Peppermint Hot Fudge

 

A+ homemade holiday gift

As far as ice cream toppings go, I always fall back on the 1950s diner-style sundae toppings: whipped cream, 8-10 maraschino cherries, the occasional handful of crushed nuts, and always, always hot fudge.

There’s something magical about pouring molten chocolate over cold ice cream and the instant Bon Appétit cover-worthy tracks the sauce creates. The chewy chocolate is the perfect compliment to soft ice cream, especially for someone who is obsessed with texture differentials in their food. Plus, there’s never day too cold for ice cream.

I’ve dabbled in hot fudge and been thwarted by its inherently finicky nature. Grainy fudge, seizing fudge, burnt fudge — I’ve experienced it all and cursed the dessert Gods. Then, this recipe came along and I thought it was too good to be true! I promise, this version every bit as good and simple as it seems, even if you don’t consider yourself a baker. With a gift like this, you’re bound to be the envy of your work White Elephant or your Tinder date’s holiday party this season.

Peppermint Hot Fudge (adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Makes approximately 2 cups

2/3 cup heavy cream

1/2 light corn syrup

1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, divided

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract (or to taste)*

In a medium-sized heavy saucepan, whisk together cream, syrup, sugar, cocoa, salt, and half of the chocolate chips. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce to a low simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove saucepan from heat, add butter, the second half of the chocolate, and the peppermint extract. Stir until butter is complete melted and fudge is smooth. Transfer to a glass bowl to cool and thicken, then put into jars or another sealable container. Will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

*You can sub in vanilla extract for the peppermint to make this a any-time-of-year gift!

Caramel Popcorn Bars

caramel popcorn crack

Popcorn — I’m talking stovetop popcorn here, get that microwaved nonsense out of my face* — is a severely underrated snack.

It’s quick and easy to make, (relatively) healthy, cost-effective, and versatile. All it takes is a pot, olive oil, kernels, kosher salt, and a bowl. Hella impressive sorcery right there.

My dad is the popcorn master. He instilled in us a love for the snack very early on, and continues to make a massive batch of it every time we’re home whether it’s for a movie marathon or football playoffs. It doesn’t matter if two or five of us are home, the quantity of popcorn rarely varies and the bowl always, always disappears in a matter of minutes.

Generally, I like my snacks to hit both sweet and salty notes so these caramel popcorn bars are right in my wheelhouse. Elevate your party snacks, bring leftovers to work, and bask in your baking prowess.

*While I think the world would be a better place if microwaved popcorn disappeared entirely, Tinder prospects take note: you best be prepared to share popcorn with me on a movie date. No butter. Also, something chocolate.

Caramel Popcorn Bars (adapted from Shutterbean)

cooking spray

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup popcorn kernels

3-4 cups pretzels, roughly chopped

1 cup toasted almonds, roughly chopped

1 cup mini dark chocolate chips (optional)

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup water

2/3 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon kosher salt, + more for sprinkling

2/3 cup mini marshmallows

Spray a glass pan with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large pot (preferably one with two handles), heat olive oil over medium heat. Add popcorn kernels and cover with a lid. Using oven mitts, swirl popcorn around periodically until kernels begin to pop. Leave covered over the heat until popping slows down, approximately 2 minutes. Carefully remove the lid to let the steam out. Put popcorn in a large bowl and set aside.

Add pretzels, almonds, and chocolate chips to bowl with popcorn. Toss together until mixed evenly.

Add sugar, water, and salt to a large saucepan. Boil over medium-high heat until caramel forms. Watch closely — while a watched pot never boils, boiling sugar will turn quickly to molasses if not monitored (I did this).

Remove pan from the stovetop and slowly add cream – the caramel will bubble up and nearly overflow. When the caramel settles, add marshmallows and stir until melted.

Spray a rubber spatula with cooking spray. Pour caramel over the bowl of salty snacks and toss together with spatula until evenly coated. Dampen your hands with water and transfer the popcorn to glass dish. Press popcorn into the pan and sprinkle with additional kosher salt. Allow to cool before you cut into squares. Try to save some for your friends (it’s difficult).

