Lisa recently made these peanut-butter cups while we were on the Oregon Coast with the Small Clan — this is the second go-round for Lisa experimenting with peanut-butter cups, and it was a definite winner. The peanut-butter filling has the perfect texture thanks to the addition of crushed up graham crackers (!!) — I know, right? This recipe was found @ Pete Bakes, and for how surprisingly easy (and delicious!) they are, will surely be made again.

Om-nom-nom…

Who keeps leaving half ones? And can I finish them?

There’s only three left!

Yum, you can really taste the graham cracker…

I don’t taste the graham cracker, just delicious peanut-butter-filled goodness.

There’s only one left!

Wow, these are perfect…

It’s a good thing I didn’t make 40 of these… we’d have polished them all off!

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
8 oz semi-sweet chunks
8 oz dark chocolate chunks
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup crushed graham crackers

In a medium bowl, mix together the peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar and graham crackers. Set aside.
In a metal bowl over a saucepan with boiling water, carefully melt the chocolate.
Use a pastry brush or a spoon to brush the melted chocolate on the bottom and sides of mini cupcake liners. This will be the base for your cups, so if in doubt, slather on more chocolate — you don’t want the lining too thin. Put the cupcake liners on a plate and place in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Remove from the freezer, and place about a teaspoon of the peanut butter mixture in each cup. Press down a bit to spread. Spoon more melted chocolate on top of each cup.
Place the peanut butter cups back in the freezer for another 15 minutes to set.
Allow cups to get to room temperature before serving, or just serve cold!

12-16 mini peanut butter cups.

When I spotted this recipe for Tahini Brownies on Taste of Beirut, I knew it was just a matter of time before we would tackle it ourselves.  Actually, “tackle” is very much an overstatement; this is one of the easiest brownie recipes we’ve ever made.  It literally took more time to figure out the approximate grams-to-cups conversions than to throw everything together and get them baking.  A birthday party was the perfect excuse to make, and give away (lest we eat them all ourselves), these egg-free, butter-free, sesame-sweet treats.

Yay, we’re finally making these!

Chris says:

I know it — the batter is awesome.

Lisa says:

You sure it’s a good idea to bring these to a party with kids? There’s rum in here.

Chris says:

Heck yes — I’m sure there will be plenty of kid-friendly treats. Besides, I’m sure most of the alcohol is gonna burn off during baking.

Lisa says:

True! Um, I think we should cut these before the party.

Chris says:

Well of course, how else are we gonna taste-test them?

Lisa says:

Wanna split one?

Chris says:

Yes please…

Lisa says:

Ooooh, they’re good… you can definitely taste the tahini!

Chris says:

Yeah, at the end… not overpowering, but you can definitely place it. Okay, these were a success.

Lisa says:

*Totally* — and so easy! Now let’s go before I eat any more of them.

Tahini Brownies
1 Bar of cooking chocolate, such as 60 or 70% bittersweet, 100 g
1/2 cup, plus one tablespoon of tahini
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 heaping tsp baking powder
1 cup powdered sugar
~ 2/3 cup combination of rum and orange juice

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Melt the chocolate in a double-boiler. Meanwhile, mix the tahini, orange juice and rum in a large bowl.
Add the melted chocolate and the powdered sugar. Mix well.
Sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture, and again mix well.
Grease an 8 inch baking pan and line with parchment paper. Pour in the batter, spreading it as evenly as possible.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the outside is crispy, and still slightly gooey inside.

WTFOMG. I don’t know what to say about these. I love them. I hate them. I’m eating all of them, except for those that have already been eaten by Lisa.  Or the mysterious “mouse” that seems to be able to open the tupperware they’re in, take a few nibbles of one, and reseal it. These scones are a bit softer than what I usually encounter in a scone — almost like a really dense muffin — with two different icings for your sweet-toothery. The recipe Lisa found for these made 6 scones; we made 12 by cutting the dough smaller. We’ll be making these again, for sure. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Wow, these taste really close to the real thing.

Lisa says:

Ohmygod I know.

Chris says:

Om-nom-nom-nom.

Lisa says:

It’s a good thing we’re not on a diet.

Chris says:

We may have to be after these.

Lisa says:

But I cut the scones to half the size of the original recipe!

Chris says:

Just means I’m eating twice as many.

Lisa says:

…and I used skim milk instead of whole.

Chris says:

See what you just did? Convinced me to have another.

