Baker's Theory

That TikTok Pasta

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I did my usual run to Trader Joe’s over the weekend. I like to get there when they open because it’s not as crowded and I don’t have to wait in a socially distanced line when it’s -9 degrees outside. I have a very specific procedure when I grocery shop: I only cruise through the perimeter and I avoid the inner aisles with all the pre-baked, pre-processed stuff. Not because I don’t like those things–oh, quite the opposite, really. I’m avoiding the temptation. But produce, meats, dairy, and nuts, sometimes an occasional jar of salsa–those are my main stops. And when I arrived at the dairy part, I could not find any blocks of feta cheese!

I had seen the viral TikTok pasta on Instagram. (I did make a TikTok account for all of 10 minutes but then I chickened out because I am paranoid I’m being hacked by international spies who want my recipes and so I deleted the account…I think. If not, I most definitely did not create an account named Flake Mignon. Not me. … Nope…) So I had to try this pasta! 

I asked a nice lady unloading a cart of cheese about 7′ tall (the cart, not her) if she had any feta and she said, “We are completely sold out. None of us saw it coming. By Friday we were totally out of stock.” 

Sounded pretty serious. Obviously, I could not back down on this TikTok pasta. But without a feta brick, I had to settle for crumbles. Fortunately, I can go with the flow. In the end, it really didn’t matter. It was the most divine, saucy, tangy-creamy-salty-savory piece of noodle I have ever consumed. I want to dunk my head into a bucket of it. That’s how delicious it was.

 Jimmy has his “arsenal,” which is the list of recipes he wants me to make over and over again. I am starting my own armory for my own preferences and this one is at the top! 

The recipe is actually super simple to put together. You just need a cast iron skillet. The gist of it is that you dump a pound of cherry tomatoes in the skillet, a roughly chopped onion, some garlic, salt, and A LOT of extra virgin olive oil. Then you put the feta in the center and bake the whole thing for about an hour. The tomatoes will burst and get super jammy and the onions will char and caramelize. The feta will get a little more salty (since you’re evaporating the water from it by roasting it) and a chewy-crumbly texture. It’s like a cheese curd! And then you toss the whole thing with pasta, cream, parmesan cheese, cayenne, and adjust for salt. Ya have to, have to, have to adjust for salt. You keep adding it and sampling until you can taste the spice from the cayenne pepper. That’s how you know it’s sufficiently salted. 

Jammy Tomato and Feta Pasta

That TikTok pasta sensation with the block of feta cheese and all of those jammy tomatoes and onions is SO GOOD.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Mediterranean
Servings 4

Equipment

  • Cast iron skillet

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb Cherry tomatoes whole
  • 1 Yellow onion chopped roughly
  • 5 cloves Garlic minced
  • 6 oz Feta block brine drained (crumbles are fine, too)
  • 1/3 cup Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp Kosher salt plus more for taste
  • 1/2 lb Dry pasta cooked and drained
  • 1 cup Pasta water reserved
  • ⅛ tsp Cayenne pepper
  • 3 tbsp Heavy whipping cream
  • 1/4 cup Grated Romano cheese

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425°F / 220°C. In a large cast iron skillet combine cherry tomatoes, chopped onions, minced garlic, extra virgin olive oil, and salt. Toss to combine. In the center of the skillet on top of the vegetables, place your block of feta, or if using crumbles, dump them in the center, keeping them packed together. Roast for 35 minutes. Lower heat to 400°F / 200°C and continue roasting for 30 minutes. Tomatoes will burst and onions will char and caramelize.
  • Shortly after beginning the second roasting at the lower temperature, boil water seasoned with salt. Cook pasta for 10-12 minutes, then reserve 1 cup of the pasta water before draining. Return pasta to the pot.
  • When vegetables and feta are finished roasting, scrape them out of the cast iron skillet into the pot with the pasta. Add the pasta water, cayenne pepper, heavy cream, and Romano cheese, stirring to combine. Adjust with salt before serving. You will know when you've added the right amount of salt when you taste the heat from the cayenne and the sweet, acidity of the tomatoes.
Keyword feta, jammy tomato, tiktok pasta

V-Day Treats for Your Sweetie

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Not sure what to make this Valentine’s Day? I feel you! We still haven’t decided, either! But whatever we make this year, we are going to do it together! (Maybe that Parisian gnocchi will make a reappearance…?) We are actually going to celebrate together on Saturday night and spend Valentine’s Day evening at Jim’s parents because it’s Sunday Night Dinner and Jane is (likely) going to make beef tenderloin. That’s my favorite!!! 

Fun facts about St. Valentine: he was a priest who lived around the third century A.D. and helped Christian couples wed in secret! At the time, it was illegal for soldiers to marry because love and marriage would create a distraction from duty! He is also the patron saint of beekeepers and epilepsy! 

