Category Archives: Recipes

50 Shades of Caramel

Cutting and wrapping soft chewy caramels

I had a lot of firsts and did a lot of experimenting in 2012. I saw all 50 shades of messed-up-ness. Through lots of persistence, understanding and accepting of one’s idiosyncrasies, everything actually turned out wonderfully and last year was a great year for learning and achieving. Everyone needs and secretly likes a little punishment once in a while.

One of the projects I tried to tackle was making soft chewy caramels as Christmas gifts. Candy making is extremely fickle and seems like an art form. One of my first experiences was during a spontaneous desire to make hard candy with my friend Claire using indentations in corn starch as molds (since we didn’t have any candy molds handy at that moment, and I saw it on the Food Network once). I don’t think I’ll go down that dark path again. It’s not my lifestyle. You can read about it here. I’ve had mild success making caramel sauce to flavor butter creams and chocolates so I thought, “how hard can it be to just make caramel a little harder and stable?” 4 batches and 4 different forms later, I got my answer, HARD.

There was a bunch of recipes floating around on Pinterest in Dec. for soft chewy caramels, including a seasonal apple cider flavor, so I thought, “if I’m going to make caramels, I’m going to make it a challenge and make an interesting flavor!” Boiling away with hot sugar everywhere, Claire and I happily followed the instructions and dreamed of soft caramels melting in our mouths for breakfast the next morning of our getaway weekend. Instead we woke up to a viscous blob oozing out of the pan that was way too sweet and tasted like apple cider juice concentrate. FAIL.

Caramel blob

I dug around some more for recipes, not willing to give up so early on something that could be so wonderful. I thought I was too good to use sweetened condensed milk (milk in a can scares me) so I stayed away from those recipes and went to trusted sources, like David Lebovitz. Don’t be a dummy like I am and not read recipes all the way through. My caramels turned out pretty close to what the recipe said. The only issue was that I could not cut them to little rectangles and instead just cracked them into shards after the mixture set (it made eating them kind of dangerous in your mouth). This recipe was not what I was looking for. The caramels were more like a salted Werther’s (the hard kind) instead of a soft chewy butter melty treat I was craving. Maybe I shouldn’t have ignored the sentence “These caramels are slightly firm.” I tried the recipe again heating the hot sugar to a lower temp, thinking that I just cooked it too hot. The result was softer and did melt in your mouth, but still a hard candy and not for chewing. 3 batches and lots of candy latter, I decided to give it a rest.

Cooking hot sugar and cream!

Candy textures differ by each degree you heat the sugar mixture too. If you’re 1 degree too hot, you’ve gone from liquid to solid, so you need to watch it carefully and experiment to find the texture you would like. Basically you’re evaporating the water content of your mixture away, so the more you heat it the less water there is, and thus harder. I have no idea how people made candy before thermometers. I tried to do the water test (putting a little bit of the cooking mixture in cold water to see how it forms up) but I was afraid to step away from the thermometer in case it boils too hot all of a sudden, so I never really took the 10 seconds to see the results of the water test. This link to Exploratorium has great explanation and pictures (using the water test) of the different stages of sugar.

My quest continued for soft caramels and I decided to use another reliable source, good ol’ Martha Stewart. I get emails from Martha every day, including crafts, cooking, organizing, etc. One day, her Golden Caramel recipe showed up in my inbox and I thought it was faith, so I took to try it out. It did include sweetened condensed milk and since I’ve failed 3 times already and the majority of soft caramel recipes I found called for sweetened condensed milk, I decided to give it a whirl. I followed it exactly including heating the mixture to 244 degrees and just like Martha, I made soft caramels!

Let the caramel mixture set overnight!

I’ve come to the conclusion that the more fat/dairy in the mixture the softer and chewier it will be, so the adding of sweetened condensed milk helped with that. I haven’t tried it, but I think if you were to add more dairy/cream to a caramel mixture instead of sweetened condensed milk it would also do the trick. Check out this revised recipe from theKitchn. Also, make sure you immediately take the pot off of the heat right when your thermometer reaches the desired temperature because the mixture will continue to cook after it’s off the heat (continuing to evaporate water). The mixture may look light in color in the beginning, but don’t worry it’ll caramelize more when it’s cooking and get more golden. If you’d like a darker caramel, you could always cook the sugar above 250 degrees in the first step of the recipe. Lastly, don’t be greedy and impatient, leave the caramel alone to set overnight, it’ll be worth it to have perfectly cut rectangles/squares the next day.

