Pecan Treats

One of my dad's all time favorite desserts is pecan pie, of course in addition to sweet meats, cheesecake, and anything chocolate/peanut butter....now you see where I get my sweet tooth from :) Since we deprived him of one of his tasty treats this holiday season with no pecan pie at Thanksgiving or Christmas, I figured I'd make it up to him with a new recipe I found in one of my favorite presents this year, the Gourmet Cookie Book. Ever since my discontinued favorite cooking magazine announced the publishing of the cookie bible, I wanted it. Badly. There are so many recipes I want to make in there, maybe on will pop out of the oven today, who knows!

But back to the pecan treats, that is the point of this post right? Dad loves them. Mom can't stop eating them. And I, a pecan-hater (sorry all you pecan lovers out there, but I don't know how you do it) actually have had a few myself, so yup- they may have started my conversion to the pecan-likers. The shortbread base is to die for, I mean, who doesn't like short bread? To quote the book "the enormously rich and nutty squares will remind you of a French nut tart, but they require only a fraction of the effort" how easy and delicious is that??

Cloudt's Pecan Treats

From The Gourmet Cookie Book

For Crust

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2 3/4 cup all purpose flour

For pecan topping

1 1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup half-and-half

3 3/4 cups pecan, chopped

Make crust:

Preheat the oven to 375F and butter a 15x10 inch jelly roll pan. In a large bowl, or the base of a standing mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs until well incorporated and the mixture is still light and fluffy. Gradually add in the flour with the mixer speed on low: when the dough begins to come together try not to over mix it, but transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet and press it evenly over the base of the pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until it is light gold. Remove from oven and allow to cool while you prepare the pecans topping.

Make pecan topping:

In a large saucepan, melt the brown sugar, butter, honey and half-and-half over moderate heat, whisking continuously until the mixture comes to a boil. Stir in the pecans and remove from heat. Spread the mixture evenly over the base and bake for another 15 minutes (still at 375F) or until the top is a bubbly little heaven. Allow to fully cool on a wire rack before cutting into bars and serving.

Sweet Meats

First, a clarification: there is no meat in this recipe despite the deceitful name. However, these tasty treats are sweet, so at least a portion of the recipe's name is accurate.

But who really cares about the recipes name anyways? I mean, in a way it could matter. If I hadn't grown up devouring these sweet confections my mom baked up every year around the holidays I would be cautious trying something with the title sweet meats. Even now, I still get the question '"is there really meat in those? They look too good to have meat in them!" No meat. Simply delicious. Extremely addictive.

The shortbread base made of only brown sugar, butter and flour somewhat caramelizes while baking in the oven, leaving you with a soft, sweet, chewy, and super butter crust that makes you wish you could just eat the crust by the spoonful. And the topping. Let's just say this little wahoo never liked walnuts, and then I had sweet meats. It was love at first bite. Or should I say mouthful. The delicate sweetness of the coconut paired with the rustic walnuts come together for a crunchy yet chewy, sweet with a hint of salt, perfect topping. What could be better?

Sweet Meats

From The Silver Palate Cookbook

For crust

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 2/3 cups light brown sugar

1 2/3 cups flour

For filling

1 cup light brown sugar

4 large eggs

2 tablespoons flour

pinch of salt

2 cups walnuts, roughly chopped

1 cup shredded coconut

Make crust:

Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 9x13 metal baking pan. Cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the flour in three batches, incorporating well after each addition but being careful not to over mix after the final addition. Spread the mixture in the prepared pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Make filling:

While the crust is baking, make the filling. Whisk together the sugar and eggs in a medium sized bowl. Add in the flour, and mix well until there are no white streaks or clumps. Fold in the walnuts and coconut with a spatula.

Pour on top of the crust after its removal from the oven. Bake for 20 to 25 additional minutes or until the topping is set. Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting and serving.

Browned Butter Snickerdoodle Blondies

I really have to stop claiming that the goodies I make are the the best I've ever had because they just keep getting better. This is definitely good for my baking skills and taste buds, but my waistline? Not so much. With all this good stuff it's almost as if as soon as I have one, I want another....and then another...and then just one more tiny bite. Really, who can resist?

I've wanted to make snickerdoodle blondies ever since my good friend from school told me she made them and fell in love; she's an amazing baker too so I had to take her up on her word. Also, my sister's absolute favorite cookies growing up were snickerdoodles and since my mom rarely (if ever?) made them, I figured I've give the blondie version a shot- but with a twist. Browned butter. Boy, am I glad I did.

Just the smell of the browned butter is a heavenly aroma that some genius could probably bottle and make millions off of. Me? I'll just keep making it :) It gives the blondies almost a caramely aspect, and you know how I love caramel. These blondies were perfect. Dense, but light. Caramely but the best snickerdoodle-y taste throughout and on top. Delish.