Any how, a bunch of things have been changing around my blog lately and I just wanted to have fun with this post by compiling some of our (my Valentine’s and my) favorite foods. I hope it gives you some fun ideas for your own celebration! 

I know my sweetie in particular likes his sugary treats, so I think it’s only fitting to eat dessert first and begin with…

I have been so pumped for Valentine’s Day desserts this year. Maybe it’s because it’s Jim’s and my first Valentine’s Day together ever? I was in the Philippines with my mom in 2019 and on a work trip in Colorado last year! Anyway, Jim just loves sweets and I love to indulge him. This guy loves sugary things, and shockingly, he is not overweight whatsoever. I am totally jealous. To quote my friend Maddie, “I sniff a cookie and my pants tighten.”  Alas, we make exceptions for occasions, right?! You won’t see a chocolate dipped strawberry here, but there are lots of fun, unique, and pink treats for your valentine!

Valentine’s Day falls on a Sunday this year, and I can’t think of a more appropriate time to have brunch. (I also have a weird affection for Sundays. Something about them is very sunny to me.) Brunch is by far my favorite meal of the day! It is delicious AND romantic! In fact, Jim and I had a brunch wedding reception complete with donuts and mimosas…Mmm! What a perfect day! Whether you like the healthier granola and berries, the more indulgent buttery croissant and chocolatey pancakes, or the boozie breakfast cocktails, I have you covered!

When I was scrolling through my website for this post, I realized I had a very high concentration of pasta recipes. This comes as no surprise to me. Pasta was my first love. Mac ‘n’ cheese and I go way back. I threw in my fresh pasta YouTube video for ya, the Marcella Hazan marinara recipe, and one of my signature dishes: the radiant red wine pasta, boiled in red wine. 

I love buttery, garlicky carbs. And true love lasts a lifetime. I hope you find *the one* here. 

Valentine's Day 2019 traveling through Bicol, Philippines with my mama!
Day after Valentine's Day 2020 before I surprised Jim with a date night to see Twelfth Night!

Cheddar Cheese Bagels

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I started out this crazy day with another strength training workout with my pal, Lindsey Bomgren (okay, she answered my question on Instagram once so we’re basically best friends for life) … (just kidding, but I’m a huge fan) on her YouTube channel Nourish, Move, Love. I have been doing strength training for the last five weeks now and it has really transformed my body. Again, kidding. Thank you, 30th birthday. (Did you know women start to lose muscle mass after turning 30?!)

But you know what really transforms my body are carbs. Cheesy carbs! Oh, yum. 

I have been working on bagels quite a lot. The results can be inconsistent. Sometimes the dough is too tough or it doesn’t rise, even when I repeat the process exactly the same way as when it worked. I cannot explain it. But I do know this: the cheese bagels work every time. 

As you might have already suspected, making bagels is super putzy, but boy, are they special. If you have the time, you’d pick them over Panera any day. 

How do you top your bagel? I like to butter the top half and put cream cheese on the bottom half sprinkled with a little bit of Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel seasoning on top of the cream cheese. Also, I’m not into sweet-flavored bagels. Chocolate chip, blueberry, or cinnamon crunch bagels are too sugary in the morning for me. I like the savory start to my day. Plus, breakfast sandwiches are supremely upgraded on a savory cheese or everything bagel. You can’t do that with blueberry! 

There are a few tricks to making bagels that I go over in the instructions but I will reiterate them here:

  1. You need to knead the dough by hand, at least after the mixer has gotten everything combined. The gluten in the flour really toughens up the dough and you will break your mixer if you let it knead bagel dough. I repeat: You’ll break your mixer! So do not miss this critical hand-kneading step!!
  2. You need bread flour. Don’t substitute all purpose flour. Have you ever gotten a headache in your temples from chewing something really tough? If you want to recreate that feeling, make your bagels with AP flour. 
  3. Don’t overproof the dough. Overproofing is when you allow your dough to rise so much that it will deflate when poked or prodded. After you let your bagel dough rise, you have to man-handle it to get it into a boiling pot of water. Manhandling will definitely deflate the dough if it’s overproofed. I let this dough rise once, and only for an hour. To check for overproofiing, poke the dough. Does it start to spring back into place after a few minutes or does it stay dented? An unrecovered dent in your dough means it’s been overproofed. The best fix for overproofed dough is to re-knead and reshape it, and then let it rise again, this time more aware of timing. If you go forward with boiling and baking overproofed bagels, they will be flat, deflated, and lack airiness. 

4. Finally, the trick is boiling the bagels in water that contains honey, baking soda, and salt. The honey lends a malty flavor that commercial bagel bakeries use, except they will actually use malt. Use that if you have it! The baking soda will give the bagels a warm brown color. The more you use, the more pretzel-y and alkaline the bagels will taste. 

