Crack Pie

This pie was named for its addictive qualities. However, I'm wasn't really addicted, but for good reason. I had one piece of this and my heart was racing. It was a little much for me, but others thought this was one good butter pie. I cooked it according to the directions but it seemed a little too gooey. I also halved the recipe and only made one pie - thank God! I would've gone into Diabetic shock if had eaten any more.


Adapted from: www.Momofukufor2.com

MAKES 2 PIES

Oatmeal Cookie for Crust
INGREDIENTS
2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup softened butter
1/3 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
Scant 1 cup rolled oats

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. Cream the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Whisk the egg into the butter mixture until fully incorporated.
5. Stir in the flour mixture until fully combined. Stir in the oats.
6. Spread the mixture onto a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking sheet and bake until golden brown and set, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to the touch on a rack. Crumble the cooled cookie to use in the crust.

Crust
INGREDIENTS
Crumbled cookie for crust
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
Combine the crumbled cookie, butter, brown sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse until evenly combined and blended (a little of the mixture clumped between your fingers should hold together). Divide the crust between 2 (10-inch) pie tins. Press the crust into each shell to form a thin, even layer along the bottom and sides of the tins. Set the prepared crusts aside while you prepare the filling.

Filling
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup plus a scant 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon milk powder
1 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup plus a scant 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 egg yolks
2 prepared crusts
Powdered sugar to garnish

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, salt and milk powder. Whisk in the melted butter, then whisk in the heavy cream and vanilla.
3. Gently whisk in the egg yolks, being careful not to add too much air.
4. Divide the filling evenly between the 2 prepared pie shells.
5. Bake the pies, one at a time, for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 degrees and bake until the filling is slightly jiggly and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove the pies and cool on a rack.6. Refrigerate the cooled pies until well chilled. Serve cold, and the filling will be gooey. Dust with powdered sugar before serving. (I served this room temperature.)

Pistachio White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I think these turned out better than the blondies, for a pistachio/white chocolate combination anyway. Very sweet and addictive! I made about 1/4 of the recipe since this makes a lot of cookies. I really didn't want 4 dozen cookies lying around the house!

Adapted from: www.CooksRecipes.com

INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup dark brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon each baking soda, baking powder and salt

1 cup rolled oats

1 1/2 cups natural California pistachios, coarsely chopped - divided use

1 (10-ounce) package white chocolate chunk-sized chips* (I used white chips.)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

2. Cream butter and sugars together.

3. Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla.

4. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

5. Process oats in blender or food processor, leaving some texture. (I did not process the oats since I was being lazy.)

6. Gradually add flour mixture and chopped oats to butter mixture, mixing well. Stir in 1 cup pistachios and white chocolate chips.

7. Drop mixture by heaping teaspoons onto greased baking sheets, allowing for spreading. Press remaining pistachios on top of cookie dough.

8. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool slightly on sheet to set up.
Makes 3 to 4 dozen.
* A 12-ounce package of small white chocolate or semi-sweet chips may be substituted for white chocolate chunks.

Blondies, infinitely adaptable

I wanted to make something with pistachios, since my sister likes them and her graduation party is coming up. Since I like to test out recipes before serving them, I tried this blondie recipe with about 3/4 cup of white chocolate chips and crushed pistachios (I couldn't tell you how much...maybe 1/4 cup?) as well as a pistachio cookie recipe. The cookie recipe won out in this instance....I think this blondie recipe would be awesome with chocolate and peanut butter, and maybe some crushed peanut butter cups. These were very good and buttery, but I think the cookie was sweeter and also has oatmeal in it, so it gave more texture. I will be trying out this blondie recipe again with different mix-ins!

Adapted from: www.SmittenKitchen.com

INGREDIENTS
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Pinch salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS
Butter an 8×8 pan. Mix melted butter with brown sugar – beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla. Add salt, stir in flour. Mix in any additions (below). Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350°F 20-25 minutes, or until set in the middle. Cool on rack before cutting them.

Further additions, use one or a combination of:
1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts, toasting them first for even better flavor
1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon mint extract in addition to or in place of the vanilla
1/2 cup mashed bananas
1/4 cup bourbon, scotch or other whiskey; increase the flour by one tablespoon
2 tablespoons of espresso powder with the vanilla
Stir 1/2 cup dried fruit, especially dried cherries, into the prepared batter
Top with a vanilla butter cream or chocolate peanut butter cream frosting

Chocolate Whiskey & Beer Cupcakes

What could be more appropriate for a Kulisek birthday than cupcakes made with whiskey and Guinness? Okay, okay...if I had actually had the Bailey's for the frosting then it would've been perfect! They didn't have the shooters of Bailey's at the liquor store so I opted to make the frosting without it and added some caramel ice cream topping instead - still delicious! My decoration looks a little sad, but I attribute that to the heat in our house! It melted my frosting. :( The cupcakes themselves were very rich and you couldn't taste (or I couldn't taste) the alcohol in them at all. Not even the Glenlivet 18 that I had to use (a half of a teaspoon, that's all!) for the filling. Mike appreciates it, I'm sure. ;)

Adapted from: www.smittenkitchen.com

Makes 20 to 24 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS
GUINNESS CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES
1 cup stout (such as Guinness)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2/3 cup sour cream

GANACHE FILLING

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate

2/3 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (optional)

BAILEY'S FROSTING

3 to 4 cups confections sugar

1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperate

3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream, or a combination thereof)

DIRECTIONS

Make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.
Make the filling: Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. (If this has not sufficiently melted the chocolate, you can return it to a double-boiler to gently melt what remains. 20 seconds in the microwave, watching carefully, will also work.) Add the butter and whiskey (if you’re using it) and stir until combined.
Fill the cupcakes: Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped (the fridge will speed this along but you must stir it every 10 minutes). Meanwhile, using your 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. You want to go most of the way down the cupcake but not cut through the bottom — aim for 2/3 of the way. A slim spoon or grapefruit knife will help you get the center out. Those are your “tasters”. Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.
Make the frosting: Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time. When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar.
Ice and decorate the cupcakes.
Do ahead: You can bake the cupcakes a week or two in advance and store them, well wrapped, in the freezer. You can also fill them before you freeze them. They also keep filled — or filled and frosted — in the fridge for a day. (Longer, they will start to get stale.)

