I decided to make this recipe amidst packing my things (including all, and I mean all, of my kitchen appliance), because I got the “Oh you should tooootally make these” from my roommate. Three involved layers and pureed fruit and swirling; they’re kind of a lot of work. But if there’s any possible way to improve chewy, chocolaty, homemade brownies, it’s topping them with cream cheese and fresh fruit, right? Right.

Brownies:
3/4 c. bittersweet chocolate chips
1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/4 c. white sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 tsp. salt
3. tbs cocoa powder
3/4 c. flour

Raspberry Topping:
1 1/2 c. raspberries
3 tbs. sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, mash raspberries with sugar until smooth then set aside. Using an electric mixer, whip together all ingredients from cream cheese topping (take the cream cheese out of the fridge for a while and it will make this a lot easier). Set this aside as well, and start heating a medium sauce pan on the stove. On low, melt chocolate and butter together until smooth. Make sure you stir continuously, as you don’t want the chocolate to burn. Add mixture to remaining dry ingredients, add eggs, then whisk until smooth.

Butter a 9×9 baking dish, then pour in brownie batter (it should be very thick). Next, add cream cheese mixture and spread lightly with spatula until the brownie batter is completely covered. Lastly, make lines across the dish with raspberry puree (see above), then use a toothpick or knife to make a swirl design. Bake in oven for 40-45 minutes, until a knife comes clean from center. Cool in fridge for at least 4 hours before serving.

Note for making the best cheese cake brownies: Woweeeee. These were great, but very difficult to cook properly… Originally I had the oven set on 375, but they cooked quickly on the outside and not so much in the center (the whole dish is THICK). I also really don’t like the whole you have to wait for hours before even trying these thing. I will say they are sooo much better cold, but I’m just impatient. Other than all those awful things, they’re really delicious! MAKE THEM!

I’M WRITING TO YOU FROM OUTER SPACE! Well, not quite… but I am the absolute closest I will ever get to outer space (if you haven’t figured it out, I’m on a plane, which is currently over the carolinas somewhere). If you didn’t know it already: I’m relocating back to New Hampshire. At this point I’m not sure why, but for now I’ll just say I missed it and that I’m back to do very awesome things. ANWYAY: I got this idea from Mr. Paul Desrochers, a talented culinary student who has an AMAZING passion for all things food. They were just too cute and practical, I could not resist.

Crust:
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. shortening
1/4 c. water
Pinch of salt

Crumble:
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/3 c. flour
6 tbs. butter, cold and cut into chunks

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Fork all ingredients for crust together, then press into buttered muffin tins. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. In the meantime, take apples and mix with spices in a small bowl. Spoon into muffin tins with crust. Fork together all ingredients for crumble, then top each tin off. Bake for another 15 minutes, until the tops are bubbly and golden brown!

Note for making awesome mini-pies: I seriously cannot believe I took my muffin tin out this soon (I’m still recovering from March). These would be SO COOL for a party! Truthfully they’d be cool anytime, but especially cool at a party because you don’t have to deal with the hassle of cutting a whole pie. You could honestly do any variation of pies this way; blueberry, strawberry-rhubarb, etc. GOTTA GO, THEY’RE TRYING TO LAND THIS THING. Lets hope this goes smoothly… And hey, if you’re in New England somewhere: Lets hang out!

There are few things I enjoy more than coming home from a long day of work, opening a bottle of wine, and making a simple meal such as bruschetta. Maybe I’m just becoming an old lady, but it really is awesome and relaxing to cook and get snookered off of some pinot grigio. There are a-thousand-and-one ways to make bruschetta but this is the best way (mostly because I’m the one who made it up)…

1 loaf french bread
2 medium ripe tomatoes, diced
3 tbs fresh basil, chopped (I usually try to do the fancy strips like the chefs do on the Food Network)
1 small yellow onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbs. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Turn your oven on broil. Cut bread into 1″ slices and place on sheet pan. Let toast in oven until golden, then flip. Once other side is toasted, remove from oven.

In the meantime, mix diced tomatoes and basil in a small bowl. Liberally salt and pepper then set aside. Heat a medium skillet to medium-high. Cook garlic and onions in olive oil until translucent, then pour over tomato/basil mixture. Stir until well combined. Serve over toasted bread.

Note for making the best bruschetta: This is one of my favorite meals. EVER. Pouring the warm oil over the tomatoes and fresh herbs brings out a lot of flavor. ALSO HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: I enjoy warming up a wedge of brie in the oven and letting it share some bread-space with my tomatoes. It’s also good with some pears or apples on the side! So tonight: open up a cold bottle of white wine, make this quick and easy tapas meal and relish in the deliciousness of it.

I loved blondies growing up as a kid. Believe it or not, I’ve never been a huge fan of heavy chocolate things… Chocolate cake needs vanilla buttercream, chocolate ice cream is kinda gross, and brownies definitely don’t require the excessive chocolate chunks. I got this idea after deciding that making a brownie into a cookie would be kinda cool.. and why not make a blondie cookie!? HOORAY!