Peanut Butter Cookies

peanut buttery-ness

For a self-proclaimed sweet-tooth, I’m rather particular about my desserts. I hardly ever order dessert at a restaurant, I never prefer candy, and most of the time I pass up sweets in the office unless I brought them in. I can be found eating dessert in one of two ways: 1) my sisters swirling slightly too much whipped cream directly into my mouth only to snort it out ten seconds later because one of them made me laugh, or 2) standing next to the oven shoveling too-hot, barely baked cookies into my mouth and subsequently burning all nerves into oblivion.

These cookies were born out of a momentary panic on Sunday when with an exclamation of “AHH I have nothing to take to my friends apartment when we go watch the Giants game in 30 minutes!” followed closely by a “UGH I don’t have any chocolate chips to make their favorite blondies!” After staring into my cupboard for .4 seconds, I grabbed the jar of peanut butter hoping I’d be inspired through osmosis. Then, Hark! I remembered that my sister, who has a [strange] aversion to chocolate, made these recently and they were devoured seconds upon removal from the oven.

The peanut butter cookies here bake up rather quickly. In fact, I like to take them out a minute or two prior to the suggested baking time so they retain their chewiness. I have great visions of stacking these little guys up in cellophane bags and tying them off with über-atumnul ribbon to dole out to unsuspecting friends on a rainy fall day.

Peanut Butter Cookies (adapted slightly from Joy of Cooking, via Disgustingly Good)

1/3 cup (5 1/2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2-3 tablespoons sea salt (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease or line 2-3 baking sheets and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Add egg, vanilla, and peanut butter and mix thoroughly until combined. Stir in baking soda and flour until a dough forms.

Scoop the cookie dough out in 1-inch rounds and place them on a baking sheet approximately 2-inches apart. Press dough with a fork twice — once each way — to achieve that “classic” peanut butter cookie aesthetic. If desired, sprinkle a pinch of sea salt on each cookie.

Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 1-2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Do your best not to singe your taste buds.

{Double Batch} Kahlua Cookie Sandwiches

sassed up ice cream sandwiches

After what seemed like an eternal winter, spring has FINALLY sprung on the east coast and everyone in New York, including me, is going insane.

It’s 80 degrees right now (which might make me inclined to jump right into summer). Layers are being shed. My peacoat moved from the back of my door to the depths of my closet. Bryant Park is packed during lunchtime. I wore sandals and a sundress to work today. Forty minutes in the sun left my chest and cheeks pink. Because of this, sitting at my desk makes me antsy. This cabin fever screams rooftop barbecues against the setting sun, late night skinny dipping, competitive whiffle ball games on the beach, watermelon-spitting contests into the dunes, boatloads of time with friends and loved ones, and ice cream-laden deserts.

it’s springtime in the City

These cookie sandwiches aren’t the ice cream truck Chipwiches of your childhood. These sophisticated, booze-infused gems taste like mischievous scheming feels — deliciously wrong and incredibly thrilling.

Kahlua Cookie Sandwiches

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 sticks unsalted butter

3/4 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

1/4 cup kahlua (frangelico or amaretto would work, too)

1 pint high-quality vanilla ice cream (I love Jeni’s, you can usually find it at Whole Foods!)

Line 3 flat baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

Using a handheld electric mixer, KitchenAid, or a whisk, cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Add vanilla and mix until smooth. Slowly incorporate flour mixture 1/4 cup at a time. Mix until just incorporated and add the kahlua. Fold in chocolate chips.

The dough will be a bit thinner than normal cookie dough, so refrigerate for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Using a spoon, scoop out tablespoon-sized mounds of dough and place on the baking sheet about 2-inches apart. Bake for 9-11 minutes until golden brown.

Allow cookies to cool completely on a cooling rack. Flip half of the cookies over. Scoop about 2-tablespoons of vanilla ice cream on to the flipped halves, then top with a second cookie to make a sandwich. Eat immediately before your cat gets too curious.

curiouser and curiouser (but seriously??)

