These are bananas. Hands down, the best Seven Layer Bars I've ever made. I followed this recipe which includes all the normal ingredients from the familiar bars - chocolate, butterscotch, coconut, pecans, ooey, gooey sweetened condensed milk, etc - with one amazing variation. Instead of a basic graham cracker crust, it's a graham cracker butterscotch cookie crust! DID YOU HEAR ME?! It's amazing. This is the only picture I took before we ate the rest. So much for gifting them to people!
إظهار الرسائل ذات التسميات baked goods. إظهار كافة الرسائل
إظهار الرسائل ذات التسميات baked goods. إظهار كافة الرسائل
Brown Butter Peanut Butter Blossoms
Good Morning! What did you do this weekend? I was flying solo so I gave my kids 11 baths (to kill time... they've never been so clean) and we made Christmas cookies! I can't wait to share them with you this week. What are your favorites to make? I love to stick to my usuals as well as try out new recipes. Believe it or not, I don't make these classic Peanut Butter Blossoms every year but I knew my kids would love to unwrap (and eat) the kisses (also killed a lot of time). I followed this recipe with one variation: I browned the butter on the stove and let it cool in the fridge for a bit before mixing it in with everything. If you're wondering why I did that, well, I happen to think browning butter makes everything better. Especially when there's peanut butter involved!
So tell me... what else should I make this year?
Salted Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars
Oh hi! Remember me? My name is Siri and I'm the gal who (occasionally) chronicles my journey with food on this here blog. I've been absent, but I can explain (or I can spew excuse after excuse at you... like we were in LA for 12 days, or I lost my camera battery charger, or I'm trying to prepare for the 8 houseguests staying with us for 2 weeks, or I'm feeling overwhelmed with gift shopping, or I've been abducted by aliens... I sorta wish). What it really boils down to is that when we travel, I lose my desire to cook and I come home feeling like I'm in a rut. But this weekend, I spent an hour online looking at my favorite blogs and they lit a fire under my tushy! (I'm a mom, I say things like that and potty.) This week and next week be prepared for seasonal treats and dishes as well as gift ideas! Yay! And by the way, even when I'm absent on here, I'm pretty active on my blog instagram and my new mommy instagram accounts.
So let's talk about these bars. I'm not really a pie person, but ever since I ate Pecan Pie this Thanksgiving from this glorious bakery in California I've been craving it. So when I saw this recipe I put it on my to-do list right away. Holy crap, these are insane. SUPER rich but beyond delicious. If you like buttery shortbread and rich, salted chocolate and caramely pecan pie... you will love this. I topped mine with Vanilla Salt which I'll write about later on today.
They also refrigerate and/or freeze very well, and a little goes a long way, so these would be perfect edible holiday gifts this season. The best kind of gift if you ask me.
Caramel Pumpkin Bread Pudding
Yesterday I whipped up this Today Original Recipe with Willie and Natalie... Caramel Pumpkin Bread Pudding. I made it over the weekend, too, and it's truly ridiculous. Perfect Thanksgiving dessert turned into Black Friday Breakfast. I mean, if you're going to participate in that madness, it's probably best you carb-load that morning, am I right?
If you missed the segment or want the recipe you can check it out here.
"Brookies"
This cookie is bananas. Half chocolate chip, half brownie cookie. Now that I know how easy it is to make two different doughs and roll them together into one perfect cookie, I think the possibilities are endless, don't you? WHAT UP, CHRISTMAS COOKIES?! I'M TALKING TO YOU, BOO. Sorry I don't know what that was. I used this recipe but I cut the chocolate chip cookie dough in half. I've written the word "cookie" way too many times in this post. Cookie.
Pumpkin Gingersnaps
Pumpkin is everywhere right now (I mean, check this out), and we're suckers for it. I'm surprised we all don't run out to buy pumpkin flavored toothpaste! (Don't steal that idea, it's mine.) I gave you some pumpkin ideas last week, and now here's another: Pumpkin Gingersnaps (click there for recipe). These are delicious... soft and chewy, and rich with all the flavors of the season... cinnamon, spice and pumpkin of course! Pumpkin. Pumpkin. If you say that word a lot it starts to sound really weird. Also who puts a 'p' and a 'k' right next to each other?? Pumpkin lovers do.