5. Bonus: I tried to make heart-shaped bagels. Didn’t work. You can shape the dough into an Ewok racing the Milennium Falcon, but after the dough rises for an hour, it’s going to be a puffy ball. Sorry. 

6. Post Bonus: Prep your baking pans ahead of time. You’ll need two, and put parchment paper on them to minimize cleanup. (It’s not for non-stick purposes. Bagels are naturally non-stick. I just hate scrubbing pans that don’t fit in my sink.) Four bagels per pan. Don’t bake both batches in the same oven at the same time. 

7. Actual tip: Don’t forget to brush the dough with egg white after boiling it. It makes the bagels shiny and also helps toppings stick.

Returning to the rest of my day, the great weather today obviously made it the right time to spot two beautiful leather armchairs on Craigslist at laughably low prices and gloriously carry them across our snow-and-ice-laden sidewalks. It was only -9F with the windchill, and these chairs only weighed about 50 million pounds each. But honestly, I don’t think the beautiful Hancock and Moore I’m reclined on right now would have made it here without my mother-in-law spotting the chairs, my husband and friend Maddie hauling them home, my brother-in-law helping move them, or Lindsey Bomgren’s strength conditioning and my bagel-y, carb-y – powered energy shoving them up our stairs. For all of these things, I am eternally grateful. 

Hope you enjoy the bagels. 

Cheddar Cheese Bagels

Alex
Chewy and soft, slathered in cream cheese, and sprinkled with a little Trader Joe's Everything but the Bagel seasoning and the spot is HIT. The key ingredient: bread flour.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Resting Time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 10 minutes
Course Breakfast
Servings 8

Ingredients
  

Dough

  • 1 tbsp Instant yeast Dry active yeast will work, too, but make sure to bloom it first.
  • 1½ cups Warm water ~115°F / 45°C
  • 1 tbsp Light brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp Kosher salt
  • 4 cups Bread flour no substitutions
  • ½ cup Shredded cheddar cheese plus more for sprinkling

For boiling and baking

  • 1 tbsp Honey
  • 1 tbsp Kosher salt
  • 1 tsp Baking soda
  • 1 Egg white
  • Additional shredded cheese for sprinkling

Instructions
 

  • In a large bowl or stand mixer bowl combine yeast, warm water, brown sugar, kosher salt, and bread flour. Either by hand or with a dough hook, combine and fold in cheese. Carefully watch your mixer if using it to mix the dough, and only use it until dough comes together into a ball, about 5 minutes.
  • Bread flour has a higher protein content than all purpose flour, so the dough will become very strong. If using a stand mixer, the dough will overpower your mixer if kneaded for too long. After the dough is formed, knead it by hand. This step is critical. Knead for about 5 minutes.
  • Pinch the dough into two parts. Continue pinching the dough in half until you have eight equal pieces of dough. Knead each one and roll into a ball.
  • Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place four balls of dough on each pan, spreading them apart equidistantly. Flatten the ball gently with your hand so it's about the 4" in diameter.
    Using a chopstick, the end of a spatula, or your finger, push a hole in the center of the dough that goes all the way through. You might need to lift up the dough to get a clean hole.
    Dampen paper towels and wring them out. Gently place the moistened towels on the bagel dough to cover them loosely.
  • Preheat your oven to 175°F / 80°C. Once it reaches that temperature, turn off the oven. Place both pans in the warmed oven. Allow dough to rise for one hour.
  • Once dough has risen, you can prepare to boil it. In a large pot (preferably large enough to hold four bagels) add honey, salt, baking soda, and then fill half way up with water. Bring to a boil.
  • Preheat oven to 425°F / 220°C.
  • Boil bagel dough in batches, 2-4 at a time. Boil for one minute per side. Return the boiled dough to the parchment-lined baking pans.
  • Once all dough has been boiled, brush with egg white and top with more shredded cheese. Bake for 20 minutes on the middle rack. Only bake one pan in the oven at a time.
  • After baking, allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool for another 10 minutes. Then you are free to slice, toast, slather with butter or cream cheese, and EAT IT.
Keyword bagel, breakfast, panera copycat bagel

Hot Pink Bars

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Okay, I gave you guys the grapefruit bars last week and triple chocolate brownies earlier, but I couldn’t resist another adorable, pink-themed dessert for the upcoming V-Day. 

I’ll preface by saying my husband does not like fruity desserts at all. To him, it’s chocolate or bust. Caramel, butterscotch, cheesecake, and Twinkies are also fine, thank you very much. But people, Jim loves these bars.

He describes them as a smoother, dessert version of Trix cereal or a Starburst. I think they taste like a strawberry milkshake. Whatever way you find to describe your delicious, the color is pretty rad. And it all comes from…JELL-O! Yup. This recipe is probably 100% full of highly processed foods, but I shrug my shoulders at that fact every now and then. I mean, I eat McDonald’s and Papa John’s Pizza. 