{Double Batch} Cinnamon Rolls

swirly and cinnamony

Rejoice, for Lent is OVER!! I can now eat all the sweets I want! Chocolate and ice cream and the box of Samoas I stashed in the garage freezer 40 days ago, oh my!

And now I have a MASSIVE sugar hangover.

To be fair, I wasn’t quite as strict this year as I have been in previous years and slipped up occasionally. Sometimes a girl just needs a milkshake on a Friday afternoon when she was traipsing around New York City with out-of-town coworkers until 4:30am the previous night. Can you blame her?

Usually, I want to break Lent with chocolate — I made an Almond Joy cake for Easter last year and chocolate tiramisu the year before. This year, I made good on my word and ate an entire bag of Reece’s Peanut Butter Eggs before 9am on Easter morning and then proceeded to tackle these cinnamon rolls. Molls is right, these rolls dessert AND breakfast wrapped up in a sweet ball of dough — it’s the best of both worlds!

Cinnamon Rolls (adapted from Joy the Baker)

These rolls take a certain amount of patience to see all the way through because they’re a bit time consuming, but they’re definitely worth it!

for the dough

1 – 1/4-oz package active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water (approximately 115 degrees F)

1/2 teaspoon + 1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk, room temperature

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading and rolling

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, plus more to grease the pan

for the filling

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

2 tablespoons maple syrup

3/4 cup pecans, finely chopped

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

for the icing

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

In a large bowl, combine yeast, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, and 1/4 cup warm water. Stir to incorporate and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Add the rest of the sugar to the bowl, along with the milk, brown sugar, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk. Mix with a whisk until ingredients are combined, then add flour and salt. Using your hands, knead the dough until all ingredients just come together to form a dough.

Add the butter and proceed to knead the dough — it will be come wet and sticky. Transfer dough to a well-floured work surface and knead about 1/3 cup flour into the dough. When dough is mostly smooth (a bit sticky is alright), transfer to a large, greased bowl. Place a damp towel over the bowl and put in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

While you wait ever so patiently for the dough to rise, make the filling! Combine sugar, brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and maple syrup in a large bowl. Set aside.

Grease a 13-inch baking dish and set aside.

When dough has risen, plop dough onto a heavily floured work surface. Add flour one tablespoon at a time until dough is no longer sticky. Place a damp towel over the dough and let rest for 5 minutes.

Using a floured rolling pin, roll dough into a 10 x 10-inch square. Brush the top of the dough with melted butter and pour filling on top of the dough, leaving a 1-inch border on the sides. Lightly press filling into the dough. Lift the edge of the dough closest to you and roll into a tight cylinder. Place roll seam side down and slice into 8 or 10 equal rounds. Place rounds in the greased baking dish, cut side up. Cover with a damp towel and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Take rolls out of the fridge, uncover, and let them sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. Bake until golden brown and sugar is bubbling, about 30 minutes.

While rolls are baking, whisk together powdered sugar and buttermilk until mixture is smooth.

Take cinnamon rolls out of the oven and transfer entire pan to a cooling rack. Brush with melted butter and drizzle with icing. Allow rolls to cool long enough so they won’d burn the insides of your mouth, then devour as quickly as possible.

{Double Batch} Spicy Herbed Garlic Bread

A haiku for you, entitled This Bread:

Spicy, garlicky –

Yeasted breads are quite the art,

Mastery is tough.

A few years ago when we were slated host New Year’s Eve in New Jersey, my mom called her Hungarian aunt to walk her through how to make a proper kalács — a large, braided loaf of bread that must be on the table. Ica dictated the following instructions:

“You need about a cup, cup-and-a-half of flour. A whole egg and maybe a yolk. A little bit of yeast in some warm milk that’s not too hot and not too cold. Throw some sugar in there, let rise until risen. Bake in a hot oven until done.”

So, that’s the recipe we have to work with. Each holiday season, we inevitably make two or three loaves of kalács with varying degrees of the required ingredients in an attempt to perfect the recipe. And though it’s not exactly the same as Ica’s, we still make some damn good bread. I imagine if I spent the 70-something years of my existence on this earth making a loaf of bread a day so the process was fully engrained in my muscle memory, I wouldn’t see the need for precise measurements, either.