Pumpkin Scones, a la Starbucks
For the Scones
2 cups all-purpose flour
7 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
6 tbsp cold butter
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
3 tbsp half-and-half
1 large egg

Powdered Sugar Glaze
1 cup plus 1 tbsp powdered sugar
2 tbsp skim milk

Spiced Glaze
1 cup plus 3 tbsp powdered sugar
2 tbsp skim milk
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 pinch ground ginger
1 pinch ground cloves

Prepare the Scones:
Preheat the oven to 425F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Use a fork to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, half and half, and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients, and form the dough into a ball.
Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle about 3 times as long as wide. Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal portions. Cut each of the portions in an X pattern (four pieces) so you end up with 12 triangular slices of dough. Place on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 14–16 minutes. Scones should begin to turn light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.

Make the powdered sugar glaze:
Mix the powdered sugar and 2 tbsp milk together until smooth. When scones are cool, use a brush to spread plain glaze over the top of each scone.

Make the spiced icing:
While the powdered sugar glaze is firming, combine all of the ingredients for the spiced icing. Drizzle over each scone and allow the icing to dry before serving (about an hour). Attempt not to devour all the scones at once.

12 scones

Actually, that’s a lie.  A wonderful, wonderful lie.  Well, partly.  It *is* vegetables:  carrots and currants are vegetables, right?  Healthy?  Not a chance.  At a whopping 485 calories and 30g of fat per 1/2 cup serving, this insanely awesome frozen treat isn’t likely to fit into any sensible eating plan.  But who cares — Lisa made it for my birthday, dammit!  Closer to frozen cream cheese frosting than ice cream, this ridiculously rich confection tastes *just like* the real thing.  We have David Lebovitz, author of The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments for this creation.

Best. Dessert. Ever. Those toppings are fantastic.

Lisa says:

Holy crap that’s good.

Carrie says:

Can I try a bite? … wow … that *does* taste just like carrot cake!

Chris says:

That ice cream maker was officially worth it.

Lisa says:

I don’t think that was ever under debate.

Abbie says:

This is RICH — and I can see why you’d love this, Mr. I-Heart-Carrot-Cake!

Chris says:

Don’t forget there’s also Maker’s Mark in it!

Thad says:

Wow — cream cheese frosting, anyone?

Jeremy says:

ZOMG this is awesome.

Autumn says:

This is incredible… can we keep the rest?

Chris & Lisa say:

PLEASE!

Chris says:

We’ve been eating this for four days…one more bite and I’ll look like I’m entering my third trimester.

Carrot Cake Ice Cream
Spiced pecans
1 cup pecan halves
1 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
1/8 tsp salt

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Toss the pecans with the butter. In a small bowl, whisk together the cinnamon, cloves, brown sugar and salt. Pour the mixture over the pecans and toss to coat completely. Spread the pecans on a baking sheet and cook for 12 minutes, gently stirring halfway during baking to candy the nuts. Remove the tray to a rack and cool the nuts completely. Once cool, coarsely chop the pecans. Set aside.

Maker’s-Soaked Currants
1/4 cup dried currants
2 tbsp Maker’s Mark Bourbon

In a small saucepan, heat the currants and bourbon until boiling. Simmer until the currants have absorbed almost all of the liquid. Remove from heat and cover the pan. Set aside to cool completely.

Candied carrots
2 cups finely diced carrots
2/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp light corn syrup
2 cups water

In a medium saucepan, combine the carrots, sugar, corn syrup and water. Bring to a low boil and cook until the syrup is reduced to about 2 tablespoons and the carrots are translucent and candied, 20 to 30 minutes. Keep an eye on the carrots during the last few minutes so they do not burn. Drain the carrots and set aside to cool.

Ice cream base and assembly
1 8-oz package cream cheese
1 1/2 cups low-fat sour cream (see? healthy!)
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp chopped lemon zest

Spiced pecans
Bourbon-Soaked Currants
Candied carrots

In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, blend together the cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and lemon zest until smooth. Chill thoroughly.
Freeze the base in an ice cream maker. After churning, gently fold in the spiced pecans, soaked currants and candied carrot cubes. Freeze until firm.

Makes 1 Quart

Lisa wanted to make ice cream again, and being a huge fan of both peanut butter and agave nectar, combined this recipe from David Lebovitz with this one from Joy the Baker to create this Agave-Sweetened Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream treat! Wow, was it good. Dangerously good. Pure-evil good.

Hey, where’s the peanut butter in the picture?

Chris says:

Um, this was the last scoop of ice cream left… we foolishly waited until the next night to take a photo.

Lisa says:

Well, can you blame us? It was SO delicious…

Chris says:

I know it. You heart peanut butter.

