Sweetnicks

Food and Life

Recipe: S’mores Truffles

· Narrative

Delicious bite size sweet treats, with only five ingredients, these S’mores Truffles are sure to please.

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A million years ago, when my ex-husband and I were dating, I had a truffle recipe in heavy rotation. I remember making it for his sister and his dad when we were deep in the throes of courtship. You know, that all important time when you feel the need to impress your significant other’s family. I made that recipe so many times over a period of a few years, sharing it also with friends and neighbors, that you’d think I would have committed it to memory.

Well, you’d be wrong. Very little then or now is ever committed to memory.

And over the years, and countless moves, I lost the recipe long ago.

A few weeks ago, I was watching an episode of Food Network’s, The Kitchen, and saw Sunny Anderson make an easy recipe for S’mores Truffles. The show’s theme for the day featured recipes that were five ingredients or less, and I made a mental note to make this one.

And after receiving a massive amount of snow this week (15″ in one day!), and being housebound since Monday, this week was the perfect time to try out the recipe.

Before Snowstorm Stella came, I made sure I had the ingredients for these truffles on hand, but the ingredients are basic enough that you might already have on hand. Although this is an easy recipe, because of the truffle chilling timing, it’s not something you can quickly whip up and enjoy soon after. But with a little bit of planning, you can be indulging your sweet tooth just a few hours later. Don’t let that deter you from making the truffles … I just usually miss the “chill for three hours,” and hate the surprise of missing instant gratification.

The recipe calls for nearly burning the marshmallows and, I’ve got to be honest, that was so hard for me to do. Because our inclination is to take them out and enjoy them when they’re in this stage, right?

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And I did. And I picked a few off the end and popped them into my mouth (and have three blisters on my fingers to prove it). But I put them back in to give them another minute to get to the blacker stage the recipe called for. I *think* that is requested because it makes the marshmallows easier to crumble into the graham crackers, and it also gives the finished truffle the tiniest hint of campfire smokiness.

So, you know, follow the directions.

Truffles are in the fudge family, where a little bite goes a long way, so these are best enjoyed with several small nibbles. If you pop the whole thing in your mouth, you will no doubt proclaim them too sweet. Despite that, my snow shovelers popped several in their mouths when they came back from their hours of shoveling.

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PS You can watch Sunny making the truffles right here.

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Recipe: Fruit Pizza {#TheCakePlateProject}

· Narrative, Sweets

A delicious, slightly healthy, mostly awesome twist on dessert.

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Every time we would go visit my grandmother in Texas, she would have a Fruit Pizza waiting for us as soon as we arrived. Although my grandmother wasn’t the easiest person to get along with, her Fruit Pizza (and the act of her making it for my sister and I) was one of my fondest memories of her, and something I’ve continued to share with my kids over the years.

And as I told my kids this weekend when we were talking about it, considering the fact that my grandmother basically subsisted on rice cakes and boiled chicken for herself, this Fruit Pizza was the ultimate indulgence.

When I volunteered to make dessert to bring to my parents’ house for Easter, I searched Pinterest and flagged a bunch of the usual suspects.

Cute cupcakes that look like bird’s nests.

Easter bunny cookies.

Easter bunny cakes.

You know the drill.

But then, for some reason, Fruit Pizza popped into my head.

Perfect.

Slightly sweet, kind of sort of healthy, and a solid food memory.

Over the years that I’ve been making it for my kids, I have made many iterations (Pillsbury has an awesome rainbow version).

When my grandmother made it, she used sugar cookie dough from Pillsbury, spread it with plain cream cheese, then a layer of drained, crushed pineapple, and then the assorted fruit.

When I’ve made it that way, I am usually obsessive about draining the pineapple because it makes for a soggy crusty in the days that follow, although my sister says that’s the best part.

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Recipe: Alice’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

· Narrative

Alice's Chocolate Chip Cookie-001
When Madeline got into my car after school on Friday, she started telling me that she wanted to make some chocolate chip cookies to bring in for her teachers “tomorrow.”

Which is all sorts of awesome, of course.

Except that “tomorrow,” was, in fact, Saturday.

So now, “tomorrow” is tomorrow. Tuesday. And these big, fat, chocolate-y babies are going in with her.

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I’ve made this recipe a few times over the last few months. The first time I made them, Nick ate most of them himself. A couple in his lunchbox. A couple after dinner.