So if you’re fine excusing hoity-toity-ness for a couple of days, this is a really fun dessert to whip up! And the red JELL-Os gave me this awesome color. Cherry, raspberry, or strawberry. Yum, yum, yum. Like Kool-Aid in a wax bottle circa 1997.

The bars are like a hot pink, Malibu Barbie magenta. I used a very light filter in my photos to even out the lighting, but the color of the bars is pretty much the exact same. 

I actually clipped this recipe from a Taste of Home magazine Jane sent me home with a few weeks ago. I modified a few things, and the recipe is actually considered a summer dessert, but I am pretty sure raspberry, strawberry, and cherry JELL-O have a peak season of…let me check…all year round. 

This recipe kind of reminds me of the 1950’s JELL-O molds you’d imagine housewives bringing to their new neighbors or a mysterious green Watergate salad. It’s the same idea of turning JELL-O into something smooth and creamy. 

I brought these bars over to Sunday night dinner at Jim’s parent’s house and his dad said he’d be content to just eat the filling! (I agree. Imagine a fluffy, whipped yogurt-y version of a strawberry Starburst. That graham cracker crust, though…)

Similar to the chocolate-covered raspberry marshmallows, these are a fun Valentine’s Day treat, but Cupid doesn’t have exclusive rights to them! These would be perfect for a girl’s night out, a girl’s birthday party, a bachelorette party, or anything else tending towards hot pink. 

You can also change out the JELL-O flavor and make it bright blue raspberry or lime. Or make it teal with blue raspberry lime. Have fun with it and let me know what you think of the recipe!

Hot Pink Bars

Strikingly magenta like a Malibu Barbie dress and sweet like a strawberry milkshake or a cherry-flavored Starburst. This recipe one-ups the 1950's JELL-O mold for a fun, hot pink treat perfect for birthday parties, baby showers, bachelorette parties, or Valentine's Day!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Chill Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Course Dessert
Servings 24

Ingredients
  

  • 2 sleeves Graham crackers ~16 cracker sheets
  • 8 tbsp Salted butter melted
  • 6 oz Strawberry JELL-O 3 oz Cherry JELL-O + 3 oz Raspberry JELL-O also work
  • 1 cup Boiled water
  • ¼ cup Lemon juice
  • 1 cup Heavy whipping cream
  • ½ can Sweetened condensed milk ~ 8 oz
  • 7 oz Marshmallow fluff
  • 4 oz Cream cheese softened

Instructions
 

  • Line a 9" x 13" pan with parchment paper. Grind up graham crackers in a food processor until fine crumbs. Drizzle in melted butter to moisten the crumbs. Press into prepared pan and allow to chill in refrigerator.
  • Whisk together gelatin, hot water, and lemon juice in a bowl. Set in refrigerator, ~20 minutes.
  • In a large bowl, whip heavy whipping cream until stiff. Add marshmallow fluff and whip to combine. Add in sweetened condensed milk and cream cheese. Finally add in strawberry gelatin. Note: If there are tough, leathery pieces of gelatin, discard them. This sometimes happens with the acidity of the lemon interacting with the gelatin.
  • Transfer the mixture into the prepared pan. It will still be a liquid. Place in refrigerator to allow it to set. Chill for at least two hours.
  • To cut these squares cleanly, use the parchment paper overhang to lift and transfer the bars to a cutting board. Then, use a sharp, long knife and press straight down into the bars and drag the knife out through the bottom to avoid dragging crumbs up to the top. Wipe knife off between cuts. Cut into 24 squares. Garnish with berries and/or more whipped cream.
Keyword bachelorette party, Barbie pink, fruity dessert, Galentine's Day, hot pink dessert, strawberry milkshake, Valentine's Day

Chocolate-Covered Raspberry Marshmallows

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I know I’ve already expressed my strong disdain for chocolate covered strawberries in February, so I’ll cut to the chase and say these chocolate-covered raspberry marshmallows are my stand-in. 

I love homemade marshmallows. Just the thought of them reminds me of my mother-in-law, Jane, listening to her mother-in-law suggest that she make homemade marshmallows among other putzy, time-consuming things not suited to the life of a busy mom! We get a good kick out of those stories! Though, to my grandmother-in-law’s credit, they actually are not that difficult to make! You just need some putzy-inclined tools. 

Homemade marshmallows are also extremely versatile and fun to dress up. Extracts and food colorings allow you to make any kind of themed marshmallow imaginable. These are baby pink raspberry marshmallows covered in dark chocolate and raspberry vanilla. You could easily make mint green (or Bailey’s flavored…) chocolate covered marshmallows for St. Patrick’s Day! Or dark blue marshmallows with red and white chocolate drizzle for the Fourth of July! I’ve even heard of lilac-colored lavender-flavored marshmallows. Perfect for Easter! So many fun ways to play with the flavors and get the satisfying colors for our Instagramming world. 