Lisa says:

I do! And actually I may have put a little *too* much in… I didn’t really measure and just kept adding.

Chris says:

Well it certainly worked for me… maybe next time you can make something not quite as good.

Lisa says:

Actually, maybe we’ll just invite other people to share. That way we’ll be limited in how much we can scarf down.

Agave-Sweetened Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
10 tablespoons agave nectar
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, very finely chopped
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups half-and-half, divided
5 large egg yolks
pinch of salt
1/2 cup valencia peanut butter

In a small saucepan, warm the agave syrup with the unsweetened chocolate over the lowest heat possible, stirring constantly, until the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and transfer mixtures to a large bowl. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, add 1 1/2 cups of the half-and-half and whisk in the cocoa powder. Cook over moderate heat until the mixture begins to bubble, then simmer for 30 seconds, whisking frequently, making sure to break up any clumps of cocoa powder.
Remove from heat and scrape the mixture into the bowl with the chocolate-agave mixture. Stir them together, then set a mesh strainer over the top.
Add the remaining half-and-half to the saucepan with a pinch of salt, turn on the heat, and when warm, slowly pour the warm half-and-half into the yolks whisking constantly, then pour the warmed yolks back into the saucepan.
Cook, stirring constantly over moderate heat, until the mixture becomes steamy and thickens — the mixture should reach around 170F degrees.
Pour the mixture through the strainer into the chocolate mixture.
Stir, then let cool a few minutes. When cool enough to handle, mix in a blender for ten seconds until it’s smooth and velvety. (Be very careful: hot liquid + blender = danger!)
Chill thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Once the mixture has chilled and thickened in the ice cream maker, slowly drizzle in 1/4 cup of peanut butter. Transfer the ice cream into a freezer safe container and fold in the remaining 1/4 cup of peanut butter. Cover and freeze until solid.

Makes 1 Quart

I scream…

Cathy says:

You scream…

Chris says:

We all scream…

Lisa says:

…for ice cream!

(Okay, we really didn’t say that, but this is a week later and I can’t remember what was said, other than…)

Everyone says:

Mmmmm….

(Oh, and….)

Lisa says:

So rich!

Honey Vanilla Ice Cream
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
1/4 cup honey
1 vanilla bean, split
2 egg yolks

Heat the cream, soy milk, vanilla bean, and honey in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is hot. Place the egg yolks in a bowl and whisk briefly. Still whisking, slowly pour in about 1/2 cup of the hot liquid. When the mixture is smooth, slowly pour it back into the saucepan, whisking constantly. Cook over medium heat, whisking, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon, about 6 minutes. Scrape the seeds from the beans into the base. Strain into a bowl and cool.

Use this base in your ice cream maker.

Makes 1 pint

Lisa made us personal-size apple bread pudding in ramekins the night Carrie came over for dinner.  We had a ton of apples from previous CSA shipments, and Lisa has recently been experimenting with Agave Nectar as a sweetner, so this recipe that Cathy found on About.com fit the bill.

Lisa says:

So, this recipe is actually supposed to be pretty healthy. There’s no dairy, and it’s sweetened with agave nectar!

Carrie says:

Wow, this does sound healthy — usually when I make bread pudding there’s a bunch of booze in it.

Chris says:

Ooh, good idea! Put Maker’s Mark in mine!

Carrie says:

It smells *really* good…

Lisa says:

Well, we’ll see how it tastes.

Chris says:

I do like that the top got all carmelized. Looks good — now, let’s eat!

Carrie says:

This is really good, Lisa!

Chris says:

Ooh, yeah, I like it. You can totally taste the almond milk.

Lisa says:

Really? I don’t get that at all.

Chris says:

Yeah, it tastes really nutty.

Lisa says:

Well, there’s also walnuts in there… where are you going?

Chris says:

I’m getting the Maker’s…

Carrie says:

Are you really going to pour… yes you are.

Lisa says:

Wow. Usually you put that in before it cooks.

Chris says:

Whatevs — I heart bourbon!

Apple Bread Pudding
2 cups 1/2 ” whole-grain bread cubes
1/2 cup finely chopped apple pieces
1/8 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup vanilla almond milk
1/6 cup and 1/2 tbsp agave nectar, plus more for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly oil 3 6-ounce ramekins. Set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine the bread cubes, apple pieces, walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt until well mixed. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the almond milk and agave nectar and allow the mixture to stand for 10 minutes.
Split the mixture into the prepared dishes and bake until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Broil for a couple minutes to carmelize the tops. Drizzle with syrup, and drink with bourbon, if desired.