I am in love with my 50 shades of caramels and I think we’re going to have a happy and adventurous future together. I can’t wait to add new ingredients and flavors, keeping my caramel making alive and spicy! Have you experienced 50 shades of caramels? Are you addicted? What did you find that satisfied you? What temperature was the perfect texture for you? What makes you “mmm…” and “ooo…” and wanting more?

Soft Chewy Caramels all wrapped for eating!

Golden Caramel Recipe (from Martha Stewart)

Ingredients
4 cups heavy cream
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
4 cups light corn syrup
4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Vegetable-oil cooking spray

Directions
Spray an 11 3/4-by-16 1/2-inch baking pan (this is a half-sheet pan) with vegetable-oil spray. Set aside in a spot where it will not be moved. In a 2-quart saucepan, combine cream and sweetened condensed milk; set aside.

In a heavy 6- to 8-quart saucepan, combine corn syrup, 1 cup water, sugar, and salt. Clip on candy thermometer. Over high heat, cook until sugar is dissolved, stirring with a wooden spoon, 8 to 12 minutes. Brush down sides of pan with a pastry brush dipped in water to remove any sugar crystals.

Stop stirring, reduce heat to medium, and bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until temperature reaches 250 degrees (hard-ball stage), 45 to 60 minutes. Meanwhile, cook cream mixture over low heat until it is just warm. Do not boil. When sugar reaches 250 degrees. slowly stir in butter and warmed cream mixture, keeping mixture boiling at all times. Stirring constantly, cook over medium heat until thermometer reaches 244 degrees (firm-ball stage), 55 to 75 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Immediately pour into prepared pan without scraping pot. Let stand uncovered at room temperature for 24 hours without moving.

To cut, spray a large cutting board generously with vegetable-oil spray. Unmold caramel from pan onto sprayed surface. Cut into 1-by-1 1/4-inch pieces, or other shapes. Wrap each in cellophane or waxed paper.

Pies, Not a Fan

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Pecan Pie I actually like!

I am not a fan of pies. I thought I was, and was super excited when we first moved to Chicago and saw that there was a diner chain dedicated to pies, called Bakers Square. Blechh! (It might be that I’m not a fan of pies to begin with, or that this place has turned me off of pies, but Zach didn’t seem enthused about pies after we ate there that one time either.) In general, I find pie crust dry, bland, and boring. The fillings are either too sweet or have a weird viscous texture that just wiggles in your mouth. Apples and other fruits are either too soft or undercooked. I’m not into the crisscross opposites in food that people seem to drool over, like sweet and salty or à la mode, so adding ice cream to pie still didn’t win me over. Maybe I just haven’t had a GOOD pie yet.

Pie is a staple desert in the US and with the abundance of stone fruits, squashes, and nuts in the late fall/early winter and the many holiday gatherings, I’m bound to run into pie this season. Every year I try different pie recipes to maybe convince myself that pie isn’t so bad, and every year I’m disappointed again. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some flakey puff pastry (especially wrapped around mini weenies) and I can tolerate tarts if the moisture from the filling has made it soft and cookie-like after a few days in the fridge. I’m just not a fan of your normal butter and flour pie crust.

In my quest to make myself like pie, I specifically experimented with a few crust recipes through out this year (I had determined the main reason why I don’t like pie is the boring crust). I tried the ever trusty Martha Stewart, flawless Julia Child, a few recipes from highly tested blogs, and even the one from the back of the Crisco package, but no dice. No matter if it’s made from butter, shortening, by hand, by machine, or freezing all the equipment and ingredients, it was still boring. UNTIL this past Thanksgiving, I discovered adding sour cream to the mixture and I may be starting to turn a new leaf.

