Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

I'm going to take these cookies and use them as another ode to the joys and benefits of simple baking...

Sometimes, I need a little baking therapy when I'm stressed and want to relax.  I get into the kitchen, into my "happy place", and in those instances, I go for easy recipes - cookies or muffins, generally - that I can whip up with familiar, routine-like movements that are soothing on their own. The most recent time I really needed a baking "session", I went for a small batch of these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.  In place of some of the chocolate chips, I chopped up and included some peanut m&m's as well.  I like the touch of variety, color, flavor, and fun it throws in.

You might have recently seen this article on the psychological benefits of baking for others.  It articulates much of what we know and feel if you enjoy baking as much as I've come to.  I don't only bake to de-stress...I bake in all moods and for all different occasions, and I would say I'm usually very happy when I do it, but for times when I do need to decompress, baking is a familiar and happy ritual that does that.  It has been a great outlet and source of joy, and I'm grateful to have discovered it and be able to indulge in it.  

So a couple of weeks ago when I was in need of a little de-stressing, I went into the kitchen to whip up some of these cookies for my family.  We always welcome a fresh batch of cookies!  I knew it would put a smile on my face and on my fellas as we enjoy them together afterwards.

To stretch out the process of making this batch of cookies, I did it the old-fashioned way, by hand.  The mixer and electronic equipment are a great help in general but it's amazing how good it feels to work ingredients together, using your hands, doing basic things like stirring, whisking, and chopping.  You take your time and the process really can be therapeutic...

This recipe from Dessert for Two makes a dozen cookies (or a baker's dozen in my case).  I'm already partial to her small-batch monster cookies, which I've whipped up multiple times but as you know, there can never be too many variations of peanut butter, chocolate chip, or oatmeal cookies to try out and enjoy.  Bring 'em all on!  And if I can whip them up with basic ingredients that I already have at home, all the better!

This was one much-needed happy baking session!  And I'm curious...if you find baking relaxing, what do you like to make when you're looking to decompress and get a little "baking therapy"?

Celebrating with Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes

These cupcakes!  Oh boy...I could say so much about them but basically, they are just ridiculously good!  Cooks Illustrated calls them "ultimate chocolate cupcakes with ganache filling" and I have to agree...they deserve "ultimate" status.  They are really something else!

Because take a look inside...these intensely-chocolate cupcakes not only feature a sturdy, dark, chocolate cupcake base, they have a dollop of chocolate ganache filling baked within them!  Finished with a top-hat of rich chocolate frosting, it is an ultimate chocolate cupcake experience.  

There are not many things I love more than chocolate and I'm pretty picky when it comes to chocolate treats, and I can tell you I was highly impressed and totally smitten with these.  They also brought back a good personal memory, of chocolate cupcakes my husband used to get for us at a bakery in Tribeca called, Umanoff & Parsons, that's been closed now for over 10 years.  Those chocolate cupcakes, which we still think about, live in my mind as the "ultimate" and this version comes very close (because it's hard to dethrone a memory that can no longer be tested)!

Talk about 'better late than never'...it took years for me to finally make these cupcakes!  I remember first seeing them in the magazine and then a post from Brown Eyed Baker cemented them in my mind.  But I have to confess that making cupcakes is not my favorite thing to do.  These cupcakes were a bit of a commitment but you'll be happy and thankful you made the effort when you taste it!

Recently, I finally grabbed a good opportunity to make them...in celebration of this blog's 6th anniversary!  Yes - hard enough as it is to believe - I'm still trying recipes, taking photos, and writing about some of them here in this little corner.  It's been a rewarding hobby and a creative outlet, a happy place where I indulge and make delicious discoveries such as these chocolate cupcakes!  

So let's pop a candle on top of one of these ultimate chocolate cupcakes and celebrate!  To those of you who take the time to visit, leave a comment when you can, I really appreciate your encouragement and kind words!  I don't know how much longer or at what pace this little blog will continue for but I hope I'll stay busy and make tasty discoveries for many years to come.  I can't believe the little treasure trove of recipes I've amassed here that my family and I truly love and enjoy over and over again.  It has been a real treat!

To all my fellow chocoholics out there, roll up your sleeves and tackle these cupcakes. You'll wonder if it's worth the effort and when you're done and finally sit down and take a bite of these deep, dark, rich (not particularly sweet), unabashedly indulgent cupcakes, you will think that "yes, they were totally worth it!"

Sweet potato-chocolate chunk muffins

I had to try these muffins because they combine two of my favorite things: sweet potatoes and chocolate!  On top of that, they are super easy to make.  If you roast and eat as many sweet potatoes as I do, set some aside to give these muffins a try. I'm happy I did!

