Peanut Butter Blondies with Milk Chocolate Frosting

These are good.

Seriously good.

So, let's talk. How was everyone's Christmas? Mine was wonderful. I spent all of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with my family. I can't think of a better way to have spent the holiday. We ate, sat around the kitchen table and talked, ate, played games (my mom is a horrible cheater at Scattergories), ate, and opened some presents. Did I mention that we ate? It seemed like a reasonable amount of food at the time, and was very very tasty, but now that I look back maybe I shouldn't have indulged with multiple pieces of bread pudding or handfuls of puppy chow. But hey, it's only Christmas once a year, right? Right!

So back to Christmas. Honestly, it was the best Christmas we've ever had. My mom attributes that to her delectable and perfectly cooked prime rib she made for Christmas Eve dinner. I like to think it's the Kitchenaid mixer I was gifted (!!!). But even if we had no prime rib, and no super-cool, awesome, cherry red mixers for the holiday I'm positive it would have been awesome because of the best gift of all, spending time with family. Ok, I'm getting too cheesy on here, aren't I?

Enough of me blabbering about Christmas cheer, and time for blondie talk. Seriously good peanut butter blondie talk. I think the thing that makes these blondies so delicious is the classic combination of chocolate and peanut butter. It's hard to mess that duo up.

I made these blondies awhile back but just got around to posting them. I hope these are one of the desserts you make in the new year. If you do, you'll have made an excellent and delicious choice. Trust me.

Have a wonderful rest of the holiday season and I'll talk to you all next year!

Peanut Butter Blondies with Milk Chocolate Frosting-recipe by Joy the Baker

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes
2 cups dark brown sugar
1 cup smooth and natural peanut butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch pan and line with parchment. Grease the parchment paper too.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and sugar until the butter is just melted. Remove from the burner and allow to cool for 5 minutes, then add the peanut butter. Stir until incorporated. Allow to cool for 5 minutes more, then whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract. You want the sugar, butter, and peanut butter mixture to be cool enough that the eggs won't cook when they're added in.

Whisk together salt, flour, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients all at once to the wet. Stir until just incorporated. Pour the thick batter in the prepared pan and smooth out. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the blondies comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before frosting.

Milk Chocolate Frosting

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temp
3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2-2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons milk
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips, melted

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, cocoa powder, and salt. Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar followed by 1 Tablespoon milk. Beat well. Add another cup of powdered sugar, followed by 2 tablespoons of milk. Add the melted and slightly cooled chocolate chips to the frosting and beat to incorporate. Add the final 1/2 cup of powdered sugar if you need a bit for thickness. Spread evenly over cooled peanut butter blondies.

The Simple Things in Life.

I live a pretty simple life. I wake up every morning about 9, I watch reruns of The Office on TBS on a daily basis, I listen to my new Josh Groban cd too much for anyone else's comfort, and I bake. Sometimes I'll stray outside my usual day to day schedule and go on a shopping spree at TJ Maxx, or go on a weekend trip with my mom to Columbus. But most of the time, I wake up in the morning in my warm bed and I know that the day ahead of me is going to be like every other: simple. Now, don't get my wrong, I wouldn't change a thing about my life. For me, simple is nice. I enjoy knowing what I'm going to do everyday and I love writing to-do lists and keeping track of my schedule. Some may call that boring, but I like to think of my life as planned, and there is nothing wrong with that.

A few weeks ago, I broke out of my normal daily pattern, and I hopped on a plane at the awful hour of 5:30 in the morning. Where was I going, you ask? Raleigh, North Carolina. My aunt lives there and she invited me down to visit, and to attend and photograph the Cut to the Core culinary competition at Johnson & Whales in Charlotte. I have a ton of things to say about this, so I think I'm going to just dedicate an entire post to it, instead of cramming it all into this one.

Guess who was one of the guest speakers at the event?! Alton Brown! And I met him! I was totally geeking out like a little kid when I talked to him, but I'm sure he gets that all the time. He talked about his healthy eating journey and how he lost 50 pounds! His speech was exciting and inspirational too. After he was finished, he stood at the beginning of an extremely long line and signed every book that awaited his signature. When I got to the front of the line, I was very nervous. What do you say to someone who is such a culinary inspiration? The first thing that popped into my head was a recipe of his. For one that many foodies know and love. The Chewy. So I just mentioned to him that it was the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever and that everyone loved it. Then he signed both of my books, one for me and one for my mom, and sent me on my way. It was the coolest moment ever.

So I thought it was an appropriate way to share my story of North Carolina with you with my favorite chocolate chip cookie. In this cookie, butter is melted not softened, bread flour is used, and the brown:white sugar ratio is greater than most cookies. Something about the way the melted butter interacts with the bread flour makes the cookie oh so chewy and awesome. This chocolate chip cookie is far from simple. Perhaps that's the reason I love it so much.

So even if you live a simple life, like me, you need to make this cookie. Your day will go from ordinary to extraordinary.

First, start with a recipe...

The Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie-recipe by Alton Brown

-2 sticks unsalted butter

-2 1/4 cups bread flour

-1 teaspoon kosher salt

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-1/4 cup sugar

-1 1/4 cup brown sugar

-1 egg

-1 egg yolk

-2 Tablespoons milk

-1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

-2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

Pour the melted butter in a mixing bowl. Add the sugars and cream on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, milk, and vanilla, and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet, and bake for 14 minutes (I only baked mine for 8 because they were done enough then). Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Be the Best.