I actually don’t think it’s only the sour cream that makes this pie crust better. I think the real magic is in the process of cutting the butter and mixing in the liquid by hand (instead of relying on the efficient food processor). You get to control the process and make your own judgements as to if it’s too wet or too dry. See, the favorable characteristics I’m looking for in pie crust resembles puff pastry, where it’s flakey and buttery, but still holds its own. To achieve this you need the butter to still be in little chunks in the not so wet dough so that when the butter melts in the oven, it creates layers with the flour mixture. The sour cream also helps to create this flakey texture and makes the crust tender and delicate.

I used this dough in individual pecan pies this past Turkey Day and I actually went back for a second serving (maybe 3rd and 4th within the weekend), so to me I think it was a success. I’m still a skeptic when it comes to pies, but I think I’m on the verge of conversion, or at least acceptance. Give it a try to see if you are a potential convert or if you’re a pie lover, what do you think? Happy pie baking this season!

For the Pie Dough (adapted from Smitten Kitchen Bourbon Peach Hand Pies)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into
pieces
1/2 cup sour cream
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup ice water

makes 24 mini pies (about 3 inches round)

1. In a bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the butter to the flour/salt and, using a pastry blender, cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse meal (I used my fingers to squish the butter into the flour at times). Make another well in the center. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, lemon juice and water and add half of this mixture to the well. With your fingertips, mix in the liquid until large lumps form. Remove the large lumps and repeat with the liquid and flour-butter mixture (I tend to not use the whole amount of liquid as it seems to be too wet, so judge and make sure to add only the amount that you need so that the mixture barely comes together). I usually pour the dough onto plastic wrap and form it into a ball with the plastic wrap and then cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. If preparing ahead of time, the dough can be stored at this point for up to one month in the freezer.

2. Divide the refrigerated dough in half. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one half of the dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 4 inch-round biscuit cutter (or the lip of the individual pie cups), cut 12 circles out of the rolled dough (reroll scraps and cut again if necessary to get 12). Press the circles into the pie cups and place cups onto a rimmed baking sheet, and place in the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes. Repeat the rolling, cutting, and chilling process with the remaining half of dough.

This pecan pie filling is FULL of nuts and not too sweet, so it’s a winner in my book.

Pecan Pie Filling (from Martha Stewart)
4 large eggs
1 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups pecan halves

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Make filling: In a large bowl, whisk eggs, corn syrup, sugars, butter, vanilla, and salt until smooth; mix in pecans. Pour mixture into chilled pie crusts (that are already on a rimmed baking sheet). Bake until filling jiggles slightly in the center when gently shaken, 40 to 50 minutes.

Best if eaten the day of baking, but can be stored up in air tight container for a few days.

Birthday Bashes!

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A few years ago, I was going to bridal showers, bachelorette parties and weddings every weekend. Then it was baby showers, and now I’m at the age where lunch date topics with girlfriends include: spit-up, nipples, rash cream, disciplining, Dora and Ugly Dolls. I don’t know where the time went, but it seems like yesterday we were guessing as to who would get married first and talking about crushes.

Now character-themed parties, goodie bags and smash cakes fill our weekends. I’ve been privileged to have such trusting friends with young kids that have fun and colorful-themed parties. These opportunities to play with flour, sugar, food coloring and fondant have been a challenge but also was fun to work on new techniques and practice baking. Check out the photos below and their captions to see how it all came together. Thanks to Christine, Paolo, and Zain for having such fun parties and their Mommies for being awesome friends! I can’t wait to do a Justin Bieber themed cake!

Beautifully shape Mickey Sugar Cookies with a perfectly butter taste. Recipe from Sweetopia found here!

Fondant Minnie ears and bow for the cake: for the ears I rolled out black fondant to about 1/4 inch thick and then shoved in wooden skewers used for grilling; for the bow I followed this TUTORIAL which was much easier than I had imagined!

Finished Minnie Cake for Christine: marble cake inside with Swiss meringue butter cream covered with fondant.

Birthday girl Christine enjoying her cake (sorry a little blurry).

Royal Icing decorated cookies as favors for the kiddies. I need to work on my cookie decorating skills. Dark colored icing, like black and red are extremely hard to make! It’s hard to prevent bleeding too.

Mickey rice krispie treats just like they have at the park! All you need is a pan of rice krispie treats (recipe per the cereal box), a Mickey-shaped cookie cutter, some chocolate chips melted and sprinkles!