These muffins are made with mashed roasted sweet potatoes (which basically replaces the liquid - typically milk or buttermilk - in the recipe), olive oil, and whole wheat flour (I used my standard white whole wheat flour), which gives the muffins a nice nutty flavor and texture.  Possibly the best part?  Bittersweet chocolate chunks stirred into the batter essentially guarantees that the muffins will be a hit.  I can now officially say that sweet potatoes and chocolate go very well together!  

The sweet potato part of the muffins might not jump out at you but much like baking with pumpkin puree, it adds moisture, subtle sweetness, and combines nicely with a touch of cinnamon.  It also adds a nice golden color and visuals are important when it comes to eating, right?  My family and I really enjoyed them and I'm happy to include them in my muffin-making rotation.  

Because we had just polished off a batch of double chocolate muffins (I think of those as our "house muffins"), I made a small batch of six of these to try them out.  I wouldn't hesitate to make an even dozen next time because these go down easy and as we all know, homemade muffins are much loved and appreciated.  I'm always happy when the cookie jar is filled and the cake dome has some muffins tucked inside.

Yeasted coffee cake

My friends, let's talk about yeasted coffee cake!  Did you know there was such a thing?  Maybe it's just me but I'd never thought of it or had it before...at least not knowingly. 

Maybe it's not a huge stretch of the imagination when we think about yeasted sweet doughs we know and love - everything from cinnamon rolls to brioche, to babka. Well, now I've had yeasted coffee cake and I'll just say it is big-time tasty!  Not only that, this recipe is easy...oh so very dangerously easy...

This recent sweet breakfast came to be thanks to my son's love of these coffee cake muffins - we adore the small-batch recipe from Dessert for Two so much that I now have to double the recipe when I make it!  So I went looking for other ideas and came across a yeasted version of coffee cake that had me totally intrigued.  

Like many of Christina's recipe, it seemed almost too good to be true, too easy to be the case but again, the proof was in the results.  The process is so simple.  Just mix the ingredients together to form the dough, then spread it into a loaf pan (this is a small-batch recipe, perfect for feeding my family of 3) - no kneading involved!  All you need is about 45 minutes to an hour of time for proofing, to let the dough do its magic.  If you plan to serve it for breakfast, I can tell you it's a great do-ahead.  I made the dough and crumb topping the day before and stored everything in the refrigerator.  In the morning, I let the dough proof before popping it in the oven and we had warm, fragrant yeasted coffee cake to start the day with.

Through the magic of yeast, the cake is soft, fluffy, and a bit chewy; it has a wonderful light texture.  The crumb topping is what you know and love, with an added chocolate bonus!  I thought of the cinnamon rolls I make and how I always include a little chocolate in the filling; in that vein, I scattered a couple of tablespoons of mini chocolate chips among the streusel for this cake and it was lovely; I highly recommend it. 

If all that wasn't enough, drizzle a bit of glaze on top and there you have a sweet breakfast worthy of waking up early on a weekend morning for.  For us, it certainly perked up a cloudy Saturday morning.

Double chocolate oatmeal cookies

For me, a surefire way to make an already good recipe involving chocolate even better is to add more chocolate!  So here we are with some chocolate chocolate-chip oatmeal cookies.  

When in doubt, I make cookies.  It's baking therapy - the simple act of whipping up a batch of chocolate-chip cookies always soothes me and makes me feel useful.  Then you realize you also have the bonus of fresh homemade cookies to share with your family and to tuck away into your cookie jar for times when someone needs a treat!

Chocolate-chip cookies and oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies are ones I make often because it's something no one ever gets tired of.  In fact, they're things we eat and often feel caught off-guard by in how good they are...they make us remember how nice and satisfying a simple cookie can be.  So I embrace all my cookie-making and eating moments.  This time, I jumped on the chance to try a batch of double chocolate oatmeal cookies. 

They're dark, soft, chewy, sweet and chocolaty...it's hard not to love them so basically, I heartily recommend making a batch, soon!

Chocolate mint bars

One thing leads to another...after making revel bars, I thought I'd make another bar dessert that I've had on my list for a long time: chocolate mint bars.  Since St. Patrick's Day is coming up, a touch of green seems appropriate right now.  Clearly, I embrace all kinds of excuses to make treats!

I had my son in mind for these because he is a big fan of the chocolate + mint combination. These 3-layer treats feature a base layer of chocolate cake/brownie, followed by a cooling and sweet layer of mint frosting, topped with (my favorite part) a chocolate glaze. 