2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
Pinch of salt
2 sticks of butter, softened
3/4 c. white sugar
3/4 c. light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
1 c. white chocolate, roughly chopped
1 c. macadamia nuts, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On high, beat butter, salt, eggs and sugars with electric mixer until fluffy. Add flour and baking soda in batches, stirring until well combined (you might want to switch to a wooden spoon or spatula so the flour doesn’t get over worked. Lastly, stir in extracts, chocolate and macadamia nuts. Place tablespoon sized dollops of dough on lined cookie sheets, and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden.

Note for making the best blondie cookies: Holy moly! These cookies knocked my socks off. Obviously the chocolate and macadamia nuts helped (I don’t include them enough in my recipes). It’s imperative that you use real butter! It’s what makes them chewy and delicious. You could really put anything in this batter and it would be awesome. YUM.

Do you ever sit down to dinner and think, “This is tasty, but I could be eating _____”? Well for me, my dream/wanna-eat-every-day meal is pad thai. Whenever I’m not eating it, I wish I were! I constantly wish I had made a better decision for dinner! Words cannot describe how much I love pad thai. With that being said, I have it at least three times a week. What do I have for food? I don’t know but I know I have pad thai materials! Ah, anyway… here you go. I got the recipe from my roommate who originally got it from her dad who just whipped it up one day (he’s a closet genius in the kitchen).

1/2 of a 16 oz. package of rice noodles (make sure they’re RICE or it won’t be the same)
Broccoli florets (enough for you liking)
1/2 block tofu, cut into small strips
1 egg, scrambled
Soy sauce to taste

The (magic) Sauce:
1/2 c. peanut butter
4 tbs. ketchup
3 tbs. sugar
2 tbs. soy sauce
1 tbs. balsamic vinegar
Splash white vinegar
Lemon juice to taste (I skip this, but some of you may like it)

Start by boiling two pots of water, a large and a small. Heat a skillet and fry up tofu with butter and a bit of soy sauce. In a small bowl, mix together all ingredients for sauce. Set aside and once the water is boiling, add rice noodles to the large pot and the broccoli to the other. Add a couple splashes of soy sauce to the broccoli, then boil until tender. Once all ingredients are cooked (don’t forget the egg), toss in warm skillet with sauce until completely covered. Serve immediately.

Note for making the perfect pad thai: Some of you may argue but I feel less is more in this case… I like my pad thai with just broccoli, egg and tofu. But you can really put whatever you want in it! ALSO: you can easily sans the tofu and do chicken if you eat meat! This is looking so good, I just might make it for dinner tonight.

Pizza is GREAT. I’ve never met a single person in my life who didn’t like it… and BY GOLLY if I ever do I’m sure I’ll hate them (sorry in advance). Although take-out is always the best, I think we can all agree a homemade pizza is nice once in a while. I usually make a typical/simple pizza (lots of cheese and sauce) for at-home ventures, but this time I decided to go a different route…

Crust:
2 1/2-3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 package active yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp.)
1 c. lukewarm water
Pinch of salt
Olive oil

Toppings (enough for 1 crust):
1/4 c. katamala olives, chopped
1/4 small red onion, cut into thin strips
1/4 c. spinach, chopped (frozen is fine)
1/2-3/4 c. feta cheese, crumbled
Olive oil for drizzling

In a large bowl, let yeast soak in lukewarm water for 5 minutes. Add half of flour, then stir with spoon until it starts to combine. Add another 3/4 c. then knead in bowl until shaggy. Transfer to floured surface and knead until a smooth ball, about 10 minutes. Place dough in well oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit for about an hour, until it doubles in size.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the dough into two pieces. Roll each piece out until it’s about 1/4″ thick (you can just do this with your fingertips if you wanted). Bake for 15 minutes, just until the edges are turning golden. Add your toppings, then put back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes, or until the toppings are cooked to your liking.

Note for making the perfect pizza: Technically there are two recipes here (1) a pizza crust recipe 2) a mediterranean pizza recipe) but that’d be lame of me to do… IT’S SOOOO IMPORTANT to pre-bake your crust, especially if you like it crispy! It allows the crust to dry out a bit, giving it a good crunch. As for the toppings, I really like a sauce-less pizza… Feta is delicious! Next time I’m putting fried eggplant on this. HECK YES PIZZA!

My days are dwindling here on Amelia Island and I decided it was time for another pie. Well, not just any pie, a coconut cream pie with almonds and chocolate and whipped cream and more coconut. The idea came from a candy-bar that shall remain nameless (I don’t want to be dealing with lawsuits once A Baker’s Doesn’t takes over the world), but I’m sure you can figure it out for yourselves..