And before you know it, poof.

In his defense, only half the batch were normal size, and the other half, which were giant size, had been quickly smuggled away and given as care packages during the holidays.

So he only ate half of what we had left by himself.

For the most part, this recipe might not be unlike other chocolate chip cookie recipes. I think the biggest differences are that it calls for dark brown sugar and sea salt. And you know I put in a smidge extra when it came to the sea salt.

Natch.

When I’m scooping the dough onto the cookie sheets, I do half of the batch with a large ice cream scoop, and the other half with a normal size. The giant ones are perfect treats for delivering to neighbors, friends, and in this case, teachers.

And by doing this, we’re doing good deeds, and leaving ourselves with only half a batch.

So, you know, half the guilt, right?

Make ’em. Share them.

Amen.

*PS and, of course, if you vary the sizes, you’ll need to adjust the cooking times and pay close attention.

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Recipe: Giada De Laurentiis’ Nutella Fudge

· Narrative, Sweets

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One of my co-workers mentioned that she stopped reading my web site months ago when I “started cooking healthy.”  Jill, this one’s for you.

Fudgy.  Sinfully sweet.  Nutella.  Giada De Laurentiis.  How can you go wrong?

This recipe is super simple to make and will take care of your sweet craving very nicely.  Especially if you happen to have a jar of Nutella taking up real estate in your pantry.  I was first introduced to Nutella when I was a kid and we lived in England for a few years.  To this day, my favorite way to eat it is from the jar with a swipe of my finger a spoon.  Which is precisely why I hide the jar in the back of the baking cabinet.  So I don’t get tempted by it.  If you’re not a purist, after making this fudge, these self-frosting cupcakes are another good way to indulge in your Nutella fantasies.

Surprise Saturday post – happy weekend!

Nutella Fudge

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Recipe: Toffee Crack

· Narrative

Toffee Crack

Yesterday I ran into the grocery store to grab a few items after work.  I forgot light bulbs.  You’d think the fact that two out of three bulbs in the kitchen were out would have been enough to remember, but it wasn’t.  So after dinner, I decided the kids and I would walk to the grocery store to get the light bulbs.  It was perfect walking temperature, we got exercise and yes, I got my light bulbs.  On the way down, we dropped off a CARE package of Toffee Crack to neighbors.

This recipe has been floating around for probably nearly as long as Monkey Munch.  I first had it about six years ago at an office potluck.  One of the employee’s wives made it and it was gobbled up in no time flat.  Everyone oohed and ahhed once they saw how easy the recipe was and it quickly made the rounds.

Around here, a box of Saltines doesn’t last very long, so I had to hide a sleeve for the recipe.  Madeline and Nick both devour them.  Something I don’t begin to understand.  A plain Saltine is pretty flavorless, if you ask me, but it makes them happy. I, on the other hand, love them with an ultra-thin layer of soft butter and a nice slice of sharp Cheddar.

Toffee Crack (and I’m trying to remember the other name the sweet treat went by, but you know, that whole memory thing…) is crazy simple to make and a tasty disguise for the standard Saltine.  I don’t know if I’d go so far as to use the word toffee when describing the overall taste, because I think the chocolate tends to take center stage.  No matter what you call it, it’s something different that satisfies a sweet craving … and then some.

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Chocolate Chip Dream Bars

· Sweets

Chocolate Chip Dream Bars
Recipe courtesy of Betty Crocker’s Baking for Today

Bars

  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 bag (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup)
  • 1 cup milk chocolate chips

Chocolate Glaze

  • 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
  1. Heat oven to 350°F. In medium bowl, mix 1/2 cup brown sugar and the butter. Stir in 1 cup flour. Press in ungreased rectangular pan, 13x9x2 inches. Bake 10 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, mix eggs, 1 cup brown sugar and the vanilla. Stir in 2 tablespoons flour, the baking powder and salt. Stir in semisweet and milk chocolate chips. Spread over crust.
  3. Bake bars 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
  4. In 1-quart saucepan, heat all Chocolate Glaze ingredients over low heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate is melted. Drizzle glaze over cooled bars. Refrigerate at least 1 hour until firm. For bars, cut into 8 rows by 4 rows. Store at room temperature.

Originally made and reviewed here.

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