Guys, these are seriously a great substitute for chocolate covered strawberries and they have a much longer shelf life. You can make them for or with your Valentine for a fun date! (Be warned they have to dry out for a few hours before enjoying, though!)

I went the lazy route by drizzling the chocolate over the marshmallows at large, but you could definitely individually dunk them in dark chocolate and drizzle them with the white raspberry sauce. That is putzy. And it is a true labor of love if you do that; I’d like to see pictures of it if you do. 

By the way, marshmallows go very well with pink champagne. Just saying.

What’s great about this recipe specifically is that while I’m posting it around Valentine’s Day, it can also work for anything pink-themed! Watching the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show with your girlfriends? Observing Breast Cancer Awareness Month at work? Hosting a bridal or baby shower? These raspberry pink marshmallows are the perfect little *extra* treat you can use to wow everyone! 

You can also just stop at marshmallows sans chocolate drizzle. They are perfect on their own, too. Don’t mind me cleaning that whisk out with a spoon. Mmm.

Chocolate Covered Raspberry Marshmallows

A serious upgrade on the Valentine's Day standard chocolate covered strawberries.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Resting Time 4 hours
Total Time 5 hours
Course Dessert
Servings 16

Equipment

  • Stand mixer with whisk attachment
  • Candy thermometer

Ingredients
  

Marshmallows

  • ½ cup Cornstarch
  • ½ cup Powdered sugar
  • 3 packets Knox unflavored gelatin
  • ½ cup Ice cold water
  • 1½ cups Sugar
  • 1 cup Light corn syrup
  • ¼ tsp Kosher salt
  • ½ cup Water
  • ½ tsp Raspberry extract
  • ½ tsp Vanilla extract
  • 2-3 drops Red food gel

Chocolate Streaks

  • 10 oz Dark chocolate flavored melting discs Ghirardelli or Godiva
  • 10 oz White vanilla flavored melting discs Ghirardelli
  • 3 drops Red food gel
  • ¼ tsp Raspberry extract
  • ¼ cup Mini semi-sweet chocolate chips for garnish

Instructions
 

Marshmallows

  • Spray a 9" x 9" pan with non-stick cooking spray. Coat the sprayed pan with powdered sugar and cornstarch. (*You can sift them together and sprinkle them all over the pan over the sink. That's easiest for cleanup!)
    Make sure the pan is completely coated with the powdered sugar and cornstarch mix as this prevents the marshmallows from sticking to the pan.
    Repeat the process of spraying with non-stick spray and coating with powdered sugar and cornstarch with a silicone spatula.
    Set pan and spatula aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 1/2 cup ice cold water with 3 packets of unflavored gelatin. Return bowl to stand mixer and secure into place. Insert the whisk attachment but do not turn on mixer.
  • In a medium, heavy-bottomed sauce pot, combine sugar, corn syrup, 1/2 cup of (regular) water, and kosher salt. Turn heat to medium. Cover for 3-4 minutes.
    Remove lid and clip in candy thermometer. Bring to 240°F / 115°C. Then immediately remove from heat.
  • Turn on the stand mixer speed to low with the whisk attachment inserted. Slowly drizzle in the hot sugar syrup down the side of the bowl. Once all of the syrup is in the stand mixer bowl, turn the speed up to medium-high for 12-15 minutes.
  • In the final minute of high-speed whipping, add in the raspberry extract, vanilla extract, and red food coloring or gel.
  • Using the powder-coated silicone spatula, transfer the marshmallow fluff into the prepared pan. Even the surface with the spatula so it is a flat as possible. Then sprinkle more cornstarch and powdered sugar over the top.
  • Let the marshmallows rest in the pan for four hours.
  • When ready to cut, invert them out of the pan onto a cutting board. Spray a knife with non-stick spray and coat with powdered sugar and cornstarch. Cut into 16 squares and then quarter each square. Each new side that is exposed after cutting will need to be sprinkled with powdered sugar and cornstarch.
  • Line a large jelly roll pan with wax paper and place marshmallows about 1/4" apart from each other in rows.

Chocolate Streaks

  • Melt dark chocolate discs and white vanilla discs in two separate bowls in 30-second increments.
  • Once vanilla discs have melted, add in raspberry extract and red food coloring / gel.
  • Using a drinking glass, open a quart-sized Ziplock bag and fold the zip top over the rim of the glass. Transfer the melted chocolate into the bag, pull out of the drinking glass, and seal. Repeat method for the pink raspberry melted discs.
  • Snip a small hole in the corner of each bag. Pipe first the melted chocolate over the marshmallows, then the pink raspberry vanilla. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips over. Once the chocolate has hardened, you can enjoy!