Yeasted breads are difficult to command and I did not quite inherit my my mom and Ica’s skill set when it comes to kalács or any other recipe involving yeast. To develop this yeast-handling practice in the name of cooking, Molly and I decided to try our hand at this garlicky herb bread from our BFF Joy. I ended up making two different versions of this bread: one with Italian flour and a dough hook, the other with all-purpose flour and by hand. As soon as I put the ingredients together in the mixer with the dough hook, I knew the bread was going to be too tough, so I tried to handle the latter loaf a bit less. In the end, both loaves were beautifully studded with red and green specks and deliciously aromatic — you could hardly taste the difference between the two. This bread is best eaten the day it’s made with a big pot of veggie chili and a Super Bowl game.

Spicy Herbed Garlic Bread (adapted from Joy the Baker)

1 cup warm water

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

pinch of sugar

4 ounces unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped

1 teaspoon dried red chili flakes

3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced

4 cups flour (bread flour would be best, but I used all-purpose flour here)

1 teaspoon cracked ground pepper

2 teaspoons salt

olive oil, coarse salt, and chili flakes for top

Grease a medium-sized mixing bowl and set aside.

Measure one cup of warm water in a bowl. Sprinkle yeast over water, add a pinch of sugar and stir. Let stand for five minutes – yeast should rise and become foamy. If this doesn’t happen, pitch the yeast and start fresh. Set yeast aside.

Melt butter in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and add herbs, chili and garlic. Set aside.

Place flour in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Pour yeast mixture and butter mixture into the center. Using your hands, work the flour into the liquids until a shaggy dough is formed. Once dough comes together, knead a few times until it becomes a smooth sphere. Place the dough in the medium mixing bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Place bowl in a warm place and allow dough to rise for approximately one hour.

Once dough has risen, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Take dough out of the bowl and knead on a lightly floured surface for about two minutes.

Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the bottom of a large dutch oven. Place dough in the pot and use a large knife to make two deep slashes. Pour another 3 tablespoons of oil on top and sprinkle with coarse sea salt and some extra chili flakes.

Cover pot with lid and bake for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 400 degrees F, remove lid, and bake for another 15-20 minutes. Allow bread to cool down a bit before slicing of chunks and dousing them with fresh olive oil.

{Double Batch} Mushroom and Onion Scones

beautiful, marbleized scones

Breakfast is undoubtedly the most versatile and underestimated meal of the day.

Think about it! Pancakes, waffles, french toast, sandwiches, grits, fruits, meat — you’re likely to satisfy  both a sweet and savory craving in that one meal. Plus, you could eat any of those things at any point in the day. Who doesn’t love tapping into their inner child to have pancakes for dinner? The same can’t be said for filet mignon for breakfast (though, my sister routinely eats cold pizza for breakfast, so to each his or her own). If I had more time in the morning before work, I might spend it trying to perfect the art of egg-poaching to recreate an amazing bruschetta dish from Cora’s Coffee Shoppe in Santa Monica. Or I’d have my dad make his famous pancakes for me every morning.

Cora’s bruschetta / Daddy’s pancakes

The only time I don’t want a massive breakfast of eggs drowning in hollandaise (I don’t care what Bourdain says about it) or round discs of bread smothered in syrup is when we’re on vacation in Nantucket. Breakfast on that island consists of lattes from the bean and cherry scones from the local bake shop every single morning. Scones are my one pastry vice because they’re not overly sweet and sugary, even if I do have an insatiable sweet tooth.

Until Molly and I came upon this recipe, savory scones had never crossed my mind. Now that I have made these mushroom & onion scones a few times, they have now become a staple in my repertoire. Enjoy them plain with a pad of butter, toasted with a slice of cheese, or on either side of a fried egg to make a mean egg sandwich.