I have a confession to make. I have been a bad blogger.

I looked in my "Already Made" bookmark folder the other day and I have 40 recipes in there. Forty!! And that doesn't count the recipes I've made from cookbooks and such, including a delectable Madeline recipe (coming soon). I am incredibly disappointed with myself. I could have shared over 40 yummy recipes with you, but I was a slacker.

The point is, I'd love to get restarted on this little space in the internet devoted to my baking adventures. I'd love to be the best food blogger I can be. So, I thought it was appropriate to make the best chocolate bundt cake ever. That title was appointed by Joy the Baker, and boy oh boy was she correct. My mom told me this was one of the tastiest things I've ever made.

Moral of the story: be the best blogger while eating the best chocolate bundt cake ever. Seriously, do it, you'll thank me.

The Best Chocolate Bundt Cake Ever; from Joy the Baker

For the Cake:

1 1/4 cups plus 1 Tablespoon brewed coffee

3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 whole eggs

1 egg yolk

1 1/4 cups plus 1 Tablespoon buttermilk

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoon canola oil

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups, plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour, sifted

For the Glaze:

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate

3/4 cup unsalted butter

3 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature

1/4 cup brewed coffee, cooled

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  

Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan and set aside.  

To make the cake batter:  Put brewed coffee and cocoa powder in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking frequently.  Remove from the heat and let come to room temperature.  

In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a whisk attachment, mix together sugar, salt, baking soda, eggs and egg yolk on low speed for about 1 minute.  Add the buttermilk, oil and vanilla extract and mix on low again for another minute.  

Add the flour and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Add the cooled cocoa mixture and mix on medium speed for 3 minutes.  The batter will be very loose.  Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake for 1 hour, or until a cake tester inserted in the cake comes out clean.  

Let the cake cool completely in the pan and then invert onto a cooling rack.  

To make the icing:  Chop the chocolate into small pieces, put them in a heatproof bowl (or a double boiler), and set the bowl over a pot of barely simmering water.  Be sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the boiling water.  Remove the bowl from the heat when all of the chocolate bits have melted. 

Melt the butter in a separate pan or in the microwave.  Whisk the melted butter into the melted chocolate until thoroughly incorporated.  Sift in half of the powdered sugar.  Add the sour cream and whisk to combine.  Sift in the remaining powdered sugar and whisk until smooth.  The glaze should be thick and shiny.  Lastly, add the coffee and whisk to create a glossy glaze.  

Pour the glaze over the Bundt cake, covering it completely.  Leave at room temperature until ready to serve.  

Can I Have S'more?

I am a sucker for anything s'more flavored. When I look through my subscription feed of blogs and I see a variation of a s'more, I almost always bookmark it in my "To Make" folder.

I saw these cupcakes on Annie's Eats awhile back and knew then that I had to make them someday. That day was last week when I was craving something delicious.

These cupcakes were very moist and really did taste like a s'more. It all started with a graham cracker crust that was baked for five minutes in the cupcake liners. This crunchy crust was to die for. It's the classic s'more combination and it made the cupcake awesome. 

Next, I made a simply chocolate cake. I was rather scared when adding the boiling water, as the batter was quite thin, but I continued scooping them into their liners and held my breath the while they baked. 

After the cupcakes had baked and cooled in their pans, it was frosting time. The frosting was a simple meringue and then browned a bit with a Crème brûlée torch. The crispiness of the top of the meringue and the gooeyness of the inside was amazing.

The only things I would have done differently is to have made a thicker graham cracker crust. On some of the cupcakes, it was very thin and you couldn't taste it very well. I also would have added more butter to the crust mix. I think if it was packed better, it would have held up more when the cupcakes were taken out of their wrapper. 

Although there were a couple changes I would have made, the cupcakes were still amazing and I fully recommend making them. Especially if you're a diehard s'more lover like I am. 

Here is the recipe for this delectable treat:

S'more Cupcakes

For the graham cracker crust:
1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup sugar
5 1/3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped 

For the cake:
2 cups plus 2 tbsp. sugar
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup plus 1 tbsp. cocoa powder
1½ tsp. baking powder
1½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water 

For the frosting:
8 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
½ tsp. cream of tartar
2 tsp. vanilla extract 

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a small mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter; mix well with a fork.  Drop about 1 tablespoon of the graham cracker mixture in the bottom of each cupcake liner and press down to line the bottom.  (Note: I found the bottom of my squeeze bottle to be the perfect size to do this job neatly and quickly.)  Sprinkle a small amount of the chopped chocolate on top of the graham cracker crusts.  Bake for 5 minutes.  Remove from the oven, and maintain the oven temperature.

To make the cake batter, sift together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on low speed just to combine.  In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract; whisk together.  Add to the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Add the boiling water and stir just to combine (batter will be thin).

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each about ¾ of the way full.  Return the pans to the oven and bake about 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, rotating the pans halfway through baking.  Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in the top of a double boiler.  Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it reaches 160° F with an instant-read thermometer.  Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Whisk starting at low speed and gradually increasing to medium-high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form.  Mix in the vanilla until combined.  Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.  Brown with a kitchen torch.