Sugar Cookie Bars

To me, Valentines’ Day is a great excuse to go out for a one-on-one date with your man for a fabulous meal.  I try not to put the pressure on for a gift -- but I do put the pressure on for a good reservation ;-)  

So we all know how great those frosted, sprinkled, sugar cookies that you can buy in grocery stores are....they are kind of like cocaine.  These are worse.  They are gooey and soft and the buttercream frosting is amazing.  What I love about them is that the frosting can be dyed any color and decorated to represent any holiday or party theme.  Keep ‘em coming!!!

Sugar Cookie Bars (makes 18 bars)

The Curvy Carrot

For the cookie bars:

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

5 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

For the frosting:

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

Pinch sea salt

4 cups confectioners’ sugar

5 tablespoons milk

Food coloring, as desired

Sprinkles, for garnish, optional

1. For the cookie bars: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Line a rimmed 10 x 15-inch (or 9×9-inch brownie pan) with parchment paper; set aside.

3. In the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

4. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

5. Add the vanilla.

6. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda, mixing well.

7. Reduce the mixer speed to low, and slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture.  Mix until thoroughly combined.

8. Using a rubber spatula, evenly spread the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet (or brownie pan).

9. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.  (They should be light golden brown).

10.  Let cool completely.

11. For the frosting:  In the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

12. Add the vanilla and salt, mixing well.

13. Reduce the mixer speed to low and carefully add the confectioners’ sugar, one cup at a time.

14. Add the milk and mix until smooth.

15. Add your desired amount of food color (if using) and mix until incorporated.

16. Frost and decorate as desired onto the cookie bars.

Mini Baked Churro Bites

Time for Dessert!!  I have to admit, when I have people over for dinner I always seem to skip out on the dessert.  Mostly because I have stuffed my guests with so much food and wine that we literally have to crawl to the couch and the thought of putting one more morsel of food in us is pretty much unbearable.  But this time I stepped up my game and followed through on the dinner party dessert...I even baked...from scratch!  

Traditionally, churros are fried {and outrageously delicious may I add!}, but I tend to stay away from frying whenever possible.  {For one, I try to keep it a teensy bit healthy, and secondly, I despise the smell that fried food leaves lingering in my home}.  So these baked babies are pretty much the equivalent of a cinnamon sugar mini muffin, but dip them in hot fudge and caramel sauce and you’ve got yourself a lovely baked churro to round out your Soutwestern Dinner Party!

Mini Baked Churro Bites

from Erica's Sweet Tooth

for the churros bites:

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 cup milk

for the cinnamon sugar topping:

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a pan of mini muffin tins with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixture, beat together the sugar and butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well combined.

With the mixer on low speed, slowly alternate adding the flour mixture and milk, starting and ending with the flour. Mix until just incorporated.

Use a small cookie scoop to fill each muffin tin and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until just golden brown.

Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

So, I haven’t shared this with anyone yet as I didn’t want to jinx my training through hardcore bragging, but this weekend my husband and I are running a half marathon!  I cannot wait for it to be over so I can get back to my love of cooking, eating, and lying around on my couch.  Training takes up a lot of time!  And since my husband is much MUCH faster than me, it hasn’t been one of those training programs where we are running together side-by-side on the beach, chatting away.  It’s him getting his 10 mile run done in about an hour and 15 minutes and me trecking in from the same run an hour after him, then passing out for 3 hours due to exhaustion.  Phew.  I’m tired just thinking about it. 

Anyway, due to an over-abundance of bananas in our house {for making protein shakes}, I decided to go ahead and use them to make some banana cupcakes.  And what goes better with banana cupcakes than cream cheese frosting?  Duh.  These little moist cakes really made my day today.  I needed that treat to get me out the door for my last run before the race on Saturday!  Boom!  Cupcakes to the face.  Ok people, wish us luck -- can’t wait to have more time to dedicate to this blog, which is a huge source of happiness for me!  Enjoy the cakes!

Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

from Two Peas and Their Pod

For the banana cupcakes:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
2 ripe medium bananas, roughly chopped
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioner's sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and continue to beat, adding one egg at a time until thoroughly combined. Add the sour cream and bananas and mix until combined.

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies

It’s been a long weekend of work for this girl and I need some chocolate and peanut butter in my life!!!!!!!  As many of you know, I’m a pharmacist by day and obsessive home cook/eater by night, so that means working every other weekend in the pharmacy.     