*And, to further prove my point of how good they were: they were all gone when I finally got the chance to take a picture. And note this is a day and a half after I made them...

Brown Butter Snickerdoodle Blondies

Adapted from Brow Eyed Baker

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

2 2/3 cup flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

2 cups packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tbs. vanilla

2 tbs. white sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium low heat. Continue to cook the butter after melting, until it begins to foam heavily and then subside, about 2 minutes: once the butter has stopped foaming, it should have a rich, almost nutty smell, and the color should be a light brown. Remove from heat, pour into a large bowl, and whisk in the sugar. Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 9x13 baking pan. In a medium size bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

Return your attention back to the browned butter/sugar mixture. With the mixer speed on low, beat the mixture to ensure they are fully incorporated. Add in the vanilla, and then the eggs one at a time, beating all together just about a minute when totaled. Beat in the flour until just mixed and then transfer to the prepared baking pan; the mixture will be thick.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining cinnamon and sugar and then sprinkle over top the blondies. Bake for 25 minutes or until the surface has a springy feeling when touched. Cool completely before cutting.

Creamy Lemon Crumb Bars

Creamy Lemon Crumb Bars

Adapted from Blue Ridge Baker

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup oats

1 1/3 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup lemon juice (about 2 1/2 lemons)

zest of 2 lemons

Preheat the oven to 350F and grease an 8x11 in. baking dish (you can use a 9in. or a 9x13 as well though they seemed to fit like a dream in this size).

Combine the butter, brown sugar, flour, oats, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl with your hands until the butter has been incorporated evenly and the mixture is crumby. Press half of the mixture in the bottom of the baking dish, leaving the remaining half for later.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the condensed milk, juice and zest until mixed thoroughly then pour over the bottom crust. Then, sprinkle the remaining half of the mixture over the top and bake for 27-30 minutes of until the top crust is golden. Serve with fresh berries!

Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies

Now I know I said my favorite cheesecake is the Dulce de Leche cheesecake from the Factory, but the close runner up is their white chocolate raspberry; so decadent, rich and satisfying I always have to sneak a bite from my sister as it's her favorite that she repeatedly orders. So considering that the closest Cheesecake Factory is over an hour away and I was craving this heavenly dessert, I set out on a mission to whip up my own version.

After searching endlessly for a somewhat similar recipe, or one other than the Kraft one that kept showing up on my search results (thanks Google....), I stumbled upon one that was close to what I wanted- only one big problem though, it was an English Recipe so all of the measurements were in grams and milliliters, and the brownies were dark chocolate.

So after doing home grueling conversions, or simply typing it into a converter online... and tweaking the chocolates and other flavors, I ended up creating possibly one of my top 5 desserts I've ever made. Oh, and my sister, she was in heaven and proclaimed it her new favorite dessert, saying how it would be perfect for easter due to the soft hues of color, or her birthday, or basically any time she wanted it...thanks Jacks.

But really, make this! It's not hard, but does use quite a few bowls, although they really are completely worth it. Sometimes you find that white chocolate can be a little too sweet, but that's not the case here. The brownie base complements the cheesecake layer so well it's almost as if they were meant to be together. And the raspberry cream...it really is indescribable, you have to try for yourself to experience it :)

Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies

For brownie layer:

8 oz. good white chocolate

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

2 sticks butter at room temperature

3 eggs

2/3 cup flour

For cheesecake layer:

2 8oz. packages of cream cheese, softened

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 eggs

For raspberry cream topping:

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup fresh/frozen raspberries

Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease a 9x13in. baking dish then line with parchment paper for easy removal.

Depending on how you prefer to melt chocolate (either in a double boiler with the chocolate in a heat proof bowl placed over a pot of simmering water or microwaving for 25 seconds at a time on low heat, stirring after each increment until melted smooth) melt the chocolate and allow to somewhat cool while you prepare the rest of the brownie layer.

Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. After achieving this point, add in the eggs one at a time, making sure each is thoroughly incorporated before adding the next. Gradually beat in the flour and then the melted chocolate. Spread over the bottom of the baking dish.

Next, blend the cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy and all of the sugar is mixed in well with no lumps. Add in the vanilla extract and eggs, one at a time. Spread this mixture on top of the white brownie layer.

Bake in a pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes or until the cheesecake topping is firm to a touch and the edges are slightly golden. Allow to cool thoroughly before placing in the refrigerator to cool completely.

Finally to top it all off, literally, mash the raspberries through a sieve, discarding the juices and simply keeping the raspberry parts. Whip those along with the heavy cream and sugar (you can even add a splash of your favorite raspberry liquor to intensify the flavor) and spread on top of the cheesecake layer. Allow to cool/set overnight in the fridge then enjoy!