Desserts for Dudes: Dark Chocolate Espresso Trail Mix Brownies

Don't *EVEN* get me started on these brownies.  OK.  Not really.  Get me started.  

I came up with these brownies for my big dude (the one I'm married to) because he's a huge fan of Target's trail mixes.  His favorites are the Black and White and the Dark Chocolate Espresso.


For this recipe, I used Dark Chocolate Espresso Trail Mix.  What's inside?  Chocolate-covered almonds, praline almonds, mocha pecans, chocolate chips, hazelnuts, and chocolate-covered coffee beans.  What I love about adding it to brownies is that you get a lot of different "crunches," not just your typical pecans or walnuts.


My advice to you is this: make these brownies when you have people to share them with.  I'm sitting here, totally full from lunch, one huge brownie down.  I start editing the pictures and ohmygosh....how could I resist going back for another?!?  I mean, look at them...

{Of course, I cut one in half, went back to editing pictures, then promptly got up and ate the other half.  Who are these people who can eat 1/2 of a brownie?}

Side note:  I was telling one the sweet (super fit) instructors at Pure Barre that I struggle with seeing big results from working out.  You see, I explained, blogging and recipe development involve lots of taste testing, and her advice was to test "just one bite."  And that, my friends, is why she looks the way she does, and I look the way I do. ;) 

Alright, back to the brownies.  Here's what you can expect: deep, dark chocolate...a hint of espresso...fudgey texture...melty chocolate...and assorted crunchiness throughout.



To get that deep, dark color and rich chocolate flavor, I swear by Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa...

 

Dark Chocolate Espresso Trail Mix Brownies

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter
2 & 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 & 1/2 cups Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 & 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 cup Target Archer Farms Dark Chocolate Espresso Trail Mix

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9x13" pan.


Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat.  Once melted, stir in the sugar.  Stir the sugar and butter while gently heating until the mixture is warm to the touch (but not boiling).  Remove the pan from the heat.

Stir in the cocoa, espresso powder, salt, baking powder and vanilla.  Whisk in the eggs until incorporated.


Stir in the flour...


...then fold in the trail mix.

Pour into the prepared pan, and smooth.  Bake for 28 minutes, or until done.  Cool in the pan on a wire cooling rack.


*adapted from King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion*

Y'all...forget the dudes.  I think I'm going back for another. 

Sweet on Trader Joe's Saturdays: Sea Salt Butterscotch Caramels

In this week's episode of Sweet on Trader Joe's, kiddo and I check out one of the sweets tempting us in the check-out line: Chocolate-Covered Sea Salt Butterscotch Caramels. 

Trader Joe's describes their Chocolate-Covered Sea Salt Butterscotch Caramels as follows.
"Soft and creamy, deeply flavored butterscotch caramels are tinged with sea salt and enrobed in dark, slightly bitter chocolate to offset the sweetness."

A lot of thought went into that description.  I feel like I'm reading an Elaine Benes snippet of the J. Peterman catalog.  Maybe they should come with an urban sombrero.

OK...each bag is 7 ounces and contains about 5 servings.  That impulse check-out line purchase will set you back $3.49.


My take: Danger! Danger!!!  Not only could I eat this entire bag in one sitting, I could eat this entire bag in about 2 minutes flat.  On the first bite, I immediately thought, "Nana would love these."  The combination of the butterscotch and caramel has a distinct coffee flavor...something I know my grandmother would have loved more that the Werther's that nanas are supposed to keep in their purses.  The pinch of sea salt is the icing on the cake, er, caramel...it sends these heavenly little orbs right into the stratosphere of deliciousness.
Overall rating: 8 of 5 stars (yes, I did that on purpose.)

Kiddo's take: These are small enough to be eaten by the handful, yet big enough that they fill you up! The combination of flavor is impeccable, and even though I could probably eat the entire bag in 2 minutes flat, I would be stuffed. Warning: THESE ARE VERY ADDICTIVE!!!!!
Overall rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Trader Joe's Chocolate-Covered Sea Salt Butterscotch Caramels: Sinful, dangerous, not to be missed.

Desserts for Dudes: Yes, I'd like some fries with that.

So, dudes.  Over the years, we've made: fried chicken cookies (no, really), beer and hot dog cookies, french fry cookies.  It was time for the CHEESEBURGER COOKIE!!!