Notes

It helps to make the cornstarch and powdered sugar mixture in a big tupperware container. You may find a 1/2 cup of each is not enough. As long as it is in equal parts, use as needed. Depending on how you cut your marshmallows, you may need more or less. 
Keyword chocolate covered fruit, homemade marshmallow, raspberry marshmallow

Triple Crown Brownies

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Personally, Valentine’s Day food is all about the chocolate for me. The more chocolatey the dessert, the higher its status in my book. 

Chocolate chunks, chocolate sauce, chocolate fudge, hot fudge, brownie bites–I could drool on and on forever. 

Brownies are such a quick way to my heart, and to Jim’s, too, it turns out! We DEVOUR these because a) they taste like boxed brownies but b) they’re not and that makes them better and c) they are triple chocolate. Brownies are chocolate by nature, but these also have chocolate chunks and fudge frosting. It is thick frosting, too. Like a half inch tall. Hello, love of my life! 

Oh, and d) they come together in 45 minutes–35 of which is spent baking. Plenty of time for us to watch an episode of Space Force. 

Since I’ve been really busy making all these special Valentine’s Day desserts for the blog lately, we will probably end up having a little bit of each of them for our Valentine’s Day celebration. It’s our first as a married couple! Actually, it’s our first ever. We have always been apart on past Valentine’s Days! I was in the Philippines with my mom on Valentine’s Day in 2019, and I was on a work trip in Colorado last Valentine’s Day. But I did manage to surprise Jim by taking him to see Twelfth Night at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis the next day! 

Recently I have let down my barriers and invited Jim into the kitchen to cook with me. This is a big deal alert. I have major control issues in my kitchen! Like, “Are you going to mince that garlic a little more?” kind of issues. But when we worked together to make Parisian gnocchi and chocolate lava cakes…it was really, really fun!!! 

It’s a little scary that this is surprising to me. I married the man! Of course we have fun together!

So this Valentine’s Day we will be making filet mignons, mashed potatoes, and some kind of roasted vegetable. I love getting his input (most of the time…) and I’m really glad we have started cooking together. 

Jim has claimed now that these brownies are his favorite dessert that I make. Into the Arsenal! I developed the recipe over quarantine last year when we were really craving brownies. Jim said, “The highest compliment I can pay these brownies are that they taste like boxed brownies,” which is a pretty high compliment from ol’ Jimbo. They are classic, chocolate-y, and rich. And I like them because they are really easy to whip up!

Triple Crown Brownies

Alex
Three times the chocolate in the most supreme vehicle for dessert: the brownie! A perfectly chocolatey brownie batter hosts rich chocolate chunks and a fudge frosting.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Dessert
Servings 16

Ingredients
  

Chocolate Chunk Brownies

  • 2 oz. Bittersweet chocolate Ghirardelli or Baker's Bar
  • ¼ cup Salted butter
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • ¾ cup Flour
  • 6 tbsp Cocoa powder good quality, such as Rodelle or Valrhona
  • 1 tsp Vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp Fine sea salt
  • 1 Egg + 1 egg yolk
  • ¼ cup Vegetable oil
  • ¼ cup Whole milk
  • ½ cup Semi-sweet chocolate chunks or chips

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

  • 6 tbsp Unsalted butter softened
  • 1 ¼ cups Powdered sugar sifted if lumpy
  • ¼ cup Cocoa powder good quality, such as Rodelle or Valrhona
  • ¼ cup Sour cream
  • 1 oz Bittersweet chocolate melted
  • 1 ½ tsp Vanilla extract
  • ¼ tsp Fine sea salt

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C.
  • Grease a 9" x 9" pan with non-stick spray or butter.
    Optional: If you plan to remove the brownies from the pan after baking and plate them (as opposed to leaving them in the pan for storage) insert parchment paper with a slight overhang. This will help pull the brownies out of the pan.
  • In a small, microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate and butter together in 30-second intervals. Cool slightly.
  • In a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients. Add the melted butter and chocolate to it and stir with a strong whisk or spatula, about 20-25 churns.
  • Pour brownie batter into the prepared pan. Use a spatula to smooth it out and ensure the batter is evenly distributed.
  • Place pan on middle rack in oven. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the brownies do not jiggle when the pan is shaken. Do not over bake! Cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

  • In a small, microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate in 30-second intervals.
  • In a large bowl cream butter, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar. Add in sour cream, melted chocolate, vanilla, and salt.
  • Spread frosting onto cooled brownies and cut into squares.

Notes

This recipe is very easily doubled and made in a 9" x 13" pan. 
 
