Cookie Madness

I’m taking Sudafed this week and feeling like the inside of my body is on top of my skin, however, I’m getting a lot done. In fact, I finished today’s baking by 9:00 AM, which is a good thing because at 10:00 AM, the air condition broke down and it’s too hot too bake.

So to kill time while I’m waiting for the AC guy, here’s a new recipe for you. These bars are based on a famous St. Louis cake called “Gooey Butter Cake” . This version is based on one from Paula Deen who uses cake mix as a base and says you can swap out different flavors. In a burst of Sudafed stoked creativity, I used spice cake mix.

They are a little on the sweet side for my personal taste, but I think other people will like them. My mom’s coming…..I know she will. Maybe the air condition guy will want one too. We’ll see.

Spice Cake Gooey Butter Bars

Crust:
18.25 oz spice cake mix
8 tablespoons melted butter (regular salted)
1 large egg

Topping:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 large egg
1 pound powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons melted butter (regular salted)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13×9 inch metal pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.

Mix together cake mix and butter. When moist and crumbly, blend in the egg. Press into the pan.

Beat together cream cheese and egg. Add powdered sugar and beat until creamy. Beat in the vanilla, then slowly add the melted butter.

Pour the cream cheese mixture over the crust and bake for 40-45 minutes or until sides appear set. Middle should still be very jiggly. Cool completely, then chill for a few hours.

Lift from pan and cut into squares or bars. Makes anywhere from 24 to 32.

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I can’t type much right now because I’m supposed to be making dinner, but here’s one last cookie recipe for today. This recipe is less complicated than the previous one and should satisfy a raspberry white chocolate craving. The catch is, you have to have some fresh raspberries on hand. We usually don’t, but today we did and I was surprised to find how well they worked in cookies. I think dried cranberries, cherries or blueberries would be good too.

One Bowl White Chocolate Macadamia Raspberry Cookies

8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt plus an extra 1/8 tsp
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/3 cups flour
2/3 cup lightly salted macadamia nuts, barely chopped
4-5 ounces white chocolate, cut into chunks (I used Bakers)
1/2 cup (more or less) fresh raspberries , washed and dried

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cream butter and both sugars with an electric mixer. Beat in eggs, vanilla and cream, then beat in baking soda, salt and cornstarch. Add flour and stir just until blended. Stir in nuts and white chocolate. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto a parchment lined baking sheets.

Carefully slice raspberries into halves or quarters – this will vary, depending on how much raspberry you want in your cookies and how large your raspberries are. Gently press pieces of raspberry in cookie dough rounds

Bake for 12-13 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 2 dozen

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Happy Post-Holiday Weekend!

We hosted a couple of play dates, took walks with Lizzie, and attended a party at some friends’ house. It also happened to the 10th anniversary of our marriage, so Todd & I celebrated with a good bottle of wine.

Now things are back to normal. Fuzz headed off to vacation bible school and I’m home cleaning up and baking. Since I had time to focus, I decided to make what appeared to be a brilliant variation on white chocolate brownies — a raspberry studded meringue topped white chocolate brownie from Dorie Greenspan’s book, Baking From My Home to Yours.

If you don’t have the book, here’s a link to the recipe. But hey. Buy the book!

The brownies are quite different and the meringue adds a unique touch. The only problem is, thanks to the meringue topping, it’s hard to tell when the brownies are done. Mine took 40 minutes and they still seem kind of soft. Hopefully, they’ll firm up.

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Today I made a quick batch of cookies to take as a hostess gift this evening. The recipe came courtesy of Martha Stewart and can be found here and in the new Martha Stewart Cookie Book.

The cookies are delicious and since the recipe is from Martha, I decided to pack them in one of the Martha Stewart branded cookie towers. The cookie tower came out a bit lopsided, and this could pose a problem as the person I’m giving this to is an actual building inspector — but I think the deliciousness of the cookies will outweigh the imperfections of the tower.

I followed the recipe as written and didn’t make any changes, but here’s something I noticed when making the filling. Unless you let the chocolate/butter mixture cool completely, it might very well be a bit runny. Mine was, so I chilled it in the refrigerator then fluffed it up with an electric mixer. That worked just fine.

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Happy Seems-Like-July 4!

Yesterday didn’t feel very much like a holiday. People were putting flags out, doing beer runs and getting house guests settled in, but even though it was actually July 4, it felt like July 3 because A) it was a Friday and B) a lot of the fireworks displays and parties are today.

Tonight we’re going to a party at some friends’ house. We live on the edge of the hill country, but our friends live farther into the hills and have a great view of a neighboring club’s fireworks. Dinner will be hamburgers and whatever people happen to bring. I usually take dessert and tonight will be no different. The hostess said her favorite combo was “chocolate and white chocolate” so I’m taking this cheesecake. It looks pretty good, but I won’t be able to review it until late tonight.

Between now and then, I plan to make some cookies.

Marbled White Chocolate Cheesecake (adapted from Kraft)

24 Oreos (chocolate sandwich cookies)
5 tablespoons melted butter
24 oz cream cheese, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
6 oz white chocolate (Baker’s), melted
2 oz dark or semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. If using a black springform pan, preheat to 325 degrees F.

Rub butter all over a 9 inch springform pan; Line bottom with a round of parchment if desired.

Combine crushed cookies and butter. Press into bottom and slightly up sides of greased pan. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Remove from oven.

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in sugar and vanilla and continue beating until fluffy. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in eggs, one at a time, beating just until mixed.

Spoon out 1 cup of cheesecake batter and combine with melted dark chocolate. Add melted white chocolate to remaining batter in mixing bowl. Stir well.

Pour white chocolate mixture and dark chocolate mixture into pan alternately.

Bake on center rack for 40 minutes or until sides are set. Middle will still appear slightly wiggly. Cool completely on a wire rack. Transfer to refrigerator and chill for 3 hours or more.

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