These cheeseburger cookies are made from not one, not two, but three cookies...all stacked together with a little icing and some fondant cheese.  

(Mmmm, fondant cheese. < please say that in a Homer Simpson voice.)

Angie, the cute dessert mastermind otherwise known as Bakerella, made some sweet cheeseburgers waaaaaay back in 2009 from cupcakes and brownies.  (I know.)  She also has cute little printable boxes to put them in.  That Angie...where would we be without her?

The cheeseburger cookies are really simple to make, especially if you bake the cookies the day before assembling.  If you have some frozen cookie dough stashed away in your freezer, all the better. 


Make them in any size you'd like.  These cookies are 2" across.  Technically sliders, right? ;)


To make cheeseburger cookies, you'll need:

• circle cut-out cookies, vanilla and chocolate
• royal icing (quarter this recipe), divided and tinted with AmeriColor Super Red, Egg Yellow, Leaf Green and Ivory
• fondant (Satin Ice Brand or make your own), tinted with AmeriColor Electric Orange
• disposable icing bags (4)
• couplers and tips: #2, #3, #1, and leaf
• cornstarch
• small square cookie cutter (I looooove this set from Sur la Table)

You'll want twice as many vanilla cookies as chocolate.  I rolled mine out to 1/4" thickness.


Roll the fondant on a cornstarch-dusted surface to about 1/8" inch, or thinner.  (Be sure to coat the rolling pin and cookie cutters, too.)


Cut squares out of the fondant to make cheese slices for the burgers.


Place one vanilla cookie with the bottom facing up.  Squeeze on some royal icing in the center.  It doesn't matter what color, it's just to hold the "meat" in place. ;)

Place a chocolate cookie on top.  Add a bit of royal icing, then place on the cheese slice.

Pipe red and yellow icing around the edges of the cookies on top of the cheese.  I used a #2 tip for the ketchup and #3 for mustard.  More mustard, more better.

Lightly place another vanilla cookie on top.  Add lettuce around the edge of the cookie in green icing using a leaf tip.


Use a #1 tip to add sesame seeds with the ivory icing.  (Alternatively, add real sesame seeds to half of the vanilla cookies before baking.)

Let the icing set for at least 30 minutes before handling the cookies.


The only thing missing is the pickle. 

Sweet on Trader Joe's Saturdays: The Best (Bar None) Ice Cream Bars

It's hot! I told my husband that my goal for the summer is not to complain about the heat and humidity.  So, that was not a complaint, just a statement.  We were out walking last weekend and I said to him, "this is me not commenting on how hot and humid it is outside."
{In other words, this goal is a work in progress.}

Naturally, because it's hot (not complaining), I was thrilled that kiddo wanted "something cold" for our review today and picked these ice cream bars.

Trader Joe's The Best (Bar None) Ice Cream Bars come 4 to a package and cost $2.99.  They're described as "creamy vanilla ice cream dipped in rich, dark chocolate."

My take: The chocolate coating on these bars is just as described "rich and dark."  It tasted like good, high quality chocolate, not like "coating" like some ice creams bars.  Do you know what I mean?  The ice cream: creamy, soft, could stand on its own even without the chocolate.  My only beef?  The chocolate coating falls apart very, very easily.  They were delicious, but a mess.  As in, do NOT eat these while wearing white jeans or sitting on your white sofa.  If you must give one to a toddler, have them eat it outside...naked.  I'm going to play gymnastics judge and subtract 5 points for the dismount, er, messiness.
Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars

Kiddo's take: Simply put, these are pretty much the best ice cream bars I've ever had. The only problem is that I can't properly enjoy them because the shell is falling apart all over me. Be very careful while eating these! Also, the ice cream is so soft that it slides around on the stick, so you need a watchful eye and pretty good reflexes to eat one. (; Other than that, these are totally worth the mess.
Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars


Trader Joe's The Best (Bar None) Ice Cream Bars: good stuff, bring napkins. 

Desserts for Dudes: Cookies and Cream Cookies

I was in Target this week looking for desserts for dudes dessert inspiration.  Actually, I was hoping to find the new Peanut Butter Cup Oreos (no luck), but then I came across these Hershey's Cookies and Creme Drops and thought "a-HA!"

