Cadbury Creme Egg Brownies

I'll be completely honest with you, I am not in love with Cadbury creme eggs.  I am much more of a Cadbury mini-egg addict. But, since it's that time of year and this guy I live with seems to love those sugar bombs I decided to make a cream egg dessert.

Cadbury Creme Egg Brownies
Adapted from Love and Olive Oil

Ingredients
1 box brownie mix and ingredients to make them

1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
yellow food coloring

3 oz semi-sweet chocolate
2 tbsp butter

1. Bake brownies according to box directions. Let cool completely.
2. With a stand mixer combine corn syrup, butter, salt, and vanilla.  Slowly mix in powdered sugar. Spread on to cooled brownies.  *This was a challenge for me as the cream was very sticky, I found using my fingers worked best.  Then I used a toothpick to streak the cream yellow. Let set in the fridge for an hour or so.

3. Melt butter and chocolate over a double boiler.  Spread on to brownies.  Allow to set up in the fridge before cutting.

These babies are a serious Easter treat! 

I hope the bunny brought you all something tasty this year!

Hoisin Shrimp

This recipe is super simple and comes together in a flash. Perfect for a weeknight; classy enough for company.

Let's get right to it!

Hoisin Shrimp
From Gimme Some Oven

Ingredients
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar, I just used cider
2 tsp soy sauce
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp olive oil
sesame seeds
*I added about a cup or so of broccoli, steamed in the microwave, to make this a more complete meal
rice, for serving

1. Combine hoisin, vinegar, and soy sauce in a small bowl.
2. Heat oil in a large saute pan.  Season shrimp with salt and pepper.  Cook shrimp until they are pink, about 2-3 minutes on each side.
3. Pour sauce over shrimp (and add in vegetables if using).  Saute 1-2 minutes until everything is coated and sauce is heated through. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over rice.

Soooo much better than take out! And possibly quicker too!

Lace Cookies

These cookies are always the first to go from the random bakery box assortment.  Well, after that 1 rainbow cookie gets eaten. Since they are almost exclusively found in bakeries, they seem like this totally fancy and challenging recipe.

Surprise, they aren't!

These cookies require so few ingredients; they are just begging to be baked.

Lace Cookies

Adapted from Food Network Kitchens

Ingredients

1 stick unsalted butter

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup rolled oats, not instant

1/4 cup flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp beaten egg white (I know, this is an insane measurement.  Don't go crazy, try your best)

some chocolate you have on hand, perhaps some of that advent calendar chocolate that just doesn't taste great on it's own

1. Preheat oven to 350. Melt the butter and sugar in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Transfer to a large bowl. Mix in oats, flour, and vanilla.  Let cool for 10 minutes. Then mix in egg white.

2. Drop dough in mounded teaspoons, on a baking sheet. The cookies will spread like crazy so put them about 3-4 inches apart. Bake 5-7 minutes, until cookies are golden brown. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

3. When your done with all the cookie baking, melt up your chocolate. Drizzle it over your cookies and allow to harden before eating.

I was so impressed with myself for baking these cookies.  Don't tell anyone that I totally burned 2 trays because I tried to do other things in the few minutes these guys bake up.

LACE COOKIES! Like you would find in a bakery! WOOO!

Cannoli Cake

THIS. CAKE. IS. EVERYTHING.

You need it in your life. I made it for Christmas, but it's definitely not a project for holiday baking.  It's totally like a lil' Saturday/Sunday afternoon casual kitchen romp. Go for it!

That is a lovely bowl of sugar, being scented by citrus zest! 

Cannoli Pound Cake

From Smitten Kitchen

Butter or cooking spray to coat pan
1 cup sugar
zest from 1 orange
zest from 1 lemon
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 or 2 pinches allspice
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup mini-chocolate chips or 6 ounces semisweet chocolate bar, chopped into tiny bits
1/2 cup pistachios, chopped

1. Heat oven to 350. Coat a standard loaf pan with butter or a nonstick spray.

2. Place sugar in a large bowl, and add zest. Use your fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar.  Whisk in olive oil, wine (if using), ricotta and eggs. Sprinkle baking powder, salt, cinnamon and allspice over wet ingredients, then whisk to combine. Gently stir in flour, then chocolate and pistachios until just combined.