3 Servings

We had a Lebanese food fest at our friend Megan’s last night, and one of the items we brought were these delicious Arak cookies, adapted from a butter cookie recipe in Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean Kitchen. The original uses orange flower water, but I thought they’d be delicious with the anise-flavor of arak. Boy was I right — the flavor level was right on: just a hint of licorice without it being overwhelming.

Lisa says:

These are so addicting…

Thad says:

Mmmmm… very good.

Chris says:

I think they’re awesome — they’d be great with pistachios.

Lisa says:

Then they’d totally be Lebanese…

Abbie says:

These are delicious — and I don’t even like arak!

Megan says:

Yeah, how’d you think to use arak in these? Genius!

Chris says:

I’m trying to make room in my belly for more, but the other 9 courses we had tonight are making that quite difficult…

Arak Cookies
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp arak
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
Almond slivers

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter, sugar, and arak until the mixture is light and fluffy. With a wooden spoon, gradually mix in the flour.
Preheat the oven to 325F. Pinch off walnut-sized pieces of dough and roll them into balls. Arrange the balls 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Gently press to flatten each ball to make round cookies about 1 1/2-inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle 3-4 almond slivers (or one pistachio) into the center of each. Bake the cookies at 325F 20 to 25 minutes or until they are firm to the touch. Don’t let them brown!
Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheets 5 minutes; sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

24 Cookies

Chris says:

Yum, these are good! They’re light and chewy like the soft-baked kind — I like the buckwheat.

Lisa says:

A lot of the reviews mentioned they were kind of cakey. And I changed the recipe a bit based on the flour we had on hand, the original didn’t have buckwheat.

Chris says:

Where’d you see the recipe?

Lisa says:

Cooking Light… they call them “Good-For-You” cookies… they’re healthy! Plus I added walnuts and peanut butter to it.

Chris says:

So, you made them… less healthy?

Lisa says:

Yeah, but more delicious. And it’s not like I added 13 sticks of butter or anything.

Chris says:

Is it bad that I just ate 5 of them?

Lisa says:

Someone has to eat them… hey, where’d the cat go?

Hailey says:

(Almost…) Good-For-You Chocolate-Chip Cookies
———————————————–
2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup reduced-calorie stick margarine, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg white
3 tbsp smooth peanut butter
2/3 cup reduced-fat semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl; stir well. Set aside. Combine margarine and sugars in a large bowl; beat at medium speed of a mixer until light and fluffy. Add applesauce, vanilla, egg, egg white, and peanut butter; beat well. Add dry ingredients; beat at low speed until well-blended. Stir in chips and walnuts.

Drop dough by level teaspoons, 1 inch apart, onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until almost set. Remove from oven; let stand 2 to 3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pans; let cool on wire racks.

Makes 5 Dozen

I realized late last night that time was running out for Taste & Create VI, and with the rest of our week already planned out and our being out of town this weekend, my options for creating a dish from Kelly’s Sounding My Barbaric Gulp were dwindling. Luckily, she recently featured a recipe that sounded quick, delicious, and utilized ingredients that we (for the most part) already had on hand. I did have to make a substitution: fresh raspberries have been hard to come by recently, so I substituted frozen cranberries that I still had on hand from the last T&C event. Huzzah for that miracle of the modern age, the ice-box.

Lisa says:

How is it that you ended up baking again?

Chris says:

I don’t know — at least this time there aren’t any professional bakers around to taste my wares.

Lisa says:

And it looks like this one only took like an hour…

Chris says:

Yes! Very easy, and I’m happy with the results. I like the tartness of the cranberries against the sweet of the cake.

Lisa says:

I like the sweet of the batter when I lick the bowl.

Cranberry Almond Blondies
————————-
9 tbsp unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup sliced almonds, (3 ounces), toasted
1/2 cup cranberries, sliced
confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a buttered 8-inch square baking pan with foil, allowing 2 inches to hang over sides. Butter lining (excluding overhang); set pan aside.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl, and set aside.
Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer; cream on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until combined. Add flour mixture, and beat on low speed, scraping down sides of bowl, until well incorporated. Mix 3/4 cup almonds into batter.
Pour oh-so-thick batter into prepared pan; spread with a rubber spatula. Scatter cranberries and remaining 1/4 cup nuts over batter in pan. Bake until a cake tester inserted into blondies (avoid center and edges) comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet, 55 to 60 minutes. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before cutting into squares.

16 small squares