Curious George party for Paolo! Banana Cupcakes per David Lebovitz recipe with whipped chocolate ganache and caramel Swiss meringue butter-cream.

Paolo with his awesome parents. The cake was decorated with hand-crafted fondant Curious George, big yellow hat (with cardboard in the middle to hold up the shape, leaves, balloons on floral wire, and banana runts (which were the hardest things to find, evidently nobody eats runts any more!).

Ugly Doll royal icing sugar cookies for Zain’s 1st Birthday

Ox smash cake with Ugly Doll cupcakes: perfectly chocolate cake (by Glorious Treats) with chocolate ganache filling and perfectly vanilla cake (also by Glorious Treats) with butterscotch ganache filling. These cupcakes were redone at the last minute due to a slight tip of the container and smooshed icing by a certain husband, but it was for the better as they look much better than the original! They were also frozen 3 days in advance due to Labor Day weekend plans, which may have made the ganache filling a little harder than desired (it didn’t ooze like I though it would) and perhaps the vanilla cupcake was a little dry. Next time, plan to be around the weekend when they party is happening and make cupcakes within a day of eating.

Happy Zain with Mommy and Daddy

A Love Story (and Pasta recipe)

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My honey making carbi pasta from scratch!

Zach and I met in an English Lit. class at college, called “Metamorphosis and Transformations”. I’m still not certain as to what that class was about or if I learned anything, but moments of that class will never be forgotten. I would watch him walk back to the dorm building we both lived in after class, fast and deliberate. It never occurred to me that I would fall in love with this skinny gangly redhead with baggy clothes and pierced ears. One day, while walking home behind him, for some reason I struck up conversation. We talked about the events of the day’s class and his love for day-time soap operas, in particular “Passions“. I found him strange. Our walks home turned into a quick stop at the food court for some Church’s Chicken strips and “accidentally” running into each other followed by long conversations standing around the lobby of the dorm. Soon everyone in our 20 person class knew that we walked home together and we were reading our assignments together.

Since we were income-less college students, our “dates” consisted of hanging out watching movies on the university’s movie channel and talking until the sun came up. As we got to know each other better, we scheduled special “dates” at the food court in the basement of the library for some Pizza Hut and Chick-fil-A, using our stash of special meal points. Eventually, we developed a routine as a couple; visiting the C-Store for some Red Baron Pizza for Zach and a Rocket Pop for me. Oh, how junk food filled our lives and started our relationship.

After a 11.5 year relationship and 5 years of marriage, our dates and routines still center around food, but home-made fresh foods and local sustainable restaurants, with an occasional indulgence on fried chicken. Now we have evolved to cooking together, learning new skills and experiencing new cuisines. We recently went to a pasta class and learned how to make delicious pasta with just eggs and flour. Watching my man fumble around kneading the pasta dough, but cut and fold ravioli with precision reminded me why I fell in love with him. How could this carbivore not love a man that can make pasta?! As we’ve grown older, we’ve grown to savor and love our food and each other. Zach and food are my weaknesses. I hope your love story is as yummy as mine.

Slightly wonky but still tasty tagliatelle.

Stuffed and cut ravioli!

: Mushroom ravioli with pesto and tagliatelle with vodka sauce. Half eaten as I was too excited to taste and forgot about taking a picture.

Pasta Dough
Yield: 10 oz, approximately 2 large servings
3 oz Semolina flour
3 oz all purpose flour
Pinch of salt
2 eggs

Hand Kneed Method: Mix the 2 flours together and pile flour on work surface. Leave a little bit of flour off to the side (to add back into the dough if it’s too wet). Make a well in center of flour and crack the eggs into the center of the well. Use a fork to scramble the egg whites and yolks. Slowly, using the fork, begin to incorporate the flour, starting with the inner rim of the well. As you expand the well, be sure to build up the sides to hold in the mixture. When the majority of the flour is incorporated, the dough will begin to come together and you can begin kneading. Make sure to flour your hands before touching the dough. Fold dough repeatedly until flour is incorporated. If your dough is too sticky, kneed in some extra flour that you set aside. Knead for 10 minutes until the dough is elasticy. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