3. Scrape into prepared loaf. Bake oven for 55 to 65 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out-batter free. Let cool on wire rack in pan for 15 minutes, then invert out onto rack to finish cooling.

I am so sorry for not taking a photo of this baby dusted with powdered sugar and sliced to see the beauty of it's innards.  Perhaps that mystery and intrigue will get you to bake up a cannoli cake of your own.

Shaved Asparagus White Pizza

So I seem to have taken a month off from blogging.  I haven't taken a month off from cooking, I can assure you of that, but I have been pondering whether or not anyone reads this darn thing. Turns out, people actually do read it! 

So hey, I'm back.

I made this pizza months ago, but couldn't find the beautiful photos anywhere.  I got a new laptop recently and discovered the photos during some tedious file transfers.

Shaved Asparagus White Pizza
From Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients
1 pizza dough, make your own, buy it, whatevs
1/2 lb asparagus
1/4 cup Parmesan
1/2 lb shredded mozzarella
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
pepper

1. Preheat oven to 500. Set up your asparagus for shaving: don't snap off the ends because this is what you will hold onto when shaving with a peeler. Shave those asparagus with a regular ol' peeler.  Discard the ends.  Toss shavings with some olive oil, salt, and pepper.
2. Stretch out your pizza dough. Place onto whatever pan you cook your pizza on. Spread the ricotta cheese on the dough first, then sprinkle the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.  Finally, top with asparagus. Cook 10-15 minutes.

Yay, finally got myself to write a blog post for the first time in a month! And it was a recipe from months ago! Hah!

Flatbread Crackers

I whipped up a triple batch of these crackers for Christmas gifts for my family this year. I know the idea of making your own crackers might seem a bit far-fetched, but these are really simple to put together.

I used sage for the herb-yness, feel free to use anything you might have on hand. 

 

Flatbread Crackers
From Pinch of Yum

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp herb of choice, I used sage
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 450. In a food processor mix flour, salt, sugar, pepper, herbs, and oil until combined. Pour in water and mix until a dough forms.
2. Remove from food processor and mush dough together to form a ball.  Divide into 4 equal pieces and let sit for 10 minutes.
3. Roll each piece out as thin as possible.  Bake for 4-5 minutes then turn and bake an additional 4-5 minutes. Turn off oven and let crackers hang out in the oven for 2 hours to get nice and crispy. Break into pieces and slather with some cheese and pour yourself a nice glass of wine.

These would be a great way to class up your Super Bowl party next weekend!  Everyone will be impressed you made crackers in your own kitchen.

Brown Sugar Shortbread Toffee Bars

I don't want to oversell this dessert, but it was my favorite that I made this holiday season.  It is quite decadent so you'll want just a bite, but then you'll need many many more bites later.

You can't go wrong with a sweetened condensed milk layer.

Not to be outdone is a chocolate layer.

Then top it all with toffee bits! I told you it was decadent!

Brown Sugar Shortbread Toffee Bars

From Cookies and Cups

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sweetened condensed milk

2 tbsp butter

2 cups milk chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups toffee bits

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a 13x9 inch pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Beat butter and sugar until combined, 1-2 minutes. Mix in flour. Dough will be dry.  Press into prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes, until lightly browned, and let cool slightly.

3. Melt butter and milk in a small saucepan and pour over shortbread.  Bake 12-15 minutes, until filling is bubbled and browned. Remove from oven.

4. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the filling and place back in the oven for 2 minutes. Remove from oven and spread chocolate with an off-set spatula.

5. Sprinkle toffee bits evenly and press into chocolate layer. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.

YES! I need more!