Pistachio Pudding Cake
We had a friend over for dinner a few weeks ago, and at one point he started raving about his favorite dessert of all time. It's called a Pistachio Pudding Cake, and it was new to me. His mom made it for him a lot as a kid, and it's something he thinks about once in awhile and then starts craving like mad. I had on my to-do list to make him one, and I finally got around to it. Of course, I knew nothing about making this particular cake, but once I googled it I found there are a bunch of recipes out there. I chose this one, and while I never actually tasted it (it's probably rude to give someone a present with a giant bite missing?), he said it was delicious. Oh and I definitely stuck my finger in the frosting, don't judge. What childhood desserts do you crave the most?
Cookie Stacking and Other Things...
baked goods, cheese, chicken, cookie, dips, equipment, life, sandwiches, TODAY
Hello Internet People. I'm sorry I've been a little absent, but this has been a busy and emotional week. Therefore, I present to you this scatterbrained post of odds and ends...
Many of you have been curious about the infamous "cookie stacking" Instagram post (infamous, really Siri?). The origin of this layered dough can be found in this recipe for Peanut Butter Honey Cookies. I was instantly intrigued to see if by stacking two blobs of dough on top of each other, the result would be a cookie that spread less, as suggested. Well, perhaps I did something wrong, but my cookies just ended up looking like butts, so... delicious recipe, however. Honey? Peanut Butter? Yes.
Last Thursday I was all set to appear on the Today Show, and you may have caught a glimpse of me even, however, breaking news about the Pope's whereabouts interrupted my segment. Of course, I didn't mind in the slightest, and it was actually very exciting to witness... yet another reminder of how surreal it is to be a small part of a news institution like Today. If you're interested in the recipes I was planning on preparing, you may click here: Buffalo Chicken Dip and Ultimate Queso Dip.
Last night, I was very honored to be a part of the launch of Keurig Kold, a revolutionary new drinkmaker that brews perfectly chilled beverages like Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite and so, SO much more. It is available for purchase today on their website... check it out!
And finally, I wanted to repost this recipe in honor of a great woman, Lucy. If you've been following my blog for awhile then you probably know this sandwich, but to have known the woman behind it was something else. The heavens above gained a beautiful soul. Team Lucy forever!
Brown Butter Caramelized Banana Bread
I am a zombie. Yesterday morning, Carson and I woke up, flew to LA, attended the Emmy's, and then flew home on a red-eye last night. Essentially, we spent 12 hours in Los Angeles and another 12 hours on a plane in a 24-hour timespan. I am a zombie. BUT, it was allll worth it because The Voice won an Emmy!!!! I was so proud of Carson and everyone that works so hard on the show, and it was very exciting to be there in person to cheer them on. Tonight starts a new season, so tune in!!
Moving on to this ridiculously delicious banana bread that I made on Saturday morning in guilty preparation for leaving my children. I think it worked, because they barely missed us and made us pretty cute "welcome home" signs. Go, banana bread, go! I tried out a couple of new techniques after seeing this recipe. First, I caramelized the bananas by roasting them in the oven with a little honey and cinnamon. Then, I browned the butter and let it cool slightly before adding it to the batter.
By doing these two things, the banana bread tasted sinful. Almost as if I had added rum or peanut butter. It has a caramely, slightly nutty flavor, and it's perfectly moist and plain old delicious. No need to bake this out of guilt, just bake this! And watch The Voice tonight! Ok, I'll take a nap now...
Brown Butter Caramelized Banana Bread
(Makes 1 loaf)
4 ripe bananas
Honey
Cinnamon
1 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
6 T unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sour cream
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel bananas, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with cinnamon. Place in oven, and cook for 20 minutes, until bananas begin to caramelize. Remove, and set aside to let cool. Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees.