Rolling out the Pasta: Start by cutting the ball of dough in half, to make it more manageable to work through a pasta machine. Coat the half of the dough in flour and roll it through the thickest setting of a pasta machine. Flour the dough again; throughout this process be sure your sheet of pasta has plenlty of flour on both sides, giving it a “dusty” appearance; this will ensure that your dough does not stick to itself after being rolled through the machine. Roll your dough through the next-thickest setting on the machine. Continue rolling your dough through each setting, getting thinner and thinner to achieve your desired pasta sheet thickness. Don’t worry if you think it’s too thin, it will plump up while cooking. Roll it to as thin as you can manage without it breaking.

We cut our pasta into long 1 inch strips for Pappardelle. We also made raviolis by putting a dollop of filling about 1/2 inch apart on a long sheet of pasta. We then covered the filling sheet with another sheet of pasta right on top. To make ravioli’s press the pasta sheets together around the filling, making sure there are no air bubbles in or around the filling. The cut the sheets into squares with each dollop of filling in the middle of each square (we used a pizza cutter).

Cooking the Pasta: Fresh pasta cooks much more quickly than dried. Fresh pasta should be cooked in heavily salted water that has come to a rolling boil. Ravioli take approximately 5 minutes from the moment they hit the water; Pappardelle (depending on thickness) take 2-3 minutes to cook. It’s always a good idea to taste one piece of pasta to see if it’s reached your desired texture before draining the entire pot.

Vodka Sauce
Yield: 2 Quarts
1 1/2 cups diced onions
3/4 cup diced carrot
3/4 cup diced celery
6 cloves garlic, sliced
10 oz of your favorite cheap vodka
2 qts canned stewed whole tomatoes
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 bay leaves
Red pepper flakes to taste – optional
1 large handful fresh basil with stems
Salt and pepper to taste

Sweat onions, garlic, carrot and celery in olive oil until soft, about 7-10 minutes. Add tomatoes and then vodka, and simmer for about 30-40 minutes. Add cream and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove bay leaves, Puree in blender and adjust seasonings

Mushroom, Parmesan, and Ricotta Ravioli Filling
Yield: 30 Servings Ravioli
3 shallots, minced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 # mushrooms, chopped
2 1/4 cups shredded parmesan cheese
4 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 egg yolk
salt and pepper to taste

Saute shallots and garlic and mushrooms in olive oil over medium heat until mushrooms are cooked and excess liquid cooks off. Remove from heat and cool. Combine parmesan, ricotta, eggs, and mushroom mixture in bowl and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside and use in ravioli.

Basil Pesto
Yield: 3 cups
3-4 cloves fresh garlic
3/4 cup pine nuts, sliced almonds or chopped walnuts
2 ½ oz grated Parmesan
½ lb basil leaves.
3 oz lemon juice
1 – 1 ¾ cups olive oil, depending on desired consistency
Salt and pepper to taste

In food processor, process garlic first, then nuts and cheese until nuts are just chopped. Add basil and lemon and pulse until leaves are chopped, while adding the oil. You might have to add basil in batches in order to fit it in the work bowl. Continue adding oil in steady stream until desired consistency is reached. Use less oil for spreading applications, more oil if you are topping pasta. Season with salt and pepper.

56 sticks of butter!

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Massive amounts of butter

My love for baking is definitely not beneficial to the waistline. That is why I recruit my friends and family to consume my creations. My big mouth sometimes gets me into situations that are over my head, but I’m always up for a challenge. Zach’s law firm holds an annual pig roast for the Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce and since last year’s dessert was a big disappointment (too few bites and expensive), I begged to be the provider of a full dessert buffet for this year. I had no idea what I was getting into, even after figuring out that 4 different kinds of bite-sized desserts at 150 pieces each multiplied out to 600 individual pieces that I’d have to hand make. Why not try though, right?