I love my job but these past few days were killer so I’m very much looking forward to a couple days off spent in the kitchen cooking up some eats to show off to all my ChowGals {and ChowGuys -- if you’re out there!}.  Hubs and some friends of ours are also going out to gorge ourselves at a local Brazillian steakhouse tonight -- you know the place where you have the red card/green card and as long as your card is flipped to green the waiters keep bringing you assorted sizzling meat....it’s pretty much any American’s dream...right?  So pumped!  

Ok so these cookies don’t really need an introduction or explanation, for they are glorious.  Just make them and take them to the face, already!  

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c. creamy peanut butter

1 large egg

1 c. sugar, plus more for sprinkling

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp coarse salt

1/2 c. mini milk chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together peanut butter, egg, sugar, baking soda, vanilla and salt until combined.  Fold in chocolate chips with rubber spatula or wooden spoon.  
3. Using a 1 3/4 inch scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheet, spacing 2 inches apart.  Using the lines of a fork, gently press down on each scoop in a crosshatch pattern.  Sprinkle with sugar and transfer to oven.  Bake until slightly puffed, 11 to 12 minutes.  Cookies will still be soft.  Cool for 5 minutes and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Apple Raisin Bars

I really hope I’m not getting into dangerous territory with another apple recipe.  Overkill?  I don’t think so....apples just fit so happily into fall eating....so don’t be surprised if apples show up again in the next 7 days.  Boom.  

Anyway -- these Apple Raisin Bars are so. freaking. scrumptious.   I’ve made them a couple times.  The first time I followed the recipe to the tee {since I’m a little challenged in the baking area, I get a little nervous going out of the box} and they were your typical delicious bars.  This time, I took these babies to the next level by adding some extra apples.  {Actually, I just chopped up way more apples than I needed and thought, “ah, the hell with it, I’ll throw ‘em all in there and see what happens.”}  Well what happened was magical.  After the bars cooled and I began to slice them, I became extremely nervous that they weren’t baked all the way through.  Not the case.  Holy cow, those extra apples just made these bars extra moist and cake-like.  Now, I’m a gigantic fan of apple cake and that’s what the bars tasted like.  W.O.W.  You need these in your life.  Seriously.  Now.

Apple Raisin Bars

from Family Circle Magazine

2 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

2 c. packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 c. (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 c. diced golden delicious apples {I used 2 1/3 - 2 1/2 c.}

3/4 c. raisins

1. Heat oven to 350.  Liberally coat a 13x9x2 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Set aside.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt, set aside.
3. With an electric mixer, blend together sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla for 3 minutes or until smooth.  
4. Reduce speed to low and gradually add flour mixture.  Mix 2 minutes or until just incorporated.  Stir in apples and raisins and spread into prepared pan.  
5. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Cool completely and cut into bars.

LowCountry Boil - Part 3 - Decor & Desserts

So let’s talk about this party decor...I was going for a rustic, Americana look but that kind of took on a mind of it’s own, transforming from red, white and navy to red, white and turquoise.  I thought the turquoise was much more playful.  I also brought in the burlap and craft paper color so everything wasn’t so matchy-matchy.  I thought the colors played on each other nicely.

My most labor-intensive craft was the dot-garland.  I simply picked some scrapbooking paper that had similar colors and designs, cut out a circles and glued them onto twine.  Things got complicated when I realized how many circles I was going to be cutting out, as each dot on the garland was composed of 2 circles.  Needless to say, the cramp in my hand from cutting hung around a few days. {Note to self: invest in punches next time, a la Martha Stewart}  In addition to the scrapbooking paper, I also made a garland with craft paper and newspaper. {I originally planned on covering the tables with newspaper but then I realized, with the help of my mom, that newspaper print + food probably wasn’t a good idea -- either way I loved the color that the newspaper provided in the garland.}

Next, I used some fun fonts and created tags for each of the mason jars that held the SkinnyChow Spiked Arnold Palmers and secured them to the jars with colored bakers twine that I found at Michael’s.  They were a hit along with the paper red and white straws I got on Etsy.  

I also created a Lowcountry Boil sign and a chalkboard menu on white foam board.  I love the foam board because it’s smooth and extremely sturdy.  I just painted the foam board with chalkboard paint and wrote out the menu on it.  Everyone loved it and it was so simple and cheap! {And I can use it again and again!}

On to dessert -- I didn’t get many pictures at all because it was so dark by the time I served dessert but really -- you guys have got to try these Blueberry Pie Cookies.  They are amazing and the crust part of the cookie is tender and flaky and oh-so-good!  I also served Vanilla Caramel Corn in popcorn bags I found on Etsy and my guests loved picking up a bag and snacking on it while they socialized.  