While bananas are roasting, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, until it begins to brown and let off a nutty aroma. Remove from heat, and set aside to let cool.
In a small bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg). In a larger bowl, add the bananas and mash. Stir in the butter, vanilla, sour cream, brown sugar and eggs, and combine until just smooth. Add the dry ingredients, and stir to combine. Pour batter into a greased bread pan, and bake for one hour.
Pink Ombre Cake
When I asked my daughter what kind of cake she wanted for her third birthday, her reply was simple: "pink!" So I went a little overboard, and made the inside of the cake three shades of pink, with pink frosting, pink edible glitter and pink heart sprinkles. Were there pink candles? Um, duh. And I splurged a bit on this cake topper from Etsy because an all-pink cake deserves a little bling.
To make the cake ombre, all you need is a little food coloring! Simply bake as many layers as you'd like, evenly distribute the batter into different bowls, and use varied amounts of food dye to create different shades. I made 4 different layers, but the cake started to look absurdly tall so I ditched one of them. I used boxed white cake (two boxes) with neon pink food coloring, and followed this recipe for the Vanilla Buttercream. It was a hit amongst the pink-loving crowd.
Now if someone could just help me figure out how to explain to a three-year-old that her next birthday is an entire year away...
Homemade Funfetti Cake
My baby turns ONE on Thursday. Today, August 17th, was my due date, and it feels like just yesterday that I was waddling around, complaining about still being pregnant, shoving absurd amounts of carbs in my mouth. Now she's almost one, moving into toddler-ville, drinking real milk and trying to walk. I would do it all over again, each and every loooong pregnancy, just to savor these baby years. Yet I know they must grow up, and therefore we must celebrate and that means CAKE. We had a little pre-party the other day, and I baked a homemade Funfetti Cake following this recipe. It was moist, delicious, and easy. And um, fun... DUH.
Instead of one of those giant number candles, I made a "1" using a wax paper stencil I made myself. Simply cut out a design, place over the cake (gently), add your sprinkles and remove!
More birthday cake fun:
Jack's 5th birthday cake.
Jack's 4th birthday cake(s).
Jack's 3rd birthday cake.
Jack's 2nd birthday cake.
Jack's 1st birthday cake.
Etta's 1st birthday cake.
Etta's 2nd birthday cake.
(And in case you're keeping track, for Jack's 6th birthday I bought an ice cream cake because that's what he wanted and I only pouted about it for a week or so.)
And ANOTHER Chocolate Chip Cookie
BREAKING NEWS!!!
I baked another chocolate chip cookie.
You've heard me go on and on about chocolate chip cookies on this blog... about how many recipes I've tried and will continue to try if the slightest variation in technique or ingredients exist. You could be like, O-M-G Siri, you've got to try this new cookie... the secret is after you cream the butter and sugar together you take off your clothes and dance naked around your kitchen... no for real, it makes the cookies SO MUCH BETTER. And I would test that out, oh yes, I would.
So when I came across this recipe which has one very small and unusual step, I decided to experiment. What is that step? Browning butter - which I've done plenty of times, not unusual - and whisking in an ice cube at the very end. Wha?!? An ice cube?? Had to try it!! You also add the brown sugar at a separate time than the granulated sugar... HOW DIFFERENT! Do you see why I had to bake a batch? The results were delicious. I don't know if the ice cube did anything other than immediately cool down the butter, but the nutty, toffy-like flavor that browning butter offers was very strong. They also tasted less sugary than a lot of cookies I've tried, which I kind of enjoyed.
Ok, off to dance naked around my kitchen.
Mini Pies on TODAY
I've been trying to write this post for a day and a half. A day and a half! Trying to balance life is a daily struggle of mine, and I'm sure you can all relate. I have so much I want to cook, so much I want to share with you, and yet I'm trying to actually put my swimsuit on this summer and go UNDERWATER with my kids. As in, who cares about how cold the water feels or what my hair looks like or having to shower after (or not). I'm trying to play with my kids!! And so my to-do list grows and grows and grows... WHY IS BALANCE SO HARD.
