Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

In college, the girls and I had a habit of buying holiday edition Reese’s peanut butter cups whenever we went to CVS. The problem was that it was always Halloween, or Valentine’s Day, or Easter and there was always an excuse for a jumbo sized Reese’s. I’ll keep the rest of my thoughts on this bad habit to myself. The bottom line is, we clearly love the chocolate peanut butter combo, so for Cara’s birthday this seemed like a good starting point.

Certainly birthdays should be celebrated with cakes; however, sometimes transporting cakes or cupcakes is a bit too cumbersome. Traveling with a large cake tuperware isn’t the most convenient and certainly doesn’t work if you are going to a restaurant or bar. For such occasions I am a big fan of sandwich cookies. They can be stacked, and you can put a candle in them. So, a search for a good chocolate peanut butter cookie began… I found a recipe for Whoopie Pies on Epicurious (originally from Gourmet), that sounded delicious. With a bit of adjusting the filling became peanut butter and Cara’s insanely rich birthday “cookies” were created.

These were huge and shareable. So good that the few leftovers I had at home got given to the doormen so I wouldn’t be tempted by the gluttonous cookies.

Happy Baking. Whoop it up!

Zucchini Bread

Life is good. I’m summering in London with my cousin and three of the cutest little kiddies ever.

And, it just so happens Eitan loves to cook. He has become my sous chef (how lucky am I?) as we’ve made cupcakes, playdough and zucchini bread.

My memory of zucchini bread is that my moms weird friend Karen used to bring it over. She was uptight, clearly didn’t like kids, and brought over bread made from vegetables – eew. However, given that Marcy bought a humongous zucchini at the farmer’s market that had gone unused, I decided to get over my dislike for Karen, and zucchini bread… of course Smitten Kitchen had a recipe and so I had to look no further.

We made one loaf and 9 muffins – they were yummy, and kid-approved. If I made these again, I would definitely substitute some whole wheat flour, and maybe something lowfat (applesauce? Buttermilk?) for some of the oil. I don’t have any need to fuss with cakes and cookies, but zucchini bread seems like it should be healthy – and these were tasty enough that they could definitely be lower fat and still be good. Experimenting comes next…

Until then, happy baking (I hope you find a sous chef as cute as mine!)

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup olive or vegetable oil
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (*skipped)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 - 1 cup chopped walnuts/pecans, or dried cranberries, raisins or chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grease and flour two 8×4 inch loaf pans. Or line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk.

Mix in oil and sugar, then zucchini and vanilla.

Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt, as well as nuts, chocolate chips and/or dried fruit, if using.

Stir this into the egg mixture. Divide the batter into prepared pans.

Bake loaves for 50-70 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
Bake muffins for approximately 20 to 25 minutes.

Lemon Passover Cheesecake

We always end our Passover Seder with a sponge cake.  My dad’s mom, Grandma Gertie used to make it.  When the tradition was passed down, I felt somewhat honored to be making Grandma’s cake, until one day I realized Grandma’s recipe was pretty identical to the one found on the Manischevitz cake meal box.  I felt like Monica after she tried to perfect Phoebe’s special chocolate cookie recipe.  If you don’t know what I mean, you should be ashamed and then watch this.

Anyway, ever since the realization that Grandma’s cake was more of a generic Passover sponge cake recipe than a secret family recipe, I have realized how average that cake is (sorry Brinks).  We still make the cake for Grandma’s sake, she’s 92 after all, but this year I was finally home in time to make something more exciting for night two.

I found a recipe for Passover Cheesecake on Epicurious that had great reviews (4 forks!).  The crust is made from almonds and matzo meal and cheesecake is already Passover ready.  My first attempt at cheesecake was mighty good. 

Happy Passover.  And, Happy Updating!

Confetti Cupcakes

I grew up on Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix.  While I am certainly not a fan of cake mixes these days, I do admit that there is a tendency for cakes from a mix to come out perfectly moist, whereas cakes from scratch are much harder to get just right.  I am always searching for a great cake recipe… nothing fancy, but one where I control the ingredients (I’d prefer to avoid Maltodextrin, Xanthan Gum, and yellow food dye).  Not surprisingly, I found my new go-to on Smitten Kitchen.  Described as the Best Yellow Cake, it really is easy, moist and delicious. 

This time, I decided to get a little crazy.  A friend just mentioned that she had homemade Funfetti cake for her birthday and I thought Clare’s birthday would be the perfect occasion to add a little pizazz to the plain yellow cake.  Funfetti is actually a Pillsbury cake mix, but I figured all I needed to make my own confetti cake was some rainbow sprinkles.  As they dissolve in the batter of a simple yellow cake they form colorful, confetti-like spots.  The results were yummy and adorable…

Happy Caking!

Macarons

Macarons are French Almond Macaroons... I always thought I hated macaroons because to me macaroons come in a can at Passover... yuck.  I hate coconut and have been known to pretend I'm allergic to it... but those canned, dense Maneschevitz cookies have nothing to do with French Macarons.

Macarons are airy, almondy sandwich cookies typically filled with buttercream.  For less typical, and exceptionally delicious macarons try Dutch Epicure Bakery in Amherst NH or Lakota Bakery in Arlington MA. Unreal.

Getting them to be the right consistency seemed a bit daunting so I teamed up with some fabulous bakers to tackle these beauties.  Martha Stewart over-complicated things a bit, but it turned out these were totally do-able. Doing the buttercream the day before could definitely be a time saver.  So, grab some friends, some booze, and get to it.

Happy Macaron-ing

Chimichurri Sauce

Usually when I cook I don't really use recipes... but this delicious steak dinner involves a chimichurri sauce worthy of sharing. Chimichurri is basically Argentinian pesto with parsley instead of basil. Super easy to make. And, you should know by now, that I love the idea of super simple recipes that impress. The best part is you probably have everything in your house besides the parsley. So, buy some parsley and invite someone over for dinner. I'm pretty sure most people will think you are serving them something fancy if you serve them steak with chimichurri... your secret is safe with me.

Happy Cooking!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup loosely packed flat-leaf parsley
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tablespoon fresh oregano leaves (or 2 tsp. dried oregano)
• 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt, Pepper, Crushed Red Pepper

Directions:

Add ingredients to food processor and pulse until combined. Add salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste. (We also added some lemon for a little freshness).

Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies

December is cookie month. Cookies for holiday parties, cookies for family and friends, and quite honestly, cookies because I have a ton of time off and need to keep busy! I figured that it was time to introduce a few new recipes into the rotation... the first of which is salted oatmeal cookies. The original recipe is from Cook's Illustrated and then it was adapted a bit by Deb of Smitten Kitchen fame... Love Cook's Illustrated, Love SK, Love Salt... game on.

Happy December Cookie-ing!