Grocery List

There are a lot of reasons to buy grocery store goodies. Sometimes you don't have time to bake. Sometimes you want to try something new. And sometimes something just looks damn delicious. Here are a few of the grocery store items that are floating my boat right about now.

Biscoff Cookies

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You might know these European-style cookies from Delta flights. They will always remind me of vacations and of my Dad, who always steals them from the Crown Room (I don't care what it's called now; that will always be its name) so he has a whole cabinet full of them. You can order them from Biscoff's website (and get Delta SkyMiles!), but that's a little too much work for me. Luckily, Trader Joe's has released Bistro Cookies, which are ridiculously cheap and taste just like the real thing. Yum!

Ben & Jerry's Fossil Fuel Ice Cream

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I LOVE Ben & Jerry's, but I usually only allow myself to buy their frozen yogurt (or anyone's FroYo, for that matter). Lately the bodega across the street has been out of B&J FroYo; seeing as it was too hot to walk and I was dying for some frozen goodness, I had to try something new. I couldn't resist the chocolate dinosaurs! The best part of the ice cream? The cookie pieces. So delicious!

Trader Joe's Peanut Butter Goodies

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My roommates bought me these when I ended my diet after my sister's wedding. It's a cookie topped with peanut butter mousse, then covered in chocolate, and sprinkled with peanuts. They are magical. Go buy some immediately.

Chocolate Chips

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I always keep chocolate chips on hand to bake with, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't eat a tablespoon or two as a snack now and then. Lately, I've also had white chocolate chips and peanut butter chips around too. Chips are the perfect little (surprisingly low calorie) treat to satisfy your sweet tooth without breaking your budget, busting your diet, or ruining your dinner.

What are you nomming on from the grocery story lately?

Teaser: Peanut Butter S'Mores Bites

Last week, I invented a recipe. This is a first for me. It is a huge deal. I know, for most of the food bloggers out there it's a weekly thing, but I had been in a bit of a baking funk, and this adventure in originality reminded me that I know flavors work and I'm not completely inept with candymaking.

Now, I don't want to share the recipe just yet because it's not perfect - at this point, the measurements are all eyeballed and it would be pretty difficult for me to teach y'all how to replicate it. But I do want to let you know that these delicious little wonders exist. I'm still not quite sure if I should classify them as a cookie or a candy, but suffice to say, they rock.

So why am I telling you about them if I'm not sharing the how-to with the world? Because over on my personal blog I cosponsor this awesome thing called Freeky Friday. Every Friday, my sister and I invite you to blog, tweet, and/or comment on Facebook to promote positivity, unity and love - all wrapped up in a clothing line called Freekware. Every time someone does any of these things, they are entered to win a delicious treat and a donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in their name. Last month, Jessica won some Brownie-Covered Oreos. This month, our winner will receive these Peanut Butter S'Mores Bites! Now, there are five Fridays in July, so if you blog, tweet, and comment on Facebook every week, you'll be entered fifteen times!

For more on Freeky Friday, check out Concrete Jane (my personal blog), Dr. Princess (my sister blog), and the Freekware Facebook page. Hope to see you on Friday - and to send you some goodies at the end of the month!

Six-And-A-Half Layer Squares

Baked goods are the perfect gift. They are cheaper than real presents, more personal than a store-bought birthday cake, and you can guarantee the birthday boy or girl is going to love your gift. One of my closest friends and frequent nompanions celebrated her birthday this weekend, and I was at a loss for the perfect recipe. She loves chocolate, but I've also seen her eat fruity things (mostly banana or lime flavored goodies). She also had some specific requests about peanut butter - it wasn't her favorite, but she didn't mind it. I had already made cupcakes, so those were off the table. I reached out to my friends & followers and decided to make Seven Layer Bars, aka Magic Bars.

I picked a recipe from the amazing Brown Eyed Baker because I could count the seven layers - and that was VERY important to me. I then decided to swap out butterscotch chips for peanut butter chips (I like peanut butter MUCH better), but to only put them on half of the pan, since the birthday girl is not a huge PB fan. Hence, six-and-a-half layer bars... that later became squares due to the smallness of the pan I had available. Either way, they were magic.

Ingredients/Layers:

1. Graham cracker crust (9 full graham crackers + 1 stick of melted butter)
2. Chopped walnuts (1 cup)
3. Semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup)
4. White chocolate chips (1/2 cup)
5. Peanut butter chips (1/2 cup - I reduced to 1/4 cup since I only used them on half the pan)
6. Sweetened coconut (1 cup)
7. Sweetened condensed milk (1 14 ounce can)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a pan (I used 8x8, original recipe recommends 9x13) with nonstick cooking spray. Line with aluminum foil, and spray again. Be sure to leave the foil hanging over the edges to act as handles to lift out the bars.

Spread the coconut on a baking sheet and bake until the outer flakes begin to brown, about 4 minutes. Watch it! Coconut can go from delightfully toasty to burnt in a matter of seconds. Set aside.

Meanwhile, crush those graham crackers. Break them into manageable pieces and place in a gallon-sized freezer bag. Enlist the help of a friend or roommate so you can do other things while this is happening. Sweetened condensed milk makes a wonderful rolling pin.

And when that doesn't work, a bottle of tequila is a useful tool as well.

Melt the butter in a small bowl, then pour in the graham cracker crumbs. I used a spatula to get it going, then tossed with my fingers until totally combined.  Press the crumbs evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.

In order, sprinkle the walnuts, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and coconut  over the graham crumbs. Take a moment to admire all the goodness.

Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the entire dish.