Keyword brownie extreme, extra chocolatey brownies

Charred Scallion Artichoke Dip

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Maybe you have the same problem I have. I buy one bunch of green onions, use one of them for a salad, and then am left with 9 green onions that wilt in the vegetable drawer. Finally an answer came to me. They’re just miniature onions! After trimming the bulbs, I tossed them in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and charred them in a cast iron skillet under the broiler for a few minutes. Then puréed ’em to get a green onion jam going. 

FYI, this can be a rather clumsy dip recipe because I use two whole artichokes. Have you ever cut up your own artichoke? Talk about a pain in the butt! First, you have to trim the pointy tips. Then you steam it. Once it’s cool enough to handle, you pluck off the leaves one by one and scrape the tiny bit of artichoke off the base of each leaf. Once you get towards the center, the leaves get smaller and this gets more difficult to do (and I end up just tossing these leaves because I have my own putzy limits). Finally you make it to the heart which is a hairy little bugger. You can trim the hair off (or not) and chop the heart into little pieces. Then do the other artichoke. Ha. Or just buy a can of artichoke hearts and save yourself the time. (I highly recommend buying it!) 

Toss in some cheese, cayenne, nutmeg, mayo and sour cream and you’ve got it going on. You might say this makes a super bowl of dip. 

Ingredients

8 green onions (scallions)
Olive oil, salt, and pepper
2 artichokes, trimmed, steamed, and hearts chopped // Alternatively, a can or jar of artichoke hearts works too!
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 tbsp lemon zest
1/4 cup mayonnaise 
1/4 cup sour cream
4 oz cream cheese
1 egg yolk
1/2 oz vodka (optional–if you omit it, you might have to skim some fat off the top after baking)
A few zips of nutmeg ~scant 1/8 tsp
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
4 oz shredded gruyere cheese
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Process

Turn on broiler and place a cast iron skillet under it to preheat it for 10 minutes. 

Trim 8 green onions and toss with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place in heated cast iron skillet and broil (4 inches from burner) until charred, about 8 minutes. 

In a food processor combine charred green onions, artichoke hearts, garlic cloves, lemon zest, mayo, sour cream, cream cheese, egg yolk, vodka, nutmeg, cayenne, salt, and gruyere. Process on low until well combined. 

Spoon into a 16 oz casserole dish and top with Parmesan. Bake at 400F / 200C for 35 minutes. Should be bubbly and Parmesan golden. 

Serve warm with crackers. 

Valentine’s Day Grapefruit Bars

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I have to say something rather controversial here: I find chocolate covered strawberries very annoying, especially around Valentine’s Day. Strawberries aren’t even in season in February! Somehow you end up with a steroid-induced strawberry that tastes somewhere between acetone, nitric acid, and nothing, enrobed in chocolate–which is way sweeter than the Arnold strawberry–and only enhances its ugly tartness. 

Okay, end rant. Let’s say something positive, Alex. *Deep breath* I’m glad I got that off my chest. Citrus fruits, by contrast, are in abundance in winter! A wonderful red grapefruit is delicious in February! I have a mad love affair with lemon bars and could eat those year round, and so I wanted to try a spin on them, introducing the more seasonal fruit for a Valentine’s Day-themed treat. It has a buttery shortbread crust at the base, caramelized sugar crunch at the top, and delicious sweet-and-sour grapefruit and lemon in between. 

Before you say grapefruit is too bitter for you, did you know that adding a small amount of salt to grapefruit (or anything bitter, really) reduces the bitterness? You get all of the delicious flavors of grapefruit without the harsh bitterness that turns you off. 

This recipe also uses a Meyer lemon which is a lot more floral, but you can just as easily use a regular lemon.

Give it a try for your sweetie this Valentine’s Day, whether that’s your spouse, yourself, or your mom! And let me know how they like it!

Ingredients

Shortbread crust:
1 cup flour
1 stick salted butter
1/4 cup white sugar

Filling:
Zest of one grapefruit and one Meyer lemon
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
Juice of 1 grapefruit, about 1/2 cup
Pinch of sea salt
Juice of 2 Meyer lemons, about 1/4 cup
1 drop red food coloring gel
Powdered sugar, for dusting on top

 

Process

Preheat oven to 350F / 175C. Spray and line an 9″ x 9″ pan with parchment paper, allowing for an overhang.

Cream butter and sugar. Slowly add in flour. Press the mixture into prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden. 

While crust is baking, prepare the filling. Beat eggs with zest and sugar until light and ribbony. 

Add a pinch of salt to the grapefruit juice and combine with lemon juice. 

Drizzle juices into egg mixture until well combined. Add one drop of red food coloring gel to get a coral pink color. 

Pour filling onto hot crust and return to oven to bake for 40 minutes, or until the bars do not jiggle when you move the pan. 