My boys are kind of crazy about cookies and cream flavored anything: candy bars, ice cream, milk shakes.  So, I was pretty certain that cookies and cream COOKIES would be a hit.

After a quick internet search while standing in the Target aisle to see if the drops would hold up to baking, I saw that Shelly of Cookies and Cups had made cookies and cream cookies a couple of years ago.  If Shelly had used them, I knew I was onto something good.  Her recipe is here.

You know, I remember when "cookies and cream" was a real novelty.   
"There are COOKIES in my ICE CREAM!"
This was back in the day before ice cream was loaded with everything but the kitchen sink.  (Not that I'm complaining #moremixinsplease.)


The cookies are big, thick, substantial, chocolatey cookies.  As I'm typing this post, Mr. E pipes up..."you could top those with cookies and cream ice cream and sell them in a restaurant."  Now, why didn't I think of topping them with ice cream?!?  See...this is why I keep him around. ;) 


You'll need 3 mix-ins for these cookies: the cookies and creme drops I mentioned earlier (I bought these at Target, but have also seen them at my grocery store), Oreos, and white chocolate chips.


You'll also need at muffin top or whoopie pie pan. (You know you want one.)  Mine is from Sur la Table, but I found a similar one on Amazon, too.


Cookies and Cream Cookies
{makes 18 large cookies}

1 & 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dutch-process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks
2 cups packed light brown sugar
3 eggs
1 TBSP vanilla extract
1 cup Hershey's Cookies and Creme Drops
1 cup white chocolate chips, reserving a few for the tops
1 cup coarsely chopped Oreos

Grease a muffin top/whoopie pie pan with shortening.


Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

In a large bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar.  Add in the eggs one at a time, beating until well combined.  Beat in the vanilla.


Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, beating on low.  Stir in the drops, chips, and Oreos.

The dough will be very sticky.  Refrigerate 1 hour to make it easier to work with.

Preheat oven to 350.

Scoop 1/4 cup dough into each pan cavity.  Wet fingers and lightly press the dough down.  It may not over the entire cavity of the pan; that's ok.  Press a few of the reserved white chocolate chips onto the top of the dough.

Bake for 15-18 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 3-5 minutes.  Run a small spatula along the edge of the pan and lift onto a cooling rack.  Rinse the pan with cool water and re-grease the pan.



Cookies and Cream Cookies.  Your dudes will love them. 

Stone Fruit and Raspberry Cobbler

“Stone Fruit”…doesn’t that just sound so fancy?  Well, all it means is to run through the Farmer’s Market (ok…you don’t have to run) or your grocery store and pick what looks good that day.


For this cobbler, feel free to use any summer fruit with a pit inside.  Peaches, apriums, apricots, nectarines, plums…some of each!  You’ll toss them together with tart raspberries and sugar and add an orange biscuit topping.


(And, of course, once that bakes, you’ll top each serving with ice cream.  Cobbler just isn’t cobbler without ice cream.)

Who says that cobbler is only for dessert?  Here’s my thinking:  fruit, grains, dairy…it’s just like having yogurt with fruit and granola.  (I am not a licensed nutritionist, nor do I play one on TV.)


There’s something about the simple goodness of fresh, seasonal fruit paired with butter that just makes summer all the more sweet.  This recipe uses Land O Lakes® Salted Butter half sticks.  If you’ve never seen half sticks before, they are the cutest little things…and just the perfect amount of butter for so many recipes. 

Stone Fruit and Raspberry Cobbler

Ingredients:

For the filling:
4 cups peeled and chopped stone fruits (such as peaches, apricots, nectarines, etc.) mixed with raspberries
1 teaspoon orange juice
1 cup granulated sugar
1 ½ tablespoon cornstarch
¼ teaspoon coarse salt

For the topping:
2 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon coarse salt
Zest of one orange
1 Half stick (1/4 cup) Land O Lakes® salted butter, cubed
½ cup milk
¼ cup orange juice
½ tablespoon coarse sugar

Directions
Grease a 9” pie pan with tall sides.  (You’ll want a tall-sided one so the fruit juices don’t bubble over.) Preheat oven to 350°.


In a medium bowl, toss the fruit with the juice.  In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and salt. Toss with the fruit and set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.