Filling:
3 c. half and half
2 eggs
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1 c. toasted coconut flakes (I just bought a normal package and it was plenty for both the filling and toppings)

Pie Shell:
7 Full-sized graham crackers, crushed
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
6 tbs. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl mix together all ingredients for pie shell until well combined. Transfer mixture to a pie pan then press into the dish. Bake in the oven until the edges are golden brown, then let cool for at least an hour.

Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees. In a medium sauce pan, combine half and half, eggs, sugar, flour and salt then bring to a slow boil. The mixture will rapidly start to thicken, so you should be whisking it the whole time. Once it’s about the consistency of a thick pudding, remove from heat and fold in one cup of toasted coconut. Pour into pie shell and let cool in the refrigerator over night. When serving, add whipped cream (cream, sugar and vanilla, whisked until thick), almonds, chocolate and more coconut.

Note for making the perfect coconut pie: I brought a slice into work and the first thing I heard from the two people who ate it was “How much do you want for one?” I WAS SO EXCITED. I still am. You could by-pass the hassle of making your own crust and just buy one, but it’s so much better with real butter. I know that on-the-stove dessert recipes are intimidating (they still scare me) but I promise this was VERY EASY. Just make sure you continuously whisk the cream so it doesn’t clump/burn on the bottom of the pan. I love cold pies and this is perfect for spring!

I’m excited to be posting a non-muffin recipe… but even more excited that it’s an awesome sandwich. I always think vegetarian sandwich recipes are far and few between but I know I’m wrong; the possibilities really are endless. Here is a classic..

(I’m not posting exact numbers because you can build your sandwich however you please)

2 Slices of fresh wheat bread
Sliced cucumber
Smushed avocado
Alfalfa sprouts
Sliced red onion
Sliced tomato
Goat cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

On one slice of bread smush avocado until completely covered. Liberally salt and pepper the avocado, then add goat cheese to the other slice of bread. Build up the remaining ingredients, then finish with placing the avocado covered piece of bread on top. Slice in half then enjoy!

Note for making a super sammich:If you’ve never had goat cheese, then you are MISSING OUT. Get some and put it on everything you eat (and I mean EVERYTHING). Also, avocado on anything automatically makes it delicious… I’d highly recommend thinly slicing your onion because they’re pretty strong (I was knocking people out for a couple hours). Some may argue that this sandwich is expensive, BUT I bought everything for under $10 and I have enough for 4 sandwiches… so to you I say HA! Heck yes to being back to normal recipes.

IT’S HERE, GUYS! The end of muffin march is finally among us… and of course I had to try a weird recipe. Perusing recipes in vintage cookbooks I found the popcorn muffin. My first thoughts? WHAT?! After further research on the internets, there are whole websites dedicated to the popcorn muffin! Apparently they’re a “poor mans” version of cornbread muffins, which is right up my alley…

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/4 c. popped corn (plain, unbuttered)
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tbs. sugar
2 tbs. shortening, melted
1 c. milk
1 egg

Preheat oven to 435 degrees (very hot!). In a food processor or anything you have to grind, process the popcorn until it’s as small as you can get it (I used an immersion blender which worked well). Add ground popcorn to flour, baking powder, salt and stir. In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, shortening, milk and egg. Add to flour mixture then stir until well combined. Spoon into lined muffin tins, then bakd for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Note for making perfect popcorn muffins: GUYS, THESE WERE AWESOME. I couldn’t believe it! They were buttery, delicious biscuits. Awesome crust on the outside, too. The best part? They didn’t taste like popcorn! I’d highly recommend these to anyone… You probably have all the ingredients in your house right now! GOODBYE MUFFIN MARCH! I’LL (kinda) MISS YOU.

My roommate is a total grandma when it comes to gingerbread. Planning for this month, I got the “Ohhh hmmm.. I mean, you could TOTALLY make gingerbread muffins. Those would probably be good,” from her (basically I was guilted into this). I know it’s almost summer, and it’s been really nice out everywhere and everything… and gingerbread doesn’t really SCREAM spring, but that’s what the lemon glaze is for.

Muffins:
1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tbs. fresh grated ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch ground cloves
Pinch of salt
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/4 c. sugar
1 large egg
1/3 c. molasses
3/4 c. very cold water

Glaze:
Juice and zest from 1/2 of a lemon
1 tbs. honey
1 c. powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together all ingredients for the glaze in a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients for muffins until well combined. Spoon into lined muffin tins, then let bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes clean.

Let cool for 30 minutes, then dip tops of muffins into lemon glaze. If you want, you can let each dry for a few minutes then dip again to create a crust.

Note for making great gingerbread muffins: When I first saw this recipe, my immediate thought was EWH: lemon could not possibly go well with ginger bread. But of course I was proven wrong again and these were delicious. I might try an orange glaze next time… ONE RECIPE LEFT. I REALLY DID IT, GUYS.