Allow to cool completely in the pan. Using the overhang of parchment paper, lift the bars out and place on a cutting board. Sift powdered sugar on top and cut into 1.5″ squares. You will have about 36 little squares. 

Keep in refrigerator for up to a week. 

Crunchy Almond Coconut Granola Topping

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I’ve been getting into Noosa yogurt for breakfast lately. I will do half a container of the strawberry rhubarb, peach, or blueberry with my cereal and it is an easy and yummy way to start the day! I like to dress up my yogurt a little, though. Plain is good, but some berries and crunchy-sweet granola topping adds that little extra touch that will have you shoveling in your yogurt! 

It’s so easy to make, too. The whole thing takes about 20 minutes, and 15 of that is waiting for the oven to finish baking the granola. 

Ingredients

1 cup old fashioned oats
3 tbsp salted butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped or slivered almonds
2 tbsp roasted coconut chips
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Process

Preheat oven to 350F / 175C. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. 

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir to coat. Spread out onto the parchment-lined pan. 

Bake for 10 minutes, stir, and continue baking for an additional five minutes. 

Clusters will solidify once cooled completely. 

Sprinkle over yogurt or ice cream, or enjoy it plain! 

Grown Up Chocolate Chip Pancakes

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Downsizing a pancake recipe to serve just two people and still have it taste delicious is kind of a big deal. And while regular, buttermilk flapjacks have their merits, sometimes you just want to get a little fancy-pants in the kitchen and GET YOUR BRUNCH ON! I feel you. So, how does double dark chocolate chip pancakes with espresso whipped cream and Luxardo cherry syrup sound? #bougie That’s right. 

You can also play with the whipped cream if you’re not into covfefe. I’m thinking of adding Frangelicos or Bailey’s or Godiva liqueur to it next time for funsies. The batter here is like cake and the pancakes come out SUPER fluffy, so honestly anything you’d pair with chocolate cake you can throw into this hot mix. (Mental note: red wine whipped cream…?) 

Jim was actually upset when I made this for dinner last night because it meant he couldn’t have dessert. Sorry, not sorry.

We actually had something very similar to this in Disney World at the Yacht Club on our honeymoon, except they were waffles and the whipped cream had mascarpone in it! Following the very decadent breakfast, we walked on down to EPCOT and immediately fell into a heated disagreement about how to pronounce mascarpone cheese. Apparently I add a little Italian flair. MAZ-car-PO-Nay. 

Breakfast timing logistics can get difficult. I recommend frying your bacon, making your espresso whipped cream, and setting the table with syrup/toppings/cherries/more chocolate BEFORE you fry your pancakes. Whipped cream will immediately melt when placed on top of your pancakes, and I will insist–no, DEMAND–that you eat them immediately after they scoot out of the skillet.

Also, you can use any fruit topping you want. I’m obsessed with Luxardo cherries because they are unlike any maraschino cherry in this world (and you’ll know why when you drop $20 for a tiny jar of them) but I’ve also enjoyed Woodford Reserve bourbon soaked cherries and my friend Lauren makes amazing homemade brandied cherries, and I’d have no problem dressing up my pancakes with them. Bottom line is: feel free to cherry pick this recipe. You do you. Brunch your way. 

Ingredients – Makes 4 pancakes, about 5″ in diameter

Fancy-Pants Double Chocolate Chip Pancakes for Two

Ingredients

1/2 cup flour
2 tbsp Dutch processed cocoa powder
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup whole milk
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 egg
1 tbsp of butter or nonstick spray, for frying

Espresso whipped cream: Whip 1/2 cup of cold heavy whipping cream on medium speed with a hand mixer using the whisk attachment. When stiff, add 1-2 tbsp of powdered sugar, 1 tbsp of sour cream, and continue whipping, adjusting for your preference. You may also add any of the following:

1/2 tsp instant espresso powder OR
1 tsp coffee-flavored liqueur OR
1/2 tsp cocoa powder OR
1/2 tsp vanilla extract OR
ALL OF THE ABOVE YASSSSS

Process

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Add in the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. 

Heat a large skillet on medium flame. Once hot, add butter and spread around to coat the surface. Pour in pancake batter, one cake at a time. My skillet fits four pancakes, but accommodate your pan and don’t crowd the pancakes! 

This recipe is enough to make four pancakes, two for each person.

Once the pancakes start to form air bubbles on top and a “skin” forms on their surface, flip them. It’s about 2 minutes on each side. Add more butter after the flip if the pan looks like it could use it. 

Remove from heat and serve immediately. Top with whipped cream flavored to your liking, Luxardo cherries and their syrup, chocolate shavings, sifted powdered sugar, chocolate chips, or butter and maple syrup. 

Pro tip: use a potato peeler, lemon zester, or cheese grater on a bar of chocolate. That’ll give you nice curls or shavings.