Oatmeal Scotchies

Ah...an oldie but goodie! I made these butterscotch oatmeal cookies as a backup for the Chipster Brownies that I wasn't happy with. I was bringing the brownies to a party and hate serving something I'm not satisfied with! (However, I ended up bringing the brownies AND cookies because I didn't want them sitting in my house...it's bikini season.) I started making these cookies a few years ago and they always go over well. Plus, they're so easy to make! I must have whipped these up in about 10 minutes. I was debating about making the "Pan Cookie Variation" since I haven't done that yet, but figured that if I was making these as my backup dessert, I didn't want to mess up anything else! I know the regular cookie version is fantastic. :)

Adapted from: http://www.verybestbaking.com/

INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or grated peel of 1 orange
3 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
1 2/3 cups (11-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Butterscotch Flavored Morsels (I only used about 1 - 1.25 cups...it's a lot of butterscotch!)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375° F. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats and morsels. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes for chewy cookies or 9 to 10 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

PAN COOKIE VARIATION: Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. Prepare dough as above. Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until light brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Makes 4 dozen bars.

Chipster Topped Brownies

I hate to say this, but I was disappointed with these. I know, how could you go wrong with brownies and chocolate chip cookies combined?! However, I didn't stick to this original recipe posted below. I used my brownie recipe from "Peppermint Cookies n Cream Brownies" (omitting the oreos) from http://www.bakingbites.com/ because it's hard to find a good brownie recipe and that one is my favorite. Then I used the cookie recipe posted below. The baking times were different - the brownies called for 35 minutes and the entire recipe below noted 50-55 minutes. I kept checking on the brownies, but for some odd reason the brownies were undercooked after 40 minutes and the cookie part was overcooked! Also, the chocolate chips settled to the bottom of the cookie base. Maybe I'll try again with the exact recipe below? Or, try the other "recipe" I saw on another blog with boxed brownies and a package of cookie dough?! Sounds so easy, but almost like cheating!

Adapted from: http://www.culinaryconcoctionsbypeabody.com/

INGREDIENTS

BROWNIE LAYER
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 2/3 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup walnuts


COOKIE LAYER
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks of butter, room temperature
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, either chips or chunks

DIRECTIONS
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9×13 inch pan, line it with wax or parchment paper and butter the paper (I used aluminum foil). Put the pan on a baking sheet.

To Make the Brownie Batter: Put both chocolates and the butter in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stirring occasionally, heat just until the ingredients are melted, shiny and smooth. If the mixture gets too hot, the butter will separate from the chocolate. Remove the bowl from the heat. Working with a stand mixer, preferable fitted with a paddle attachment, or working with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the sugar and eggs on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, until pale, thick and creamy. Beat in the salt and vanilla extract. Reduce speed to low and mix in the melted chocolate and butter, mixing only until incorporated. Scraped down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then, still on low speed, add the flour, mixing only until it disappear into the batter. Using a spatula, fold in the walnuts, and scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Set aside.

To Make the Cookie Dough: Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Working with the stand mixer in the cleaned bowl or with the hand mixer in another large bowl, beat the butter and both sugars together on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. One at a time, add the egg and the yolk, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the dough. Still on low, mix in the chocolate. Drop the cookie dough by spoonfuls over the brownie batter and, using a spatula and a light touch, spread evenly over the batter. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the cookie top is deep golden brown and firm and thin knife inserted into the brownie layer comes out with only faint streaks of moist chocolate. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.When the brownies are completely cool, carefully run a knife between the sides of the pan and the brownies, then invert them onto another rack, remove the paper and turn right side up onto a cutting board. Cut into bars about 2 inches X 1 inch.

Chocolate Cookie Dough Cupcakes

These were delicious! Next time I will make them with more cookie dough filling. I ended up with extra (and taking spoonfuls myself...) but they could've been put to use in the cupcakes. I just bought icing bags so that I can start to make my cupcakes more presentable! I'm not a master yet, but they definitely look better than spooning icing on top!


Adapted from: http://www.annies-eats.com/


Yield:24 cupcakes


INGREDIENTS

CUPCAKES
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips (semisweet or bittersweet)


FILLING
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tbsp. light brown sugar, packed
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
7 oz. sweetened condensed milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

FROSTING
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
3½ cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ tsp. salt
3 tbsp. milk
2½ tsp. vanilla extract


For decoration:Tiny chocolate chip cookies (I didn't have time to make these!)



DIRECTIONS

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners (24 total). In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and brown sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir together to blend. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl on low speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, mixing each addition just until incorporated. Blend in the vanilla. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.To make the cookie dough filling, combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture has firmed up a bit, about an hour. (I'm impatient and only did this for about 20 minutes and it was fine.) To fill the cupcakes, cut a cone-shaped portion out of the center of each cupcake. Fill each hole with a chunk of the chilled cookie dough mixture. To make the frosting, beat together the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until creamy. Mix in the confectioners' sugar until smooth. Beat in the flour and salt. Mix in the milk and vanilla extract until smooth and well blended.Frost the filled cupcakes as desired, sprinkling with mini chocolate chips and topping with mini chocolate chip cookies for decoration.