Add in the zest and butter.  Use your fingers to work the butter and zest into the flour mixture until evenly distributed and the butter forms coarse “crumbs” throughout. Stir together the milk and orange juice, pour into the flour mixture, and stir just until combined.  Turn onto a floured surface and knead until it comes together.  Form into a ball.  Roll into a rough 9” circle.

Pour the fruit into the prepared pie plate.  Place the rolled dough over the top.  Sprinkle with the coarse sugar.  (This pie pan is from Red Envelope.)

Bake 45 minutes, or until bubbly.  Let cool for 15 minutes.  Spoon into bowls (the filling will be quite juicy) and top with vanilla ice cream. 


Last week, I had the pleasure to travel to Minnesota with Land O' Lakes and the other Kitchen Conversations bloggers.  We visited a dairy farm run by Sadie (pictured far left) and her sweet family.  To be around people who have a passion for what they do is always so inspiring.  I was so impressed with their entire operation.  Next time I buy Land O' Lakes butter, milk, and cheese, I know my mind will go back to this idyllic dairy farm, the beautiful pasture, and the dedicated family who owns it.
(Oh! Did I mention that I milked a cow named Penelope?  Yes...all of the {75} cows have names.  The most precious moment?  Watching Helen the cow zero in on Maria's baby bump and give it a kiss.  Seriously, check out the picture!)

The trip also included a visit to Land O' Lakes headquarters.  Speaking of people who are passionate about what they do...I wanted to pick up, move to Minnesota, and start a new career in butter.  I could spend the rest of my life happily playing in the test kitchens. (Wait, I guess I'm doing my fair share of butter consumption here in Texas.)
Side note: did you know that LOL makes the cheese powder that make Cheetos so tasty?  Yep.  They do.

If you're curious about butter and Land O' Lakes, check out this segment from the show Unwrapped.

One of the things I love about working with Land O' Lakes is that whenever they get the group of us together, we get the opportunity to try each others' recipes.  Let me tell you.  EACH and EVERY one is a winner.  Make them.  I'm totally going to make them all at home!

Here ya go:
Miso-Butter Grilled Vegetables with Basil-Mint Pesto, A Farmgirl’s Dabbles
Mediterranean Cheesy Chicken Quesadillas, Picky Palate
Summer Vegetable Pasta, The Little Kitchen
Cheese Ravioli with Lemon Basil Butter Sauce, Two Peas and Their Pod
Grilled Peaches with Bourbon Brown Butter Sauce, Fifteen Spatulas
Pink Lemonade Cupcakes, A Spicy Perspective
Pineapple Coconut Bundt Cake, The Novice Chef
Rhubarb Pie on a Stick, Becky
Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies, Sadie

Cheers to summer! 

Disclosure: Bake at 350 has (happily!) partnered with Land O'Lakes for an exclusive endorsement of
Land O Lakes® Butter for their Kitchen Conversations blogger program. This blog post is sponsored by Land O'Lakes.

Sweet on Trader Joe's Saturdays: Fleur de Sel Caramels

Fleur de Sel Caramels...they sound so fancy.

Trader Joe's Fleur de Sel Caramels are described as "hand made caramel with Fleur de Sel, a hand harvested sea salt collected off the coast of France."  Ooo-la-la. You'll get 10 ounces of these individually wrapped caramels for $2.99. 

Let's see how these bad boys stacked up, shall we?

My take: This is how caramels should taste.  Soft and pliable, smooth and creamy...Trader Joe's hit the nail on the head with these.  If I didn't know they were "fleur de sel," I'm not sure I would notice the salt; I would just think they tasted "right."  Now, I'm left with only one thought...I must make caramel brownies with these.
Overall rating: 5 of 5 stars

Kiddo's take: I'm not that much of a caramel fan myself... but I have to admit, these are pretty good. The fleur de sel adds just the right amount of salt to the rich, creamy, and bold taste of the caramel. Honestly, the only downside I can see to these is that the wrappers are hard to open. :)
Overall rating: 5 out of 5 stars


Trader Joe's Fleur de Sel Caramels: yep. You need 'em.

*Each week the kiddo (age 15) and I review a Trader Joe's sweet.  Leave your favorites and/or requests in the comments!*