Crunchy gooey goodness

Every once in a while, I get the urge to combine as many delicious things as possible and see if they are even more delicious together. Most of the time, it's a very successful experiment.

This time around, I focused on cookies, caramel and chocolate. I've recently been hankering for graham crackers, and wondered if it would be possible to recreate these childhood favorites from scratch. The recipe I found doesn't make perfect replicas of HoneyMaid, but I might venture that these are even better! They're a little bit denser and crunchier, and have an even more distinctive brown sugar taste. Plain out of the oven, these would be an amazing accompaniment to breakfast coffee and would probably be very nice when dunked :)

As for the second layer, I zeroed in on salted butter caramel. Ever since my time in France, I have been awakened to the beauty of salted butter caramel. Sweet, a little salty, and overall the most creamy and buttery thing you will ever consume. I get a little nervous working with sugar over high heat, but this recipe was surprisingly simple and only has a few ingredients. Whether or not you use the caramel to make the final cookies, it's a ridiculously delicious dipping sauce for pretzels, nuts, chocolate, and pretty much anything else you can find in your house.

Chocolate is chocolate, but there is a way to temper it that prevents that matte finish on your coating that melts in your hands. You need a candy thermometer, but it's a worthwhile $6 investment.
So, here goes. It's a multi-step process that will take a couple of days, but I can tell you that the finished product is well worth the wait. Indulge, my friends!

Caramel Chocolate Grahams

For the graham crackers

From Smitten Kitchen

1 C whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour

1 C dark brown sugar, packed

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

7 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen

1/3 C mild honey (like clover honey)

5 Tbsp milk

2 Tbsp vanilla extract

For the caramel
From Drizzle and Dip
400 g sugar
165 g butter
250 mL cream
salt to taste

8 oz dark chocolate

Directions:
For the graham crackers
Combine flour, brown sugar, baking soda and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until the mixture is a coarse meal. If you don't have a food processor, use a pastry cutter by hand. Whisk together honey, milk and vanilla in a separate bowl, then add to the dry ingredients and pulse until the dough barely comes together. Turn dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap, and dust lightly with flour or powdered sugar to keep from sticking. Shape into a rectangle and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Roll refrigerated dough out onto a floured surface to 1/8" thick (I rolled it between two floured sheets of parchment). Cut into the desired shape, then place onto a parchment or silicone-lined baking sheet. Chill for another 20 minutes in the freezer while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Decorate crackers with any perforations or dots. Bake crackers for 15-25 minutes or until lightly browned and slightly firm to the touch.  Cool completely on a wire rack.


For the caramel
Heat sugar without stirring in a large heavy-bottom saucepan over medium-high heat. Once sugar has dissolved completely, remove the pot from the heat and whisk in butter in small pieces while continuously whisking. Return pot to heat and add cream while still whisking vigorously. When the sauce becomes smooth and combined, remove from heat and add a sprinkle of salt. Allow it to cool completely and stir in another good sprinkle of salt.


For the chocolate coating
Melt chocolate (minus about 1 oz) in a double boiler over medium-high heat. Make sure the mixture reaches at least 105 F, then add in "seed" chocolate of 1 oz remaining room temperature chocolate. Remove from heat and stir to reduce the temperature. Maintain the temperature between 88-90F before using it.

To assemble cookies
Place cookies on a wire rack over wax paper. Spread a thin layer of room temperature caramel over the top of each cookie, then pour a layer of chocolate over the cookie, coating the top completely. Let cool completely - enjoy!

Tie-dye muffins

I've never been a huge fan of Valentine's Day, even though I celebrated this year with a special meal and a fantastic guy. There is one part of the holiday that I can't resist, though, and that's pretty food. Normally I don't advocate the use of food coloring because I'm a bit skeptical of eating a chemical substance that will dye your hands for a week, but there are certain times in life where pink and red food is absolutely called for.

A Valentine's breakfast is always a bit better when you add chocolate. This muffin recipe is made with lots of dark chocolate, so it's not overpoweringly sweet and great with your morning coffee. My little twist is a swirl of pink cheesecake filling, adding a bit of tang and some color. I added about a tablespoon of cheesecake to each muffin, which is probably the minimum I'd recommend. If you'd like to make the cheesecake more obvious, you can easily double that amount. Just make sure that the cheesecake is not all on the top, so it doesn't bubble up and brown. Not as pretty as a soft pink center!

Pink Cheesecake Chocolate Muffins
Adapted from Susi's Kochen Und Backen Adventures

Chocolate Chunk Muffin
6 Tbsp (3/4 C) unsalted butter
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 C all-purpose flour
1 C whole wheat pastry flour
2/3 C granulated sugar
1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 C buttermilk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Pink cheesecake filling

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/3 C granulated sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Red food coloring (optional)

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and line muffin tins with paper liners or nonstick spray.

Beat together all ingredients for cheesecake filling using an electric mixer. Add red food coloring one drop at a time until the mixture is a light pink. Set aside.

Melt the butter and half of the chocolate in a double boiler over low heat, then remove from heat. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk together buttermilk, egg and vanilla in another bowl. Pour the liquid ingredients and melted chocolate into the dry ingredients, and fold in gently and quickly using a spatula. Stir in remaining chopped chocolate.

Place alternating spoonfuls of muffin batter and cheesecake into the muffin tins, starting and ending with muffin batter and filling almost to the top of the well. Trace a spiral into the batter with a knife to swirl the two mixtures. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the top of the muffin springs back when lightly touched.

All gone!

Two in one

I have always loved scones, and I love them even more with Devonshire cream, jam or lemon curd copiously spread over every single bite. Shockingly, I've been straying away from chocolate and embarking on a bit of a lemon kick lately - so I decided to see if the scone and the spread could in fact be united in one delicious package!

Scones are scones because they have very few ingredients that interact in just the right way to get just the right texture. Adding an additional ingredient, especially one like lemon curd, is bound to change the texture. Luckily, the new combination is DELICIOUS (in its own way) and the only major changes were a bit denser texture and almost no rising of the scone. I hesitate to call this a scone; as I was munching on my third of the morning I was compelled to describe it more as a light, crumbly biscuit. Whatever. If you love lemon and a light little bite to start (or end) your day, these are for you! Super easy, super yummy and one of those soul-restoring goodies that I love to have in my repertoire.

Lemon Curd Scones
Adapted from Joy of Baking
Makes 10-12 scones


2 C all-purpose flour
1/4 C granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 C cold unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C heavy cream
1/3 C lemon curd
Raw sugar


Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Blend butter into dry ingredients using a pastry cutter or forks until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Mix together egg, vanilla, cream and lemon curd in a separate bowl, then gradually add to dough. Blend just until combined - don't overmix!

Knead gently a few times and roll out to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into rounds using a cookie cutter or the rim of a drinking glass, then transfer onto prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with cream and sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until tops are lightly golden brown.