Blueberry Pie Cookies (makes 32 3-inch pies)

from Building Buttercream 

Pie Crust:

2 1/2 c. flour

6 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

2 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter

about 1/2 c. ice water

Filling:

2 1/2 c. blueberries

1/2 c. sugar

juice and zest from 1/2 lemon

1 tbsp melted butter

1 tbsp cornstarch

1. Mix the flour, sugar, and salt together with a fork.
2. Cube butter and “cut” it into the flour mixture until there are no butter bits that are bigger than a pea.  Make sure you don’t go smaller than this because you will lose flakiness.
3. Add the ice water, a tablespoon or two at a time and use a fork to wet the flour/butter mixture.
4. Keep adding until the dough just starts to hold together.  Don’t let the dough get too wet.
5. Divide dough in two, cover each half with plastic wrap and fridge for a couple hours at least.  
6. Toss blueberries, sugar, lemon juice and zest, butter and cornstarch in a medium bowl.  Set aside.
7. Preheat oven to 350 and line the bottom of cookie sheet with parchment paper
8. Remove one of the covered dough halves from fridge.  Divide this in half and roll out on a floured board.
9. Using a 3-inch round cutter, cut eight circles out of pie dough.  Place these on parchment paper, evenly spaced.
10. Spoon a small amount (5 to 6 blueberries and a little sauce) into the center or each pie circle.  
11. Cut eight more circles out of the pie dough and place them on top of the blueberry topped bottom.  Press down the edges with fork and brush with egg yolk.  Sprinkle with sugar.  Cut small slits on top.
12. Bake 10 to 14 minutes and cool on wire rack.  Repeat with rest of dough and berries.

Vanilla Caramel Corn

From Taste of Home 

3 packages butter-flavored microwave popcorn

1 1/3 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 c. light corn syrup

2/3 c. sweetened condensed milk

1/2 c. butter, cubed

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Pop popcorn according to manufacturer’s directions.  Transfer to two very large bowls; discard any unpopped kernels.
2. In a large heavy saucepan, combine brown sugar and corn syrup.  Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 3 minutes.  Carefully stir in milk and butter; return to a boil.
3. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.  Pour over popcorn and toss to coat.  Spread in a single layer on a greased 15-in x 10-in x 1-in baking pans.
4. Bake at 250 for 40 minutes, stirring once.  Remove from pans and place on waxed paper to cool.  Break into clusters and store in airtight containers.

All in all, I think my first Lowcountry Boil was a success. If I could do anything different next time, I’d get a bigger pot to do the boil in and I would definitely do the boil over an open flame to be more authentic.  Hopefully next year!

Blackberry Scones

A few months ago, some friends and I had one of those “nights to remember” that started innocently enough with a couple happy hour cocktails then somehow ending up at a dance club filled with tourists at 2am.  We capped the night off with a cab ride to my house and hosting a sleepover {{after some 3am poker...}}.  And let me tell you, it takes a lot of fun to keep me up past 11pm these days.  The next morning, I somehow woke up extremely early so I thought, “Hey, why not make some breakfast!”  Thinking the smell of delicious baked goods and coffee would wake up my guests, I starting whipping up these Blackberry Scones {{using those fresh wild blackberries my husband and I picked near our house -- they freeze amazingly well!!}}.  

My trick worked -- pretty soon my guests were awake and eating piping hot scones, fresh from the oven.  These were super easy to throw together and perfect with the homemade blackberry jam that my mom sent me!  

Blackberry Scones (6 to 8 scones)

Paula Deen

1 c. all purpose flour

1 c. whole wheat pastry flour

6 tbsp sugar, divided

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 c. butter

1 large egg

1/2 c. 2% milk, divided

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 c. fresh blackberries

1. Preheat oven to 375.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, 1/4 c. sugar, baking powder and salt.  Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.  Form a well in center of flour mixture.  
3. In a small bowl, whisk egg, 7 tbsp milk and vanilla.  Pour into well; stir until just combined.  Gently stir in blackberries.  Mixture will be crumbly.
4. Using floured hands, gently press dough into an 8 inch round on baking sheet.  Brush with remaining milk and sprinkle with remaining sugar.  Bake 20-22 minutes.  Cool completely on wire rack.  Cut into 6 to 8 wedges.