once our cupcakes were baked and cooled we went crazy with the decorations. We used mini marshmallows, sprinkles, gummy worms, red hots, candy corn and candy pumpkins, cookies, and LOTS of frosting. I’m especially proud of my mummy cupcake and my cat cupcake.

Here kitty, kitty!

Did any of you do any fun baking or themed cooking for a Halloween party or the Trick-or-Treaters? Share what you did with us!

Ok, we are off to start getting dressed in our costumes and ready for a spooky Halloween night! Hope all of you ghouls and guys have a wonderful rest of this fun-filled holiday!