Mushroom and Onion Scones (Adapted from Joy the Baker)

Makes 12-14 scones

1/2 pound of mushrooms, sliced (I used a combination of baby bella and cremini)

1 tablespoon olive oil + 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 sweet onion

1 tablespoon olive oil + 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

sea salt and ground pepper, to taste

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons of sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup vegetable shortening, cold and cut into cubes

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes

1 egg, beaten

3/4 cup buttermilk, cold

1 egg for egg wash

Over medium heat in a medium pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter. Add mushrooms to pan and saute, stirring periodically until browned. Add salt and pepper, remove mushrooms from pan and set aside.

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in the same pan. Add the onions and cook down until onions become caramelized. Add mushrooms to the pan, followed by balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Put aside to cool and be patient– the mushrooms and onions need to be completely cooled before they’re added to the dough.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, beat egg and buttermilk together and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, sift dry ingredients — flour, sugar, baking powder, basking soda, and salt. Add butter and shortening and mix together until the butter and shortening resemble small pebbles. Add egg and milk mixture to dry ingredients, bringing ingredients together to form a soft dough. Add mushrooms and onions to dough until evenly incorporated.

Place dough on floured countertop and knead approximately 15 times. Form dough into a round about 1-inch thick and cut dough into 2-inch rounds using a biscuit cutter or upside-down drinking glass. Repeat with excess dough until everything is used. Place scones on parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush with egg wash and top with coarse sea salt. Bake at 425 degrees F for 12-15 minutes. Scones are best right out of the oven!

violà!

{Double Batch} Kitchen Sink Blondies

a classic cookie recipe, redefined

Growing up, whenever my sisters or I had to make some kind of baked goods for a school bake sale, team pasta party, or family barbecue, our mom always suggested the same thing — “Make a batch of blondies and brownies.”

Now, blondies and brownies aren’t a novel concept by any means — anyone can follow the recipe on the back of a bag of Tollhouse Chocolate Chips, and anyone can go buy a box of Betty Crocker brownie mix and call it a day.  I have exactly zero issues with the Tollhouse recipe — it’s a classic.  On the other hand, boxed brownie mix is a cardinal sin of baking.  Don’t do it.  Ever.  Brownies are not difficult to make and boxed brownie mix tastes like the cardboard box in which its sold.  But I digress — that’s a rant for another time.

While blondies are an unassuming, presumably boring addition to a dessert spread, they are actually the crowd pleaser to end all crowd pleasers. We had a few (read: 20, much to our mother’s chagrin) friends to the beach over Labor Day Weekend and needed a quick dessert option for people to snack on throughout the day, so we commissioned our youngest sister, Kristina, to making three batches of blondies.

Well, Kristina and the blondies were the MVPs of the weekend — it was the hottest topic of conversation and our friends are STILL raving about them.

This is our go-to recipe with a few mix-ins.  Experiment with your own combination of additions — toffee chips, peppermint sticks, nutmeg, walnuts, white chocolate chips…anything your little heart desires.

Kitchen Sink

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cups packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup toasted coconut

1/4 cup chopped almonds

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a 9 x 13-inch pan (really any size square or rectangular pan will do) and set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  Set aside.

In a large bowl (or stand mixer, cream butter and sugars together.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating for one minute after each.  Add vanilla extract and beat until incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips, toasted coconut, and almonds.  Mix batter until evenly distributed.

Place batter into greased pan and press down until pan is covered.  Bake for 27-30 minutes until golden brown on top.  Let cool for about 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

Berry Almond Bars

berry almond bars {see more photos here}

Oh, Mondays. (I realize today is Friday.  It’s been a long week.  Shhh.)

The weekends are never long enough and the Monday morning alarm is one of the most dreaded sounds ever.  If it’s a holiday weekend with Monday off, Tuesday still feels like Monday morning and that might be worse especially if you just had the best weekend ever with the best people in the universe.

In order to distract myself from the dread of the beginning of the week, Molly and I spend the better part of each Monday morning rehashing our weekends and trading stories regarding the abundant activities LA and San Francisco had to offer that Saturday or Sunday, the people we spent time with, and most importantly, the food we both ate and made.