The chocolate mint bars I made are a result/collaboration between a couple of recipes. I based them off of both recipes from Hershey's (this one as well as this) and one from Cooking Light.  Typically, you'll see chocolate syrup used for the base layer but I found a Hershey's recipe that used cocoa powder instead, which I preferred.  I scaled the recipes down and made a few tweaks here and there.  In the end, I had an 8x8" pan of these minty chocolate bars that I've been meaning to try for ages. 

It's clearly all about the layers, which marry together so well.  Bite into it and the first thing that hits me, and what lingers, is that creamy chocolate glaze on top...that's my favorite part.  And the minty flavor is always refreshing and works so well with chocolate.  It's a time honored classic for obvious reasons.  So call it frosted mint brownies or mint chocolate cake you can eat with your hands...either way, it's a tasty little treat!

Grits in the morning...breakfast/brunch inspiration

You know how much I love a good weekend breakfast or brunch (a lot!).  I look forward to filling the dining room table with food and sitting down for a leisurely meal with my husband and son.  The little man finishes and usually takes off after a while but my husband and I linger at the table for a long while just chatting and enjoying a few cups of coffee.

Above all else, I like eating and being at home these days.  But I also make it a point to go out once in a while (especially on Sundays for brunch) and take advantage of some of the amazing restaurants available to us, as we live so close to NYC.  I try to mix things up and in our latest outing a few weeks ago, we went to Amy Ruth's in Harlem. It's known for soul food and, specifically, the fried chicken and waffles.  We'd been there many years ago but thought it would be a nice change to head there again.

We had a good breakfast at Amy Ruth's and our favorite dish turned out to be the smothered fried chicken, served with white corn grits and eggs.  I realized I'd never cooked grits despite how much I love similar things like porridge and oatmeal.  So I was inspired by that breakfast outing to cook grits for breakfast back home!  I love when inspiration strikes.

Here we have breakfast of grits, bacon and eggs, with a side of toast.  Nothing too out of the ordinary but so hearty and satisfying.  One of the things I liked about the grits at Amy Ruth's was how it was a great blank canvas for the smothered chicken.  I asked the server whether the grits were cooked with water or milk and she told me, as I suspected, that it was made with just water.  I was happy to hear it and I did the same at home.  You can source good stone-ground grits but for a novice like me, I settled for the quick cooking kind easily found in a canister.  You know what?  It tasted just like the one at the restaurant.  

You don't always get inspired eating out but it's such fun when it happens.  I keep a little list of restaurants to try out for brunch and I'm hoping for some good meals as well as a little inspiration to take back home every now and then.

Revel bars (oatmeal-fudge cookie bars)

This has been a bit of an odd winter for us, with abnormally warm temps that suddenly dip into the very low double-digits.  I find that with the swing in temps, my cooking/baking as well as eating habits have been jumping all over the place, too.  So when the weather turned cold this weekend, I took it as an excuse to bake up something hearty.  I turned to my "to-try" list and decided to make a batch of Revel bars.

I never had these cookie bars growing up and I don't know exactly how the name, Revel Bars, came about but I have to assume it's to assure us that we will be very happy eating them.  My knowledge of them comes from having seen them on blogs (including this delectable peanut butter version from Tricia at Saving Room for Dessert, which I would have gladly made if my fellas are as into peanut butter desserts as I've become).  The bars always look drool-worthy and I've had them on my "to-bake" list for some time... 

And how could they not be drool-worthy when Revel Bars are basically oatmeal bar cookies with a chocolate fudge-like center!

You make a relatively basic oatmeal cookie dough, press two-thirds of it into a baking pan for the base, then make a simple chocolate fudge layer by melting sweetened condensed milk with chocolate chips and butter.  The fudge gets spread over the cookie base and then you dollop the remaining oatmeal cookie dough on the surface before baking it altogether for about 25 minutes.  

I suggest starting these early in the morning because you need to allow time for cooling.  The cookie bar needs to cool completely in the pan so the fudge layer sets up and the bars are easy to slice.  When they're finally ready, I think you will revel in these as much as we did.  

The cookie bars may be rich but they aren't achingly sweet.  I adore the texture - the oatmeal cookie portion is chewy while the fudgy layer adds an extra dimension of richness, creaminess, as well as chewiness of its own.  These are fudge oatmeal cookies in bar form and great for a crowd, for sharing in general.  

There's something about bar cookies/desserts...somehow, they're almost always good and generally rich.  These Revel bars were aptly named and were a hit with us and friends we shared them with!