I started planning the menu and figuring out an operation schedule right away, even though the party was still 2 months out. I was excited, my eyes shined bright and wide when I talked about it. There were nights where I couldn’t sleep because I had so much anticipation and anxiousness to start baking. There were requests for some favorites of mine, including the Butterbeer/Butterscotch Cupcake and a Rockyroad Brownie. I had been obsessed with whoopie pies, so I just decided to fill my obsession and make 150 whoopie pies, including 3 different flavors (traditional chocolate with butter cream, banana whoopie with Nutella butter cream, and chocolate with strawberry butter cream). Another hit of mine during the summer is the Red White and Blueberry trifle. How cute does 150 individual mini cups of berry trifle sound? Thus the menu took shape.

Claire Baking with a Smile

A few weeks went by, I forced myself to stop thinking about the party, and then we left for a week’s vacation to Hawaii. I came back refreshed and ready to tackle the challenge, but needed to recruit some skilled hands first. Thank goodness my bestie Claire was available and willing to bake into the wee hours of the night with me. Her mad skill and the way we move together harmoniously around the kitchen was a winning partnership.

Ingredients Galore!

The weekend before the party came and we went shopping for ingredients. When we calculated and wrote the list out, there were giggles and chuckles all over the place. I mean, 13 lbs of flour, 14 lbs of butter, 14 lbs of sugar, 48 eggs is just insane! Thank goodness for Costco, or we really would have really looked looney. Standing next to people with 150 rolls of toilet paper and 20 lbs meat at the check out was reassuring. I did feel my heart stop when we put the butter in our shopping cart though.

Mini ButterBeer Cupcakes with Butterscotch Swiss Meringue Butter Cream

2 full days of baking and 2 nights of assembling and packing, filled with lots of bestie bonding, and sore backs and feet made the challenge fun. We did run into some hick-ups though, like a full blast Chicago summer, spiking temps to the 90’s and above. A hot day does not make having the oven going all day a pleasant environment, even if the air conditioning was on full blast. It also wasn’t the best temperature to make Swiss meringue butter cream, where you have to whip a hot cooked mixture of egg whites and sugar until it is cooled to room temperature before whipping in the butter. It took us over an hour and frozen pie dough wrapped around the bowl with a dishtowel to get the meringue cooled, and still the texture wasn’t the smooth silky goodness that the butter cream is supposed to be. Thank goodness that this icing is extremely forgivable and just needed to be cooled down a bit more in the fridge and whipped up again the next day. If this butter cream worked with the craziness that went on in the kitchen that day, it can also work for you! Also, it holds up pretty well outside on a sunny 95 F degree-day on top of mini cupcakes (or anything else for that matter).

Since the weather was our biggest challenge (along with I guess the whole part of being inexperienced in making a large quantity of food to serve to strangers), we decided that the berry trifle would have been disastrous and potentially harmful to serve outside on a hot sunny humid day. Cream and heat do not mix and should not be mixed when consumed by living beings. Plus the cups that I bought for the individual servings just seemed too big of a portion. So instead of the trifle, I went with another summery dessert, berry pies in mini form, perfect for a portable bite. Claire’s staple piecrust recipe was a savior and delicious last minute swap-o-roo saving the day. Even Zach pitched in late Monday night egg washing each 4-inch pie before baking.

Even with challenging weather, a last minute swap-out, and complete in-experience, we were a complete success! Everyone loved the variety, tastiness, and cute portion sizes. I even got quiet a few questions asking about my “business” and if I was available to cater a few other events! May be one day soon, but for now, it’s just me, this blog, the kitchen, and lots of friends! Thank you Andrew Szocka P.C. for giving me this opportunity and believing in me. Special thank you to Claire and Zach for their hard labor and calming words. Till the next challenge!!

Whoopie Pies!

The Display

Cupcake Display with piggie flower

Berry Hand Pies (Blueberry on left & Strawberry on right)

Here are the recipes:

Butterbeer / Butterscotch Cupcake Cakes – Amy Bites

Banana Whoopie Pies (filled with Swiss Meringue Butter Cream flavored with Nutella) – One Girl Cookies

Chocolate Whoopie Pies (filled with Swiss Meringue Butter Cream) – One Girl Cookies

Rocky Road Brownies (I doubled the batter recipe for a half sheet pan) – Carla Hall The Chew

Swiss Meringue Butter Cream – Sweetapolita

Claire’s Pie Crust – Cottage Revolution

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