Molly fully appreciates my obsessive love for all things food related: she introduced me to Shutterbean, accompanied me to the Homefries retreat in Palm Springs last fall, and many of our conversations revolve around sharing recipes and cooking techniques.  A few Mondays ago, Molls and I were going through our usual Monday morning catch-up when she relayed an impeding dilemma:  she was in charge of cooking dinner for her roommates AND making a dessert for her coworker’s birthday.  What to make?!  Her night was hectic enough with moving crazy amounts of furniture, so she wanted to make something with standard pantry items.  But what to make?!

In a stroke of brilliance, Molls found these Raspberry Almond Bars on Shutterbean.  They met all of her requirements:  easy to make, every ingredient is household standard, and they would most certainly be devoured in record time.  I realized that I, too, had all of these ingredients on hand, including a berry compote I threw together the night before, and decided to make a version of these bars, too!

Molly and I had so much fun baking these “together” (from Palo Alto and Marina del Rey, respectively), we decided to continue to bake together and blog about our experiences making the same recipes in kitchens 360 miles away.  So tune into our blogs on Tuesdays when we share our latest kitchen adventures!  (Molly’s blog, The Blog of 1,000 Awesomes, really is awesome.)

These bars really are simple, and you can use any berry combination you’d like!  Berry jam would be delicious, or create your own fruit compote concoction.  Since we’re getting into the most luscious part of berry season, I’d make these with some farmer’s market berries for your next Sunday afternoon barbecue.

Berry Almond Bars (adapted from Shutterbean’s Raspberry Almond Bars)

{for the berry compote}

3 tablespoons butter

¼ cup packed light brown sugar

juice of one (1) lemon

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2 heaping cups strawberries

1 heaping cup blackberries

{for the dough}

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for baking dish

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg yolk

3/4 cup sliced almonds

Start by making the compote.  Melt butter in large pan over medium heat.  Add brown sugar, lemon juice, and salt until dissolved.  Add cornstarch and stir.  Add berries to pan, toss with sugar mixture.  Simmer on medium-low heat for about 15-20 minutes or until berries become juicy and just begin to release.*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour (or use non-stick spray) an 8×8-inch baking dish and set aside.  In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder.

In a standing mixer (or with a handheld device), cream together butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg yolk until combined.  Add flour slowly, 1/4 cup at a time.  Stir in almonds.

Gently press half the dough into the prepared baking dish.  Spread the berry compote on top of the dough, leaving a tiny border so it doesn’t stick to the pan.  Top with remaining dough and press down to make the top layer.

Bake for 27-30 minutes until top is golden.  The bars will  be crumbly, so wait until they’ve cooled completely to slice them.  ENJOY!!

[*You will have extra — don’t be alarmed!  Add it to your oatmeal, use it as a jam, or serve it with cheese.  Endless possibilites!]

if you’re not careful, these will disappear quickly!

HomefriesU: a love-infused creative learning retreat

About a month ago, Molly and I had the distinct pleasure of traveling to Palm Springs, California to attend Homefries U:  a “bourbon-infused creative learning retreat” (as Joy called it) hosted by our two favorite food bloggers – Joy Wilson of Joy the Baker, and Tracy Benjamin of Shutterbean.

And what a bourbon-infused creative learning retreat it was.

Actually, there wasn’t that much bourbon.  Just in some baller Bourbon-Spiked Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread of which I may or may not have eaten four pieces.  No big deal.

The weekend was more like a silly, giddy, flour-dusted, chocolate covered sunflower seed-peppered, sparkling wine-induced, love-infused retreat.

We road-tripped from LA.  We cooked.  We ate.  We made friendship bracelets.  We learned.  We ate.  We drank copious amounts of sparkling wine with Whitney.  We drank lots of gin with Nathan.  We made new friends.  We ate.  We learned secrets of the Homefries podcasts from Michael.  We lounged in and around the pool in 109 degree heat.  We made flavored sugars.  We added new recipes to our repertoire.  We ate those new recipes.  We played fun games.  We bonded with Joy & Tracy.

Oh, and by the way — we ate.

I met lots of amazingly dynamic women (and a few men) from all over the country with an array of different interests, backgrounds, and passions.  All in all, it was an amazingly beautiful weekend and I returned to LA with a satiated stomach and happy soul.

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