Bake until the top is golden brown, about 25 minutes. This is where I ran into trouble with the 8x8 pan. I left it in for a couple more minutes, then turned it down and gave it a few more minutes so the outside wouldn't burn but the inside would still set. Use your eyes and nose, and you'll know when they're done.

Cool in the pan on top of your useless radiator on a wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours.

Remove the bars from the pan using the foil handles and transfer to a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut into 2x3 inch bars or 16 squares, depending on the size of your pan.

These bars were truly magic - super easy to make, totally delicious, and a huge hit! Bonus perk: I now have a ton of leftover ingredients to inspire the next round of baked goods!

Have you ever given homemade goodies as a gift?

Disaster Cakes

It appears as though I am in a bit of a baking funk. Great timing, considering I just got this blog and all. I am determined to get out of this funk, but in the meantime, I'd like to tell you all about Disaster Cakes.

A few weeks ago, we went out for one of my roommate's birthdays at Dinosaur BBQ in Harlem. As we were wrapping up dinner, we decided we needed to walk up to Fairway to digest a little before walking home and sitting on our butts like the fat loads we felt like (post-Dino fatness is the best of all fatnesses). Since we were going to the supermarket, my roomies asked what cupcakes would I be buying ingredients for. Homemade Hostess Cupcakes, I declared. I knew I had a recipe in my Martha Stewart Cupcakes book, and I was ready to try it.

(Source: Martha Stewart)

Everyone got instantly excited. I pulled the recipe up on my phone and quickly saw that it only made 12 cupcakes. I would double it! But wow, that seemed like a lot of butter and Marshmallow Fluff for 24 cupcakes. That's because the recipe made 12 jumbo cupcakes, which translates to 24 regular cupcakes. I now had the ingredients to make 48 Homemade Hostess Cupcakes. I have a class of 18 and a friend's birthday coming up... no problem! I soon realized I wanted nothing to do with more than 24 of these cupcakes.

Many things went wrong yesterday. First of all, let's talk about the definition of "room temperature." The Internet defines room temperature as between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit (roughly). When it is 95 degrees outside and you are in an unairconditioned and poorly ventilated room, your room's temperature is going to be a little warmer. Add a 350 degree oven and a cook running around like a chicken with her head cut off to that, and you're basically cooking outside in the New York City summer. My tiny hurricane fan couldn't keep up! I blame the temperature for the majority of things that happened with these cupcakes.

The rest of the things that went wrong were totally my fault. I thought I knew more than Martha. Cooking Rule #346: You NEVER know more than Martha! There was a reason these cupcakes were supposed to be jumbo. There was a reason these cupcakes were unlined and the pans greased a certain way. And there was a reason she outlined a ridiculously detailed method of filling these cupcakes. I'm sorry I doubted you, Martha. My laziness will be my demise.

Let's get right to it. For the complete, accurate, uninterrupted recipe, check out Martha's website.

Jumbo Cream-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes (from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes)

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for tins
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for tins
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup sour cream, room temperature

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush tins with butter; dust with cocoa powder, tapping out excess.

Here's where I thought I knew more than Martha. Brushing the tins and dusting with cocoa took forever, dyed my finger brown, and honestly didn't look to be creating a really great protective coating. For my second muffin tin, I sprayed liberally with nonstick cooking spray. It would be an experiment. Which would work better?

Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

With the exception of creaming butter & sugar together, I mix all of my cakes by hand. Always.

Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, and mixing until just incorporated after each.

My batter was super lumpy, so I broke my own rule and gave it a little spin with my hand mixer.

Divide batter evenly among prepared cups, filling each with about 1/4 cup (1/2 cup if you're making jumbo cakes).

Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in tins 5 minutes, then run a small knife around the edges to loosen; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely.

Remember when I said I don't have cooling racks or a cupcake carrier? Well, I bought a carrier, but not racks... so I used my carrier as a cooling rack! It worked a lot better and took up a lot less space than the plates I had been using.

I bet you're dying to know the results of the experiment. Just kidding, you totally already know. Martha was right, and I was wrong.

The actual cakes weren't a total disaster. It was the Marshmallow Cream Filling that did me in.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups marshmallow cream, such as Marshmallow Fluff
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature

Directions

Whisk marshmallow cream and butter until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until slightly firm, 15 to 30 minutes, before using.

I should have chilled for longer. I should have stopped filling halfway through and re-chilled. It was too damn hot in my kitchen, and the runny Fluff filling got everywhere. Fluff on the table. Fluff on the floor. Fluff clogging my drain. Fluff on my brand new apron. Somehow, someway, Fluff on my cabinets?

I did not follow Martha's filling directions at all. At this point, I was frustrated and my kitchen was a disaster. It was hot, and I was tired. I put my Fluff in a piping bag with a filling tip, poked a hole in the top of the cake, and filled until it oozed out. The cakes were already ugly - they were all short, some were burnt, and half were missing chunks out of the bottom. I no longer cared. I had accepted Disaster Cakes for what they are - a delicious mess.

I brought them to class that night, and they were a big hit. I apologized a million times, but no one seemed to care that they were hideous. One of my classmates, a far more experienced baker than I, talked me though my disaster and advised me to chalk it up to the temperature and move on. I will not be making these again - at least not without jumbo tins and the proper filling technique. Instead, I'm going to find something else to do with the leftover Fluff and sour cream, although I'm not quite sure what that is...

So what have we learned?

1. Don't bake at noon in the summer in your unairconditioned dorm.
2. Marshmallow Fluff was created by the devil to destroy your kitchen.
3. Nobody cares how things look as long as they taste good.
4. I do not know more about cupcakes than Martha Stewart.

What was your biggest baking disaster?