Back to trying to share with you, my virtual friends. Yesterday I had so much fun baking mini blueberry pies with my friend Savannah on Today. It was a Today Original recipe, and they were simple and delicious. Yes, yes, I may have made a few mistake during the segment, but I think you know that I embrace errors in the kitchen and I certainly try not to take cooking too SIRIously.
You can check out the segment and view the Today Original recipe here.
All photos by Samantha Okazaki
Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie
Hello there! Remember how last week I said I'd be traveling for a bit, but I'd check in and blog once in awhile? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. That was before my almost-one-year-old decided to wake up at 4am every morning. She'd be like, what, woman??! My body is telling me it's 7am, so wake up, and make yourself that hot smelly drink with all of the fatty cream, and play with me!! And so my days started in the wee hours of the morning, and by early afternoon my brain felt like mush. Hence, no blogging. However, that didn't stop me from making cookie dough. Because when you're out of town for a week and your brain is mush, you need to buy basic groceries like bread and milk and brown sugar and chocolate chips. I'm not normal.
One morning last week, at like 5:17am, I decided to make cookies. Did I want to make a large batch? No. Did I want to make a small batch? Not really. Instead, I wanted to make one GIANT treat, for me to eat for breakfast (mushy brains are dangerous). But for reals, what's more fun than a huge cookie... shared amongst friends or eaten alone in the dark before the sun comes up.
Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup of chocolate chips, or desired amount
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a mixer, cream together the butter and both sugars in a medium sized bowl until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the egg, and mix until combined. Add the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Place onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and flatten into a circle (should be about 1-inch thick). Place cookie sheet in the fridge for about 30 minutes, and then bake for 15-20, until cookie has browned slightly.
Mini Cookie Butter Cake
Don't worry, no tuscan beans or rice were harmed in the baking of this cake. Or used at all. That photo is just for reference, because I baked this cake in a soup can! (Which I've done before here and here.) I mean, is there anything cuter than a tin can cake?? Not if you're a woman, because then you love mini things (don't get me started on the tiny tabasco bottles you get at hotels).
This cake is baked with Biscoff, and is topped with a cookie butter buttercream. If you're a fan of the stuff, you will LOVE this tiny treat! And you might do what Carson and I did, which is dip each bite in tequila. Or rum. Because that's a totally normal and logical thing to do.
Mini Cookie Butter Cake
Recipe adapted from The Baker Chick
For cake:
1 egg white
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 Tbsp cookie butter spread
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 Tbsp milk
For frosting:
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
2 Tbsp cookie butter spread
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an empty, cleaned soup can with baking spray. In a bowl, whisk together the egg white and sugar until combined. Add melted butter, cookie spread and vanilla, and continue to whisk until creamy. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Finally, whisk in milk until everything is combined. Pour into soup can, and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cake cool before applying frosting.
For frosting, vigorously stir together the butter and cookie butter spread. Add the powdered sugar and milk, and stir until combined and creamy. Spread onto cooled cake.
Vanilla Bean Angel Food Cake
It's Carson's birthday! We are on day 3 of celebrating over here, after having a little party on Saturday and of course Father's Day yesterday. It's all very confusing for our almost-three-year-old daughter, who thinks every birthday party is HERS. On Saturday, Carson requested a "light fluffy cake" with berries and whipped cream, so I found this recipe for a Vanilla Bean Angel Food Cake.
For the first time, I made this type of cake properly with a grocery store-bought angel food cake pan. Follow these three pointers, and you TOO can enjoy this deliciously "light and fluffy" treat:
1. As tempting as it may be, do not grease the pan. Apparently the cake needs something to cling to.
2. Fold your ingredients together! Google "how to fold cake batter" if you need a tutorial.
3. Once baked, turn the cake upside down on top of a beer bottle to prevent cake from collapsing.
Happy Birthday Carson :)